LPCDreissues: Looking forward to the past

1 - Tableau N°1 - Premier Mouvement (12'42)2 - Tableau N°1 - Deuxième Mouvement (5'29)3 - Tableau N°1 - Troisième Mouvement (20'34)4 - Sambaba (6'56)5 - Salut Besson (3'58)6 - Mon Amour, Mon Amour ...!? (3'42)7 - Nationale 20 (7'14)8 - Soir (5'13)9 - Vieux Garçon (4'28) Well-known French session guitarist and former SANDROSE member, Jean-Pierre ALARCEN released two albums under his own name. One of them (1978), with jazz-rock themes in the style of John McLAUGHLIN and SANTANA, includes nostalgic and climatic tracks. The second one is a neo-classical symphony with superb orchestral movements, a touch of majesty, and whose beauty is obscure as well as clear, calm and at the same time full of tension. "Tableau N°1" (1979) can be defined as halfway between MAHLER, FAURE and THE ENID. Reworked by the artist himself, the Musea reissue allows the listener to rediscover the initial track-listing divided in three parts, and includes the eponymous album with a complete biography. "Tableau N°2" (1998) is the follow-up of "Tableau N°1" and consists in a celebration of pronounced classical symphonicism, close to neo-classicism or to THE ENID's classical and Progressive rock fusion. MAHLER, DEBUSSY or FAURE's influences can be heard in this lyrically impacted music. A pure symphonic work in a neo-classical tradition, and with no rock instruments such as guitars (!)... Great !