June 27th, 1969: Michel Portal with drummers Jacques Thollot and Aldo Romano, bassist Jean-Francois Jenny-Clark and pianist Joachim Kuhn record OUR MEANINGS AND OUR FEELINGS. It was unscripted but the musicians were in lock step with each other as the five tracks on the record demonstrate. The zokra, an oriental clarinet that Michel Portal plays on "Walking through the land" and "Dear old Morocco" brings a singular touch to this album. This singularity is transcended by Joachim Kuhn's ability to easily go from the piano to the saxophone alto, from supporting to soloing, before playing the bells, then the tambourine, opening the soundscape. OUR MEANINGS AND OUR FEELINGS may not be the first French free jazz record - as it was preceded by the fantastic FREE JAZZ by Francois Tusques, released in 1965 and on which Michel Portal plays - but it remains one of the most important. Its incredible outburst of sounds and melodies is completely free yet never turns into cacophony. 44 years after its release, it is still urgent to listen to OUR MEANINGS AND OUR FEELINGS and what these five talented musicians had to tell us.
Catalogue number: LTJC014
