How a young surgeon became in less than one year a music star: Biography and news of an extraordinary musician who upset the commercial circuits : childhood of an artist, jazz concerts in church, meeting with Kenny Clarke World Star: Sacred Music at the Zenith.
A
UNIQUE CAREER
A
UNIQUE MUSIC
Jean-Christian Michel's destiny has been quite exceptional. His original compositions,
coupled with an extraordinary clarinet sound, quickly brought him to
a unique place in the world of music, and the glory of a global career. The
immense success of his Jazz and Sacred music church concerts and the
sales of his new CD of Spatial Jazz & Sacred Music attest to
it. But if music is at heart of the great composer and clarinetist, the man
also amazes by virtue of his individual personality.
JEAN-CHRISTIAN MICHEL : A MUSIC's STAR BORN WITH A DESTINY & A
LIFE OF LOVE FOR MUSIC
Studious
Childhood
A
DEEP NEED FOR MUSIC
In
his childhood Jean-Christian Michel already had an irresistible
need for music :
When he was seven, he went alone into the multi-coloured obscurity
of cathedrals to listen to the deep sounds of the organ.
There,
the blind organist of his church discovered his gift for music
and introduced him to musical beauty.
Young surgeon
Later
he entered the conservatoire, to study the clarinet,
quickly gaining a passion for J.-S. Bach's Sacred music and american black Jazz. But also for the sciences,
the arts and philosophy.
He
left both, high school with a diploma and the security of his
family home at sixteen. Because,
in the household of Jean-Christian Michel, one does not joke :
"music is not a real profession !"
JEAN-CHRISTIAN MICHEL SURGEON AT 27
Jean-Christian Michel works however to pay for his studies, does odd jobs, he sets up a small jazz orchestra which quickly acquires good notoriety. Between his exams and medical and surgical competitions, Jean-Christian Michel cannot restrain his musical vocation and quickly knows the demon of creation : because in his silences, Jean-Christian Michel hears the echo of a music trying desperately to be born : his
own.
At twenty-seven he was a surgeon...
JEAN-CHRISTIAN MICHEL FIRST DISC AND FIRST CONCERTS.
In December 1967, Jean-Christian Michel recorded his first disc, Requiem : an innovative agreement between the rigor of classical sacred music and jazz. Jean-Christian Michel gives his first concert in Marseille in the Abbey of Saint Victor.
SACRED MUSIC ON THE FRONT PAGE OF CURRENT EVENTS
Jean-Christian Michel's
St Roch church concert.
A man shrouded by
mystery draws a generation of young people towards an unexpected
music, purer and more spiritual, mixing clarinet and organ and fusing Jazz vitality and the majesty of Sacred
music.
The "All Parisian Show Business" is amazed, this type of concert goes beyond its usual standards : it does not understand that music which is not of variety and where the public does not even see the artist can attract as much people !
Kenny Clarke, the brilliant drummer of the MODERN JAZZ QUARTET joins
the group. Millions of albums are sold all over the world, overtaking
at that time even the sales of the Beatles.
Thousands
of concerts are given in front of immense crowds : the phenomenon of Jean-Christian Michel had arrived and the "jazz-classical"
crossover was born !
Saint Victor Abbey
Jean-Christian Michel
With Kenny Clarke
1st vinyl disc Requiem
An unimaginable crowd sitting on the floor
Church
"St Pierre
de Chaillot" - Paris
CONCERTS GIVEN EXCLUSIVELY IN THE CHURCHES
1970.
The black shadow of a clarinet stands out against the stained
glass windows of France's great cathedrals.
In the new type concerts of Michel, there is nothing to see - no spectacle - only an incredible heartbreaking sound. Silence and meditation : beyond the ideological demands and the rejection of accepted values, seems to take shape in the youth a spiritual quest ... The enthusiasm of the public is reflected in the colossal record sales, and in the impressive crowds gathered in churches at each clarinetist recital
JEAN-CHRISTIAN MICHEL, PROPELLS SACRED MUSIC IN THE TOPICS OF THE NEWS AND BECOMES STAR N ° 1
Eddie Barclay
With Eddie Barclay and
Charles Aznavour
With Kenny Clarke
Jean-Christian Michel records his second album, "Aranjuez" which is a new hit ! The boxes of albums are jostling among record stores who in memory have never seen such excitement.
Jean-Christian Michel
Dreams the music
Jean-Christian Michel in concert
At Saint Germain l'Auxerrois - Paris
Jean-Christian Michel
Music Super Star
This time it is a real craze that is growing, and will gradually turn into a sociological phenomenon. The young music star will even appear for years on the pages of the Billboard, the leading American newspaper which lists the world's best sales of records.
Yet
nobody knows the face of this solitary man who avoids society
and the gala evenings of the Star-System
THE
CALL OF THE HIMALAYAS - IMAGES
Jean-Christian Michel
Himalayas expedition
Because
Jean-Christian Michel himself is a very exceptional person. At
the peak of his success, he disappeared abruptly from the media
spotlight.
An
authenticity drew him towards mysterious places where he would
be able to confront his own soul.
It was on the murderous slopes
of the Himalayas where, as expedition
doctor, he was to climb the "first" of Tawesche, about
7000 metres above sea level with Yannick SEIGNEUR, the famous
conquerer of Makalu !
Climbing
in the
Himalayas Népal
At
Lhasa, in Tibet he joined a thousand years of tradition… He discovered, in the shadow of forbidden monasteries, mysterious
sciences which exceeded by far all his previous researches.
Through
these experiences Jean-Christian Michel gradually achieved the spirituality for which
he has been striving since the childhood.
CONCERTS
- A GLOBAL CAREER
Concert in Hamburg
But
his return is publicly demanded, success is there. Jean-Christian Michel is in demand all over the world.
Air travel is on the increase, fabulous concerts, the grueling rooms of large soulless hotels, repetitive interviews and the inevitable television sequences ... The 70s to 80s saw it everywhere. .
The
clarinetist performs equally well in his "tour of cathedrals",
as he does under the vault of a star studded sky in the "Natural
Cathedrals concerts", or even in immense aeroplane hangars…
Cathedrals tour
From Hamburg to Los Angeles, by way of Abidjan and Stockholm,
thousands of young people applaud Jean-Christian Michel.
Europe,
America (USA, Canada, South America), Africa, Australia, Asia, alternately resound to his talent.
OFFICIAL
DISTINCTIONS
3 diamond discs, and a dozen gold reccords
SACEM's Medal
Pope Paul VI's
Silver Medal
At
the same time this secret man, who does not particularly seek
them, is honoured by official distinctions.
GOLD RECORDS
The
great composer receives 3
diamond discs, 7 platinum discs and 10 golden discs...
Then
a jury consisting of six Nobel prize winners awards him, at the
Sorbonne, Paris, the prize for "Sciences and Culture"...
But is all this really important ?
CARITATIVE ACTION
In
the midst of this adulation Jean-Christian Michel does not forget
the humanitarian questions and very often supports and does charitable
works. Pope PAUL VI expresses his gratitude in a letter of congratulations
accompanied by his silver medal.
ANNAPURNAS,
KILIMANDJARO : THE
COLLECTION OF THE USELESS
The
Pothala Temple
Lhasa
Pothala Temple inside
Alongside his career, in his perpetual quest for knowledge and freedom, Jean-Christian Michel is passionate about aviation, learns to fly, and then escapes to the controls of his own aircraft.
He flies over land, seas and oceans and even crosses Africa...
The
Himalayas, naturally, kept many secrets. Peaks and adventures
continue to call to him like unending love stories.
He
returned there five times. Mera Peak, Island Peak, Dolpo, Annapurnas,
Amadablam, Lhasa...
Jean-Christian Michel
: Plane pilot
Jean-Christian Michel
& his Ralllye MS.880
Then
he visited Tanzania, to contemplate the sunrise over Africa from
the mystical summit of Kilimanjaro.
At
the same time and in the same quest for freedom and discovery,
he took up aviation, and regularly escapes at the controls of
his own plane.
JEAN-CHRISTIAN
MICHEL IN CONCERT TODAY
Today, Jean-Christian Michel still gives concerts in the cathedrals, but also great Laser shows 3 D in magnificent sites. He gives also interstellar concerts in the churches in front of of a giant screen.
In
his concerts, Jean-Christian Michel unites the echo of his clarinet with a choir of instruments in a magical atmosphere.
EMOTION
AND HIGH-TECHNOLOGY IN CHURCH
The
digital liturgical church organ that he has invented sounds like an orchestra. The synthesizers surround him with exotic veils of rare beauty :
On
keyboard, we find his constant collaborator, Monique THUS. Unfamiliar
sounds move and penetrate the body...
Interstellar concert
Laser concert
The
soul and the senses wind gradually into the spiral of a cosmic
universe where one escapes gravity. Jean-Christian Michel,
reveals, through the heart-rendingly plaintive song of his clarinet
the enigmas of unknown worlds.
PHILOSOPHIC
THOUGHT
Jean-Christian Michel possesses an exceptional balance between action and meditation.
He dedicates his energy to the singular constant which has endured
since the dawn of time : change.
To
be afraid of change, is obviously to be afraid of the unknown
: that's why man is afraid of being born, of living and of dying
…
But
Jean-Christian Michel reveres change, because it is the fundamental
element of intelligence, evolution and progress.
So,
the fear fades, the disturbing unknown becomes an opportunity
to discover and create and also a source of enjoyment : this glittering
warmth in his music is like a beautiful light which erases all
fear.
"Science
and Culture" Price
In the "Sorbonne" - Paris
For
Jean-Christian Michel, Life, Love and Music, derive from the same
big principle. That is why, with Nature, Freedom and Knowledge,
they are his sacred values. The Essential in its simplicity is
his secret.
He
has always searched for it, and now, coming close to an ultimate
understanding of the universe he wants to share his vision.
JEAN-CHRISTIAN
MICHEL : A MYSTERIOUS MUSICAL MESSAGE
Contemporary
composer, impressive concert performer, Jean-Christian Michel
is one of the great musicians.
However,
his music escapes from the known universe : by leading us to a
recognition of ourselves, it floods us with a golden dust, made
by the fusion of our breath with that of the heavenly spheres.
It
is clear that Jean-Christian Michel wants to make the intimacy
of man resonate with the echo of the infinite, and to resound
in the infinity of worlds the tiny echo of the intimacy of Man.
J.V. KERNEL
NEW ALBUM / CD RELEASE & MP3 DOWNLOAD
The music you are listening to on this page is in the album :
Monique THUS, organ ; Sauveur MALLIA, bass. In this album : "La Cathédrale de Lumière" is a futuristic concerto from Jean-Christian Michel for clarinet and slap bass,
Vif-Obscur - La Cathédrale de Lumière - La Voix des Transparents
- Berceuse en filigrane- Le Puits de Lumière -
Danse aux Pieds nus - L'Ecume des Songes.
