DIMITRI KEN:
From a fringe musician to a superstar of Hip Hop: Let me tell you about this French guy, I mean, this genius:
guy, I mean, this genius:
This is Alain Mion, a Jazz Funk pianist. Back in the 70s, he formed a group named Cortex, and they released 3 albums between 1975 and 1978.
They went on radio, they were listened to in night clubs. But that was it. They barely filled concert rooms. A very short-lived success overall… After that, Cortex ceased to exist, and went unnoticed for decades.
Then, in the 2000s, Mion realised that the DJ Bob Sinclar had sampled one of his songs. He put him on trial, and got paid what he was due. Then he heard that it was actually Madlib
who started the sampling fest. Years after years, more and more rappers did the same: Curren$y, Tyler, The Creator, Damso… And the attempts to get his royalties just got more nightmarish.
On the bright side though, thanks to all these usages of his bygone music, the popularity of Cortex had skyrocketed to the levels Mion had never experienced before. And today, his album “Troupeau Bleu” is the most sampled Jazz album (by rappers) in history!
This is a cassette tape of the album “Troupeau Bleu”, released in Seattle just a decade ago… And its commercial success is huge.
Alain Mion has confessed in an article in Les Inrocks
, that he now receives messages daily from all over the world, citing Grece, Germany and Scandinavia. He has reformed the band and nowadays, all his concerts are sold out!
Cortex performing at the London Jazz Cafe.
Personaly, I discovered Cortex less than a year ago, through a video of Tyler, The Creator’s samples. I played “Huit Octobre 1971” and… It was my fastest eargasm ever (around 15 seconds). Then I played the whole album (Troupeau Bleu), even recognizing a song (Prélude à Go Round) sampled by Rick Ross (Amsterdam, which ended up bien certified gold). Every single track was perfect, the album starting with Mireille Dalbray’s angelic voice (La Rue), and ending with an uncanny, yet marvellous drum solo (Madbass). In between, the upbeat song “Mary et Jeff”, the legendary “Huit Octobre 1971” and this galactic piece of Bossa Nova, “Sabbat pt. 1
”. What a forgotten masterpiece from the 70s! And I think it’s pretty much what everyone who discovered Cortex withe the samples, went through. Hence why ”Troupeau Bleu” has become a best seller 40 years after its initial release.
Let’s end this with an excellent track that Alain Mion released in 1984, when he went solo:
