Continuo’s weblog

Above: cinematographer Sandro Mancori in Angola in 1973
during the shooting of Africa Nera Africa Rossa (source)

Africa Nera Africa Rossa is a 1978 Italian RAI TV documentary film in three episodes directed by Italian screenwriter, critic, producer and film director Carlo Lizzani, born 1922, a prolific author of dramas, crime films and erotic comedies – Lizzani wrote the story of Giuseppe De Santis’ Bitter Rice, 1950, for instance. Africa Nera Africa Rossa was shot in Angola in 1973 with cinematographer Sandro Mancori (pictured above). According to the LP’s liner notes, the film is about:

The trial of four mercenaries who had fought against the troops of Agostino Neto, leader of the Liberation Movement of Angola. The film shows a lot of humanity in its description of a country’s social transformation and modernization. The accompanying music is taken from the Afro-Cuban tradition which is the source of Angolan music.
[my translation]

From 1956, Agostinho Neto (1922-79) was the leader of Communist party Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA). In 1960, when Neto was arrested by the Portuguese authorities who ruled the country, his supporters marched for his release, but Portuguese soldiers shot at them, killing 30 and wounding 200 in what became known as the Massacre of Icolo e Bengo (source). After the 1974 Carnation Revolution in Portugal, the battle was fierce between the three Angolan parties: Jonas Sawimbi’s UNITA, Holden Roberto’s FNLA and the MPLA. With help from USSR ammunitions and 30,000 Cuban soldiers sent by Fidel Castro, the MPLA eventually won the first elections and Neto became president in 1975. I assume the film is about the decolonization process and implementation of Marxism in Angola.

♫ The soundtrack was composed by Sergio Montori & Gian Paolo Chiti and issued on a Cometa Edizioni Musicali LP in 1980. One should forget about the “Afro-Cuban tradition” alluded to in the liner notes – the music here is as weird and out of this world as can be. No doubt Sun Ra would approve the snake charming flutes, pseudo ethnic bongo solos and electronic loops. Great calypso guitar playing on #09 and cosmic VCS 3 on #10. Excellent music throughout, just don’t expect genuine ethnic music. Note: this LP is not from personal collection. The mp3s were found on a search engine and the pictures come from an eBay seller. See also: Quadri Antichi.

01 Foresta Verde (1:42)
02 Insidie Nascoste (2:23)
03 Piccolo Flauto (2:44)
04 Savana (1:49)
05 In Cammino (2:07)
06 Richiami (2:14)
07 Guerriglia (2:18)
08 Festa Bantù (3:18)
09 Allegria! (2:08)
10 Alt Pericolo (1:36)
11 Il Processo (1:51)
12 Haua (2:13)
13 Sentenza (2:04)
14 Tramonti (2:15)

Total time 30:20
LP released by Cometa Edizioni Musicali LP, Italy, 1980

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Below: some Lizzani film posters:

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In the 1970s, classically trained composer Gian Paolo Chiti, born 1939, teamed up with film soundtrack composer Sergio Montori to record some of the most original film music produced in Italy. From the cheesy Risoluzioni Sonore, 1971, to the deranged, pseudo-ethnic music of Africa Nera Africa Rossa, 1978, the duo rubbed shoulders with other giants of Italian colonna sonora like Ennio Morricone and Bruno Nicolai. Montori & Chiti also worked for television feature films and documentaries, and some of their best music was done for the RAI channel.

♫  The Quadri Antichi LP – published by Duse Records, a subdivision of Roman film music label Beat Records Company, collects incidental music written by Montori & Chiti for an Italian TV documentary series of the late 1970s titled Le Strade della Storia: Dentro l’Archeologia (Ways of History: Archeology). The series describes Ancient Rome knowledge and way of life. The 4 episodes were titled as follows:

1. L’educazione nell’antica Roma [Education]
2. La Scienza dei Romani [Science]
3. La Costruttività per i Romani [Architecture]
4. Ambiente e natura nell’antica Roma [Everyday life]

The duo’s music for Quadri Antichi sounds like the re-creation of an imagined Ancient Rome, full of solemn, ancient hymns and martial airs played on classical instruments. Noble flutes are paired with sacred temple bells, trumpet calls resonate over hand held percussion, zither eerie notes vibrate over kettle drum rolls. Instruments also include harp, organ and electronic organ (#14, 2:40). The music is at times reminiscent of the Atrium Musicae de Madrid‘s Musique de la Grèce Antique LP, recorded 1978 and published 1979.

01 Vita Agreste (3:29)
02 Crepuscolo al Castello (3:42)
03 Alba Drammatica (3:28)
04 Sogni di Castellana (4:06)
05 Racconti Sull’aia (2:54)
06 Danza dei Satiri (2:28)
07 Echi di Guerra (2:32)
08 Cerimonia Militare (2:40)
09 Allarme al Campo (1:31)
10 Rito Propiziatorio (2:29)
11 La Diana (2:19)
12 Archibugieri (3:50)
13 Festa al Castello (2:11)
14 Leggenda del Bosco (5:28)

Total time 43mns
LP released by Duse Records, Italy, 1979

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Montori & Chiti discography (tbc):
1971 Risoluzioni Sonore, LP, Lupus records
1977 La Banda Vallanzasca, 7″, Cinevox MDF 116
1978 Attenti Ragazzi, et al., LP, Beat Records Company
1979 Quadri Antichi, Duse Records ELP 066
1980 Africa Nera Africa Rossa, LP, Cometa Edizioni Musicali, CMT 1016
1981 Pagan Ballade, LP, Duse Records ELP 072

Sergio Montori solo:
1974 The Driver’s Seat, LP, Ariete
1977 Interno di un convento

Gian Paolo Chiti solo:
1983 Momenti Barocchi, LP, Cometa Edizioni Musicali

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For their 2nd album together, published 1980, educator Brigitte Jardin and composer Claude Marbehant embarked on a spatial exploration concept, weaving together a collection of wondrous electronic vignettes and what started like a regular educational project ended up as an electronic space opera for kids.

♫ While their previous LP A La Découverte (see previous post) was balanced between synth, piano and drums, Atmosphères is an all-electronic odyssey with echoes of Kraftwerk and kosmische musik. The tracks are purely instrumental but, according to liner notes, the story goes like this: on track #1, the kids decide to go on an interstellar trip across the universe helped by their special wings (#2). During the trip, they eventually lose their wings, legs, arms, everything (#3) to become mere “biosons” or bio-sounds (#4), that is, minute, weight-less particles (#5). After several inter-galactic encounters (tr.#6-9), the bio-sounds finally reach a quiet corner of the universe (#11) and finally decide to go back home. Meteorites and asteroids of all kinds lead their way through the galaxy (#12-13). When the kids reach the Earth’s atmosphere (#14), they hear supernatural bird-like sounds to which they join for a space chorus (#15). Back on planet Earth (#16), their interplanetary trip instantly becomes legendary (#17).

01 Eveil Pour Une Escapade (3:06)
02 Histoire D’Ailes (2:12)
03 Transit Extra-Terrestre (1:12)
04 Biosons (3:04)
05 Poids-Plume (2:30)
06 Dialogue De Pattes (1:50)
07 Bric-A-Brac (2:55)
08 Nord-Sud (1:14)
09 Espaces Ailes ( 1:38)
10 S.O.S. Compuphonie (Ballet) (5:51)
11 Au Clair Des Etoiles (1:55)
12 Itinéraire (1:59)
13 Etapes Stellaires (2:44)
14 “Atmo” Sphere ( 1:18)
15 Vocalises (1:03)
16 Vers La Planète Bleue (2:26)
17 Légende: Timbres (2:08)

Totla time 38:40
LP released by Unidisc, France, 1980

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Post scriptum on Unidisc

French label Unidisc was a folk, ethnic and Christian music label launched in the late 1950s in Paris. It was integrated to Auvidis in 1980, a label with similar cultural imprint. Unidisc’s main collection was a series of more than 50 ethnic music 7” singles titled Rythmes et Jeux. Launched around 1962, it consisted of mostly traditional dance music from all over the world. Another successful series was a collection of French nursery rhymes by Jean Humery.

Unidisc published several Pierre Henry records, starting with 1959′s Saint-Exupery radio play, the L’homme du XXIè siècle 7” single and the 1963 ballet music for Maurice Béjart’s La Reine Verte, as well as Henry’s major religious works, including a monumental series of four 4xLP sets (Evangiles selon St Jean, St Luc, St Matthieu, St Marc). Other French avantgarde pop up here and there on the catalogue, with Lasry – Baschet Mister Blues single, 1962 or Jef Gilson‘s Jazz pour Dieu in 1967.

While Unidisc published regular library music and sound effects records during the 1970s, they gained a reputation with immaculate educational records, a genre they practically pioneered in France. These discs usually paired an educator or teacher with a composer able to come up with fresh ideas. The most famous names in the field include artists such as Dominique Laurent with Pinok & Matho, Francisco Semprun & Michel Christodoulides, Patrice Sciortino or Brigitte Jardin & Claude Marbehant.

The label is still operative and releases CDs from time to time, mostly ethnic or folk music compilations.

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Brigitte Jardin graduated as a dancer in Paris in the early 1970s. During the 1970s, she specialized in educational projects encompassing music, dance and theater. In the 1980s, she studied Acoustics at Paris’ IRCAM, while earning a living as a dance teacher. Between 1977 and 1988, she conceived five landmark LPs for French label Unidisc with music by composer Claude Marbehant (see discography below). Each album has its own theme and each track is based on a specific concept, offering educators a choice of soundtracks for physical exercise, outside world exploration, active listening and rhythm awareness. As usual with Unidisc’s educational records, often conceived in collaboration with French Ministry of Education officials, each disc comes with a detailled booklet explaining the possibilities of each track and guidelines for further uses. The educational value of these records is still praised by French educators today. In 1985, Brigitte Jardin joined Swiss actor Gérard Diggelmann’s acting school for kids in Lausanne, Switzerland, where she launched her “Baby’ Arts” workshop, a concept  for children aged 3 she still works with today. Since 2007, she turned to teaching educators how to implement her “Baby’ Arts” program with children (see official website).

♫ The tracks on “A La Découverte…” are intended as incidental music for physical exercise, drawing or acting. The sounds can also be associated with specific visual clues (pictures or geometric forms) to help the child experience something for which he/she doesn’t have a vocabulary yet. The music helps express or channel “difficult” feelings like anger, sadness or overjoy, and how to handle these situations collectively or alone. Composer Claude Marbehant’s music illustrates or suggests psychological situations with poetic, minimalist vignettes for piano, synthesizer and drums. Some tracks focus on rhythm, some on stop-start games, some on specific moods and you’d want to be a child again to discover the world anew with this music, to marvel at mechanical stairs (#09), clocks (#08) and farm animals (#07).

01 Récréation (1:30)
02 Zoom (:59)
03 Tempi-Vitalité (1:32)
04 Des Hauts et Des Bas (1:22)
05 Stop (1:02)
06 Face à Face (1:34)
07 A La Ferme (1:40)
08 Tic Tac Tic Ding (1:41)
09 Escalators (1:13)
10 Chut ! Bébé Dort (2:11)
11 Question de Temps (1:10)
12 Attention, Prêts ? Partez ! (1:15)
13 Bravo ! (1:38)
14 Dialogue de Sourds (1:00)
15 Variations (1:24)
16 Hi Han ! (1:33)
17 Un De Plus, Un De Moins (1:27)
18 Marto-Legato (1:18)
19 Aller-Retour (1:28)
20 Polyphonie (1:41)
21 Idée Fixe (1:51)
22 Après La Pluie, Le Beau Temps (1:44)

Total time 32:00
LP released by Unidisc, France, 1977

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Brigitte Jardin & Claude Marbehant discography:
1977 A La Découverte, LP, Unidisc
1980 Atmosphères, LP, Unidisc (CD reissue, Auvidis, 1998)
1983 Baby Tonic, LP, Unidisc
1985 Baby Tonic 2: l’école des sons, LP, Unidisc
1988 Jeux de Sons et de Gestes, LP, Nathan

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