Jean Michel Jarre

Jean-Michel André Jarre (born 24 August 1948, Lyon) is a French composer, performer and music producer. Although his works were initially released using a hyphenated "Jean-Michel", it is worth noting that since 1991 he has chosen not to use the hyphen. He is regarded as a pioneer in the electronic, synthpop, ambient and New Age genres, as well as an organiser of outdoor spectacles of his music which feature lights, laser displays and fireworks including the 1997 New Guinness Book of Records entry for the biggest concert ever with 3.5 million watching at Moscow's 850th anniversary. Jarre has sold an estimated 80 million albums and singles.

Commercially, his most successful albums remain his first two mainstream releases, Oxygène and Equinoxe.

Awards and recognition

* 1976 - Grand Prix du Disque by L'Académie Charles Cros, for Oxygene.
* 1976 - "Personality of The Year" by People magazine (U.S.).
* 1979 - Guinness Book of Records entry for the biggest concert ever (La Concorde).
* 1981 - Honorary member of the Beijing Conservatory of Music.
* 1984 - Grand Prix du Disque by L'Académie Charles Cros, for Zoolook.
* 1985 - Instrumental album of the year, at the Victoires de la Musique in France, for Zoolook.
* 1986 - Instrumental album of the year, at the Victoires de la Musique, for Rendez-vous.
* 1986 - Musical spectacle of the year, at the Victoires de la Musique, for the Rendez-Vous Houston concert.
* 1987 - New Guinness Book of Records entry for the biggest concert ever (Rendez-Vous Houston).
* 1987 - "European musician Person of the Year" by People magazine.
* 1990 - New Guinness Book of Records entry for the biggest concert ever (Paris La Defense: A City in Concert).
* 1993 - UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador.
* 1994 - Awarded Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur from the French Government.
* 1997 - New Guinness Book of Records entry for the biggest concert ever with 3.5 million watching at Moscow's 850th anniversary.
* 1998 - IFPI's Platinum Europe Award.
* 2005 - HCA Ambassador for the Hans Christian Andersen 2005 Bicentenary Festival.
* 2006 - Polish Television Academy's "Super Wiktor" award for "Space of Freedom".
* 2006 - Gdańsk's Man Of The Year 2005 Award.
* 2007 - Eska Music Awards Special Award.
* 2008 - Doctor Honoris Causa by the Mendeleev Russian University of Chemistry and Technology.[37][38]

An asteroid, 4422 Jarre, has been named in honor of him.[39]

Discography

* Freedom Day With Samuel Hobo (1970)
* Deserted Palace (1972)
* Les Granges brûlées (1973)
* Oxygène (1976 in France, 1977 worldwide)
* Équinoxe (1978)
* Magnetic Fields (Les Chants Magnétiques) (1981)
* The Concerts in China (Les Concerts en Chine) (1982)
* Music for Supermarkets (Musique pour Supermarché) (1983, only one copy printed)
* Zoolook (1984)
* Rendez-Vous (1986)
* Revolutions (1988)
* Waiting for Cousteau (En attendant Cousteau) (1990)
* Chronologie (1993)
* Oxygene 7–13 (1997)
* Métamorphoses (2000)
* Interior Music (2001, Limited Edition for Bang & Olufsen, 1000 copies printed)
* Sessions 2000 (2002)
* Geometry of Love (2003)
* AERO (2004)
* Live from Gdańsk (2005)
* Téo & Téa (2007)
* Oxygene – Live In Your Living Room (2007)

Concerts

During his career, and especially before 1990, Jean Michel Jarre has given relatively few concerts. Most of these concerts have been big scale spectacles, often with audiences of millions, and using large buildings or even entire cities as stage. He has toured just four times, the first one in China during 1981, twice in Europe during the 1990s, and also in 2008.

Notable instruments

Throughout his concerts, Jarre uses several unusual or custom-built instruments. Some of these are:

* The theremin, an early electronic instrument
* The laser harp
* The Stylophone
* Korg PS-3300
* The Cristal Baschet[40]
* The Yamaha WX5 Midi Flute
* The Digisequencer (1978) and Matrisequencer (1993), electronic sequencers designed and built by Michel Geiss
* Several unique MIDI keyboards designed by LAG:
o Circular shaped keyboards: Clavier Lumineux (1986), Clavier Circulaire 1 (1988), Clavier Circulaire 2 (or Magic) (1990)
o Keytars: Insecte (1988), Mad Max 1 (1988), Mad Max 2 (1990), Otineau (1991)
o Console: Meuble (or Grand Central) (1988), contained 1 octave keys from the Clavier Lumineux, the 96-key Clavier Circulaire, EMS Synthi AKS, Roland D-550, two monitor for partitions, Octapad drums, and a clock.
* Custom-painted Yamaha Yamaha KX-5 Keytar with extended handgrip (two different versions, 1986 and 1988)
* In his more recent concerts (such as the ones in China at the Forbidden City) Jarre has also started to play the accordion for songs such as "Chronologie VI".