Waiting for Cousteau
Encyclopedia
Waiting for Cousteau is the seventh overall studio album
by Jean Michel Jarre
, released on Disques Dreyfus
, licensed to Polydor, in 1990. The album was dedicated to Jacques-Yves Cousteau
and was released on his 80th birthday 11 June 1990. The title of the album is a reference to Samuel Beckett
's play
Waiting for Godot
. The album has been acclaimed by critics as one of Jarre's greatest works, due to its extreme stylistic differences from his other albums, especially the title track, which Allmusic describes as "groundbreaking stuff".
The album reached Number 9 in the UK charts.
style and an edited version of the music he produced for Concert d'Images, an exhibition
which contained photographs and selected objects from Jarre's concerts. The original plan was to release the album edit of the track as a promo CD single
, but those plans were abandoned. On vinyl and cassette tape the title track was edited to only 22 minutes due to the lack of space on the formats.
Jarre utilised the unedited version as an ambient audience "warm-up" in the hours prior to the Paris la Defense
concert in 1990 (and also in many concerts after this "first"), played on the specially installed public address sound system scattered throughout Paris for this event.
Early promos for the album had the title track named "Cousteau on the Beach", but was renamed later, because Jacques-Yves Cousteau thought beaches are an environmental disaster.
The last track En Attendant Cousteau was also used in the soundtrack to a documentary entitled "Palawan: Le Dernier Refuge" by oceanographer Jacques-Yves Cousteau.
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by Jean Michel Jarre
Jean Michel Jarre
Jean Michel André Jarre is a French composer, performer and music producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and New Age genres, and known as an organiser of outdoor spectacles of his music featuring lights, laser displays, and fireworks.Jarre was raised in Lyon by his mother and...
, released on Disques Dreyfus
Disques Dreyfus
Disques Dreyfus is a record label which is currently home to artists such as Klement Julienne. Jean Michel Jarre was part of the label for more than 20 years.Francis Dreyfus founded Disque Dreyfus in 1985...
, licensed to Polydor, in 1990. The album was dedicated to Jacques-Yves Cousteau
Jacques-Yves Cousteau
Jacques-Yves Cousteau was a French naval officer, explorer, ecologist, filmmaker, innovator, scientist, photographer, author and researcher who studied the sea and all forms of life in water...
and was released on his 80th birthday 11 June 1990. The title of the album is a reference to Samuel Beckett
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
's play
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
Waiting for Godot
Waiting for Godot
Waiting for Godot is an absurdist play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for someone named Godot to arrive. Godot's absence, as well as numerous other aspects of the play, have led to many different interpretations since the play's...
. The album has been acclaimed by critics as one of Jarre's greatest works, due to its extreme stylistic differences from his other albums, especially the title track, which Allmusic describes as "groundbreaking stuff".
The album reached Number 9 in the UK charts.
Track listing
- "Calypso" – 8:24
- "Calypso Part 2" – 7:10
- "Calypso Part 3 (Fin de Siècle)" – 6:28
- "Waiting for Cousteau" – 46:55
Track details
The title track is a composition in the ambientAmbient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
style and an edited version of the music he produced for Concert d'Images, an exhibition
Art exhibition
Art exhibitions are traditionally the space in which art objects meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is rarely true, it is stated to be a "permanent exhibition". In American English, they may be called "exhibit", "exposition" or...
which contained photographs and selected objects from Jarre's concerts. The original plan was to release the album edit of the track as a promo CD single
CD single
A CD single is a music single in the form of a standard size Compact Disc, not to be confused with the 3-inch CD single, which uses a smaller form factor. The format was introduced in the mid-1980s, but did not gain its place in the market until the early 1990s...
, but those plans were abandoned. On vinyl and cassette tape the title track was edited to only 22 minutes due to the lack of space on the formats.
Jarre utilised the unedited version as an ambient audience "warm-up" in the hours prior to the Paris la Defense
Paris la Defense
Paris La Defense - Une Ville En Concert was a concert held by musician Jean Michel Jarre on the district of La Défense in Paris on Bastille Day, July 14, 1990. About 2.5 million people standing in front of the pyramidical stage all the way down to the Arc de Triomphe witnessed this event, setting a...
concert in 1990 (and also in many concerts after this "first"), played on the specially installed public address sound system scattered throughout Paris for this event.
Early promos for the album had the title track named "Cousteau on the Beach", but was renamed later, because Jacques-Yves Cousteau thought beaches are an environmental disaster.
The last track En Attendant Cousteau was also used in the soundtrack to a documentary entitled "Palawan: Le Dernier Refuge" by oceanographer Jacques-Yves Cousteau.
Personnel
- Jean Michel JarreJean Michel JarreJean Michel André Jarre is a French composer, performer and music producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and New Age genres, and known as an organiser of outdoor spectacles of his music featuring lights, laser displays, and fireworks.Jarre was raised in Lyon by his mother and...
– keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments... - The Amoco Renegades – steel drums
- Guy Delacroix – bassBass (instrument)Bass describes musical instruments that produce tones in the low-pitched range. They belong to different families of instruments and can cover a wide range of musical roles...
- Christophe Deschamps – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
- Michel Geiss – keyboards
- Dominique Perrier – keyboards
External links
- Waiting for Cousteau at DiscogsDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...
- Waiting for Cousteau at JarreUK