Art Zoyd

by John Bush
The French avant-prog unit (with no member actually named Art Zoyd) formed around the core of bassist Thierry Zaboitzeff, percussionist Jean-Pierre Soarez, and violin player Gerard Hourbette, with guitarist Rocco Fernandez, pianist Patricia Dallio, percussionist Daniel Denis (who later formed Univers Zero) and a changing lineup of half-a-dozen additional instrumentalists. The group's first album, Symphonie Pour le Jour Ou Bruleront les Cités, was self-released in 1976, followed by albums for Recommended and the French Atem label. The year 1982 brought their acknowledged masterpiece, the double-LP Phase IV. Two subsequent albums, Les Espaces Inquiets and Le Mariage Du Cial Et de L'Enfer, were followed by a Zaboitzeff solo album, Prométhée, in 1984. Zaboitzeff and Hourbette continued the group into the 1990s, composing the music for the Faust soundtrack album released in 1995 on Atonal. The Ubique live album followed in 2001, performed by a massive ensemble including Hourbette, Dallio, Denis, and Mirielle Bauer, a former member of Pierre Moerlen's Gong.