![]() ![]() His most famous venture was far from his first, spending time rubbing shoulders with jazz legends, honing his sound until it was his time to create his own direction. And before Cortex, Mion was active, attempting to find footing within the halls of French music through trios and quartets. The Parisian jazz scene, rich in both history and romance from years of artistry before him, owes much of its continuation to Mion’s genius (which he sheepishly denies when mentioning his own impact).Įven as Cortex went on an extended hiatus, Mion continued to make music under his own name, venturing out into the world of easy-listening jazz with elite precision. Through it all, Mion’s been the singular constant. ![]() Each has been used extensively as samples, even as group members left and joined up over the decades. And that’s just for the band’s first album: Vol. When you get sampled officially 164 times (according to WhoSampled) by the likes of MF DOOM, Madlib, and Rick Ross, there’s a certain aura surrounding your artistry. Add in the haunting vocals of the late Mireille Dalbray, and tracks like “Prélude à Go Round” and “Huit octobre 1971” become instantly recognizable to a music listener with a beating pulse. The intricate five-piece jazz band compositions, toeing the line between serene and frantic, provided a wide range of source material for rappers to mine. It’d be borderline impossible to tell stories of modern rap without Cortex’s 1975 release, Tropeau Bleu. The French pianist, born in 1947 and who started pounding the keys at the age of six, is the brain trust behind the jazz band Cortex, the founder of the group whose dreamy blues and jazz melodies have acted as a treasure trove to rap producers for decades. Yet when you search his name on Google, all you really get is a barebones Wikipedia page, links to online records of his discography, and the occasional interview sprinkled over a 50-year career. In the annals of music history, it’s impossible to step through hip hop’s countless samples without interacting with Mion. Even so, this is the perception that surrounds Alain Mion. It doesn’t make sense on paper: somebody who’s integral to the fabric of both jazz and hip hop should have their name ring out in the cultural lexicon. Matthew Ritchie believes that F1 is the most hilarious casual sport because it’s really just various French people getting upset.īeing simultaneously anonymous and legendary in the music industry is a curious existence. Support real, independent music journalism by subscribing to Passion of the Weiss on Patreon. ![]()
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March 2023
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