Jean-Michel Jarre gave a series of five concerts in Beijing and Shanghai in 1981, marking the first time a modern Western musical artist had performed in communist China. Mao let him do the concerts because, according to Jarre’s biography, he liked the color of his eyes more than anything else. Recognizing the historical significance of the whole undertaking and the milestone it represented in Jarre’s career, a double live album of these concerts was released the following year by Disques Dreyfus, entitled The Concerts In China. The album is half a musical journey with new pieces, possibly inspired by China, and half pieces from the artist’s previous work, with excerpts from Equinoxe and Magnetic Fields, altered and with new musical parts, as well as excerpts of Chinese dialogue. There was always a strong visual component to Jarre’s live shows, which left the listener outside of the album, but even without the lights and lasers the music was something that listeners were interested in.

There are no bad tracks on this album. Highlights of the show include “Fishing Junks At Sunset,” a welcome respite from Jarre’s then-extremely modern, oriental-inflected music, as well as new works like “Arpegiator” and “Night In Shanghai,” which compare favorably to the streamlined sound of early-’80s Tangerine Dream. All of the tracks are musical creations that conjure up excellent mental images. By linking these pieces with dialogue and street noises, the concert acquires a good connective content, although the two enjoyable interludes, with “Band In The Rain” and “The Last Rhumba”, make it much nicer. Those who had the albums Equinoxe and Magnetic Fields and were expecting to hear a new performance of them will not find any new surprises in The Concerts In China except for a short ping-pong match inexplicably called “Magnetic Fields I”.

The track “Arpegiator” was used in the soundtrack of the film 9½ Weeks as well as in some episodes of the American soap opera Santa Barbara in the mid-80s. The track that starts the album, “The Overture”, is the first part of “Magnetic Fields Part 1” somewhat slowed down.

Jarre really gave the audience heart attacks at all his concerts when he came off the stage with a portable keyboard and let the crowd play all the new instruments. He also introduced his laser harp for the first time, a Yamaha DX21 that had been converted to play notes when he cut a laser beam with his hand, wearing a special glove. The audience thought this was a trick but it wasn’t. The album reached No. 6 in the UK charts and No. 1 in Portugal.

From this truly historic album I select “Souvenir Of China”.
 
Tracklist

A1. The Overture 4:50
A2. Arpegiator 6:53
A3. Equinoxe IV 7:45

B1. Fishing Junks At Sunset 9:45
B2. Band In The Rain 1:21
B3. Equinoxe VII 9:53

C1. Orient Express 4:21
C2. Magnetic Fields I 0:21
C3. Magnetic Fields III 3:50
C4. Magnetic Fields IV 10:37
C5. Laser Harp 3:36

D1. Night In Shanghai 7:01
D2. The Last Rumba 2:12
D3. Magnetic Fields II 6:16
D4. Souvenir Of China 3:59