Brion Gysin

Brion Gysin (January 19, 1916 in Taplow, Buckinghamshire, UK - July 13, 1986 in Paris, France) was a writer and painter.He is best known for his rediscovery of Tristan Tzara's cut-up technique while cutting through a newspaper upon which he was trimming some mats. He shared his discovery with his friend William S. Burroughs, who subsequently put the cut-up technique to good use and dramatically changed the landscape of American literature.Educated in England, at Downside College (1932-34), he moved to Paris where he studied at the Sorbonne. Among those he met at this time are renowned members of the Surrealist group, including Max Ernst, Salvador and Gala Dali and Picasso. Gysin’s work was included in the Surrealist Drawings exhibition in Paris in 1935 (Galerie Quatre).He first visited the Algerian Sahara in 1938, a journey that was to have a deep and lasting influence on his life. Equally significant to the form of his later giant landscape paintings were the years he spent in New York working as assistant to Broadway stage designer Irene Sharaff (1940-43). In 1953, having returned to North Africa, Gysin opened the Thousand and One Nights restaurant, where the Master Musicians of Joujouka played an ‘extended residency’.Gysin altered the cut-up technique to produce what he called permutation poems in which a single phrase was repeated several times, with the words rearranged in a different order with each reiteration. Many of these permutations were derived using a random sequence generator in an early computer program written by Ian Sommerville.He also experimented with permutation on recording tape, by splicing together the sounds of a gun firing recorded at different amplitudes in the BBC Radiophonic Workshop thus producing 'Pistol Poem.' The piece was subsequently used as a theme in 1960 for the performance in Paris of Le Domaine Poetique, a showcase for experimental works by people like Gysin, Françoise Dufrêne, Bernard Heidsieck, and Henri Chopin.




Steve Lacy / Brion Gysin


Songs (1981)

Style: Free Jazz
Credits: Artwork By - Brion Gysin
Composed By - Oliver Johnson (tracks: B2) , Steve Lacy
Bass - Jean-Jacques Avenel
Drums - Oliver Johnson
Lyrics By - Brion Gysin
Piano - Bobby Few (2)
Saxophone [Alto] - Steve Potts
Saxophone [Soprano] - Steve Lacy , Steve Potts
Violin - Irene Aebi
Voice - Brion Gysin (tracks: B2, C1) , Irene Aebi , Steve Lacy (tracks: D1)

Recorded on January 28 and 29, 1981 in Paris (France).
Packed in a folding carton, lyrics printed on inner carton (packaging concept by Werner X. Uehlinger).
A second 7" represents the sides E and F of SONGS; it was given away by Hat Hut to friends and journalists.
1989 re-released on CD as hat ART 6045.Re-issued 2006.




Poems Of Poems LP (1997)


A Poems Of Poems (14:18)
B Poems Of Poems (15:40)

Spoken Word
Recorded in 1958 at the Beat Hotel, Paris. Edition of 630 copies.



One Night @ The 1001 Vol: 1 (1998)

One Night at The 1001

The first CD contains Jajouka and other traditional moroccan musicians specialized in exorcism and trance. These recordings were made by Brion Gysin in the early 1950s.

Dilaloo

The second CD contains Brion Gysin's personal take on a initiation ceremony in which he took part in the village of Jajouka around 1955. Accompanying sound was created by Ramuntcho Matta.

First Edition: Digipack with Sticker:
"pioneer Moroccan nusic from the 50's + bonus cd from Brion Gysin's archives - introduction text by Paul Bowles"




The Pool K III (1998)


1 A (7:52)
2 B (11:39)
3 C (10:13)
4 D (10:09)
5 Wind (1:52)
6 E (13:02)
7 F (12:13)
8 G (3:16)

Sounds from a swimming-pool and compositions by Brion Gysin with unidentified musicians. Recorded by Brion Gysin in the late 1950s or early 1960s.



Bruits Du Beaubourg LP(2001)


A Bruits Du Beaubourg (Part 1) (19:51)
B Bruits Du Beaubourg (Part 2) (20:20)



Live In London 1982 (2007)


1 Welcome (0:54)
2 Minutes To Go (4:38)
3 Cut-Ups (1959) (3:08)
4 Teaching (25:17)
5 Illusion (3:45)
6 Minutes To Go #2 (2:02)
7 Ad Lib (7:16)
8 Impro: 1 (8:13)
9 Cut-Ups: 1960 (Bardo Hotel) (3:34)
10 Ahead, Ahead: 93 Million Miles Away (3:27)

Cello, Bass - Tessa
Drums - Steve Noble
Percussion - Jail
Lyrics By, Voice - Brion Gysin
Producer, Music By, Guitar, Electronics - Ramuntcho Matta

Free Improvisation, Spoken Word, Experimental, Funk


Right Here Where You Are Sitting Now 7" (1996)


A A New Kind Of Paper 4:15
B A Series Of Living Presences 4:40

Bass - Edvard Graham Lewis
Drums - Obo (3)
Guitar - Pétur Hallgrímsson
Voice - Brion Gysin , Sólveug Anna

Limited to 333 numbered copies.
Recorded, manipulated, experienced and constructed at NT&V, Reykjavík, Iceland, and the GOD mobile facility by The Hafler Trio for a lot of very good reasons under certain circumstances.

The Cold Spring Tape 1
The Cold Spring Tape 2
A very experimental tape of poetry, sounds, interviews and samples made by Brion Gysin, William Burroughs and Genesis P-Orridge. Sometimes funny, sometimes weird, sometimes scary, always interesting


Interview 21-06-81



The Third Mind (pdf)- Burroughs & Gysin Classic.


A Review of Who Runs May Read by Brion Gysin