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BMC Records album among the top 10 jazz records of 2020

The Academié Charles Cros, the music institute of French experts and critics, has been awarding outstanding music recordings in various genres since 1948. The album Rebellion(s) – released by BMC Records – received the 2020 Coup de Coeur Award as one of the top 10 jazz records of the year.

Rebellion(s) is the child of two outstanding saxophonists, Sylvain Rifflet from France, and Jon Irabagon from the US, and was born of their conviction that even today jazz can act as a megaphone for the most burning social issues of the day. The basis for these compositions are emblematic speeches from past and present, and they show the diversity of voices of resistance in various areas. The fiery words of André Malraux, Greta Thunberg, Emma Gonzalès, Olympe de Gouges, and Paul Robeson shake us up from the position of leisurely listeners, while in the tension of the music we hear the fomenting passion of John Coltrane, Sun Ra, or Ornette Coleman. In all of this, his two saxophonist companions are Sébastien Boisseau on double bass and Jim Black on drums.

The album has received several significant French accolades since its release last year and got the highest ratings everywhere. Jazz Magazine praised the album with the CHOC (‘shock’) sticker, Telerama awarded the release four notes (the highest rating possible), and Citizenjazz magazine recognized the album with the Élu certification. The laudation by Daniel Yvinec praises the ability to give a positive and universal meaning to the fight and rebellion as one of the album’s greatest strengths, all by choosing the most accurate musical enviroment possible.

Alongside Rebellion(s), the Academié Charles Cros jazz top 10 list features albums by such world-famous musicmakers as trumpet player Ambrose Akinmusire, as well as one of the most popular jazz musicians of today, Christian Scott, the legendary Dave Liebman (who also released an album on BMC Records last year), plus French music icons such as accordion player Vincent Peiriani and saxophonist Émile Parisien. With Rebellion(s) BMC Records is listed on the same platform as the world famous Blue Note Records; Europe’s largest independent contemporary music label, ECM; and the similarly prestigious German label ACT.