PAGA group's equipment was laid out on the red-carpeted stage. Bertrand Lajudie had Korg and Roland keyboards and a Macintosh. Lead vocalist Klaus Blasquiz had lots of small, obscure percussive instruments; bells and shakers mostly, but also some Dynacord electronic pads and a few cymbals. Eric Séva had his own personalised equipment rack for his DX electric wind instrument and the score was laid out on a music stand in front of him. François Laizeau had his Gretsch-Sonor-Pearl kit and Paga would use a variety of basses. An evening of serious entertainment ensued.
With no announcements, Paga Group strode out and slid into 'Jazzobizz', Lajudie's instrumental composition from the album released last autumn, 'Gnosis' (pronounced 'guh-Noe-ziss'). Bernard Paganotti (Paga to his friends) played his Chapman Stick. While Klaus, dressed in the familiar black leather trousers and matching waistcoat, added assorted percussion, towards the end he sang a wordless refrain. The second morsel was 'Haunted', an interesting melody but those strange lyrics by Paga's old colleague, Ronnie Bird, still disturb me (they just seem too bland for the complex fusion that these musicians produce). However, when Bernard or Klaus chant wordlessly it's fine.Klötsz Zaspïaahk then introduced the line-up before returning to the new album for 'Coup de Blues' with Paga still on Stick and Eric on tenor sax. Klaus remains a very expressive singer, gesticulating and raising his arms as he gathers energy.
The fourth song was a sweet rendition of 'Urantia', one of the best post-Weidorje pieces, tonight played in a gentle, 'cocktail lounge' mode. Midway through, Paga switched to his wide-neck Jacobacci six-string bass and then Eric took a short solo before the coda.
After a short intermission, Klaus strapped on his white Fender bass and stood between François Laizeau and Paga for 'Nicklaw'. This soon led to an opportunity for an exuberant solo on the Roland from Bertrand, scurrying over the top of Klaus' omnipresent bass line. Then as the tempo increased, it was Eric's turn on tenor sax, which ushered a wild 6-string solo from Paga himself. Klaus returned to the front of the stage for the lead vocals on a much better Ronnie Bird song; 'Caravan'. The bass melodies in this are enchanting and after a few verses, Klaus harmonises with them. This song built in power and velocity as it advanced, until the transition from a jazz-fusion combo to a progressive rock band was complete. Next up was the Gothic Fusion of 'Memorial' (although Klaus misread his set list and announced 'In a Spiral', which was subsequently the source of a little humour from Bernard) for which Paga used the Chapman Stick again. At last Bertrand Lajudie booted up the Macintosh for the repetitive sequences that are so essential to Paga's finest music. Eric sat this one out.
After joking that they had already played this, Paga used his black 5-String bass for the frantic Gothic piece 'In a Spiral' from the 'Haunted' album, another real highlight in this show. Eric soloed powerfully on his DX3000 and the audience appreciated it, Klaus summoned all his breath for the chorus. Bertrand and François paid a brief homage to Weather Report and brought 'En Spiral' to a close. The penultimate number was 'King for a Day' again with the Macintosh providing sequencer backing (via a midi interface to a Prophet synth, I think). This one featured a glorious drum solo from Laizeau (who is not just ex-Offering, but works in countless other formations). For an encore, we were treated to 'Talk Back' from the eponymous first solo album by Paga (which incidentally, has the best collection of pieces of the three albums since Weidorje).It was indeed a spiritual communication with Paga that night in Paris, but now we must wait for them to tour the rest of Europe with their intriguing mix of jazz, fusion and progressive music.
LP Weidorje Weidorje (Cobra 37014) 1978 CD Weidorje Weidorje (Musea FGBG 4058.ar) 1992 LP Bernard Paganotti Paga (Cream 120) 1985 CD Bernard Paganotti Paga (Columbia 468441 2) 1991 LP Paga Group Haunted (BIeu Citron BLC 004) 1988 CD Paga Group Haunted (BIeu Citron BLC-D 004) 1988 CD Paga Group Gnosis (Bleu Citron BLC D 016) 1993
If this formation which reunites Bernard Paganotti with his sidemen is rarely seen on stage it is not due to lack of vitality or generosity. The virtuoso qualities of PAGA are well known, as is the propensity of Klaus Blasquiz to make the music breath as only he knows how. There is also the human aspect, a smile from them, a joke to make light of a musical mistake from the band, in order to retain the impression of a vast spirit, a real respect for the people. Their facility is of course stunning but here it's not mere technical exhibitionism. And then it's true that these are musicians that are always a pleasure to see and hear, by faithfulness to a certain past, this is undeniable. But where endless anonymous studio work has broken some dreams, it is comforting to see some musicians who have kept this will to suggest something that the accumulation of sessions has not succeeded in erasing. PAGA GROUP is also one of the few attempts to make fusion music which is not uniquely founded on cross-Atlantic influences, but which takes the European heritage into reckoning. In fact they are evidently the continuation of WEIDORJE but also tangible proof that all the work of MAGMA, in their grand era, was not in vain.