Alain Mion (the pianist) and Alain Gandolfi (the drummer) are the two main figures at the Cortex origin. Alain Mion was born in Casablanca, 1947. It’s here that Alain Gandolfi, the drummer, grew up. This is where his love for jazz and soul began. His professional debuts as an artist began in the 60’s, performing with his own band at the Blue Note. He also performed at other festivals with Philly Joe Jones and Hank Mobley. In 1974, he was inspired by Chick Corea, Hancock and Zoe Zawinul’s music. He then became a partner with Alain Gandolfi to create Cortex (the outer portion of the brain that receives sensory perception). One year later, they signed “Troupeau Bleu”, their first opus. It was a unique opus with a jazzy funky sound and a touch of melancholy. Jean Grevet, bass player, and Mireille Dalbray, singer, are the core of the band. Their unique voices give the album its uniqueness. The album’s musical richest will be heard many times, especially “La Rue” (or “8 octobre”)… More than 7 000 copies were sold at that time. Also, 10 000 copies have been reissued. Impressive! The soundtrack to a movie was an instrumental track in “Temptations” style. The film was ripped and rushed to pieces, but it was destroyed in a fire. You might find a rare pressing… Watch out for crate diggers! They recorded their second album in 1977. It was a much lower quality than “Troupeau bleu”. Esperance was entrusted with the artistic selection of the title and cover. He used an illustration from Ben Hur to name it vol 2. It was over with Esperance. 1978 saw a new beginning under the label “Crypto”, which produced the album “Pourquoi” in a studio located in Antibes (South of France). It was no longer possible to achieve the alchemy of “Troupeau Bleu”, and only two co-founders remained, along with some studio musicians. Gandolfi and Mion worked in radio and advertising, where they created jingles. They separated in the early 80’s. Gandolfi moved to sound engineering and Alain Mion returned to his original, more acoustic, love of the piano. Alain Mion started to compose its own music in the 1990’s, and then played some classic jazz songs with Alain Mion in New York. This decade saw a surge in groove and 70’s revival, which allowed people to re-discover the band through many compilations. This was also the age of sampling. Not all sampling is done within the rules. (See the lawsuit against Bob Sinclar to see a less delicate sample ). We would need to wait for 2006’s “Inedit 79” record under the label Underdog to hear about this legendary band, whose recordings date back to 27 years ago. We still don’t know much about the publication of Jazz Magazine 578, in which Cortex was chosen as one of the 70 Groove jewels and the only French artist nominated! Funky Jazz anthology that will make Headhunters envy! from http://www.groovecollector.com
