• Francis Dreyfus, iconic French producer whose work encompassed the sixties through to the 21st century, died in June 2010. Apart from his label Dreyfus Music, one of the biggest independent Jazz and French Music labels in France, his main legacy is as producer and label to Jean Michel Jarre, with whom for a period of 25 years he sold many millions of albums in all corners of the world.

• The new 2CD set ‘Essentials & Rarities’ is Jean Michel Jarre’s tribute to Francis Dreyfus.

• ‘Essentials’ is a thoughtfully chosen selection of tracks from the Dreyfus period, covering the giant albums Oxygene, Equinoxe, Chants Magnétiques and more, digitally remastered in a very special and careful way, by going back to the original analogue master tapes from the recording studio at the time, and applying up-to date remastering technology. This system has bypassed the remastering mania of the 90’s, where often chunks of sound would be missed in a pixellated digital soup. The result is every bit as good as the original sound, carrying depth and range and conveying the original excitement of Jarre’s cutting-edge music as it was conceived.

• ‘Rarities’ is a real find for any Jarre completist or fan. It covers mainly material recorded prior to the emergence of Oxygene, some not commercially released, and none ever seen on CD before. At the time, Jarre was a student under Pierre Schaeffer, the creator of Musique Concrète, and the man behind the idea of music moving away from traditional instrumentation, towards a sound-based appreciation whatever the source. Experimentation with sounds abounds on these recordings, which are again given the same meticulous remastering treatment.

• Jarre’s relevance today continues as a recording artist, and as a helmsman for a stunning live show, which holds world records for attendance numbers in many countries. As an electronic music creator, his musical influences have filtered audibly down through the 90’s and naughties dance generations, who owe much to his experimental attitude.