Hidden for decades, these 1979 unreleased Cortex tracks—recorded in a rustic barn studio—resurfaced after Damso's iconic sample. Now reissued by Trad Vibe Records with original 1973 artwork. A tribute to timeless jazz-funk.

"In 1977, it was love at first sight when Mireille and I bought a long 18th-century farmhouse in a remote hamlet in the Seine-et-Marne department called Noisement.
The barn, with its majestic secular exposed beams, became an original recording studio where Alain Gandolfi settled behind the console.

Free of any contractual obligations, between two advertising commissions, a regular jazz program on a Radio France FM station, and the recording of jingles and a few albums by neighboring musician friends such as Siegfried Kessler, Rosalie Dubois and Claude Giacomi, we recorded some twenty Cortex tracks here, which would remain unreleased long after our separation in 1981.

Fortunately rediscovered 25 years later, when I decided to re-form Cortex, the first edition of the “Inedits 79” album had only a limited edition... Until its discovery and the use of a sample of my track
“I Heard a Sigh” in Amnésie by Damso.
This sample became legendary and was later used in the USA by Raekwon and Masta Killa from Wu Tang, Blockhead, Sopico, etc.

The cover of this new edition by Trad Vibe Records is based on the original poster for Cortex's first concert, created in 1973 by my graphic designer friend Jean-Jacques Grand.

Thank you all for your support,"

Alain Mion founder and leader of Cortex