By the 1970’s, the global jazz-rock fusion scene was in high gear. In France, a new instrumental jazz-rock band called Coincidence began playing live. Featuring the twin lead guitar sound of Jean-Pierre Llabador and his brother Jean-Claude, Coincidence released two exciting studio albums of instrumental fusion when Jean-Claude was killed in a car crash.

Following that tragedy, Jean-Pierre Llabador went on to a successful recording career with his 1983 solo debut album entitled Coincidences.

Now in 2024, we are lucky that Jean-Pierre Llabador is still with us. Following two heart attacks and a car crash that almost took his life in the early 2020’s, he returns with Castle Records and the promise of his new solo album on the way.

First on Castle is a live Coincidence album called Archives 1973-1974. With its jazzy, prog-fusion instrumental and vocal performances, Coincidence: Archives 1973-1974 features 4 tracks, including the 30+ minute “Glimpse”, with the CD/LP clocking in at 50 minutes. Featured on this rare Coincidence live album are Jean Pierre Llabador (guitars, vocals) and Jean-Claude Llabador (guitars, vocals and keyboards) backed by a full band.

1. Glimpse - (30:07) 2. Astronaut / Juggernaut - (12:40) 3. Suite Pt. 1 - (2:08) 4. Suite Pt. 2 - (4:34)

On this rare live album of Coincidence, we find the Llabador brothers, Jean-Pierre (electric guitars) and Jean-Claude (electric guitars and keyboards) with the support of Dominique Frasson-Cochet (flute, saxophone, vocals), André Simantirakis (bass, vocals) and René Mirguet (drums, percussion).

It is a most rapturous four track musical experience, of that you have my word, especially with stand out cuts such as the thirty minute opener Glimpse and the twelve minute opus Astronaut / Juggernaut.

Oh, and Coincidence’s long-time sound engineer, Guy Simon, is back on site and he has done a great job of restoring the tape transfer to CD and LP.

Musicians: Jean-Claude Llabador (g,k,v) / Jean Pierre Llabador (g,v) / Dominique Frasson-Cochet ( f,s,v), André Simantirakis (b,v) and René Mirguet (d).

Also reissued on CD/LP for the first time are the two studio albums by Coincidence. First is Mets Tes Lunettes Et Ecoute Comme Ca Sent Bon! (Vol.1), a reissue of the 1976 self-titled Coincidence LP.

1. Berceuse Chinoise / Chinese Lullaby (5:28) 2. Les Grenouilles / Froggies (7:13) 3. Soleils / Sunlight (2:25) 4. Sequences (5:36) 5. Canevas / Weaver’s Opus (3:21) 6. Sucre D’orge / Barley Sugar (4:12)

With Jean-Pierre (guitars) and Jean-Claude (keyboards, guitars) at the helm of all compositions and arrangements, this first Coincidence line-up also includes Jean-Pierre Barreda (bass) and the late drummer Jacky Cataldo. The LP and CD reissue of this first Coincidence album is rightly dedicated to Jean-Claude and Jacky Cataldo.

And I can’t imagine a more gracious gesture of gratitude from Jean-Pierre Llabador, the composer and guitar icon who suffered the loss of his older brother at such a young age.

It opens on the veritably luminously grooved Berceuse Chinoise / Chinese Lullaby and then brings us the delightfully airy funk of Les Grenouilles / Froggies, the translucently-effortless Soleils / Sunlight, the all-embracing Sequences, the recording rounding out on the orchestrally-hued magnificence of Canevas / Weaver’s Opus, closing on the joyful hop-skip of the flirtatious Sucre D’orge / Barley Sugar.

Filled with melodic instrumental guitar/keyboard tracks, the six-track album is just under half an hour long and yet ranks among the truly memorable jazz-rock albums of the 1970s or indeed any decade since or before.

Musicians: Jean-Claude Llabador (g,k) / Jean Pierre Llabador (g) / Jean Pierre Barreda (b) / Jacky Cataldo (d).

That is followed by the final Coincidence album from 1979, Clef de Ciel (Key Of The Sky), here billed as Mets Tes Lunettes Et Ecoute Comme Ca Sent Bon! (Vol.2).

1. L’Autre Face / The Other Side (4:16) 2. Miroir / Mirror (2:31) 3. Agawe (7:31) 4. A Toi, A Moi / Let’s Talk It Over (3:06) 5. Azigu / Fantasy Land (4:34) 6. Exile #1 (4:30) 7. Si T’es Reggae / Digging Reggae? (3:06) 8. Tu Parles / Keep Talking (4:23) 9. Cote Cour, Cote Jardin / O.P. – P.S. (3:23)

The best of this French band with a sad existence was Coincidence’s last album, Clef de Ciel. At the height of the truly revolutionary French instrumental jazz-rock albums of the twentieth century, the album, here entitled Mets Tes Lunettes and Ecoute Comme Ca Sent! (Vol. 2), represented Coincidence at its peak.

It opens on both the luxuriant L’Autre Face / The Other Side and the transformative Miroir / Mirror, and also brings forth the smooth-grooved A Toi, A Moi / Let’s Talk It Over, the beguiling musical majesties within Azigu / Fantasy Land, not to mention the dulcet hipsway that ebbs and flows throughout Tu Parles / Keep Talking.

Reissued here for the first time in its original composition, Clef Du Ciel has lost none of its sonorous brilliance and infinite brilliance. Musicians: Jean-Claude Llabador (g,k) / Jean Pierre Llabador (g) / Michel Montoyat (b) / Joel Allouche (d) / Jacky Cataldo (d,p).

With a new Jean-Pierre Llabador album on the way, these three artifacts from the heyday of long lost instrumental art rock fusion legends Coincidence is a great place to start.

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