promoting the works of Paul and Jane Bowles in the written, musical and theatre forms and working with caring attitude towards helping people in need in Morocco visited by people who like Paul Bowles from more than 119 countries This website online since May 1st 2000 Copyright Notice This page is the work of The International Paul Bowles Society and has previously been published in our printed publications ©The International Paul Bowles Society, 2000 Brion Gysin 1916-1986 Brion Gysin (above) was an excellent artist. He created many works of art, including the artwork for the LP cover of the Paul Bowles 'Hundred Camels in the Courtyard'. Some of his works are housed in the American Legation Museum in Tangier. On Meeting Paul and Jane Bowles Brion Gysin first met Jane Bowles in Paris in 1938, where he was studying literature at the Sorbonne and also painting. He and Paul Bowles later became friends in New York during the war years and used to go to Concerts together, before Gysin went into the Army. Brion Gysin in Morocco Gysin first arrived in Morocco, on Paul's suggestion, in 1950, after completing his Fulbright project in Bordeaux, France, and stayed for many years. It was Brion who suggested to Paul that he buy a car, and Paul bought his first one, a Jaguar. Together they made many car trips throughout the whole of Morocco. Although Brion had previously met William Burroughs in Tangier (who was writing 'The Naked Lunch' there at the time) they had not hit it off, and Bowles reintroduced the two men, for what turned out to be a more than thirty year deep friendship. Brion's love of Moroccan music Brion owned the Tangier restaurant called '1001 Nights' (now called 'Café Detroit') which was a very popular place to eat, both for Moroccans and expatriates. Gysin used the restaurant to showcase the talents of his 'house band' - The Master Musicians of Jajouka, a Moroccan music band. Brion played a large part in bringing the Master Musicians of Jajouka to the attention of westerners. Gysin was continually interested in the magic and mysticism of Morocco. Both Paul Bowles and Brion Gysin liked the indigenous music of Morocco, and in 1965, during a trance ritual, they together taped sessions of music by the Jilala of Tangier (a religious brotherhood,) which was produced by Ira Cohen in New York, another good friend of Paul's, who spent a lot of time travelling between NY, Amsterdam, Nepal and Morocco. Another collaboration that Bowles and Gysin had together was on the recording of sounds recorded in the late 1950's in Italy, (at Lago di Orta, near Genoa) by a swimming pool, and which became known as 'The Pool KIII' (Alga Marghen 7NMN.024) Daevid Allen was not part of these recordings as some people had previously speculated. Click here to hear some sounds from the Pool! Gysin moved to Fez and stayed in Morocco until December 1964, when he and Burroughs returned to New York to work on and try to market the 'Dreamachine.' They took Larbi Layachi along with them and Paul Bowles had just translated his first book 'A Life Full of Holes' from the Moghrabi into English. Layachi never returned to Morocco. Brion later moved to Paris and lived there until his death, of a heart attack, in 1986. A memorial service was held for him in Tangier, followed by the scattering of his ashes into the sea near the Cave of Hercules. Paul Bowles was informed of Brion's death by Marguerite McBey, and was there to see the last journey of his old friend. Brion Gysin and the Dreamachine Brion Gysin was the main exponent of the 'Dreamachine.' William S. Burroughs, (at right,) was a great friend of Brion Gysin, and he also owned & used a Dreamachine. The Dreamachine is a hallucinogenic, psychoactive lamp based on principles outlined by pioneer physiologist W. Grey Walter in the chapter, 'Revelation By Flicker,' from his 1953 layman's romp, 'The Living Brain'. Though popularly attributed to oracular fringe character Brion Gysin, the Dreamachine was invented by Gysin's mathematician cohort Ian Sommerville, who departed many years before the machine would be fetishized through its popular death associations. Of interest to students of all kinds of weird things. Brion and Bill and the 'Cut Up Method' also here Brion Gysin CD's 'One Night @ the 1001' - Brion Gysin From the back cover liner notes: 'I met Brion Gysin for the first time in 1975. We collaborated until 1986. Just before his death, Brion gave me 23 reel to reel tapes that he recorded himself. Some of them are traditional Moroccan music from the fifties, as you can hear on One Night @ The 1001 (CD1). Some recordings are William Burroughs reading his texts, but most of them are Brion's own experiments with the tape recorder. For this document, we've picked up a tape called 'Dilaloo' (CD2), which is Brion's personal take on an initiation ceremony in which he took part in the village of Jajouka around 1955. To create the musical background I have used a computer algorithm that takes in consideration the rhythm and the frequencies of the voice to generate a random music. Brion often told me that the real meaning of speech comes more from the rhythm than from the meaning of the words. This precious document tends to reveal these aspects of perception.' Ramuntcha Matta, Producer 'Self Portrait Jumping' - Brion Gysin Track Listings 1. Kick 2. Junk 3. Stop Smoking 4. Sham Pain 5. V.V.V. 6. Baboon 7. All Those Years 8. Dreamachine 9. Somebody Special 10. Door Brion Gysin Books 'Here to Go' by Brion Gysin Creation Books, 2001 with an introduction by William Borroughs 'Back in No Time' by Brion Gysin Wesleyan University Press, 2002 edited by Jason Weiss 'The Process' by Brion Gysin Overlook Press, 2001 Probably Brion's best known book Links Great Music of Morocco Make yourself a Dream Machine also here fUSION 'Destroy All Rational Thought' The American Museum of Beat Art Home Dedicated to the life and work of Paul and Jane Bowles ©The International Paul Bowles Society, 2000