Jazz Group De Bretagne

The first incarnation of this band is dated from 1969 in the city of Scaër, Brittany, France.

In the beginning, Carhaix based drummer Papa Mutt was trying to create of a jazz band in the Western part of France. He met with Gilles Gourmelon in Scaër who served in the band as a contrabass player. Gourmelon persuaded Rennes jazz veterans Hervé Le Lann (initially a trumpet player who then swapped for a valve trombone) and Serge Goinard (a long time professional piano player redeployed in the poultry industry) to join the party. Latcy Farkas, former trombone player in Marc Laferrière's orchestra completed the lineup which saw the birth of the Jazz-Groupe de Bretagne, a 2-trombones quintet. Their first venue (and possibly the first ever local jazz venue) occurred Quimper's theater on the 6th of December 1969, followed that night by Dany Doriz and his Rhythmic Section. The theater was full and the public quite enthusiast. Shortly the band toured all over Brittany, their name was abbreviated into JGB and they were joined by clarinetist Piwi Bizouarn. The New Orleans style orchestra gained a good enough level to accompany artists such as Claude Luter, Maxim Saury as well as Bill Coleman. Soon enough, Papa Mutt left the quintet and the JGB was put on hold for a while before they released a single record.

The 2nd birth of the band occurred in 1978. After 15 years at the head of La Potinière club in Morgat, Britanny, Gérard Le Bourdiec wanted to produce a birthday record. In April, 'Gégé' gave Philippe Briand carte blanche to gather a band, ultimately leading to a new lineup: Philippe Briand on trumpet and bugle (the son of Hervé Le Lann, part of the initial lineup in 1969), Christian Hillion on saxophones, Pierre Goasguen on trombone, René Goaër on piano, Yvon le Guen and old timer Gilles Gourmelon, both on contrabass and finally Philippe Briand playing drums. The recording session occurred in La Potinière on the 30th of April 1978.