Bernard Jacquet (born June 26, 1951), better known by the name Bernard Xolotl, is a French-born electronic music composer, author, and multimedia artist.
Youth and Early Career
Bernard Xolotl was born in 1951 in Saint-Etienne, in the Loire region of France. His father moved the family to Lyon in the mid 1950's and there, Xolotl attended several colleges and received private tutoring in drawing and painting.
At a young age, Xolotl became interested in the musique concrète of Pierre Henry, Pierre Shaeffer and Karlheinz Stockhausen, but it was the recordings of Pink Floyd in 1967 and 1968 which really moved him. Xolotl then began travelling across northern Europe. In 1971, he became a friend and fan of Terry Riley and his Indian music teacher, Pandit Pran Nath and he established his work base in Copenhagen, where he studied video and photography. Following that, he spent three consecutive years following Terry Riley and Pandit Pran Nath across Europe, painting, recording, photographing, and writing.
Move to California
In September 1974, Xolotl arrived in the United States, traveling across North America before settling in California. After he was introduced to the Serge Modular Synthesizer through Eliane Radigue, he acquired a professional tape recorder and prototype guitar-synthesizers equipped with especially designed effects. He then registered for classes in all of the colleges in the bay area that had electronic music departments in order to use their electronic instruments to record his music. His first album, Music by Xolotl, was released between 1976 and 1977.
The Paintings
It was painting, however, that occupied most of Xolotl's time during this period, especially after his marriage to painter Barbara Falconer in New-Mexico in 1975. The husband and wife team held their first painting exhibition at the Urania Gallery in San Francisco in 1976, with Xolotl's music playing in the background.
In 1974, American composer and performer Terry Riley asked Xolotl to create paintings for his recordings and his concerts. Noteworthy is the Barbara and Bernard's painting for the cover of Riley's Shri Camel album that was released in 1980.
During a stay in Paris in the summer of 1977, Xolotl collaborated with Jean-Batiste Barrière on the recording of several compositions that were released in the album Journey to an Oracle. In 1978, he and his wife completed the painting Return of the Golden Mean and Bernard recorded an album with the same title, produced with the collaboration of Irene Gosnell on violin and Jonathan Kramer on cello.
In the fall of 1979, the Xolotls moved to rural Pennsylvania, to paint, compose and record Bernard's music free from outside distractions. On return to San Francisco, he recorded the album Prophecy with Cyrille Verdeaux and with the assistance of the JPL studios in Alta Dena, California, created a video, with images and music, entitled Flamecho.
The Procession Album
In 1981, Xolotl invited virtuoso violinist Daniel Kobialka to play on his album Procession, while recording Last Wave and other works that would be released in compilation form. The painting for the Last Wave album will be the last non-computer-generated graphic work that Xolotl will create.
Syntasy Studio
Xolotl moved to a large house in San Rafael to devote himself fully to the creation of an avant-garde professional audiovisual studio where he would compose and record his own music and other musicians as well. In 1985, he named this studio Syntasy. Among the albums that he recorded in the Syntasy Studio was Raga Aberi by L. Shankar and Zakir Hussein, nominated for a Grammy Award in the World Music category in 1996, and the album Tibetan Sacred Temple Music by Eight Lamas from Drepung, released in 1988.
More Albums
Xolotl released the album Mexecho on CD in 1991, Tristany in 1997, and in 2005, he collaborated with Olivier Masselot on the creation of the album Time Lapses, released on CD in early 2009. Three different albums were issued or reissued on vinyl between 2016 and 2019, and in 2020, Xolotl released Freedom in lockdown and Angelic Choir in 2023, etc.
Computer-Generated Images
In 1998, Xolotl began creating digital images from his-hand painted works. He has also created videos combining digital images with his music, but now prefers images and music as separate crafts. He printed his digital paintings, both old and new, on aluminum Dibond.
Personal Life
In late March 2022, Bernard Xolotl was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) and spent more than five months in hospital. He is now receiving monthly chemotherapy treatments.
In September 2023, Xolotl's autobiographical and poetic work Journal Américain (American Diary) was published in the French language by Atramenta/Stylit.
Discography
Music by Xolotl (1976)
Journey to an Oracle (1977)
Return of the Golden Mean (1979)
Prophecy (1980)
Procession (1981)
Last Wave (1983)
Aftershocks (1989)
Mexecho (1991)
Tristany (1992)
Detour (2000) (on "Music for the Third Millennium)
Time Lapses (2005)
Cometary Wailing LIVE (2016) (on "The Microcosm")
Freedom in Lockdown (2020)
Angelic Choir (2023)
Carefree Summers of Old (2024)
Daydreaming (2024)
Wandering (2024)
Recurring Theme (2024)
Book
Atramenta/Stylit "Journal Américain" ISBN 978-952-390-508-5