Rendez Vous

Just after his live performance in Houston to celebrate NASA's anniversary, Jean-Michel Jarre released Rendez-Vous, an appropriately cosmic-sounding album of glittering synth pop. It consists of the same music heard at the Houston concert and shows Jarre moving closer to conventional rock territory, though still with his distinct blueprint. The final track, "Last Rendez-Vous: Ron's Piece," was composed by Jarre for astronaut Ron McNair and was intended to be the first musical piece played and recorded in space. McNair's historic duty was cut short, however, by the Challenger shuttle disaster of January 1986.

Defined by the international press as «one of Europe’s big pianistic promises», Gabriele Pezzoli present with bass virtuoso Cédric Gysler and drummer Roberto Titocci a repertoire rich in original compositions and free improvisation, in a kaleidoscopic and poetic world of sound, balanced between cohesion of the whole and individual expression.

Rendez-vous is the eighth studio album by electronic musician and composer Jean-Michel Jarre released on Disques Dreyfus, licensed to Polydor, in April 1986. It sold some three million copies worldwide and remains Jarre's longest-running chart album in both the U.S. and UK, with a 20-week run in the U.S. and an impressive 38-week run in the UK. The album art of the album was created by long-time collaborator Michel Granger.

In 1986, NASA and the City of Houston asked Jean Michel to perform a special concert to celebrate NASA’s 25th anniversary and the city of Houston’s 150th anniversary, of which the "Rendez-Vous" album was therefore conceived for.
During that concert, astronaut Ronald McNair was to play the saxophone part of Jarre’s piece "Rendez-Vous VI" while in orbit on board the Space Shuttle Challenger. It was to have been the first piece of music recorded in space, for the album, but after the Challenger disaster of January 28 1986, which killed McNair, the piece was recorded with a different saxophonist, retitled "Ron's Piece" and the album dedicated to the seven Challenger astronauts.