French 'Free Jazz' pioneer Portal dies aged 90

A multi-instrumentalist at home with the clarinet, saxophone and the Argentine bandoneon or the Hungarian taragot, Portal died on Thursday, said Marion Piras, one of his representatives. His 1965 album "Free Jazz" was considered a landmark in Europe's efforts to end American domination of the genre. He was "a huge monument for modern jazz, for European jazz, totally open to a huge amount of music and experiences", Piras told AFP. Portal played with several giants of both jazz and classical music.