The legendary French painter and sculptor Jean Dubuffet (1901–1985) began making music in the early 1960s. Together with the Danish avant-garde figure Asger Jorn (1914–1973), who like Dubuffet came from outside the music world, they experimented without formal musical training with a range of often unusual instruments such as the hurdy-gurdy, cabrette, saxophone, bassoon, out-of-tune piano, bombarde and others. At no point did they attempt to write actual songs, instead they devoted themselves to free improvisation. The result of these musical experiments, created between December 1960 and March 1961, was a box set containing six 10-inch LPs, produced in an edition of only fifty copies, featuring original artwork and lithographed sleeves.

The album Musical Experiences, released in 1973 on the small US label Finnadar Records, is a compilation of eight carefully selected tracks from that box set. The liner notes on the back cover state: „The eight selections on the present release were culled from a total of twenty pieces that were issued on six 10" LPs in a limited edition of fifty copies, each numbered and signed by Dubuffet.“ Although not quite as incredibly rare as the box set itself, this compilation remains a globally sought-after artefact of a unique form of musical expression and a historically significant recording.