Additional Information
On March 13, the Université de Montréal Big Band will present a concert dedicated to the female voice, in collaboration with the jazz vocal program. On the program: eleven arrangements of a wide variety of pieces, from Billie Holiday to Tom Jobim, via…John Coltrane!
Our contributor, Michel Labrecque, discussed the concert, to be presented at Salle Claude Champagne, with one of the six vocalists, first-year jazz vocal student Juliette Oudni, and Brazilian João Lenhari, musical director of the Université de Montréal Big Band since 2023.
PANM360: How did the idea of creating a Big Band concert that highlights the female voice come about?
Juliette: It’s the result of a collaboration between the jazz vocal interpretation program and the Big Band. The six performers chosen – Marie-Ève Lambert, Marie-Ève Caron, Margaux Devez, Maude Brodeur, Gabrielle Nessel and myself – were given carte blanche to choose the pieces. And João Lenhari did all the original arrangements. For my part, the piece I chose to perform solo is the Brazilian song Madalena. I’ll be performing another as a duet, and there will be an a cappella piece for six voices.
João :First of all, I love the Big Band and its enormous possibilities. This year, we decided to focus on the female voice and, why not, do the concert in March, the month dedicated to women’s rights? Afterwards, I listened to multiple versions of the songs chosen by the girls, passing them through the Big Band filter. Each of the six performers has a different vocal timbre, so we have to take that into account, and tailor the arrangements to suit. It’s also a women’s concert in that five of the twenty musicians are girls. Imagine, half our trumpet section is female, which is really cool.
PANM360: The choice of pieces is really wide-ranging, from Cole Porter to Tom Jobim, we find ourselves in different eras. How did you go about choosing which songs to perform?
Juliette: Well, we’re very good friends, and we often sing together, so it was easy to talk about it. We were offered a number of different concert formats, and we opted for one that allowed for duets rather than just solos, as well as a six-voice interpretation. It’s more of a challenge to collaborate, to mix voices. And you’ll see the result on Thursday March 13.
PANM360 : What intrigues me most about your choice of music is the decision to do an a cappella piece with a John Coltrane piece that is purely instrumental.
Juliette: Our choice was John Coltrane’s ballad Central Park West, which is effectively a song without words. So my colleague Gabrielle Nesset wrote the lyrics and we sent it to João.
João: I searched for a long time and finally found a version sung by a solo male voice. So, making an arrangement for six voices was a real challenge. Finding colours and harmonies without instrumentation. But all in all, I’m really happy and the girls worked really hard.
PANM360: In total, we’ll be hearing ten sung pieces plus an instrumental piece for the Big Band. In addition to what we’ve already mentioned, what can you expect?
João: For me, the big novelty is the original arrangements of all these pieces for a Big Band format. Something I’ve never heard before.
Juliette: Also, the diversity of the repertoire: gospel, jazz, samba and so on. With so many different vocal timbres, from very low to very high. I’m really looking forward to being on stage, and a big thank you to João for these wonderful arrangements.
PANM360: As a reminder, the concert takes place on March 13 at the Salle Claude Champagne in the Faculty of Music at the Université de Montréal. In closing, tell us what you do musically outside the Université de Montréal.
Juliette: In addition to my studies, I’m a member of a sextet called Junon, which mixes French chanson, soul and jazz.
João: I’m a trumpet player, have a quartet, my own big band and play in a number of Montreal bands, including the Julian Gutierrez project, my compatriot Manoel Viera’s band and a host of others.
PANM360: Thank you both, obrigado!
