Brahms and Beethoven in 9th Heaven

by Frédéric Cardin

Two trios with clarinet were offered on the 9th floor of the Montreal Eaton Centre yesterday, at afterhours time. The very beautiful series of HausMusique concerts, organised by cellist Cameron Crozman and pianist Meagan Milatz, in the rich Art Deco environment of the 9th floor of the Eaton Centre, has been unfolding for almost two years now. The concerts last an hour and the programs are always inviting, supported by quality performers.

Yesterday, the hall was almost capacity-filled for the performance of a youthful clarinet trio by Beethoven and another, a masterpiece of maturity, by Brahms. Crozman and Milatz were joined by the Canadian clarinettist James Campbell, a world-renowned figure and a sensitive and seasoned performer.

We were charmed by the well-articulated sparkle of Beethoven, still imbued with Haydnian classicism, but revealing through almost spontaneous episodes expressive tendencies that herald the composer’s more dramatic maturity. A lot of liveliness from the three performers, with a very good sense of dynamics and expressive contrasts. We thoroughly enjoyed Meagan Milatz’s crystalline technique on the piano, even though in one or two cascades of notes, the artist may have pushed the urgency of the tempo a bit, to the detriment of the expected clarity. Nevertheless, the intensity of the collective performance, sprinkled with touches of humour inherent to the composer’s intent, offered beautiful moments of musical pleasure.

LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW WITH CAMERON CROZMAN ABOUT THESE TRIOS AND THE HAUSMUSIQUE SERIES

Next came the ‘’pièce-de-résitance’’, the Clarinet Trio Op. 114, the first milestone in the so-called “Autumnal Brahms” period, the time of the last masterpieces initiated by his meeting with the clarinettist Richard Mühlfeld. Here, no effervescent bubbling. We are completely elsewhere. The long languorous lines, imbued with seasonal melancholy, certainly, but also with a soft and tender light, make us think, as James Campbell comments, of a chilly November that we protect ourselves from by drawing the curtains and snuggling by the fire with a comforting drink.

Very beautiful dialogues between the cello and the clarinet, Crozman and Campbell engaging in generous exchanges while respecting the spirit of the music. A great natural rapport is evident between these performers.

An inspiring moment of music, in the magic of a unique and enchanting place.

The next concert in the HausMusique series, and the last of the 25-26 season, will take place on June 2nd. On the program: Ravel and Debussy. Crozman and Milatz will be joined this time by the OSM’s solo violinist, Andrew Wan.

DETAILS AND TICKETS

We will talk to you again about HausMusique during the unveiling of the 26-27 season program. Stay tuned.

Contemporary / danse

Stephanie Lake Company: Symbiosis of Strike and Movement

by Frédéric Cardin

Struck right in the solar plexus, that’s what awaited the spectators who came to see and hear Stephanie Lake’s choreography Manifesto at the Maisonneuve Theatre on Wednesday evening. And this from the very first second, with a thunderous first blow perfectly coordinated between the nine drums arranged in podium like scaling, at the back of the stage. We all jumped. The dancers too, by the way. But in their case, it was planned.

Just one blow, then, but of rare power. Silence. Another blow (but this one, we saw it coming). Silence again. And it continues like that for one or two minutes. The dancers react in a nanosecond, writhing for a brief moment to each sound slap, then freezing into all sorts of postures. The music (an exciting and visceral score by the noise artist and avant-gardist Robin Fox) builds up as it progresses, of course. It swells with textures and rhythms, which become powerful, very rock-like pulsations, or ethereal, evanescent, pointillist, abstract episodes. There is not just pounding in this writing, but also all sorts of extended and contemporary playing techniques, according to the needs.

And on that, the dancers react like a symbiotic organism, like a plethora of ultra-flexible and agile muscles, directly connected to the musical and expressive nerve, transmitted instantly through the sound impulse of the nine musicians. The coherence of the ensemble, the perfect coordination among all these people is remarkable. The effect is memorable. We are captivated, excited, and an hour passes like ten minutes.

The brilliant intuition of choreographer Stephanie Lake is that she did not limit the gestural action to a mere mimicry of the sonic action. Yes, the dancers closely follow the rhythms and sound dynamics of the nine drums, but it is in the “undulating” quality of the gestures, both individual and collective, that one perceives a construction in complementarity of the two expressive entities, music and dance. The percussive nature of the music is therefore compensated by the incessant fluidity of the movements. Each gesture of each dancer is connected to the next like in a natural organic sequence. Each movement metamorphoses into the next and so on. This is true both on an individual and collective level. The mechanical nature of the score, although sometimes fragmented, flourishes in a contrapuntal balance with the fluid, wave-like nature of the choreography. A very well-balanced architecture between what our ears hear and what our eyes see.

Noteworthy, as a visual treat, is the understated staging concerning the decor (large fuchsia curtains at the back of the stage, the arrangement of the nine drums in a podium format) and the very dynamic lighting design. Very impressive, for example, was the episode where the drummers exchanged blows one by one, instantly followed by each being spotlighted solo, and this for several minutes. It stays etched in our memory.

Stephanie Lake had given us a colossal… Colossus a few years ago. This Manifesto is another great artistic and expressive success of the Canadian-Australian artist who, by the way, is building a reputation as a favourite of the Montreal audience. You won’t hear me complain about it.

Related content:

The Breath of Bodies, a performance review and interview

Review of Sol Invictus at Danse Danse

Review of Haydn’s The Creation at the Grand Ballets

Airat Ichmouratov will compose Alice in Wonderland for Les Grands Ballets

Stephanie Lake Company
Manifesto
1er avril 2026 – Montréal
Cr.: Wendell Teodoro

Catalan Rumba / latino / Pop / Reggaeton / Rock

Maruja Limón, Weapon of Mass Construction!

by Alain Brunet

If you listen to it casually, Catalan rumba can still be mistaken for flamenco. On stage, however, this confusion completely disappears before a different energy unfolds… We, who witnessed this Sunday explosion at the Ministère, experienced the unique identity of Catalan rumba, a powerful force of construction with eminently curative effects.

What a party Maruja Limón put on!

The electric bass that triggers samples (among other things) of synthesizers or Afro-Cuban percussion (Carla González), the solidly executed drums (Elisenda Fabregas), the electronically filtered trumpet (Mila González), the acoustic guitar with effect pedals (Cristóbal Salazar, replacing Vicky Blum), these are all elements that testify to this updating.

Except for the acoustic bulerías performed with a single guitarist (Cristóbal Salazar) and singers (Esther González and Sheila García), except for the vocal inflections typical of the Iberian Peninsula and its Arab-Andalusian roots, the music of Maruja Limón summarizes the updates inherent to the current period.

These musicians are all highly skilled, but they can’t be called virtuosos. The fascination lies more in the collective force of their performance than in the individual contributions of each member. Their cohesion, enthusiasm, and dynamism are the key to their evident success. Any minor flaws or technical limitations one might point out are irrelevant in the context of such an experience.

Through various musical expressions from Catalonia and Spain, flamenco, rumba but also reggaeton, Latin jazz, Afro-Cuban rumba or pop/rock, this squad of happiness and Latin sensuality transmitted a great energy to the dance floor densely populated with new captivated fans.

Over an hour and a half of pure energy, a packed Ministère venue filled to the rafters by a multigenerational crowd that was incredibly enthusiastic from start to finish, and which is already spreading the good news for the Barcelona sextet’s upcoming North American tours. It’s easy to predict that this group will be back often; the buzz they generated there will spread like wildfire.

Indie Pop

Marie-Céleste Burns Bright

by Stephan Boissonneault

I’ll admit that before I was invited to their show, I had no idea who Marie-Céleste, the Francophone indie pop sensation from Alma, QC, now based in Montreal, was. I had seen the posters all around town, featuring the band suspended in the air on the cover of their latest album, Tout ce qui brille, but I had no idea what to expect.

The show begins with a set by Kamilou, a local Franco rapper aiming for that soft-sung Billie Eilish vibe. As she walked around the front of the Club Soda stage, with a red curtain covering the full stage, she was accompanied by a guitarist (whose name I can’t find anywhere) who also handled her DJ and backing tracks with a laptop.

Kamilou has great flow, combining trap, rap, and a bit of soft jazz from her EP Pour toujours et à jamais, but her vocal mix live was way too quiet, almost like her vocals were over-compressed. This is not an issue with her, but rather the sound person not mixing her correctly. With the unruly sold-out crowd in Club Soda, it was impossible to hear her clearly, especially when she was talking directly to the crowd. The guitarist’s solos were also lost in the mix. I think I heard Kamilou say she was working coat check that night, which would be a funny turn of events, but I can’t say for sure.

The curtain eventually opens, and a bearded man in a suit gives a quick patriotic speech and says we are about to witness Quebecois history. I find it a little much, but the hype is clearly real as the curtain opens to a full band setup and a spot in the back for a horn section. Above the stage is a giant, crafted sun, much liek the cover of Tout ce qui brille.

During the first few songs, including one of my favourites of the night, the bossanova pop flavoured “Combien de temps?,” Marie-Céleste’s sound feels much fuller and clearer than Kamilou’s. A man, Simon Duchesne, looking like Donovan if he were a pirate, strums a light and dancey acoustic guitar, while a longer haired moustached keyboardist, Philippe Plourde, hops between three synthesizers. Together they sing harmonies while the bass player, Olivier Tremblay, lays down the song’s rhythmic foundation with the human dynamo drummer, Guillaume Sliger, and lead guitarist, Zachary Tremblay, rips a few solos.

The set is quite long, and the songs sound almost identical to the album, but Marie-Céleste clearly has super fans who know absolutely every lyric and scream in unison to songs like “2 goélands” and “CAM,” so it’s fun to be part of. One fun moment comes as Duchesne and Plourde hop into the crowd while the rest of the band jams. Marie-Celeste proper finishes the full set with a few encores from the previous album, Feux de joie. Yes, the Québécois indie pop sensation is burning brighter and brighter.

Latin Jazz

Hilario Durán and The UdeM Big Band: Caliente at Claude-Champagne Hall!

by Michel Labrecque

A rather full Claude-Champagne hall awaited the Cuban pianist exiled in Toronto, Hilario Durán. With interest. The audience was not disappointed. Durán is a brilliant pianist, improviser, and arranger, in the vein of the former leader of Irakere, Chucho Valdés, whose three compositions he also presented.

The University of Montreal Student Big Band, led by Brazilian João Lenhari, took this encounter seriously. The task was considerable, as Hilario Durán’s arrangements were quite complex, both rhythmically and harmonically.

Obviously, this student orchestra isn’t on the same level as the Montreal National Jazz Orchestra. But we’re dealing with young musicians who are holding their own—or rather, their brass and reed instruments—very well. And they have the incredible opportunity to compete with internationally renowned artists from very different cultural backgrounds.

For the occasion, two Cuban lecturers from the music faculty joined the big band: pianist Julian Gutierrez Vinardell, whose composition opened the concert, and the tireless percussionist Eugenio Kiko Osorio.

It was an evening steeped in Afro-Cuban jazz from beginning to end, with a nod to Frédéric Chopin at the end of the concert with a piece entitled Fantaisie-Impromptue, in which Chopin-esque harmonies are blended with a flavorful punch of tropical rhythms. This demonstrates Hilario Durán’s very broad musical culture, influenced as much by classical music as by jazz and the many different styles of Cuban music.

Imagine yourself in the shoes of the young Big Band pianist, Benoît Francoeur, when he has to follow Durán in an improvisational dialogue. How fast was his heart beating? He handled it very well, as did saxophonist Daniel Diaz, who was given several solos, including on A Night In Tunisia, Dizzy Gillespie’s signature piece, arranged for large ensemble by Hilario Durán for his latest album Cry Me a River (2023).

Hilario Durán addressed us in English that wasn’t always easy to decipher, but he meant well. Next time, why not more Spanish and a few words of French?

Aside from this minor drawback, we had a wonderful evening. This concludes the Big Band’s school year; they will be back in the fall.

danse / Poetry

Entering Myth’s Speakeasy

by Juliana Cortes

Triumphant, elegant, and poised, Myth sits on a divan, looking at the audience one by one as we enter the room with her piercing eyes. She appears comfortable, yet ready. The set-up feels mysterious, creating a sense of exclusivity that only a select few can access. The setting and her clothing clearly allude to the speakeasy era. In this underground basement party scene, people could drink, make music, and forget, or perhaps transmute, what was happening outside in the world. My first reaction was to enter the space carefully, to witness with full attention what was about to happen on stage. Myth slowly stands up, looks at the audience, and with her breath takes over the space. In silence, we see her move between total engagement and ease. The articulation of her movements immediately moved me; I could feel the strength required to remain fully connected to breath and body.

Myth honors Montreal’s dance and music scene, particularly the way jazz and house exist as both past and present, feeding each other. This is illustrated by the presence of Samantha “Sam I Am” Hinds with her singing and DJing, and Jason “Blackbird” Selman through poetry and trumpet. The three artists enter a conversation that moves between poetry, singing, movement, beats, and trumpet. Their exchange is seamless, with each artist having moments to shine. As a spectator, I felt drawn into the performance from my seat, instinctively bouncing my head to the rhythm. Myth’s body becomes a catalyst within the scene; her performance takes us into her inner world. We learn about her journey as a dancer who does not simply want to perform for entertainment, but to convey a message. It was difficult for me to hold back my tears as I understood that Myth was reminding us that when life is hard, dance can be the medicine that carries her—and many of us—through life’s ups and downs. I recognized the sacredness of dance and how, for me, it has become a way to know myself better, to make sense of my own roots, and to begin building a reality that encompasses all the pieces of who I am.

Speakeasy is also an homage to the Montreal dance scene: “a city she loves, but that does not always love her back,” a city that is far from easy to navigate or fully inclusive. The speakeasy theme made me think about how street and underground dance styles still do not have the place they deserve. Yet they continue to grow, evolve, and welcome people who are searching for a home. Sometimes these dances receive a spotlight that is difficult to share with everyone. However, dance is always happening—in church basements, community centres, schools, homes, family gatherings, and on the streets—as one of the poems suggests. As someone who is still searching for her place in this community, I found myself reflecting on the spaces where I have danced and the people who have made those spaces feel like home.

As a dancer, all I can say is thank you, Myth. Thank you for taking us into your inner world, for sharing your strength, and for being honest about the challenges that come with making art. The message felt clear: we no longer have to “speak easy.” We must be loud, take space, and create a reality where our histories and identities are fully welcomed.

Photo Credit: Renata Carmo

Baroque / Persian Classical

Constantinople, Holland Baroque, Saint Francis of Assisi, Sultan Al-Malik: the necessary fusion of hearts and soul

by Frédéric Cardin

Constituting the very last stage of a Canadian tour, the Montreal concert of the Dialogos project, merging the ensembles Constantinople and Holland Baroque, was held at the Bourgie Hall last Saturday, March 21, 2026.

What a beautiful and touching musical and artistic experience! Dialogos is the most recent album by Constantinople, created in collaboration with the Holland Baroque ensemble, and released under the Pentatone label. I will not revisit the ins and outs of this meeting based on the very real dialogue that took place between Saint Francis of Assisi and Sultan Al Malik in 1219. I mention all of this in my review of the album.

READ THE REVIEW OF DIALOGOS

I will therefore focus on the concert itself. The music, all composed by members of both ensembles (except for one), unites different aesthetics in a very successful ecumenism. The microtonal sounds (significantly softened, though) of the traditional instruments from Constantinople (Kiya Tabassian’s setar and Didem Basar’s kanûn) intertwine very naturally with the classical polyphonic lines of Holland Baroque. The finely chiselled and unified rhythms in impressive coherence, the sparkling colours of both the classical strings and the percussion (delicate but essential Patrick Graham) and the setar and kanûn, as well as the voices of Tabasian (wonderful traditional Persian singing) and Adrián Rodríguez Van der Spoel (mediaeval singing), all contributed to transporting us to another realm where beauty and goodness are not pejorative, and are especially not perceived as a weakness.

I remember another equally inspiring fusion from Constantinople a few years ago: the marriage between the poetry of Omar Khayyam and the music of Bach. We were in the same inspiring waters last Saturday.

Bravo to everyone who participated in this stimulating and hopeful meeting.

Constantinople-Holland Baroque – Tam Photo

Alt-Pop / Dance-Pop / Indie Pop / Pop

Ariane Roy is a Show To Remember

by Samuel Lemieux

As I watched Ariane Roy’s fans lining up, laughing and giggling, I asked one what it was like to see her live. “It’s breathtaking, it’s more than relevant in the age of feminism and limitless freedom of expression, and she embodies Marjo’s rock attitude mixed with harmonies and a voice as graceful as Les Soeurs Boulay and all that on melodies as catchy as those heard by fellow artist Marie-Mai in the 2000’s.”

Ariane Roy had her first hits with medium plaisir, which was released in 2022, and in 2024, along with Thierry Larose and Lou-Adrianne Cassidy, they offered the public a live album titled Le Roy, La Rose et Le Loup, which was positively embraced by critics and fans as a masterpiece. It served as a sweet reminder of J’ai vu le loup, le renard et le lion and 1 fois 5, both live albums recorded during la fête national du Quebec, featuring Gilles Vigneault and Robert Charlebois amongst other great names of the Quebec music scene of their respective eras.

In 2025, Ariane came up with an album titled Dogue, music featuring French lyrics sung with electro-pop melodies, all the while being quite refreshing from her last album in 2022.

Virginie B opened the night, bringing Charli xcx vibes with a soft voice screaming atop Brit electro-pop vibes. The set was a mix of Yoko Ono’s soft, extended vocal range with Lady Gaga’s hard-hitting pop music and theatrical looks. Virginie B woke us up and got us warmed up before the main act. Thus followed the long-awaited Ariane Roy.

Silence, lights, action, Ariane Roy comes up on stage dressed in a white robe topped with a plaid red velvet corset and a yellowish tie. Her eyes, contoured with glitter, shine as she sings the lyrics to the title track “Dogue.” The crowd is hectic, everyone is singing the chorus, and for a moment, we all harmonize together with Ariane Roy. Odile Marmet-Rochefort is playing the keys while harmonizing on the backing vocals with three back vocalists who act as support during the performance alongside Dogue’s producer, Dominique Plante, who plays saxophone, flute, bassist and guitar, who also comes and brings support on backing vocals.

The songs flow as the act is gradually heating up with songs like “Kundah” and “Bonne Fête” kicking the pace up, encouraging the crowd to jump and dance like there’s no tomorrow. Following with songs like “Une cigarette sur le balcon” presented as a tale of little Ariane Roy, who worries for her mother, who smokes only in troubling times. The feeling of powerlessness is something we’ve all felt—one day, seeing our parents weep and cry alone in the dark of the night. I must say this allowed me to bond a bit more with the superstar, as I felt we all shared a human touch, although she swims in fame and fortune.

Photo by Rose Cormier

Another great moment came as she sang “Ce n’est pas la chance”, a song about homeless people featuring Arcade Fire guitar-esque riffs and ending with a solo by Plante, bodies colliding, grinding one upon the other, while they unleashed a thunderous run of arpeggios that had the crowd fired up.

“Tu voulais parler” starts soft but picks up the pace, and electricity radiates in the hair as Ariane Roy encourages everybody to dance and sing, not caring about what others might think or say. The show ends with an encore featuring “Banc de parc”, a song nodding at George Brassens “Les Amoureux sur les bancs publics”; a second song titled “Ta main”, which embodies the more organic sound of her previous album medium plaisir and to top it off, she sang “Fille à porter”, a fan favourite featuring Lou-Adriane Cassidy on vocals. Although it would have been nice to see her co-star come and sing with her on stage, fans were exhilarated at the end, and applause echoed endlessly after the final bow of the band on stage.

Ariane Roy deserves all her success; she is grateful for it all and took the time to thank all the people who helped out on the show. She embraced two Quebec flags that fans had brought, a great nod at the rising independent movement rippling across Quebec’s lakes and rivers. I must admit, I was flabbergasted. With a diversified setlist, moves like Jagger and such beautiful staging, Ariane Roy’s show is one that I will remember. It was refreshing and great to see how alive our local artists are and to see fans sing most of the songs. I can definitely say Quebec’s local culture is truly alive and breathing! If you missed her, she is currently touring around Quebec, with the next date on March 27 at Laval-des-Rapides. She will also play in Lavaltrie on April 9.

Photos by Rose Cormier

Garage Rock / indie / Psych-Rock

Vincent Khouni’s “Accident” Comes to Life

by Loic Minty

I slowly made my way to the Escogriffe for Vincent Khouni’s release show for his new album “Accident”, my superstitions were high having just listened to his song about a bicycle accident.

Vincent Khouni’s set started off with a low resonant drone, kicked off by the drummer’s sampler, usually a good sign in any concert. It could have been the intro to a doom metal song, but instead the sunburst guitar fluttered through a series of classic indy chords. Instant dream. Submerged in hot groovy basslines, sprinkled over with the keyboardists soft sequences on a prophet. An age old recipe for success.
It was enticingly soft, and could carry you away into eternity if it wasn’t counter-balanced with Khouni’s soft-edge voice. He reminds of King Gizz’s Stu Mackenzie, or the Oh Sees’s John Dwyer; singing with a higher, nasal overtone, emphasizing drawn out vowels. In fact, the entirety of the experience had a sense of nostalgia drawing from mid 2010’s psych and garage rock scene.

Around the middle of the last song, Vincent Khouni went full Kikagaku Moyo, diving off into the deep end of guitar solos where few find their way back.

One of his pedals sent off waves of pitch modulation, which buried under a wall of delay, sounded more like a wailing siren than a guitar. Khouni looked in his element in these moments, drawing the large crowd’s attention even further.

It worked well within Escogriffe’s context, which historically has welcomed more indie bands than one could ever imagine, but I’m curious to see how the band would perform given more space. If this was Accident live for the first time, it felt less like a crash and more like something slowly unfolding.

expérimental / contemporain / Musique de création

5ilience at Quai 5160: A Bold and Contrasting Program

by Jeremy Fortin

With a program full of contrasts, 5ilience performed Devinim on Wednesday at Quai 5160 in Verdun. The woodwind quintet captivated the Verdun audience, taking them on a rhythmic, harmonious journey where movement reigned supreme.

“Astro Errante,” by Mexican composer Abraham Gomez, immediately transports us into the world of the quintet. Beginning with a restrained opening, the piece unfolds as the musicians’ notes soar. This is followed by a much more rhythmic second section, characterized by a recurring rhythmic motif that creates a dialogue among the musicians.

On a completely different note, Gravité, by composer Florence Tremblay, begins with a mass of sound that evolves through the musicians. As the musicians enter and exit in succession, this sound mass evolves in depth and dissonance. A natural crescendo builds, amplified by the bellows, giving the audience the impression of a continuous wave.

In contrast to the previous piece, Letters to a Friend by composer Theresa Wong is based on a rhythmic pattern that repeats throughout the performance. The inspiration for this sequence? The translation into Morse code of a poem that a friend sent her before her death. Through a combination of percussion, instrumental playing, and contemporary techniques such as slap-tonguing, the composer reimagines Morse code for the listener throughout the piece.

The concert continues with two pieces that could not be more different from one another. Summa, by Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, embodies simplicity and fills every corner of Quai 5160. “Devinim,” by composer Ufuk Biçak, is the most lively piece of the concert, with a highly rhythmic opening and a melodic motif that weaves between the musicians.

The concert’s sole new work, Pauline, composed by the ensemble’s saxophonist Thomas Gauthier-Lang, begins with a series of sustained tones interwoven with multiphonics and brief, more rhythmic interjections from the oboe. As the piece unfolds, a rhythmic dimension emerges. An acceleration of the tempo leads to a series of melodic flights by the instrumentalists, over a rhythmic ostinato that remains present throughout this second section.

All in all, a powerful and striking performance for the audience at Quai 5160.

Brazilian / Forró / Reggae

Jota Pê Enchants Montreal: Between Laughter, Stories, and Emotion

by Sandra Gasana

We discovered many sides of Jota Pê during his very first concert in Montreal. Not only does he have one of the most beautiful voices in Brazil, in my humble opinion, but he is also an excellent storyteller and very funny on stage. Throughout the evening, he alternated between songs, stories, and jokes.

Accompanied by two excellent musicians who came with him from Brazil—Weslei Rodrigo on bass and Kabé Pinheiro on percussion—he appeared on stage wearing his famous hat, which has become his signature. Dressed in a very minimalist style, the artist began alone on guitar, soon joined by the bass, and then the percussion kicked in. From the very first song, he engaged the crowd and got them involved in the performance.

The stage was set for a fiery evening in front of a big crowd at the Belmont.

This was the third stop on his very first Canadian tour. He began in Vancouver, then Toronto, before finishing in Montreal. He played several songs from his albums, mainly Dominguinho and Se O Meu Peito Fosse o Mundo, both released in 2025.

« J’espère qu’à la fin du concert, vous vous sentirez mieux que lorsque vous êtes arrivés – I hope that by the end of the concert, you’ll feel better than when you arrived,” he told the audience before launching into the song Tá Aê.

Between songs, he shared stories, including his meeting with the great Gilberto Gil, who once invited him over for dinner. During that evening, he had the unfortunate mishap of breaking a crystal glass, which has since become a running joke. But what really stands out is the way he tells these stories: he knows exactly how to keep the audience’s attention, leaving them hanging on his every word.

One of the evening’s highlights came during the song Feito A Maré, which he recorded with Gilsons, the trio formed by the sons and nephew of Gilberto Gil. The entire venue sang at the top of their lungs while the bassist—whose scarf perfectly matched his bass—added a few lines with a kompa-like feel. We heard touches of reggae, forró, rock, and even a bit of samba.

A few covers were also part of the repertoire of the artist from Osasco, in the state of São Paulo, including A Primeira Vista by Chico César, performed with a reggae twist, and A Ordem Natural das Coisas by rapper Emicida, whose concert we also covered. In fact, Emicida reportedly called Jota Pê when the song was released to congratulate him on this version.

But the most powerful moment of the evening undoubtedly came during the song Ouro Marrom, which he performed alone on guitar and which speaks about the reality of being a Black man. The song won the award for Best Portuguese Language Song at the Latin Grammys in 2024. His voice resonated through the room as the audience turned into a massive choir.

« J’ai trop parlé, je vais laisser mes musiciens parler à leur tour – I’ve talked too much—I’ll let my musicians speak now,” he said, before giving the bassist and percussionist the floor for their respective solos. The percussionist even added his cavaquinho to the mix, along with body percussion. And as if to keep us awake as the night grew late, he ended the concert with a burst of energy, followed by an improvisation session between the three musicians.

« C’est le dernier concert de la tournée canadienne. J’aimerais remercier les productions Showzaço d’avoir rendu cela possible, ainsi qu’à JØY Brandt pour la première partie – This is the last concert of the Canadian tour. I’d like to thank Showzaço Productions for making this possible, as well as JØY Brandt for the opening set,” he said before leaving the stage around 2 a.m.

In my opinion, the mission was accomplished—we left feeling better than when we arrived.

Electronic / Experimental

SAT | Between Dreams: When Listening Becomes Sleeping

by Loic Minty

I woke up at eight o’clock, twenty minutes after the representation had ended.

In any other context at the S.A.T., my dozing off at the tail-end of a representation would mean a crushing defeat for the artist, but in Between Dreams it meant the complete opposite. As I had spoken to artist Claire Kenway earlier that week, she explained how the project was actually meant to induce sleep.

I came prepared with a tired body from the cold weather, and a readiness to finally give in to my previous battles against the S.A.T.’s inconveniently comfortable beanbags.

The film began in a warm orange hue that filled the room. In the first 5 minutes, my lucidity was washed away by imperceptible waves of gradient colors and noise; in the next 15, my eyes couldn’t keep up, and focus turned into feeling. Warmth slowly slipped into deep purples and blues, and into a backdrop of a starry night over which particle systems began evolving into harmonious geometry.

While the dome can be unforgiving when one does not grasp its vast emptiness, Claire Kenway and Patrick Trudeau seem to have understood the task at hand. The relationships between sound and image held a beautiful concomitance, a synchresis of slowness and wavelike gestures that very occasionally met outside of our own imagination. Spatialized delays bounced across the walls, masking the high-cut field recordings and throbbing subharmonic pitches that colored the space. The entire experience felt natural to the environment, and pleasantly welcoming.

From my earlier conversation with Kenway, I held questions in mind on how abstract representations of “sleep architecture”, and statistical models would translate in the dome. While it was not to the degree of precision of a Xenakis score, the music allowed more aesthetic freedom which probably saved us from a 40 minute atonal descent into madness (see Persepolis). Still, conceptual music exists at a delicate intersection between emotionally accessible and intellectually stimulating content. Between Dreams leans towards the former. While some elements of pitch and temporality created important ties to the underlying references to science, there lacked detail in how this applied to texture and composition. At the same time, it could be a bias from trying to decipher Patrick Trudeau’s quantum-scale visual abstractions. So I ask myself, can sound represent this type of complexity?

The experience was nonetheless powerfully memorable, and I woke up from it feeling inspired, and quite happy to know I’ll have to do it all over again to write about the last portion of the film.

Between Dreams might not “explain” the science, but it inhabits its affective space perfectly. The forty minute film was a promising prologue to the eight hour concert to be held on April 10th, and confirms that their sleep formula, although still quite mystical, works like a charm.