Brazilian Days | Saudade According to Erivan GD

by Sandra Gasana

On this second Brazilian day, we were treated to a sextet of high-calibre musicians on Duluth Avenue, to kick off the musical program. Under the direction of bassist Erivan GD, who accompanies several artists on the Montreal Brazilian scene, they concocted a colorful and emotional set.

I had the pleasure of seeing him at La Brassée a few months ago, but this time he had expanded his line-up for the occasion. So we had Jean-Philippe Grégoire on guitar, Santiago Ferrer on piano, saxophonist Thiago Ferté, Olivier Bussières on percussion of all kinds and drummer Shayne Assouline. Together, they managed to make us forget the cold weather at the beginning of September.

What I like about this type of performance, without vocals, is the length of the solos. From the very first tracks, we were treated to several solos, not always in the same order, alternating with each other. We had time to immerse ourselves fully in the musician’s world, in the meanders of his rhythms, before moving on to another musician. The percussionist varied his instruments, sometimes using a pandeiro, or other typically Brazilian instruments, among others.

“It’s cold so I need to move. If you want, you can move with me,” says Erivan, after opening with Afternoons by Milton Nascimento, who has just released an album with Esperanza Spalding.(MILTON + ESPERANZA – PAN M 360).

He then follows up with three of his own compositions, including Déjà vu. The instruments enter gradually, giving the impression that the musicians are dressing up the piece, layer by layer. Even during his solos, Erivan manages to maintain the rhythm and structure of the piece, allowing him to return with the ensemble seamlessly. In his role as conductor, he communicates with his musicians, who know when to come in and when to go out, all very subtly. The intensity was at its highest during Everything is sound, which at times included abrupt stops, before continuing with rhythmic flights.

“The third piece is very special to me on this day, and is called Saudade, which is a Portuguese term that’s difficult to translate into French, a bit like nostalgia,” Erivan explains, before playing a jazz / bossa, my favorite of the show. The progression was a natural one, with moments of solos but also instruments in unison. At this point, the percussionist adds his pandeiro to accentuate the group’s Brazilian touch, before ending the piece in the same way they began it.

We couldn’t end the mini-concert without including another classic, Tom Jobim’s Samba de Verão, with its goosebump-inducing piano solos. And not just because of the cold, but above all because of the intense emotions felt by the audience, who grew in number throughout the show.

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Bossa Nova / Brazilian / Brazilian jazz / Música Popular Brasileira

Brazilian Days | Bianca Rocha: A Lot of Calor In The Cold!

by Michel Labrecque

Sunday September 8 will go down in Montreal history as an unusually cold day. It couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Journées Brésiliennes, which celebrate the culture of a tropical country. But the Brazilian artists didn’t let it get them down. Bianca Rocha injected warmth into our souls, with inspired MPB (Brazilian popular music) that delighted a large audience, some of whom knew most of the lyrics.

Bianca Rocha’s smile is totally infectious when she sings. Irresistible. Her music is a blend of bossa nova, Afro-Brazilian music, gaucho music from southern Brazil, pop and jazz, impeccably arranged by guitarist Rodrigo Simoes. Everything flows naturally, with highly competent musicians, including drummer/percussionist Lara Klaus, who instantly conveys the joy of making music…even when it’s freezing.

Bianca has a versatile vocal range, alternating between meditative sweetness and power. Most of her songs are sung in her native Portuguese, but she did deliver a composition in French, about the possibility of creating paradise on earth; as well as a very feminist song by the excellent Canadian-Colombian artist, Lido Pimienta.

Bianca Rocha is also a committed singer, but with a playful perspective. Even her song Fim Do Mundo (End Of The World) makes you want to dance. In fact, it’s the title of her only album, released in 2021.

This woman, originally from Curitiba in southern Brazil, came to Montreal in 2019 because of the rise to power of far-right politician Jair Bolsonaro, she tells me in an interview after her show. Her partner landed an interesting professional opportunity and the family moved north. Since then, Bianca Rocha loves to live Montreal and plans to stay here, while eventually opening up to the Brazilian music market.

Bianca Rocha is thus a welcome addition to Montreal’s increasingly rich Brazilian musical ecosystem, as we heard this weekend.

Let’s face it: there’s musical talent from all over the world in Montreal. And all these people are mixing and creating together. No matter what some politicians think, it makes Montreal great. Even for native Quebecers, who were present at the Journées brésiliennes.

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Electro-Punk

Palomosa | Pelada Lays Down Their Swords

by Lyle Hendriks

Though I haven’t been around for much of Pelada’s reign across Montreal’s scene, it’s hard to go anywhere without hearing them mentioned.

Comprised of Chris Vargas (vocals) and Tobias Rochman (instrumentalist, producer), Pelada has long been known for their unique blend of tense, almost punk-inspired influences alongside more danceable club tracks.

Pelada has created an impressive legacy over 10 years of performing—which is why it was sad to hear that Palomosa was Pelada’s last ever set. The pair put on a rousing performance, especially considering their early time slot and the never ending rain. Vargas is ferocious on the mic, growling in Spanish and English with a frenetic, ever-climbing energy that makes them impossible to ignore.

Gritty and piercing, each pointed phrase cuts into us like a knife, with Pelada’s already-intense energy only elevated by the knowledge that it’s the last time. Like a cloud heavy with acid rain, there’s an impending overhang when Pelada is onstage, with Vargas’ larger-than-life persona perfectly supported by Rochman’s grungy, skillful instrumentation.

In the final moments of what I suppose is Pelada’s final performance as a duo, Vargas led the crowd in chants of “Palestina Libre!”. Where a lesser artist might have taken this moment to hear their name chanted one final time, this powerful gesture just shows that the punk rock vitality at the core of Pelada was never just for show. In the end, Palomosa offered a worthy send-off to the unforgettable life and work of Pelada.

Pop

Palomosa | Jai Paul Has Finally Arrived

by Lyle Hendriks

I guess I just saw one of Jai Paul’s first live shows ever, which feels unbelievable. The elusive British songwriter/producer has freshly returned from a nearly decade-long hiatus, having performed his first ever live set as a Coachella headliner in April.

It seems incredibly improbable that, of all places, the brand new Palomosa fest would be the place I see this enigmatic artist perform.

Jai Paul is one of the strangest performers I’ve ever seen. Unlike most shows of this level, he’s obviously still getting his sea legs for playing live. That’s not to say that he’s making mistakes (the entire band played flawlessly), but that you can see the joy and the novelty painted all over Paul’s face. With the rain finally, mercifully, gone, it was a beautiful evening to watch Paul glide over his strange, labyrynthian instrumentals with his incredible vocals. Restrained, even delicate, his voice is almost textural at points, mixed way down so that it becomes enmeshed with everything else.

With rock-solid percussion and disco-inspired slap bass, Jai Paul sounds like an oddball blend of Daft Punk and Mk.gee. His compositions are irregular and hard to predict, and yet they glide right by like fireflies in the night. From time to time, Paul would step up the vocals and deliver a goosebump-inducing high note, never failing to elicit a huge cheer from the crowd.

He played the perfect mix of old and new, covering all of the hits—including “Str8 Outta Mumbai” (2013), which was going so hard that he stopped mid-song and started over. It was a truly gorgeous set, one where every single person, including Paul, seemed delighted to be there. As Jai Paul embarks on his first ever tour later this month, we can only hope this is the beginning of a beautiful new era for one of pop music’s most unsung heroes.

Palomosa | The Dare: Slutty, Gen-Z Elvis

by Lyle Hendriks

If you’ve blinked recently, you might have missed the rapid but inevitable comeup of The Dare, the moniker for LA popstar Harrison Patrick Smith. Having arose to stardom after collaborations with Charli XCX, The Dare is enjoying sudden icon status amidst the release of his debut LP, What’s Wrong With New York? (2024, Republic Records).

Smith took the stage during the afternoon of Palomosa’s second day, greeting a soaking wet crowd of impressive size, considering the torrential rain. Dressed in his signature, Blues-Brothers-meets-Alex-Turner look of a slim-fit black suit and Ray-Bans, he immediately launched into a rousing performance of “Perfume”, bringing incredible energy with nothing but a backing track and two modular synths behind him.

From what little I knew, I expected The Dare to be a more aloof performer. But fortunately, he moves constantly, meaning the energy never dipped from its starting point of 100%. He marched up and down the stage, folding himself in half over the mic stand, kicking his knee out like a slutty, Gen-Z Elvis. Although he was singing to the complete track (vocals included), he still gave a powerful performance on the mic, with crystal clear diction that has harkened so many comparisons to LCD Soundsystem.

Admittedly, I hadn’t listened to much of The Dare prior to this show, but it turned out to be no problem at all. His energy onstage is nothing short of infectious—a much-needed shot of adrenaline as we stood hunkered in the downpour. And by the time he closed the set with his biggest hit, the debaucherous, degenerate “Girls” (which saw approximately 100% of the audience bouncing around and screaming the oh-so-catchy hook), I think we had forgotten all about the weather.

Brazilian / Brazilian jazz / Jazz

Brazilian Days | Manoel Vieira : A Tribute to João Donato Better Than The Original?

by Michel Labrecque

On Saturday, September 7, Duluth Street was transformed into a mini-Brazil. Churrascos (Brazilian barbecues), food stalls of all kinds, hundreds of people speaking mostly Brazilian Portuguese, and music. It was on this note that the Brazilian Days kicked off, before rain spoiled the party in the afternoon.

Pianist and composer Manoel Vieira and his musician friends were the first to take to the stage. Just hearing them warm up, it was clear to my ears that we were in for an above-average concert of Brazilian music.

Manoel gave us a tribute concert to the great Brazilian jazzman and composer João Donato, who died last year. It started with Vento do Carnaval and ended with Bananeira. And we were floating for just over an hour.

Manoel Vieira studied classical piano while being an adept of improvised music. In 2020, he released Rhizome, a blend of bebop and Brazilian forro. He teaches at the Université de Montréal and occasionally performs with Brazilian symphony orchestras. Listen to my interview with him on PANM360 to learn more.(Manoel Vieira to Launch Brazilian Days – PAN M 360)

On stage, he was supported by a group of super-solid musicians. Erivan Duarte on bass, Laurent Cauchy on trombone, Thiago Ferté on saxophone, Aquiles Melo on drums and percussion, and João Lenhari on trumpet and flugelhorn. The latter also teaches at the Université de Montréal and leads his big band. I joked with him that Brazil was invading the university’s music faculty. What do you expect,” he replied, ”we’re the best.

Indeed, the musicians in this group are excellent. While following João Donato’s skilful melodies, they gave their all in improvisations and solos. A mixture of virtuosity and emotion. Unfortunately, as it was the beginning of the day, there weren’t enough of us. But those who were there were all smiles.

Let’s hope this concert is repeated soon in a venue more conducive to listening. A magical musical moment. Knowledgeable and festive!

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Pop / Pop-Punk / Shoegaze

Palomosa | Underscores Wins Us Over

by Lyle Hendriks

It’s not every day that I find a performer loveable onstage, but Underscores managed to do just that. April Harper Grey, the performer behind this sensational San Francisco pop act, has a charming energy, and you can’t help but root for her as she thrashes around alone on the massive, empty Palomosa stage.

Although her set began a little tame and timid as the crowd started to fill out, Grey quickly found her footing within the first few songs, commanding far more attention than most backing track solo artists could muster. From shoegaze-inspired pop-punk to autotuned, baby voice bangers, we got a full introduction to Underscores for the uninitiated.

A daylight set is never easy for a performer of this type, whose music is no doubt better suited to a dark club show. Despite this, Underscores methodically won the crowd over one track at a time. She showed more of her personality when speaking between songs, showing off a sweet side that made her easy to like. I was particularly impressed when she politely asked us to kneel down for a quiet part of the set: “I know it’s early, but it would be cool if everyone got down for this part and jumped around when it drops. You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” How can you refuse an offer like that? I kneeled, looked around, and realized virtually 100% of the audience was doing the same thing. It’s a small display, but it’s also not something that every artist could pull off.

By the end, people were moving hard, thoroughly on Underscores side as both she and the crowd amped things up. Halfhearted fistbumps morph into frenetic dancing. Restrained applause give way to full-spirited hollers, and all this energy clearly makes it up to Grey onstage, who feeds off of it in a beautiful, reciprocal display of entropy and joy. Subtle, yet insistent, restrained, yet confident, Underscores did everything she could without ever doing too much, and we loved her for it.

Electro-Pop

Palomosa | Snow Strippers, Ice-Cold Heat

by Lyle Hendriks

Effortless, sexy, and beyond confident, Detroit-based electropop duo Snow Strippers bring nothing short of ice-cold heat to their live performance.

Vocalist Tatiana Schwaninger strikes a delightful balance between soft, feminine delivery and thunderous hype, bringing Snow Strippers’ signature duality to life for a live audience. Dressed in a mismatched crochet set, Schwaninger is like your playground crush all grown up, pulling us onto the dancefloor by the hair with each dirty track they play.

Some people might be turned off by Snow Strippers’ use of early Youtube-esque instrumentals, corny soundbites, and relentless irony. But to me, the genuine love for this music shines so brightly that you can’t help but get into it, sinking your teeth into each vulgar, indulgent musical moment.

DJ/producer Graham Perez is offers incredibly skilled support for the vocals. He sounds like he’s gotten so good at DJing that he’s begun to reject whatever is cool and subversive, instead sinking to the level of primally-satisfying beats that worm their way into your brain and refuse to let go. He has an awkward, yet strangely loveable stage presence, dressed like a Gucci frat boy and obnoxiously fist-bumping his way across the stage like he just took a pill in Ibiza. As annoying as it sounds, it’s actually completely indispensable for the set, offering the perfect counterbalance for the sultry, feminine energy of Schwaninger.

The music of Snow Strippers is good enough for them do nothing at all up there, and yet they continuously throw their intentionally corny energy right in your face, easily bringing the irresistible, dark club vibes of their performance—even in broad daylight.

cloud rap

Palomosa | Yung Lean Reigns Supreme

by Lyle Hendriks

The highlight of my Friday at Palomosa was, without a doubt, Swedish rapper/singer Yung Lean. Yung Lean has come a long way since his earliest cloud-rap releases in 2012 and 2013, delving further into R&B and acoustic ballads rather than the signature, bass-boosted crimewave sounds that defined his early careers.

It was a pleasant surprise, then, that Yung Lean’s set at Palomosa wasn’t restricted to his more recent influences. Instead, we were treated to a captivating journey through the very best of Yung Lean’s entire catalogue. From his opening track (the ethereal “Ginseng Strip 2002”), Yung Lean brought an incredible stage presence despite being a rather reserved performer, urging us to lean in and pay attention, commanding our emotions like the moon commands the tides.

Few artists can so convincingly perform both 808-heavy crime anthems and soft, devastatingly beautiful odes to love and self—Yung Lean refuses to pick a lane, bringing both sides of his energy together into a greatest hits set for the ages. Swaying, raging, collapsing into a weeping heap—all of it is on the table when the criminally unassuming Yung Lean takes the stage.

Despite some of these songs being more than a decade old, he manages to deliver them as something fresh and new, bringing the older, wiser version of himself as he revisits teenage emotional ballads and odes to Afghani kush alike. It never feels inauthentic when Yung Lean dips into his back catalogue, but rather feels like a revisiting of old emotions, reflected through a more adult lens that adds new dimensions to these classic tracks.

Yung Lean got on the mic near the end, right before dipping into the devastatingly beautiful, generation-defining ballad of “Agony”. “I started Yung Lean when I was 16,” he said, thanking us for being there, “And this is just the beginning.” Here’s to another decade of Yung Lean reigning supreme.

EDM / Electronic / Techno

Palomosa | Gesaffelstein at the top of the festival

by Sami Rixhon

Palomosa’s big hit: French electronic artist Gesaffelstein performed late Friday evening, bringing the first day of this new festival to a close. The performance was convincing, and confirmed the organizers’ choice of Gesaffelstein as headliner.

On the remnants of an already nostalgic summer, in memory of the defunct Montréal Électronique Groove, Palomosa presented a fine line-up of urban artists to get the most curious Montreal fans of the genre on their feet.

At 9.50pm, Gesaffelstein kicks off the final performance of the day at the Videotron stage with The Urge, from his third and most recent album, Gamma. The piercing yellow eyes of Gesaffelstein’s headphones, known as “the black prince of French techno”, pierce the darkness of the venue. The artist stands at the top of the stage podium, his mixers resembling long black crystals. Laser beams and space-like projections accompany the oppressive music orchestrated by Gesaffelstein. The dark, bass-heavy musical style recalls the compositions of Justice, who performed just a few hundred meters away at Osheaga 2024 a month ago.

The atmosphere never lets up throughout the set, and the audience seems more than satisfied with what they see on stage. The festival-goers’ outfits aren’t all suited to the September evening temperatures, but give a jolt of reminder of Palomosa’s primary mandate: here, you’re free, here, you’ll always feel welcome.

Hip Hop / rap

Palomosa | Destroy Lonely and its playslist…

by Sami Rixhon

Playboi Carti’s young protégé, Destroy Lonely, played to an enthusiastic crowd in Palomosa on Friday. The atmosphere was great, but the quality of the performance was less than impressive. As is often the case with rap concerts…

It’s a few minutes before 8 pm, the sun has already set and reminds us that the leaves in the trees will soon be colored. The crowd at the front of the stage is 90% young men, wearing branded hoodies or balaclavas.

From the very first notes of LUV 4 YA, the mosh pit was formed and didn’t stop for the whole performance, which lasted just under an hour. Destroy Lonely, sporting white-rimmed sunglasses, performed tracks from his album LOVE LASTS FOREVER, released just a week ago.

And yet… The Opium rapper relies for the most part on the pre-recorded tape of his songs, so he doesn’t go out of his way to make his performance more appealing than a Spotify playlist. Imagine a classical music orchestra simulating a Beethoven symphony, using their instruments as mere decorative props. Wouldn’t that cause a scandal? Who knows why it’s become such a rap standard?

Africa / Afro Funk / Afrobeat / Saharan Blues

Sahad, The New King of Afrobeat

by Sandra Gasana

A gentle introduction. A guitar, a voice. That’s how Sahad welcomed us to his very first concert at Club Balattou last Thursday. He is joined by Joon Ho Wantete on piano, Christian Obam, the bassist everyone’s raving about at the moment, Raphaël Ojo, with his contagious smile, on drums and backing vocals, and Frédéric Bourgeault on trumpet.

Mixing Wolof, French and English, he took us from blues to afrobeat, funk and reggae, sometimes with no transition between tracks. At times, we thought we were at a Fela Kuti concert, so perfect was his mastery of this style of Nigerian music. He repeatedly addressed the crowd with the question: “Are you alive tonight?”, before moving on to another track.

The complicity with his musicians was palpable, particularly with Joon Ho, who seems to have worked with the artist for a long time. “Some of the musicians I used to play with in Senegal are now based in Montreal,” he told me during our interview a few days earlier (Sahad, Taxi-Brousse in Song – PAN M 360), while others had flown in from London and Abidjan for the occasion.

In addition to playing guitar, he incorporated percussion into his show, sometimes engaging in percussive dialogues with his drummer or interacting with the trumpet, which heightened the musical intensity in the room.

The audience also had an important role to play in following Sahad’s instructions, particularly on the track Ayeye. While the first part of the show was performed in front of a seated audience, the second part was quite different. The artist invited the audience to move closer to the stage, and that was all it took for them to start dancing. The song Kadio Blues was a particular crowd-pleaser, with its breathtaking trumpet and keyboard solos.

To top it all off, Malian diva and griot Djely Tapa blessed the stage with her powerful, haunting voice, while Sahad’s compatriot Seydina charmed us with his unique vocals.

My favorite song was the tribute to Dakar, which took me back to my memories of the city I’d just visited a few weeks earlier. “The next song, we’re going to Senegal. It’s important to sing a song from home,” he announced by way of introduction, with a passage he had the crowd repeat: Dakar ndiaye nekhna, which means Dakar, the wonderful capital. Sahad showcases his musicians, giving them the space they need for their respective solos, sometimes playing the role of conductor. One thing’s for sure: Montreal’s Senegalese community missed quite a show last Thursday. Let’s hope that word-of-mouth will do its job so that on his next visit to our metropolis, the Balattou will be packed to the rafters with his compatriots, who have everything to discover in this multi-talented artist.

Photo credit: Peter Graham

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