Random Access Memories, 11 years later: HI FI document at PHI Center

by Alain Brunet

The album Random Access Memories will be 11 years old on May 17, 2024, the fourth and final major recording by the celebrated French tandem Daft Punk has unquestionably become an international pop classic, with Grammys and Victoires to its credit, prestigious collaborations and almost instant global appeal.

Remember spring and summer 2013!

Daft Punk’s studios were packed with all the big names: Nile Rodgers on guitars, Nathan East on basset, Pharrell Williams on vocals, Giorgio Moroder as a godfather witness, not to mention Panda Bear (Animal Collective), Julian Casablancas (The Strokes), Chilly Gonzales, Paul Williams, Paul Jackson Jr., Omar Hakim, Todd Edwards, DJ Falcon and many more.

These legendary ’70s musicians had reunited in the studio under the Daft Punk umbrella. Then came the melodies, and the story of the birth of the mega-hit Get Lucky, with here a riff by Nile Rodgers and there a line by Nathan East, then the famous chorus by Pharrell Williams.

A mega-success based on the nostalgia of the years 69-82, Random Access Memories had conquered every generation capable of partying, and proved a model of perfection for its vintage production, meticulous arrangements, impeccable sound recordings and the exceptional quality of a personnel who had already left their mark on world pop.

Seduced and mobilized by this anthological gathering in ” legendary studios “, (notably Electric Lady in NYC), host Rebecca Manzoni, of France-Inter’s Totemic program, launched a year ago this very high fidelity audio document (thanks to Sonorium’s technical support) about the making of Random Access Memories. .

You can listen to this audio document by clicking here, but we suggest that you experience the very high quality sound in the Phi Center’s Sound Habitat, a comfortable lounge offering authentic high-fidelity immersion.

” These are selections from the album and not the complete album. There is, however, an anniversary album, but that’s not the case here. We received the stereo mix from France fait and spatialized the recording with a Dolby Atmos mix for our own system,” explains the Centre Phi’s creative sound supervisor Philippe Rochefort;

The document also includes the testimony of Florian Lagatta of Studio Gong, a renowned sound engineer in France, who explains the background and origins of the affair, which dates back to early 2008 and began with a search for old microphones, an old console and other analogue equipment.

Typical of French public radio, this audio document emphasizes that Random Access Memories, an album entirely financed and produced by the Versailles-based tandem (Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo), is thick with butter, presenting it as a bulwark against technological prefabrication and artificial intelligence. The choice of analog technologies and ” real ” instruments, typical of the 70s and 80s to the detriment of digital tools, allows the sound document to assert such an artistic direction taken by Daft Punk at its latest station.

On a droit, par ailleurs, à des extraits d’interviews de Thomas Bangalter et Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo.

Among other historical details that fans and musicophiles everywhere will enjoy, Daft Punk explain that Random Access Memories was produced under very different conditions from the previous three, this time in a traditional studio with ” real musicians “.

This old-school approach to soul, disco, funk and pop was also a nod to their childhood and adolescence, a dream come true as they got to play with their idols.

“Bringing the human element back into music” is the avowed aim, and it’s one that defends itself well against being backward-looking.

THIS PROGRAM IS PLAYED AT CENTRE PHI HABITAT SONORE UNTIL AUGUST 11th

BOOK YOUR SEATS HERE

Daft Punk – Random Access Memories

A Sonorium creation, with the support of France Inter

Duration

66 minutes

Agenda

Wednesday: 16:30, 18:00

Jeudi: 13h30, 15h, 16h30, 19h30*

Friday & Saturday: 1h30 PM, 4h30PM, 6h PM , 7h30PM

Sunday: 1:30 pm, 3 pm, 4:30 pm

Electronic

A Boiler Room in Montreal, on May 11, 2024

by Salima Bouaraour

From Nairobi to Ramallah by way of Dubai, Tel Aviv, Hong Kong, Berlin, New York, Bogota or Marrakech, Boiler Room is now a more than sacred anthology for devotees of the night realm on every continent! And here’s the Montreal stopover!

From London’s underground huis clos to an international marketing concept, or how to glorify celebrity culture: BR radiates wide! This London-based project, founded in 2010 by Blaise Bellville, began with the idea of filming live DJ and producer performances in a confined area of a dilapidated warehouse, and has since become a world-renowned marketing concept with a relentless following.

An online TV channel, it attracts millions of views, pays artists fairly, promotes diversity at every level and offers a broader vision of music than just electronica (jazz, hip hop, soul…). Today, even traditional music is included, such as the folk songs sung by Khadija Warzazia and her all-female bendir orchestra during a BR in Morocco;An online TV channel, it attracts millions of views, pays artists fairly, promotes diversity at every level and offers a broader vision of music than just electronica (jazz, hip hop, soul…). Today, even traditional music is included, such as the folk songs sung by Khadija Warzazia and her all-female bendir orchestra during a BR in Morocco.

Montreal hosted its first BR 11 years ago. Local artists such as the mythical Kaytranada, the versatile Ouri, the eclectic San Farafina and the genius Pierre Kwenders have graced the backstage of this net TV show.On Saturday, May 11, the Laylit collective -honoring the Swana scene and its diaspora-, for the second consecutive time (New York, 2023), organized the evening to offer a rich artistic line-up of Swana, electronic and Arabic-language folk music, featuring artists from North Africa: Manalou (Algeria) and Chloé Lallouz (Morocco). Founders Nadim Maghzal and Philippe Manasseh, Wake Island’s hybrid DJs, helped electrify the crowd.

The Quai du Vieux Port was abuzz with excitement on two levels for 6 hours, as 2,000 to 3,000 young people sought out night-time thrills. The line-up was vast: Korea Town Acid, Chaos in the CBD, Kettama, Martyn BootySpoon and many more! (Full list here: https://boilerroom.tv/session/montreal-24 ) In the meantime, while you’re waiting to watch this Boiler Room on the net (available in a few weeks on https://www.youtube.com/@boilerroom ), PANM360 invites you to enjoy the one made in New York, in 2023, by the Laylit team!

MNSA, New York, 2023

Saphe, New York, 2023

Avant-Pop / Electronic / Experimental / Contemporary / Middle Eastern

BORN TO LEAVE (REVISITED) at Centre Phi: Sophoclean electronic tragedy with a Lebanese flavour

by Salima Bouaraour

Lebanon, a land at the crossroads of Phoenicians, Arabs and its ethno-religious diversity, which manifests itself in history like a lyrical and dramatic epic. Tinged with richness and beauty, this country has also experienced untold tragedy for several decades, including civil war, economic crisis and regional instability. Today, the Lebanese diaspora is estimated at around 12 million worldwide.

Wake Island explore cette question dans un triptyque comprenant une performance immersive en direct, une expérience d’écoute audio spatiale et un jeu vidéo de rôle.

In fact, Philippe Manasseh and Nadim Maghzal have teamed up with a team of media designers to re-invent a new formula for their album Born to Leave, released in 2021, into a 3D game, centered on the themes of immigration and Arab identity as well as with the artist, Radwan Ghazi Moumneh, to revisit the sound design.

The spatial mix is available to listen to in the Sound Habitat and comes in 9 parts.

1. Habitat sonore. May 1 to May 7. Spatial mixing of the album.

Plunged into the half-light of an immersive room, equipped with a multi-channel installation and a sound of unsettling perfection, the listening conditions are more than optimal. The music transcends you from every angle, with a subtle blend of a scenario worthy of a cinematic atmosphere such as Dune and an electronic ambience typical of immersive performances. More than ever, you feel the synthesis of two entities: Wake Island’s narrative and Radwan’s sonic mise en abîme: bouzouk, synth, electric guitar, effect pedal, whirring, echoing, spiraling or resonating sound, distant voices, the sensation of wind blowing across sand, shaking walls and detonation, deep bass. An absolute must!

2. Role-playing video game with the soundtrack from the album presented on May 3.

In alcoves fitted with cushions, several Ipads are laid out to access the video game. This is a role-playing game in which you, the player, are immersed in a Beirut-Montreal flight about to land at Pierre-Elliott Trudeau International Airport. You meet characters such as Maha, Bahia and the Canadian immigration officers, as well as the two enigmatic characters from Wake Island. As well as being a treasure hunt, you’ll be asked a number of questions, each of which you’ll have to answer takes you on a journey of intrigue. The setting is composed of 3D visuals. Scenes are akin to psychedelic hallucinations, set against a backdrop of the album soundtrack and Lebanon’s political and economic crisis. Let yourself be caught up in the game!

3. May 3. Immersive live performance with Wake Island and Radwan Ghazi Moumneh + video installation by Giotto remixing the game’s 3D visuals

Sublime. Meditative. Bewitching: a live performance worthy of a modern-day Greek tragedy. In the listening room, the artists formed a triptych where the stage consisted of synths, ouds, electric guitar, zither, keyboards, ableton controllers and effects pedals. The installation and design resembled an ancient Greek tragedy featuring illustrious characters torn apart by passions or overwhelmed by fate. The soundtrack illustrated the tracks from the revisited album, but was distinct from the immersive listening experience. The intention was to make this a clearly unique experience, and it was a success! The acts – exposition, rising action, climax, falling action-dénouement – lasted around 60 minutes.

Nadim, Philippe and Radwan, the three protagonists, captivated the audience in a grandiose performance on a circular open stage, encircled by the audience. The “musician-actors” shared all the roles. The catharsis lay in the common thread instilled by an extremely vaporous, continuously repeating strand. One song followed another to highlight the “Lebanese” tragedy played out before our eyes and ears, imbued with an immense poetic intensity. The sound design was predominantly ambient and soaring, but the haunting rhythm was broken up by Philippe’s voice with parsimony and finesse. A touch of vocoder and orientalizing vocalization. Nadim created the rhythmic jerks and Radwan enveloped the audience in bewitching layers. Visual artist Giotto projected images from the video game in the background. A pure Sophoclean electronic tragedy with a Lebanese flavour.

VIDEO GAME FREE ACCESS HERE !

OTHER INFOS HERE

Folk Pop

Noah Kahan: An Emotive Performance with Goofy Banter

by Serena Yang

Noah Kahan’s “We’ll All Be Here Forever” arena tour has been a sensation across North America, following the rocketing success of his 2022 album Stick Season. The tour made its way through Canada, finally landing in Montreal this past weekend at the Bell Centre.

The evening commenced with Jensen McRae, whose soulful folk-pop set, accompanied by her acoustic guitar, keyboardist, and electric guitarist, set an intimate tone for the crowd. Taking the stage with a salute, the Vermont native kicked off his set with a trio of anthemic stomp-clap folk hits: “Dial Drunk,” “New Perspective,” and “Everywhere, Everything,” juxtaposing catchy melodies with introspective lyrics of longing and angst.

During his performance of “Godlight,” a poignant track about the emotional toll of touring, Noah lamented about being just three hours away from his Vermont home. “It’s tough being this close to home without being able to return… I miss my folks and my family.”

Throughout the concert, Noah delivered a deeply emotive performance, delving into themes of love, loss, addiction, mental health, personal flaws, and complex family dynamics. Despite the darker topics, he maintained a lighthearted and goofy banter with the audience, interacting as if we were all friends sharing stories at a bar. “I just wanna take a moment to shout out to everyone here whose parents have divorced… it wasn’t your fault – it was your dad’s!” he quipped, introducing “All My Love,” a moment that had the entire crowd on their feet, clapping along.

Transitioning to the B-stage at the back of the arena, Noah treated the audience to an intimate solo acoustic performance of “Growing Sideways” and teased the unreleased track “The Great Divide,” before returning to the main stage with the spirited “Northern Attitude.”

For the encore, Noah reappeared wearing a Montreal Canadiens jersey, ending the night with “The View Between Villages” and his biggest hit, “Stick Season.” From the maple leaf-shaped confetti that rained over the crowd as Noah bid Montreal farewell, to the hockey jersey, to his references of a bleak and cold winter in his lyrics, Noah and his music deeply resonate with his Canadian fans, who completely sold out his Canadian tour dates. For those who missed out, fear not – Noah will return to headline Osheaga for another unforgettable performance.

Photos by Serena Yang

Université de Montréal | Jean-François Rivest’s Grandiose Farewell

by Elena Mandolini

Université de Montréal’s Salle Claude-Champagne was packed to the rafters on Saturday evening for an exceptional concert. Not only was the program ambitious (Mahler’s Second Symphony was featured), but it was also the last concert of the season for the Orchestre de l’Université de Montréal (OUM), and Jean-François Rivet’s last as conductor, as he retires at the end of the university term. For all these reasons, the occasion had to be celebrated in style. Some 250 musicians gathered on stage to thrill the walls of Salle Claude-Champagne with their remarkable interpretation of Mahler’s Symphony.

If Mahler’s work had to be described in one word, it would probably be contrasts. Contrasts of nuance, of tone, of size too. The OUM perfectly conveys all these subtleties. Despite the large number of players, the pianissimo nuances are truly pianissimo. In this second symphony, particularly in the first movement, there are several superimposed melodies shared by the different sections of the orchestra. The balance between these sections is excellent, allowing us to hear each melody distinctly. The low instruments, especially the double basses, are the driving force of this work, and throughout the evening we hear them carry the orchestra with flawless precision.

If the first movement is dramatic and powerful, the second is more playful and dance-like. We admire OUM’s ability to move from boundless power to restraint, without losing any of its precision. Jean-François Rivest guides these transitions with evocative gestures, true to his trademark precision. The third movement gives way to beautiful exchanges of melody between different instruments. Here again, the moments of heightened intensity are never confused. The volume achieved by the orchestra is at times staggering. In the fourth movement, the orchestra provides excellent accompaniment for mezzo-soprano Mireille Lebel. This very short movement ends delicately, with a soft, enveloping sound. The last note of this movement, which seems to fade away, never faltering.

Then the fifth movement calls for a return to force. The same energy and power as in the first movement, but with even greater grandeur. In this movement, the brass must play backstage. As the Salle Claude-Champagne is not entirely suited to this, in our opinion, these instruments are barely audible, but the echo from backstage creates a very beautiful effect. This movement also features a large chorus. This is where we find a downside. The execution of the soft nuances gives the impression that the choir is hesitating. We would have appreciated a little more certainty in the choir’s entries in the soft, almost a cappella passages, accompanied by the soprano Layla Claire, and more power in the work’s final, fortissimo moments. But the symphony ends grandly, with an impressive brass section and a few organ chords.

The evening lived up to its billing. The OUM once again demonstrated its great talent and ability to rise to ambitious challenges with flying colours. It was a fitting tribute to Jean-François Rivest on his last evening at the helm of the orchestra.

For the calendar of events at the Université de Montréal’s Faculty of Music, click HERE!

Willows and Soleil Launière: A post-eclipse luminous evening

by Michel Labrecque

As part of the Plateau Doubles evenings at the Verre Bouteille bar in Plateau Mont-Royal, indigenous singers and songwriters Willows and Soleil Launière invited us to an introspection of their roots which proved luminous on this historic day of total eclipse. Michel Labrecque attended.

First, a confession: Willows, aka Geneviève Toupin, is part of my extended family. I will do my best to remain objective…

The Métis singer from Manitoba inaugurated this double set with a trio: drummer Vincent Carré, bassist Guillaume Bourque and Geneviève on guitars and with her unique voice.

She gave us the essentials of her 2023 album, Maison Vent, which is intended to be a synthesis of her different identities: Metis, Franco-Manitoban and now Quebecoise and Montrealer. She told us lots of stories to put it all in context.

To compensate for the absence of the magnificent vocal harmonies and sumptuous arrangements of Maison Vent, Willows and his two cohorts presented a rawer, more rock version of certain songs, but with a lot of musical creativity. The audience appreciated it, judging by the applause.

Geneviève Toupin is first and foremost a voice, which has the capacity to transmit many varied emotions, just through its different inflections and intonations. When she sings a cappella, it’s as if we’re witnessing a solar eclipse… with sound.

After the Willows concert, it’s time for multidisciplinary artist Soleil Launière, an Innu from Mashteuiatsh, in Lac-St-Jean. Last October, she released Taueu, an album that mixes roots and synthetic music, tradition and modernity. Soleil Launière comes from a Quebecoise mother and an Innu father. She has no choice but to mix cultures.

Also a dramatist, Soleil offers a show that is both musical and theatrical. Sometimes she screams and puts her body on display. The music also has a theatrical aspect. Sometimes we juggle with sound saturation.

By the way, to accompany the singer, we find the group Chances, composed of Chloé Lacasse (synthesis-voice), Vincent Carré (drums)… and Geneviève Toupin (synthesis-voice)! There is also the excellent guitarist and arranger Simon Walls. All this results in magnificent vocal harmonies that stir the inside. The room was perhaps too small to absorb such a powerful group.

Soleil Launière shares with us her rediscovery of her roots. She is learning the language of her ancestors, which her father did not speak. We sense an artist who is exploring and who will continue to surprise us.

After more than two hours of music, the audience seemed full and very happy. After the solar eclipse, the indigenous musical eclipse. A great April 8th!

classique persan / Contemporary / musique contemporaine / Persian Classical

Bahar Harandi’s feminist Iran

by Frédéric Cardin

On 2 April, a concert of discoveries and feminist affirmation took place in Salle Bourgie at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Iranian-born Montreal soprano Bahar Harandi was accompanied by Amir Eslami on ney (a traditional Iranian flute), Saba Yousefi on violin and Hooshyar Khayam on piano. Through a repertoire of contemporary works written by as many Iranian-Canadian women composers, we were presented with a whole universe inspired by Persian roots and its rich history. The concert began with a number of traditional pieces arranged for ney and piano, immersing the audience in an exotic soundscape that was also relatively close to the music of Gurdjieff/Hartmann from the early 20th century. The other pieces on the programme, by Parisa Sabet (born in 1980), Aida Shirazi (born in 1987) and Mina Arissian (born in 1979) demonstrated a very high level of skill, ranging from the consonant music of Sabet to the more demanding expressionism of Shirazi, before returning to the Scriabinian inspirations of Arissian.

The texts, many of them by the great poet Rumi, were used symbolically in the context of this concert, even if their initial premise had no such intention. For example, Parisa Sabet’s Be still (based on a text by Rumi) says:

Sit, be still and listen,

because you’re drunk

and we’re at the edge of the sky

It came as no surprise that the expressive force given to the voice was concentrated on the first stanza. Bahar Harandi put a lot of intensity into it and it was impossible to think of anything other than a man ordering a woman to do this in modern Iran (or indeed anywhere else). There were, in fact, several moments of powerful dramatic force throughout a programme that was quite varied in terms of musical texture, rhythm and atmosphere.

Harandi sang with a beautiful and very well-balanced voice, combining technical mastery with plenty of emotional character. The soprano also demonstrated good dramatic range, accentuating certain passages with bite, cynicism or gentleness.

Classical / Contemporary / South African traditional music / West African traditional music

Abel Selaocoe: the wind that blows away

by Frédéric Cardin

The sirocco is a warm and vast current of air exchanged between North Africa and Southern Europe. It’s also the symbol that South African cellist Abel Selaocoe uses to inspire a spirit of musical exchange between Africa and Europe in a concert programme that he and his friends from the Manchester Collective are taking on a major North American tour, including a stop in Montreal last Thursday.

The artist is as solid in Beethoven and Debussy as he is in arrangements of traditional pan-African pieces or even his own compositions. The Sirocco concert, given in front of a Bourgie hall electrified by his charismatic stage presence, left a little room for the European classics (very brief Haydn, Berio, Hans Abrahamsen and Scandinavian folklore), but gave most of it to the sounds and technical particularities of Africa (Mali, South Africa). More than commercial crossover, although it sometimes sounded a bit like it, Selaocoe offered an intercultural vision of chamber music, where a Haydn quartet had the resonance of an anti-Apartheid spiritual song from South Africa, and percussive techniques thrown at the strings or the cello body were matched by surprising, even impressive vocal inflections. These led the versatile musician to navigate deftly from delicate high notes to rumbling lows reminiscent of Tibetan throat singing. It seems that, between Africa and East Asia, age-old traditions have managed to forge a permanent cultural path.

Selaocoe and the musicians of the Manchester Collective (two violins, a viola, a percussionist and an electric bass) injected an infectious energy that earned them a long and warm ovation. The purists of another era would have hated this kind of programme, but Selaocoe is the bearer of a new future for classical music, and his message of intercultural renewal is clearly reaching a large and, above all, quite young audience.

Photo credits : Anna Kaiava

alt-rock / Blues / expérimental / contemporain / Jazz

Anti Jazz Police festival – Day 4

by Frédéric Cardin

Since everything, even the best, must come to an end, the fourth and final evening of the Montreal Anti Jazz Police Festival at Ursa took place yesterday in an atmosphere of complete satisfaction. The small venue on Avenue du Parc was packed to the rafters with a colourful, happy, attentive, multilingual and warm audience. Totally Mile-End-ian.

Listen to my interview (in French) with Martha Wainwright about the Montreal Anti-Jazz Police Festival

This final session of musical bliss began with the Martian dreams of harpist Sarah Pagé, who presented material that will feature on her forthcoming album Utopia Planitia. The great plain recently visited by a NASA rover served as levitating inspiration for the evocation of strange landscapes, to which layers of arpeggios and ethereal echoes added a touch of more earthly colour. Saxophonist Charlotte Greve followed, and she too won us over with her symbolic, spiritually-inflected minimalism, on which she deploys some beautiful, floating and inspiring vocal lines. Greve’s tenor expresses itself with a beautiful roundness that reminds us of Garbarek at ECM. Somewhere in the ⅔ of the performance, the rhythm was activated to give a more pop finish to the whole, to which the excellent Sarah Rossy has come to add her own touch of vocalism. An impeccable dynamic and stylistic progression that set the table for the second act of the evening.

The latter took the shape and sound of Oren Bloedown, singer, guitarist and bassist from New York, known for Elysian Fields, but also with the Lounge Lizards, Bruce Springsteen, Meshell Ndegeocello… The guy knows the Ursa genre quite well: he owns and skilfully manages The Owl Music Parlor, a great little place that supports good local music in Brooklyn. Bloedown does jazz with a rock, pop, blues and R’n’B twist, or vice-versa. Effective riffs and an engaging music mastered by his friends of the moment, Rémi-Jean Leblanc on bass and Samuel Joly on drums, superb. Martha, always there, came to give us her usual song… Wait, no: two! What an honour, but this was the final, so a little give away bonus is understandable. Joel Zifkin on violin and then Charlotte Greve added a not inconsiderable layer of complementary colours. The feeling was great, and the evening was only half over.

Martha Wainwright – Photo : Pierre Langlois

The penultimate set of this eventful conclusion was held by Unessential Oils, the latest incarnation of Warren Spicer (Plants and Animal). He was joined by Tommy Crane, Sergio D’Isanto and Claire Devlin, among others. Unessential Oils is nothing but feel-good groove, dynamic but not rushed, with a sunny character and a beautiful fullness of sound, and enwrapping emotions. Devlin’s lyrical, choral-like sax lines are like flights of fancy that carry us along with them. What we heard will be available on the band’s eponymous debut album, on sale on 24 May. Reserve your copy now!

The grand finale of the Montreal Anti-Jazz Police Festival seems to have been designed for the ‘Jazz Police’ of fame, the snobs and purists to whom few flowers have been thrown in these four days of very, very broad music, heart and style. The Nashville duo Concurrence, made up of Paul Horton on piano (Alabama Shakes) and Greg Bryant on bass (with the addition of Tommy Crane on drums) gave us the most ‘authentically’ jazz set of the whole festival. And what a great hour it was! A very high level of improvisation, mutual listening, rhythmic versatility and technical quality. Original compositions tinged with social commentary and a few well-launched standards/homages like Bird’s Now’s the Time, completely and brilliantly reinvented.

A perfect finish that will perpetuate in the minds of music lovers the image of an event of the highest quality, despite its good-natured and somewhat spontaneous side, which, in truth, is exactly the reason for its success. Montreal DIY in all its splendour and honesty, even its occasional mistakes. Everyone present, a panorama of the city’s beauty and diversity, felt the festival’s friendly, family-like atmosphere. Well done!

No promises have been made about a potential second edition. We certainly hope there will be one. But, just in case, we’ll hold on to these superb memories.

Thank you Martha, thank you Tommy Crane, thank you Ursa team and thank you to the large and enthusiastic audience. Mission accomplished.

The crowd at Ursa – Photo : Pierre Langlois

chamber jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Jazz / Modern Jazz

Les super saxes de l’ONJM

by Varun Swarup

Une des caractéristiques d’un excellent spectacle de jazz se manifeste souvent lorsque le public a du mal à contenir ses applaudissements, et ces moments ont été nombreux lors de l’événement du 27 mars. L’Orchestre national de jazz de Montréal (ONJM) a présenté un spectacle mémorable et intime, mettant à profit sa formidable section de saxophones pour offrir un répertoire captivant comprenant à la fois des classiques bien-aimés comme Stolen Moments, Night in Tunisia et Infant Eyes, et des compositions originales évocatrices, comme l’hommage poignant de Jean-Pierre Zanella à feu le saxophoniste Wayne Shorter.

Les saxophonistes de l’ensemble, Jean-Pierre Zanella, André Leroux, Samuel Blais, Frank Lozano et Alexandre Côté, ont fait preuve d’une précision remarquable dans leurs lignes à l’unisson, devenant ainsi une seule voix, et lors de leurs solos, laissant briller leurs styles de jeu uniques. Il va sans dire que la section rythmique, composée de Marianne Trudel au piano, Rémi-Jean LeBlanc à la contrebasse et Kevin Warren à la batterie, a fait preuve d’une cohésion exemplaire. L’interaction nuancée et la chimie musicale entre ces musiciens étaient particulièrement évidentes dans cette configuration plus dépouillée de l’orchestre, ce qui a permis d’apprécier davantage leur art collectif. ;

Le batteur Kevin Warren s’est distingué par son jeu dynamique et passionné, qui a constamment fait avancer le groupe avec précision et verve. Son habileté à préparer le terrain pour le succès de l’ensemble était indéniable, contribuant de manière significative à l’énergie globale et à l’impact de la performance. En outre, l’inclusion d’artistes invités, le tromboniste David Grott et Lex French, a ajouté de la profondeur et de la diversité à l’offre musicale de la soirée, le lettrage offrant une interprétation particulièrement émouvante de Lover Man en duo avec Marianne Trudel.

La performance exceptionnelle de l’ONJM a suscité deux ovations bien méritées, rappelant de façon poignante l’héritage durable de l’ensemble en tant qu’institution montréalaise chérie. Avec plus d’une décennie d’excellence inébranlable, l’orchestre continue de captiver les auditoires par son art exceptionnel et son dévouement à la tradition du jazz, laissant une impression durable à tous ceux qui ont le privilège d’entendre sa musique.

Avant-Garde / Avant-Rock / Contemporary Jazz / Experimental / Contemporary / Free Improvisation / Indie Rock / Jazz / Post-Rock

Montreal Anti Jazz Police Festival – Day 3

by Frédéric Cardin

Yesterday was the third day of the Anti Jazz Police Festival at Ursa here in Montreal. We came away less satisfied than the previous evenings, not so much for reasons of musical quality, but rather of overall coherence and preparation, due to unforeseen absences. I’ll come back to that later. That said, it was not without its moments of ecstasy, thank you.

Listen to the interview I did (in French) with Martha Wainwright about the Montreal Anti-Jazz Police Festival

It was the artistic excellence of Montreal bassist Rémi-Jean Leblanc that launched this third opus from the new festival. Leblanc, in top form and supported by Jonathan Cayer on keyboards, Nicolas Perron on guitar and Kevin Warren on drums, took us on a journey of sound adventures with a rock bent, both prog and post in certain rhythmic-harmonic details, or McLaughlin-style fusion elsewhere. Also invited to the stylistic party were a few funk wiggles and even a brief extravagance that I felt was a nod to punk. On top of all that, Erika Angell, masterful, allowed herself a series of vocal outbursts as she knows how to propel them, at once modern, astonishing and lyrical. It was a good start, in front of a more sparse audience than on previous evenings. A pity, because RJ Leblanc is one of the great musicians of his generation.

The second act of Day 3 showed us the surprising experimental tendencies of Liam O’Neil (Suuns) on drums (and other percussion). He was replacing at the last minute Parker Shper (sick?) That explains why the set was so very short, but not why it started somewhere around the same time as the soundcheck ended. As the boundary between the two proved non-existent, and above all very imprecise, the performance was perhaps already half over when we realised he was playing for real! Felt weird, but hey, good cover up anyway. Besides, O’Neil creates new colours by tapping his tools in all sorts of ways, and even dares to do so with a microphone, thanks to which he collects the resonances induced to create feedback that he transforms live into so many new colours and atmospheres. Avant-garde at the highest level.

This was followed in the same second act by the Montreal quartet Bellbird, who play modern jazz/free jazz/scholarly contemporary music/American minimalism. I couldn’t wait to hear them live. Unfortunately, it was a trio that turned up, as (spectacular) saxophonist Allison Burik was home sick. Another absence. It happens, of course, and we don’t blame them (neither do we the Festival, of course), but the result, while excellent, didn’t reach the high polyphonic levels found elsewhere, and also on their album Root in Tandem, released in 2023 (read my review HERE). But hats off to Claire (Devlin) on tenor sax, Eli (Davidovici) on double bass and Mili (Hong) on drums, for pulling out all the stops and giving us a quality set that would be the envy, albeit diminished, of any other band.

Simon Angell at Ursa – photo : Pierre Langlois

The third act was reserved for a duo we’d been hoping for for a long time: Simon Angell on guitar (and lots of electronic tampering) and Tommy Crane on drums. We’d been promised guests, and after a fine duet of atonal mischief, contemplative abstractions and bursts of rhythmic energy, Greg Bryant from Concurrence (performing tonight on Day 4) took to the stage with his purring bass. Suddenly, the whole set was spiced up. Then the other guy from Concurence, pianist Paul Horton, came in to add a layer. He’s a good pianist, yes, but he also plays the melodica at the same time! Wow. It’s a solid performance, and the room is lifted by a lightning energy and doped by an explosive adrenalin boost. But wait, that wasn’t the end of it: as if out of the blue, saxophonist David Binney and singer Sarah Rossy turn this four-piece trip into an ecstatic six-piece sound orgy. It doesn’t last long enough, but we’re well fed up all the same.

It was an uneven evening, to be sure, but one that ended with great satisfaction. If the important thing is to get off to a good start and finish well, Day 3 has proved that the Anti Jazz Police festival is very good at getting its priorities right.

See you tonight for the final.

DETAILS, PROGRAMME AND TICKETS AVAILABLE ON THE FESTIVAL WEBSITE

Alt Folk / Alt-Pop / Contemporary / Contemporary Jazz / Dream Pop / Experimental Folk / Indie Folk / Indie Rock / Jazz / Post-Rock

Montreal Anti Jazz Police Festival – Day 2

by Frédéric Cardin

Day two (or rather, evening) of Montreal’s newest music festival, and almost the same result. Once again, three well-crafted and complementary acts follow on from one another at the Ursa music club on Avenue du Parc.

Listen to my interview (in French) with Martha Wainwright about the Montreal Anti-Jazz Police Festival

Martha Wainwright sings an intro song before giving way to the soothing, gentle, melodic folk-pop of harpist/vocalist Émilie Kahn (ex Emilie & Ogden), in duet with Thanya Iyer on pastel synth sounds (a Yamaha’s Reface CS for the techno-curious). We’re settling in quietly to keep us going until past midnight. If we want to! After all, you can arrive and leave whenever you like. Then came Ivy Boxall’s quintet (Christopher Edmonson for real), playing keyboard and sax. Piano, bass/guitar, trumpet and drums are combined in an expansive, epic sound panorama interspersed with calmer, atmospheric pauses. In terms of musical technique, it’s very good. The ensemble clearly has excellent potential, and can build something solid. That said, I have to give a bad mark for the stage attitude of the leader, who rarely seemed satisfied with what he was doing and cut short certain ideas by announcing that the product “isn’t ready yet”, and that it’s a “work in progress”. Unease. If you’re not ready, my friend, you need to rethink your working methods. Music lovers didn’t buy tickets to come and see a rehearsal (unless it was advertised as such!). Or get on with it, improvise a proper finish and don’t spend your set sulking and making us feel it. We call that professionalism. But, I repeat, the potential is great and only needs to be better presented.

The second act begins with New Yorker Claire Dickson, whose dream-pop is steeped in strangeness and seasoned with experimental alt-folk. Claire sings with a beautiful voice, the full range of which you can only guess at as she generally uses it in sighing, sussing and whispering lines, which she is quick to manipulate, stretch and butcher in all sorts of ways thanks to her digital lutherie. A few minor problems with the logistics of her equipment made my friend Monique Savoie (from SAT), who was present and knows a thing or two about this field, cringe. Personally, I rather liked the result. The other artist on the programme for this 8.30pm set was Sarah Rossy. Sarah sang a duet with Eugénie Jobin the day before, and it was superb. This time, all the attention was on her (and her musicians, who were all excellent), and it’s easy to see why she’s considered one of the rising stars of the alt/indie scene. The young Montrealer packs an emotional punch thanks to a versatile and malleable voice, as well as being beautiful and tonally assured. But it’s how she uses it, and the music that supports it, that really impress. Her compositions take us back to aesthetic sources as rich as Zappa, Radiohead, Björk and maybe even (did I dream?) Prince, occasionally. I’m just mentioning names to give you an idea, but Sarah Rossy is much more than that. She has a strong musical personality, and a beautiful psychological transparency that gives her an irresistible charm on stage. Her rise has only just begun, believe me.

This second day of festivities concludes with the third act, at 11pm, performed by the Little Animal quartet (pedal steel, bass, drums, trumpet). Sensory power, slow but irrevocable musical constructions and epic cathartic climaxes make us hesitate to describe them: Post-Rock with Jazz colours or Jazz with Post-Rock accents? Whatever, it’s pretty trippy and contemporary, the way Bad Plus is, but in a visceral Montreal spirit. I said quartet, but yesterday it was a quintet, because alongside Tommy (Crane), Joe (Grass), Morgan (Moore) and Lex (French), we were lucky enough to find David (Binney) on sax, who added his touch of swirling flamboyance to this already pretty strong ensemble. Binney is spending the week in Montreal, both for the festival and for the launch of his album In The Arms Of Light (read my review HERE), which takes place at the O Patro Vys bar on Saturday 30 March.

See you on Day 3, Thursday (what? That’s already today!). On the programme: Rémi-Jean Leblanc at 5.30pm, Bellbird and Parker Shper at 8.30pm, then Tommy Crane and Simon Angell with guests (surprises). And as always, the incomparable ambience of Ursa, a Martha’s song, and her home cooking made with love.

See you later.

DETAILS, PROGRAMME AND TICKETS AVAILABLE ON THE FESTIVAL WEBSITE