The OSM welcomed some distinguished guests last night. Conductor Roderick Cox and violinist Blake Pouliot delivered solid performances that lived up to expectations and their respective reputations, in a powerful evening of vitality and virtuosity.

The concert opened with Tchaikovsky’s symphonic fantasy The Tempest. The work was inspired by Shakespeare’s play of the same title. It is a highly evocative work, constructed in several tableaux describing the play’s events in music. We could hear the waves, illustrated by the string section, and all the drama of the play, evoked by powerful brass instruments. The performance of this work is remarkable: the orchestra plays perfectly together, even in the fastest, most charged passages. Cox’s precise, sweeping and evocative gestures guide the orchestra brilliantly through the work. The interpretation is rich in contrast and nuance, and all performed with great success.

In the second half, the most eagerly awaited work of the evening: Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto. Soloist Blake Pouliot shines on stage. The solo violin can be heard very well, even when the orchestra is playing with more power. Pouliot’s interpretation is solid and convincing, and the themes are interpreted in a very singable way. The higher passages are clear and assertive. Pouliot seems at ease on stage, relaxed as he plays, smiling during the orchestral passages alone. The third movement, the concerto’s most virtuosic, is surprisingly short. But Pouliot and the OSM put so much energy into it that the finale is unforgettable. This is a performance of the highest order, amply justifying all the praise received by both Cox and Pouliot.

Crédit photo : Antoine Saito

After intermission, Roderick Cox conducts the Negro Folk Symphony, composed by African-American composer William Levi Dawson. The work presents a fairly standard musical language as far as symphonic orchestral composition is concerned, but the score nevertheless contains some nice surprises that are a pleasure to hear. The symphony is strongly inspired by spirituals, and this influence is clearly audible. In each of the three movements, a lilting, sometimes syncopated melody is first introduced by a solo instrument, then taken up by the orchestra. Once again, Cox and the OSM offer a performance rich in contrasting nuances and moods. The tone is sometimes luminous and playful, sometimes grave and solemn. The work of the percussion section is also noteworthy, particularly in the second movement.

The audience was treated to an exhilarating evening, full of (re)discoveries and solid, precise and convincing interpretations. The program will be presented again on Saturday, October 14, and is not to be missed!

For info and tickets, click HERE.

Montreal drummer Mark Nelson wanted to musically illustrate all the “weird things” that exist beyond the earth’s atmosphere, far beyond, that is, into other solar systems and even other galaxies. It’s this idea that underpins the conceptual content of Postcards From the Cosmos, a jazz collection of impressions from far away, presented last night at Dièse Onze as part of OFF Jazz 2023. Interstellar jazz, philosophically speaking, but very little solar in its harmonic architecture. We find ourselves in a serious, complex sound universe, supported by an often insistent rhythmic drive by Nelson himself, of course, and the discreet but elaborate Levi Dover on double bass. The piano, in truth, is where it’s at. The excellent Andrew Boudreau builds a sophisticated constellation that oscillates between Webernian atonal and reasonable chromaticism.

In this journey, we land somewhere on a planet where it “snows” sunscreen (Kepler 13Ab – yes, yes, it’s true), and admire the so-called Sombrero galaxy (one of the most beautiful captured by telescopes) while trying to perceive the tenuous, highly abstract echoes of the song “Mexican Hat Dance” in the instrumental framework, and we hear a “weird blues” defining the asteroid Oumouamoua (which some have mistaken for an alien spaceship) and a vaguely Schoenbergian funk doubled by pianistic chords reminiscent of Messiaen tells us of a planet with two suns, like Tatooine in Star Wars. There’s even Pluto, nostalgically hailed as a former planet (it’s now a “dwarf planet”). Nelson obviously knows his stuff.

However, we would have liked a little more “sense of wonder” in this high-level music, to sometimes avoid the impression of cerebrality. The title track, “Postcards From the Cosmos,” arriving towards the very end, gave us a touch of that. It was a little late. Stars, galaxies, colourful nebulae, and eccentric exoplanets, were all imbued with a kind of visual and spiritual magic that we’d have hoped would be more faithfully replicated in the musical constructs. Nevertheless, the end result is ferociously intelligent, skilfully woven into several layers of harmonic and rhythmic discourse, and produced with musicians in great technical shape (once again, Boudreau, impressive. Fellow pianist Félix Stüssi was present and said the same thing). We may not have been amazed, but we were certainly impressed and jazzistically satisfied.

A confession to start with: I didn’t know Melissa Pipe before the OFF Jazz festival. Listening to her album Of What Remains totally enchanted, impressed and seduced me. And the concert on October 11th in a totally transfixed Ministère only added to my delight.

Melissa Pipe plays bassoon and baritone saxophone. But first and foremost, she’s a brilliant composer and arranger. She focuses on chamber jazz, in which brass and wind dominate, but in which each musician is in total symbiosis with his or her compatriots. Well-crafted solos to boot.

We’re in a kind of velvet halo, which doesn’t exclude occasional bursts of dissonance and explosions, but what predominates is a formidable harmonic and meditative quilt.

“As you may have noticed, I’m very fond of the low register,” Melissa Pipe tells us between two pieces. It’s true that it’s a characteristic of her musical colours. When you play bassoon and baritone saxophone, it influences the register of your compositions.

Incidentally, Melissa Pipe speaks French like a native Québécoise, and a third of the tracks on Of What Remains have French titles. This sextet once again reflects Montreal’s diversity: Philippe Coté on tenor saxophone and bass clarinet, Solon McDade on double bass, the formidable Mili Hong on drums, Andy King on trumpet (Lex French plays more on the album) and Jeff Johnston on piano (Geoff Lapp on the album). This band is exquisite, let’s not mince words.

Compared to some of my colleagues on this site, I don’t possess an encyclopedic knowledge of jazz. But the lover of good music of all genres that I am levitated during these eighty minutes of music.

From now on, when I hear that Melissa Pipe is giving a concert, whether with her sextet, her bassoon quartet, or in some other form – I hear she also collaborates with rock or hip-hop musicians – I’ll keep my ears open.

I end this review with Of What Remains in my headphones. What magnificent harmonies. What symbiosis. Ideal music to transcend the anxieties of the present age.

I was very intrigued by this concert by Objibway trumpeter Chuck Copenace, who lives in Winnipeg, the capital of Manitoba, which has just elected Canada’s first-ever aboriginal prime minister.

First Nations are on the move, in politics and culture, and not just in Quebec. Listening to his latest opus, Oshki Manitou suggested an interesting mix of traditional Indigenous music, electronic music and jazz.

However, the concert version of this album (Wednesday evening at the Ministère) left me a little disappointed. It was more of a traditional, groovy jazz show, lightly marked by traditional chants on two occasions. The absence of keyboards, omnipresent on the album, transformed the band’s sound.

Once that’s said, the shy colossus that is Chuck Copenace is very touching when he tells his story. He talked a lot. The fact that an Objibway from Northern Ontario, raised by a mother who overcame her substance abuse problems, managed to become a trumpet player is a tremendous accomplishment. That he reconnected with his roots by frequenting Winnipeg’s many sweat lodges, where many of his recent compositions originated. For, in these huts, there’s a lot of singing.

Chuck Copenace is a competent trumpeter. Guitarist Victor Lopez provides the harmonic framework with a crystalline, reverberant sound. The quintet has played Herbie Hancock and Freddie Hubbard in addition to Copenace’s own compositions.

I’d like to see this band again in a version more in keeping with the latest album, where the fusion of genres is expressed more convincingly. Chuck Copenace’s trajectory remains to be followed, as he is committed to bringing native musicians together to build a new jazz.

Tuesday evening’s concert at Salle Bourgie was nothing short of exhilarating. Isata Kanneh-Mason was in town and treated the audience to a remarkably well-constructed and, above all, virtuoso program.

Pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason, born in 1996, enjoys a well-deserved international reputation. Her stage presence is mesmerizing. The eyes of the entire audience are riveted on her, as she soaks up the music she sees flashing through her mind. Because yes, one of the highlights of the concert was the fact that she played all four works, some 1h30 of them, almost completely by heart! She not only mastered the scores, but also the particular rhythms of the pieces, especially the Chopin in the last part, and seemed to vibrate, almost dancing to the rhythm of the bars. She also demonstrated solid concentration throughout the concert, ignoring the distractions and pitfalls of the scores. She excelled in conveying the emotions and intensity of the program.

A trend, or rather a thread, ran through the entire program. The works, in chronological order, told the story of Romanticism. Starting with Haydn’s Piano Sonata No. 60 (1794-1795), we could hear the first traces. A rather late work, probably composed for the pianoforte, the forerunner of the modern piano, the humour and quality of the themes are typical of Haydn’s pen. The chromaticism in the second movement, which evolves into a scale that seems to disappear into the mist, is noteworthy and delicately realized. The second work, Fanny Mendelssohn’s Ostersonate (1828), is fully Romantic, with a great breadth of movement and intensity that captivates the listener. The canon in the second movement is delightful, underlining the clarity of the voices both in the score and in the pianist’s playing.

The second part somewhat echoes the first, with a brighter piece followed by a more eventful one. Robert Schumann’s Kinderszenen (1838) is a sequence of fairly simple themes that evoke images of a child’s life. Their joys, dreams, fears, anxieties and so on. Taking the form of a story, perhaps a lullaby, one is almost tempted to fall asleep with the child after the poet’s conclusion. The final work was Chopin’s Piano Sonata No. 3 (1844). Here, Kanneh-Mason had the opportunity to demonstrate all her expertise, all her mastery of the repertoire, and all her virtuosity through the deluge of notes, the volcanic climbs and delicate descents that painted a delicious musical landscape. The voices that appeared and seemed to disappear as if by magic kept the attention of the already satisfied audience, and the particular rhythms of the last movement were more than intriguing. Once again, we could feel how dear this music seemed to the pianist. She repaid the audience’s warm welcome with a short encore, an etude by Chopin (him again!), which was utterly majestic.

Salle Bourgie has once again spoiled its audience with a world-renowned artist who brought the repertoire and the program to life. No doubt many listeners will see these works differently after hearing Isata Kanneh-Mason’s interpretation.

Razalaz is the band of Olivier Salazar, who composes and directs the music.

This sextet calls itself a jazz-funk band. For my part, I’d add that it also has prog-rock and atmospheric film music influences.

At least, that’s how I felt at Razalaz’s concert at Le Ministère on October 10, as part of Off Jazz. Olivier Salazar loves mixes and fusions. His track record bears witness to this: he’s played with the likes of Louis-Jean Cormier, Jacques Kuba Séguin and the funky The Brooks.

He plays keyboards and vibraphone. Maybe it’s his vibraphone that reminds me of progressive rock. He plays more like Kerry Minnear of Gentle Giant than Gary Burton. At times, I had the impression of hearing King Crimson or Snarky Puppy, the American jazz-fusion band.

But Razalaz invents its own sound. The group offered a renewed version of its latest album, Jungle Givrée, released less than a year ago. It was also able to perform a few tracks from its debut opus, Océan Sucré, from 2019.

Just by reading the titles of this album, you understand that Razalaz also has a sense of humour, which you can feel in the music. And it’s even clearer when Olivier Salazar tells you on stage the genesis of what inspired the song titles. The story of Bronzage Napolitain is very funny: a white Québécois-Chilean who burns under the Brazilian sun. It’s the story of Olivier Salazar.

Razalaz doesn’t take itself too seriously but sometimes makes serious, inspired music. Jazz, funk, some very gentle moments. Among the instrumentalists, Andy King’s trumpet stands out.

Also featured are Émile Farley on bass, Alex Francoeur on saxophone, François Jalbert on guitar and Noam Guerrier-Freud on drums.

Razalaz is an intriguing bug that we’ll have to keep listening to, to see how far it will go and how it will mutate.

Pianist Julian Gutierrez isn’t reinventing jazz. But his group gave me a very pleasant Caribbean-flavored jazz experience at his concert at the Ministère on Tuesday, part of the OFF Jazz program. The music is richly and finely arranged and grooves intensely at times. A very high standard.

Cuban-born Julian Guttierez, who studied composition at Laval University, has created a very Montreal-style sextet: Guadeloupean Axel Bonnaire on drums, Cuban Eugenio Kiko Osorio on congas and percussion, Brazilian Joao Lenhari on trumpet and flugelhorn, and Quebecers Guillaume Carpentier on tenor saxophone and Jean-François Martel on electric bass. Starting with the third piece on the program, a surprise guest was added: saxophonist Jean-Pierre Zanella, with whom Julian Guttierez has often collaborated.

This sextet (now a septet) mainly performed pieces from the Julian Gutierrez Project’s latest opus, Goldstream, released in 2022.

In terms of improvisation, Joao Lenhari offered us inspired solos, alternating between sweetness and intensity. Guillaume Carpentier brings the depth of the tenor sax. Julian Gutierrez has a rich harmonic palette and weaves inspiring solos of melody and progression. Jean-Pierre Zanella is simply… Jean-Pierre Zanella on alto and soprano sax.

The group’s rhythm section brings a contagious energy and complexity. The unobtrusive but highly effective bassist Jean-Français Martel supports the highly explosive but highly competent Axel Bonnaire, who seems to take great pleasure in playing with his accomplice, percussionist Eugenio Kiko Osorio.

A small downside: I was less convinced when Julian Gutierrez turned singer on two of the eight pieces presented.

That said, this group illustrates the richness of our jazz scene and the contribution of Montrealers from elsewhere. And the power of mixing. After the concert, Brazilian Joao Lenhari told me that he found Montreal more culturally rich than Sao Paolo, the Brazilian megalopolis. This trumpeter will soon be leading the big band at the Université de Montréal. Stay tuned.

In the context of Off Jazz, the sacred beauty of the Chapelle Saint-Louis was the ideal setting for this highly convincing and unique project led by drummer Aaron Dolman. Alongside two singers, Sarah Rossy and Eugénie Jobin, this trio navigates instrumentation that reveals a real depth and tenderness in Dolman’s rich chamber compositions.

With the two singers expressing themselves between harmony and counterpoint, and the drums performing between groove and melody, the uniqueness of the experience was soon imprinted on us, and the trio showed great sensitivity to make it all work.

Throughout the evening, the band not only shared their new compositions but also revisited tracks from their debut album, Are You Here to Help?

As the evening drew to a close, the trio left the audience with a particularly sweet memory: a folk rendition of the aptly titled “Can the Circle Be Unbroken.” Aaron joined in this more intimate sequence, furnishing the larger whole with warm drum triads, bringing the evening to a heartfelt conclusion, memorable for those in attendance.