The PAN M 360 team has a strong presence at the Festival international Nuits d’Afrique (FINA), with our contributors reporting daily on what they’ve seen and heard at the concerts presented in Montreal until July 23.

Lavanya Narasiah: Love and Light

Photo credit: André Rival

After seeing Lavanya Narasiah perform, you perhaps wouldn’t believe that she is a career medical practitioner. Indeed, she and her eclectic band performed with the grace and finesse of a seasoned group. But they are seasoned, having been playing together for many years, since Lavanya first conceived of this unique project almost ten years ago now. Their musical chemistry and their appreciation for this repertoire were evident, with smiles all around as they played. 

From the moment Lavanya took to the stage at Club Balattou, as the band set up their instruments, she bonded with the audience, inviting them to light the ‘diyas’ at their table, wishing us love and light. It was in the warm amber glow of these candles that the music unfolded like a flower in bloom – the first set began with strums of kora as the duo of Subhir Dev on tablas and Daniel Bellegarde on percussion took us onboard a train that gently meandered along the hills of South India and West Africa. Narasiah herself was in fine form, her voice joyously gliding through the nuances of each composition, one could tell she savoured every minute on stage, and that her audience savoured every minute of being there.

Varun Swarup

Featured photo credits: Peter Graham

The PAN M 360 team has a strong presence at the Festival international Nuits d’Afrique (FINA), with our contributors reporting daily on what they’ve seen and heard at the concerts presented in Montreal until July 23.

Romain Malagnoux’s Musical Travel Log

Photo credit: André Rival

Romain Malagnoux, the folk singer-songwriter from France who now calls Quebec his home, took to the stage at Club Balattou and gave a moving performance that took listeners on a journey across the Atlantic to West Africa. The intimate setting of the club proved to be the perfect backdrop for Malagnoux to showcase his global horizons and share his musical ability.

Malagnoux’s music defied easy categorization, seamlessly blending elements of folk, ‘world music’, and Quebecois music, in his emotive songs – sometimes melancholic, sometimes joyous. His affinity for West-African music was certainly clear and one that goes deep, after all, it has led him to Mali many times. Malagnoux’s raspy tenor voice shows inflections from the desert blues of the Tuaregs to the delicate folk quality of kora music. His fingerpicking technique and percussive style of guitar playing were particularly cool to witness live. 

While he shared some compositions from his album, Nos frontières imaginaires, which he recorded after a meeting with the djeli n’goni player Moustafa Kouyaté, he made it a point to present some newer material too, and the audience was treated to a warm and personal showcase of the artist. 

Varun Swarup

Yordan Martinez and Joyful Celebrations at Club Balattou

Photo credit: André Rival

Yordan Martinez brought the tantalizing sounds of Havana streets to the salon of Club Balattou, igniting a fiery and passionate night of music and dance. The concert was a pulsating celebration of salsa and cumbia, with Martinez’s band delivering a tight and energetic performance with the addition of Colombian vocalist Stephanie Osorio. It was the two percussionists on stage who drove the evening forward with their syncopated and hypnotic claves, and Martinez’ earthy baritone complementing Osorio’s mellifluous voice with rich and lively counterpoints.

As the band played, the dance floor started filled with enthusiastic patrons eager to move their bodies to the intoxicating beats. Granted it was not the busiest Sunday evening, but the band still gave it their all, enticing most of the audience there to join in on the festivities. The band interacted with the audience, encouraging clapping and sing-alongs. Martinez’s infectious energy was contagious, and it spread throughout the venue, creating an atmosphere of celebration. A great night.

Varun Swarup

The PAN M 360 team has a strong presence at the Festival international Nuits d’Afrique (FINA), with our contributors reporting daily on what they’ve seen and heard at the concerts presented in Montreal until July 23.

Kaleta & Super Yamba Band: Back to the Future of Afrobeat… With Lots of Juju!

Photo credit: André Rival

It was an epic Saturday night at Balattou, with the Montreal debut of New York’s Kaleta & Super Yamba Band.

The septet’s DNA is infused with Afrobeat, soul and funk, but also with a lot of juju, a style created in Nigeria in the 1920s, then developed by legendary artists such as Tunde King and Tunde Nightingale, and ultimately the precursor of Afrobeat. Percussive, twirling percussion, volatile guitar, bouncing bass and spectacular winds (trumpet, baritone sax, flute) plunged the Montrealers in attendance into an authentic vintage ecstasy worthy of a Lagos club circa 1970.

The band’s charismatic leader, Kaleta, is a spiritual son of the great King Sunny Adé and turned up the heat as the hours wore on. At first, you’re taken aback when you hear the first James Brown-esque scream coming from this seemingly gentle, reserved person. But the more you hear, the more you want more. Super Yamba Band is, yes, an afrobeat/juju band, but, coming from Brooklyn, you’re bound to notice the wind-instrument musicality.

Walter Fancourt and Sean Smith are accomplished jazzmen, and their technical and sonic mastery is never approximate, even if the notorious imperfections of the horns in vintage bands had a great charm. The audience’s reception was equal to the task. Kaleta, Super Yamba Band and Montreal were made to get along, and we’re guessing this premiere won’t be the last.

Frédéric Cardin

Saïd Mesnaoui’s Healing, Celebration and Gnawa Innovations

Photo credit: André Rival

Said Mesnaoui and his sprawling ten-piece band put on a show that was testament to the redemptive power of Gnawa music. Armed with his trusty guembri in hand, the traditional three-stringed lute native to Morocco, Mesnaoui played to an eager bunch of concertgoers, young and old, from far and wide, at the Theater Fairmount.

It did not take long before the hypnotic effect of Gnawa began to take hold on most of us. The triplet grooves of the qarqaba, metal castanets, gracefully merged with the incorporation of electric guitars, keyboards, drums, adding layers of depth and texture, pushing the boundaries of the Gnawa genre while maintaining its core essence. The fusion of Gnawa’s ancient melodies with flavors from jazz, rock, blues, and even some reggae, created a wonderfully unique experience that Said has done well to hone into.

Beyond the musical spectacle, the musicians all exuded a sense of spirituality and unity that is deeply rooted in Gnawa culture. The lead singer’s soulful voice soared, carrying messages of resilience, love, and healing. The captivating call-and-response interactions between the musicians and the audience created an atmosphere of collective celebration and joy, and the mood was very festive indeed.

Varun Swarup

In the Hot Springs of Sound System With WWSS and Jah Observer

Montrealers Guillaume Alexandre and Pierre FX are absolute fans of the Jamaican sound system. They’ve built their speakers from local resources, unearthed rare collectibles, vinyl, reggae, dub, Caribbean and more, and teamed up with OGs from the Jamaican culture and community.

Over the years, events under the World Wild Sound System (WWSS) banner have grown in stature, to the point of attracting 66-year-old Jah Observer, a true sound system legend in the UK. He was also one of the founders of London’s Notting Hill Carnival, the world’s second-largest festival devoted to Jamaican culture.

By 10:30 PM, it was already packed and hot at Le Ministère. We’d come to dance to the roots of reggae, dub and toasters (ancestors of rap). Our hosts’ idea was to get the audience wiggling on the dance floor while enjoying these gems from the 60s and 70s, exceptionally released from their oysters.

It was a really cool evening, starting with almost two hours of warm-up before the arrival on stage of Jah Observer, who always works with the classic sound system paraphernalia: a turntable and a pre-amplifier. Jah Observer’s art consists of a constant interplay between what he plays on the turntable and his live microphone interventions. This alternation becomes increasingly fluid and infectious in front of us, in real time. In just a few minutes, we were all infected with the powerful virus of original reggae.

Alain Brunet

The PAN M 360 team has a strong presence at the Festival international Nuits d’Afrique (FINA), with our contributors reporting daily on what they’ve seen and heard at the concerts presented in Montreal until July 23.

Delgrès, Atypical Power Trio, Creole Blues-Rock… Atypical!

Photo credit: André Rival

There’s a little buzz in Montreal about Delgrès, named after Louis Delgrès, the Métis colonel in the French army who died heroically in Guadeloupe when Napoleon re-established slavery in the colonies.

And why the buzz? Because this Parisian with Afro-Caribbean origins and his pale-faced colleagues offer an unusual blend of Guadeloupean Creole vocals (with a little French and English), blues and stoner rock. Delgrès had already made a name for themselves on their previous appearance at MTL, enough to fill the Ministère on Friday night as part of Nuits d’Afrique.

Frontman and guitarist Pascal Danae, ex-member of Rivière Noire (Victoire “musiques du monde” in 2015), teams up with drummer Baptiste Brondy, a colleague of M and other Jean-Louis Aubert artists, and bass player Rafgee, educated at the Paris 5 Conservatoire and regularly hired at West Indian dances to replace the string bass with this greasy reptile that winds it up for our greatest pleasure.

The guitar riffs are blues first and foremost, essentially delta blues and Chicago blues, guitar motifs that Pascal Danaef embellishes with other riffs and rock melodies typical of the 70s. It’s not quite as saturated and explosive as the Black Keys, Jon Spencer or Jack White, although you can enjoy paraphrases of Led Zep’s Whole Lotta Love…

Nonetheless, it rocks!

The rhythm section is crucial to the success of this atypical power trio. The sub-bassophone plays like an electric bass, and the highly competent drums are more than a regular blues-rock drummer.

An experienced professional, Delgrès’s frontman has a fine arsenal of blues and rock motifs, and his Creole vocals come through with ease. Whether it’s the committed, lucid words of his intellect or the passionate words of his guts, all this rhyming verbiage soon hits its targets.

Pascal Danae and his colleagues delivered two very hot sets, which suggests that their next stop in Montreal will be in a bigger venue. An easy prediction!

Alain Brunet

Bianca Rocha, Sincere Enthusiasm for MPB

Photo credit: André Rival

Playing to a full house at Club Balattou, the Brazilian singer-songwriter, Bianca Rocha and her band, put on a warm and breezy set of classic MPB numbers as well as a few originals. Rocha displayed a comfortable stage presence and her genuine enthusiasm and passion for Brazilian music were palpable, creating a warm and inviting atmosphere. There were frequent calls to the dance floor throughout the concert, and the audience certainly made the most of them! 

The backing band of drums, guitar, bass, provided solid musical support. Their minimalist arrangements tastefully complemented Rocha’s delicate yet energetic vocals, creating a tight, if at times rather sparse, musical backdrop. Perhaps the concert could have benefitted with some additional instrumentation, a little brass, or even the addition of a keyboard player, which would give the guitarist more room to breathe, would have made the music even better. 

However, the evening was made all the more special with the addition of guest performer, singer Flavia Nascimento. In our interview with Bianca about this performance, she mentioned how Flavia is affectionately known as ‘the sun’ in the Brazilian community, and it is easy to see why. Her larger than life stage presence and her soulful vocal performances added even more warmth and vibrancy to the evening. 

Varun Swarup

The PAN M 360 team has a strong presence at the Festival international Nuits d’Afrique (FINA), with our contributors reporting daily on what they’ve seen and heard at the concerts presented in Montreal until July 23.

crédit photo: Andy Rubal

Blick Bassy and Cameroonian transculture

“Water is a powerful metaphor for the chain. It is a link without which we cannot live. It’s in all of us, in every living element of the natural order! As in a chain, as with water, we cannot extract ourselves from the chain without harming ourselves and others. Conflicts are like this: a withdrawal of certain groups from the living chain, from the chain of dependence. And the consequences are disastrous.

Taken from our interview with Blick Bassy by colleague Frédéric Caddin, this quote makes perfect sense.

Before us on stage or via his recordings (Ako, 1958, Madiba), the superb songs of this Cameroonian artist (transplanted to France) caress a goal of redemption and flow naturally, to continue the aquatic metaphor. The personal quest of Blick Bassy, an inspired and refined being, unfolds at the antipodes of ethnocentrism, as opposed to turning in on oneself or outdated ancestral values.

Blick Bassy proved it on Thursday at the Fairmount Theatre: he’s a gifted artist and an authentic citizen of the world, zero offbeat compared to all the current chanson projects taking place on this small planet. He expresses himself with the tools of today and yesterday, his choices of accompaniment including digital technologies, electronic or acoustic percussion, synthesizers, trumpet, invented or traditional instruments, electric guitar and vocals. His fine, airy counter-tenor voice (whose vocalizations sometimes recall the songs of the Bakaya people) is perfectly suited to the highly creative arrangements generated by this instrumentation, which in no way detracts from the Cameroonian foundations of his craft.

So we pay close attention to the ethereal ambience of his tunes and lyrics in the Bassa language, which we always manage to grasp, even if we don’t understand a word of it. His explanations in French are nonetheless clear and enlightening. An excellent addition to the Nuits d’Afrique 2023.

Alain Brunet

Eliasse, even more rock (zangoma) than expected !

The Comoros archipelago is little-known and little-visited by North Americans, hence our interest in learning more about its current culture… at Nuits d’Afrique, needless to say. That’s why we were at Balattou early Thursday evening. Like Blick Bassy, whom we heard a little later, Eliasse has left his native land to become something else and offer something else.

A highly intelligent artist with a particularly caustic sense of humor, the author, composer and singer is a hybrid creature, in the image of his global transhumance. Now living in France, he loves rock, and has teamed up with musicians from Bordeaux who have a passion for rock and, we imagine, jazz too. The bars composed to accompany Eliasse, whose popular culture is based on an extraordinary rhythmic corpus, must be understood. Percussion is a formidable weapon in Eliasse’s repertoire, with some very heartfelt sequences in store.

And so, Comorian folklore and rhythms are the starting point for an expression of rock that’s completely self-assured. Zangoma rock, as Eliasse calls it. His guitar and effects pedals, indeed, do not spare the creative saturation of the chords that make up these songs lit to perfection. Even more rock than expected! Interpreted in the Comorian language, Eliasse’s lyrics are song poems about human societies and their not always clean marks in the planetary ecosystem. If you don’t speak Comorian, you’ll be tempted to take a leap of faith when listening to Eliasse.

Alain Brunet

Juan Carmona, flamenco nuevo and Maghreb flavours

crédit photo: Andy Rubal

At National on Thursday nignt, Juan Carmona and his ensemble put on a thunderous performance for a suitably stormy evening. Inaugurating the concert with a solo guitar piece, Juan briskly set the tone of the evening with his fiery and lyrical virtuosity, creating an atmosphere that was both electrifying and deeply moving.

For the second piece a percussionist was brought on stage, and the beats of the cajón and the clapping of the palmas soon came to be the backbone of the music, enhancing the intensity and energy of the evening. The band grew to include a keyboard/flautist and bassist, and with this band Juan was afforded the freedom to play more lyrically and to take dazzling solos over his compositions.

However, the suspense was still growing in the audience, as the many fans of the Algerian-Montrealer vocalist, Youba Adjrab, waited for his arrival on stage. It did not take long after Youba began singing for the crowd to erupt in applause, and we were all taken aback by the sheer beauty and fluidity of Youba’s voice, soaring gracefully above the rich flamenco harmonies. It was a night that celebrated the rich tradition of flamenco while pushing its boundaries, with a modern and maghrebian twist that we all appreciated. 

Varun Swarup

The Brooks bring the Place des Festivals to a close at FIJM

Crédit photo : Benoit Rousseau

Called in last Wednesday to replace Macy Gray, who was initially scheduled to perform on the FIJM’s main stage on the Place des Festivals, Montreal jazzy funk band The Brooks performed brilliantly at the closing concert of the 2023 edition. Led by Alan Prater on vocals and Alexandre Lapointe.

On Saturday night, the band navigated funk, jazz and soul with ease. The Brooks performed their best tracks, such as “Priceless” and “Pain & Bliss,” and delivered music that’s sure to get you moving. Throughout the show, each member of the collective had his moment to shine, culminating in an exhilarating solo from guitarist Philippe Look. The band’s singer and musician, Alan Prater, is a true showman and gave it his all; Prater was in full control on the big stage.

As an added bonus, The Brooks called on much-loved singers Dominique Fils-Aimé and Hanorah. Fils-Aimé set the pace as soon as she arrived, transporting the audience into her quieter, shadier world. As for the second guest, she charmed the audience with her cover of Macy Gray’s famous song I Try, probably a small consolation for fans hoping to see the American singer at the festival. After almost 90 minutes of performance, Alan Prater had one last trick up his sleeve and made way for a guest to propose to his girlfriend. Naturally, the main character accepted the big proposal and was ecstatic. What better way to close the FIJM.

Jacob Langlois-Pelletier

Braxton Cook, a close-up look at a rising star

Braxton Cook and his quartet lit up the stage at the Pub Molson tent last night with a passionate performance that was both fiery and soulful. Something of a rising star in the jazz world, Cook’s masterful saxophone work is always a pleasure to listen to, but this evening was also a showcase for Cook’s singer-songwriter side.

Braxton inaugurated the concert with one of his most well-known compositions, “No Doubt,” an uptempo and emotional number that the seasoned band burned through with ease. He followed this up with “M.B,” the first track off of his latest album,  Who Are You When No One is Watching, a heavy number with sort of a trap beat that is a dedication to Ma’Khia Bryant, one of the many victims of police brutality and system racism in the United States. Cook had a charismatic and kind stage presence, he took the time to engage the audience throughout the night, offering some insight as to how and why some of this material was written.

The band then took a more pop turn, with a performance of some of the songs on Cook’s latest album, like “90’s” which features Masego on the original. Cook’s voice shined but the venue choice wasn’t the best suited to creating intimate moments between audience and performer. Still, people seemed to very much enjoy themselves, and I’m sure a few people in that audience might have discovered their new favourite artist.

Varun Swarup

High Klassified and friends enjoy a late-night party

Crédit photo : Benoit Rousseau

The very last show of the 2023 FIJM edition was entrusted to Montreal producer High Klassified, and his performance was eagerly awaited, judging by the mass of festival-goers present on the Esplanade de la Place des Arts at around 11 pm. In recent years, the beatmaker has enjoyed a meteoric rise in the music world, notably as the man behind The Weeknd and Future’s Comin Out Strong.

When we saw his name on the FIJM evening menu, we didn’t really know what to expect. Accompanied on stage by pianist Nathan Dumont, drummer Alexis Gagnon, and bassist Paul Charles, he offered a “100% Klassified set” of his most popular tracks reimagined in band formula, ranging from R&B to EDM to drum N bass. Maintaining that he was the “conductor of the evening”, the producer essentially played recordings of his various tracks fleshed out by the work of the three musicians. During the show, High Klassified acted more as host, dropping a few words on the mic here and there. It must also be said that the moments of silence between the different songs broke the rhythm of the concert, especially in the first section.

Fortunately for the audience, High Klassified called on three artists during his set: Hubert Lenoir, Zach Zoya and Cherry Lena. The various guests performed some of their own tracks produced by the Quebecois, including DIMANCHE SOIR for Hubert Lenoir. One thing’s for sure, it’s interesting to see the Lavallois perform live, but this formula needs to be reworked. Nevertheless, we salute the producer’s efforts in transforming these songs for the occasion.

Jacob Langlois-Pelletier

Edelène Fitzgerald, Oliver-Jones Prize fully deserved

Édelène Fitzgerald received the Oliver-Jones Prize on Saturday, 6PM at Studio TD, establishing her as one of Quebec’s rising young artists in our jazz world. Despite his 89 years, the famous pianist generously presented her with the prize that bears his name, declaring that “Quebec talent is here” and that we should “be proud of our youth”.

Édelène’s launch into the world of jazz with a rather well-known surname (!!!) is a double-edged sword. So far, at least, it’s a double-edged sword! A trombonist for eight years and more, she finally turned to singing, given her obvious aptitudes: warm alto voice, diversity of vocal textures, good sense of improvisation, and power to spare.

She’s just as capable of appropriating the “hair-raising” music of Nubiyan Twist or Genevieve Artadi, as she is of beautifully adapting Queen B or even Dizzy Gillespie’s A Night In Tunisia. In my opinion, this is the avenue that best suits him, clearly distinguishing him from his peers.

Here sidemen performance is quite generous: keyboards, bass, drums, electric guitar, saxophone, and trumpet.
It’s not always impeccable, and sometimes you’re looking for a common thread in this repertoire. It quickly becomes obvious that Edelene Fitzgerald and her colleagues, all very promising indeed, are not yet very far from their own musical education, and that they bring together several of their apprenticeships within the same set without welding the aesthetic links.

But… more than an hour’s concert is enough to conclude that this is a raw talent that absolutely must be developed.

Alain Brunet

Alison Krauss & Robert Plant: Mastery, Refinement, English Touch, Americana… Memorable !

crédit photo: Victor Diaz-Lamich

It’s worth pointing out once again: very few popular artists are capable of nurturing their inspiration all the way to the end of the road, and Robert Plant is one of those rare iconic figures to have achieved this feat. On Friday evening at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, a concert of the highest quality once again eloquently demonstrated this: the superb tandem formed with Americana artist Alison Krauss and an exceptional band.

Robert Plant’s longevity is also due to the consistency of his approach over a lifetime. Let’s not forget that Led Zeppelin started out as a British band inspired by American rock’n’roll, blues, and folk, with the particularity of considerably beefing up their sound through the trances generated by the heavy rhythms of the late John Bonham, the acid riffs of guitarist Jimmy Page and Robert Plant’s paroxysmal voice. We’ll also remember the inspired use of oriental referents and brilliant arrangements by bassist John Paul Jones, inspired by modern Western classical music. 

All this was perceptible on Friday night (except the classical music) but in a very different context. The line-up featured top-flight American musicians, the crème de la crème of Americana – Jay Bellerose, drums, Stuart Duncan, banjo, cello, mandolin, Viktor Krauss, bass, guitar, JD McPherson, guitar and opening act Dennis Crouch, double bass. Without a doubt, this instrumentation was conducive to all kinds of crossovers between the constituent elements of American popular music, and also to brilliant adaptations of Led Zep.

Tandem covers of “Rich Woman” (Lil’ Millet), “Fortune Teller” (Benny Spellman), “Can’t Let Go” (Randy Weeks), “The Price of Love” (Everly Brothers), followed by a perfect Led Zeppian rereading of “Rock and Roll and” an inspired cover of “Please Read the Letter” (Plant and Page), followed by “High and Lonesome” (Plant and T Bone Burnett), “Trouble With My Lover” (Allen Toussaint & Leo Nocentelli), “In the Mood” (Plant), then a pair of traditional songs with a pair of soloists, Marty Groves and Gallows Pole, before drawing to a close with a magnificent orientalized adaptation of a Led Zeppian folk song, “The Battle of Evermore.” We close the books in total rapture with “When the Levee Breaks” (Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe McCoy).

Half a century after reaching rock’s pinnacle, Robert Plant has never abandoned these referents, yet he is the only member of Led Zep to go down the path of great creation – although John Paul could still be relevant. 

So, for the past fifteen years, Plant has been exploring the foundations of Americana culture as few Britons have done on such a high level – blues, rock, bluegrass, Louisiana R&B, folk, country, Appalachian music, and so on. He does it in North America as well as in Europe, with Band of Joy (2010), Lullaby and the Ceaseless Roar (2014), Carry Fire (2017) and Raising Sand (2007) and Raise the Roof (2021), his two duet albums with Alison Krauss, being applauded in turn. Understandably, Raising Sand is the gateway to this extraordinary cycle. Needless to say, Alison Krauss, a singer, and fiddler exemplary for her aesthetic allegiance to country-folk-American singing and traditional fiddling, forms an ideal duo with Led Zep’s ex-frontman.

And that’s exactly what we saw on Friday night at FIJM, even more so than in 2011 when Plant performed Americana-style at PdA with the inspired and capable Buddy Miller on musical direction. Although … it was just as excellent 12 years ago. This just goes to show how enduring this English singer is, one of the greatest of them all.

Alain Brunet 

TEKE::TEKE, all the elements for a celebration of creativty

crédit photo Frédérique Ménard-Aubin

In our interview with TEKE::TEKE, they were a little nervous about having enough people attend their FIJM performance, but really they had nothing to worry about. Playing to a packed house at the Club Soda, this evening was a celebration of this unique Montreal band, with an audience of friends, family, and a lot of fans.

The whole evening had a sense of spectacle to it as the septet ceremoniously took to the stage with some film music behind them. Setting the tone with “Gotoku Lemon” – an excellent introduction to their art-rock meets eleki soundworld – any looks of hesitancy quickly vanished, and it quickly dawned upon the audience that we were in for something special.

Maya Kuroki, the siren at the helm, had a bewitching stage presence. Clad in traditional Japanese dress, her voice carried the weight of ancient folklore, piercing the veil between reality and imagination. She would dance and sway, leading the congregation into a trance-like state – “tonight we are all phantoms” she says. The megaphone was an especially nice touch!

Behind her, the sextet swiftly played through their unique, funky, cinematic arrangements, and the setlist was mostly a showcase for their new album Hagata. The energy they bring is truly contagious and I love that the band leans into the theatricality of it all. They put on a show in the truest sense of the word and could tell that the band members were living their best lives up there. TEKE::TEKE’s music is a celebration of creativity, of cross-genre and cross-cultural
experimentation, and to be a part of that celebration was a privilege.

Varun Swarup

BADBADNOTGOOD’S AUDIO-VISUAL EXPERIENCE

crédit photo: Benoît Rousseau

It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good … It was BADBADNOTGOOD, the shape-shifting instrumental jazz monster three-piece, though they played live as a five-piece on the main stage of FIJM. The set began with a recorded, way too loud “War Pigs,” before bassist Chester Hansen flipped on his fuzz pedal. It started more like a doom rock show than a jazz one and the crowd seemed a little weirded out, but once the rest of the band—Alexander Sowinski on drums, Leland Whitty on saxophone and guitars, Felix Fox on keys, and Juan Carlos on world percussion, came out the show took shape as they dove into “Signal From The Noise,” off the latest album, Talk Memory. 

This time the Toronto outfit came loaded with a fantastic 16mm film backdrop, calling the show an “audio-visual experience” multiple times. The band has been missing founding member Matthew Tavares on keys since 2019 and has replaced him live with Felix Fox, an equally measured keyboard player, but the core three remaining members were the main stars of the show, each taking their own grooving improvised solos between songs from Talk Memory. Sowinski took the role of the show’s hype man, urging the crowd to jump, clap, and ‘woo’ at certain, scripted points. 

There were a few improvised tributes to the late Gal Costa and MF Doom, which got the crowd bumping, but nothing compared to when they played  “Lavender” off of IV, arguably their most put-together jazz hooky album. I’ll say that Talk Memory is a more enjoyable experience live than the recording, and though the set mostly consisted of that and I was hoping for more of IV and maybe some Sour Soul renditions, it was still a memorable show. 

Stephan Boissonneault

FELP and Friends’ UFO land on the Esplanade

The Besançon-born multi-instrumentalist and producer brought his recent album HELP and other surprises to the Club Montréal TD stage.

After a long, atmospheric intro with undulating keyboard-bass and saxophone tones, Félix Petit took over the background and let the guests featured on his album perform one by one. Laurence-Anne plays the sinister Dino, whose post-chorus propulsion always seems to come out of nowhere. Then the mic is taken over by Klô Pelgag, with her dreamy nonchalance, performing Babyfoot, an icy song that demands such an attitude. Greg Beaudin, HAWA B, Besançon rapper Miqi O, and Bellflower spearhead Em Pompa all took to the mic for the songs that feature them.

The concert starts to surprise from the halfway point, as Félix Petit and his musicians begin an instrumental section. What seems to be a simple interlude, in the end, continually bends and changes. The music alternates between rhythms, each more interesting than the last. At the end of this ten-minute or so medley, you almost forget that there’s one last guest left, but you soon remember… because Hubert Lenoir arrives and immediately steals the show, shines, rocks, and takes control of the stage to an overwhelming finish. Hard to see him as only a guest artist.

Although the live setting doesn’t allow for as much detail as HELP offers in our ears, this show, with its team of star players, was truly worthy of the world’s greatest jazz festival.

Théo Reinhardt

Mali Obomsawin: The Aboriginal Renaissance Involes Jazz

crédit photo: Pierre Langlois

Since we’re still in the midst of a renaissance in Aboriginal culture, any new manifestation of creativity titillates our curiosity, and that of Abenaki bassist Mali Obomsawin is no exception. The Studio TD was packed for her first concert as a sextet: Magdalena Abrego (guitar), Scott Bevins (trumpet), Allison Burik (clarinet), Noah Campbell (saxophone), Zack O’Farrill (drums), Mali Obomsawin (double bass and vocals).

The bandleader grew up in New Hampshire, but knows Odanak very well, an Abenaki stronghold not far from Pierrevielle, near the Saint-François River and Lake Saint-Pierre. She expresses herself in Angais and Abenaki, and is fully committed to asserting her Aboriginal identity, along with an acerbic and perfectly legitimate critique of white colonialism and Catholic oppression. 

Musically, this desire to update aboriginal cultural heritage in a jazz context translates into a contemplative aesthetic, occasionally punctuated by jolts and eruptions. Native songs are used as melodic vectors around which improvisations develop in real-time. Tempos are generally slow. In fact, lament and anger, but also pride and hope, manifest themselves in an apparent calm whose nature we come to decipher.

Mali Obomsawin’s native melodies and rhythms are simple and pure. Integrating these traditional materials into contemporary jazz with a little touch of free improv, a necessarily more complex musical practice, is an essential step in the development of First Nations through musical creation. The double bassist, singer, and leader can count on a solid musical education in contemporary chamber jazz, as can her colleagues, without however revealing an exceptional level of playing. 

Nonetheless, we have a good time with Mali Obomsawin, enjoying her playing, singing, and direction, as well as her touching cover of Buffy Sainte-Marie’s « Little Wheel Spin And Spin ».

And we’re curious about what’s next. Aboriginal jazz doesn’t have so many practitioners, and we know mainly (and not enough) about swing singer Mildred Bailey (1907-1951), from the Coeur d’Alene nation in Idaho, an authentic pioneer of jazz singing who was a great influence on the greats – Ella Fitzgerald, in particular. We also know Jim Pepper (1941-1992), a fine tenor saxophonist from the Muscogee Creek nation, who was responsible for the hymn “Witchitai To,” known to all Robert Charlebois fans without necessarily knowing its origins. There are certainly more if you do your research, and we imagine there will be many more in the not-too-distant future.

Alain Brunet

Thundercat is the Funky Space Cowboy of Our Dreams

Thundercat / Benoit Rousseau

Despite the oppressive heat on July 5, thousands gathered at Scene TD to witness Thundercat—the virtuoso bassist who has been responsible for producing music for some of the most influential and genre-transcending music in the last decade; Kendrick Lamar, Flying Lotus, Gorillaz, Ariana Grande, Anderson .Paak, etc.

He of course was playing his own music, mostly from his latest jazz-fusion album, It Is What It Is. From the beginning moments, Thundercat (real name Stephen Bruner) made the crowd aware that this performance was going to be jazzier than most—I mean, he is playing the FIJM—by playing a ridiculously free bass solo on his classic burnt orange six-string bass, ripe with pops and turns to make our heads spin. Hello Victor Wooten?

No, Thundercat is his own sort of master and makes it look too easy and you can tell he loves it, smiling a big Cheshire grin between songs. And his vocal falsettos soared—as if he was a modern Marvin Gaye with a bit more echo filter delay. But his band, Justin Brown on drums, and Dennis Hamm on keys, was just as capable, taking their own five minutes solos between songs. One thing that separates Thundercat from others is his adoration for pop culture; anime, movies, and video games, and he made it known during his set, speaking about how he is more than excited for the final three episodes of the ninja fantasy epic, Naruto. You can’t really separate this aspect from Thundercat; it’s all throughout his lyrics, and his stage outfit—a golden Sonic the Hedgehog necklace, Felix the Cat striped t-shirt, and a treasure trove of videogame/anime reference tattoos, [See You Space Cowboy…] shows a man who knows what he’s all about.

The setlist was mostly newer tracks within the last two years, but there were a few deep hits from Drunk like “A Fan’s Mail,” “Tron Song” and “Friendzone.” One surprise, just for FIJM was when Thundercat brought out Louis Cole, to slay on drums for the track “I Love Louis Cole.” Turns out the two are very good friends and Cole once brought Thundercat back to life after he got a little too sauced on the juice. Everyone was waiting for “Them Changes,” and Thundercat delivered with a more improvised version of his bass funk epic. He then left and arrived again, laying down “No More Lies,” the song he released a little while ago with Tame Impala. It might have made more sense to switch the order of those two last songs as the crowd went way more electric for “Them Changes.” Still, a FIJM show to burn in our memory banks.

Stephan Boissonneault

Genevieve Artadi, songwriting of another kind with Louis Cole and Chiquitamagic

Genevieve Artadi is part of the not-so-new Los Angeles new jazz scene that has been underway since the late 2000s, with Flying Lotus, Thundercat, Terrace Martin, Sounwave, Cameron Graves and more.  With three albums to her credit, she is one of the few female singers to formulate such proposals: creating choruses, verses and bridges on complex harmonic frameworks and rhythmic figures inspired by contemporary jazz, jazz-fusion and electro-jazz.

As the night wore on, Studio TD was packed to the rafters to welcome this atypical singer. Did we fall for her? Her high, clear voice is limited in power and texture, but her outgoing personality makes up for this relative vocal tenuity that can be an annoyance. The tension between this small voice and the strength of the rhythmic support is reminiscent of Deerhoof, but the comparison ends there, because we’re really on jazz territory here, and Ms. Atardi’s super drummer is Louis Cole, whose big band we absolutely love.

The other members of the line-up are Adam Ratner, an excellent guitar player, and none other than keyboardist Isis Giraldo, aka Chiquitamagic, a highly gifted Colombian who studied jazz piano in Montreal and is now pursuing a career in the big leagues. She’s progressed to production, beatmaking and real-time keyboard playing, has been hanging out with Louis Cole’s extended family for a few years, and now she’s the musical director of Genevieve Artadi.  Bravo and cool party at Genevieve Artadi.

Alain Brunet

Ping Pong Go Make a Playing Field out of the Cosmos

At 7 pm on the Esplanade, the band, formed by keyboardist Vincent Gagnon and drummer P-E Beaudoin was cooking in all the right ways. These two have been swarming all over the emerging Franco-Quebec scene in recent years, with the likes of Hubert Lenoir, Keith Kouna, Lou-Adriane Cassidy, Tire le coyote, and many others. For their FIJM concert, Lysandre Ménard and Cédric Martel joined the team, on keyboards and bass respectively.

It’s fair to say that Ping Pong Go gives back the galactic meaning to the word “nebulous.” The band’s music seems to come from (or go towards) the cosmos, no doubt thanks to the sounds of its many synthesizers. Whether it’s an epic journey through the planets or a nocturnal soaring voyage over a retro cityscape, both are equally valid. Even under the 7 pm sun, in the suffocating heat of the day, they managed to take us elsewhere, not forgetting a detour to Billie Holliday’s world, and a pass through a very Talking Heads-y space. 

Seeing Ping Pong Go play on stage, the band’s name takes on its full meaning. Each track is a game of back-and-forth: bass and percussion raise the table, keyboards pass the ball, the rhythm rises … and the whole thing ends with a smash!

In short, make way for screeching synth solos, a relentless pitch bend use, technical and technological prowess, space-jazz-prog-jam, grimaces, smiles, knowing glances, and all that vibrancy. Make way for Ping Pong Go!

Théo Reinhardt

Annahstasia, A Beautiful Moment of Introspection

I knew nothing about Annahstasia when I arrived on the Rio Tinto stage at the festival. I was immediately drawn in by this voice. In a rather gentle musical envelope, Annahstasia is sometimes heartbreaking. This young lady knows how to alternate between extreme sweetness and screaming.

I learned that Annahstasia Enuke is a Nigerian-American based in Los-Angeles. She released an EP this year entitled Revival.

Is she soul, folk or jazz? More folk, I’d say, but with soul-jazz leanings. The mix of cello with guitar, bass and keyboard adds depth to the arrangements.

Some of the crowd were truly captivated, despite the sweltering heat of the evening. I’m always fascinated by an audience’s ability to listen when it’s essential. And this hour’s concert was essential.

This voice, which can play in several octaves, invited us into a kind of intimacy, a kind of essential energy.

Annashtasia tells us to be kind and respectful. And many of the songs are about feminine power.

She ended up asking in French; “C’est bien?” I replied, “c’est très bien.”

Michel Labrecque

Jupiter on Earth

Jupiter Bokondji, born Jean Pierre Bokondji Ilola, offers a frenetic infusion of Congolese music crossed with a clearly globalist pop culture. The music of this ebullient frontman (and his band Okwess) is based on rumba / soukouss, the foundation of modern Congolese pop music, but also of a punk-rock attitude rarely found on the black continent. Even though his deep, husky voice barely exceeds an octave, the singer’s authority on stage is unmistakable. The curious onlookers who came to meet him will have appreciated the energy and independent spirit of this artist who is so popular with rock stars such as Damon Albarn and Massive Attack. Solid stuff !

Alain Brunet

The Weather Station at FIJM / Benoit Rousseau

The Weather Station Offers A Marvelous Climate to FIJM

Along with her band, decked out in acid-wash blue attire, Tamara Lindeman aka The Weather Station, brought the emotional heat and rain to the FIJM with her jazzy baroque pop and siren-esque voice. Actually, her voice can switch from a low, conversational register, to a bright soprano, in seconds—hypnotizing the audience on a dime. Her band is also a marvel, taking the instrumentation to another level with saxophone freakout solos, washed-out and delayed guitar riffs, and a rhythm section that gets the bodies swaying. The Ignorance album seemed to be on the main setlist and few from the companion piece, How Is It That I Should Look At The Stars. Part of me really wanted to hear older material, but I did arrive late, and that’s sometimes just showbiz.

But one girl on the side of the stage, who I think was the daughter of a guest band member and had to be no older than 12, was dropping some fantastic unchoreographed dance moves during the hits “Robber” and “I Tired To Tell You,” adding levity to songs with heavy topics like climate change and a darkening geopolitical worldwide structure. I think that’s the extraordinary draw of The Weather Stations’ music; no matter how dark or sad it gets, you can always dance to it.

Stephan Boissonneault

Marisa Monte’s sensual high mass (with Rommel as a bonus)

On Tuesday evening at Théâtre Maisonneuve, we were somewhere between Montreal and Montrecife. A mostly Brazilian audience, overexcited and dressed to the nines, had gathered to welcome Marisa Monte.

Many of them were surprised by the arrival on stage of the opening act, Rommel.

The songwriter, born in the northern Brazilian state of Maranhao and now based in Montréal, quickly won over the audience. Following in the footsteps of Chico Cesar and, to some extent, the Lenin of the early years, he presented excerpts from Karawara, his sixth album, which pays tribute to the world’s indigenous peoples. It was a wonderful showcase offered by FIJM, opening for a great Brazilian star. And Rommel didn’t miss a beat. He has made many new friends. His creations are increasingly original. 

The room was already warmed up when Marisa Monte appeared on stage, to a very atmospheric Pink-Floydian tune.

Then she launched into her rendition of Portas, her first original album in ten years.

Once again, this blend of sophistication and popular music jumps out at us. The arrangements by trombonist Antonio Neves’ wind-copper trio are hyper-sophisticated and harmonize fabulously with Marisa’s voice. At times, it sounds like Steve Reich, but with less repetition. 

And what a voice! It’s really in concert that you realize the extent of her vocal range, as the lady has long been a classical singer. 

Another surprise: she did all her song presentations in French. Even in front of an essentially Portuguese-speaking audience. Bravo madame!

After the section devoted to the new album, the radiant singer-songwriter launched into the interpretation of numerous past hits. 

Between songs, she introduced one of her musicians at length before giving him a hug. To show the importance of the team.

When I left, shortly before the end, Théâtre Maisonneuve was in a trance.

Marisa Monte is intelligence, sensuality and openness.

On the other hand, Marisa, drop your blinking, eye-sore opening gown.

Michel Labrecque

Mezerg at Rio Tinto Stage / Benoit Rousseau

Mezerg Turns the Outdoor Rio Tinto Stage into a Darkened Nightclub

If you’re like me and follow a bunch of musicians on Instagram after watching their virtuosity during a few videos, you might already be aware of Mezerg, a French, one-man band techno machine who only uses live instruments like the synth keyboard, theremin, and kick to create a wild dance party.

It’s interesting to watch Mezerg in action as he decides what synth line to loop or what drum kick to start off his song. He’s a man built on improvisation, honed in by his depth-defying theremin skills that completely wash over the audience—like he’s commanding us all to go to war. The light show was also grand, sometimes syncing up with Mezerg’s kick, which I’m pretty sure he controls with MIDI, but who knows? Mezerg is probably more suited to play Montreal’s MUTEK than FIJM, but the crowd was in awe of his techno-jazz skills and more than happy to move within his created outdoor club.

Stephan Boissonneault

The Bad Plus as a Quartet

Photo Benoît Rousseau

Two decades earlier, or perhaps a little more, The Bad Plus had been dubbed “the heaviest acoustic trio in jazz”. At the time, we loved The Bad Plus for their jazzified covers of cool music of the moment, from indie rock to electro. What’s more, we appreciated their own compositions, very much in tune with the jazz trends of the last quarter-century.

We also remember a magnificent collaboration with saxophonist Joshua Redman in the mid-2010s. The acoustic trio was transformed after the departure of pianist Ethan Iverson. Double bass (Reid Anderson) and drums (Dave King) had to make other alliances. And the one we found ourselves in front of, on Tuesday evening at the Monument National, was quite distinct from the old one. A homonymous album, released in 2022 on Edition, bears witness to this.

Reid Anderson did not lack for humor, notably in introducing his piece “Motivations 2” and reporting on the apprehensions of some as to whether this work was more motivating than “Motivations 1”. Or that piece “You Won’t See Me Before I Come Back” where he indicates that he went to Tim Hortons. Haha!

Big difference in instrumentation: Ben Monder is clearly a jazz guitar master of our time, both for his virtuoso articulation and his creative direction as a composer and improviser. On the sax (tenor in this context), Chris Speed has long been a fixture in the New York jazz ecosystem, his reputation well established and his high virtuosity beyond doubt. 

The program at the Monument-National now focuses more on the original repertoire than on a singular performance of old and new standards. As to whether the identity or brand of The Bad Plus is absolutely necessary to the long-term success of this very interesting (and less spectacular) quartet, we’ll give it to you straight.

Alain Brunet

black midi at FIJM / Frédérique Ménard Aubin

black midi Bring the Hellfire to Club Soda During FIJM

Playing to a full house at Club Soda, black midi put on a show worthy of their name. With their frenzied post-punk, math rock, and indie jazz – all wrapped in a cloak of avant-garde experimentation – the crowd of mostly young concertgoers was treated to a spectacularly chaotic evening.

After being warmed up by opener Joseph Shabason, the British quartet ambled onto the stage with an air of nonchalant confidence, resembling a motley crew of mad scientists about to set out to work. Geordie Greep, the band’s enigmatic frontman, clutched his guitar with an intensity that bordered on possession. His piercing gaze and schizophrenic stage banter suggested a conduit to some ethereal realm that lay just beyond the reach of mortal comprehension. Drummer Morgan Simpson proved to be a real force of nature, and I spent the concert mostly spellbound by his sheer athleticism.

Playing a lot of material from Hellfire, the band also delighted with some classics from Shlagenheim.  It did not take long for a debauched mosh pit to quickly form at the front of the stage, and at times I had the impression that the band was something like Roman senators commanding their legions in a work by Hieronymus Bosch.

Varun Swarup

Makhathini hits hard !

I began my July 4th musical evening with a jazz trio, and ended it with another very different.

The trio of Cuban-Quebecois Rafael Zalvidar, accompanied by alto saxophonist Luis Deniz, offered a learned jazz, a little academic for me, but satisfied the crowd, which was in great numbers at the TD studio, at 6:00 pm.

On the other hand, South African Nduduzo Makhathini offered a much more iconoclastic performance at Pub La Traversée Molson Export. EsplanadeTranquille was anything but tranquille (quiet in French).

Some call it spiritual jazz, others might say destructive jazz. I arrived halfway through the 10 PM concert. Makhathini, bassist Zwelakhe-Duma Bell and drummer Francisco Mela were already sweating.

These young jazz wolves hit their strings, their skins and their ivories hard. But all this exudes an urgency to live, a crazy energy. And at the end, beauty.

They play hard, but it remains acoustic and jazz, with some free jazz. 

Not perfect jazz, but very meaningful. Very likely to appeal to a young audience. And the old man enjoyed being shaken up.

I was, however, a little worried about the state of the piano at the end of the concert…

Michel Labrecque

At the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, PAN M 360 experts attend concerts that shake up music lovers. Follow our team!

Herbie Hancock, Phenomenal Greenness!

The piano is an instrument conducive to the longevity of its user, as Herbie Hancock brilliantly demonstrated on Monday evening at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier. Undiminished by his age (83!!), the most respected living pianist on the jazz planet displayed phenomenal verve, exemplary articulation, and unparalleled wit. We could have forgiven him for a few shortcomings, but we really didn’t have to.

Herbie began with an ambitious Overture, introduced by an electro-acoustic passage (not as “weird” as its creator had announced), accompanied by elements, riffs, or themes from his immense repertoire, familiar to any self-respecting jazzophile – “Butterfly,” “Chameleon,” “Rockit,” etc. Some of the works on the program were played by the musicians themselves.

Some of the works on the program were played in their entirety and transformed by the sidemen, and not the least: trumpeter Terence Blanchard, guitarist Lionel Loueke, bassist James Genus and drummer Jaylen Petiniaud lent their respective personalities to the work of the coolest octogenarian active on the jazz planet.

A tribute to Wayne Shorter, a lifelong friend with whom he had played Footprints, a standard by the late saxophonist and composer, once magnified by the Miles Davis Quintet of which they were both prominent members, was to be expected.

Less predictable, however, was the fact that a small part of the program was made up of jazz-funk pieces, including Actual Proof (Thrust album) and Come Running to Me (Sunlight) with Vocoder, the ancestor of Autotune.

To conclude? The mega tube “Chameleon” (Headhunters, homonymous album), of course. For this, the leader chose to sling his synth over his shoulder and improvise with each of his colleagues rather than perform at the piano in the bridge. Some would have preferred the structure of the original recording, but our monumental Herbie has opted for the risk of a full-scale re-reading, for better or for worse.

But isn’t that what you’d expect from a great jazzman?

Alain Brunet

Domi & JD Beck, the phenomenon of the hour

They’re the talk of the town, far beyond the jazz world. The viral propulsion of these two artists barely out of their teens is matched only by their talent. Domi (Domitille Degalle), originally from Nancy, and JD Beck, from Dallas, who met in the USA while studying at Berklee College of Music, were already the subject of a real buzz.

A rather clumsy, lazy, and disjointed concert by Robert Glasper had led me to migrate to this most refreshing of concerts, given in a packed Club Soda. It was not long after the release of Not Tight, a debut album that appealed to a wide audience, far beyond the jazz world.

A year later, the phenomenon has taken off. Anderson. Paak, Snoop Dog, Thundercat, and even Ariana Grande recorded with them, which goes to show their appeal.

We were treated to much the same material as on Monday at Wilfrid’s, when Domi multiplied the prowess of her right hand, extreme speed and extreme precision of articulation, and dazzled with her left hand, which she uses in the manner of electric bass, notably when she plays Jaco Pastorius, Weather Report era, or Wayne Shorter with Endangered Species (Atlantis album).

How to explain this buzz? By the youthfulness of its protagonists, by the visual aesthetics with their naïve backgrounds, by their teenage looks that don’t give a damn about anything… and above all by this hallucinating virtuosity acquired at such a young age – around twenty. JD Beck has already absorbed and mastered many of the techniques of his predecessors, and his small drum kit and borrowings from electronic music are impressive. Anyone who appreciates instrumentalists of this level is sure to be delighted, even with the technical problems they had to face in front of Herbie Hancock’s audience.

Alain Brunet

Nate Smith and the spirit of groove

On the second night of his three-concert road trip, super-drummer Nate Smith produced the desired effect: delighting groove fans with material from an obscure “beat tape” he’d recorded for his 40th birthday, “a few years ago” as he quipped. Alongside specialists in this exercise, keyboardist Kiefer and bassist CARRTOONS, Nate Smith brought this soul-funk minimalism to the fore.

The approach consists of repeating a very simple, soul/R&B-inspired harmonic progression for ten minutes or more. Simplistic? Redundant? Nay. Nate Smith and his seasoned colleagues are quick to make you appreciate the micro-variations of these grooves, bringing out all their suavity. This has been the case since the heyday of CTI in the ’70s, a label with a penchant for jazzifying soul.

The comeback of instrumental soul/R&B via hip hop in the jazz world is accompanied by related phenomena, including this one, reinvigorated by instrumentalists doubling as beatmakers, armed with a vast culture of African-American popular music in the digital age. Who’s going to complain?

Alain Brunet

Emmet Cohen, the reincarnation of swing

I’d be lying if I were to write a full concert review for the Emmet Cohen Trio. Upon arriving at Studio TD almost an hour before the 10PM show, the line-up was already very large. For an artist so deeply rooted in the now almost hundred-year-old tradition of swing, this was a nice surprise, but perhaps no surprise really. With his electrifying performances and his strong online presence, Emmet is now something of a piano icon whose mission is to keep the spirit of swing alive.

Upon arriving about halfway during their set, there was a special feeling in the air. Somewhere the spirit of Ahmad Jamal was present, as the band channeled the elegance and drama of Jamal’s minimalist-maximalist trio arrangements. The trio’s dedication to engaging the audience was commendable too. Cohen made it a point to make the crowd really feel a part of the show, sharing anecdotes and insights into the music they were about to perform. To end the evening, their third encore, they absolutely rocked the Ellington classic, “Satin Doll,” and by the end of the show we all knew we were aside from something special.

Varun Swarup

Focus and Elements : Cynic and Atheist finally reunited

Yesterday, on the fringes of the Jazz Festival, Montreal hosted two luminaries of jazz fusion-infused progressive metal. Cynic and Atheist, both with a 35-year track record, respectively presented the entirety of Focus (1993), as well as selections from Piece of Time (1990), Unquestionable Presence (1991) and Elements (1993). In front of a packed Fairmount Theatre, both bands delivered flawless performances of their repertoire. Atheist impressed with their inexhaustible energy, easily matched by the complexity of the songs they played. In

deed, it’s rare to see such a successful combination of instrumental technicality and fierce stage presence. Singer Kelly Schaeffer, the only original member of the band, has surrounded himself with young musicians half his age to form his latest band. However, his bandmates’ enthusiasm was matched only by his own, as Schaeffer has clearly lost none of his charisma and madness. While replaying the classics might have been more than enough, especially for a quiet Monday night, Atheist far exceeded expectations.

Cynic then kicked off their show with a chronological rendering of their debut album, which has become a cult death metal staple. More angular and aggressive than the band’s more recent material, these compositions were interpreted with all the desired nuance. In particular, the interplay between vocoder-sung and screamed vocals was true to the album. As for the guitar timbres, these were carefully crafted and adapted to each musical section via digital processors. After a brief incense tribute to the late Sein Reinert (drums) and Sean Malone (bass), Cynic followed up with four tracks from their more recent discography. These pieces, sometimes serene, sometimes intense, but always very dynamic, closed the evening well, even if the audience was left wanting more.