Friday was my baptism of the 44th Montreal Jazz Festival. Getting back into it is always a blessing, especially when the weather is nice. In a brief moment, I was able to watch excerpts from performances by Sunny War, a young woman who reinvents the blues, outdoors, then by jazz poet Aja Monet, indoors. These two concerts were free, it was more than a treat.
In the meantime, I could see children bathing in the fountains of the Quartier des Spectacles and people of all origins waddling, chatting, smiling. The large outdoor stage was packed to listen to the jazz rock of Cory Wong. Not my cup of tea, but the crowd seemed to enjoy it. The eclecticism of the festival is very unifying.
My favorite destination for this evening was Gésu, to hear trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire perform solo. The 42-year-old prodigy trumpeter is alone on stage, almost completely in the shadows. Only his trumpet speaks, sometimes accompanied by the sound of voices. But what a trumpet my friends! A full sound, which inhabits the entire space. Where virtuosity alternates with long notes… and speaking silences.
We are in the vein of his album Beauty is enough (2023), also performed solo. Ambrose Akinmusire explores every orifice of his instrument. He manages to make the trumpet sound in a thousand ways: sometimes it is a long blast of wind; sometimes the sound of his voice seems to harmonize with the brass. This trumpet belches, argues, rocks, cries, meows, calms, roars, sings. She explores all possible and impossible half-tones and quarter-tones. All these sliding notes that take us on a journey through our heads. With just a little reverb. I’m not always a big fan of the trumpet. But Ambrose’s is floating, poetic, learned, emotional, naked. The gentleman is also a great composer, as his other group albums have demonstrated. At the end of the concert, he finally spoke to us, explaining that this recital is, in part, an imaginary dialogue with other deceased trumpeters, notably Roy Hargrove and Wallace Rooney. For my part, as I listened, I imagined an infinite meditation, a therapy session, an atrocious war, people ranting in demonstrations and moments of absolute tenderness. My seatmates probably heard something completely different. We sometimes heard strange clicking noises during the performance. Was it a problem with the sound system or the effects the trumpeter wanted? The debate between spectators after the concert remained open.
Today, Ambrose will perform again at Gésu in the company of veteran British double bassist David Holland. Many of us will be back.
