I really like what I hear in this Mezzanine by the Greenhouse Ensemble. In fact, I like it even more than what I had previously heard (and enjoyed) in the band’s first album, Rez-de-chaussée.
I was then mentioning the rather cheerful aspect of the proposed contemporary design. One must notice that Mezzanine symbolises not only the ascent of a physical floor but also, and above all, a qualitative and artistic one. To the contemporary harmonic language (which could be traced back to Metheny or Mahavishnu) are now added constitutive, architectural elements borrowed from Traditional Keb Music (as in the aptly named Variations on a Turlute, or in Reset, which merges echoes of Harmonium).
What a beautiful marriage of cinematic panoramic grandeur, intellectual yet communicative jazz, and diverse references, as I said, drawing from both Trad and Prog Rock. Roxane Reddy’s ethereal voice is beautiful and soothing, Camille Brousseau’s violin solos add a touch of lyricism, William Lussier’s trumpet illuminates the overall product with a lovely light, and all the other musicians blend pleasantly.
Mezzanine is a comprehensive proposal that, it seems to me, reveals a new synthetic vision of various “highbrow-popular” crossbred musics from Quebec, Jazz, Trad, and Prog.
Greenhouse Ensemble has its gaze resolutely turned upwards. We don’t yet know if its members are aiming to build a skyscraper, but their first two floors are certainly quite solid.
LAUNCH OF MEZZANINE AT THE MINISTRY – MAY 8, 2026
The previous album, Ground Floor, in concert in Pointe-Claire on May 17, 2026
Roxane Reddy – Voice
Camille Brousseau – Violin
William Lussier – Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Christophe Magnan-Bossé – Piano, Rhodes, Melodica
Louis-Martin Ruest – Guitars, Effects
Benjamin Lavoie-Doyon – Double Bass, Bass
Simon Desrosiers – Drums, Percussion
