Top Albums of 2024: Scott Thomson, Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville

To kick off 2025, PAN M 360 asked several of its partners’ artistic directors to suggest their 3 favorite albums of the past year.

Since autumn 2023, Scott Thomson has been Artistic Director and Co-General Manager of FIMAV, for which he signed the first program in May 2024. Scott Thomson is a trombonist, composer and producer. Among other things, he founded the Somewhere There concert hall in Toronto, and was artistic director of the renowned Guelph Jazz Festival. Settled in Quebec since 2010, Scott Thomson divides his time between MTL and the Bois-Francs to carry out his mission with Productions Plateforme Inc. Music lovers are obviously expecting him to make his mark and keep festival-goers interested in musique actuelle at Victoriaville, a not-to-be-missed spring event.

• أحمد [Ahmed], Giant Beauty (5 cds, fönstret records 9-13)

“A band and a music whose conceptual and formal rigor amplify each other magnificently. Richly erudite and the most swinging band ever.”

• Eric Chenaux Trio, Delights of My Life (Constellation)

“The future of RnB… Rhythm and Breath. Eric, one of the world’s most original guitarists, also evokes Betty Carter and Nina Simone when he sings. The future of RnB… Rhythm and Breath. Eric, one of the world’s most original guitarists, also evokes Betty Carter and Nina Simone when he sings. Sumptuous”.

• Quatuor Bozzini, Jürg Frey: String Quartet No. 4 (Collection QB 2432)

“A landmark work, majestic, magnificent whisper. QB is continuing a special period during which they seem incapable of producing anything but excellent, but this disc, the last of a long and affectionate collaboration with Jürg Frey, is undoubtedly one of their best.”