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The Record Roundup

Orchestre national de jazz de Montréal — Under the Influence Suite Justin Time JTR 8597-2 Two years after its debut release on the ATMA label, Montreal’s premiere jazz orchestra, the ONJ, has finally released its second effort, this one on Justin Time. Its move from a classical label to a jazz one certainly makes sense. The presence of saxophonist and composer Christine Jensen may explain this, because Justin Time has already produced two albums of her own big band. The title of this latest disc pretty well tells the story, as it is a programmatic work that pays tribute to five…

Photo: I. Nyikos

Guido Basso – The Homecoming

By Marc Chénard on 11 October 2017 Experimental Jazz, Mainstream Jazz

Eighty years young as of this last September, trumpeter Guido Basso returns to his native Montreal from his Toronto home for an evening dedicated to him. On November 4 he will perform in the neighbourhood of his youth, Little Italy, as an honoured guest of his cultural community. He will appear at the Casa d’Italia on Jean-Talon Street (see sidebar below) where he will be inducted into a newly created Hall of Fame for contributors of distinction and native sons of the city. The ceremonies — to take place in the recently refurbished concert hall — will include a concert…

Off Jazz Festival Montreal

By Marc Chénard on 11 October 2017 Experimental Jazz, Mainstream Jazz, Scena Jazz

For some, 18 is the age adulthood. Montreal’s Off Jazz Festivals reaches that milestone this month, even though it attained real maturity seven years ago when it switched its dates from summer to fall. What’s more, it achieved this without growing bigger every year. In the course of its nine-day run starting on October 5, there will be a manageable slate of 22 concerts, four of which are paired in double bills. True to form, the event showcases local acts and new project premieres. Of these, six groups will perform music from their CDs, four of them to be launched…

Illustration: Tommy Tallstig

The Long and Winding Jazz Solo

By Robert Lewis on 1 September 2017 Experimental Jazz, La Scena Spotlight, Mainstream Jazz, Popular Music

Once you play the music, it’s in the air. It’s gone. But when you record it, it comes back to haunt you. – Eric Dolphy What is it that attracts music lovers to jazz (improvised music)? Is it the loose structure, or the beat or the notes and melodies we have never heard before and will never hear again, unless the performance has been recorded; or is it the musician’s uncanny ability to spontaneously translate feelings that inform the notes into the language of music? Perhaps it is his audacity and courage — daring to play without a script; to…

Jazz: At a venue near you

By Marc Chénard on 1 September 2017 Experimental Jazz, La Scena Spotlight, Mainstream Jazz, Scena Jazz, Vocal Jazz

Based on previous experience, the live jazz scene really shifts into overdrive early in October. Not so this year. In fact, it’s off and running just after Labour Day. On September 6, Upstairs Jazz Bar presents a season-opening concert and record launch pairing Israeli saxophonist Tevet Sela and John Roney (see opposite page for album details). At the same venue, French native and pianist Jean-Michel Pilc, now firmly ensconced in town since his move here two years ago, holds his monthly trio gig, with dates on Sept. 18, Oct. 27 and Nov. 18. Now in its fifth season, the Orchestre…

Jazz Fall Previews: The Record Haul

By Marc Chénard on 1 September 2017 CD and Book Reviews, Experimental Jazz, Mainstream Jazz, Scena Jazz

Those who believe in the death knell of the CD better think twice. Justin Time Records and Disques Effendi, the local jazz labels, don’t seem to buy into this dire prediction. The former kicks off the season this month with three new titles. Matt Herskowitz Trio + 1 – Forget me Not (Homage to Lew Soloff) Quadro Nuevo with Cairo Steps – Flying Carpet Cecile McLorin Salvant – Dreams & Daggers Not to be outdone, Effendi has four titles on tap for this fall. Simon Legault – Hypnagogia Polis Emie R Roussel Trio – Intersections Tevet Sela / John Roney…

Satoko Fujii

Summer Jazz Fest Picks

By Marc Chénard on 1 June 2017 Experimental Jazz, La Scena Spotlight, Mainstream Jazz

With its roster of some 20 member events, Jazz Festival Canada is an umbrella organization that enables national and international artists to coordinate tours from coast to coast in the early summer. Canadian jazz festivals showcase a veritable cornucopia of styles for just about every taste. Here then are a few picks from the pack of shows scheduled during the upcoming festival blitz. Donny McCaslin – Now Beyond A year ago, saxophonist Kamasi Washington was pretty well the toast of the international jazz festival circuit. This time it’s Donny McCaslin’s turn to make the rounds. His appearance on David Bowie’s…

Man and His World @ 50: Expo 67 revisited

By Marc Chénard on 1 June 2017 150/375, Experimental Jazz, Interviews

On October 29, 1967, at the closing ceremony of Montreal’s World Fair, a.k.a. Expo 67, Commissioner General Pierre Dupuy concluded his speech with these telling words: “My report is this: mission completed!” A half-century later, this assessment still stands: the event fulfilled its mission to celebrate mankind in its diversity. For 184 days, Montrealers, Quebecers, Canadians, Americans, and tourists from distant lands could visit the world in one train ride, the Expo Express, that linked one peninsula (Cité du Havre) to two islands (Sainte-Hélène and Notre-Dame). During one magical season, a little over 50 million visitors set foot on its…

Jazz – Festival fare Off the Record

By Marc Chénard on 1 June 2017 CD and Book Reviews, Experimental Jazz, Mainstream Jazz

Donny McCaslin Beyond Now / Motema Music Tenorman Donny McCaslin saw fit to doff his cap towards the man once known as Ziggy Stardust, including two of his tunes (“A Small Plot of Land” and “Warszawa”) on this his latest release. His appearance on Blackstar, Bowie’s musical testament issued but two days before his passing in early 2016, represents quite a career boost for this most deserving saxophonist. Not a tribute album per se, this outing has all the earmarkings of the slickness and polish of pop music that Bowie excelled at. In the disc’s nine tracks (a tenth available…

Quartetski, Photo: C. Cheung

Jazz: Classics … Reloaded

By Marc Chénard on 1 April 2017 Experimental Jazz, Mainstream Jazz

Pierre-Yves Martel – Quartetski et le loup (Bartók et Prokofiev dans le collimateur) Since his arrival in Montreal in 2004, Pierre-Yves Martel has carved himself a nice little niche in the city’s music scene. With a double bass and a viola di gamba in tow, this son of the Nation’s capital has become an integral part of Constantinople, a world-music group established by the Tabassian Brothers that fuses Persian music with those of other cultures. Parallel to that, Martel has found his way within the creative music scene, collaborating both locally with the musique actuelle crowd and forging links with…

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