Wow! This is something really cool. It’s a whole album of new music composed in traditional Québecois styles by multi-instrumentalist Jean-François Bélanger. The especially amazing thing though, is that on every piece, J-F has invited guest artists – the best in the business in the world of Québec folklore.
Here’s the list of the invited guest ensembles: De Temps Antan, Robert Legault & Les Mercenaires du terroir, La Fanfare Monfarleau, Les Chauffeurs à pieds, Éritage, Sabin Jacques & Rachel Aucoin, Genticorum, É.T.É, Lisa Orenstein & André Marchand, Les camarades de chantier, Les Frères Brunet, Sophie Lavoie & Fiachra O’Regan, Guy Bouchard, André Brunet, Stéphanie Lépine & Dâvi Simard, and Artiq Session. This list is truly a who’s who of Québecois traditional music.
Jean-François Bélanger has been writing music for a decade or more, honing his musical craft, becoming a versatile interpreter of the Québecois folk oeuvre. Growing up in Lanaudière Region, his childhood environment was an immersion in the trad world of music that is the heart of Québec heritage.
J-F plays many instruments. On this recording, he is heard on fiddle, mandolin, guitar, concertina, baritone violin, glockenspiel, banjo, bouzouki, school ruler and toys! He is truly multi-talented. On previous recordings he has also played the instruments of Scandinavia, including nyckelharpa, contrabassharpa, tenorharpa and Hardanger fiddle. His versatility is unquestioned.
For this CD, J-F spent four years coordinating the project and drawing from his vast store of compositions. This recording is to be the first in a series focusing on the Québecois trad music art form, since J-F has such a huge repository of his tunes.
With each piece on this CD, J-F plays with the invited ensemble, each time reinventing himself with a new band, perfectly matching the sound of his guest ensembles to the piece he composed. Says J-F: “I know the scene and the playing styles of the different musicians well. I have hundreds of compositions. I chose what seemed to me to best suit the colour of each band.”
The CD starts out with a bang. De Temps Antan, one of the liveliest trad ensembles on the festival scene, joins J-F on the opening set: “Brandy du torrieu” with “Reel d’la vingnenne.” You couldn’t ask for a stronger start. As the CD progresses, you hear dance music, parade music, jigs, reels and marches, and my personal favourite: brandies, or reels in 3/4 time.
The recording offers a wide vista, a view of the totality of styles inherent in Québecois traditional music, while paying homage to the differing styles of the invited guest players.
The overall effect is one of joy. The pure, unadulterated joy of some of the best trad players in the world making new music together, music that is both new and old at the same time. And, the whole package pays homage too, to the community that has kept this heritage art form alive and thriving into the 21st century.
