Tenzier’s hunt for the lost treasures of Quebec avant-garde music history is as relentless as the music on this album of Yves Bouliane cello solos, originally released in 1977 in an ultra-limited edition of ten cassettes. Aside from a brief stint in Le quatuor de jazz libre du Québec, Bouliane was a founding member of both l’Atelier de musique expérimentale, and one of Canada’s first artist-run galleries, Véhicule Art.

All previous Tenzier LPs have paired the musicians with visual artists, such as Bouliane’s previous appearance as bassist on the QJLQ’s 1973, which included cover art extracted from Pierre Monat’s film Y’a du dehors dedans. Here, however, Bouliane himself provides the cover art himself, which consists of musical scores obscured by heavy black ink drawings, foreshadowing the music inside the sleeve. Wishing to maintain the tradition of outside contributions, Tenzier invited two next-generation Montréal musicians, Alexandre St-Onge and Jean-Sébastien Truchy, to pay aural tribute to Bouliane, cleverly completing the circle by including their contributions as yet another limited-edition cassette.

The two LP sides total just over thirty minutes, providing a complex web of multithreaded intensity, a whirlwind of sound continuously unfolding at a frenetic pace. All available digits are hectically engaged in striking, sawing, and pounding every surface of the instrument simultaneously. Lines of choked notes interweave with a bombardment of percussive textures, and together with the low cello tones create the illusion of an improvised noise trio. On the cassette St-Onge and Truchy appropriately employ the same extended techniques while adding their own twists. St-Onge somehow manages to be even more intense, thumping away on his bass in an all-out assault. Truchy is more relaxed only by comparison, alternating bristly sections with quieter moments that overlay distinct strands in orchestral fashion.

Overall, this is a coherent package that rediscovers the past while demonstrating a robust continuation of Quebec’s tradition of improvised music.

Saute saute, fouille fouille, tréfouille tréfouille, tréfile tréfile (trécorde trécorde si le verbe existait), gratouille gratouille: Yves Bouliane (que mes indics ont repéré sur un vinyle avec son compatriote John Heward) est violoncelliste & il joue seul. «Jouait», je devrais dire, car l’enregistrement date de 1977.

La réédition de la cassette originale tirée à dix (10!) exemplaires est aujourd’hui un LP (si l’on croit au progrès de l’humanité, elle sortira un jour en CD). Le performer expérimente sur un violoncelle que l’on dirait réduit (alors que son archet semble de taille normale), comme un mini violoncelle en bois ou en porcelaine… Pas étonnant qu’il n’ait pas de partenaire (il a joué un temps avec le Jazz libre du Québec) puisqu’il introspectionne: saute saute, fouille fouille… [reprendre plus haut]. Ça rebondit fort mais en sourdine et ça chante faux mais avec une justesse incroyable. D’où le conseil: Tout le monde au Champ d’opérations!