Look out for the “red labels” and find a 25% discount on selected albums during the month of May! There will be many major musicians of Ambiances Magnétiques/DAME playing during 25th edition of FIMAV. And we we want to highlight this event by offering you discounts on some of these musicans’s CDs. Note that 17 musicians of Ambiances Magnétiques/DAME take part in the festival: Gordon M Allen, Pierre Cartier, Guillaume Dostaler, Bernard Falaise, Lori Freedman, Joane Hétu, Jean René, Pierre Tanguay, Tom Walsh, Jean Derome, Tim Brady, Jean Martin, Jesse Levine, Alexander MacSween, Michel F Côté, Martin Tétreault, and Otomo Yoshihide. Don’t miss it!

• Browse the list of «red labels»

L’OFF Festival de Jazz de Montréal which will take place from June 22 to July 1, 2007 presents well-knowned artists and Amongst them:

• June 23: Jean René Trio à cordes ({nbio:rene_je}, {nbio:allard_st}, {nbio:martel_pi})
• June 24: Pierre-Yves Martel + Quartetski Does Prokofiev ({nbio:martel_pi}, {nbio:allen_go}, {nbio:lauzier_ph}, {nbio:ceccarelli_is})
• June 25: Alexandre Grogg + Philippe Lauzier + Toma Gouband
• June 27 (see details): Damian Nisenson Trio ({nbio:nisenson_da}, {nbio:mailloux_je}, {nbio:tanguay_pi}) followed by Jean Derome et les Dangereux Zhoms ({nbio:derome_je}, {nbio:walsh_to}, {nbio:dostaler_gu}, {nbio:cartier_pi}, {nbio:tanguay_pi})
• June 29: Pierre Labbé Quintette ({nbio:labbe_pi}, {nbio:allen_go}, {nbio:falaise_be}, {nbio:ryder_cl}, {nbio:ceccarelli_is})
• July 1: Rainer Wiens Follow Follow Sextet ({nbio:wiens_ra}, Joel Miller, {nbio:derome_je}, Cordell Henebury, {nbio:ryder_cl}, {nbio:gossage_th})

Geneviève Letarte’s 3rd album entitled Âmes soûles gathers intimate songs that are seducing with their yeasty melodies, Latin rhythms, and their poetic-country tone. Third in the trilogy that started with Vous seriez un ange and Chansons d’un jour, this new production attests the artist’s maturity and the evolution of her relation with great musicians who follow her (Claude Fradette, Normand Guilbeault, Pierre Tanguay, and Guido Del Fabbro, Ivanhoe Jolicœur, Guillaume Dostaler, as guest artists). You can listen to some online audio clips by visiting the page of Âmes soûles.

The next Mercredimusics will present Jean Derome et les Dangereux Zhoms (Pierre Cartier, Jean Derome, Guillaume Dostaler, Pierre Tanguay, Tom Walsh) on May 2, 2007 at Casa Obscura in Montréal. Listen to them on Torticolis, Navré, Carnets de voyage.

A pianist and keyboardist based in Montréal, Guillaume Dostaler is what you can call a trusty sideman. He is a favorite collaborator among Ambiances Magnétiques artists and has appeared on records by Jean Derome, Robert Marcel Lepage, Joane Hétu, Patrice Desbiens and Nathalie Derome. His work with international artists has been limited, mostly because of his preference to remain in Montréal, but he played with Lawrence “Butch” Morris on his visit to the city. He is a gifted pianist with a mind opened to new ideas.

Dostaler had a classical music upbringing and studied piano at the renowned École Vincent d’Indy in Montréal. He started playing professionally in the early 1980s with a number of ensembles, mostly in jazz and new music, but also briefly performed funk. His first gigs included Karen Young, René Lussier, Lepage, and Derome. His seat in the latter’s avant-jazz group Jean Derome et les Dangereux Zhoms throughout the 1990s is what brought him the most attention. With this group he recorded three CDs for the label Ambiances Magnétiques (Carnets de voyage, 1994; Navré, 1995; Torticolis, 1998) and appeared in dozens of jazz and new music festivals across Canada (Montréal, Vancouver, Guelph), the United States (Edgefest in Ann Arbor, Michigan) and Europe (Moers in Germany, Banlieues Bleues in Paris, France).

When Morris came to conduct a Montréal ensemble in 1995, Dostaler enlisted and so appears on the document Conduction 23 (1996, NewWorld). But his talent both as a cutting-edge improvisor and imaginative sideman are better illustrated on Derome’s witty Je me souviens and Hétu’s minimalist Musique d’hiver. He also toured Quebec as part of performance artist/singer Nathalie Derome’s trio for Les 4 Ronds Sont Allumés.