actuellecd

André Duchesne

La chitarra liberata

Vincenzo Giorgio, Wonderous Stories, no. 13:36, July 1, 2008

André Duchesne, ecco il nome che si dovrebbe appuntare chiunque voglia seriamente indagare sull’evoluzione della chitarra nella musica contemporanea. Già, perché questo ottimo musicista canadese sono già parecchi lustri che fa parlare (e sentire) assai bene di sé; fin da quando, nel lontano 1977, unitamente a Bouchard, Cormier, Derome e Lussier, dà corso ai mitici Conventum (due album che ogni vero amante del “progressive” inteso etimologicamente dovrebbe possedere) e nell’89 sfiora addirittura Canterbury con il gruppo de Les 4 Guitaristes de l’Apocalypso Bar (alla batteria una certo Chris Cutler…).

Però è stata l’ultima uscita Duchesne Cordes à danser… suite saguenayenne — 57:40 AM 2006 a riportalo imperiosamente alla mia attenzione. Un disco egregio, completamente strumentale che sa ritagliarsi quello che nei settanta si chiamava “spazio elettroacustico”. Sentite che formazione: basso, batteria, (naturalmente) chitarra, due violini, violoncello, sax alto ed undici tracce una più bella dell’altra in bilico tra RIO, Henry Cow, avanguardie novecentesche, rapidi sguardi alla Centerbury più trasversale: c’è lo stralunato bop di Saguenay Country Club che sa irrimediabilmente sgretolarsi in mille rivoli armonici (Zappa approverebbe!), Mon pays c’est une shop riesce nell’improbabile compito di declinare Fred Frith con Simon Jeffes così come Jumper le train de la Roberval-Saguenay. Eppure questo è solo uno dei volti possibili del chitarrista canadese… infatti se andiamo a ritroso lo possiamo rintracciare in Locomotive — 58:92 AM 2006 progetto ben più elettrico ed intriso di rock a suo modo ruvido e duro. Fin dall’inaugurale Avril-Mai si percepisce un grande tasso adrenalinico che il quartetto sa profondere con dovizia anche se la chitarra di André non perde nulla della sua cristallina pulizia (mentre quella di Claude Fradette certo non risparmia citazioni bluesy piuttosto marcate). Però con la successiva Le Train de l’est le cose si complicano assai: fraseggi più pesanti, persino violenti, con la voce dello stesso Duchesne a rendere ancora più sofferto il mood.

Sei anni più tardi troviamo il nostro alle prese con Réflexions — 57:53 AM 1999, ovvero quattordici intensi schizzi per chitarra acustica. Un lavoro che sa di introspezione e feconda solitudine. Una sorta di grande meditazione dove, però, qualsiasi compiacimento melodico-oleografico è rigorosamente bandito rimpallando al pigro ascoltatore fraseggi armonici che evitano accuratamente lo “scontato” e il luogo comune. Ascoltare per credere la superba sobrietà de Un après-midi à Paris oppure Vendredi soir en Andalousie con quelle sue dissertazioni deliziosamente notturne. Davvero un disco di grande impatto emotivo (per chi sa ascoltare non solo con il cuore ma anche con le sinapsi…).

Poi è il tempo di Polaroïde — 55:52 AM 2001 con il Nostro in trio (Jean René al sax alto e Pierre Tanguay alla batteria) ad anticipare paesaggi che verranno ripresi con maggiore varietà timbrica, appunto, nell’ultimo Cordes. E’, ancora, il trionfo dello spazio acustico e di un serrato interplay che conferisce suggestivi dinamismi alla dodici composizioni su qui aleggia, imperioso ed impalpabile, il profilo di Igor Stravinski e con lui l’elogio smodato alla musica in trio (“La composizione triangolare attraversa la musica come una meteora nella notte” scrive André nelle note interne). Come non rimanere scossi dalla lugubre luminescenza di Carnaval con quel suo incedere decadente e proteiforme? E come rimanere insensibili ai silenzi abissali di Polaroïde I?

Infine Arrêter les machines — 54:06 Auberge du repos 2006, innalza le lodi alla canzone deviata disegnando un bislacco ed affascinante pianeta dove si danno appuntamento il cantautorato colto e trasversale di un John Greaves e Peter Blegvad ma anche certe prospettive stralunate molto Slapp Happy il tutto condito con una francesità molto agrodolce… Musica silente, quasi in sottovoce che, proprio per questo, sa arrivare diritta al cuore. Gustare lentamente mentre il sole cala nel cielo di maggio l’acre sapore de La nuit longtemps oppure la sghemba poesia de Un bon matin… nell’attesa che il buon André ci mostri un suo nuovo profilo…

André Duchesne, ecco il nome che si dovrebbe appuntare chiunque voglia seriamente indagare sull’evoluzione della chitarra nella musica contemporanea.

Critique

Réjean Beaucage, Voir, May 20, 2004

André Duchesne est un habitué du FIMAV. Durant la première décennie du festival, il s’y est produit cinq fois et les années suivantes, il a presque toujours fait partie de l’équipe de régie technique. Le compositeur et guitariste y revient cette fois-ci à la tête d’un projet intitulé Cordes à danser.

«Rendons à César ce qui appartient à César, commente Duchesne, ce projet n’est pas une commande du FIMAV, mais plutôt du Festival des musiques de création du Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean où nous en présenterons la première la veille du concert de Victo.» C’est à son retour d’une résidence d’un an en Allemagne que Duchesne s’est mis au travail sur ce projet, entre autres… «Je suis revenu avec quatre projets différents. L’un est un ‘rapport sonore’ de mon séjour, je dois aussi y retourner pour le mixage d’un album enregistré en concert là-bas avec deux musiciens de dance music, et j’ai un projet de disque de chansons auquel je pense depuis un bout de temps et que je voudrais bien voir aboutir l’année prochaine.» Et puis, bien sûr, ce nouveau projet avec un quatuor à cordes.

On sait que Duchesne a déjà eu son propre quatuor à cordes, Les 4 guitaristes de l’Apocalypso Bar, mais il s’agit ici d’un quatuor de forme un peu plus classique. “En fait, c’est la rencontre du quatuor à cordes et du power trio (guitare, basse, batterie). J’ai écrit une quinzaine de pièces pour en garder 12, toujours en partant d’un rythme soutenu de la basse et de la batterie sur lequel viennent s’ajouter le quatuor et la guitare. Ça n’a rien à voir avec mon disque Polaroïde (2001), même si l’altiste Jean René et le batteur Pierre Tanguay sont toujours impliqués. Il s’agissait sur celui-là d’une musique de cassures, qui n’avait pas de rythme soutenu, alors que maintenant, c’est tout à fait le contraire, c’est rythmé, sans cassures, plus ludique, même si certaines pièces assez sombres ont quand même trouvé leur place dans le set.»André Duchesne est de ceux qui ont lancé au Québec une musique créative qui est peu à peu devenue ce que l’on appelle aujourd’hui la musique actuelle. Il était parmi les fondateurs du Centre d’essai Le Conventum en 1972. Que pense-t-il de l’évolution de cette musique ces dernières années? «Je suis un peu déçu du peu d’aide accordé à ce secteur musical et aux petites compagnies qui le font avancer, mais je suis aussi content de voir que, malgré ça, on a pu prendre notre place; c’est bien peu de chose dans le système, mais tout de même, nous avons contribué à faire reconnaître la musique des autodidactes, et aussi d’autres musiques qui ne sortaient jamais des universités. Je pense que de ce côté-là, il y a du progrès. Mais il y a des choses qui ne changent pas… C’est aussi difficile de faire de la musique actuelle aujourd’hui que ça l’était il y a 30 ans!»

Le 21 mai, 00 h 15 Au Cégep de Victoriaville Retransmission en direct sur la Chaîne culturelle de Radio-Canada

Critique

Luc Bouquet, ImproJazz, no. 87, July 1, 2002

Pour André Duchesne, le salut passe d’abord par l’improvisation. «Une sorte de jazz coule dans les artères de l’instant» nous informe la pochette… On souscrit totalement à la formule. Cette sorte de jazz nous est familière puisque naviguant très près des terres du clan Maneri; mêmes espaces vierges à apprivoiser, même charge émotionnelle, même discrète apesanteur. Nulle copie ici, mais, sans filet, entremêlée, ébouriffée, circulaire, une musique assumant pleinement son moelleux et ne trichant aucunement avec son identité. Un bel éloge du nylon en quelque sorte.

… sans filet, entremêlée, ébouriffée, circulaire, une musique assumant pleinement son moelleux et ne trichant aucunement avec son identité.

Portrait: Les 4 guitaristes de l’Apocalypso-Bar

François Couture, AllMusic, June 1, 2002

Put together by Montréal guitarist André Duchesne, Les 4 Guitaristes de l’Apocalypso-Bar was a conceptual electric guitar quartet (plus drums), something rarely seen before. His longest-lasting project (four years), it was also the one that got the most international attention, thanks to the presence of ex-Henry Cow drummer Chris Cutler (some say it served as the blueprint for the Fred Frith Guitar Quartet). The group released two LPs on Ambiances Magnétiques in 1987 and 1989, although titles and recording dates are willingly misleading — after all, this was a band from the future. Both albums have been reissued in 1995 by ReR Megacorp under the title World Tour ’98 (see what I mean?).

In the early ’80s, André Duchesne was writing avant-rock songs — something like This Heat with a Quebec twist (see his LP Le Temps des Bombes, 1984). But by 1986 he was working on a series of cuntrapuntal pieces for guitar quartet, a cross between Robert Fripp’s circular motifs and Fred Frith’s angular playing. He drafted René Lussier and Jean-Pierre Bouchard, colleagues from the late-’70s avant-folk collective Conventum, and Roger Boudreault. The Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville expressed interest to premiere the project in October 1986, but Duchesne still needed a drummer. He rang up Chris Cutler, as former Henry Cow members and the Ambiances Magnétiques collective were multiplying collaborations and associations at the time (Lussier and Fred Frith would play as a duo at FIMAV that year too). Cutler’s group Cassiber was already part of the festival’s line-up, so arrangements were made and the 4 Guitarists of the Apocalypso-Bar began rehearsals.

Duchesne had a concept, inspired by the ghost of Jimi Hendrix himself (or so the tongue-in-cheek liner notes to the first LP stated). This was the resident band at the Apocalypso-Bar, a joint in post-apocalypse Canada. They were sleek, they were hot, they obeyed all the laws of early 20th century dance bands: they wore white suits and tiger ties, sat down to play (the soloing guitarist got to stand up) and bowed down in unison to applause. Tournée Mondiale ’89 came out in 1987 (it’s a studio album, in case you wonder). The group toured Canada, the US and Europe, appearing among other places at The Kitchen in New York. A second album was recorded in early 1989 (Fin de siècle, once more ahead of its time), but by then Duchesne was already experiencing problems keeping the band together. Claude Fradette replaced Boudreault and young Miriodor drummer Rémi Leclerc filled in whenever Cutler was unavailable. Nevertheless the concept was wearing thin, so the group split shortly after. Duchesne went on to form Locomotive, bringing along Fradette and Leclerc.

His longest-lasting project, it was also the one that got the most international attention…

Portrait: André Duchesne

François Couture, AllMusic, June 1, 2002

A core member of the late-’70s avant-folk collective Conventum and co-founder of the “musique actuelle” collective and record label Ambiances Magnétiques in the early ’80s, André Duchesne has been both quieter and louder than his acolytes. Quieter because he released albums at the rate of a trickle; louder because his guitar riffs take him closer to the essence of rock than any other AM musician. His recorded output shows interests in avant-prog, rock ’n’ roll, film music, symphonic extravaganzas, free improv and solo classical guitar.

Duchesne is a son of Montréal. He learned the acoustic guitar like most of his teen buddies in the 1970s. But unlike them he was not satisfied with Harmonium and Creedence Clearwater Revival’s strum-along songs. Teaming up with René Lussier, Jean-Pierre Bouchard, Jacques Laurin, Bernard Cormier and poet Alain-Arthur Painchaud he formed Conventum, an influential underground unit that blended Quebec’s folk roots with absurd poetry and progressive arrangements. The group recorded two LPs (À l’affût d’un complot, 1977 and Le bureau central des utopies, 1979).

In 1983 Duchesne, Lussier, Jean Derome and Robert Marcel Lepage threw together the basis of Ambiances Magnétiques, an artist-run label devoted to avant-garde music. His first album to come out was the collection of modern rock songs Le temps des bombes (1984). His next project, more successful, was the four-guitar rock quintet Les 4 Guitaristes de l’Apocalypso-Bar, which included Lussier and Bouchard from Conventum, plus Roger Boudreault and ex-Henry Cow drummer Chris Cutler, from England. This group also recorded two LPs and toured Europe and the US before splitting up.

The early 1990s saw Duchesne active on various fronts. He recorded film music for the Gagné brothers (the soundtrack of “Le Royaume ou l’Asile” is the only one available) and premiered his most ambitious work ever, L’ ou ’L, at the FIMAV festival in Victoriaville in 1990. The orchestral overtones of this piece were soon counterbalanced by the raucous riffs of Locomotive, still Duchesne’s best album and band (with guitarists Claude Fradette and Francis Grandmont, and drummer Rémi Leclerc).

After 1992 Duchesne went very low profile, appearing on albums by modern trad singer Michel Faubert and sporadically putting together rock bands that never recorded (Diesel, No Band’s Land). His 1999 anti-climactic come back Réflexions featured him solo on classical guitar and was not what fans had been hoping for. The 2001 offering Polaroïde is a free improv trio session.

… his guitar riffs take him closer to the essence of rock than any other Ambiances Magnétiques musician.