Tétreault et Otomo sont deux artistes de la table tournante. Le Montréalais est probablement plus connu de ses concitoyens, ayant partagé la scène des Jean Derome, Diane Labrosse et Michel F Côté depuis des lunes. On l’a apprécié pour sa façon de manier les vinyles dans un enchaînement débridé. Tétreault a toutefois délaissé le côté «transmetteur» de l’engin pour se concentrer sur les bruits qu’émet un tourne-disque: frottements, grincements, rotations… Plus subtil. Moins mélodique. Otomo, quant à lui, a formé l’influent groupe Ground Zero et se passionne pour «l’électronique minimale de basse fréquence». On a donc affaire ici à la rencontre de deux bruitistes incongrus. L’album 4.Hmmm est le quatrième de la série publiée par le duo, enregistré lors d’une tournée de 15 concerts en 16 jours. Il contient des éléments rejetés de 1. Grrr, 2. Tok et 3. Ahhh. Pour public averti.

Meet up with Espaces sonores illimités (ESI), Jean Derome, Bernard Falaise, Lori Freedman, Pierre Labbé, Diane Labrosse, Pierre Tanguay, and light designer Eric Belley in a musical improvised work entitled Spatio lumino. This performance will take place on Saturday February 24, 2007 at the Société des arts technologiques, in Montréal, as part of the opening show of the 3rd Montréal/Nouvelles musiques (MNM) festival.

With an audience twice as big as normally come to these concerts, Quatuor Bozzini (who make a virtue of performing almost completely without vibrato and with extremely clean intonation) gave another of their dream performances last Wednesday evening. First a fine show of new world minimalism, thereafter examples of the old world’s more melancholic moods in three such fine versions that it bordered on the sublime.

Three quartets by Alvin Lucier made use of microscopic changes in pitch, in the piece Navigations, down to a thousandths of a half tone. Obviously this is impossible to hear, but is still perceived as beatings in the slowing tempo and dynamic — almost the same feeling as when the smallest sounds become more present in thick fog.

Even more extreme dynamic variations down to the barely audible were presented in the next piece, a thoroughly exquisite quartet by minimalist legend Terry Jennings.

Could anything be cleaner, deeper, more precious? Well yes, old Europe won the game, at the same time of course as the Bozzini’s brought forth maximum closeness and stringence.

Jeney’s Ricercare captures the whole spectrum, from Gregorian chant to bitter contemporarity.

Of Allgen, a first performance of his whole notes movement from the gigantic Quartet No 3 composed in 1943 — a chorale of eternity performed as though on an organ, a deeply touching simplicity, even more elevated translated to four strings.

And still, as usual Aldo Clementi was the one to finally open up the heavenly gates with his masterwork Momento.

The Mercredimusics are back: Jean Derome and his guests will be there on Wednesday, February 14, 2007. By the way, we invite you to listen to some great extracts of The Feeling of Jazz album on which Derome blows in his bari sax… mmh. Lori Freedman and her guests are the next ones to perform: the concert is scheduled a week later, on Wednesday February 21.

We are looking forward to seeing the continuation of Treize lunes series, a complete show created by Daniel Soulières, Louise Bédard, Jean Derome, Antoine Berthiaume, and Lucie Bazzo. This time, 7 artists wil get together to howl at the moon: first, on Wednesday February 21, then on February 22, and on February 23,2007, very last chance to take part in this extraordinary event. The show brings together 7 artists of Danse-Cité and the Ensemble SuperMusique (you should go on SuperMusique website to check out where the performances will take place: url below). In addition, you may want to listen to the new album’s group Nouvelle musique d’hiver…

Philippe Lauzier (saxophones, bass clarinet), Antoine Berthiaume (guitar), and Miles Perkin (doublebass) will be at the Café l’Utopik in Montréal on Thursday February 22, 2007. You can also listen to them on the new CD Today is a Special Day.