Nicolas Caloia will be in concert at L’envers in Montréal on 15 mai 2009 with Lori Freedman, Chris Burns and John Heward.

The Off Mercredimusics will feature Danielle Palardy Roger, Joane Hétu, Diane Labrosse, Vivianne Houle, Stefan Smulovitz, Lori Freedman on May 27, 2009, at Casa Obscura in Montréal.

Il y a 30 ans que Charles Mingus nous a quittés, mais le contrebassiste Normand Guilbeault prouve encore une fois, avec le troisième disque de son projet Hommage à Mingus, que sa musique est toujours bien vivante. Entouré de quelques-uns des meilleurs musiciens montréalais (des vents d’enfer avec Jean Derome aux saxophones, Ivanhoe Jolicœur à la trompette et Matthieu Bélanger aux clarinettes, l’excellent Normand Deveault au piano et le tout aussi habile Claude Lavergne à la batterie), Guilbeault leur laisse de la place en masse, et on s’en réjouit, parce qu’ils savent quoi faire avec! Karen Young chante aussi sur deux titres. Une prestation de haut niveau.

The FIMAV Festival offered the opening slot of its 25th edition to frequent participant and Montréal musique actuelle mainstay Jean Derome, who rose to the occasion with, basically, a new band and two new long-form compositions. Plates-Formes et Tranquenards documents the event in stellar clarity. Derome’s Dangereux Zhoms is a long-standing project, though it spent most of the 2000s under wraps. The unit had been reactivated in 2007 to release a new CD (To Continue), but none of that material is found here. However, the current DZ lineup provides the backbone of the project: Derome on flutes and saxophones (and some creative conducting), trombonist Tom Walsh, pianist Guillaume Dostaler, bassist Pierre Cartier, and drummer Pierre Tanguay. Augmenting the group are a cross-section of Ambiances Magnétiques’ larger circle of players, including vocalist Joane Hétu, guitarist Bernard Falaise (of Miriodor fame), and turntablist Martin Tétreault. This 12-piece ensemble performs two long suites (35 minutes each) by Derome, compositions that blend his typical driving odd-metered themes — the second and last parts of Plates-Formes, part six of Tranquenards, other sections, too — with jazzier bits, textural playing, and improvised and semi-improvised sections in subgroupings. Overall, the project sounds like a cross between Derome’s jazzier writing and Canot-Camping, his conducted improv project. It is prime Derome: soulful at times, perplexing at others, chaotic one moment, extremely well organized the next, both majestic (in a serial music way) and silly (in a circus fanfare way). A must for fans of Derome’s musique actuelle and an excellent audio recording to boot.

The next Mercredimusics will feature Philippe Batthika, Bernard Falaise and Lori Freedmanon May 13, 2009, at Casa Obscura in Montréal.

Catch this trio…

• With Upstream in Halifax on May 15-16, 2009
• Concert-Launch its CD Ugly Beauties at L’Off Festival de Jazz de Montréal on June 26
• At the Jazz Festival Calgary on June 27
• In Edmonton on June 28
• At the Vancouver International Jazz Festival on June 29
• At the International Jazz Festival in Ottawa on June 30