On February 1, 2009, André Duchesne, with Bernard Falaise and Patrick Hamilton, will be performing at Quai des brumes in Montréal. They will play the whole disc Arrêter les machines, some pieces from Le Temps des bombes and Locomotive, as well as new compositions.

The 12th Opus Prizes winners were announced on January 25, 2009 in Montréal. Amongst the 26 Opus Prizes… the “Disc of the Year — Musique actuelle, Electroacoustics” was awarded to Clic by Bernard Falaise.

Drummer Isaiah Ceccarelli and saxophonist Philippe Lauzier will be performing in Oslo, Norway, on January 30 and February 1, 2009. The first concert, in duo setting, will be at the [sic!] series at the Sagene kulturverksted. The second concert, at the Sound of Mu, will find them playing with Norwegian musicians Kim Myhr on guitar and Martin Taxt on tuba.

In January and February, 2009, Martin Tétreault (turntables) will present three solo concerts in Berlin followed by a short tour with German musician Ignaz Schick (turntables, objects, bows).

• January 27, 2009 at the Transmediale Festival (Berlin, Germany)
• February 1 with Ignaz Schick at QO2 (Brussels, Belgium)
• February 2 with Ignaz Schick at the Logos Foundation (Ghent, Belgium)
• February 3 with Ignaz Schick at Emmetrop (Bourges, France)
• February 4 with Ignaz Schick at Instants Chavirés (Paris, France)

Contrabassist supreme, Joëlle Léandre always excels in the duo situation. Check out any of her many duo excursions with Derek Bailey, Steve Lacy, Irene Schweizer, India Cooke, Kevin Norton, Barre Phillips or William Parker, and you will find each to be wonderful in its own way. Once again we find Joëlle in another extraordinary duo. I recall Montréal-based pianist Quentin Sirjacq from a trio he is in with Antoine Berthiaume & Norman Teale that played a the Victo Fest a few years back and were great, as is their CD on AM.

This is a studio date that was recorded in Paris by Jean Marc Foussat, who always does a fabulous job with each disc that he has recorded and mixed for Joëlle. Right from the first note, we know we are in for some superb, magical sounds. Most of the pieces are relatively short so that they focus in on certain areas of sound. Fragment 1 sounds like the bass is breathing slowly in and out, organically unfolding. Fragment 2 is more explosive with cautious inside-the-piano sounds balancing more hyper-tense moments. Quentin plays a dreamy gentle, melodic fragment on Presence while Joëlle brings in some darker sounds banging softly on her her bass with her bow. The suspense grows deeper on The Call while Quentin holds down the sustain pedal while playing minimal skeletal notes as Joëlle also plays hushed bowed ghost-like notes. Ruin seems to be appropriately titled since Joëlle’s spooky voice and the dark piano rumble through the ruins of our collective minds. Each piece feels like a scene from a story or a soundtrack to film noir type of movie. Once again a duo exchange brings out the best from Joëlle Léandre and her current collaborator Quentin Sirjacq.

This is an all-star Ambiances Magnetiques ensemble, hence the name, recorded live in concert in September of 2007 in Montréal. Four of the members, Hétu, Roger, Labrosse and Derome, each conducted or directed the improvisations and each used a different approach. Joane Hetu’s 8 moments brefs is a game that deals with the perception of time, based on 1 minute segments in which the material is switched around. This keeps the flow of ideas compact, as textures and combinations of players shift during every (imagined) minute. There is a leaky faucet in my kitchen where I work at my computer and I couldn’t tell if the dripping was a part of this disc until I made sure. With a sampler, a turntable (often without records), manipulated objects and strange voices, it is hard to tell who is doing what. There are brief and often poetic explanations of the composers’ intent which give us some idea of what’s what. Danielle Roger’s four part Y’a du bruit dans ma cabane creates a “customized universe of the rooms of a house” and sounds like well-constructed electronic music and selective samples. Intense and evocative of the complexity of modern civilization. Diane Labrosse’s Une année dans la vie de… deals with the twelve months of the year and the layers of voices are ghost-like and quite haunting. Jean Derome’s Canot-camping… deals with numerous body signals which steer the music. There seems to be a great deal of directed fragments involved: strange voices, quick changes, toys and a good dose of humor. What I find so remarkable is that after so many years of music together, this ensemble still sound fresh, exciting and filled surprises. Some things do get better as they evolve.