Michael Winograd (clarinette, saxophones), Gordon M Allen (trompette); Esther Bourdages (tourne-disques), Pierre-Yves Martel (contrebasse) seront au 4276 Saint-Denis le 9 mars 2007. Vous pouvez écouter ces musiciens sur: Engagement & Confrontation et Let’s Go to Easter Island!.

C’est avec fébrilité que nous anticipons la suite de la série de spectacles Treize lunes élaborée par les concepteurs Daniel Soulières, Louise Bédard, Jean Derome, Antoine Berthiaume et Lucie Bazzo. Cette fois, 7 artistes se réuniront pour hurler avec les loups: d’abord le mercredi le 21 février, puis le 22 et enfin le 23 février 2007, ultime chance d’assister à ce spectacle hors du commun (notez bien les lieux des performances sur le site de SuperMusique dont le lien url vous est donné). Le spectacle réunit 7 artites de Danse-Cité et de l’Ensemble SuperMusique que l’ont peut d’ailleurs entendre sur le tout nouveau disque Nouvelle musique d’hiver.

Le festival Suoni Per Il Popolo a lieu à Montréal pendant le mois de juin et présente des concerts tous les soirs à La Sala Rossa ainsi qu’à la Casa del Popolo. Cette année vous pourrez y entendre, entre autres, le trio FReC (Lori Freedman, Danielle Palardy Roger et Nicolas Caloia) le 11 juin 2006, le trio Klaxon Gueule ainsi que le duo de Pierre-Yves Martel / Marianne Trudel le 21 juin et finalement le Trio Derome Guilbeault Tanguay le 22 juin.

Pierre-Yves Martel (Rodéoscopique, Rake-Star) lance son nouvel album sur étiquette Ambiances Magnétiques. L’album Engagement & Confrontation regroupe 18 pièces pour contrebasse solo préparée captées par une panoplie de microphones disposés par {nbio:martel_pi} et le preneur de son Ross Murray pour créer, au mixage, de surprenantes spatialisations. Nulle autre superposition ni manipulation n’est venue modifier les improvisations originales.

Le CD sera lancé au Mercury Lounge (Ottawa) le 20 mai 2006 ainsi qu’à la Casa Del Popolo (Montréal) le 29 mai. Le public montréalais pourra également entendre {nbio:martel_pi} pendant la série de concerts Interventions au Arts Café tous les jeudi de mai 2006, en compagnie entre autres des musiciens Isaiah Ceccarelli, Antoine Berthiaume, Philippe Lauzier et Jean Derome.

Finding your voice as a musician is no easy task, nor is finding your place in the music community at large. With remarkable ease and confidence, however, Ottawa native double bassist and composer Pierre-Yves Martel has found a niche for himself in the thriving Montréal scene. Most surprising is that this 27 year-old player has done so with a solo album, Engagement & Confrontation, to be released very soon on the local Ambiances Magnétiques label. But if one judges by his concert schedule, this is only the tip of the iceberg. Just last month, he headed south for performances in both Boston and New York and will perform two concerts in Toronto with guitarist Antoine Berthiaume on the 21 and 23 of this month. Here in town, he will spar with drummer Isaiah Ceccarelli on May 3 at Casa del Popolo as part of the Improvising Montréal Series. What’s more, Martel is active in both the contemporary and baroque music scene (he also plays viola de gamba) and has composed for classical and jazz ensembles alike. Barely out of music school, Martel is now a full-fledged working musician. Despite the risks of a solo album, the choice seemed natural to him. Inspired by the work of John Cage, fellow bassist Michael Formanek and René Lussier, Martel considered the potential for the “prepared” acoustic bass. “The research for the album,” he explained, “took place in my apartment where I just investigated the instrument’s sound possibilities. I built a kind of recorded library of musical miniatures and challenged myself to discover different sounds. It was like viewing the instrument from different perspectives.” Heartened by the results of his explorations, Martel applied successfully for a Canada Council grant last year. Recorded over a three-day span last October, the session was captured by no less than ten microphones. “The actual material is improvised,” Martel notes, “but stems from 35 very well-defined preparations.” Martel sees this process as similar to playing the melodies and changes of jazz standards. “Each track has one preparation. These include things like an open D tuning, rubbing the bass, using sympathetic vibrations, moveable bridges, and various clips on the strings.” “The prepared bass is a whole new instrument,” Martel sums up. “I’d like to work with other sound artists and try to bring prepared bass into group settings.” To this end, you will surely find Martel busy at work around town in one group or another, digging into the adventure of creative music.