30th Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville
The Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville (FIMAV) celebrated a milestone this year, presenting its 30th festival of musique actuelle — that unique French descriptor covering improvised music, chance, electronica, the avant edges of jazz, rock, folk, and world, and any other genre that has challenged expectations over the past few decades. That durability might seem unlikely for a festival of marginal music presented in a rural hamlet 160 kilometres from a major city, but FIMAV is persistent testimony to the vision and energy of its founder and artistic director Michel Levasseur, who has tirelessly maintained the festival in his hometown. (…)
A transcendent community was apparent in a concert by Montreal’s nineteen-member Ratchet Orchestra, celebrating the 100th anniversary of Sun Ra’s birth with special guest Marshall Allen — the long-time saxophonist with the Sun Ra Arkestra and that band’s current leader — nine days short of his 90th birthday. Begun as a Sun Ra tribute band twenty years ago, the Ratchet Orchestra has gone far beyond that, evident in the eighty-minute suite that merged Sun Ra themes with Ratchet leader, bassist, and arranger Nicolas Caloia’s own ideas. The music moved like a slow majestic blues, highlighted by contrasting explosions of instrumental colour (bass reeds, shouting brass, strings, electronic keyboards, and percussion), often surmounted by the explosive fury of Allen’s saxophone or the exotic flute of fellow Arkestra veteran Danny Thompson, and hitting its climax in Allen’s extended passage of orchestral conduction.
That sense of orchestra as community also came across strongly with GGRIL (Grand groupe régional d’improvisation libérée), a fourteen-member collective from Rimouski. GGRIL is a kind of poststructuralist village band. During a program that included works by Robert Marcel Lepage and Jean Derome, leader and bassist Éric Normand and violinist Raphaël Arsenault engaged in a coconduction, in which the two exchanged orchestra halves and seemed to compete comically for authority and sound, taking the conductor’s role to the level of professional wrestling. (…)
Journal d’écoute
Ça fait dix-sept ans que je fréquente le FIMAV et je ne possédais qu’un seul bootleg du festival (Art Bears Songbook, enregistré par un spectateur). Il est exceptionnel que des bootlegs du FIMAV circulent — le festival ne tolère rien en ce genre. Alors, qu’un soundboard soit publié ainsi sur soundcloud, ça relève du rève le plus pur. Le FIMAV n’enregistrait pas officiellement ce concert plus que mémorable (il ne sera pas publié), alors personne n’est lésé ici. Et quel concert, mes amis, quel concert! L’ensemble montréalais dirigé par Nicolas Caloia a fait descendre sur terre l’esprit de Sun Ra, le temps d’une heure de pièces enchaînées sans pause, avec un Marshall Allen en feu et la flûte de Pekoe. Vous ne verrez pas la petite danse de ce dernier. Vous ne verrez pas le sourire ravi d’Allen non plus. Mais vous entendrez une fabuleuse célébration de la musique de Sun Ra. Je vous donne le lien ci-dessous. Allez télécharger cette bande pendant qu’il est encore temps. https://soundcloud.com/user119499001/ratchet-orchestra-fimav-15-mai-2014
The 30th Annual Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville
[…] The second set of the night featured the Ratchet Orchestra with special guest Saturnian space-traveler Marshall Allen. The Ratchet Orchestra are a 19-piece avant/jazz orchestra from Canada who are led by bassist Nicolas Caloia and who’ve played a great set at the 2011 Victo Fest. Reeds master, Marshall Allen who is currently 89, became a member of the Sun Ra Arkestra in the late fifties and has been their leader since the passing of Sun Ra in 1993. This year is the 100 anniversary of Sun Ra’s birth on the planet earth. Considering that the Ratchet Orchestra has nearly twenty members for this concert, their sound is rarely too chaotic as Mr. Caloia is a strong leader. The orchestra sounds as if they are playing some of Sun Ra’s charts yet the music is often spacious and rarely held down to the gravity of Earth. I recognize the occasional Sun Ra melody although there are section which float in space sounding unsure of where they are going or will end up. Another Arkestra member named Pico is next to Mr. Allen and plays flute. He gets several chances to solo and is an exceptional flute player. Mr. Allen takes his time and finally solos on alto sax and an electronic wind instrument which sounds like it was being played by Sun Ra himself. There is an amazing duet between Allen on alto and Joshua Zubot on violin, free and intense as well as a couple of spirited solos from the great Lori Freedman on clarinets. Although there were several sections where the orchestra sounded a bit tentative, there were also a number of cosmic interludes when it all came together lifted off to parts unknown, most likely Saturn Sun Ra’s homeworld. […]
[…] Day Two started off up at the Pavillon with a small orchestra (13 piece) from Quebec called GGRIL (Large Regional Group of Liberated Improvisation). I had known about this group of younger Quebecois players since their leader, Éric Normand, sent me some of their discs. GGRIL have collaborated and recorded with Evan Parker and Jean Derome in the past. Their instrumentation is unique: 3 strings, 3 electric guitars, trumpet, reeds player, accordion, electric & acoustic bass and a percussionist who doubles on vibes. Each piece they performed involved different strategies or directions, some involved one or two conductors. The first piece utilized two conductors, each of whom directed half of the ensemble and occasionally trying to take the reins from each other. The players sat in a semi-circle and exchanged ideas carefully. There were always several layers going on simultaneously but it never got too dense or chaotic. The short, spirited solos seemed to fit just right. The second piece involved using a set of playing cards to direct or inspire some of the improvisations. The third piece was conducted & composed by Robert M. Lepage, Ambiances Magnétiques composer & clarinet player. I dug the way the players would repeat certain riffs with assorted shifting drones as the tempo slowly increased. There is now a long history of conducted improvisations to draw from. I could hear elements of a Butch Morris conduction or even the early John Zorn-like approach to small sound sparsity. Considering that the (Quebec-based) Ambiances Magnétiques label has been around for some thirty-plus years, great younger groups like GGRIL are pointing the way for the next generation of experimental musicians. […]
[…] The next set was a sort of Quebecois all-star quartet which featured Michel Faubert on vocals, Pierre Labbé on tenor & soprano sax, electronics & compositions, Bernard Falaise on guitar and Pierre Tanguay on drums. Aside from the vocalist, the other three musicians have long been involved in numerous bands/projects mainly for the Ambiances Magnétiques label: Labbé (solo & band-led discs, Les Projectionnistes), Falaise (Miriodor, Klaxon Gueule, solo CDs) and Tanguay (more than two dozen discs with Jean Derome, Joan Hétu & René Lussier). I wasn’t familiar with Michel Faubert who is a storyteller/vocalist and has worked with a traditional folk/a cappella bands. Mr. Labbé was the central figure here and talked or sang throughout consistently in French. Since my French speaking is minimal, I missed out on the various stories and observations that Mr. Faubert did. The response from the mostly French-speaking audience was most often giggles and laughter. So, I concentrated on the sound of his voice, his gestures and the music which was charming, quirky and consistently inventive. The music started out softly with Tanguay on a jawharp stomping his feet. The other three musicians did occasional backup vocals and there was a certain fun-loving charm that ran throughout the entire set. Each song or piece seemed to create a different mood. I liked the way the musicians used subtle gestures to evoke certain vibes, Falaise played his guitar in his lap and rubbed a cloth on it while Labbé played odd sax sounds & electronics without soloing very much to serve the story. I would’ve no doubt enjoyed the set more if I understood French but this was not the case. […]
As Hard to Define as They Are to Ignore
Ratchet? Orchestra?
Et pourquoi Ratchet? «Pour rien», répond le principal intéressé, haussant les épaules avant que son interlocuteur lui serre la main et passe à un autre sujet.
Pourquoi donc Orchestra? Sans se faire prier, il avait tout expliqué.
Le contrebassiste Nicolas Caloia est le leader et compositeur du Ratchet Orchestra, qui réunit une trentaine de musiciens montréalais et pas les moindres. Osons croire que ce grand ensemble est représentatif de ce que le Festival de Victoriaville a jadis identifié comme étant la musique actuelle. Une notion qui a certes progressé depuis les années 80. D’où l’invitation du Ratchet Orchestra ce samedi.
Sur le portail du studio Hotel2Tango, clope au bec, Nicolas Caloia parle calmement. Le ton est doux, le registre plutôt grave. Ne manifeste ni montée soudaine ni forte ponctuation. On a tôt fait de deviner la détermination que recouvre cette apparente linéarité. La rhétorique se déploie lentement, sûrement, à l’instar des orchestrations du Ratchet. Les phrases s’articulent, on en ressent l’intensité croissante.
Nicolas Caloia a appris sur le tard. Même si on a fait dans le punk rock au cours de l’adolescence, commencer à jouer de la contrebasse à 18 ans, c’est tard pour un musicien désireux d’en faire une profession. S’attaquer à une telle bête implique illico une forte personnalité dans le jeu comme dans le style.
«Je ne m’étais pas installé à Montréal pour la musique. J’y étais venu parce qu’était venu le temps pour moi de quitter Ottawa… J’ai alors rencontré le contrebassiste Lisle Ellis qui m’a initié à l’instrument et au jazz contemporain. Lisle fut très important pour moi. Depuis ce temps, je n’ai jamais cessé de jouer. J’ai eu la chance de côtoyer plusieurs excellents musiciens, issus de différents horizons. Jean Derome a aussi été une grande influence, tant pour sa musique que pour son humanité. Aussi j’ai beaucoup aimé NOMA du tromboniste Tom Walsh et le groupe Wreck Progress du batteur Michel Ratté. Plus récemment, j’ai joué entre autres avec Lori Freedman, Isaiah Ceccarrelli, John Heward, Sam Shalabi, etc.
Au fil du temps, les ensembles de Nicolas Caloia ont changé de configuration; d’abord un quatuor, puis un septuor, et un octuor.
«Dans les années 90, j’avais repris les arrangements de Sun Râ afin de les jouer avec mon groupe. Pour ce, j’avais rencontré l’homme. La découverte de cette musique et de cette communauté de Sun Râ m’avait donné plein de permissions, si ce n’est que celle de réunir des musiciens de styles très différents.
«Fin des années 90, j’ai fait moins de concerts, je trouvais le contexte trop conservateur à Montréal. Les choses ont changé depuis, car je trouve la scène d’aujourd’hui beaucoup plus vibrante. L’esprit y est plus ouvert, il y a plus d’endroits pour jouer et les musiciens que je côtoie n’ont pas qu’un genre musical à l’esprit. Enfin, je me sens plus apte à écrire, arranger, organiser, produire.»
Sans faire de vagues, un premier album du Ratchet Orchestra a été lancé en 2007. «Là, je suis plus sérieux», affirme Caloia, sourire en coin… et conscient des contraintes inhérentes à une telle entreprise.
«Pour le nouvel album que nous enregistrons cette semaine, je profite d’un programme de subventions qui vient d’être éradiqué. Je veux donc faire quelque chose qui va durer. Un grand ensemble, vous savez, c’est compliqué. Jouer une ou deux fois par an, honnêtement ça me suffit! Si on pouvait en vivre, ce serait autrement… Or les orchestres de cette taille qui jouent régulièrement hors du milieu classique, ça n’existe plus. Alors? Pour faire bien sonner un groupe en de rares occasions, il faut que tes partitions et consignes soient très claires. Il faut aussi savoir avec qui tu travailles, il te faut écrire pour chacune des personnalités.»
The Ratchet Orchestra n’est pas un big band de jazz, insiste son leader.
«Je préfère l’expression grand ensemble. D’ailleurs, j’aime autant les orchestres symphoniques et les orchestres de chambre que les big bands. Ma musique ne se fonde pas sur le swing. Ma musique est une succession de phases et décalages qui me permettent de créer un environnement sonore qui m’est propre.»