Musicians in Montréal’s Ambiances Magnétiques orbit have historically been musical adventurers unconstrained by considerations of style (or the possibility of fame and fortune).

Guitarist Antoine Berthiaume is a relative newcomer to that circle, at least as far as recorded output goes. He has put out three albums in the last couple of years, but even within that number, one gets a sense of an artist committed to wide-ranging explorations.

Over the years he has benefited from the inspiration of the likes of Derek Bailey, Fred Frith, Jean Derome and especially Pierre Tanguay.

”Montréal is open in terms of so many things. I’ve been able to play with many older musicians just by calling them. Pierre Tanguay is the one who led me to so many different kinds of music. I started playing with him when I was about 19,” says the 29-year-old. “He got me into René Lussier, Jean Derome, Joane Hétu and Derek Bailey… That was how I ended up meeting Derek Bailey and doing my first CD,” he says, referring to Soshin, a set of improvised duos with Bailey and Frith.

Since then, Berthiaume has issued Leaves and Snows with Quentin Sirjacq and Norman Teale, as well as Ellen’s Bar with Michel Donato and Tanguay, pretty much a straight-up jazz outing.

Berthiaume prefers not to dwell on projects once they’re done, so it’s not surprising that he has three very different CD releases planned for 2007: Rodéoscopique, which he describes as folk/avant-garde/western; PantyTron, a duet with MaryClare Brzytwa from California on guitar, flute and electronics; and guitar duets with Elliott Sharp coming in September.

Next week you can catch Berthiaume in two settings. At Casa del Popolo he’s playing with drummer Robbie Kuster and bassist Morgan Moore (“It’s kind of jazz and rock, and it’ll be loud”), and after that he’s at Divan Orange with Donato and Tanguay.

Rarement un projet poétique aura-t-il bénéficié d’un enrobage sonore d’une telle luxuriance. D. Kimm interprète ses propres textes, soliloques de l’intimité ou dialogues pour interlocuteurs imaginaires, et Bernard Falaise fabrique pour souligner ces mots des ambiances aux textures étonnantes et aux coloris changeants. Bernard Grenon a encore une fois fait un magnifique travail de prise de son. Kimm chante sur un titre, et invite aussi d’autres voix à le faire: celles de Michel Faubert, André Duchesne et Pierre Cartier (ces deux derniers signent aussi leur musique). Cette variété, conjuguée à la réalisation sonore impeccable, contribue à dynamiser l’écoute. Une vraie petite soirée de poésie portative!

Un album joyeux, à la poésie fantasiste, dans la lignée de ses deux prédécesseurs. Frank Martel nous surprend encore avec ses chansonnettes étranges qui frisent parfois le non-sens. Plus qu’un poète, c’est un maître des ambiances,bien appuyé en cela par le fidèle Ouest Céleste et son guitariste-arrangeur-réalisateur Bernard Falaise. Une écriture fort ludique enrobée d’une musique aux influences très diverses, chaque pièce est comme un petit univers que l’on doit apprivoiser afin d’être séduit par sa beauté. Magnifique pochette sérigraphiée de Simon Bossé (Mille Putois).

Le guitariste Antoine Berthiaume sera en concert à la Casa del Popolo (Montréal) le 18 janvier 2007 avec Robbie Kuster et Morgan Moore. {nbio:berthiaume_an} sera aussi en concert le 21 janvier au Divan Orange (Montréal) en compagnie de Michel Donato et Pierre Tanguay.

Montréal-based guitarist and composer Brady has been getting a lot of hype in guitar and improv circles, and this release is meant as a showcase for his varied fretwork. GO, short for “Guitar Obsession” is chock full of variety, from jazz-rock tinged tunes, to loops, some odd blues. There is even a suite, Frame 22: Switch, which incorporates most of the styles into an electronic guitar workout that manages to be rocking and moving at the same time.

As couple of the songs, GO, Yellow, Add Green, and As Softly Sounds were constructed slowly, between 1984 and this year. Oddly, these are the most striaght-forward of the tunes, making one wonder why they took so long to build. The final four tracks are compositions by others, including Jean-François Laporte, Laurence Crane, Tristan Murail, and a beautiful solo ballad by Alexandre Burton. While Brady may not be one of the great hopes for the future of the guitar, as has been hyped in a few quarters, he certainly shows himself to be a guitarist who is not afraid to take risks, and who has an ear open for the instruments possibilities in many forums. (8/10)