The Squid's Ear Magazine


GGRIL (Grand Groupe Regional d'Improvisation Liberee): Geste (Tour de Bras)

Eric Normand's Quebec based 12-piece GGRIL (Grand Groupe Regional d'Improvisation) in an album of 5 improvisations and a piece by percussionist Danielle P. Roger; wonderfully creative music with eclectic instrumentation that's simultaneously challenging and fun.
 

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Personnel:



Olivier D'Amours-electric guitar

Robert Bastien-electric guitar

Tom Jacques-percussions

Eric Normand-electric bass

Alexandre Robichaud-trumpet

Catherine Savard Massicotte-violon, voice

Robin Servant-accordion

Raphael Arsenault-violin

Marc-Antoine Mcakin-Guy-baritone guitar

Sebastien Corriveau-bass clarinet

Mathieu Gosselin-baritone saxophone

Gabriel Rochette-trombone


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Label: Tour de Bras
Catalog ID: 90015
Squidco Product Code: 22024

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2016
Country: Canada
Packaging: Plastic Sleeve
Recorded November 14th through December 13th, 2015 by Sebastien Corriveau.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"GGRIL is an acronym for the Grand Groupe Régional d'Improvisation Libérée, a 12-member ensemble led by bassist Eric Normand that's devoted to collective improvisation and conduction, or conducted improvisation. Based in the unlikely hamlet of Rimouski, Quebec, the group has nonetheless managed to collaborate with international soloists and recently completed a European tour. Gestes marks their continuing development, a program of five improvisations and a piece by percussionist Danielle P. Roger.

Perhaps it's the relative isolation from musicians of similarly radical orientation, but GGRIL has developed a very high level of sustained interaction, evident here in continuously controlled work in which both individual and group invention are in sharp focus. The group's odd mix of instruments - brass, reeds, accordion and a collection of guitars, strings and percussion - creates striking contrasts, while the musicians' heterodox backgrounds have them drawing simultaneously on elements of classical, jazz, folk, and industrial music. Les gestes permettent... moves through distinct texture and moods, first featuring the warmly plaintive trombone of Gabriel Rochette, then shifting to a passage of Webern-esque spikiness from violinist Raphaël Arsenault that's set against the sustained tones of low-pitched reeds. That passing invocation of high modernism gives way to random snare rattles and feedback guitars.

Other dimensions of the group's resources are evident in the verbi-vocal explosions of De nombreux humain..., the dissonant brass blasts of Les signes... and the sustained machine rhythms of Mais au delà de montrer... as GGRIL continues to find ways to challenge themselves and audiences alike to take that next step."-Stuart Broomer, The Whole Note


Get additional information at The Whole Note

Artist Biographies

"Olivier D'Amours is a guitarist, audio artist and sound performer living in Rimouski. His musical influences range from rock to jazz through noise and modern music. He specializes in tailor-made effects chains for each project, in alternative tunings as well as in sound synthesis in video. He is part of the Large Regional Group of Improvised Music (Vivaces, Combines, Gestes), of the duo Les Monocytes (Spirospatial, Deer Island) and is a founding member of the Montreal noise collective La Forêt Rouge (Cassette, Hors de tout doubt reasonable, Hors of any unreasonable doubt, and if there is any doubt)."

-Supermusiqu (https://www.supermusique.qc.ca/en/artistes/damours_ol)
12/11/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

Robert Bastien is a Canadian guitarist, known for his work with GGRIL ( Le Grand Groupe Régional d'Improvisation Libérée).

-Discogs (https://www.discogs.com/artist/2263380)
12/11/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Tom Jacques: Multi-instrumentalist and sound artist

Tom Jacques is a multi-instrumentalist and sound artist. His work evolves between composition, improvisation, performance and sound device design, mainly in contemporary music, jazz, and percussion. For the last 5 years, he has been working with various artists and technicians in order to make his own musical instruments and sound installations. This approach allows him to explore unique musical universes that are unattainable with conventional instruments.

Tom Jacques stands out among Quebec's new breed of creative artists. Many of his personal projects and musical ensembles have been acknowledged and supported by the Conseil des Arts et Lettres du Québec through its Bas-Saint-Laurent arts and literature program and its Bas-Saint-Laurent territorial partnership program . He is also supported by the Canada Council for the Arts , and is the recipient of the Bas-Saint-Laurent Best Newcomer Award.

Tom is the Artistic Director of the percussion trio Bascaille, a co-artistic director of the jazz quartet Manta, and a member of the GGRIL (Grand Groupe Régional d'Improvisation LIbre, which means "large regional free improvisation group". He regularly collaborates with artists of all stripes as a musician, composer, and consultant. In 2017, he exhibited a sound device entitled "Comment Où le Son" at a travelling exhibition of the organization Voir à l'Est, and a follow-up entitled "Trajet Pas Pareil" at the 2018 Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville (FIMAV).

This young artist is strongly involved in the cultural community. Currently president of Arte Tracto and director of Culture du Bas-Saint-Laurent, he helped set up Garage à musique de la Haute-Gaspésie, a pilot project inspired by Montréal's GAM, which uses music to help young people lessen the negative impacts of their harsh living conditions. The GAM's services are free."

-Tom Jacques Website (https://www.tomjacques.ca/bio-et-and-c-v)
12/11/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Eric Normand is an improviser, bassist, instrument designer, composer, songwriter, singer and record and concert producer. He defines himself as an epidisciplinary musician, a free electron driven by its yearning for meetings. As an improviser, he develop a personal and radical playing on a homemade electric bass equipped with mics and objects feedbacking and vibrating in small electronic devices, creating electric flux interrupted by the instrumental gesture. With this set, he prefer to play duets, with Jim Denley (flute and sax), Philippe Lauzier (bass clarinet and sax), Sébastien Cirotteau (trumpet), Pierre-Yves Martel (viola de gamba and electronic), Jean-Luc Guionnet (saxophone), in addition of several spontaneous encounters.

He also play in bands involved in a more specific musical genre as danced poetry with BABABA, instrumental theatre with Le Veau/ The Veal, songs with Les Pitounes and Éric Normand Chante and folk music with The Surruralits and RRRRoyal Canadian Free Form Folk Experience. Interested in collective creation and orchestral improvisation, he lead for seven years the GGRIL, a 15 pieces band that have worked with composers such as Evan Parker, Jean Derome, Robert Marcel Lepage and Michael Fischer. His music has been programmed by or performed in several festivals in Canada , Australia and Europe. It have also been broadcasted by Radio-Canada, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, CBC, Radio-Grenouille, and several college radio stations."

-Eric Normand 12/11/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

Alexandre Robichaud is a Canadian trumpeter, known for the bands Le Grand Groupe Régional d'Improvisation Libérée, Equse, GGRIL, Incipit, and work with Éric Normand.

-Discogs (https://www.discogs.com/artist/3548610)
12/11/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Robin Servant [Rimouski, Canada] is a musician with a passion for traditional musics, improvisation, and composition. He has worked in many traditional ensembles (Trio Salicorne, Tord-Vis, la Baratte à Beurre, la Marée montante) and also in improvised music groups (GGRIL, duo Escarbilles, Brugir). He tries to make connections between popular traditions and contemporary musics. His work is organized around 2 axes: sharing the experience and experiencing the moment. With Du souffle et de l'espace, he explores the acoustics of the places he visits by making them vibrate with his accordion and electronics."

-International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation (http://improvisationinstitute.ca/workshops-conferences/camp/faculty-bios/)
12/11/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

Sébastien Corriveau is a Canadian clarinetist, known for the ensemble GGRIL.

-Discogs (https://www.discogs.com/artist/7052825-S%C3%A9bastien-Corriveau)
12/11/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

Mathieu Gosselin is a Canadian saxophone player, known for the groups Extasick, and The Kustom Krowd Vokal Ensemble.

-Discogs (https://www.discogs.com/artist/1657717-Mathieu-Gosselin)
12/11/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Gabriel Rochette (aka Gabriel Rochette Berirau is a Canadian trombonist, a member of Ensemble Supermusique and GGRIL."

-Squidco 12/11/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



1. Si Les Atomes De Gaz 4:08

2. Les Gestes Permettent 10:13

3. De Nombreux Grands 3:04

4. Buanderie Rimouskoise 4:19

5. Les Signes Ont 12:56

6. Mais Au-Dela De Montrer 16:50

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Musique Actuelle
Free Improvisation
Large Ensembles
Canadian Composition & Improvisation

Search for other titles on the label:
Tour de Bras.


Recommended & Related Releases:
Charles, Xavier / Eric Normand
Balises [VINYL - DAMAGED]
(Tour de Bras / Ramble)
Sleeve dinged from post
Charles, Xavier / Eric Normand
Balises [VINYL]
(Tour de Bras / Ramble)
Seven forays into dark experimental electroacoustic improvisation from electric bassist and Tour de Bras label-leader Éric Normand and French clarinetist Xavier Charles, leveraging unlikely techniques on both instruments, eight dialogs both assertive and cautiously mysterious, employing harmonic overtones, remarkable reed techniques, and rich electronic foundations.
Allochtone
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Organized by Miriodor drummer & composer Remi Leclerc, this experimental group features Canadian & European improvisers in a creative session with a sense of novelty and humor, from Pianist Andre Pelletier (Saint-Pascal), accordionist Robin Servant and guitarist Olivier D'Amours (Rimouski), bassist Alexandre Dubuc (Montreal) and saxophonist Cathy Heyden (Paris).
Brulez les meubles (Beaudoin / Normand / Derome / Hollenbeck)
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The Quebec project Brulez Les Meubles (Burn the Furniture) was conceived by long-time friends and contemporary jazz fans, bassist Eric Normand and guitarist Louis Beaudoin-de la Sablonniere, each collaboration inviting other musicians to join their warm & relaxed approach to modern jazz, here with Jean Derome on saxophone & flute and John Hollenbeck on drums.
Brulez les meubles (Beaudoin / Normand / Derome / Hollenbeck)
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With a common passion for the jazz guitar, from Jim Hall to Bill Frisell, from Rene Thomas to Brandon Ross, the core duo of Canadian improvisers, guitarist Louis Beaudoin-de la Sablonniere and bassist Éric Normand, are joined by drummer Tom Jacques for a set of original compositions plus a Paul Bley piece, one by Gilles Vigneault, and two collective improvisations.
Dionee (Beriault / Servant / Normand)
Attrape-mouches
(Tour de Bras / Circum-Disc)
Exploring the Venus Flytrap (dionée attrape-mouche) through a trio of electroacoustic improv, with the acoustic elements from Clarisse Beriault on oboe and acoustic bass and Robin Servant on accordion, bassist Éric Normand providing the electric foundation to their sly and savage improvisations, all three using electronics & effects to emulate the thigmonastic carnivore.
Brulez les meubles (Beaudoin / Normand / Derome / Hollenbeck)
Tardif
(Tour de Bras / Circum-Disc)
The Quebec project Brulez Les Meubles (Burn the Furniture) was conceived by long-time friends and contemporary jazz fans, bassist Eric Normand and guitarist Louis Beaudoin-de la Sablonniere, each collaboration inviting other musicians to join their warm & relaxed approach to modern jazz, here with Jean Derome on saxophone & flute and John Hollenbeck on drums.
Hautzinger, Franz / Eric Normand
Unbelievably Late
(Tour de Bras / Inexhaustible Editions )
Having originally met in 2016 when Viennese trumpeter Franz Hautzinger and Quebec electric bassist Éric Normand formed Torche! with Michel F Cote, Philippe Lauzier and Xavier Charles, the two improvisers developed this collage during the pandemic from asynchronous recordings, creating six dramatic and explorative compositions of incredible and unusual technique.
Muller, Matthias / Eric Normand / Petr Vrba
Triche!
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A set of informed avant/abstract acoustic and electroacoustic improvisations recorded in the studio in Austria in 2019, from the transatlantic trio of Euro free jazz legend, trombonist Matthias Muller, Quebec bassist Eric Normand on electric bass, and innovative trumpeter Petr Vrba also deploying electronics, the trio's interaction focused on patient and inspired sonic detail.
Denley, Jim / Eric Normand
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The collaboration of Quebec bassist Eric Normand and Australian saxophonist Jim Denley, both dedicated experimenters, in their third duo album under the Plant name, here recording live at the 2019 Syndey, Australia NowNow Festival, with Denley also playing bass flute, fruits and objects, and Normand using objects and playing the bass amp itself.
Butcher, John / Philippe Lauzier / Eric Normand
How Does This Happen?
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The Montreal free improvising, experimenting duo "Not The Music" of bassist Eric Norman & bass clarinetist Philippe Lauzier invited UK saxophonist John Butcher for concerts in Ottawa and Montreal, recording the two impressive 5-part series heard on this album--"en consequence" (consequently) and "par irruption" (by bursting), of masterful and profoundly pensive prowess.
Plant (Jim Denley / Eric Normand)
II
(Tour de Bras)
Separated by 1,000 KMs and speaking a different language, the collaboration of Quebec bassist Eric Normand and Australian saxophonist Jim Denley, both dedicated experimenters, share a common aesthetic in free improvisation as they release their third album: five dialogs using reeds, electric bass, drums, objects and tools to create unusual sonic conversations.
Surruralists, Les (Bull / Normand / Grossman / Jacques / Berirau)
La Way Qu'a Do
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Slyly crossing modern improv and EAI approaches in a surreal take on early bottleneck, banjo and slide blues styles from the Quebec quintet of Arthur Bull on harmonica, voice, guitar & electronics, Eric Normand on banjo, voice & bass, Ben Grossman on "old wheel", Anne-Francoise Jacques on engines, and Gabriel Rochette on trombone; sincere and eccentric.
Normand 5, Eric
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(Setola Di Maiale)
Bassist Eric Normand's compositions showcase the incredibly talented quintet of James Darling (cello), Antoine Letourneau-Berger (vibes), Michel F. Cote (drums/feedback) and Jean Derome (flute, sax, birdcall).
Roger, Danielle Palardy
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(Ambiances Magnetiques)
3 live recordings from 3 ensembles - GGRIL, Ensemble SuperMusique and ECM+ - exploring relationsips between early music and contemporary creative music; with Jean Derome, Joane Hetu, Diane Labrosse, Bernard Falaise, &c. &c.
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The Bent Spoon Duo of Chris Dadge and Scott Munro met bassist Eric Normand (Tour De Bras, Ambiances Magnetiques) while Normand was on tour to record these ragged electro-acoustic improvisations.
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Other Recommended Releases:
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