André Duchesne
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André Duchesne
- Genres: Avant-Garde
Biography
A core member of the late-'70s avant-folk collective Conventum and co-founder of the "musique actuelle" collective and record label Ambiances Magnétiques in the early '80s, André Duchesne has been both quieter and louder than his acolytes. Quieter because he released albums at the rate of a trickle; louder because his guitar riffs take him closer to the essence of rock than any other AM musician. His recorded output shows interests in avant-prog, rock & roll, film music, symphonic extravaganzas, free improv, and solo classical guitar.Duchesne is a son of Montreal. He learned the acoustic guitar like most of his teen buddies in the 1970s. But unlike them he was not satisfied with Harmonium and Creedence Clearwater Revival's strum-along songs. Teaming up with René Lussier, Jean-Pierre Bouchard, Jacques Laurin, Bernard Cormier, and poet Alain-Arthur Painchaud, he formed Conventum, an influential underground unit that blended Quebec's folk roots with absurd poetry and progressive arrangements. The group recorded two LPs (À l'Affût d'un Complot, 1977; and Le Bureau Central des Utopies, 1979).
In 1983, Duchesne, Lussier, Jean Derome, and Robert M. Lepage threw together the basis of Ambiances Magnétiques, an artist-run label devoted to avant-garde music. His first album to come out was the collection of modern rock songs Le Temps des Bombes (1984). His next project, more successful, was the four-guitar rock quintet Les 4 Guitaristes de l'Apocalypso-Bar, which included Lussier and Bouchard from Conventum, plus Roger Boudreault and ex-Henry Cow drummer Chris Cutler, from England. This group also recorded two LPs and toured Europe and the U.S. before splitting up.
The early '90s saw Duchesne active on various fronts. He recorded film music for the Gagné brothers (the soundtrack of Le Royaume ou l'Asile is the only one available) and premiered his most ambitious work ever, L' ou 'L, at the FIMAV festival in Victoriaville in 1990. The orchestral overtones of this piece were soon counterbalanced by the raucous riffs of Locomotive, still Duchesne's best album and band (with guitarists Claude Fradette and Francis Grandmont, and drummer Rémi Leclerc).
After 1992, Duchesne went very low-profile, appearing on albums by modern trad singer Michel Faubert and sporadically putting together rock bands that never recorded (Diesel, No Band's Land). His 1999 anti-climactic comeback Réflexions featured him solo on classical guitar and was not what fans had been hoping for. The 2001 offering Polaroïde is a free improv trio session. ~ François Couture, Rovi
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André Duchesne (musician)
| André Duchesne | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1949 Montreal, Canada |
| Genres | Experimental music, contemporary classical |
| Occupations | Musician, composer |
| Instruments | Guitar |
| Years active | mid-1970s – present |
| Labels | Ambiances Magnétiques |
| Associated acts | Conventum, Les 4 Guitaristes de l'Apocalypso-Bar, Locomotive |
André Duchesne (born 1949[1]) is a Canadian experimental music guitarist and composer. He was a co-founder of Ambiances Magnétiques, a Canadian musical collective and record label, and formed several experimental music bands, including Conventum, Les 4 Guitaristes de l'Apocalypso-Bar and Locomotive. Duchesne has also released five solo albums.
Biography
André Duchesne was born in Montreal, Canada in 1949.[1] As a teenager he learnt acoustic guitar, but was not satisfied with the popular rock music being played at the time. In the mid-1970s he formed an avant-garde folk-rock group called Conventum with René Lussier, Jean Derome, Jean-Pierre Bouchard, Jacques Laurin, Bernard Cormier and poet Alain-Arthur Painchaud.[1] Conventum was described by Allmusic as a mixture of "Quebec's folk roots with absurd poetry and progressive arrangements".[2] They released two albums, À l'Affût d'un Complot in 1977 and Le Bureau Central des Utopies in 1979.[2]
In 1983 Duchesne, Lussier, Derome and Robert M. Lepage formed Ambiances Magnétiques, a musical collective and artist-run record label specialising in avant-garde music. Duchesne released his first solo album, Le Temps des Bombes on the new label in 1984.[2] Then he began writing contrapuntal compositions for a guitar quartet, and formed Les 4 Guitaristes de l'Apocalypso-Bar (The 4 Guitarists of the Apocalypso-Bar) with Lussier, Bouchard and Roger Boudreault to perform the pieces. Les 4 Guitaristes de l'Apocalypso-Bar was a concept band that Duchesne said was from post-apocalypse Canada "inspired by the ghost of Jimi Hendrix".[3] They premiered at the 4th Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville (FIMAV) at Victoriaville, Quebec in October 1986,[4] and continued until 1989, touring Canada, the United States and Europe. They also released two albums in 1987 and 1989.[3]
After the success of Les 4 Guitaristes de l'Apocalypso-Bar,[3] Duchesne returned to FIMAV in 1989 to premier "his most ambitious work ever",[2] L' Ou 'L,[5] a composition that explored different styles of chamber music.[1] In 1991, he formed Locomotive with Claude Fradette and Rémi Leclerc, which also performed at FIMAV in 1991.[6] Locomotive recorded an album of the same name in 1992, which Allmusic called "the pinnacle of André Duchesne's discography".[7]
During the mid- to late-1990s, Duchesne formed several rock bands, but they never recorded. In 1999 he released Réflexions, an album of classical guitar solos,[2] and in 2001, Polaroïde, a free improvisation session for guitar, viola and percussion.[1] Duchesne returned to FIMAV for its 21st edition in 2004 to premier Cordes à danser, a new project of his featuring a string quartet and a "power trio" of guitar, bass and drums.[8][9]
Solo discography
- Le Temps des Bombes (1984, LP, Ambiances Magnétiques, Canada)
- Le Royaume ou l'Asile (1990, LP, Ambiances Magnétiques, Canada)
- L' Ou 'L (1991, LP, Victo, Canada)
- Réflexions (1999, CD, Ambiances Magnétiques, Canada)
- Polaroïde (2001, CD, Ambiances Magnétiques, Canada)
References
- ^ a b c d e Scaruffi, Piero. "André Duchesne". A History of Rock Music. http://www.scaruffi.com/vol6/duchesne.html. Retrieved 2011-01-19.
- ^ a b c d e Couture, François. "André Duchesne". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/andr-duchesne-p10466/biography. Retrieved 2011-01-19.
- ^ a b c Couture, François. "Les 4 Guitaristes de l'Apocalypso-Bar". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/les-4-guitaristes-de-lapocalypso-bar-p212580/biography. Retrieved 2011-01-19.
- ^ "4th Festival international de musique actuelle de Victoriaville". International Festival Musique Actuelle Victoriaville. http://fimav.qc.ca/en/archives/fimav-1986/. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
- ^ "7th Festival international de musique actuelle de Victoriaville". International Festival Musique Actuelle Victoriaville. http://fimav.qc.ca/en/archives/fimav-1989/. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
- ^ "9th Festival international de musique actuelle de Victoriaville". International Festival Musique Actuelle Victoriaville. http://fimav.qc.ca/en/archives/fimav-1991/. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
- ^ Couture, François. "Locomotive". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/locomotive-r43481/review. Retrieved 2011-01-19.
- ^ "21st Festival international de musique actuelle de Victoriaville". International Festival Musique Actuelle Victoriaville. http://fimav.qc.ca/en/archives/fimav-2004/. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
- ^ Beaucage, Réjea. "André Duchesne (FIMAV): Vieux de la vieille" (in French). Voir. http://www.voir.ca/publishing/article.aspx?zone=1§ion=6&article=31077. Retrieved 2011-01-19.
- ^ "André Duchesne discography". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/andr-duchesne-p10466/discography. Retrieved 2011-01-19.
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Mentioned in
Ambiances Magnétiques, Vol. 1: La Bastringue Migratoire
(1996 Album by Various Artists)
Ambiances Magnétiques
(Avant-Garde Band, '80s, '90s)
Ambiances Magnétiques, Vol. 3: Inedits
(1998 Album by Various Artists)
Le Royaume ou l'Asile
(1990 Album by André Duchesne)
Polaroïde
(2001 Album by André Duchesne)
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