Synopsis
This video illustrates the emergence of non-commercial and improvisational music of the 70’s. We are introduced to various groups and their individual members through a series of interviews and recording sessions. The video captures improvisational sequences showcasing the musicians’ expressions, their gestures and their instruments. The musicians believe that their music is above all an improvisational and experimental means of expression. Addressed within the video are the problems that the independent Québécois music scene must face, particularly in the areas of recognition and promotion. Musicians Raymond Gervais, Robert Lepage and Yves Bouliane discuss the process of musical creation and the idea of forming a cooperative to protect their rights and their right to work in better conditions. The video combines musical improvisations (jazz and contemporary music) and interviews about collective creation.
A word from Tënk
An archival document valued primarily for its historical significance rather than its aesthetic qualities, Improvisations : nouvelle musique au Québec showcases a segment of Quebec’s (counter-)culture rarely seen or heard on screen. Filmed urgently on magnetic tape, mirroring the music it represents, the film offers a succession of improvised performances interspersed with interviews with musicians driven by a desire for free collective expression, distancing themselves from the popular and commercial concerns typically associated with musical creation at the time.
Among the protagonists given a voice by Michel Di Torre are Yves Bouliane, a founding member of the Jazz Libre du Québec group, and Michel-Georges Brégent and Vincent Dionne, who later became members of the cult formation Dionne-Brégent. Brégent’s performance on the Farfisa organ is particularly impressive and evocative of the documentary’s conveyed ideas.
Halfway between a concert film and an engaged documentary, Improvisations : nouvelle musique au Québec (also known as Ce soir on improvise : nouvelle musique au Québec) reflects the political and cultural concerns of Quebec’s youth in full effervescence in the aftermath of the October Crisis and the Quiet Revolution.
To learn more about the genesis of this still relatively unknown documentary, I invite you to read an interview with Raymond Gervais and Michel Di Torre, conducted by musician and researcher Éric Fillion in 2012, to whom I humbly owe the discovery of this film.
Frédéric Savard
Archivist and programmer
