This is an excerpt from the print edition of Dirty Linen #142 (July/August 2009).
The full article is in the magazine, available on newsstands, by subscription, and at the Dirty Linen webstore.
by Tom Nelligan
| If the rest of the world came a little late to the musical party that began in Québec more
than 30 years ago, there is little doubt that the sounds of French Canada are now widely
known and appreciated as one of North America's most vibrant musical traditions. The
quick and highly rhythmic music of Québec is full of fast-paced fun, based on driving
fiddle tunes designed for dancing and lively, often lighthearted call-and-response songs.
Genticorum is a Montréal-based trio of spirited, jazz-trained traditionalists who are in the
forefront of spreading that feel-good, foot-tapping music around the world. After nearly
nine years together, these three hearty singers and talented instrumentalists -- fiddler and
foot percussionist Pascal Gemme, flute player/bassist Alexandre de Grosbois-Garand,
and guitarist Yann Falquet -- are having as much fun as ever, and their audiences with
them.
The members of Genticorum came together in 2000 after meeting through musical houseparties and sessions around Montréal. "The three of us had a very similar backgrounds," Falquet explained last January before a Massachusetts show, "playing pop music, jazz, whatever, and we had all started a few years before that to play folk music, so we were all very excited about that type of music and put all our energy into that. We shared an enthusiasm about it." Gemme grew up in the Eastern Townships region of Québec in a family whose heritage included traditional music. "That's the first music that I heard," he recalled. "I didn't know that it was traditional music, just music I liked. My brother played fiddle, and a lot of people were playing fiddle, so I was exposed to that music very young. I started to want to learn it at about age nine, but my grandfather lived far away. At that time, around 1983-84-85, nobody wanted to hear about traditional music. The music was very much associated with the rise of independence in Québec, and when the referendum failed, nobody wanted to hear about traditional music. So the first time I tried to play fiddle, it fell through. I went to school and started to play guitar, and eventually learned jazz music in school. After a while, that didn't interest me any more. One of my friends played reels and jigs on the mandolin, so I started again, and got my grandfather's fiddle and went from there, learning my family's repertoire. Some uncles played reels and jigs, so they gave me some repertoire, and my mother and I remembered songs from my grandfather." Grosbois-Garand also heard traditional music at home. "My father was in the revival of the 70s. He was already playing flute, and he went to a traditional music festival in Montréal in 1974, I think, and then he was struck by the beauty and power of that music. So he started to play fiddle and harmonica and sing, and he formed a band. They were not a great band, but they were really characteristic of that period. And so I grew up with the music. My father likes to say that he was playing reels on the harmonica in the birth room. I was there but I don't remember very well! I will try to do the same next month when I become a father. |
This is an excerpt from the print edition of Dirty Linen #142 (July/August 2009).
The full article is in the magazine, available on newsstands, by subscription, and at the Dirty Linen webstore.
![[cover #142]](/linen/142/cover142t.jpg)
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