With Dana Whittle. When old folks were young, did they already play like old folks? Simon Riopel d’Entrelacs, Québec grew up in a family of music, to the sound of the tradition. You could really feel this connection in the way he sang, played and composed new tunes. I…

With David Brunelle. I have always loved this piece learned from Gaspé fiddler Édouard Richard. When I was in group Ni Sarpe Ni Branche with Éric Beaudy and Simon Riopel, we played it with emotion. For me, it represents the distinct character of Québécois fiddle style, alongside the lyric…

With Béatrix Méthé and Dana Whittle. A waltz with curious measures. There are two-beat and five-beat waltzes (like Take Five by Dave Brubeck), but most often, the tempo is in threes… except for perhaps Jacques Brel’s “La Valse à Mille Temps” which has everything (linked below)! This one comes…

With Louis-Philippe Morel. The devil can change color from red to black, and finally, in Lotbinière, to green. The first tune, which I took the artistic liberty of squaring up (Québec-style, with “pickup” phrasing on the B part), is from an archive by Michel Faubert of the group Les…

Avec Jacques Landry aux osselets. En 2005, nous avons traversé le pays jusqu’en Alberta avec Édouard Richard, sa femme et nos enfants Aimé et Béatrix tous bien cordés dans un minivan loué. Les festivals folk de Calgary, Edmonton et Canmore nous avaient réservé un accueil chaleureux. Un soir, dans…

Avec Alexis Chartrand, Nicolas Babineau et Dana Whittle. Une turlute ou une gigue qui a navigué en Acadie et au Québec sous différentes formes. Quand on parle d’un morceau croche, en voici un bel exemple avec des mesures de 5, de 4, ou de 3 temps. Cette version nous…

Avec Carmen Guérard. Par une belle journée d’été, une pièce qui proviendrait du populaire Gérard Lajoie, accordéoniste des rues à Québec. On reconnaîtra une partie similaire au reel de Sherbrooke. With Carmen Guérard. On a beautiful summer day, a piece that comes from Gérard Lajoie, popular street accordionist from…

Episodes from weekly traditional Québécois music video series “Sur le bout du banc” (On the end of the bench), published in both French and English and featuring Québec fiddler Claude Méthé and guests. A new episode appears each Sunday. I invite you to subscribe at https://youtube.com/@tradmedia and I welcome your…

Episodes from weekly traditional Québécois music video series “Sur le bout du banc” (On the end of the bench), published in both French and English and featuring Québec fiddler Claude Méthé and guests. A new episode appears each Sunday. I invite you to subscribe at https://youtube.com/@tradmedia and I welcome your…