René Lussier
Encyclopedia
René Lussier is a musician based in the province of Québec
, Canada. He is a composer, guitarist, bass guitarist, percussionist, bass clarinetist and singer. Lussier has collaborated with such figures as Fred Frith
, Chris Cutler
, Jean Derome
and Robert M. Lepage. His work, which combines elements from all major genres, is often referred to within the discourse of New Music
, or Musiques Actuelles, in French.
Born in Montreal
, Lussier began his musical career in 1973 in Chambly
as part of the progressive rock
group Arpège
. From 1976 to 1980, he was a member of the Montreal folk-progressive group Conventum, led by André Duchesne
. Lussier was also a member of the groups Quatour de l'Emmieux and les Reins, Nébu and La G.U.M in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 1986 he joined Duchesne's Les 4 Guitaristes de l'Apocalypso-Bar.
He began doing soundtrack work in 1979, via a collaboration with Duchesne on the music for a short film called Tanobe. Lussier has written or co-written the scores to more than thirty-five films, including Chronique d'un génocide annoncé, a documentary about the Rwandan Genocide
by Danièle Lacourse et Yvan Patry
.
Lussier played guitar for the popular singer Pauline Julien
between 1982 and 1984, though also working on music of a more esoteric nature, blurring distinctions between progressive rock, jazz and improvisation, modern composition and circus music. His first solo album, Fin du travail (version I), was released in 1983 and consolidated his reputation as a quirky, humorous and talented guitarist-composer. He has collaborated extensively with Derome and Lepage since this time, and has recorded as a member of the Fred Frith Guitar Quartet
. Lussier is featured prominently in Step Across the Border
(1990), a documentary feature film by Nicolas Humbert and Werner Penzel about the work and travels of Frith. Lussier was also a member of Frith's review band Keep the Dog
(1989–1991).
In 1983, Lussier co-founded the Ambiances Magnétiques
record label and recording collective with Derome, Lepage and Duchesne, and produced an extensive body of work in this environment. His best known work, Le trésor de la langue
(1989), was created during this period, and album which intersperses musical material with taped recordings of Quebec residents discussing the importance of the French language. This album won the Grand Prix Paul-Gilson award in 1989.
In the late 1990s, Lussier recorded two albums for solo guitar and a pair of collaborations with Martin Tétreault
which reflected an interested in the history of musique concrète
and electro-acoustic composition and theory.
Tracks appear on
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Canada. He is a composer, guitarist, bass guitarist, percussionist, bass clarinetist and singer. Lussier has collaborated with such figures as Fred Frith
Fred Frith
Fred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
, Chris Cutler
Chris Cutler
Chris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
, Jean Derome
Jean Derome
Jean Derome is a French Canadian avant-garde saxophonist, flautist and composer. A prominent figure in the Montreal musique actuelle scene, Derome has been a member of a number of experimental jazz and rock groups, and has appeared on over 30 albums, including seven solo albums...
and Robert M. Lepage. His work, which combines elements from all major genres, is often referred to within the discourse of New Music
Contemporary classical music
Contemporary classical music can be understood as belonging to the period that started in the mid-1970s with the retreat of modernism. However, the term may also be employed in a broader sense to refer to all post-1945 modern musical forms.-Categorization:...
, or Musiques Actuelles, in French.
Born in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Lussier began his musical career in 1973 in Chambly
Chambly, Quebec
Chambly is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada, about to the south east of Montreal.- Geography :It sits on the Richelieu River in the Regional County Municipality of La-Vallée-du-Richelieu, at .-History:...
as part of the progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
group Arpège
Arpège
Arpège is a 1927 perfume by Lanvin. Along with Chanel's Chanel No. 5 and Patou's Joy, it is one of the three best known perfumes in the world.-Name:...
. From 1976 to 1980, he was a member of the Montreal folk-progressive group Conventum, led by André Duchesne
André Duchesne (musician)
André Duchesne 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...
. Lussier was also a member of the groups Quatour de l'Emmieux and les Reins, Nébu and La G.U.M in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 1986 he joined Duchesne's Les 4 Guitaristes de l'Apocalypso-Bar.
He began doing soundtrack work in 1979, via a collaboration with Duchesne on the music for a short film called Tanobe. Lussier has written or co-written the scores to more than thirty-five films, including Chronique d'un génocide annoncé, a documentary about the Rwandan Genocide
Rwandan Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...
by Danièle Lacourse et Yvan Patry
Yvan Patry
Yvan Patry was a Québécois documentary filmmaker.Yvan was born in Iroquois Falls, Ontario.During the 1970s he worked as a professor at Montmorency College in Laval, Quebec, where he produced several educational films....
.
Lussier played guitar for the popular singer Pauline Julien
Pauline Julien
Pauline Julien, CQ was a singer, songwriter, actress, feminist activist and Quebec sovereigntist.Born in Trois-Rivières, Québec, Julien was the companion of the poet and Québec provincial MLA Gérald Godin, another Trifluvian and sovereigntist. She also worked with Gilles Vigneault and recorded...
between 1982 and 1984, though also working on music of a more esoteric nature, blurring distinctions between progressive rock, jazz and improvisation, modern composition and circus music. His first solo album, Fin du travail (version I), was released in 1983 and consolidated his reputation as a quirky, humorous and talented guitarist-composer. He has collaborated extensively with Derome and Lepage since this time, and has recorded as a member of the Fred Frith Guitar Quartet
Fred Frith Guitar Quartet
The Fred Frith Guitar Quartet was a United States-based contemporary classical and experimental music guitar quartet comprising Fred Frith, René Lussier, Nick Didkovsky and Mark Stewart...
. Lussier is featured prominently in Step Across the Border
Step Across the Border
Step Across the Border is a 1990 avant-garde documentary film on English guitarist, composer and improviser Fred Frith. It was written and directed by Nicolas Humbert and Werner Penzel and released in Germany and Switzerland...
(1990), a documentary feature film by Nicolas Humbert and Werner Penzel about the work and travels of Frith. Lussier was also a member of Frith's review band Keep the Dog
Keep the Dog
Keep the Dog was a United States-based experimental rock touring band from New York City formed in 1989 by English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor Fred Frith...
(1989–1991).
In 1983, Lussier co-founded the Ambiances Magnétiques
Ambiances Magnétiques
Ambiances Magnétiques is a non-profit, Canadian musical collective, which was formed in 1982 by a group of independent musicians and producers from Montreal. The entity was formed out of necessity: the avant-garde tastes of the members — which include jazz, classical, folk, and rock —...
record label and recording collective with Derome, Lepage and Duchesne, and produced an extensive body of work in this environment. His best known work, Le trésor de la langue
Le trésor de la langue
Le trésor de la langue is an album of music released by the guitarist René Lussier on the Ambiances Magnétique label in 1989. Many consider it to be Lussier's greatest album....
(1989), was created during this period, and album which intersperses musical material with taped recordings of Quebec residents discussing the importance of the French language. This album won the Grand Prix Paul-Gilson award in 1989.
In the late 1990s, Lussier recorded two albums for solo guitar and a pair of collaborations with Martin Tétreault
Martin Tétreault
Martin Tétreault is a free improvisation musician and visual artist. Often using the turntable as the basis for his experimental music, he has released many collaborative records with people such as Kevin Drumm and Otomo Yoshihide, as well as his own solo work.-External links:* at Discogs...
which reflected an interested in the history of musique concrète
Musique concrète
Musique concrète is a form of electroacoustic music that utilises acousmatic sound as a compositional resource. The compositional material is not restricted to the inclusion of sounds derived from musical instruments or voices, nor to elements traditionally thought of as "musical"...
and electro-acoustic composition and theory.
Solo discography
Albums- Fin du travail (version 1) (1983)
- Chants et danses du monde inanimée (with Robert Lepage) (1984)
- Soyez vigilants... restez vivants! (with Jean Derome) (1986)
- Nous autresNous AutresNous Autres is a live album by Fred Frith and René Lussier recorded in October 1986 at the 4th Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville in Victoriaville, Quebec, Canada...
(with Fred Frith) (1986) - Le retour des granules (1987)
- Le trésor de la langueLe trésor de la langueLe trésor de la langue is an album of music released by the guitarist René Lussier on the Ambiances Magnétique label in 1989. Many consider it to be Lussier's greatest album....
(1989) - Des pas et des mois (with Martin TétreaultMartin TétreaultMartin Tétreault is a free improvisation musician and visual artist. Often using the turntable as the basis for his experimental music, he has released many collaborative records with people such as Kevin Drumm and Otomo Yoshihide, as well as his own solo work.-External links:* at Discogs...
and Michel F. Coté) (1990) - Au royaume du silencieux (1992)
- Le corps de l'ouvrage (1994)
- Three Suite PieceThree Suite PieceThree Suite Piece is an album of music released by René Lussier, Chris Cutler and Jean Derome. The album was released on Cutler's Recommended Records label in 1996....
(with Jean Derome and Chris Cutler) (1996) - Le tour du bloc (1996)
- Trois histoires (1996)
- La vie qui bat chèvre (with Pierre Tanguay) (1997)
- La vie qui bat chevreuil (with Pierre Tanguay) (1998)
- Chronique d'un génocide annoncé (1998)
- Dur noyau dur (with Martin Tétreault) (1998)
- Qu'ouis-je (with Martin Tétreault) (2000)
- Solos de guitar électrique (2000)
- Deboutonné (2000)
- Tombola rasa (2001)
- Le contrat with Gilles GobeilGilles GobeilGilles Gobeil is an electroacoustic music composer born September 27, 1954, in Sorel, Canada, and currently living in Montreal, Canada.Gilles Gobeil is an electroacoustic music composer born September 27, 1954, in Sorel, Canada, and currently living in Montreal, Canada.Gilles Gobeil is an...
(empreintes DIGITALesEmpreintes DIGITALesempreintes DIGITALes is a record label founded in 1990 and based in Montreal which specialises in contemporary electroacoustic music, acousmatic and musique concrète.In 2005, empreintes DIGITALes shifted from CD to DVD-Audio.- Composers :* Mathew Adkins...
, IMED 0372, 2003) - Grand vent (2005)
- Le prix du bonheur (2005)
Tracks appear on
- RēR Records Quarterly Vol.3 No.1ReR QuarterlyThe RēR Quarterly was an English "quarterly" sound-magazine comprising an LP record and a magazine. It was published at irregular intervals between 1985 and 1997 by Recommended Records and November Books, and edited by English percussionist, lyricist and music theorist, Chris Cutler...
(1989) - Passed Normal Volume 4 (1991)
External links
- René Lussier homepage
- electrocd.com René Lussier biography.