double bass
Alain Bédard – composer, double bass player and entrepreneur
Alain Bédard began his professional career in the 1980s as a natural member of various Quebec bands. Since then, his participation in a number of major events has taken him all over the world, providing him with a fascinating experience. Recipient of the “Héron d’Or” for his contribution to the development of Quebec jazz over the last 20 years, awarded by the Festi jazz de Rimouski, the musician is renowned for his many collaborations around the world.
The double bassist/composer has a bachelor’s degree in classical performance from UQAM and a diploma in sound design from MUSITECHNIC. He is the founder and president of EFFENDI records, which in almost 25 years has produced 171 albums, 2020 concerts, 124 tours around the world and won 89 awards. Alain Bédard has produced 84 jazz albums by Canadian and international musicians for the Effendi label. He is also artistic director of the international festival Jazz en Rafale and co-producer of the TV series Jazz@Vue with pianist Yves Léveillé.
Originally from Beauport, a suburb of Quebec City, Alain Bédard has lived in Montreal since 1989. After experimenting with World Beat with the DADJE ensemble (a Senegalese-Quebecois group) and classical music with violinist Martin Foster’s “Orchestre de musique de Chambre de l’UQAM”, he decided to devote himself to jazz in 1997. Since then, he has led the Auguste quartet, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2021, and the Effendi Jazzlab Orchestra octet, which celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2023.
With the Auguste quartet, he has recorded 6 albums and played in dozens of jazz festivals around the world (North America, Europe, Asia, Africa), giving over 400 concerts. With the Effendi Jazzlab Orchestra, a group of 8 Montreal jazz leaders, he has recorded 8 albums and toured extensively in jazz festivals and clubs in Canada, the United States, Mexico and Europe, giving over 350 concerts. The two groups have played prestigious venues such as Lincoln Center in New York, Casa del Jazz in Rome, BMC in Budapest, New Morning and Rex in Paris, to name but a few.
Almost all these projects (albums and concerts) have been nominated for ADISQ, JUNO, OPUS, JAZZMAN and other awards.
Alain Bédard was seen alongside Canadian musicians: Rémi Bolduc, Jacques Kuba Séguin, Pierre Tanguay, Jocelyn Ménard, Michel Lambert, Rafael Zaldivar, François Bourassa, André Leroux and international musicians François Théberge, Donny McCaslin, Stéphane Belmondo, Julien Loureau, Ted Nash, Pascal Shumacher, Etienne Etievenard and Fulvio Albano.
Alain has received grants from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Conseil des arts de Montréal and MUSICATION for over twenty years.
He has received two six-month composition residency grants from the Conseil des arts et des Lettres du Québec, at the Studio du Québec in Paris (2013) and the Studio du Québec in Rome(2023).
RECENT PRESS :
JAZZLAB – Loguslabusmuzikus
5 stars Hit Couleurs jazz ” Loguslabusmuzikus is Art-isanat in its purest form ” Jacques Pauper, (Fr)
5 stars ” Loguslabusmuzikus is beautiful, it’s grand, it’s magnificent… Great art is on offer here, from the conception of associations from the very first notes right through to the end, free of all superfluous codes. “Alain Fleche – Actions Jazz, France
4 1/2 stars- “a masterpiece” Winnipeg Press
4 stars in Jazzmagazine, Jazzit, All about jazz, Jazz News, NYCJR
“Wow! this album is a real time bomb” Mike Greenblatt, The Music Collertors, USA
“Loguslabusmuzikus, outstanding music all round. “Chris Spector, Midwest Record, USA
“Wow! Loguslabusmuzikus is a really strong project” Rufus Reid bassist, composer & educator, USA
Nominated at ADISQ in the Best Album of the Year category
AUGUSTE QUARTET — Exalta calma Exalta calma
Hit Couleurs jazz – 5 stars best jazz album (Fr)
5 stars Jazz magazine (Fr)Jazz magazine (Fr)
5 stars “L’Auguste quartet “is bursting with creativity. Everyone goes into corners where the themes are unusual. Brilliant keyboard. The sax has an enlightened sound, the refined bass playing opens up different paths, while the drums multiply these formulas. You never tire of hearing it, and it’s always too short” Michel Dupuis, Son et Image, Montreal
“After playing “Circum Continuum” on several continents from 2016 to 2019, the Auguste quartet is back with a new opus that combines readings of time, contrasts and atmospheres, and sonic climates. With ‘Exalta Calma’, the Auguste invites us to superimpose two antipodes that might suggest to us the variable forces animating the interior of a painting, a person and/or even a sound” Effendi, press, Montreal