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Alex Bellegarde

About Me

The New Academy of Jazz ''...one of Montreal's most respected young jazz musicians.'' Capital Arts Online, Craig Moy

A prominent artist on the Quebec scene, bassist Alex Bellegarde is a versatile and energetic player with a broad imagination. Constantly finding new types of projects with which to extend his jazz vocabulary, he collaborates with a wide range of musicians, poets, actors and visual artists and creates music drawn from a wealth of sources. His compositions, along with a great performance by his quartet, merited the coveted General Motors Grand Jazz Award at the 2005 Montreal International Jazz Festival.

A busy player on Montreal's effervescent jazz scene, he heads a weekly jam session and also plays Latin bass with many Montreal-based Cuban musicians such as Jesus El Nino Perez, Yoel Diaz Y Su Team Timba and Acere, as well as legendary guest artists on visit from Cuba and the US, such as vocalist Chiquitin and percussionist Candido Camero.

For his new album Caminando released on the Justin Time label, Bellegarde has drawn from Montreal's rich and plenteous pool of gifted musicians, to help him out. Playing tunes infused with modern jazz sounds, grooves and Cuban rhythms and intricately woven with collective improvisation, as Toronto's Jazz FM 91, host Reiner Schwarz puts it.... Alex sails the high waves in a sea of plenty, his players blissfully on board

''The freedom of jazz and the joy of Cuban rhythms are what bandleader Alex Bellegarde says he loves, and Caminando combines spontaneity and structure for an affair of the heart. The Montreal-based bassist leads a vibrant Latin-leaning quartet featuring Cuban- born pianist Yoel Diaz; alto sax man Erik Hove; drummer Yvon Plouffe; and a special guest, percussionist Orlando Lavielle.'' 2006 Dan McClenaghan AllAboutJazz.com



''Despite the Latin jazz connotations of the title track (which is taken from a verse by Spanish poet Antonio Machado), this album is happily eclectic in its grooves, moods and melodies ...thankfully not just another trip on the Latin jazz bandwagon.''(****) clip reprinted with permission, 2006 La Scena Musicale and Paul Serralheiro.

''For this Montreal quartet the album is reward for its winning the Grand Prize Award at last year's Montreal Jazzfest and it's good. Bassist Bellegarde plays a forceful, versatile role on the 10 tunes he composed.'' clip reprinted with permission, 2006 Geoff Chapman, Toronto Star

'As we listen, we can really feel the pleasure these guys have playing together and nothing beats listening to that.' 2006 J. S. Chicoine, Canoe.com



More press clips and links to full reviews: http://www.alexbellegarde.com/caminando.htm
Caminando, Alex Bellegarde Quartet : the CD is available at Justin Time Records: http://www.justin-time.com/works/JTR_8524-2/