Francois Bourassa

François Bourassa—now with ten albums of original music under his belt—has become an ambassador for Canada’s thriving jazz community at an international level. A paragon of both consistency and evolution, he continues to seek out new challenges for himself, his colleagues, and his growing community of listeners. On April 16, 2021, Bourassa released his first solo piano album L’Impact du silence and is releasing “Swirl”, a new live album with his Quartet on July 7th, 2023.

Bourassa’s talent was initially recognized by the Festival international de jazz de Montréal in 1985, kickstarting his trio’s recording and performing career throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. In 1996, Bourassa’s trio joined forces with saxophonist and flutist André Leroux. Bourassa’s eponymous quartet has been a staple of Montreal’s artistic landscape for 25 years. The band features founding bassist Guy Boisvert, longtime saxophonist André Leroux, and Guillaume Pilote as the most recent addition.

Their 2001 Live album recorded at Toronto’s Top O’ the Senator received a Juno award. In 2007, he received the Oscar Peterson Award from the Montreal International Jazz Festival for his contribution to the development of Canadian jazz. In celebration of his compositional output, Bourassa was also the recipient of SOCAN’s Hagood Hardy Award in 2011.

Number 9 (2017) was heralded as one of the best Canadian jazz albums of 2017 (Peter Hum, Ottawa Citizen) and praised by Bley herself and Steve Swallow as a “wondrous piece of work.” Over the past decades, the quartet has garnered multiple Félix and Opus awards for their recordings and live performances, respectively.

For more than 30 years, Bourassa, in parallel with its activities related to the Quartet, has continued to multiply artistic projects and collaborations (Jean Derome, Pierre Tanguay, Myra Melford, Rémi Bolduc, Yannick Rieu, Michel Donato, Yves Leveillée, Marie-Josée Simard, Jeanne Rochette and more) orchestral commissions, chamber music works, ballet scores, among others. Several of his projects have been in nomination or winners of Prix Opus and Félix. In 2022, he presents a new project: Duo Confluence with Philippe Côté, album to come in 2023.

Awards

2022 Juno Award
2005 Félix Award
2007 Oscar Peterson Prize of the Montréal International Jazz Festival
2011 SOCAN Hagood Hardy Award
Between 2002 and 2022 - Won 10 Opus Award
Plus more nominations and numerous citations in other projects

Tags

Francois Bourassa piano Montreal Francois Bourassa Quartet Canada Contemporary Jazz

Album Review

Live by AAJ Staff
Indefinite Time by Mark F. Turner

SOLO

''His solo piano music is right on the line between composed and improvised; certain things must happen, yet there’s also room to experiment. Is Maurice Ravel dreaming of Paul Bley — or is it the other way around? '' - Ethan Iverson

‘’Artfully restrained, thoughtful and sensitive…a virtuoso with an ethereal approach to his material… richly configured’’ – New York City Jazz Record

“I am compelled to write to let you know that both of us were moved by the music you and the quartet made. … Congratulations on a wondrous piece of work. … And, we should add, it’s thoroughly refreshing to hear music that forces players to stretch to the limit.” -Steve Swallow & Carla Bley

SOLO

‘’Artfully restrained, thoughtful and sensitive…a virtuoso with an ethereal approach to his material… richly configured’’ – New York City Jazz Record

"François has developed a distinctive compositional voice and his playing is always engaged with his material. This is interesting, exploratory and passionate music that is well worth spending time with.” -Fred Hersch

WITH HIS QUARTET

“…a modern, varied and spirited jazz… dazzling and complex…” - Neri Pollastri, All About Jazz Italy

“Rich, episodic, constantly evolving, multi-faceted pieces that feature strong, accessible melodies allied to unusual and imaginative harmonies." -Ian Mann, The Jazzman, UK

"A real 'choc' surprises you as you didn't expect it ... the feeling of amazement does not fade with repeated listening ... when the music possesses so many qualities. Crazy energy, dense and nourishing writing, high-level soloists." -'Choc' de JazzMag, France

“wittily uses rhythmic and harmonic twists and turns to defy our expectations … you can have fun while absorbing one of the boldest and most gratifying records of the year. – Grade A” Felipe Freitas, 30 Best Jazz Albums of 2017, Jazztrail, USA

“…an impressive set of ... swinging and energetic music... This stuff needs to have some bite, and it does.“ -Phil Freeman, Stereo Gum, USA

“…can be touching and lyrical or heady and abstruse or as surging and knotty as the best, bristling music of leading American avant-gardists.“ -Peter Hum, The Best Canadian Jazz Albums of 2017, Ottawa Citizen

“The members of this ensemble are so immersed in each other’s instincts and mannerisms that they offer the listener a plethora of moods, settings and styles…” -Tom Mooney, The Rest is Jazz, Ireland

“finely honed compositions … bustling and energetic interplay” -Chris Baber, Jazzviews, UK

"Creative…mystical…exotic…bluesy…joyful." —Jazz Times, Canada

"Without a doubt one of Canada's finest bands." —Toronto Star, Canada

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