Sounds of freedom: ‘The political message took precedence’
For the Jazz libre, free jazz was “about doing away with band leaders as well as harmonic and rhythmic structures,” says History PhD candidate Eric Fillion. | Photos courtesy of Tenzier and Guy Thouin
This week, Montreal’s Quartier des spectacles once again becomes a global musical hub, as the 37th edition of the city’s international jazz festival kicks off on June 29.
Montreal has a long and well-documented jazz history, something festival goers might want to explore before enjoying free outdoor shows or taking in a virtuoso performance at one of the numerous clubs hosting concerts this year.
Take free jazz, which flourished in Montreal in the 1960s and 1970s. Eric Fillion, a PhD candidate in Concordia’s Department of History, recently explored this genre-expanding form, which took shape as an underground political movement, in the Journal of Canadian Labour Studies.
Fillion’s article focuses on a group of francophone musicians who formed the Quatuor de jazz libre du Québec, or the Jazz libre, a left-wing collective that sought revolution and promoted cultural democracy among workers.
“The members of the Jazz libre appropriated free jazz — a musical genre associated with Black nationalism in the United States — as a means of advancing a socialist and independent Quebec within the larger struggle of the decolonizing world,” Fillion explains. “They were connected to trade unions as well as separatist and women’s rights associations.”
It was through Tenzier, Fillion’s not-for-profit record label, that he discovered the fascinating history of the Jazz libre.
“In 2011, I was going to put out an unreleased session by the group. In talking to the members, I realized that there was more than music to it — there was a political message that took precedence.”
How then does the free jazz become political?
“For the Jazz libre, it was about doing away with band leaders as well as harmonic and rhythmic structures,” says Fillion. “The idea was to use collective improvisation as a means of reconciling individual and collective voices while empowering people by encouraging them to express their creativity.”
Though the Jazz libre collective didn’t achieve mainstream success, it did manage to penetrate the national zeitgeist through legendary Québécois pop star Robert Charlebois. They played the dreamy, psychedelic backdrop to Charlebois’s hit “Lindberg” — a song that would transform him into an international sensation in 1968.
The Jazz libre disbanded in 1975 but their legacy remains. “They were key in disseminating political messages for the working class and youth, and set up an infrastructure for new improvisers and musicians working outside of the mainstream,” says Fillion. A good example is the annual Suoni Per Il Popolo festival, which celebrates an eclectic mix of experimental music and sound-based genres.
While the Jazz libre never played the Montreal Jazz Fest, as an outspoken French-speaking collective — supported by Quebecois music critics and cultural icons alike — they helped pave the way for new music to thrive in Montreal, something for which the thousands of jazz aficionados who descend on our city each year should be thankful.
Listen to a 1973 recording of Jazz libre.
Check out Concordia’s archival jazz collection, which includes the Fonds Jean Préfontaine (co-founder of Jazz libre).
