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Mise à jour complétée, site multilingue

Martin Bellemare Articles, Articoli in italiano, Artikel auf Deutsch, English articles

Le site martinbellemare.com est maintenant à jour avec des sections multilingues, anglais, italien et allemand pour les amateurs d’accordéon qui parlent l’une de ses belles langues! Tout cela est accessible via le Menu au haut de l’écran.

In english
The site is now up to date with multilingual sections, English, Italian and German for accordion lovers who speak one of its beautiful languages! All this is accessible via the Menu at the top of the screen.

In italiano
Il sito è attualmente aggiornato con sezioni multilingue, inglese, italiano e tedesco per gli amanti della fisarmonica che parlano una delle sue belle lingue! Tutto questo è accessibile tramite il Menu nella parte superiore dello schermo.

In deutscher Sprache
Die Website ist nun auf dem neuesten Stand mit mehrsprachigen Abschnitten, Englisch, Italienisch und Deutsch für Akkordeon-Liebhaber, die eine ihrer schönen Sprachen sprechen! All dies ist über das Menü an der oberen Seite des Bildschirms zugänglich.

The Album Appellation Musette Nouveau

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(Released May 2017)

The CD Appellation Musette Nouveau by the Trio Martin Bellemare consists of 12 original compositions by Martin Bellemare, accordionist. With European and Quebec inspirations, the New Musette (Richard Galliano) and standard jazz style compositions are completely accessible to all jazz audiences. Christine Tassan, renowned jazz guitarist, has been a member of the Trio for several years and she participates in the arrangements of the pieces. Greg Buckles on double bass completes the Trio.

Martin Bellemare: accordion and composition
Christine Tassan : jazz guitar
Greg Buckles : double bass

Some titles:
Valse à Jazzer (Jazz Waltz)
Insolitement vôtre (Unusually yours)
Appellation Musette Nouveau (title track)
La relâche (The Spring Break)
Balade d’été (Summer ride)
Aube à Los Angeles (Dawn in Los Angeles)
Neo-Swing

Here’s a critic from Radio-Canada:

Accordéon musette rime invariablement avec Paris. Toutefois, le Trio Martin Bellemare entend faire de Montréal et du Québec des équivalents tout aussi « swinguants » avec l’album Appellation musette nouveau, du jazz musette bien balancé et sans clichés.

On reconnaît le style, la dégaine et la joie de vivre exprimés par le son si reconnaissable du style musette, mais Martin Bellemare ne se limite pas à ressasser les mêmes ingrédients dans le chaudron. Il apporte sa touche personnelle à la recette, en l’épiçant de quelques emprunts à d’autres genres musicaux, comme le blues, le tango ou la samba. On se retrouve donc comme attablé pour un repas inspiré de la grande cuisine de l’Hexagone, mais avec un savoir-faire et une originalité toute québécoise.

Voilà qui promet pour le nouveau musette fait à Montréal.

Martin Bellemare à l’accordéon est solidement soutenu par le contrebassiste Greg Buckles et la guitariste Christine Tassan, que l’on retrouve ici sans ses Imposteures (l’ensemble tout féminin qu’elle dirige depuis des années). Leur absence ne semble pas lui nuire, car elle est en jolie forme.

Par Frédéric Cardin

Ici Musique

Available on :
This web site
Bandcamp
Apple Music

The Martin Bellemare Trio

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The Martin Bellemare Trio, made up of Christine Tassan on guitar, Greg Buckles on double bass and Martin on accordion, plays compositions by Martin Bellemare, pieces by Richard Galliano, French jazz standards (swing, musette and others). The Trio has released an album, Appellation Musette Nouveau in 2017.

Guests occasionally join the Trio, Gilles Schetagne on drums, Yvan Belleau on clarinet or Martine Gaumond on violin, among others.

Accordion jazz in Quebec is very rare, even if the public in Montreal loves jazz accordionists from elsewhere. In addition, Martin Bellemare is one of the few accordionists in Quebec, composers of original jazz pieces. The formation in trio, accordion, guitar and double bass is rare in jazz. The diversity of the themes, the quality of the solos and the originality of the arrangements make it a high quality and unique product in the Quebec musical landscape. The growing popularity of the accordion at the Montreal Jazz Festival (Richard Galliano, Daniel Mille) or throughout the year (Ludovic Beier, Marcel Loeffler), as well as the longevity and worldwide reputation of the Carrefour Mondial de l’accordéon de Montmagny , an instrument better known and appreciated by the public here.

Biography of the musicians of the Trio Martin Bellemare

Accordionist for over 40 years, including accordion studies at the CÉGEP de St-Laurent and the University of Montreal, Martin Bellemare has a repertoire ranging from Richard Galliano to Django Reinhardt, including standard musettes, French chansonniers and the most swinging American standards (and original compositions. He has participated in some film music with René Lussier and Robert Marcel Lepage and is part of François Cousineau’s orchestra for several shows. Martin has produced two records, the Accordéon Swing-Musette and the Swing-Manouche Accordion Twice 15 pieces from the standard repertoire for accordion, as well as compositions by Martin.

For more than 20 years, guitarist Christine Tassan has been leading his career with brilliance, aplomb and an absolutely contagious dynamism. One of the few women soloists in jazz guitar and jazz manouche, she stands out for sensitive play, quiet strength and irresistible audacity.
Formed in classical guitar, she is interested in many styles, studying folk, pop, jazz and developing her talent as a singer-songwriter at a very young age. Her interest in manouche jazz, jazz and improvisation really began with her discovery of Django Reinhardt’s music in 1998, a style she learned by participating in master classes such as Angelo Debarre, Emmanuel Kassimo or Yorgui Loeffler.
In 2003, she founded her jazz band manouche and swing songs, Christine Tassan and Les Imposteures, which immediately gained a great success and became a major part of the manouche scene. The quartet has seven albums to his credit, including « Entre Félix et Django » which won the Opus Prize for « Jazz Album of the Year » in 2017 and a nomination for the « Show of the Year » in 2018. The latest Django Belles, released in 2018, features two new brass musicians, for an original ode to Quebec winter.

Originally from the United States, living in Montreal for several years, Greg Buckles completes the Trio with a solid double bass playing as an accompaniment and inventive as a soloist. His career has led him to perform with several formations, accompanying several singers, here and around the world.

The 12 compositions of Appellation Musette Nouveau

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Here are my 12 compositions from the record and a (very) brief description of each one.

Available on Bandcamp

Valse à jazzer (Jazzer Waltz): festive jazz waltz, inspired by Richard Galliano and Bill Evans

Insolitement vôtre (Unusually yours): energetic funky, the title…sounds good, that’s all!

Appellation Musette Nouveau (idem): title track, inspired by Richard Galliano’s New Musette… and by Beaujolais!

Chez Roberto (idem): Latin piece, guitar theme, multiple inspiration

Douceurs Montérégiennes (Montérégian sweetness): ride in 3/4, as gentle as a walk in the mountains

Tango-Swing (idem): energetic, modern, like the nuevo tangos of Piazzolla or Galliano

La Relâche (The SpringBreak): built on the model of a standard musette waltz, composed at the beginning of March…

Dualité claire (Clear Duality): 2 themes composed several years apart, 2 instruments (even 3) that respond to each other in solos, all of this harmonizing in a clear and limpid way

Balade d’été (Summer ride), it’s Summertime with my colors

Aube à Los Angeles (Dawn in Los Angeles), from dawn to early morning, in tribute to Jean-Luc Ponty

Jeux au Parc Molson (Games at Parc Molson), riff kept in a drawer for a long time and updated with recent additions, 2 children playing at throwing a ball

Néo-Swing (idem), a personal swing piece, the joy of living in 4/4

Good listening!

Martin