Reprinted from Green Man Review.
Le Vent Du Nord (meaning North Wind) is a band of Québécois folk musicians that has gone from strength to strength in recent years, whether one judges them by their popularity, their public exposure, the ambitiousness of their projects or the quality of their music. They tour regularly and widely in both North America and Europe and have been receiving rave reviews wherever they go.
The line-up that recorded Les Amants Du Saint-Laurent consisted of Benoît Bourque (a multi-instrumentalist who appears on accordion, mandolin, jaws harp and bones, as well as backing vocals), Simon Beaudry (guitar and vocals), Olivier Demers (fiddle, with brief forays on mandocello and guitar and backing vocals) and Nicolas Boulerice (vocals, hurdy-gurdy, piano and accordion). The quartet is joined by guest percussionist Patrick Graham on two tracks, although the members of the band add some percussive sounds themselves in places, including vigorous foot-tapping as well as bones and snare drum. The other guests are bassist François Marion, who appears on four cuts, and Daniel Roy, whose whistle is heard on one song. Since this recording was made, Bourque has been replaced by Réjean Brunet, who sings and plays diatonic button accordion, acoustic bass guitar, piano and jaws harp
With the obvious exception of the occasional use of the piano, whose status as a folk instrument is questionable, although not unknown (some readers will remember the late Beryl Marriott’s work with Dave Swarbrick and other Fairporters), the instrumentation is largely traditional. Even the piano is heard, unless my ears deceive me, only on “La Valse A Huit Ans” (Waltz at Age Eight), a composition by Bourque–whose solo piano introduction is soon joined by the rest of the band in a way that reminds one of some of the music produced by June Tabor’s pianist Hugh Warren–and on the final track. On this CD there are no electric instruments and the performance style is generally unsophisticated, with playing that eschews superfluous ornamentation allied to singing that usually prefers unison to harmony–even where there is harmony, it remains very simple. This is not to denigrate the vocal or instrumental capacities of the musicians, who clearly know what they are doing and where they want to go and produce a highly professional sound deeply immersed in Québécois folklore.
Le Vent is a leading force in folk music in Quebec and the repertoire is firmly rooted in tradition. Nine of the thirteen tracks consist of traditional songs or tunes, while with one exception the composed material adheres closely to traditional forms. All the songs are sung in French, with the performers sometimes seeming to delight in exaggerating their Quebec accent. Helpfully, much of the information in the accompanying booklet is given in both French and English and the band’s website also offers a choice of either language.
Not only the instrumental pieces and passages but also most of the songs are danceable, with the foot-tapping and step dancing to encourage listeners to start moving their own feet. The least traditional item is “Du Haut Du Balcon” (From Up On The Balcony), a lyrical instrumental that Olivier Demers plays beautifully on acoustic guitar and dedicates to his father. In keeping with the historically rooted nature of the music, the songs deal with subjects that folksongs have always tackled: there are songs about love, bawdy songs (lots of double meanings), comic songs, drinking songs and stories of typical kinds–the young couple whose love overcomes all obstacles, the soldier returning unrecognised to his family. Some of the songs have been passed down in the Boulerice family.
This recording is evidence, if any were needed, of the vigor of Quebec’s musical traditions and one can only hope that Le Vent Du Nord continues to flourish in the way similarly inspired and motivated bands do in Ireland, Great Britain, Brittany and Galicia. Strictly speaking, the traditional music of Quebec is not Celtic, but on their sorties outside their native province to other parts of North America and to Europe, the band have certainly been able to benefit from the intermittent vogue for music of a vaguely Celtic nature. They certainly appeal to the same sort of audience as Irish, Scottish and Breton bands and their imitators, and have enjoyed success in the Celtic regions. The support from Canada’s Council for the Arts that makes recordings like this one possible is particularly welcome when one considers some of the less edifying ways in which governments spend taxpayers’ money.
(Borealis Records, 2005)
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