Naufragés (“Castaways”), the new album which will be released on August 27th 2021 is firmly rooted in jazz presents a mix of five original compositions as well as three covers that reflect Alex’s contemporary aesthetic and visceral tone. After many failed attempts at scheduling the recording due to the various strict lockdown measures brought upon by the COVID 19 pandemic, the group finally managed to get together at Montreal’s Studio Madame Wood on April 5th 2021. Recorded over the course of two spontaneous sets of music, the listener can feel the urgency and sheer joy erupting out of Alex and his bandmates Erik Hove, alto saxophone, Nicolas Ferron on guitar and Alain Bourgeois on drums. The session was recorded and mixed by Simon l’Espérance and was mastered by Alex himself.
Naufragés’ eclectic and cinematic contemporary jazz style features echoes of punk, disco, Film Noir and even reggae, which gives it a biting energy that oscillates freely between brute, rough textures and refined, graceful moments while leaving lots of room for the musicians to stretch.
It features three covers; Time of the Barracudas (Miles Davis, Gil Evans), a relatively obscure modal jazz standard; Immigrant Song by Led Zepplin, symbolisation the pure, raw energy of Rock & Roll and the theme song to Passe-Partout by Pierre F. Brault, a popular children’s TV show in Quebec which first aired in 1977 and is still going on today.
The album cover art was created by Les Microcosmes, the alter-ego of French-Canadian actress Daphnée Côté-Hallé. After meeting through a web series they had both been a part of on, Alex was captivated by her body of work as a visual artist. She suggested he use one of her latest works entitled Naufragés (“Castaways”) which perfectly embodied his feelings during the pandemic, with it’s long, secluded, drifting stretches followed by a celebratory yet slow return to back to firm ground.
credits
released August 31, 2021
Erik Hove: alto saxophone
Nicolas Ferron: guitar
Alain Bourgeois: drums
Alex Lefaivre: bass and composition except where noted
Recorded at Studio Madame Wood in Montreal April 5th 2021
Recorded and mixed by Simon L'Epérance
Mastered by Alex Lefaivre
Cover art by Daphnée Coté-Hallé AKA Les Microcosmes
Released on Arté Boréal
Time of the Barracudas composed by Miles Davis and Gil Evans
Hommage Jazz à Passe-Partout composed by Pierre F. Brault
Immigrant SOng composed by Jimmy Page and RObert Plant
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