Lorraine Desmarais Big Band

Following appearances at the most prestigious jazz festivals and collaboration with the biggest names on the international stages, Lorraine Desmarais is coming back with this long awaited recording. Surrounded with top notch Montreal jazz musicians (Jean-Pierre Zanella, Ron Di Lauro, Muhammad Al-Khabyyr, Bob Ellis and many others), she is re-exploring the big band. A new gem on Lorraine Desmarais’s crown.

Big Band: swing, funk, latin, ballad

Until now all my recordings have been made with small jazz groups, trios, or quartets, with invited guests or solo piano. For my tenth album, I wanted to do something different. For a long time I had wanted to produce this disk with a big band and I have to admit that this project is surely one of the most ambitious of my career.

The jazz trio (piano, double bass, percussion) being my basic unit, many of the works in the album were first composed for and performed by a small ensemble. The challenge of this big band project was to establish a perfect balance among the arranged sections, the development of the themes and the improvised sections. It is then in a completely different frame of mind that I approached this large jazz ensemble, by focusing on composition in its pure state and on the details that are closely linked to the instrumentation typical of big band.

The numerous possibilities of performing for such an ensemble, added to the multiple textures that I was able to mine, allowed me to put the accent on the soloists and their magnificent playing, full of exceptional energy. It is therefore pleasant to note that thanks to a very intense group dynamic, the music speaks for itself…

Each composition has a distinct colour, a very particular atmosphere, and it brings together styles as varied as swing, funk, ballad and pieces with Latin colours.

I feel quite fortunate to be able to share my music with this large ensemble and I am very glad to offer you this big band album.

© Lorraine Desmarais

LORRAINE DESMARAIS BIG BAND

Saxophones
Jean-Pierre Zanella, alto & soprano (lead)
David Bellemare, alto
André Leroux, tenor
Richard Beaudet, tenor
Jean Fréchette, baritone

Trumpets
Jocelyn Couture (solo/lead)
Ron Di Lauro
Jocelyn Lapointe
Aron Doyle, flugelhorn

Trombones
Muhammad Al-Khabyyr (lead)
Dave Grott
Richard Gagnon
Bob Ellis, bass

Jazz Trio
Lorraine Desmarais, piano and conductor
Frédéric Alarie, doublebass
Camil Bélisle, drum set

Lorraine Desmarais: Compositions and arrangements: