Jean Derome (born June 29, 1955) is a

French Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French people, French colonists first arriving in Canada (New France), France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of ...

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

flautist The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

, and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

. A prominent figure in the

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

''musique actuelle'' (new music) scene, Derome has been a member of

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

, and

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

groups, and has appeared on over 30 albums, including seven solo albums. He has written scores for over 30 films and co-founded

Ambiances Magnétiques Ambiances Magnétiques is a Canadian record company and label started by Jean Derome, René Lussier, and others, and the artists' collective that preceded it. History In 1982, "guitarist René Lussier and saxophonist/flutist Jean Derome presen ...

, a Canadian

musical collective Musical collective is a phrase used to describe a Musical ensemble, group of musicians in which membership is flexible and creative control is shared.Liisa Ladouceur"Collective Souls" ''This Magazine'', November/December 2004. The concept is dist ...

and

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

. In 1992, Derome won the second annual Canadian Freddie Stone Award.

Biography

Jean Derome was born in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

on 29 June 1955. He studied

music theory Music theory is the study of theoretical frameworks for understanding the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory": The first is the "Elements of music, ...

in Montreal at

Cégep de Saint-Laurent Cégep de Saint-Laurent () is a public French-language college located in the Saint-Laurent borough in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located just south of the English-language Vanier College. History The college traces its origins to the mer ...

between 1972 and 1975, and

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

at Conservatoire de Musique du Quebec between 1975 and 1979. He also taught music theory and flute in Montreal colleges between 1974 and 1983. During his studies, he formed his first

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary * Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, ...

Nébu in 1973, one of Quebec’s first

jazz groups. A trio with Derome on flute, pianist Pierre St-Jacques and bassist Claude Simard, Nébu played "classically-informed contemporary jazz". They toured extensively in Quebec, performed at the Festival de Musique Ouverte de Châteauvallon in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in 1977 and at the inaugural

Montreal International Jazz Festival The Festival international de Jazz de Montréal is an annual jazz festival held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Jazz Fest holds the 2004 Guinness World Record as the world's largest jazz festival. Every year it features roughly 3,000 ar ...

in 1980. Nébu made two albums, ''Nébu'' (1978) and ''Motus'' (1980) before disbanding in 1981. In 1978 Derome, St-Jacques and others founded EMIM (Ensemble de Musique Improvisée de Montréal), an informal association of free-improvising and jazz musicians. EMIM produced a number of groups, many with Derome as composer, arranger and flutist. In 1983 Derome began playing alto saxophone with La Grande Aventure, a street band popular at the Montreal International Jazz Festival, and later with two groups devoted to the music of

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk ( October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the Jazz standard, standard jazz repertoire, includ ...

, Mystérioso and Évidence. In 1983 Derome and Québec guitarist René Lussier formed

, a

and

, providing an outlet for the

music of its members. One of the first groups from this collective was Les Granules. It was formed by Derome and Lussier in 1984, and combined traditional songs, free improvisation, musical parody and social commentary. Derome and Lussier also performed at jazz festivals across

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

between 1988 and 1991. In 1989, Derome and Lussier joined

Fred Frith Jeremy Webster "Fred" Frith (born 17 February 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser. Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as a founding member of the English avant-rock group Henry ...

's review band

Keep the Dog Keep the Dog was an American-based experimental rock touring band from New York City formed in 1989 by English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisation, improvisor Fred Frith. The sextet was conceived as a review band for performing sel ...

, which toured Europe, North America and the former

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

until the band's demise in 1991. Derome has collaborated with a number of other musicians, including

Chris Cutler Chris Cutler (born 4 January 1947) is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of other bands, including Art Bears, N ...

, Pierre Tanguay, Myles Boisen, Louis Sclavis and

Jandek Jandek is the musical project of Sterling Smith (born October 26, 1945), a Houston, Texas-based American Lo-fi music, lo-fi Folk music, folk singer. Since 1978, Jandek has independently released over 120 albums while granting an interview extreme ...

. In 1988, Derome released his first solo album, ''Confitures de Gagaku'', followed by six more over the next 14 years. Derome has composed scores for over 30 films, working with a number of Quebec

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

s, including

Michèle Cournoyer Michèle Cournoyer (born November 14, 1943) is a Canadian animator who on 1 March 2017 received a Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts for her body of work. Early life Born in Saint-Joseph-de-Sorel, Quebec, Cournoyer began draw ...

, Jacques Leduc, Pierre Hébert and Jean Detheux. He also wrote and

choreographed Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer creates choreographies thr ...

a number of dance and theatre pieces in the early to mid-1980s, including ''Confitures de Gagaku'' (1985) for woodwinds, soprano, double bass, keyboards and percussion. Derome is a member of Nicolas Caloia's Ratchet Orchestra, which ranges in size from 15 to 30 musicians and has performed the music of Caloia, Sun Ra, and Malcolm Goldstein. In celebration of his 60th birthday, Derome is undertaking an extensive schedule of performances and special events which is being called 'L'année Jean Derome' ('The year of Jean Derome). The inaugural event was his performance of 'Resistances' for 20-piece orchestra, presented at the 2015 edition of the Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville (FIMAV). Derome is " neof the most active and eclectic musicians on the Canadian creative music scene." His unique writing style and his compositions have earned him recognition not only in Canada, but across the world.

Discography

Bands

;Conventum *''À l’affût d’un Complot'' (1977, LP, Disques Tamandir) *''Le Bureau Central des Utopies'' (1979, LP, Disques Cadence) ;Nébu *''Nébu'' (1978, LP, Disques Cadence) *''Motus'' (1980, LP, Disques Cadence) ;Les Granules *''Soyez Vigilants, Restez Vivants…'' (1986, LP,

) *''Le Retour des Granules'' (1988, LP, Ambiances Magnétiques) *''Au Royaume du Silencieux'' (1992, CD, Ambiances Magnétiques) ;Évidence *''Musique de Thelonious Monk'' (1993, CD, Ambiances Jazz) *''Live à la Casa'' (2000, CD, Ambiances Jazz) ;Jean Derome et les Dangereux Zhoms *''Carnets de Voyage'' (1995, CD, Ambiances Magnétiques) *''Navré'' (1996, CD, Ambiances Magnétiques) *''Torticolis'' (1998, CD, Ambiances Magnétiques) *''1994–96'' (1998, 3xCD, Ambiances Magnétiques) ;Nous Perçons les Oreilles *''Nous Perçons les Oreilles'' (1998, CD, Ambiances Magnétiques) *''La Vie, c’est Simple'' (2002, CD, Ambiances Magnétiques) ;

*''

That House We Lived In ''That House We Lived In'' is a Double album, double live album by American experimental rock band Keep the Dog. It comprises material from their final European tour in 1991 and was released by Fred Frith on his own Fred Records in 2003. Backgro ...

'' (2003, 2xCD,

Fred Records Fred Records is a British independent record label created in 2002 by the English guitarist, composer and improvisor Fred Frith to re-release his own back catalogue of recordings and previously unreleased material. It is an independent company ...

) ;Fanfare Pourpour *''Le Bal'' (2004, CD, Monsieur Fauteux) ;Trio Derome Guilbeault Tanguay *''The Feeling of Jazz'' (2005, CD, Ambiances Jazz) *''10 Compositions'' (2004, CD, Ambiances Jazz)

Collaborations

;With

and René Lussier *'' Three Suite Piece'' (1996, CD,

Recommended Records Recommended Records (RēR) is a British independent record label and distribution network founded by Chris Cutler with Nick Hobbs in March 1978. RēR features largely "Rock in Opposition" and related music, but it also distributes selected musi ...

) ;With Pierre Tanguay *''Plinc! Plonc!'' (2001, CD, Ambiances Magnétiques) ;With Myles Boisen,

and Pierre Tanguay *''All is Bright, But it is Not Day'' (2002, CD, Ambiances Magnétiques) ;With Louis Sclavis *''Un Moment de Bonheur'' (2003, CD, Victo Records) ;With Abel Hassing and Pierre Tanguay *''Résilience'' (2004, CD, independent)

Solo

*''Confitures de Gagaku'' (1988, CD, Victo Records) *''Je Me Souviens; Hommage à Georges Perec; Tu r’luttes'' (1997, CD, Ambiances Magnétiques) *''La Bête / The Beast Within'' (1997, CD, Ambiances Magnétiques) *''3 Musiques Pour UBU'' (1998, 2xCD, Ambiances Magnétiques) *''Strand, Under the Dark Cloth'' (1999, CD, Ambiances Magnétiques) *''Le Magasin de Tissu'' (2001, CD, Ambiances Magnétiques) *''Canot-Camping, Expédition 4'' (2002, CD, Ambiances Magnétiques)

References

External links

Homepage
*.
Encyclopedia of Music in Canada
''Jean Derome biography''.
ActuelleCD.com
''Jean Derome discography''.

''Nébu''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Derome, Jean 1955 births Living people Musicians from Montreal Canadian male jazz composers Canadian jazz composers Canadian film score composers Canadian male film score composers Canadian jazz saxophonists Canadian male saxophonists Canadian rock musicians Canadian experimental musicians Free improvisation Canadian music educators Canadian jazz flautists CIMP artists 21st-century Canadian saxophonists 21st-century Canadian male musicians 21st-century Canadian flautists