Raôul Duguay (born February 13, 1939) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

artist, poet, musician, and political activist in the province of

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, ...

, Canada. He has been an active performer since 1966. Duguay is a longtime supporter of the

Quebec sovereignty movement The Quebec sovereignty movement (French: ''mouvement souverainiste du Québec'', ) is a political movement advocating for Quebec's independence from Canada. Proponents argue that Quebecers form a distinct nation with a unique culture, language, ...

and has run for public office on at least two occasions.

Artist

Duguay was born in

Val-d'Or Val-d'Or ( , , ; meaning "Golden Valley" or "Valley of Gold") is a city in Quebec, Canada with a population of 32,752 inhabitants according to the 2021 Canadian census. The city is located in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region near La Vérendrye ...

in the

Abitibi-Témiscamingue Abitibi-Témiscamingue () is an administrative region located in western Québec, Canada, along the border with Ontario. It became part of the province in 1898. It has a land area of and its population was 147,082 people as of the 2021 cens ...

region of Quebec, an event that he later chronicled on the semi-autobiographical track "La bittt à Tibi" on his first album. He began writing poetry in the 1950s, and his first two anthologies were published in 1966 and 1967. He met

Walter Boudreau Walter Boudreau, (born 1947 in Sorel) is a Canadian composer, saxophonist and conductor. In 1969, he founded the group L'Infonie with Raoul Duguay, which dissolved in 1973. Since 1988, he has been the artistic director of the Société de ...

in 1967, and the two artists formed

L'Infonie L'Infonie was an avant-garde Québécois chamber ensemble under the direction of composers Walter Boudreau and Raôul Duguay. They produced four albums between 1969 and 1974, after which the project ended. It was intended both as a music group an ...

shortly thereafter. This project was intended both as a music group and a new approach to collective improvisation; Duguay published its manifesto in 1970. The group released a number of albums on the avant-garde side of Quebec's

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

and

jazz-rock Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music Music genre, genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, a ...

scenes before dissolving in 1973. Boudreau and Duguay have re-united on occasion since then, including in 2007 for an ''Orgues et Couleurs'' festival. Duguay released his first solo album in 1975, entitled ''Alllô tôulmônd''; this album features "Tôuttt etô bôuttt," one of his best known tracks. The following year, he performed in front of 400,000 people at the province's ''

Fête nationale The fête nationale (English: '' National Day'' or ''National Celebration'') is a holiday in many places, frequently as a public holiday. It is a French language term for National Holiday, so is used in places that use French. It may refer to: * B ...

'', an annual

Quebec nationalist Quebec nationalism or Québécois nationalism is a feeling and a political doctrine that prioritizes cultural belonging to, the defence of the interests of, and the recognition of the political legitimacy of the Québécois nation. It has been ...

cultural event. Duguay released several more solo albums in the seventies, eighties, and nineties; after a gap of eleven years, he returned with ''J'ai soif'' in 2010. His song "La bittt à Tibi" was inducted into the

Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame () is a Canadian non-profit organization, founded in 1998 by Frank Davies, that inducts Canadians into their ''Hall of Fame'' within three different categories: songwriters, songs, and those others who have m ...

in 2008. Duguay also provided the music for the film ''

Wild Flowers A wildflower (or wild flower) is a flower that grows in the wild, rather than being intentionally seeded or planted. The term implies that the plant is neither a hybrid nor a selected cultivar that is any different from the native plant, even ...

(Les fleurs sauvages)'' (1982), for which he received a

Genie GEnie (General Electric Network for Information Exchange) was an online service provider, online service created by a General Electric business, GEIS (now GXS Inc., GXS), that ran from 1985 through the end of 1999. In 1994, GEnie claimed around ...

nomination. In 1984, he took part in a musical collaboration with

Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (PQ; , ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishi ...

legislator Gilles Baril. In 1996, he provided the text for a revised version of

Terry Riley Terrence Mitchell Riley (born June 24, 1935) is an American composer and performing musician best known as a pioneer of the minimalist music, minimalist school of composition. Influenced by jazz and Indian classical music, his work became notab ...

In C ''In C'' is a composition by Terry Riley from 1964. It is one of the most successful works by an American composer and a seminal example of minimal music, minimalism. The score directs any number of musicians to repeat a series of 53 melodic fr ...

. Duguay has continued to publish works of poetry. His sixteenth volume, ''entre la lettre et l'esprit'', was issued in 2001. He has also worked in the visual arts as a painter and sculptor.

Politics

Duguay is a longtime supporter of Quebec sovereigntism. In his poem ''Trente Lettres'' (1995), he described Canada as a father who "never gave mother uebecan orgasm." In 2010, he signed a public letter criticizing the organizers of

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

's ''Festival d'été'' for booking mostly anglophone acts to perform. Duguay ran for the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

in the 1972 federal election as a non-affiliated candidate in

Longueuil Longueuil () is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie, Montérégie administrative region and the central city of the urban agglomeration of Longueuil. It sits on the South Shore (Montreal), south shore o ...

, under the name "Raôul Wéziwézô Duguay." He finished well behind Liberal candidate

Jacques Olivier Joseph Mario Jacques Olivier, PC (born April 14, 1944) is a Canadian politician, businessman and labour leader. He was mayor of Longueuil, Quebec, from 2001 until 2005 and is a former Member of Parliament. Background and early career A ho ...

. In the 1998 provincial election, he ran as a candidate of the governing

in Brome-Missisquoi. He finished second to Liberal incumbent Pierre Paradis.Official Results, Government of Quebec
accessed 14 December 2010.

Discography

With L'Infonie

* 1969 : L'Infonie Vol. 3 - Kotaï, London Records * 1971 : Vol. 33 : le Mantra - Kotaï, London Records * 1972 : L’Infonie Vol. 333 - Kotaï, London Records * 1974 : L'infonie Vol. 3333 - Kotaï, London Records

Solo

*''Alllô Tôulmônd'', 1975 *''L'Envol'', 1976 *''M'', 1977 *''Vivant Avec Tôulllmônd'', 1978 *''Lettre à Tôulllmônd'', 1980 *''Le Chanteur de pomme'', 1982 *''Tout ce qui compte'', 1983 *''Douceur'', 1985 *''Monter en amour'', 1993 *''Caser'', 1999 *''J'ai soif'', 2010

Compilations

* 1979 : ''Ôn S'm Ô Kébèk'' * 1992 : ''Monter En Amour''

Collaborations

* 1975 : ''Les Porches'' by Maneige - Vocals and trumpet on the title song * 1986 : ''Paix Sans Frontière'' - Raôul gave one of his songs ''L'oiseau pour la paix'' * 1989 : ''Nova'' - with Michel Robidoux * 1992 : ''Atlantide / Golgot(h)a'' - With Michel-Georges Brégent and Walter Boudreau - Raôul on : ''Golgot(h)a'' with Walter Boudreau * 1999 : ''La santé par le rire'' - by Jean Drouin * 2000 : ''In C'' - by Terry Riley - With Michel-Georges Brégent and Walter Boudreau - Raôul vocals on the title song ''In C'' * 2006 : ''Septentrion'' - by Anodajay - Raôul vocals on ''Le Beat À Ti-Bi''

Legacy

His name appears among the friendships of Arcimboldi in '' Woes of The True Policeman'' by

Roberto Bolaño Roberto is an Italian, Portuguese and Spanish variation of the male given name Robert. Notable people named Roberto include: * Roberto (footballer, born 1912) * Roberto (footballer, born 1977) * Roberto (footballer, born 1978) * Roberto (footb ...

br>

Electoral record

Bibliography

* Raôul Duguay ''et al.'', ''Raôul Duguay ou : le poète à la voix d'ô'', Montréal, L'Aurore, 1979.

References

;Citations

External links

Raôul Duguay
Official site {{DEFAULTSORT:Duguay, Raoul 1939 births Living people People from Val-d'Or Quebec sovereigntists Musicians from Quebec Writers from Quebec Parti Québécois candidates in Quebec provincial elections Candidates in the 1972 Canadian federal election Independent candidates for the Canadian House of Commons