Yves Bouliane – Champ (10 Operations)

“Yves Bouliane studied double bass with Roland Desjardins at the Montreal Conservatory in the early 1970s. Not yet twenty, he had been improvising with Robert M. Lepage since 1969. Together, they formed the Trio Expansible, a group that evolved continuously in the early part of the decade (Roger Boudreau, Vincent Dionne and other improvisers succeeded one another during the few years that the project lasted). In 1973, the two musicians met Raymond Gervais and Michel Di Torre with whom they founded Montreal’s Experimental Music Workshop (L’Atelier de musique expérimentale). These initiatives paralleled those of the Jazz libre du Québec – a free jazz ensemble, which Bouliane joined for a short period of time in 1972-73. He then continued experimenting with sound through performances at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and Véhicule Art, one of Canada’s first artist-run galleries. In 1977, Bouliane composed “Champ (10 interventions)” and “Champ (10 opérations).” Ensemble SuperMusique recently released their interpretation of the first of these two experimental works. The latter is a work for cello solo. Performed and recorded by Bouliane in 1977, “Champ (10 opération)” was released at the time on a 10 copies limited edition cassette tape. From double bass to cello, Bouliane then turned to painting. He completed a Masters’ degree in Visual Arts in the 1980s, but he did so without abandoning music. With John Heward, he released Masse au 1/3 contrôle in 1985 – a double bass and drums duo, which Gervais describes as “ephemeral yet eternal music.”-Tenzier