Join us at The Bookshelf Cinema on June 24th for the launch of Soundtrack to the Revolution: Free Jazz and Leftist Nationalism in Quebec 1967-1975 by Eric Fillion, translated by David Homel.
The book launch, which will include a discussion with writer David Lee (6:30-7:30 p.m.), will be followed by a screening of The Cat in The Bag (1964) [in French with subtitles], one of the founding films of Quebec national cinema with an original score by John Coltrane's classic quartet. This event is free and open to all.
Co-presented by The Bookshelf, Véhicule Press, and the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation.
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“I am a revolutionary first, a musician second. Instead of a machine gun, I have a trumpet,” explained Yves Charbonneau, co-founder of the Montreal-based group Jazz Libre, in May of 1969.
Upbeat excitement resonated throughout Montreal and across the predominantly French-speaking province of Quebec in the wake of the Quiet Revolution and in the immediate aftermath of Expo 67, the highlight of Canada’s Centennial celebrations. Yet at the time, the city was also a hub of discordant politics, many of which were about the promises of various types of leftism and their intersection with nationalism. Cultural workers—individuals, groups, and their networks—participated actively in these debates, prompting new forms of communication, participation, and organization to catalyze all kinds of evocative solidarities.
In telling the story of Jazz Libre, Soundtrack to the Revolution reveals the meaningful role that the art of spontaneity played in the turbulent 1960s and 1970s. It traces the path taken by Jazz Libre—a collective of improvisers who embraced free jazz to help legitimize the efforts of the Quebec left to situate its nationalist aspirations within global anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist movements. Their many initiatives (concert forums aimed at students and workers, a self-governing arts summer camp in Val-David, north of Montreal, a socialist commune in the Eastern Townships as well as an experimental cultural centre in Old Montreal) were all oriented toward the convergence of protest movements shaking Quebec. Jazz Libre’s fate was, as a result, irreversibly tied to the leftist independence movement—a hodgepodge of groups in search of possible futures during these pivotal decades.
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Eric Fillion is director of the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation and assistant professor at the School of Languages and Literatures at the University of Guelph. He is the author of Distant Stage: Quebec, Brazil, and the Making of Canada’s Cultural Diplomacy. With Sean Mills and Désirée Rochat, he co-edited Statesman of the Piano: Jazz, Race, and History in the Life of Lou Hooper. He lives in Guelph, Ontario.
David Homel is the author of ten novels and a memoir, as well as a series of books for younger readers co-written with Marie-Louise Gay. A prize- winning writer and translator, he has worked in documentary film, print and radio journalism. He lives in Montreal.
Hamilton-based writer David Lee wrote his 2017 University of Guelph dissertation on Toronto improvised music. His other writings include The Battle of the Five Spot: Ornette Coleman and the New York Jazz Field, and with the late pianist Paul Bley, Stopping Time.
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