Matapat

A collaboration between accordion, bones, and spoons player and world-class French-Canadian step dancer Benoit Bourque; multi-instrumentalist Gaston Bernard; and composer, arranger, and bass participant Simon LePage, Matapat transforms the original “kitchen” music and stage dance of Quebec into a thrilling musical type. The trio’s musical strategy offers garnered acclaim since its inception. Finalists to get a Juno honor (the Canadian equal to the Grammys) in 1999, the group was praised by English music journal Folk Roots to be “in the forefront of the existing revival of trad-based music and dance in Quebec.” Matapat was conceived by Bourque and Bernard soon after departing trad folk music group Advertisement Vielle Que Poura. Bourque got previously been an associate of Eritage, a normal French Celtic group with which he previously documented five albums including three for kids. As a stage dancer, choreographer, and instructor, he previously performed at celebrations and music camps, as a long way away as Denmark and Moscow, and got released an instructional cassette and friend publication, La Gigue. The founder of a global accordion event, Le Carrefour Mondial de L’Accordeon, Bourque offered on the panel of directors of Le Consiel Quebecois du Patrimoine Vivant in 1993 and 1994. Furthermore to developing a folk dance group, Les Clusiers de Lachine, he performed with Advertisement Vielle Que Pourra from 1994 to 1996. A indigenous of Montreal, Bernard was created to Acadian parents. While his grandmother performed reels on the harmonica, he was similarly subjected to French, Greek, and African music. His past due ’80s cooperation with Greek-Canadian George Sapounadis led to the formation of a music group, Ouzo Power. He consequently used uilleann piper Davy Spillane, Celtic rock-band Hothouse Blossoms, and jazz vocalist Karen Youthful. Bernard was carrying out with Advertisement Vielle Que Pourra when he fulfilled Bourque. Simon LePage, who researched traditional bass at L’Universite de Laval, standup bass with Michael Donato, and piano with Lorraine Desmarrais, offers played in a number of genres within the last two decades. Furthermore to dealing with many orchestras, he performed on the children’s album documented in 1996 by Jean-Louis Themis.