Posted at 11:00 a.m.
She was born at the Sainte-Justine hospital, three blocks from where she lives, grew up in Outremont and attended high school at the Pensionnat du Saint-Nom-de-Marie on Côte-Sainte-Catherine road. . After training in classical music, the flautist from Vincent-d’Indy swapped the small pipe for drums, and there was light!
Christina Beaudry-Cárdenas, trilingual, 25 years old, plays the drums with inventiveness on a standard kit with five pots and boxes and, in addition, designs her own musical arrangements in the uncertain waters of Peruvian jazz and the one we know here.
“It took some time before I adapted to the idea of improvising”, confides the one who has been a freelancer in various projects: big band, electro pop, samba… “I did not make a choice in straight line, I have a DEC in classical music. Fortunately, drum teachers like Michel Berthiaume at the McGill Conservatory and Jim Doxas (brother of trumpeter Chet), who was my teacher at Concordia, gave me the right basics. Then I mainly participated in james at the Upstairs bar, at the Dièse Onze, at Grumpy’s…”
I definitely chose the drums by renting rooms by the hour to rehearse, but now I have my little room.
Christina Beaudry-Cardenas
The new Concordia graduate will receive a $5,000 scholarship along with an incredible showcase this year at the Montreal International Jazz Festival. The Peterson and Jones families, pride of the Little Burgundy district, choose the winner.
“I received an email from the University telling me that I was in the running for the prize, but it was the letter received from Céline Peterson [la fille de 31 ans d’Oscar Peterson] who told me that I was there [deuxième] winning. I submitted my end-of-baccalaureate project, the one I am presenting at the festival in septet, named Pizza [qui veut dire pincée]with trumpet, saxophone, trombone, piano, double bass and a singer,” says Christina Beaudry-Cárdenas, who designed all the brass arrangements.
A successful bet
Alternating genres that are not normally inclined to tolerate each other, the Afro-Peruvian jazz of icons Hugo Alcázar and Juan Pastor and the 100-year-old Western acoustic jazz combos, you had to dare.
Percussion and rhythm are super important. In fact, this music has no drums in its composition of instruments. But there are drummers who have started to develop an Afro-Peruvian language.
Christina Beaudry-Cardenas
The thresher strives to pump the best from this source. She approaches the many changes of rhythm with ease: jerky rhythms, accelerations, all well controlled and perfectly posed.
“It’s adaptations, I’m going to play songs that aren’t mine at all,” she says humbly. We don’t talk a lot about Peruvian jazz. Yes, we’re talking about Cuban jazz, Brazilian jazz… Basically, I’m not making this up, Pizza, it’s my interpretation of a music scene that already exists. I compare my music to chamber jazz. My scores are as specific as possible. »
His models on the instrument? “Elvin Jones, the freedom he has in his game blows me away. I’m also a big fan of Mark Guiliana. He was thrown the name of creative Brian Blade: “My God! I met him once at a workshop and talked about it for three weeks. I have no words to describe my admiration. My feminine inspirations in Montreal, there are especially Valérie Lacombe and Mili Hong. »
A world of men, jazz?
“That’s a big question that requires a lot of nuance in the answer. Things are much better than they were. I haven’t been part of this jazz community for very long, but it’s not perfect. There is still a long way to go, a lot of sexism, a lot of women have experiences that are not very professional, traumatic. It exists and it is certainly still a problem. »
Christina has never met legendary octogenarian pianist from Little Burgundy Oliver Jones. “But I have been confirmed that he will be at my show. I try not to think about it too much, I have a whole week of rehearsals! »
July 9 at 6 p.m. at Studio TD (Maison du Festival). FREE ENTRANCE.