At Gesù on Friday, we can say that a big loop will be closed. A very big tour of Maneige, the image is essential. Almost fifty years after their first important, notable, remarkable and noticed show at the Cégep de Maisonneuve gymnasium, the legendary Montreal jazz-rock group Maneige performs at the Festival international de Jazz de Montréal (FIJM).
We could put it another way: from the birth of the André Ménard-Alain Simard tandem to its festival and jazzophile peak, half a century of unusual music contemplates us.
“That’s literally the case,” says Alain Bergeron with a smile in his very handsome and modest semi-basement in Mile End. “André Ménard’s first production was us. In the first part of Soft Machine. » Confirmation in the book Cosmos. A Quebec adventure in the days of progressive rock, published in 2021 under the pen of Michel Maltais and a great gang of witnesses. Including a certain Alain Simard. “It was Alain who sold the show to the Rosemont College Student Association and prepared a poster and an announcement for the show,” says Maltais, page 167. “André also introduced us to the first part of Charlebois, at the same Cégep Maisonneuve,” adds Bergeron.
Jazz-rock, not prog
“We almost opened for Genesis in Quebec, too. But their manager said no. Seems he didn’t want to move the set. We needed to advance a grand piano. Damage. Alain and André would have liked it! They were the ones who organized it. We were friends, the two always talked to us about their dream of setting up a really good jazz festival. Which would cover all genres, from the most cutting-edge to the most popular…” Maneige, in 1980, will be part of the very first edition. As a jazz-rock band (or jazz fusion, depending).
“We were jazz-rock, a bit like Soft Machine, it suited us. More than Gentle Giant, which we also opened for. The others were prog. Proclaimed themselves prog. I never really liked the name. Prog, I found that it meant a rather cold, technical music, too based on the virtuosity of the musicians. It annoyed me. We came from Vincent-d’Indy and the Conservatory, we had a classical base, and we were crazy about jazz. It starts from there, Maneige. And like everyone else, we were influenced by Pink Floyd, Zappa, but also by the Beatles. »
On the recordings of his first group (Lasting Weep, 1969-1971), flautist Bergeron breathes heavily into his instrument, a la Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull. The sound of the flute, at the heart of Maneige with the piano, the vibraphone and a hell of a percussive panoply, will be purer, à la Herbie Mann. “As soon as you had a flute in a band, in 1969, you played like Ian Anderson. He himself was very inspired by Roland Kirk, a then famous jazzman who “sung” into his instrument. As soon as I could get away from that, I did: I like a nice clean sound. My masters were Jean-Pierre Rampal, Eric Dolphy, Hubert Laws. »
Boost for Beau Dommage
Think Robert Léger, the guy from Beau Dommage who had studied music. It sounded a bit much like that when he dropped his keyboards for the flute. “We were from the same gang,” said Bergeron. I knew Michel Rivard and Robert Léger when they were with La Quenouille bleue [groupe théâtral déjanté où il y avait incidemment de la musique]. Besides, without bragging, I can say that Maneige played a small role in the success of Beau Dommage…”
But still ? “When the major international record companies began to take an interest in Quebec groups, in October in particular, Maneige was signed by Pierre Dubord of Capitol. As we were an instrumental band, he saw global potential, so we ended up on Harvest, the more experimental label of EMI-Capitol. The Pink Floyd label! For us, it was glory. Our first record was to be released for Christmas 1974. In the meantime, Dubord had heard of a small band that he was told was promising: Beau Dommage. I confirmed to him that it was really good, top quality popular, and that he should go see them. What he did. He liked it so much that he said to me: “I’ll sign them right away. And we’re going to release their album for Christmas. That’s a lot more apt than Maneige.” So we were postponed to February 1975.” Bergeron laughed heartily. “An excellent decision. »
The end of an era, the beginning of a new time
Maneige, a group eminently respected by its peers, faithfully followed by a cohort of fanatics, will live for twelve years during “what Michel Rivard will call “a nice success of esteem””. Around 1984, Maneige’s tour repeated until a certain wear and tear, the group dispersed. Paul Picard, Gilles Schetagne, Jean Vanasse will become coveted stuido musicians, established jazzmen, cherished accompanists. Let’s also mention Pierre Gauthier, drummer of the last hour, who will become Bourbon Gautier country singer, and Claude “Mégo” Lemay, who will find something to supplement his ends of the month with… Céline Dion. Bergeron, he will devote himself to the teaching of music.
Retirement will ring the time of reunion. In 2021, veterans Schetagne, Picard and Vanasse reconnect with ghosts Alain Bergeron, Yves Léonard and Denis Lapierre on stage: Maneige exists… for those who dare to go out in a pandemic that has not yet resolved. A residency in a new hall in Repentigny is going better, there are a lot of people. “We were a little shy during rehearsals, but on stage, everything fell into place. » Magic Maneige? “That’s not bad. There, we’re going to play Gesù, and then we’ll see. We’re not going on tour! But the idea of getting together a few times a year is very irresistible. Who knows, ideas for new pieces might arise! “We are not there yet. We are happy to go play together at the festival created by André Ménard and Alain Simard, it is already a great joy. »
Bergeron asks the big question: “Who would like a new Maneige album? I don’t know. By dint of playing, if people want to, there is nothing impossible. But what I would really like for Maneige is to redo Outremont. In the spring of 2024. We played there every year, always in the spring, it was our tradition. Maneige exists, isn’t that marvelous in itself? We can legitimately think so. One dream come true at a time.