This project was born by chance, says composer and drummer Aaron Dolman. A colleague from Toronto invited him to open for one of his concerts. “He came with a jazz formation including drummer, guitarists, viola. I said to myself: what could I propose that would be completely different, completely weird ? » Why not a drums and vocals trio, with Sarah Rossy and Eugénie Jobin, « two of the best improvisers in town »?
At their first rehearsal, the trio was already sparking; released last March, the album Are You Here to Help?, resulting from it, is a little gem. It will be played for the first time tomorrow, at the opening of the OFF Montreal Jazz Festival.
“Unless they are part of a choir, an entity in itself, female jazz singers don’t collaborate a lot,” notes Sarah Rossy. What makes the trio’s proposal so unique: the soft voices of Sarah and Eugénie, who knit the inventive harmonies of this first album sometimes anchored to a song form, sometimes meditative, the voices relieved of the weight of words evoking a music ” bordering on jazz,” Dolman describes simply, and contemporary music.
“To discover how my voice can be used as an instrument, how to occupy different roles [durant l’interprétation] and playing with the texture of my voice, how to also support what other musicians are doing, all that is captivating in the project, says Sarah. In addition, Eugenie and I have somewhat similar voices, so it’s interesting to see how we can play together, stepping back, taking a new position while the other sings. »
Eugénie intervenes: “We still have different musical personalities. For my part, I’m more used to singing with people who have similar personalities to mine, and that’s why I like working with you. This trio is a beautiful playground.”
Behind them, Dolman plays with nuance, explores the register of his skins and his cymbals. “Percussion and voice are the oldest instruments in the world,” explains the perceptive Sarah. It’s a super old practice and, for us, there’s something intuitive about returning to this sound, very human, simple, rhythmic”, which, as innovative as it may seem, remains anchored in certain traditions. : early music, choral works.
“We did two takes”
Immediately after this first rehearsal for the unannounced concert, Aaron Dolman began to compose with, in mind, the voices of his friends. It was the first time, moreover, that he had put down notes on paper. “That’s the goal in this project: that the listener does not distinguish what has been written from what is improvised”, apart of course from their cover of a song by Joni Mitchell. For one song, Aaron had simply written the words; the melody, the harmonies, the interpretation, everything was improvised by Sarah and Eugénie. “We did two takes, completely different ones, and then we chose one of them for the album. »
“I listen to a lot of songs,” says Eugénie Jobin, who launched the album earlier this year. Welcome, under the name Ambroise. This project sets to music texts by Many will be our enemies, posthumous collection of the poetess Geneviève Desrosiers. “I approached Aaron’s music as if it were songs, with a lot of improvisation. There is a search for balance between the two, the song serving as a pretext for improvisation. There’s something so bare in what we do together, I hear folklore, modal compositions, early music, it all makes sense. »
Sarah Rossy is working on an album of jazz, orchestral and electronic vocals; when we met on the terrace of a café, Aaron was still suffering from jet lag, having just returned from Switzerland, where, for a year, he took part in a jazz creation residency, FocusYear. The Scrapbook Are You Here to Help? was recorded just before his departure, in September 2021: “We have never played this album in front of an audience yet! says today the drummer, trained in composition and interpretation at McGill University, just like Sarah and Eugénie. See you tomorrow, at the opening of the 23e edition of the OFF Montreal Jazz Festival.
Dolman-Rossy-Jobin will perform on October 6, at 5 p.m., at the St-Henri Jazz Club, located at 3716, rue Notre-Dame Ouest. The OFF Montreal Jazz Festival takes place from October 6 to 15.