Corneille will be master of ceremonies on Saturday eveningR&B vibe, the big closing event of the Francos. We asked him to choose five notable Quebec albums from his beloved musical genre.
To love with love from Black Ball (1978)
To love with love
Black Ball
Martin Records
“Quebec R&B had pioneers like Trevor Payne [artiste originaire de la Barbade qui a fait carrière dans les années 1960 avec le groupe Trevor Payne and the Triangle et qui a fondé en 1982 le Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir]but in the eyes of the general public, Boule Noire has long been the only reference in terms of soul and R & B. Everyone in Quebec knows To love with love which, to me, is a clearly R&B song, tinged with disco [l’Anglais Leo Sayer en a enregistré en 1977 la version originale]. When we measure the legacy of an artist, we often forget their ability to achieve success. We tend to look at it with a haughty eye, whereas having created so many songs that have touched so many people over several decades, for me that is the mark of the greats. Boule Noire was one. »
Excerpt fromTo love with love, of Black Ball
NoAlready from NoDéjà (1999)
“We knew them well, because they were a bit like ONE’s rivals [trio fondé par Corneille en 1997 avec Pierre Gage et Gardy Fury]. They were the only other French-speaking R&B group working, we frequented the same circuits, but they had a little head start on us, because they had signed with the Tox label, which had propelled Dubmatique. Already, in the underground, Barnev [Valsaint] was considered one of the great voices in Quebec. something about you, it’s the first R&B song of this style that I heard on Quebec radio. It marked a departure, it said something about what was now possible. Today, things have evolved a lot, but at the end of the 1990s, it was difficult to imagine having a career in soul or R&B music in Quebec. »
Extract of something about youby NoDéjà
My freedom by Mélanie Renaud (2001)
My freedom
Melanie Renaud
YFB Broadcast
“When I worked with Mélanie [lors de l’enregistrement de la chanson Vivre pour soi, en 2003], I remember being completely impressed by his instrument. She could do it all in one take. There was nothing coming out of his vocal cords that wasn’t perfect. She had an ease in being powerful, but also vulnerable. For me, it remains one of the greatest voices in Quebec, we just haven’t heard it enough. I would have liked to see what it would have been like if she had more support, because My freedom, it was the good news that was missing from the emergence of Quebec R&B. It was unfortunately brief and I think the decline of MusiquePlus had something to do with it. It was a real source of cultural and musical information for young people. Hip-hop and R&B owe a lot to the network. »
Extract of My freedomby Mélanie Renaud
Soul Rebel by Gage (2005)
Soul Rebel
Pledge
DKD Discs
“Some people say, more or less jokingly, that Gage’s album should have been my second album. I wrote and composed these songs in the wake of those of Because we come from far away [son premier album, paru en 2002]. Yes, Gage and I had played in all the small clubs in Montreal together. Yes, it was with him that I sang until 3 a.m. at the Jello Bar, back when people still smoked inside. But it’s not just out of generosity or friendship that I made this album with him, it’s because I wanted to contribute to the creation of something that could be big. He had an incredible talent for interpretation and I wanted to put myself at the service of his voice. But once again, getting R&B on the radio in Quebec was complicated. He enjoyed much more success in France. »
Extract of Too freshcleared
To tell you all by Jules (2024)
To tell you all
Jules
Kanda House
“Speaking of mind-blowing voices, that’s one. I met Julien [Charbonneau] has Star Academy [en 2022] and the first time I heard him sing, I didn’t understand what was going on, I didn’t understand the authentic R&B that was coming out of his voice. There are people who love a style so much that they manage to imitate it, but what comes out of Jules’ voice is not cheated or borrowed. He’s a real R&B singer. When we launched Maison Kanda [l’étiquette de disques qu’il a cofondée], he was at the top of my list. The album has audacity in its production and arrangements. It has a musical complexity that sometimes borders on jazz. I think that if, in ten years, there is a strong R&B scene in Quebec, we will look back at this album and say that it was the start of a renaissance. »
Extract of Everything to please, by Jules
R&B vibeJuly 22 at 9 p.m. on the Bell stage at Place des Festivals, with Corneille, Les Louanges, Barnev, Zaho, Vacra, Rau_Ze, Yellowstraps, Naomi, Naïma Frank and Shah Frank
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Something transcendent
“For a long time, I was one of the rare artists without a category at the ADISQ Gala, but it’s true that there wasn’t a huge offering in R&B,” observes Corneille. Whereas now, the supply is getting stronger and stronger. » A salutary growth of which the Quebec Association of the Recording Industry decided to take note, last March, by announcing the creation of a category crowning Album of the Year – R & B / Soul, after two years of relentless efforts (but with respect, in any case) from a group of people from the community, including the singer who always does everything with class.
We can bet that several artists invited to the Francos on Saturday evening will appear sooner or later in this category, including Rau_Ze, Les Louanges, Yellowstraps, Barnev as well as Naïma and Shah Frank. “There will also be a gospel choir, because we wanted to create an atmosphere reminiscent of Sunday Services,” explains the master of ceremonies, referring to the Sunday celebrations organized by Kanye West in 2019. “We are bringing the church on stage , not in the religious sense, but in its spiritual sense, because there is always something transcendent in this music. »