Jean-Michel Blais

Jean-Michel Blais – eviction sessions (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 21:29 minutes | 520 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Arts & Crafts Productions Inc.

Jean-Michel Blais has become one of Canada’s most renowned pianists thanks to his fusion of neoclassical composition and electronic experimentation. But just as integral to his music is his use of natural, in-the-room sounds and surrounding street noise as subliminal textures. His 2016 breakthrough, Il, was recorded in his Montreal apartment, the ambiance of which could be felt throughout the recordings. Two years later, he was forced to move out, but before packing up his piano, he hosted the final installment of an annual apartment tradition—an (extremely) intimate performance for friends in his bedroom. The resultant five-song document, eviction sessions, commemorates the space as if eulogizing a dearly departed friend. Blais strips away the dramatic electronic ornamentation of tracks like “blind” and “igloo” (from 2018’s Polaris Prize-shortlisted Dans ma main) and combines them into an elegiac mini-suite, with his nimble keystrokes and incessant pedal taps providing the rhythmic momentum in lieu of pulsing beats. But despite its sombre context, eviction sessions exudes a communal warmth: The tense minimalism of the improvised “hutchison” is gradually consumed by the sound of the audience’s cheerful chatter, suggesting that the welcoming community spirit Blais cultivated in the apartment will continue to benevolently haunt the space long after he’s gone.
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Jean-Michel Blais – Dans ma main (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 46:06 minutes | 427 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Arts & Crafts Productions Inc.

Jean-Michel Blais paints intimate portraits of human vulnerabilities—sleep, illness, uncertainty, anger—on a captivating second album. His delicate piano compositions are fertile with musical references to, among others, Leo Sayer, Mendelssohn, and Radiohead (“roses”), and are blended with subtle electronic, vocal, and ambient dance effects. In “god(s),” Blais explores the idea of religious harmony with textures rich in Eastern flavor, while “a heartbeat away” ponders our mortality with music that reflects, races, and finally rests. The title track both reassures and unnerves, while ‘’sourdine” is a haunting meditation on our nighttime realms.
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Jean-Michel Blais – aubades (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 42:06 minutes | 698 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Mercury KX

aubades, the new album from post-classical piano icon Jean-Michel Blais, marks the Montreal-born musician’s transition from pianist to composer, as he writes for an ensemble for the first time in his career. Written during the pandemic and following a breakup, Blais has used his distinctive musical voice to create a defiantly uplifting record with glistening instrumental textures and warm major tonalities. The album’s title refers to the “aubade”, a Middle Ages morning love song about lovers separating at daybreak, a dawn serenade.
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