The story of Montreal’s jazz scene began in spectacular fashion. As a host to many iconic musicians still revered today, the city’s nightclubs oozed with excitement and creativity centred around jazz improvisation, and the demanding after-hours environments allowed emerging musicians to blossom. Additionally, rooted in and around Montreal’s largest Black residential area, the culture provided a safe space for the Black community to thrive in an expressive and economic capacity.
Despite the local scene’s success, things quickly took a turn for the worse. The neighbourhood that had nurtured the music was demolished, enthusiasm for the genre waned, and one by one, the businesses that upheld what once was a defining element of Montreal’s culture shut down for good. It became apparent that, to survive, the scene needed to veer in a new direction. And it did. As educational institutions across the city established programs dedicated to jazz performance, the scene in Montreal was revitalized, championing homegrown musicians and community venues.
Today, Montreal’s notoriety as the jazz capital of Canada is, in many respects, indebted to the popularity of its annual Montreal International Jazz Festival. But the greatness of Montreal’s jazz scene is not one of impermanence. Every day, the city and its culture are uplifted by people who are devoted to keeping the music alive. Montreal’s jazz identity is not shaped by nostalgia or an icon of tourist appeal, but by a living network of students, educators, businesses, and concert-goers who cherish live music and its ability to bring people together.
Fueled by the United States’ Prohibition era, Montreal made a name for itself as a jazz capital in the 1920s, as tourists and musicians flocked north to experience Quebec’s lively nightlife. Dubbed “The Harlem of the North,” the St. Antoine District was home to Montreal’s largest Black community, as well as an array of fixtures in Montreal’s catalogue of nightclubs dedicated to jazz. Lasting well into the 1950s, Montreal’s ‘Sin City’ era hosted performers of the highest calibre, with the likes of Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, and Nina Simone making appearances at esteemed venues like Rockhead’s Paradise. At the same time, Montreal was fostering talent of its own: Pianists Oscar Peterson and Oliver Jones became local staples, as did trumpeter and bandleader Maynard Ferguson.
But as the 1960s loomed, urban developers began to sink their teeth into St. Antoine. The area was rebranded as “Little Burgundy” and, under the guise of “urban renewal”, broad waves of gentrification expropriated its long-time residents and, consequently, the musical soul the neighbourhood once possessed. Simultaneously, jazz itself was reshaping. Subgenres like jazz fusion, cool jazz, and free jazz ushered in new eras of performers and audiences. By the time Little Burgundy had withered away, disco, pop, and rock and roll garnered the most attention.
Montreal particularly felt the shift in public taste. With many Parisians travelling to Quebec, the city acted as a bridge between European and North American influences, predominantly in the realm of disco. Audiences rapidly gravitated towards the movement’s novelty. As early as 1966, Montreal hosted at least 15 discoteques and was deemed disco’s Second City.
In the midst of this cultural transformation, jazz was left behind. The intimacy of Montreal’s listening rooms was eclipsed by the dynamism of the era’s popular movements. Additionally, the after-hours clubs, which served as atmospheres of total independence from “commercial jazz,” were indirectly shut down by city-wide opening hour mandates imposed by Mayor Jean Drapeau, whose intention was to limit organized crime. By the late 1970s, the majority of Montreal’s classic jazz clubs had shut down, and many jazz musicians found that sustaining a career in the city was unattainable.
This was not the end of Montreal’s jazz scene, however, for in the empty pitch, new players began to emerge. In 1980, the Montreal International Jazz Festival hosted its inaugural event, serving an audience of roughly 12,000, with headliners such as Chick Corea and Ray Charles. "Biddle's Jazz and Ribs", later to be known as The House of Jazz, opened its doors on Aylmer Street in 1981 and quickly flourished as a space for Montreal’s local musicians to enter the limelight.
That same year, McGill University became the first institution in Canada to offer a Bachelor of Music in jazz performance, and within the next three years, Université de Montréal and Concordia launched similar programs of their own. With a hopeful festival, an up-and-coming venue, and various avenues of academia, scores of prospective students and educators poured into Montreal, sounding off a new beginning for the local scene.
After McGill’s jazz performance degree was established, Professor Kevin Dean was hired to design its curriculum in 1984, and it was not long before students could be found around town exercising their new repertoire. Gertrudes II, informally dubbed “The Alley,” had recently opened in the basement of the University Centre, and the bar served as a jazz hotspot for McGillians looking to watch their peers perform. In an interview with The Tribune, Dean reflected on these shows.
“We had combo seminars a couple of nights a week. We had one night a week that was dedicated to the graduate students, where they played the whole night. And then on the weekends, we had professional people play,” Dean explained. “It was fantastic, but it had to do with whoever was in charge of the food services, right? [....] And after about five years, they got a new company, and the guys walked in, and they looked around and said, 'We're thinking sports bar, not jazz.' And it was over, it's just done like that overnight.”
This hiccup was brief, however, as a new establishment was entering the scene. Shortly after Upstairs Jazz Bar & Grill was founded in 1995, McGill and the club owners struck up a lasting friendship. Today, you can find students from all facets of McGill’s jazz program performing every Tuesday night during the academic year with no cover fee included on the bill.
From its inception, getting students out of the classroom and performing in Montreal’s urban jungle was a core pillar of the curriculum. Jazz performance students are expected to organize their own jazz combos and, after rehearsing, the bands leave the practice rooms and take the stage. However, unlike other universities, McGill distinguishes itself by giving its combos the freedom to exercise any musical avenues that pique their interests.
“[We] let students form their own groups with the people that are like-minded in the kind of music that they want to play, and let them choose a supervisor that has similar musical tastes,” Dean explained.
As a result, the variety of music found in these combos knows no bounds. One group might prioritize notable Blue Note records, the next might spin its influence on a tune from an Australian rock band, and the last might transport the audience to Brazil with a few bossa nova tunes. Students are also encouraged to write and perform original compositions, especially as a means of developing their own sound. Rather than rejecting the broad spectrum of jazz, the program cultivates an environment that accommodates students and their interests, which, in turn, assures prospective concert-goers that there is something for everyone.
Students are also encouraged to play with people of all ages and experience. On a given night, an audience might find undergraduate and graduate students playing alongside one another, sometimes even accompanied by a professor. In an interview with The Tribune, Vancouver-born saxophonist Ingrid Li, U2 Music in Jazz Performance, shared her own experiences playing in these collaborative spaces.
“Something so special about jazz is just the culture of sharing the stage with different generations of players, like old players and young players coming together to play [….] When I was in first year, to play with fourth years and hear them, and just be inspired, and have a better idea of the sound that I would like to make for my own horn,” Li explained.
At Upstairs, monthly shows like Lex French’s Young Lions and Kevin Dean Presents The Next Generation serve as a pedestal for young musicians to play on their own bill, while also experiencing a professional setting with a well-established artist. But professional gigs are not the only undertakings that excite a motivation to practice. Whether through jam sessions at Upstairs, in a practice room, or even in Dean’s office, students are always looking for an opportunity to play alongside other musicians.
“We play because we want to swing […] and it doesn't matter if maybe someone's been playing for four years, or if someone's been playing their whole life. We can just play the same tune and learn from each other and have a good time,” Li said.
With the closure of The House of Jazz in 2020, Upstairs and Diese Onze stand as the last remnants of Montreal’s traditional jazz listening rooms. Yet even as the local clubs become increasingly more competitive, students are still finding opportunities to play throughout the city on their own accord. One of Li’s first professional gigs in Montreal was at Barbossa’s Monday Jazz Nights, and she has since performed at countless other venues, including Théâtre Sainte-Catherine, P’tit Ours, and Casa Del Popolo. While these spaces offer productive atmospheres for musicians to showcase their abilities, venues solely dedicated to jazz and its development are few in number, leaving the door for opportunity wide open.
The success of Upstairs, Diese Onze, and the Off Festival de Jazz de Montréal speaks to the city’s demand for lasting jazz sites that promote local talent. Vigilant of this fact, three musicians seized the opportunity to capitalize on it. Raphael Roy-Dumouchel, Sajid Baina, and Nikola Haddad-Edizel are in the midst of premiering Cabaret Jazz L'Entracte, a non-profit listening room located on Rue Peel & Rue Sainte-Catherine O. The venue will be the only jazz club in Montreal with a stage large enough to comfortably host a big band. Additionally, an organ will accompany the space.
In an interview with The Tribune, Roy-Dumouchel, the artistic director of L’Entracte, as well as a McGill jazz performance student, spoke about the club’s mission.
“We wanted it from the get-go to be a nonprofit, to make sure we can maintain the mission and vision […] it has to be the musician first [….] The musicians need to be comfortable and respected in the place,” Roy-Dumouchel explained.
L’Entracte is expected to open in the coming months and, with it, a new space for Montreal’s musicians to collaborate, entertain, and engage themselves and audiences in the music they love.
“Our mission is mainly about the local scene. Let’s put Montreal back on the map for jazz, because it was the jazz capital of Canada, but now it feels like it’s more Toronto. Let’s bring it back here,” Roy-Dumouchel said. “Hopefully, we are going to be able to get big artists, but not only that, we want more of a local scene, a little bit like Upstairs and Diese Onze already do, but with more opportunity for the younger generation.”
A distinct quality that separates Montreal’s jazz scene from other major cities is its accessibility. Audiences rarely feel the burden of a $30+ CAD ticket outside of a prominent concert venue. Consequently, finding musicians to love and support has never been easier. This is especially the case for jazz in all its facets. With a fresh venue in the mix and countless musicians who are uncompromising in their desire to bring music to every corner of Montreal, a time to engage with local artists and businesses has never been more convenient. The environment is constantly changing, accommodating listeners of every taste and walk of life. Its limits are not bound by a temporary spectacle, but by a collective effort of artists, enthusiasts, and audiences who are unwavering in their commitment to develop Montreal’s musical community, day in and day out.
Go out and experience the music and the culture that accompanies it. Discover an emerging artist or an established one. Support a local business, and be a part of a shared effort to sustain and uplift this community’s creative endeavours. Its doors are open, its energy is unmatched, and you surely will be eager for more. So, find a show, grab a seat, and witness the dynamic atmosphere that Montreal’s jazz scene upholds.
February 20th: Remi Bolduc présente Les Esprits Oubliés, Diese Onze
February 22nd: Lex French’s Young Lions, Upstairs Jazz Bar & Grill
February 24th: Ingrid Li Quartet ft. Rumi Johnson, Emmet Murray, and Dylan Cudmore, Upstairs Jazz Bar & Grill
February 27th & 28th: Mike Bruzzese Quartet Featuring Lenny White, Jean-Michel Pilc & Ira Coleman, Upstairs Jazz Bar & Grill
March 22nd: Kevin Dean Presents The Next Generation, Upstairs Jazz Bar & Grill