Lovers of traditional French-Canadian music, rejoice! (And considering that this is Wesleyan, there might actually be a few of you out there.) One of the world’s best-known Québécois folk bands, Le Vent Du Nord, will be performing this Friday at 8:00 pm in Crowell Concert Hall to satisfy all your north-of-the-border musical needs.
According to the band’s bilingual website (which I first attempted to read in French to justify procrastinating on my French homework by writing this article), instrumentalists Nicolas Boulerice, Simon Beaudry, Olivier Demers, and Réjean Brunet have been jamming to traditional Québécois folk songs since 2002, as well as performing their own original compositions.
“On stage, these four friends achieve peaks of happiness they eagerly share with any and all audiences,” their biography cheerily states. “Le Vend Du Nord know how to deliver music that will move any crowd—to their feet and in their hearts!” To me, this is a description befitting of a Wiggles concert.
Unlike the Wiggles, however, each member of Le Vent Du Nord boasts a résumé of multi-instrumental musical talents more impressive and unique than the last. Boulerice plays something called a hurdy-gurdy, which Wikipedia informed me is like a fiddle operated by a wheel and keyboard, as well as the piano. Demers fiddles, foot-taps, and has a background in guitar. Brunet expresses his passion for traditional music through the accordion, and Beaudry plays the guitar, which the website poetically described as “rich [and] personal.”
The band has been nominated for a number of awards befitting their wide range of musical talents. Their first album, “Maudite Moisson”, won a Juno award (the Canadian equivalent of a Grammy) in 2004. Their most recent album, “La Part du Feu,” was recently nominated for the ADISQ award for Best Traditional Album. (ADISQ stands for Association Québécoise de l’Industrie du Disque, du Spectacle et de la Vidéo. Yeah, I don’t know how that acronym works either.)
Le Vent Du Nord’s current tour promotes their new album, as well as the group’s new direction towards more original compositions that are still influenced by French, Irish, and Native American folk music.
“I first saw them in the summer of 2008 at the Old Songs Music Festival in New York State, and I was thoroughly impressed by their energy, talent and personality both as a group and as individuals,” Concert Committee Chair Donovan Arthen ’11 wrote on the CFA Blog. “Their performances are both beautiful and exciting.”
Arthen also mentioned that the group had an open jam session Thursday evening for students interested in playing with the band. Additionally, there will be a pre-concert talk on Friday at 7:15 pm.
“Every performance is a hit!” reads the band’s website, with its characteristic ebullience. Clearly, this is one show you don’t want to miss.
Le Vent du Nord will perform Friday, September 24, at 8 p.m. in Crowell Concert Hall. Tickets are $6 for Wesleyan students.