Biography
Montreal-born guitarist Bernard Falaise remains rooted in his hometown, where he surged into prominence during the closing years of the 1990s through frequent appearances in numerous Ambiances Magnétiques-affiliated projects, most notably the avant-rock ensembles featuring drummer Rémi Leclerc such as Miriodor, Les Projectionnistes, and Papa Boa. His presence also extends across the free-improvisation circuit, where he has performed alongside Klaxon Gueule and Robert M. Lepage. Falaise’s singular approach to the instrument—sometimes gritty and sharply twangy, at other moments richly atmospheric—places him among singular figures such as René Lussier. In addition, he maintains a busy schedule as a sought-after record producer while carving out time to write contemporary classical works for the tango group Quartango and the saxophone quartet Quasar.
Born in 1965, Falaise has revealed scant information about his early development. He took up the guitar during adolescence and approached music through the lens of progressive rock, with King Crimson’s Robert Fripp serving as a clear reference point. Formal studies led to professional engagements in the early 1990s, at which point he entered the avant-prog outfit Miriodor. The band’s fourth release, Jongleries Élastiques, appeared in 1995 and first exposed his playing to enthusiasts of the style; the warm reception underscored his key role in revitalizing the group’s sonic identity. Leclerc, already connected to the Ambiances Magnétiques collective, facilitated Falaise’s introduction, after which the guitarist rapidly established himself as a preferred collaborator, joining Claude St-Jean’s Les Projectionnistes, Michel F. Côté’s Klaxon Gueule, André Duchesne’s Diesel (which left no recordings), and forming Papa Boa with Leclerc, saxophonist Pierre Labbé, and bassist Frédéric Roverselli.
Between 1999 and 2000 Falaise broadened his scope and reached larger audiences. Alongside Côté he supplied music for Robert Lepage’s film Nô and turned toward alternative pop acts, co-producing Jorane’s debut album in 1999 and, the following year, producing and performing on Marie-Jo Thériault’s widely praised La Maline. The acclaim and honors the latter disc received confirmed his standing as a forward-thinking producer. During the same period he issued his initial solo recording, Do, a set of layered guitar works, in 2000. Seven years later his second album under his own name, Clic, emerged, presenting Falaise on guitars, bass, banjo, mandolin, keyboards, percussion, turntables, and “manipulations diverses” together with several of Montreal’s most innovative players, among them saxophonist/flutist Jean Derome, clarinetist Lori Freedman, trombonist Tom Walsh, trumpeter Gordon Allen, drummer/percussionist Jean Martin, and marimbist Julien Grégoire.
Throughout the 2000s and into the following decade he sustained ties with other Ambiances Magnétiques artists, including the Unexpected, Martin Tétreault, and Mélanie Auclair, while continuing to perform and record with Miriodor on the albums Mekano (2001), Parade + Live at NEARfest (2005), Avanti! (2009), and Cobra Fakir (2013), the last of which also credits him as producer, mixer, editor, and co-engineer. A 2009 duo project with idiosyncratic singer/songwriter/poet Frank Martel yielded the album À l'Ecole du Ara. He has likewise appeared live with guitarist André Duchesne and violist/violinist Jean René in a revived trio configuration of Conventum, the pioneering folk-chamber-prog ensemble Duchesne originally established in the 1970s. Falaise’s third solo outing, S'Enfouir, arrived in 2012 and contained twenty frequently enigmatic, ambient-leaning miniatures realized solely through multi-tracked guitar, echoing the solitary method of his debut Do.
Born in 1965, Falaise has revealed scant information about his early development. He took up the guitar during adolescence and approached music through the lens of progressive rock, with King Crimson’s Robert Fripp serving as a clear reference point. Formal studies led to professional engagements in the early 1990s, at which point he entered the avant-prog outfit Miriodor. The band’s fourth release, Jongleries Élastiques, appeared in 1995 and first exposed his playing to enthusiasts of the style; the warm reception underscored his key role in revitalizing the group’s sonic identity. Leclerc, already connected to the Ambiances Magnétiques collective, facilitated Falaise’s introduction, after which the guitarist rapidly established himself as a preferred collaborator, joining Claude St-Jean’s Les Projectionnistes, Michel F. Côté’s Klaxon Gueule, André Duchesne’s Diesel (which left no recordings), and forming Papa Boa with Leclerc, saxophonist Pierre Labbé, and bassist Frédéric Roverselli.
Between 1999 and 2000 Falaise broadened his scope and reached larger audiences. Alongside Côté he supplied music for Robert Lepage’s film Nô and turned toward alternative pop acts, co-producing Jorane’s debut album in 1999 and, the following year, producing and performing on Marie-Jo Thériault’s widely praised La Maline. The acclaim and honors the latter disc received confirmed his standing as a forward-thinking producer. During the same period he issued his initial solo recording, Do, a set of layered guitar works, in 2000. Seven years later his second album under his own name, Clic, emerged, presenting Falaise on guitars, bass, banjo, mandolin, keyboards, percussion, turntables, and “manipulations diverses” together with several of Montreal’s most innovative players, among them saxophonist/flutist Jean Derome, clarinetist Lori Freedman, trombonist Tom Walsh, trumpeter Gordon Allen, drummer/percussionist Jean Martin, and marimbist Julien Grégoire.
Throughout the 2000s and into the following decade he sustained ties with other Ambiances Magnétiques artists, including the Unexpected, Martin Tétreault, and Mélanie Auclair, while continuing to perform and record with Miriodor on the albums Mekano (2001), Parade + Live at NEARfest (2005), Avanti! (2009), and Cobra Fakir (2013), the last of which also credits him as producer, mixer, editor, and co-engineer. A 2009 duo project with idiosyncratic singer/songwriter/poet Frank Martel yielded the album À l'Ecole du Ara. He has likewise appeared live with guitarist André Duchesne and violist/violinist Jean René in a revived trio configuration of Conventum, the pioneering folk-chamber-prog ensemble Duchesne originally established in the 1970s. Falaise’s third solo outing, S'Enfouir, arrived in 2012 and contained twenty frequently enigmatic, ambient-leaning miniatures realized solely through multi-tracked guitar, echoing the solitary method of his debut Do.
Albums
