Biography
In the middle years of the 1990s Montreal saxophonist Jean Derome centered his efforts on the ensemble Jean Derome et les Dangereux Zhoms. Between 1994 and 1998 the group issued three albums. Although its schedule later eased, the unit kept appearing on stages worldwide and ranked as the most widely traveled act on the Ambiances Magnétiques roster.
Nineteen ninety-two proved especially productive for Jean Derome. He completed the final and strongest recording by his duo Les Granules alongside René Lussier, launched the initial album by his trio Évidence, and handled numerous additional assignments that included scores for dance and theater. While maintaining an intense touring schedule he began noting musical impressions in a travel diary. The resulting “road music,” he concluded, required its own dedicated band. Drawing personnel from his concurrent projects, Derome assembled Jean Derome et les Dangereux Zhoms (“Jean Derome and the Dangerous Guyz,” preserving the deliberate misspelling). Conceived explicitly as a touring group, the sextet combined the avant-garde jazz trio Évidence (Derome, bassist Pierre Cartier, and drummer Pierre Tanguay) with guitarist Lussier from Les Granules and two longtime collaborators, trombonist Tom Walsh and keyboardist Guillaume Dostaler.
Derome composed a body of work for the ensemble that fused avant jazz, avant rock, and free improv, incorporating the Monk-derived stylings associated with Évidence, his own contrapuntal approach, and the distinctive stage humor long identified with Les Granules. The band delivered explosive live performances. Its debut took place at the tenth annual Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville (FIMAV) in Victoriaville, Quebec, in October 1992; subsequent shows followed in Montreal and along the East Coast. The first CD, Carnets de Voyage (Travel Diaries), appeared in 1994, followed a year later by Navré. Extensive touring continued through the United States and, soon afterward, Europe. By the close of 1997 strains between Derome and Lussier had escalated, ending their twenty-year partnership. The group entered hiatus while Derome assembled a live album from February 1996 recordings made at the Théâtre la Chapelle in Montréal. Torticolis reached the public in 1998, after which the three Dangereux Zhoms CDs were collected in the box set 1994-96. The story appeared concluded.
Derome revived the unit without Lussier in 1999. Local appearances remained rare and reserved for special occasions, such as a two-week Derome residency and retrospective at the Théâtre La Chapelle in 2000, yet the musicians continued regular engagements beyond Montréal. They performed at jazz festivals in Guelph and Vancouver, at the 2001 RingRing festival in the Czech Republic, and at the 2002 Edgefest in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In 2007 Jean Derome et les Dangereux Zhoms returned with the Ambiances Magnétiques album To Continue; the following year the group opened the twenty-fifth anniversary edition of FIMAV. On that occasion the five-piece core (Derome, Tanguay, Cartier, Walsh, and Dostaler) expanded to include seven guest artists from the Ambiances Magnétiques roster and the Montreal musique actuelle community: vocalist Joane Hétu, guitarist Bernard Falaise (of Miriodor), turntablist Martin Tétreault, clarinetist Lori Freedman, violist Jean René, violinist Nadia Francavilla, and trumpeter Gordon Allen. The enlarged ensemble presented two extended suites by Derome that featured characteristic structural devices and improvisational space; the concert was captured on Plates-Formes et Traquenards, issued by the Victo label in 2009. Les Dangereux Zhoms (Derome, Tanguay, Cartier, and Dostaler, joined by guests Olivier Maranda on marimba and percussion and Ellwood Epps on trumpet) also contributed to Derome’s 2015 contemporary classical release Musiques de Chambres, 1992-2012, performing his 1992 composition “Cinq Études Pour Figures.” ~ François Couture
Nineteen ninety-two proved especially productive for Jean Derome. He completed the final and strongest recording by his duo Les Granules alongside René Lussier, launched the initial album by his trio Évidence, and handled numerous additional assignments that included scores for dance and theater. While maintaining an intense touring schedule he began noting musical impressions in a travel diary. The resulting “road music,” he concluded, required its own dedicated band. Drawing personnel from his concurrent projects, Derome assembled Jean Derome et les Dangereux Zhoms (“Jean Derome and the Dangerous Guyz,” preserving the deliberate misspelling). Conceived explicitly as a touring group, the sextet combined the avant-garde jazz trio Évidence (Derome, bassist Pierre Cartier, and drummer Pierre Tanguay) with guitarist Lussier from Les Granules and two longtime collaborators, trombonist Tom Walsh and keyboardist Guillaume Dostaler.
Derome composed a body of work for the ensemble that fused avant jazz, avant rock, and free improv, incorporating the Monk-derived stylings associated with Évidence, his own contrapuntal approach, and the distinctive stage humor long identified with Les Granules. The band delivered explosive live performances. Its debut took place at the tenth annual Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville (FIMAV) in Victoriaville, Quebec, in October 1992; subsequent shows followed in Montreal and along the East Coast. The first CD, Carnets de Voyage (Travel Diaries), appeared in 1994, followed a year later by Navré. Extensive touring continued through the United States and, soon afterward, Europe. By the close of 1997 strains between Derome and Lussier had escalated, ending their twenty-year partnership. The group entered hiatus while Derome assembled a live album from February 1996 recordings made at the Théâtre la Chapelle in Montréal. Torticolis reached the public in 1998, after which the three Dangereux Zhoms CDs were collected in the box set 1994-96. The story appeared concluded.
Derome revived the unit without Lussier in 1999. Local appearances remained rare and reserved for special occasions, such as a two-week Derome residency and retrospective at the Théâtre La Chapelle in 2000, yet the musicians continued regular engagements beyond Montréal. They performed at jazz festivals in Guelph and Vancouver, at the 2001 RingRing festival in the Czech Republic, and at the 2002 Edgefest in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In 2007 Jean Derome et les Dangereux Zhoms returned with the Ambiances Magnétiques album To Continue; the following year the group opened the twenty-fifth anniversary edition of FIMAV. On that occasion the five-piece core (Derome, Tanguay, Cartier, Walsh, and Dostaler) expanded to include seven guest artists from the Ambiances Magnétiques roster and the Montreal musique actuelle community: vocalist Joane Hétu, guitarist Bernard Falaise (of Miriodor), turntablist Martin Tétreault, clarinetist Lori Freedman, violist Jean René, violinist Nadia Francavilla, and trumpeter Gordon Allen. The enlarged ensemble presented two extended suites by Derome that featured characteristic structural devices and improvisational space; the concert was captured on Plates-Formes et Traquenards, issued by the Victo label in 2009. Les Dangereux Zhoms (Derome, Tanguay, Cartier, and Dostaler, joined by guests Olivier Maranda on marimba and percussion and Ellwood Epps on trumpet) also contributed to Derome’s 2015 contemporary classical release Musiques de Chambres, 1992-2012, performing his 1992 composition “Cinq Études Pour Figures.” ~ François Couture
Albums
