Le Jazz Big Band
529jazz@videotron.ca

It has survived in synonymity with Vic Vogel some 35 years, and has borne the fruit of his considerable imagination in exquisite aural sculpture. It is the ring of brass, breath of reeds, bells that measure harmony, a trap that captures time.

It is a rehearsal that schedules are built around, that turns an unauspicious nightclub into a drillhall for jazz. Imagine: You’re walking below Sherbrooke, down Sanguinet on a quiet Monday evening in Montreal. Suddenly you’re assaulted by a fury of horns and rhythm echoing uphill, the sound drawing you closer and closer until you find yourself in a bar with chairs for 40, 17 of which are occupied by Le Jazz Big Band, leaving only elbow room at the bar. There in front of you are some of Montreal’s crack jazz teamsters; people like Dave Turner, Ron Di Lauro, Dave Gelfand, Janis Steprans. At the centre stands maestro Vogel, debugging a new chart or dusting off a classic like Tadd’s Delight or Mood Indigo, pointing his cues and occasionally reducing one of his charges to ashes for some unspeakable faux pas. By works’ end however there is camaraderie and good humour left, and surprisingly, oxygen.

Vic Vogel’s big band numbers among its fans and friends prime ministers, presidents and royalty. A pianist, composer/arranger of literally Olympic proportions, it was Vogel who scored the opening and closing ceremonies for the 1976 Olympic Games. He has shared the stage with Dizzy Gillespie, Slide Hampton, Cannonball Adderly and incidentally another Montrealer, Maynard Ferguson.

But it is Le Jazz Big Band that secured an international reputation for Vogel with tours dates and albums piling up.