Montreal guitarist Mike Rud is finishing work on a recording inspired by some of Quebec’s most loved literary giants. Notes on Montreal presents songs based on characters created by francophone novelists Gabrielle Roy, Michel Tremblay and Dany Laferrière, as well as anglophone authors Mordecai Richler and Heather O'Neill. The album presents an alluring musical profile of some of Montreal's unique inner city neighbourhoods.
We liked Rud's idea so much that we invited him, along with some of Montreal's first-call jazz musicians, into studio to film three of the new songs. Then we moved outside to capture exterior shots from the neighbourhoods connected to each novel. The videos are below for you to enjoy, with brief explanations from Rud.
'Smoked Meat and the Main'
"Mordecai Richler's novel Barney's Version features scenes set in Dink's bar. There are many such bars on Bishop and Crescent, and over the years they've often featured Montreal jazz musicians. The Upstairs Club, home to so much jazz, started out on Bishop. So these scenes came pre-loaded with associations for me."
'Florentine'
"I discovered Saint-Henri on foot a lot last summer. What amazed me was how well Gabrielle Roy's novel The Tin Flute captured the feeling for the place — it's still present even after all these years. One feels as though one might get a glimpse of these characters here at any moment."
'Baby'
"Carré St-Louis is one setting in Lullabies for Little Criminals, by Heather O'Neill. It's a place where you'll simultaneously find the beautiful and the not-so-beautiful. It's got an unmistakeable flavour though, which put this groove and melody in my head one day while I went by this park."
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