Montréalités Origins

By Laurie Dujardin

By Laurie Dujardin

I was sitting at home early on a Tuesday morning, working diligently on a writing assignment with the TV on quietly in the background. Global Morning News was on and Richard Dagenais was saying "you're in for a treat, smoking hot Canadian guitarist Philip Sayce is coming out with a new album called Influence". I looked up and saw a nice looking guy, with an earnest and soft-spoken way about him, saying his album pays tribute to his musical heroes as well as some original numbers. He highlighted all the people who had helped him. Then Richard said Philip had spent a lot of time touring with Jeff Healey, Melissa Etheridge, ZZ Top, Deep Purple...okay, NOW he really had my attention.

When Richard asked what it takes to impress him in other musicians, Philip said "it has everything to do with what's coming from inside (puts his hand over his heart), whether they've played for one day or a hundred years, as long as it's an expression of what that person is feeling. It's not about the style of music, it's not about anything but an emotional expression." Here I caught my breath, as it's the same thing I have been saying for years, only I usually just say "as long as it's got soul".

Richard said "You're playing the Petit Campus tonight; tell people what they're gonna see". Philip answered "They're gonna see a whole lot of heart, a whole lot of feeling. We put everything we have into every song. We do some old songs, some new songs; we like to pay respect to people, like maybe Neil Young, but we do it in our own way so it's not about copying or covering it".

Next, Richard said, "Tell us about the song you're about to play, which you wrote it for and played it at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Concert." I was now at full attention. "Yeah", said Philip, "I had that incredible opportunity just over a year ago, at Madison Square Gardens, and I played by myself, and so it's a wonderful opportunity to play it again now ". Then he proceeded to play, like he was born playing, Steamroller. A couple of minutes in and I knew I was listening to one of the all-time greats, and it was as if this unlikely-looking and super-humble, quiet guy was channeling all the legendary axe men. I was completely in awe. I've included the clip here so you can see for yourself.

By Laurie Dujardin

I have been inspired by the award-winning movie/documentary ALIVE INSIDE. The film was made in 2014 by Michael Rossato-Bennett. He follows social worker Dan Cohen, founder of non-profit organization Music & Memory as he demonstrates the power of music to overcome memory loss and restore a sense of self to those suffering from dementia. He wants to offer this service to nursing home residents. Frustratingly, the pharmaceutical corporations do everything they can to prevent this. Of course, THEY want to keep everyone on prescriptions drugs with all their attendant problems. I am really hoping that many others will take up Dan Cohen's fight.

First of all, we know that music bypasses the conscious mind and goes directly to the subconscious, and that it has the power to change or control our mood. I know this from my own experience as Salsa music, played loudly, is guaranteed to lift me out of feelings of sadness or exhaustion to the point where I can't help but dance. Hypnotherapists as well as marketers certainly know the power of music as they enclose subliminal suggestions within music.

To really understand my friend Lorna you have to know that she hails from Alberta originally. In the midst of all sorts of calamities she is the one who remains calm, quiet, helpful, methodical and kind. The thing that maybe stands out the most is her resourcefulness. She once whipped up a pair of luxurious drapes for her living room in a half an hour and I have the feeling that if she had to, she could figure out how to build a house!

Lorna has been teaching Communication at Universite de Montreal for the last 15 years. We recently sat down over dinner after I approached her with the idea of highlighting her unique desire and struggle to become a Francophone - that is, to live her whole life in French in a French environment.

I asked her if she would speak at length about her ambition and search to become a Francophone. I am going to quote her verbatim here, excepting the various um's and er's, as follows.

Q: What made you think of moving to Montreal, to begin with?

Lorna: I guess I was always interested in things that were different. I would spend hours looking at the Atlas and hours looking at maps and imagining places I could go and what it might be like there. Also looking at National Geographic magazines and imagining those places as well. I grew up in the time of Bilingual Policy and Trudeau's vision of a bilingual Canada and I really bought into that too and thought it would be a really good thing to be bilingual. I had my little French lessons at school, but I don't think I could actually say I learned French at school - it wasn't much and the teachers weren't Francophone. But I had this ambition and I was always hungry for something different, so when I was able, I moved away from Alberta and came east to Montreal. I was 21. In my high school there were also a number of teachers who'd come from Montreal to work there, so they talked to me about Montreal, especially one I was fairly friendly with. So the idea of coming to Montreal started to appeal to me and seemed fairly exotic, while not quite as exotic as going to China or something. So I got in my car with all my stuff and drove east to Montreal.

By Laurie Dujardin

Goran Bregovic may be the greatest musical genius of our time. His music has crossed more genres, and all boundaries are erased in its all-encompassing sweep. It is fitting that he comes from Sarajevo (b.1950), sometimes referred to as the belly button of the world. He calls himself Yugoslavian since he is born of a Croatian father and Serbian mother. Listening to his interviews, you find a very low key, unassuming and surprisingly self-effacing man. He is full of boyish charm even at his age, and is extremely attractive, to women in particular. He has the romantic looks of many of the great composers through time, including his famously lush and longish locks. His countenance emanates warmth and childlike innocence and there is joy in his ever present, natural smile.

By Laurie Dujardin

I grew up in an isolated town in a valley surrounded by high mountains on Vancouver Island. Everything revolved around forestry as well as the pulp and paper mills, the putrid, all-pervasive stench of which hung over the town, day in and day out like a heavy shroud. Due to the heavy rainfall, it at least appeared as a beautiful green place, with huge trees and flowers and gardens. That which we call culture was sorely lacking and entertainment usually involved boating, camping or fishing along with woodsmen competitions of various sorts. There was also a LOT of excessive drinking followed by numerous bar brawls, again a type of competition to see who was the stronger.