Last Thursday at the Lorne Watson Recital Hall, the Huu Bac Quintet performed before the astonished eyes of the audience. The concert was part of the Pros Series, a professional jazz and classical concert series.
Huu Bac Quintet is made up of Émie Rioux-Roussel on the piano, Jean-Félix Mailloux on the bass, Zoé Dumais on the violin and Huu Bac. Initially trained on jazz guitar at McGill University, he continues to learn new instruments such as the dan bau (Vietnamese monochord), the erhu (Chinese fiddle), and the violin. Jazz music incorporates styles from many cultures. During his stay in Peru, he encountered the melodies of the Andes and the rhythms of Afro-Peruvian music, which prompted him to learn the quena (Andean bamboo flute). As the band's drummer could not travel, he was replaced by a student from the Faculty of Music, Esteban Seunarine.
On stage, the quintet; a blend of cultures. Jazz melodies from the Andes, traditional sounds from China and Vietnam, and Afro-Peruvian rhythms blend perfectly under Huu Bac's mastery.
During the concert, each musician gets a chance to shine in the songs. The audience applauds each musician warmly. There's an excellent collaboration between the musicians and lots of energy on stage, a sight to behold. Throughout the concert, there's a superb complicity between the drummer and bassist. At the end of the concert, the bassist showed us some dance moves.
It was an excellent performance; I wouldn't hide from you that I would have spent the whole evening listening to other songs. It was a beautiful moment, with musicians as talented as they are warm. A fabulous artist whom I recommend discovering and who works magic on stage.
Huu Bac's first album is available on CD and streaming platforms like Spotify. Huu Bac is working on his second album, which will be released between March and May 2024.
We had the chance to meet Huu Bac, and ask the artist some questions!
Interview
Q: Could you tell us the story of this Quintet? How did it start?
After stopping my studies in jazz guitar at McGill University, I returned to my Asian roots and started to learn the dan bau at 23 years old, followed by the Chinese fiddle and the Andean bamboo flute. I wanted to have a band where I could express myself completely. I wanted a project where all those instruments and influences could be together. I went abroad and started to write my own music. Once back in Montreal, I met my friend, a pianist; we began to play as a duet. Later, a drummer joined, and Jean-Félix, who played the bass tonight, joined the band. In the end, a violinist completed the band, and there you go, I had my band. We did our first concert in 2013, which is almost ten years.
Q: Where did you start incorporating traditional instruments into your compositions?
As I said, I never had the idea of learning all of those instruments. Until I was 23 years old, I only played guitar, and I thought I would only be a guitar player all my life. After many years of playing the dan bau in traditional settings, the Chinese fiddle in traditional settings, and some South American bamboo flute with South American musicians, I just wanted to put that all together. Because in the end, as an artist, I wanted to express myself completely and honestly, and I felt there was no other project I could present all that together. After a while, I thought I had enough experience and was mature enough to build this project to express myself fully as an artist. I believe it is the ultimate goal of every artist to tell in musical terms who they are and what their life has been like in their history.
Q: What is your favourite song on the set, and why?
We did not play it tonight. It is called Sea Roads; it is about my family's trip out of Vietnam as refugees. It is one of my most significant accomplishments as a composer because it is very complex, but at the same time, you do not hear the complexity of the piece. I was able to match the emotion with the intellectual complexity of that piece. I am very proud of that piece.
Q: What inspires you?
What inspires me is meeting other musicians and artists. Develop a chemistry that will lead to an influence of mine. I accidentally got into all those instruments (dan bau, erhu, quena) because I saw someone play. For me, music is a very people-oriented business. At least, I developed my own signature by playing with many different musicians from different backgrounds and musical cultures, and it inspires me a lot. For example, the first composition we played at the show was influenced by a Senegal choral player I played with at a festival in Montreal. Encounters inspire a lot of my compositions. Meeting and discovering different cultures definitely inspires me a lot. Unconsciously, I tried to find the shared human expression that is universal. The bottom line is that we all have the same human experience. We just express it in different languages and instruments.
Q: How did you find Brandon?
We had little time, but we ate in a delicious Ethiopian restaurant. It was so good, and we had too much food. The Brandon University campus is beautiful, and the people, too, are beautiful. For me, I am more interested in people tourism, meeting people, and getting to have local friends. Up to now, Brandon's people have been very friendly.
Q: How did you find the drummer Esteban Seunarine?
He was so professional, so good. He was very well prepared; I am sure he worked very hard. He is very talented, has a good listening capacity, and has a good groove. I think he's got an amazing future. It was a pleasure to play with him.
Q: What’s next?
The next thing for me is for the next two months, I have to finish my second album. Some tracks are recorded, I have to re-record some others, and I have to do the mixing and all of the post-production. I am also working on a CD in collaboration with a citare player. Also, I will go to Cameroon for six weeks in January to work with a vocal musician. I have been studying a lot of African rhythms for the last five years, and I worked hard to get a residency in Africa and finally got one in Cameroon. I am really excited to learn more about their music, especially rhythm since it is so groovy. I hope to work with some vocal musicians, record and have a concert at the end. I want to compose, meet some musicians, learn some of their music and, through that, find inspiration to write my own music. After that, I have a residency of two weeks in France, and then I am coming [back to Canada] in March. I will have one date in British Columbia, Alberta, Winnipeg, and perhaps more. Then, I will launch my second CD between March and May. We will also have a tour on the West Coast of the US and then a tour in China during the summer.
We at The Quill wish the Huu Bac Quintet all the best for the future! And we hope to see them again soon!