Welcome to the newly updated Press section, friends! We tried to put all the articles we could find. You can click through to the website featuring the article by clicking on the title, or you can read it right here. If you ever find any press on Chic Gamine that we may have missed, please let us know as we’d love to post them. Thanks and happy reading!
Bonjour! Nous avons maintenant ajouté plein d’articles qui ont paru sur Chic Gamine dans les derniers deux ans. Vous pouvez accéder aux sites respectifs en cliquant les titres, ou les lire ici, sur notre site. Si jamais vous connaissez un article que nous avons manqué, svp nous le faire parvenir car il nous ferait plaisir de le découvrir. Merci et bonne lecture!
October 2009
MUSIC REVIEW
Canadian ensemble’s debut recording is eclectic and often funny
By Karen Stiller
I sometimes get nervous when told that a group uses their voices as instruments. All of a sudden, I start thinking about a lion sleeping at night. But it’s still amazing to hear a quintet like Winnipeg- and Montreal-based Chic Gamine blend and meld their voices voices that you can, refreshingly, still tell apart. Gamine’s self-titled debut, comprised of 12 original tracks, was released independently in June 2008 and scooped the 2009 Juno for roots and traditional album.
I listened to Chic Gamine sitting at my computer trying to work. Bad idea. I was distracted by the often-funny lyrics of the songs, like, I really want to brush your hair, even on your fuzzy little feet.
(At least, I think that’s what they were saying.) Or really moving songs like Old Jerusalem, a piece that brings in a Gospel touch typical of roots music.
At times, Chic Gamine reminded me of the all-female African-American a cappella ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rocks. In the album’s second track, I Don’t Lie, I could hear the influence of R&B bad girl Amy Winehouse. The music demands your attention, partly, I think, because it’s unpredictable and combines so many different elements, honouring each style as well as the singers honour each other’s voices. This group can sing, and it can write. Their voices are rich, deep, smoky
and sultry, and they sound like they’re having a blast. This isn’t music to work to, though: it’s for sitting on the porch or dancing with your kid, which is a lot more fun anyway.
Karen Stiller is a writer in Port Perry, Ont.
August 2009
Vocal heroes
Winnipeg Free Press - Print Edition
From the ashes of Madrigaïa, Chic Gamine soars
By Morley Walker
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
That old saw seems to be the motto of busy Winnipeg vocal quintet Chic Gamine, who will perform their first full home concert Tuesday at the West End Cultural Centre (tickets $21 in advance, $25 at the door).
Two years ago this lively fivesome, consisting of four female singers and one male drummer, had just formed, three of the women from St. Boniface a cappella group Madrigaïa.
Without missing a beat, they picked a new name, found a catchy sound and recorded a CD near Montreal. They have performed around North America, heard their songs played on national radio, won a Juno Award for best roots album and earned nominations from the Canadian folk and Western Canadian music associations.
“We’re not in a hurry to be a flash in the pan,” says group member Andrina Turenne, 27.
“We don’t need to have a hit record or meet Britney Spears. We just want to keep doing the best we can do.”
Madrigaïa came to a fork in the road in the late spring of 2007. Three of its seven members, including Ariane Jean and Annick Brémault, wanted to continue singing together.
They still had a relationship with a U.S. booker, the Herschel Freeman Agency of Tennessee. Freeman told them he’d be able to hold their spot in a Los Angeles industry showcase in late August if they came up with a new name and some material.
The women went to work. They wanted a fourth voice, for harmonic versatility, and chose Alexa Dirks, a newcomer they’d heard with her band Little Boy Boom at the King’s Head Pub.
They also wanted a drummer, to provide the rhythmic heartbeat. The previous winter they had hit it off with a Montrealer, Sacha Daoud, who had been in a world beat group called Gaia, a good omen.
They drew up a list of group names that worked in French and English, because they planned to continue mining a bilingual vein in their lyrics.
After settling on Chic Gamine (which they pronounce “shik gah-min,” in the Franco-Manitoban way), the five musicians holed up in Turenne’s parents’ Lac du Bonnet cottage, where they wrote and arranged 90 minutes of material in less than a week.
Then they piled into an un-air-conditioned 1996 Mazda MPV for the long drive to California. “It was hot,” Dirks, 21, recalls. “We were hanging out the windows at gas stations.”
Their 15-minute showcase performance, to poker-faced industry types, was as unremarkable as these things tend to be.
But a concert Freeman had arranged for them shortly after, at Northern California’s Strawberry Festival, had crowds stomping their approval.
In November they booked a small recording studio near Montreal, owned by a friend of Daoud’s.
They felt they couldn’t tour successfully without a CD to serve as a calling card and to sell from the stage.
The total financial investment to get them up and running was close to six figures.
But the gamble paid off. Their self-titled album, which they released in June 2008, caught on with fans and critics.
They made a guest appearance at Festival du Voyageur this past winter and at the Winnipeg Folk Festival in 2008. They’ve also done numerous gigs in Canada but much of their time has been spent on the road in the U.S.
They opened for Smokey Robinson in Idaho and jammed with Mavis Staples during their second appearance at the Strawberry Festival. They paid off their debt within 18 months and bought themselves a van, a 2007 Ford E350.
“It’s amazing what they’ve done in only two years,” says Dirks’ father, Ray, a Winnipeg artist and curator.
“All four women are leader types, yet they’re really do love each other and they stick up for each other, which is rare in that business.”
Daoud, 33, says he counts his lucky stars being the lone male in the band.
“The women are very organized and focused,” he says. “Somebody always makes sure there’s gas in the van.”
Their manager, Nova Scotia-based André Bourgeois, believes they have big potential. “The multilingual nature of what they do opens a lot of doors,” he says.
“They’re built for speed in a world where major labels are falling away. When people hear them, they love them.”
Speaking of love, that first winter, Daoud hooked up with Brémault. Their first child is due in November.
Because of this, the Chics will take a breather this fall after they do another industry showcase in September in Phoenix.
They plan to write new material while they await the blessed event and record a second album in January in Montreal.
Then next spring, they’ll be back in the van with an extra passenger.
“The baby will provide a great vibe,” Daoud says. “Life goes on.”
The four Winnipeg chicks in the pop quintet Chic Gamine come from a cultured background. And we don’t mean they ate a lot of yogurt.
1 - ANNICK BRÉMAULT, 31
– is the daughter of singer-songwriter Nicole Brémault and musician and film producer Norm Dugas. Her sibs are musicians Sarah and Christian Dugas, both currently with the Winnipeg roots band the Duhks.
2 - ARIANE JEAN, 28
– is the daughter of Gérard Jean, the Ziz half of the famed ’70s St. Boniface musical duo Gerry & Ziz, and Lorraine Jean, a flutist and pianist in her youth.
3 - ANDRINA TURENNE, 27
– is the daughter of Gérald Turenne, a founder of the Festival du Voyageur, and Lorraine Turenne, a former singer in Les Fantaises.
4 - ALEXA DIRKS, 21
– is the daughter of Winnipeg artist and curator Ray Dirks and Katie Dirks, a former singer in her college choirs.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 13, 2009 E10
Uptown Magazine: Chic Gamine getting slicker - in a good way
Roots ensemble is still honing its chops - even after winning a Juno
By Jen Zoratti
Earlier this year, something unexpected happened to Chic Gamine. The Winnipeg/Montreal vocal quintet won a Juno award for its self-titled debut - an album that was independently recorded on a shoestring budget.
“We were just completely surprised by the nomination,” says vocalist Andrina Turenne, 27, over the phone from Montreal.
“We were like, ‘Holy smokes!’ It was so flattering and so exciting for us, that was it - it was sweet. We had booked shows throughout the Junos, so we kept going on with the tour.
“We were playing a show in Hamilton, Mont., on the night of the awards and a friend had called us and told us we had won. We were in a total celebrating mood for the second half of the show. (No kidding - after the gig, the group recorded a two-minute song/acceptance speech they promptly posted to YouTube.)
“It took a while for it to sink in,” Turenne continues. “We made this record three months after we got together. We did it in a short amount of time, and it was such a labour of love for us. We were so excited it got recognized.”
It’s not just folks at the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences who have taken notice of Chic Gamine and its ethereal, genre-spanning sound. Since forming in 2007, the group - rounded out by singers Ariane Jean, Alexa Dirks, Annick Brémault and drummer/percussionist Alexandre Sacha Daoud - has become one of this province’s most in-demand musical exports, steadily criss-crossing the continent over the past year.
The record, which the quintet has been selling at gigs and online, has a lot to do with Chic Gamine’s success on the road. Despite only being a band for three months, the group wisely decided to lay down an album right away because, as any fledgling band knows, you can’t tour on T-shirt sales alone.
“Sorry I’m hogging,” Turenne says, apologizing to Dirks and Jean, who are also on speaker phone. “I think that making the first record was a necessity. We were serious about being a band, so we needed to get music out there. We were really into the idea of this project, and we wanted to jump into it. We couldn’t lose time.
“We’re making a new record now and the process is completely different,” she says.
“Now, we actually have time to think of a concept - not necessarily for a concept record, but we’ll have more of a vision for the collection as a whole.”
Thanks to their tireless touring, the members of Chic Gamine will also have a better sense of how they work together.
“For the most part, we’re still getting to know each other,” Dirks, 22, says. “The others knew each other from before, but myself and our drummer just sort of jumped in. But I think the most exciting part was discovering that we really loved working together. We took a big risk together.”
The musical partnership between Turenne, Jean and Brémault is a longstanding one. The trio sang together in the renowned local vocal ensemble Madrigaïa, which disbanded in 2007 after eight years and two albums.
“When Madrigaïa ended, everyone went their own ways, but some of us wanted to stick together,” Jean, 29, says.
“The three of us had been singing together since before Madrigaïa,” Turenne adds. “We weren’t done singing together yet.”
Still, Chic Gamine is a new project for everyone involved - but the band is finding its groove.
“We did our first songwriting session for the new record a few days ago and Annick said, ‘Do you notice how much faster we are?’ and I guess that’s true,” Dirks says. “We’re feeding off each other’s instincts more.”
“I feel the same way,” Turenne adds. “I can’t believe we’ve only been together for two years.”
CHIC GAMINE
Aug. 18, 8 p.m., West End Cultural Centre
May 2009
Métro Ottawa: Canada Day fun
Performers, festivities for nation’s birthday announced
TRACEY TONG/METRO OTTAWA
Ariane Jean, Alexa Dirks and Andrina Turenne, left to right, of Winnipeg/Montreal-based vocal quintet Chic Gamine, perform at the National Capital Commission’s Canada Day lineup announcement Thursday. Chic Gamine performs in Ottawa July 1.
Juno and Grammy-award-winning singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan, Quebec singer Marie-Mai, country star Shane Yellowbird and Acadian performer and actress Marie-Jo Therio will be headlining this year’s Canada Day festivities in the nation’s capital.
The National Capital Commission announced the entertainment lineup — among other details — on Thursday.
“I love the sight of hundreds of thousands of Canadians sharing in the Canada Day experience,” said NCC CEO Marie Lemay. “They’re all waving flags, and all singing the anthem together. It’s a powerful moment. It’s a day to celebrate our history and our culture.”
An estimated 350,000 people — including 70,000 on Parliament Hill alone — will attend this year’s festivities.
This year’s Canada Day noon show will highlight Canada’s hosting of the upcoming Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, and visitors will have an opportunity to meet some Olympic and Paralympic athletes, as well as Vancouver 2010 mascots.
Activities take place at three official sites: Parliament Hill and Major’s Hill Park in Ottawa, and Jacques-Cartier Park in Gatineau.
While the program at Parliament Hill includes a traditional flag-raising ceremony, the Changing of the Guard ceremony, and the world-famous RCMP Musical Ride performances, the evening show always draws a crowd, and this year, artists from all over Canada, including 2009 Juno Award winner Chic Gamine, Cassiopée and K’Naan will be featured.
Races of 5K, 3K and 1K distances start off the day at Jacques-Cartier Park, and visitors will be able to check out a Canadian Forces CF–18 Hornet and the aerial acrobatics shows of the ski and snowboard athletes, the Flying Canucks.
Visitors to Major’s Hill Park will also have the opportunity to stroll the Avenue of the 2009 Cultural Capitals of Canada, while the Ottawa Jazz Festival presents free programming at Confederation Park.
This year, Canada Day will be greener in the capital, said Lemay.
For the first time, the NCC will be measuring the carbon footprint of its operations on Canada Day.
April 2009
Paste Magazine
Kitsap Sun: AT THE ADMIRAL: Chic Gamine Rides the Fast Track into Bremerton
By Michael C. Moore
COURTESY PHOTO Chic Gamin (from left) are Annick Bremault, Ariane Jean, Alexa Dirks, Alexandre Sacha Daoud and Andrina Turenne.
If it weren’t for Alexandre Sacha Daoud, Chic Gamine could be nicknamed “Chick Gamine” — the Montreal-bred drummer is the only thing that keeps the five-piece band from being an all-female proposition.
His situation doesn’t present him with many drawbacks, though.
“I probably spend more time in the mall than I’d like,” laughs Daoud, who provides the beat for the mostly a cappella Canadian band, who visit the Admiral Theatre May 2. “I have good earplugs, for the van — they like to giggle and laugh. And shop.”
Daoud was the final cog in the construction of Chic Gamine, who rose from the ashes of the acclaimed, Winnipeg French Quarter-based female vocal group Madrigaia. When that group fell apart, three members — Annick Bremault, Ariane Jean and Andrina Turenne — decided they still wanted to sing together, and set about building a new band.
“They found Alexa (Dirks), also in Winnipeg, who’s a great soul singer and songwriter,” Daoud said.
The women already knew Daoud from working together with a band he was in in a CBC-sponsored concert.
“We became friends, from that day on,” Daoud says during a phone conversation from Lafayette, La., prior to a Chic Gamine gig at a music festival. “My band split about the same time as their band split, and I got the call to be part of the new project.”
One of the reasons Chic Gamine was able to get on the fast track almost from the get-go was that they honored some showcase dates (performances for industry insiders who book concert tours and theater shows) that had been lined up for Madrigaia. They had about three weeks to prepare before they found themselves playing their first showcase concerts in Los Angeles. That was in August, 2007.
The band also found time to compose and record their first (eponymously titled) CD, which won the Juno Award (Canada’s equivalent of the Grammy) for “Best Roots-Traditional Album of the Year” for 2008.
“We’re all kind of session musicians, too,” Daoud said, “so we’re used to picking things up fast, being under pressure.”
These days, Daoud says, Chic Gamine has all but banished cover versions from their concert repertoire.
“We do some covers, but nowadays I’d say 95 percent of what we play is our compositions,” he estimates. “In a two-set show, we have maybe 20 songs, and maybe two or three will be covers.
“Because everybody in the band is a writer, we don’t lack for (original) material.”
The writing process, to hear Daoud describe it, is completely organic. All five members contribute everything from ideas to nearly completed songs, in the form of demos. The orchestration is done pretty much as if the songs were to be played by musical instruments, except that in Chic Gamine’s case, the voices each take one of the parts.
“What happens a lot is one person will come in with a melody and lyrics, and the whole band will make the arrangement,” he says. “The songs could have a rock band do them, you know, but with us, this is not the case since our orchestration is what it is.”
The four women in the band all are musicians as well as singers, but non-vocal instrumentation — aside from percussion and an occasional guitar — rarely finds its way into their arrangements. There is ever more percussion, though, as the women are learning to bang on various things, and obliging Daoud to do some singing at the same time.
Daoud says reactions from concert audiences thus far have been buoying, and his original skepticism (”Are people gonna dig this?”) is long gone. He cites the primal nature of the band’s sound — voices and drums — for a lot of that acceptance.
“I think our music gets people in a subconscious and deep way,” he says. “Everyone can relate to it. It’s singing and hitting stuff.”
Daoud refers to his bandmates simply, and charmingly, as “the girls.” And, other than all that time waiting for them to emerge from various malls, he says he’s found a comfortable place performing and traveling with them.”A lot of people envy my position,” he says. “I’m working with four women who are very beautiful and very intelligent, talented women who respect themselves, but don’t take themselves too seriously. I feel fortunate to be in this band. We’re family; we treat each other right. We seem to be a good functioning unit.”
They certainly sound like one.
The Daily Page — Sconnies in Cajun country, Part 3: Early in the morning at Lafayette’s Blue Moon Saloon
The Quebe Sisters at the Blue Moon Saloon and Guest House
By Andy Moore
The rumor was that Dave Matthews would be among hard funking Marc Broussard’s sidemen Thursday night. The name could be heard as you walked through the thick crowds. Broussard addressed that when he got halfway through his set. “Dave Matthews is in South Carolina, y’all!”
The rumor alone is a symbol of the kind of unscheduled magic and unannounced star fire that can happen in a place like Lafayette.
Instead of Matthews, Broussard asked Louisiana legend Roddy Romero to join him. Romero is known in LA. as the namesake of what’s called the “Roddy Romero Law.” Romero began playing guitar (he’s primarily a piano player now) in bands when he was eight. The law prohibited minors from playing in bars at that time so Roddy plugged in, cabled out, and played his parts out back in alleys and service drives. The law was changed to allow underage musicians to perform in clubs if a guardian is present.
Romero was a hot add to Broussard’s unit, but his already smoking set peaked when he invited Manitoba’s Chic Gamine to the stage, a band we vowed later in the night–or I should say early this morning—to bring to La Fete de Marquette. The Juno Award winners may be filling an empty slot in this summer’s La Fete.
On the other of two stages Thursday night (they should have had another going given the intense turnout) we saw Chicha Libre, a psychedelic cumbia band based in New York. The crowd embraced them but the accordian/guitar/bass/percussion groove was too backgroundy for me. Cool, but like a movie soundtrack that needed visuals to go with it, if Quentin Tarrantino and Segio Leone ever made a movie together, that is.
The main stage highlight of the night was Locos Por Juana, Grammy nominees who hail from Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina, Puerto Rico, and Miami. As the geography would suggest, the group leans hard and fast into all manner of important contemporary music forms. Hip-hop, reggae, Latin Urban. The ska number they played close to the end of their set put the main stage audience in a frenzy.
Our team leader Bob Queen booked Locos for Orton Park Festival on August 28. It’ll be interesting to see what this band does to a relatively small outdoor festival environment. They’re live kegs of dynamite.
I wish I could give you a crowd estimate from last night but I’m bad at that. Here’s what Connie, one of four sisters (with their mom and dad) who run the Artist’s Village here at the Days Inn said when I asked her if she knew how many people came last night: “I don’t know exactly but honey we were holding each other up, weren’t we?”
Louisiana music crowds. Wow. Tiny children who dance like pros. Old people dancing with grandkids. All colors with all colors swirling and two-stepping and popping. Vendors in food tents ignoring hungry, would-be patrons with cash in hand as they dance behind the high wood counters.
After the festival ended around 11:00 p.m. we walked across town to the Blue Moon Saloon and Guest House.
From the front of the Blue Moon, standing on the small residential width of Convent Street, the place looks like an old house you’d see on Gorham Street. Well, LA. architectural designs are there, too. Like a wrought iron fence around the sandy front yard and a fat, screenless front porch with swing. Around back–and that’s what you do, literally walk around back on a path to the side of the home–is a half-outside-half-inside stage/dancefloor/bar area. That’s where the three-fiddle, Texas-based Quebe Sisters were performing when we arrived.
The place was on fire. This is a town and this particular weekend is a time when musicians take delight in mixing and matching their line-ups. The 2nd act of the night was Feufollet, Lafayette natives and veterans of La Fete de Marquette. Feufollet accordionist/fiddler Chris Stafford played with the sisters, only instead of his button accordion, he played an old hollow-body Gibson electric.
The sisters ended their set with a western swing version of “It’s a Sin to Tell a Lie,” three fiddles taking individual solo breaks and eventually, mercilessly, inevitably, pushing the crowd over the happy edge.
Feufollet’s set was rousing in the way that can only come when a hometown band shines in the light of their home club surrounded by hot musicians from around the world.
Stafford is as known for his fiddling as he is for his accordion work. While they’re only in their 20s now, he and band co-founder Chris Segura have been fiddling together since they were eleven.
A panorama of guests sat in with Feufollet including the bari sax and cornet players from North Carolina’s Firecracker Jazz Band and Juno Award winners from Manitoba, Chic Gamine, who Bob Queen is setting our sites on to fill an open slot for this year’s La Fete.
Close to 1:00 this morning, the incomparable zydeco innovator Cedric Watson came out from a shift behind the tiny club’s sound board and strapped on the button accordion to play with his friends.
Cedric Watson and his band, as well as Feufollet, are secured for this year’s La Fete de Marquette. They’ll perform at the Rue de Baldwin Street grounds on July 12.
A beer loving Wisconsinite doesn’t change his ways even in the heart of Acadiana. We’re spoiled to have a gazillion micro-brewed IPA choices in Madison. The only thing one can complain about is some of them have ridiculous names. I’m all foamed up about this because I forget that the mid-and-deep-southerners are neanderthals when it comes to beer drinking. Silos of Bud Light is the Festival beer of choice here in Lafayette and while drinking is encouraged for everything in Louisiana, what I wouldn’t give for a cold, beaded-up bottle of Kiss the Lips IPA while bopping around the festival.
Good thing I found an Abita Springs IPA, finally, at the Blue Moon. Much bitter, I mean better. Much hoppier. I mean happier.
Houston Press:
Aftermath: iFest in Downtown Houston
By William Michael Smith in Live Shots
Monday, Apr. 20 2009 @ 9:33AM
Photos by Chris Gray
Quebec’s Chic Gamine: a cappella gospel with percussion and soul.
iFest needed a breezy, not-too-hot, sunny Sunday to get back on track after Saturday’s torrential festival-cancelling rains. The festival got great weather; as I drove down Allen Parkway toward downtown, it looked like everybody in Houston had decided it was time to get outdoors.
Arriving at the Tranquility Park entrance to the festival, I was even more convinced. If you work in the media, you tend to think you know a lot of people. Well, it only took me ten minutes of pinballing my way through the marketing area and up the byways to the World Stage to get the feeling you don’t know anybody in this town.
I got off to a mellow start to this mellow day with Quebec’s Chic Gamine (pronounced cheek gameen). Think a capella group… with percussion. With four female vocalists, Chic Gamine is all about subtle layering and reliance on style, with one woman usually taking the lead vocal and the others supporting in a style that was often reminiscent of doo-wop groups or smart old-time pop groups like the Andrews Sisters - if Aretha Franklin had been in the Andrews Sisters.
Northern Ireland’s Beoga was searing indoors, no match for Big Sam’s Funky Nation outdoors.
We trekked over to the Mucky Duck’s pub set up on the City Hall steps and found ourselves in front of what I would eventually discover was some of the day’s most interesting music: Members of the Irish modernists Beoga sitting in with fiddler Kevin Burke and guitarist Cal Scott. Irish music at its best is a frantic, searing thing, and this was as frantic and searing as anything I saw all day.
Beausoleil’s Michael Doucet (left) put on a Cajun music clinic to close out the day.
Finishing our Guinness, we ate some kabobs and waited for Beoga’s main performance to begin. Unfortunately, Big Sam’s Funky Nation was blasting away on the Louisiana Stage and within minutes it became apparent that Beoga’s pretty tunes were being hampered by Big Sam’s aural interference, so we gave up on Beoga and moseyed over and caught the end of Sam’s set.
The band was really cooking, propelled by monster drummer Chocolate Milk. By now the beer and sun were starting to take a toll on my brain and feet, but we hung in to see Lafayette vets Michael Doucet avec Beausoleil, and it was well worth the wait. Doucet is a living Cajun music resource as well as a virtuoso, and he plays with the best players in South Louisiana. Beausoleil had people up on their feet shaking their butts.
March 2009
Big Top announces three more shows
Published 04/14/2009, Duluth News Tribune
Gov’t Mule, Lura and Chic Gamine have been added to the summer lineup at Big Top Chautauqua
March 5, 2009 by DirtyLinen
HOUSTON — The 2009 Houston International Festival spotlighting Ireland, is proud to announce the music lineup showcasing a host of top artists from around the globe. The 38th annual Festival returns to downtown Houston April 18-19 and 25-26, 2009, featuring continuous music, dance and cultural performances on 12 stages.
Headlining the Bud Light World Music Stage in Lower Sam Houston Park are funk legends the Ohio Players, April 18; soul/gospel queen Mavis Staples, April 19; South African jazz trumpeter Hugh Masekela, April 25; and Chicano roots-rockers Los Lobos, hosting the festival’s “Celtic/Conjunto” finale, April 26. International acts include Egypt 80, Puerto Rico’s Plena Libre, Algerian-born Rachid Taha, Jamaica’s Rootz Underground and the Wailing Souls, Guinea’s Alpha YaYa Diallo and Quebec’s Chic Gamine, joined by Louisiana’s homegrown R&B/soul crooner Marc Broussard. Each year, iFest’s World Stage puts the best of world music next to the finest American roots music to demonstrate how music can communicate across cultural and linguistic barriers. This year’s lineup is one of our greatest yet.
(To continue reading the article click on the title)
Submitted by Dancie Perugini Ware Public Relations
February 2009
The National Post: The nominees for the 2009 JUNO Awards are…
By Veronica Boodhan
The 2009 JUNO Award nominations were announced on Tuesday at a media conference at Toronto’s Fairmont Royal York Hotel.
Nickelback leads the awards with five nominations, including Album of the Year and Group of the Year. Sam Roberts trails the group with four nominations including Artist of the Year and Rock Album of the Year.
Celine Dion is tied with Hedley, earning three JUNO Award nominations.
Other nominees include Michael Bublé and Kardinal Offishall for Single of the Year. Alanis Morissette and Kreesha Turner are both nominated for Pop Album of the Year.
Judging by this year’s nominations, they are scraping at the bottom of the barrel for talent. Leading the nominations, this group can have their nickel back since I fail to see how their songs are worth more than that. Besides the claim that their songs all sound the same (which they do), I don’t see how and why Nickelback received five nominations, surpassing Celine Dion and other Canadian musicians. But the group fails to be nominated in either pop or rock album categories, which makes me think that Canada has some respect for its pop and rock music.
The nominations for International Album of the Year category lack diversity. AC/DC, Coldplay, Guns N’ Roses, Jack Johnson and Metallica are competing to win the non-Canadian award.
Overall, there are no real nail-biters. But the female musicians who are recognized, including Feist, Alanis Morissette and Ivana Santilli represent some of Canada’s strongest women in music.
The awards show, hosted by comedian Russell Peters airs on CTV on Sunday, March 29 from General Motors Place in Vancouver, BC.
ROOTS & TRADITIONAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR: GROUP
Chic Gamine — Chic Gamine Independent
Fast Paced World — The Duhks Sugar Hill*EMI
Mountain Meadows — Elliott BROOD Six Shooter*Warner
XOK — NQ Arbuckle Six Shooter*Warner
Highway Prayer — Twilight Hotel Independent*Outside
Read more: http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/theampersand/archive/2009/02/03/2009-juno-award-nominations-announced.aspx#ixzz0TAtrLG5N
The Winnipeg Sun: Local artists dominate aboriginal and roots album categories
By Staff
Nickelback might be the kings of the Juno Awards — but Manitobans are getting their two cents in as well.
More than a dozen current and former residents were nominated for Juno Awards yesterday in Toronto, with locals dominating two categories. Here’s a quick rundown:
- Perennial favourites Doc Walker earned a nod in the Country Recording category with their CD Beautiful Life.
- The Aboriginal Album category boasts three local names: Guitar slinger Billy Joe Green is up for First Law of the Land, singer Tracey Bone is nominated for No Lies and hip-hoppers Team Rezofficial are up for The World (And Everything In It).
- Locals also monopolized the Roots & Traditional Album category: Chic Gamine are nominated for their self-titled CD, nugrassers The Duhks are up for Fast Paced World, and duo Twilight Hotel made the cut with Highway Prayer.
- Home-town mainstay Big Dave McLean is up for the Blues Album prize for his CD Acoustic Blues: Got ‘Em From the Bottom.
- Brandon resident and WSO composer-in-residence T. Patrick Carrabre could take home Classical Composition of the Year for his work From the Dark Reaches.
- Gilles Paquin and Joan Prowse are nominated for Music DVD of the Year for Buffy Sainte-Marie’s MultiMedia Life.
- Winnipeg-born jazz singer Elizabeth Shepherd’s Parkdale competes for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year.
- Spiritual pop-rockers Starfield are up for Contemporary Christian / Gospel Album for I Will Go.
- Former Winnipegger DJ Brace & The Electric Nosehair Orchestra vie for Instrumental Album of the Year with Nostomania.
- Brandon-born violinist and frequent nominee James Ehnes’ Homage CD is up for Classical Album of the Year: Solo or Chamber Ensemble.
La Presse - Montréal
Métro Montréal: Critiques CD de la semaine du 2 au 6 février 2009
Le groupe Chic Gamine se compose de quatre chanteuses et d’un batteur. Ensemble, ils font une musique où les cordes vocales sont à l’honneur, avec la percussion comme unique support musical. Le résultat est sympa, les filles sachant savamment moduler leurs belles voix et multiplier harmonies et chœurs. Passant d’un style gospel des années 50 et 60 à un style folk, chantant tantôt en français ou en anglais, tantôt en espagnol, Chic Gamine fait plusieurs explorations, mais malheureusement, elles ne sont pas toujours réussies. Un bon concept, mais qui s’essouffle un peu en milieu de parcours.
— Geneviève Vézina-Montplaisir
Chic Gamine est un groupe du Manitoba. Un groupe qui explore différents rythmes. Les 5 membres du groupe se composent de 4 chanteurs et d’un percussionniste. C’est dire que la principale qualité de ce CD, n’est pas dans l’orchestration ou les guitares électriques, mais plutôt dans l’harmonie des voix et dans les textes anglais et français qui sont d’une réelle intelligence. Ce groupe à une qualité sur les autres : l’enthousiasme. En écoutant le CD, on s’aperçoit que ce dernier aime chanter ensemble, l’enthousiasme se ressent à travers leurs musiques. Ils ont une complicité contagieuse. Est-ce du folk? De la World Music? À vrai dire, sans tomber dans les catégories prédéfinies par les radios, je dirai tout simplement que c’est de l’excellente musique, qui s’écoute entre amis et aussi lors d’un souper. Un CD qui s’écoute aussi en voiture, pendant les longues heures dans les embouteillages, ce CD rend la vie plus belle et plus douce. Parmi les 12 chansons proposées, j’ai particulièrement aimé “Butterfly Woman”, “Juste un moment” et “Paper Moon”. Des succès radiophoniques, si ces derniers se prenaient la peine de faire découvrir de la réelle musique de chez nous. En concert, le groupe doit donner tout qu’un show. Surveillez vos salles proches de chez vous ! The real “Chic” music !
Copyright - Made in Québec - Jean-Luc Doumont - 2009
Toute reproduction interdite sans la mention http://madeinquebec.wordpress.com
January 2009
Gravenhurst Banner: Soulful singing from the heartland
Rene M. Caisse Memorial Theatre will play host to a unique blend of vocal talents when it hosts the group Chic Gamine on Jan. 23 at 8 p.m.
The Winnipeg/Montreal-based vocal quintet has been serenading their audiences since the summer of 2007.
With a solo percussionist as their main support, Chic Gamine uses their voices as bass-heavy rhythm sections and lush harmonies. The group, which consists of singers Ariane Jean, Andrina Turenne, Alexa Dirks, Annik Bremault, and drummer and percussionist Sacha Daoud, creates a sound that resonates with soul, passion and an unabashedly random and sometimes downright peculiar brand of humour. Gospel, soul, R&B, ’50s doo-wop, Brazilian forro and French chanson are infused into the voices and rhythms of the song makers, creating a unique sound.
Over the years, members have been integral parts of a multitude of projects.
Dirks sings with the R&B/soul sensation Little Boy Boom; Daoud played with the Brazilian funk/pop-flavoured Gaia; and Jean, Turenne and Bremault were founding members of the award-winning world vocal ensemble Madrigaia.
For each of them, Chic Gamine is a chance to take their love of experimenting with vocal roots music and bring it to a whole new level.
The group has put together a dynamic 90-minute show, recorded and released their first record, the self-titled Chic Gamine, and performed all over North America including at the Winnipeg Folk Festival, Strawberry Festival, and California World Fest. They have also opened for the legendary Smokey Robinson at the Festival at Sandpoint, Idaho.
(Click on thumbnails for larger view)
July 2008
Manitoba Music at the 2008 Fest
Published by Communications on July 4, 2008 in featured artist,
festival lineup / schedule and special features.
“I have performed at many festivals throughout Canada, the U.S. and Europe and I can say, I’ve never come across a festival like the Winnipeg Folk Festival,” says singer Andrina Turenne.
Turenne should know. With her last group, the acclaimed a cappella world music outfit Madrigaïa, she’s performed at a lot festivals. Between Madrigaia, funk act Rudimental and a gospel duo with The Duhks’ singer Sarah Dugas, Turenne has also played Folk Fest five times in the last eight years. This year, she comes to Birds Hill with a new band – soulful and percussive vocal ensemble Chic Gamine.
Chic Gamine began formed a year ago with fellow former-Madrigaïans (the group disbanded last year) Ariane Jean and Annick Brémault, along with Alexa Dirks and Sacha Daoud.
And while the band definitely shares the otherworldly vocal harmonies and world music influences of Madrigaïa, it’s an entirely new musical entity. The quintet’s debut self-titled
album, released in June, is completely original material with sparse instrumentation, relying on the four vocalists’ incredible talents as well as Daoud’s inventive percussion.
And they’ll fit right in this year’s stellar festival line-up.
“It’s so exciting to be a part of the amazing roster of artists and musicians,” says Turenne. “I’ve been looking back at all the artists that have graced the stage over the last 35 years and I just can’t believe the talent. It’s a testament to the power of music here in Manitoba.”
Chic Gamine is just one of several of homegrown acts taking the stage at this year’s festival. Joining them are some of this province’s most innovative talent, both emerging and
established. Familiar names like singer/songwriter Cara Luft, internationally-acclaimed rock poets The Weakerthans, and childrens’ acts LuLu and The TomCat, Just Kiddin’ and Al Simmons return
in 2008. Newcomers include folky jazz singer/songwriter Ann Walton, energetic folk duo Jacob and Lily, acoustic pop/rock troubadour J.P. Hoe, atmospheric electro group Absent Sound, ghettotech outfit Grand Analog, children’s act The Aunts and Uncles and environmentally educational theatre group Green Kids.
November 2008
Chic Gamine fuses culture sounds
By Holly Ann Garey
The mixture of gospel, R&B, ‘50s Doo-Wop, Brazilian forro and French chanson were musically merged to entice an audience of 138 members at the Chic Gamine concert on Nov. 13.
In June, Chic Gamine released their first album and on Nov. 13, the group performed a plethora of original songs, covers and individual projects incorporating the languages of English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. Their energetic performance brought to life some of their original songs like “I Don’t Lie,” “Pioloto Autmatico,” “Shake Your Worries” and “Days and Days.”
Photograph by Kate Olsen
Hailing from Canada, the group is comprised of four women, Ariane Jean, Andrina Turenne, Alexa Dirks and Annick Brémault, and one male, Alexandre Sacha Dauoud, the drummer and percussionist of the group. Each member is in their early twenties and they combine a variety of different types of musical styles, along with their voices and rhythms to create their own unique style.
“We are so glad to [be] here in Wisconsin,” Dirks said. While the crowd laughed, Dirks added with a smile, “We are, we don’t know why everyone is laughing.”
This stylish and playful Winnipeg/Montreal-based group chose their band name while on tour.
“We composed a list that would work in English and French,” Brémault said. “We liked the word Chic and the word Gamine.”
According to dictionary.com, gamine is defined as “a girl of impish appeal,” while chic refers to attractive and fashionable.
“Now we have to dress nice every time we get on stage,” Brémault said.
Audience members were impressed with the fact that the band members were so young, but very talented.
“Chic Gamine’s ability to write and perform music in different languages is very impressive,” Tiffaney Hess, senior theater major, said. “Although the musicians are very young, their use of different languages alludes to their fascinating life experiences as well as their cultural diversity.”
Even though the audience was smaller than other performing arts series events, those who attended were very pleased with the performance choice by the Center For the Arts.
“The Platteville community is lucky to have such acts grace our little corner of the state,” Russell Braby, UW-P study abroad adviser, said. “I appreciate that the CFA is able to bring such diverse acts as this, which otherwise would never come to a town as small as Platteville.”
Members of the group have also taken on different projects outside of the band since forming in 2007. Alexa sings with an R&B group called Little Boy Boom; Sacha plays in a Brazilian Funk group called Gaia; and Ariane, Andrina, and Annick founded the award-winning vocal ensemble, Madrigaiaen.
