Evidence

Évidence is a jazz trio based in Montreal and solely devoted to the repertoire of <a href="spotify:artist:4PDpGtF16XpqvXxsrFwQnN">Thelonious Monk</a>. Its biggest particularity is its lack of a pianist. Led by <a href="spotify:artist:4EbAqzS6xUF7grkBcqRmo1">Jean Derome</a> on alto saxophone, the group gives highly personal renditions of <a href="spotify:artist:4PDpGtF16XpqvXxsrFwQnN">Monk</a> tunes, illustrating why jazz innovators quickly hailed him as major figure.

Évidence started in 1985, but its roots extend as far back as 1973 when <a href="spotify:artist:4EbAqzS6xUF7grkBcqRmo1">Derome</a> and bassist <a href="spotify:artist:5ws9UgVmwxskLBuSwqLeHo">Pierre Cartier</a> included <a href="spotify:artist:4PDpGtF16XpqvXxsrFwQnN">Monk</a> pieces in the repertoire of their duo Flûte et Basse. The idea of a <a href="spotify:artist:4PDpGtF16XpqvXxsrFwQnN">Monk</a>-exclusive formation came from saxophonist Sylvain Leroux in 1982. The group included <a href="spotify:artist:5ws9UgVmwxskLBuSwqLeHo">Cartier</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4EbAqzS6xUF7grkBcqRmo1">Derome</a> and was named Mysterioso (the title of one of the pianist's tunes, of course). They played the Montreal Jazz Festival that year, before Leroux left to work in the United States. The two remaining members kept things alive, and when drummer <a href="spotify:artist:6fQV7ket1qEcli1oCwd8F9">Pierre Tanguay</a> settled in Montreal in 1985 he was immediately drafted and the unit re-christened Évidence. Other musicians have performed with the trio, including pianist Guillaume Dostaler, clarinetist Jean-Denis Levasseur, and drummer Michel Ratté, but most of the time it performs and records as a trio.

For many years, the group remained a hobby for the three musicians, an excuse to get together and revel in <a href="spotify:artist:4PDpGtF16XpqvXxsrFwQnN">Monk</a>'s music. Since each of their rare live appearances seemed to draw a big crowd and sympathetic reviews, they decided to record a studio album. Musique de Thelonious Monk came out in 1993 on the avant-garde music label Ambiances Magnétiques (which <a href="spotify:artist:4EbAqzS6xUF7grkBcqRmo1">Derome</a> co-founded in the early '80s). It remains to this day one of its most listener-friendly titles. In 1999, Évidence embarked on a series of concerts meant to cover the repertoire in its entirety, but plans failed when the art space Casa Obscura had to close down. A couple of evenings had already taken place and the CD Live à la Casa became the group's second offering in 2000. ~ François Couture, Rovi