Jean Fréchette

Canadian baritone saxophonist Jean Fréchette is a skilled arranger and multi-instrumentalist whose versatility has enabled him to work with artists of varying persuasions, including jazz, folk, pop, and chamber classical. He and his brother, pianist/trumpeter Denis Fréchette (1952-2008), came up in the city of Joliette, which straddles the river L'Assomption in the Lanaudiere region northeast of Montreal. Jean's earliest recorded activities as soloist and section man include Suite Mingus, presented in 1986 by trumpeter <a href="spotify:artist:6wJkGny2Zaq3yFr7c8CXqA">Denny Christianson</a>'s orchestra, and a high-profile session in 1990 with <a href="spotify:artist:6oUp7uZu18j9B3UlacoxXP">Vic Vogel's Big Band</a> starring guest saxophone legends <a href="spotify:artist:1pwr5rTWLVfqhvHfB7Reap">Zoot Sims</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6G4hVmXKJ9NW5JecncK89f">Phil Woods</a>. Also in 1990, Fréchette recorded as a member of Quatuor Alexandre with saxophonists Marc Solis, <a href="spotify:artist:0DEeey9gqYN2Nm98cU1ARF">André Leroux</a>, and Daniel Gautier. Their album Reminiscence featured works by four composers including <a href="spotify:artist:78t7WfwhjZLkDHN5QKwS5u">Alexander Glazunov</a>. Fréchette's subsequent collaborations involved Quebec pop singer <a href="spotify:artist:2uaGBnwCVIftDwC3dcbS80">Mitsou</a>, Montreal's creative performance ensemble <a href="spotify:artist:0iF2gedsSjoVHRUh5vXSdu">Cirque du Soleil</a>, vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:77wQMkmWWxX7UjLHH6nVK6">Boule Noire</a>, and Quebec rocker <a href="spotify:artist:1862NkVrufCFJZkZJMfftO">Robert Charlebois</a>.

Fréchette is perhaps best known for his work with <a href="spotify:artist:7ba7eFah7fB6SbgnSufYBJ">La Bottine Souriante</a> (The Smiling Boot), a Quebecois roots music troupe composed largely of musicians from round about Lanaudiere. Jean participated with his brother Denis, who had joined the group in 1988. It was Denis who added jazz to the ensemble's progressive folk mix. Jean was well suited to the collective creativity that characterizes <a href="spotify:artist:7ba7eFah7fB6SbgnSufYBJ">La Bottine</a>, and felt comfortable enough to expand his selection of instruments to include flute, clarinet, flageolet, recorder, and pennywhistle. In 1998 <a href="spotify:artist:7ba7eFah7fB6SbgnSufYBJ">La Bottine Souriante</a> guested with <a href="spotify:artist:5gXyv830nUDDnRLCvVmTCd">Paddy Moloney</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6AnrSlk5Gp1YMXgaI3mWCL">the Chieftains</a> on their all-star Canadian Celtic collaborative album Fire in the Kitchen, sharing the bill with internationally acclaimed Cape Breton fiddlers <a href="spotify:artist:4ybzO54FX2pbiKx209CB0t">Natalie MacMaster</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7Jvc7K9mTzwZ7Jn0C5dv7V">Ashley MacIsaac</a>. Jean Fréchette closed out the decade by working with Spanish diatonic accordionist <a href="spotify:artist:4zwrg6JzxdSWtvoF16tToh">Kepa Junkera</a>.

He has since developed into a dependable, rock-solid presence on the Canadian jazz scene. The year 2006 saw him recording with Montreal-based trumpeter Joe Sullivan's Big Band, with accordionist and <a href="spotify:artist:7ba7eFah7fB6SbgnSufYBJ">La Bottine Souriante</a> founder <a href="spotify:artist:6H1ayO6tXF5TTPB8DlprAA">Yves Lambert</a>, and with saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:5HOveyd1O6NdnVUjMdCr9B">François Theberge</a>. Fréchette recorded with pianist <a href="spotify:artist:6oUp7uZu18j9B3UlacoxXP">Vic Vogel</a> in 2007 and blew bass clarinet in addition to tenor and baritone saxes with <a href="spotify:artist:0iF2gedsSjoVHRUh5vXSdu">Cirque du Soleil</a> on their 2008 release Kooza. In 2009 he was a featured soloist with the big band led by pianist <a href="spotify:artist:6DJJrLxCg3xsl9F8QHLNd0">Lorraine Desmarais</a>, and recorded with saxophonists David Bellemare, <a href="spotify:artist:0DEeey9gqYN2Nm98cU1ARF">André Leroux</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4RuWm1REhFCLpgTQvMY5Qj">Janis Steprans</a> as Quatuor du Nord -- their album on the Elephant Records label features works by <a href="spotify:artist:4RuWm1REhFCLpgTQvMY5Qj">Steprans</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4PDpGtF16XpqvXxsrFwQnN">Thelonious Monk</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5zyNXVd952fWOjkdGHCvPd">Béla Bartók</a>. In 2010 Fréchette brought baritone and bass clarinet into play behind Montreal jazz vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:1n02UdnML6G4wR162YsSRi">Nikki Yanofsky</a> on her <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Decca%22">Decca</a> album Nikki. He can be heard in the reed section of the big band backing her during "It's a Small World" on the <a href="spotify:artist:3VRX2RB0mQ1vFBro0qibnZ">Hal Willner</a>-inspired 2011 <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Disney%22">Disney</a> jazz compilation Everybody Wants to Be a Cat. ~ arwulf arwulf, Rovi