Release of the album “Sur la route”!

With twenty years of career, a thousand shows on three continents and six acclaimed records, the reputation of Christine Tassan and the Imposteures is well established on the jazz scene. From covers to original compositions, these precursors of the gypsy wave that swept across Quebec approach their style with uncommon audacity and ingenuity. And what more for these incredible musicians than an album celebrating travel and adventure! After unveiling a few excerpts in recent months—including the title track and a surprising cover of the famous On The Road Again from Willie Nelson, remixed with New Country by Jean-Luc Ponty—the Montreal band released Sur la route, its seventh studio album, on February 23.

Combining instrumental and sung pieces, the vast majority of which are original compositions, this new album invites us to discover the places and moments that marked the two decades of tours lived so far by Christine Tassan and the Imposteures. The invitation is launched beautifully with the title track, which is an ode to the road and the excitement of the start. The guitar and the voice of Christine present themselves gently, then our ears fill with the distinctive sounds to which the group owes its fame today: impeccable vocal harmonies, invigorating swing, sublime melodies and solos of great virtuosity. On each of the fifteen tracks, we feel the complicity that unites the four artists and the joy of exploring new horizons. Many of the titles evoke the spectacular nature that the band has admired over its many Canadian tours, including Perdus dans les Rocheuses, À vélo dans Stanley Park, Un été sur la Grave as well as the contemplative Balade à Vernon. Let’s also mention the festive Merci aux enfants du Labrador, inspired by a particularly beautiful concert in front of the children of an Native school. We will also make a jump in France, the time to taste the pleasures of La soupe de Champagne and to dance the Valse de Samois, in memory of a concert at the Django festival of Samois-sur-Seine, village where lived Django Reinhardt. Of course, it was appropriate that a composition be devoted to the passage of the group in China; Quatre braves sur la muraille reflects the majesty of this emblematic site. After all these adventures, Christine and her band express the sweet tranquility of returning to their home port by delivering a very own version of Je reviendrai à Montréal, then the album closes with the autobiographical Les kilomètres, where our heroine contemplates with satisfaction the road travelled:

Je l’aurai vécue, ma musique
À parcourir tous ces sentiers
Si tu veux savoir, si t’insistes
Je r’commencerais sans hésiter

Je suis venue vers toi
Te porter ma musique
J’ai fait tout ce chemin
Pour ce moment unique

(Les kilomètres – Lyrics and music by Christine Tassan)

Finally, Christine Tassan and the Imposteures will give two shows to support the release of the album Sur la route. In Montreal, the group will celebrate its 20t anniversary by offering a two-part concert that promises to be memorable: initially, the public will be able to hear the songs of the new album, then the band will play its greatest successes, inviting on stage the former members.

Launch shows

February 26 – Montreal @ Lion d’Or. book your tickets
March 16 – Québec @ Salle d’Youville at Palais Montcalm. book your tickets