Les 4 Guitaristes de l'Apocalypso-Bar
Encyclopedia
Les 4 Guitaristes de l'Apocalypso-Bar, also known as Les Quatre Guitaristes de l'Apocalypso-Bar (The 4 Guitarists of the Apocalypso-Bar) was an electric guitar quartet founded by André Duchesne
in Montreal
, Canada
in 1986. It was one of the first electric guitar quartets and was billed as a band from post-apocalypse
Canada "inspired by the ghost of Jimi Hendrix
".
Les 4 Guitaristes de l'Apocalypso-Bar performed for four years in Canada, the United States and Europe. They released two albums, in 1987 and 1989.
guitarist and composer André Duchesne
from Montreal
, Canada
began writing contrapuntal
compositions for a guitar quartet. To perform them he recruited René Lussier
and Jean-Pierre Bouchard from Conventum, Duchesne's late-1970s avant-garde
folk-rock group, and Roger Boudreault, a jazz guitarist. The quartet premiered at the 4th Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville
at Victoriaville, Quebec
in October 1986 with ex-Henry Cow
drummer Chris Cutler
. Duchesne wanted drums to complete the group's sound and asked Cutler, who was already playing at the festival with Cassiber
, to perform with the quartet. Also present at the festival was ex-Henry Cow guitarist and composer Fred Frith
, who was playing in a duo with Lussier. Frith was impressed with Duchesne's guitar quartet and later wrote an extended composition, "The As Usual Dance Towards the Other Flight to What Is Not" for them to play. In 1989 Frith formed his own guitar quartet, the Fred Frith Guitar Quartet.
Les 4 Guitaristes de l'Apocalypso-Bar was a concept band with an history constructed by Duchesne. From the future, and "inspired by the ghost of Jimi Hendrix
", they were the resident band at the Apocalypso-Bar in a wrecked jetliner
in post-apocalypse
Canada. Being a bar band they wore white suits and tiger ties, and played sitting down, with the soloists standing. The "band from the future" concept extended to the titles of their albums. In 1987, they released a studio album they called Tournée Mondiale/Été '89 (World Tour/Summer '89), followed in 1989 by Fin de Siècle (End of Century). In 1995 a compilation album entitled World Tour 1998 was released by Cutler's Recommended Records
featuring most of the tracks from their first two albums.
François Couture at Allmusic described their music as "a cross between [guitarists] Robert Fripp
's circular motifs and Fred Frith's angular playing." They toured Canada, the United States and Europe, maintaining their "bar band" image throughout. In early 1989, jazz guitarist Claude Fradette replaced Boudreault, bassist Ferdinand Richard
from Etron Fou Leloublan
joined, and Rémi Leclerc from Miriodor
played drums when Cutler was engaged elsewhere. By the end of 1989, having exhausted the band's concept, they decided to split up.
André Duchesne (musician)
André Duchesne is a Canadian experimental music guitarist and composer. He was a co-founder of Ambiances Magnétiques, a Canadian musical collective and record label, and formed several experimental music bands, including Conventum, Les 4 Guitaristes de l'Apocalypso-Bar and Locomotive...
in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in 1986. It was one of the first electric guitar quartets and was billed as a band from post-apocalypse
Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction
Apocalyptic fiction is a sub-genre of science fiction that is concerned with the end of civilization due to a potentially existential catastrophe such as nuclear warfare, pandemic, extraterrestrial attack, impact event, cybernetic revolt, technological singularity, dysgenics, supernatural...
Canada "inspired by the ghost of Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
".
Les 4 Guitaristes de l'Apocalypso-Bar performed for four years in Canada, the United States and Europe. They released two albums, in 1987 and 1989.
Biography
In the mid-1980s, experimental rockExperimental rock
Experimental rock or avant-garde rock is a type of music based on rock which experiments with the basic elements of the genre, or which pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique....
guitarist and composer André Duchesne
André Duchesne (musician)
André Duchesne is a Canadian experimental music guitarist and composer. He was a co-founder of Ambiances Magnétiques, a Canadian musical collective and record label, and formed several experimental music bands, including Conventum, Les 4 Guitaristes de l'Apocalypso-Bar and Locomotive...
from Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
began writing contrapuntal
Counterpoint
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...
compositions for a guitar quartet. To perform them he recruited René Lussier
René Lussier
René Lussier is a musician based in the province of Québec, Canada. He is a composer, guitarist, bass guitarist, percussionist, bass clarinetist and singer. Lussier has collaborated with such figures as Fred Frith, Chris Cutler, Jean Derome and Robert M. Lepage...
and Jean-Pierre Bouchard from Conventum, Duchesne's late-1970s avant-garde
Avant-garde music
Avant-garde music is a term used to characterize music which is thought to be ahead of its time, i.e. containing innovative elements or fusing different genres....
folk-rock group, and Roger Boudreault, a jazz guitarist. The quartet premiered at the 4th Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville
Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville
The Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville is an annual international music festival held in Victoriaville, Quebec that showcases contemporary music.-External links:*...
at Victoriaville, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
in October 1986 with ex-Henry Cow
Henry Cow
Henry Cow were an English avant-rock group, founded at Cambridge University in 1968 by multi-instrumentalists Fred Frith and Tim Hodgkinson. Henry Cow's personnel fluctuated over their decade together, but drummer Chris Cutler and bassoonist/oboist Lindsay Cooper were important long-term members...
drummer Chris Cutler
Chris Cutler
Chris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
. Duchesne wanted drums to complete the group's sound and asked Cutler, who was already playing at the festival with Cassiber
Cassiber
Cassiber were a German avant-rock group founded in 1982 by German composer and saxophonist Alfred Harth, German composer, music-theatre director and keyboardist Heiner Goebbels, English drummer Chris Cutler from Henry Cow and German guitarist Christoph Anders...
, to perform with the quartet. Also present at the festival was ex-Henry Cow guitarist and composer Fred Frith
Fred Frith
Fred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
, who was playing in a duo with Lussier. Frith was impressed with Duchesne's guitar quartet and later wrote an extended composition, "The As Usual Dance Towards the Other Flight to What Is Not" for them to play. In 1989 Frith formed his own guitar quartet, the Fred Frith Guitar Quartet.
Les 4 Guitaristes de l'Apocalypso-Bar was a concept band with an history constructed by Duchesne. From the future, and "inspired by the ghost of Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
", they were the resident band at the Apocalypso-Bar in a wrecked jetliner
Jet airliner
A jet airliner is an airliner that is powered by jet engines. This term is sometimes contracted to jetliner or jet.In contrast to today's relatively fuel-efficient, turbofan-powered air travel, first generation jet airliner travel was noisy and fuel inefficient...
in post-apocalypse
Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction
Apocalyptic fiction is a sub-genre of science fiction that is concerned with the end of civilization due to a potentially existential catastrophe such as nuclear warfare, pandemic, extraterrestrial attack, impact event, cybernetic revolt, technological singularity, dysgenics, supernatural...
Canada. Being a bar band they wore white suits and tiger ties, and played sitting down, with the soloists standing. The "band from the future" concept extended to the titles of their albums. In 1987, they released a studio album they called Tournée Mondiale/Été '89 (World Tour/Summer '89), followed in 1989 by Fin de Siècle (End of Century). In 1995 a compilation album entitled World Tour 1998 was released by Cutler's Recommended Records
Recommended Records
Recommended Records is a British independent record label and distribution network founded by Chris Cutler in March 1978. RēR features largely "Rock in Opposition" and related music, but it also distributes selected music released on other independent labels.In 1982 Cutler established November...
featuring most of the tracks from their first two albums.
François Couture at Allmusic described their music as "a cross between [guitarists] Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp is an English guitarist, composer and record producer. He was ranked 42nd on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and #47 on Gibson.com’s "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". Among rock guitarists, Fripp is a master of crosspicking, a technique...
's circular motifs and Fred Frith's angular playing." They toured Canada, the United States and Europe, maintaining their "bar band" image throughout. In early 1989, jazz guitarist Claude Fradette replaced Boudreault, bassist Ferdinand Richard
Ferdinand Richard
Hervé Richard , better known as Ferdinand Richard, is a French avant-rock bass guitarist and composer.Richard was a founding member of the French avant-rock group Etron Fou Leloublan in 1973, and remained with them until they broke up in 1986...
from Etron Fou Leloublan
Etron Fou Leloublan
Etron Fou Leloublan, also known as EFL, were a French avant-rock band founded in 1973 by actor and saxophonist Chris Chanet. They recorded five studio albums between 1976 and 1985, and released a live album, En Public Aux Etats-Unis d'Amérique recorded during a tour of the United States in 1979...
joined, and Rémi Leclerc from Miriodor
Miriodor
Miriodor is a Canadian musical group in the field of what is known as Rock in Opposition; the band combines jazz, progressive rock and chamber music into a powerful sound reminiscent of better known artists like Univers Zéro or Art Zoyd...
played drums when Cutler was engaged elsewhere. By the end of 1989, having exhausted the band's concept, they decided to split up.
Members
- André DuchesneAndré Duchesne (musician)André Duchesne is a Canadian experimental music guitarist and composer. He was a co-founder of Ambiances Magnétiques, a Canadian musical collective and record label, and formed several experimental music bands, including Conventum, Les 4 Guitaristes de l'Apocalypso-Bar and Locomotive...
– electric guitar - René LussierRené LussierRené Lussier is a musician based in the province of Québec, Canada. He is a composer, guitarist, bass guitarist, percussionist, bass clarinetist and singer. Lussier has collaborated with such figures as Fred Frith, Chris Cutler, Jean Derome and Robert M. Lepage...
– electric bass guitar, electric guitar - Jean-Pierre Bouchard – electric guitar
- Roger Boudreault (1986–1988) – classical guitar, electric guitar
- Ferdinand RichardFerdinand RichardHervé Richard , better known as Ferdinand Richard, is a French avant-rock bass guitarist and composer.Richard was a founding member of the French avant-rock group Etron Fou Leloublan in 1973, and remained with them until they broke up in 1986...
(1989) – 6-string electric bass guitar - Claude Fradette (1989) – electric guitar
- Chris CutlerChris CutlerChris Cutler is an English percussionist, composer, lyricist and music theorist. Best known for his work with English avant-rock group Henry Cow, Cutler was also a member and drummer of a number of other bands, including Art Bears, News from Babel, Pere Ubu and Gong/Mothergong...
– drums - Rémi Leclerc (1989) – drums
Discography
Source: Allmusic- Tournée Mondiale/Été '89 (1987, LP, Ambiances MagnétiquesAmbiances MagnétiquesAmbiances Magnétiques is a non-profit, Canadian musical collective, which was formed in 1982 by a group of independent musicians and producers from Montreal. The entity was formed out of necessity: the avant-garde tastes of the members — which include jazz, classical, folk, and rock —...
, Canada) - Fin de Siècle (1989, LP, Ambiances MagnétiquesAmbiances MagnétiquesAmbiances Magnétiques is a non-profit, Canadian musical collective, which was formed in 1982 by a group of independent musicians and producers from Montreal. The entity was formed out of necessity: the avant-garde tastes of the members — which include jazz, classical, folk, and rock —...
, Canada) - World Tour 1998 (1995, CD, Recommended RecordsRecommended RecordsRecommended Records is a British independent record label and distribution network founded by Chris Cutler in March 1978. RēR features largely "Rock in Opposition" and related music, but it also distributes selected music released on other independent labels.In 1982 Cutler established November...
, United Kingdom) – compilation comprising most tracks from the previous two albums