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Michel Lambert

Born to a family synonymous with classical music in his native Quebec, Lambert studied drums and composition at Boston's Berklee College of Music, attended workshops in Paris, and studied privately with saxophonist/composer Dave Liebman in New York and pianist/ composer Misha Mengelberg in Amsterdam. Since his first professional engagement with pianist/composer Milcho Leviev's trio in 1983, he has recorded extensively and performed hroughout Asia, Canada, Europe and the United States.

Accomplished as both a composer and visual artist, excerpts from his first orchestral work, “Le Journal Des Episodes,” were premiered in 1992 by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and his oil paintings earned him a commission from the Canada Council to illustrate a 4-CD compilation of Canadian music to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the United Nations. He appears on more than 50 recordings and has collaborated with musicians including Paul Bley, Gary Burton, Uri Caine, Franois Carrier, Dewey Redman, Bobo Stenson, Kenny Wheeler, Reg Schwager and Jeannette Lambert.

His recording, Out Twice (482 Music) featuring Leviev and bassist Barre Phillips among others, showcased free improvisation based on his artwork. Other recordings as a leader include Unclouded Day, released on Ayler Records and featuring Raoul Bjorkenheim, Mat Maneri and Jeannette Lambert, and a drum duo with Rakalam Bob Moses entitled Meditation on Grace, released on FMR. He is part of the mythic trio, the Maikotron Unit, that performs with invented instruments and has released two critically acclaimed albums, Effugit and Ex-Voto.

His cds, Journal des Episodes I & II, are based around his daily musical diary, and contain nearly 200 tracks for jazz trio challenge our sense of continuity.

Recent projects include composing during an artist residency in Italy with Jeannette Lambert, tours in Europe and Indonesia, new recordings with the various projects of Reg Schwager, Gabriel Lambert, Alain Bédard, and Francois Carrier, and upcoming engagements in New York City. He lives in Montréal, Canada with his wife, vocalist poet Jeannette Lambert and their two sons.

Awards

2011, Francois Marcaurelle Award, Maikotron Unit 2000, Juno Award, with Francois Carrier 1994, Juno Award, with Dave Young

Alain Bedard Auguste Quartet: Particules Sonores

Read "Particules Sonores" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
December 9, 2024

The experience of bassist Alain Bedard's Partcules Sonores begins--for those who read liner notes--with a rumination on “sound waves that interact with every particle of matter they encounter. The energy created is transported and diffused, becoming sound particles." Hm. A bit cerebral for some tastes, perhaps. But then jazz guys are known to go deep in describing their music. Ornette Coleman, anyone? Cecil Taylor? And in all of these cases--Coleman, Taylor and Bedard--it is the music that counts. ...

Album Review

Francois Carrier Ensemble featuring Mat Maneri /Tomasz Stańko / Gary Peacock / Michel Lambert: Openness

Read "Openness" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
March 6, 2024

Openness waited nearly two decades on a shelf (ok, probably on a hard drive) before being released for our listening pleasure. Recorded on May 5 & 6, 2006 at the Théâtre La Chapelle in Montréal, Canada, these three precious discs document a meeting between Canadian saxophonist François Carrier and Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stańko. It is the Polish label Fundacja Sluchaj to thank for this release and the prior disc Unwalled (2022), with Carrier being joined by Alexander von Schlippenbach, John ...

Album Review

François Carrier/Alexander von Schlippenbach/John Edwards/Michel Lambert: Unwalled

Read "Unwalled" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
January 19, 2023

Don't you love it when a plan comes together? Even if the plan is totally improvised, as is that of Unwalled. The album is the first meeting between Canadian alto saxophonist François Carrier and German-born pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach. The free jazz pioneer Schlippenbach was the founder of the Globe Unity Orchestra back in 1966, and it featured Peter Brötzmann, Peter Kowald, Han Bennink, Derek Bailey, Paul Lovens and Evan Parker, to name just a few of the future legends ...

Album Review

JazzLab Orchestra: Loguslabusmuzikus

Read "Loguslabusmuzikus" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
August 5, 2022

Jazzlab Orchestra è un medio organico costituito da tre ance e due ottoni in varie combinazioni, più una sezione ritmica con pianoforte. Opera da quasi due decenni nel Quebec (Canada), ha pubblicato sette album, collaborato con jazzmen statunitensi di primo piano (Ted Nash, Seamus Blake, Donny McCaslin, Rufus Reid) e dato svariati concerti in Nord America e in Europa, compresa l'Italia (la Casa del Jazz). La caratteristica principale dell'ottetto è la versatilità: grazie alle ottime doti individuali e ...

Album Review

JazzLab Orchestra: Loguslabusmuzikus

Read "Loguslabusmuzikus" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki

by Chris M. Slawecki
April 5, 2022

Jazzlab Orchestra has been a fixture on the jazz scene in Canada for nearly two decades. Their unique heavy sound features six brass and reed players with a relatively standard piano, bass and drum rhythm section, and they've captured that sound on several standalone recordings and presented it on more than 300 concert stages across North America and Europe. The music on Loguslabusmuzikus, nine new pieces written by bassist Auguste Le Prez under the subtitle “The New Experience: ...

Album Review

Francois Carrier: Glow

by John Eyles
December 2, 2021

As is true of countless other players, the output of French-Canadian saxophonist Francois Carrier took a nosedive after the arrival of covid-19 and lockdown. Where he had been averaging two album releases a year, Glow is his first release since Japan Suite (NoBusiness) which was released eighteen months before, in May 2020. In addition, Carrier's globe-trotting tours—the source of a steady stream of live albums (his last studio-recorded album having been Being With, released on Leo in 2010, and recorded ...

Album Review

Jazzlab Orchestra: Loguslabusmuzikus

Read "Loguslabusmuzikus" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
November 21, 2021

The Jazzlab Orchestra, formed in 2004 and based in Montreal, Canada, lies somewhere short of orchestra-size. It's actually an octet—but don't let that deter you; the unison passages are generally robust and pleasing. Jazzlab does play jazz of a sort, music that may best be described as contemporary cerebral. In other words, this is not akin to the Dave Pell or Marty Paich octets; it's more along the lines of Gunther Schuller, Jan Garbarek or William Russo. But even though ...

Recording

Michel Lambert Releases "Journal Des Episodes 2"

Source: Lambert
November 17, 2014

MONTREAL, QC — On November 18, 2014, Jazz from Rant will release the latest recording by jazz composer, drummer and artist Michel Lambert, entitled Journal des Episodes II. The epic musical journey continues with 97 new episodes! Journal des Épisodes is a series of compositions from a year long daily musical diary created by Michel Lambert, originally containing 366 short musical compositions for orchestra. The first recording was the result of transforming and performing 92 of these journal entries with ...
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Recording

New Album Michel Lambert Journal Des Episodes

Source: Lambert
February 5, 2013

MONTREAL, QC (CANADA) — On February 5, 2013, Jazz from Rant will release the latest recording by jazz composer, drummer and artist Michel Lambert, entitled Journal des Épisodes. This remarkable iconoclastic musical adventure contains 92 titles. Journal des Épisodes is a year long daily musical diary kept by Michel Lambert. Each diary entry contains a musical score for symphony orchestra and a drawing. The album cover shows one of the journal entries. Here, in this new album, the music has ...
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186

Recording

Mythic Trio Maikotron Unit Release "Ex-Voto"

Source: Lambert
May 16, 2011

MONTREAL, QC (CANADA): On May 20, 2011, the mythic trio, Maïkotron Unit, releases their new album Ex-Voto. Quebec-based Maïkotron Unit is a trio dedicated to research in New Music. The first maïkotron instrument was built in 1983 and it is the cornerstone of the trio's acoustic creations. Its sounds reach below the range of the bass saxophone. “Even though this is the seventh recording of the Maïkotron Unit, it is the first to appear on compact disc. Following its 26 ...
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Recording

Michel Lambert's Le Passant Coming December 6th

Source: All About Jazz
November 2, 2005

MONTREAL, QC (CANADA) -- Jazz from Rant is proud to announce the December 6th release of drummer/composer Michel Lambert's latest recording, Le Passant (rant 0529). Funded in part by the Canada Music Fund and the Music Section of the Canada Council for the Arts, Le Passant introduces Lambert's five-movement work of the same name, which features saxophonist Ellery Eskelin, violinist Malcolm Goldstein and bassist Dominic Duval improvising with Lambert and a 10-piece orchestra led by conductor Dave Martin. The orchestra ...
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104

Recording

482 Music to Release Michel Lambert's Out Twice on May 27th

Source: All About Jazz
April 18, 2003

The Chicago-based independent label 482 Music is proud to announce the May 27th release of Montreal-based drummer/composer/artist Michel Lambert's latest recording, Out Twice (482-1019). Sponsored in part by the Canada Council, this recording is a collection of 11 spontaneously improvised pieces using Lambert drawings as graphic scores, each seeking to combine visual and musical expression into a single, cohesive language. The drawings are on display in the CD booklet and at www.482music.com/outtwice/

Named after the trips to Los Angeles and ...
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“Soufflent ici une évidence et une fluidité remarquables...” Improjazz

“Une distribution des masses digne de Penderecki et des développements orchestraux impromptus...” Jazzman

“Lambert is a remarkable player, fluent but disciplined with a brillant grasp of group dynamics.” The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings

“Rare to hear music of this depth and substance, period.” WEMU, Michigan

“Passionate, uncompromising musicianship...” AMG Expert Review

Primary Instrument

Drums

Location

Montreal

Willing to teach

Advanced only

Credentials/Background

Michel teaches jazz drum performance and leads combos at McGill University. He occasionally accepts private students as well.

Clinic/Workshop Information

Michel is available to present clinics on composition, improvisation and jazz drumming. He also does presentations on his work, explaining his symphony writing, improvised music, and visual art.