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Jean-Michel Blais

aubades

Mercury KX
Release Date: February 4, 2022

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passepied (Official Video)
passepied
absinthe
Jean-Michel Blais - amour (piano) - Performance Video
1 murmures  
2 passepied  
3 nina  
4 flâneur  
5 ouessant  
6 if you build it, they will come  
7 amour  
8 yanni  
9 absinthe  
10 carrousel  
11 doux  
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aubades, the new album from post-classical piano icon Jean-Michel Blais, marks the Montreal-born musician’s transition from pianist to composer, as he writes for an ensemble for the first time in his career. Written during the pandemic and following a breakup, Blais has used his distinctive musical voice to create a defiantly uplifting record with glistening instrumental textures and warm major tonalities. The album’s title refers to the “aubade”, a Middle Ages morning love song about lovers separating at daybreak: a dawn serenade.

Jean-Michel Blais has been a celebrated figure in the post-classical piano world since the release of his critically-acclaimed debut album II in 2016. He attended Quebec’s prestigious Trois-Rivières Music Conservatory but left after two years of study, exhausted by the restraints of the traditional music curriculum. Blais then travelled widely before retraining as a special education teacher. Whilst working as a teacher, he returned to music on his own terms, rediscovering his passion through improvising on the piano. These improvisations formed the basis of a recording career that has earned him a Libera Award, two Polaris prize nominations, a #1 on the Billboard Classical chart and a Time Magazine top ten album of the year. 

  • Jean-Michel Blais announces new Arts & Crafts EP: 'serenades' / exclaim*@#
    Posted At: January 17, 2023 12:00 AM
    The "nocturnal, stripped-back counterpart" exclaim*@# -  Allie Gregory writes…..Montreal-based composer Jean-Michel Blais has announced plans for a new solo piano EP to accompany his excellent 2022 album aubades. sérénades arrives March 10 through Arts & Crafts. "This EP is the length of the recommended nap: 25 to 30 minutes," Blais said of the forthcoming eight-track effort, which rework...
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  • Jean-Michel Blais set for Grand Theatre de Quebec / The Bobr Times
    Posted At: January 17, 2023 12:00 AM
    Jean-Michel Blais is a pianist-composer-performer based in montreal. Having grown up in rural quebec, blais did not start strumming on the family organ until late, before taking up composition and then piano lessons. he plays at masses, weddings and funerals. endowed with a natural talent, he entered  the music conservatory  of trois-rivières where he began training as a classical pianist. the con...
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  • Borne out of heartbreak, Jean-Michel Blais' aubades is one of the seasons loveliest albums / a close listen
    Posted At: February 2, 2022 12:00 AM
    aubades, the new album from post-classical piano icon Jean-Michel Blais, marks the Montreal-born musician’s transition from pianist to composer, as he writes for an ensemble for the first time in his career. Written during the pandemic and following a breakup, Blais has used his distinctive musical voice to create a defiantly uplifting record with glistening instrumental textures and warm major tonalities. ...
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