A River Runs Through It
Listening Post 394. To call Le Vent du Nord a study in contrasts would be an understatement. The band’s name translates as “The North Wind,” but for more than two decades it’s been the hottest ensemble in traditional Québécois music, with awards and accolades in abundance. On their thirteenth album, the quintet fashions a music bridge linking the seventeenth century to the twenty-first, presenting history with a captivating blend of joy and urgency. Voisinages (Neighborhoods), refers to the proximate places, personalities and cultures (Irish, Scottish, American, Acadian) the artists identify as helping shape their music and folkloric universe. Within the boundaries of Francophone America’s experience, the album channels inflection points and emotions, from battles won and lost to animosities, wrongs, friendships and love. And most of the events and forces swirling through the 12 tracks are figuratively linked by a ribbon of water—the St. Lawrence River and its tributaries. A mix of traditional and new works, both vocal and instrumental, the album includes four songs written or adapted by Nicolas Boulerice, the band’s co-founder and principal composer. Par-dessus le pont (Over the Bridge), sets an irreverent tone with a story based on one of the earliest neighborhood feuds in Quebec annals, dating back to 1708 (video 1). Shifting mood, Le pari de Jeanne (Jeanne’s Challenge) venerates the French nurse, considered a founder of Montreal, who established the city’s first hospital. The album’s spiritual center, Fleuve (River), personifies the St. Lawrence, declaring, “Fresh or sea water, my veins and arteries, I am life and I am mother.” And with Une nuit dans les auberges (A Night at the Inn) a rowdy evening spills into a lifetime commitment—or perhaps a life sentence. Closing the album is the achingly beautiful instrumental track Fleur radieuse (Radiant Flower), which band member André Brunet composed for his wife, Evelyne. In the face of high wind or deep water, this band always floats in harmony. (La Compagnie du Nord)

Le Vent du Nord: Voisinages / Neighborhoods
Nicolas Boulerice: Vocals, hurdy-gurdy, piano
André Brunet: Vocals, violin, foot percussion
Réjean Brunet: Vocals, bass, diatonic accordion, Quebec bombard (jawharp)
Olivier Demers: Vocals, violin, mandolin, foot percussion, Quebec bombard
André (Dédé) Gagné: Vocals, bouzouki, guitar

Guest artists:
Blake Miller: Triangle
Le Lion de Cléopâtre: Vocals

Related posts. Le Vent du Nord: Tétu, Listening Post 15, October 11, 2015 http://worldlisteningpost.com/2015/10/11/le-vent-du-nord-tetu/
Le Vent du Nord: Territoires, Listening Post 198, April 23, 2019 https://worldlisteningpost.com/2019/04/23/le-vent-du-nord-territoires/
Le Vent du Nord & De Temps Antan: Notre Album Solo, Listening Post 225, October 28, 2019 https://worldlisteningpost.com/2019/10/28/le-vent-du-nord-de-temps-antan-notre-album-solo/
Le Vent Du Nord: 20 Printemps, Listening Post 343, April 27, 2022 https://worldlisteningpost.com/2022/04/27/le-vent-du-nord-20-printemps/

Par-Dessus Le Pont / Over the Bridge
Lyrics & music: Nicolas Boulerice
Based on an 18th-century song by Jean Berger, one of the story’s protagonists

(From the French lyrics)
Saint-Olive, the apothecary, was supposedly roughed up
By Berger and also Lambert — at night, nothing is really clear
And who in prison composed this song, over the bridge 

The victim immediately sent for the gentlemen of justice
Giving them money by the handful, so that his malefactors would be punished
In the main square, a pillory, with Jean Berger inside.
Around his neck one could read: “Author of wicked satire” 

Those who will have profited from this amusing affair
Gentlemen judges, clerks, bailiffs and notaries

These nobles and these braggarts will go drink at Lafont’s
Everyone mocking him, Saint-Olive is cursed

Le Pari de Jeanne / Jeanne’s Challenge
Lyrics & music: Nicolas Boulerice

From the port of La Rochelle, 200,000 livres and a missal
The Society of Notre-Dame took this woman’s challenge
All in piety, on an island, a thousand steeples in this city 

Jeanne Mance chose one pavilion and Maisonneuve took the other
Two ships and a few pledges, on the way to the St. Lawrence

Double-edged interests, uniting peoples while offering
The chance of a less miserable life, of a just New World

The people here will be cared for, as in prayer, in the city
Winter here, whilst a killer, purifies the air and humankind

A hospital in America, land of bread and bannock
If Ville-Marie is Catholic, its founder was a laywoman

Fleuve / River
Lyrics & music: Nicolas Boulerice

I am the River who charms you, in the depths of my bed flow your tears
Fresh or sea water, my veins and arteries, I am life and I am mother

I have the brine of rainbows, all the treasures at the bottom of the waters
And at sunrise, following the wind, the brilliance of day shines on my skin

Reds of hearts, blues of the soil, I am the reflection of your lights
And like you, I am afraid of the night, for humans hardly sleep

In your stories where, one after another, the beacons go out, lights dim
My marine voice to your ears, which remain as deaf as lanterns

River that flows, Magtogoek*, from the estuary to Quebec
I take your words, your language, appealing for better neighbors

*The St. Lawrence, ”the walking path” in Algonquian languages

Une nuit dans les auberges / A Night at the Inn
Lyrics & music: Jean-Claude Mirandette

In my youth, I used to associate with the young ladies
I would go to the inn, where I would spend the night
I would drink white wine, spirits, and grenadine
With Laurier Tremblay and his three sailor friends 

I would drink white wine and whiskey
With Laurier Tremblay and his three sailor friends
When we were feeling frisky, we would tell stories from the highlands
We would charm the fickle girls with our carnations 

When we were feeling frisky, we would tell stories
We would charm the fickle girls with our carnations
Around half past seven, the music would start, and we would all be giddy
Dancing ‘til Midnight was the least of our worries 

Around half past seven, the music would start
Dancing ‘til Midnight was no small worry
Around half past one, I went up to my little room with Lisette
Lisette, oh! my Lisette, how lovely are your eyes! 

Around half past one, I went up to my little room
Lisette, oh! my Lisette, how lovely are your eyes!
With a little dash of whiskey, lower her two garters, her beautiful petticoat
Even the proudest priest wouldn’t have been able to resist 

With a little dash of whiskey, lower her two garters
Even the proudest priest wouldn’t have been able to resist
It was a night of caresses and promises
When morning came, I was going to walk her home 

It was a night of sweet caresses
When morning came, I was going to walk her home
André, my dear André, take me in marriage, oh! What a legacy!
Never again will I spend the night at the inn

I am a wise young lady, I will never be fickle

Fleur radieuse / Radiant Flower
Music: André Brunet

From the album booklet: “André composed this melody for his wife, Evelyne. We knew she was rock solid, deeply grounded and determined, but she turned out to be even stronger than that. Despite the fear, despite the doubts, the disease did not win. This tune is a loving salute to Evelyne’s dignity, and a paean to life.”