Drawing his inspiration from Montreal’s distinct urban energy, bass player Alex Lefaivre released YUL on August 3rd 2018. The album presents a series of modern jazz originals written for some of his home town’s most original musicians. Taking its name from Montreal’s airport code, YUL takes the listener on a cinematic trip through the city, where dreamy, hazy summer vibes are intertwined with a gritty, metropolitan edge. The lyrical, song-like melodies develop over interesting forms that leave a lot of room for the group to interact and showcase their conversational improvisations.
Equally proficient on both the upright and electric bass, Alex is a fearless original known for his unique artistic voice, powerful groove, instrumental virtuosity, passionate work ethic and sense of humor. A jazz player at heart, Alex is a stylistically versatile musician as comfortable in highly experimental contexts as he is on a Top 40 gig.
In 2007, Alex co-founded Parc X trio, one of Canada’s premier jazz groups. Parc X Trio have released 7 recordings, the latest of which, Dream, is released through Challenge Records International. They have toured across Canada, Mexico, the USA and Europe and continue to maintain a busy schedule. Parc X Trio have won many awards and distinctions including the Grand Prize for Jazz by the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal in 2010 and Jazz Album of the Year at the GAMIQ 2017.
As a composer/producer, Alex has had the privilege of working with the up-and-coming writer and director Alec Pronovost on many of his short films and webseries, including the viral promotional videos of Le Killing (2019) and Le Bungalow de l’Amour (2020). Other notable projects are l’Intermédia Web (2019) and and advertisement for Coca-Cola’s BYE BYE 2018 campaign. He released an ambiant electronic music EP, Loops, in March 2019. His foray into electronic music began with MUTEK‘s Connect the Montreal Musical Dots contest in May 2013 for which his sample-based composition Lionnel-Grouxl Dub was a finalist.
In 2011, Alex co-founded Multiple Chord Music (MCM), an independent record label that promotes local talent, mostly in the jazz vein. The label has released over 30 recordings by artists such as RJ LeBLanc, François Jalbert & Jérôme Beaulieu, Benjamin Deschamps and Rachel Therrien.