Alex Lefaivre is a bassist, composer, and educator based in Montreal, whose musical prowess and versatile talent have won over audiences and critics alike. He co-founded the Parc X Trio, a jazz group that won the TD Grand Prize for Jazz at the Festival de Jazz de Montréal in 2010 and has produced seven albums.
In addition to his group work, Alex has released two albums with the Alex Lefaivre Quartet, YUL (2018) and Naufragés (2021). Their sound draws from the jazz tradition, blending original compositions with covers that reflect Alex’s contemporary aesthetic and visceral tone. With a cinematic style interwoven with a gritty, metropolitan edge, both albums have garnered critical acclaim for their mature and cohesive musical vision.
Alex’s creative energy extends beyond jazz to the world of media composition. He has scored a variety of projects, including Maria (2021), a full-length feature film by Mariana Mazza, and the opening theme for Rosalie Vaillancourt’s hit show, Complètement Lycé (2021/22), on Crave. His compositions capture the essence of the stories they accompany and showcase his talent for creating music that resonates with audiences.
When he’s not composing or performing, Alex is a Technopedagogical Counselor & Instructor at l’École de musique Vincent-d’Indy, in Montréal. He has collaborated with a wealth of local artists, including Michelle Sweeney, Joel Miller, Aliocha, Klo Pelgag, and Kalmunity, and has co-written with Sonia Johnson. With his innovative approach to jazz and his ability to create music that is both contemporary and timeless, Alex Lefaivre is a rising star in the music industry who is sure to leave a lasting impression on all who hear his work.
About the new album
Naufragés (“Castaways”), the new album which will be released on August 27th 2021 is firmly rooted in jazz presents a mix of five original compositions as well as three covers that reflect Alex’s contemporary aesthetic and visceral tone. After many failed attempts at scheduling the recording due to the various strict lockdown measures brought upon by the COVID 19 pandemic, the group finally managed to get together at Montreal’s Studio Madame Wood on April 5th 2021. Recorded over the course of two spontaneous sets of music, the listener can feel the urgency and sheer joy erupting out of Alex and his bandmates Erik Hove, alto saxophone, Nicolas Ferron on guitar and Alain Bourgeois on drums. The session was recorded and mixed by Simon l’Espérance and was mastered by Alex himself.
Naufragés’ eclectic and cinematic contemporary jazz style features echoes of punk, disco, Film Noir and even reggae, which gives it a biting energy that oscillates freely between brute, rough textures and refined, graceful moments while leaving lots of room for the musicians to stretch.
It features three covers; Time of the Barracudas (Miles Davis, Gil Evans), a relatively obscure modal jazz standard; Immigrant Song by Led Zepplin, symbolisation the pure, raw energy of Rock & Roll and the theme song to Passe-Partout by Pierre F. Brault, a popular children’s TV show in Quebec which first aired in 1977 and is still going on today.
The album cover art was created by Les Microcosmes, the alter-ego of French-Canadian actress Daphnée Côté-Hallé. After meeting through a web series they had both been a part of on, Alex was captivated by her body of work as a visual artist. She suggested he use one of her latest works entitled Naufragés (“Castaways”) which perfectly embodied his feelings during the pandemic, with it’s long, secluded, drifting stretches followed by a celebratory yet slow return to back to firm ground.