1 Orange Was The Color Of Her Dress, Then Blue
2 Don't Be Afraid, The Clown's Afraid Too
3 What Love
4 The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady First movement
5 The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady Second movement
6 The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady Third movement
7 The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady Fourth movement
8 Hommage à Mingus ---------------- Normand Guilbeault may well be the first Quebec-born jazz musician to have demontrated a profound acknowledgment of the influence of Charles Mingus. Like Mingus, Guilbeault is a bassist, a band leader and a composer. Unlike many of his peers, Guilbeault has dedicated a great deal of his time and his soul to unravel the mysteries of Mingus's music.
To realize this task, Guilbeault has looked for instrumentalists to form his group who were more than capable musicians - he found five others who shared and trusted their leader's conviction that great compositions and a unique performance practice could provide the driving force for creative individual expression. Thus, the instrumentation of this group differs from that usually heard on today's jazz scene. About the leader, more needs to be said: Not yet forty years old, Normand Guilbeault has become one of the sought-after bassists in Montréal. He can be counted upon as a team player, a soloist able to satisfy the demands of both the leaders and the wide variety of music he is often called upon to play. Also, he reads music very well. In his role as a band leader, he has (with the collaboration and support of his companion Anne) overcome the obstacles of organization, preparation of material, looking for work, producing concerts and recordings, dealing with his musicians - all in addition to playing the bass very well. On this recording, I believe Guilbeault has accomplished what few have even attempted - to play Mingus' music within the spirit of its creator, yet applying a distinct personality to that effort.
