Home » Jazz Musicians » Alex Bellegarde

Alex Bellegarde

Energetic player, composer and Grand Jazz Award winner at the Montreal Jazz Festival, 26th ed, Alex Bellegarde creates music drawn from a wealth of sources. He heads a number of formations and participates in a range of projects: jazz, Latin music and multidisciplinary. With several albums to his credit, he is also a guest contributor to a wide array of other artists' recordings. A well-known figure on Montreal's jazz scene, he hosts a 'killer' weekly jam session that draws promising talents and renowned jazz musicians from near and afar. A much sought-after Latin bassist when local Cuban players or latin stars from out of town need the right sound, he has played at special events with artists from the US and Cuba : Candido Camero, Viti Ruiz, Maelo Ruiz, Edwin Bonilla, Chiquitin and Caridad Cruz. Master of improv, Alex Bellegarde has performed in a wealth of projects from theatre, film, poetry and dance to multimedia. Spontaneous Creation Module, Émergence Énergie, Mix Sessions/ Radical Libre (multimedia), Exit Sur Scène , Poetry for Three Americas (poetry), MRJ (Bravo film), Cornemuse by Larry Tremblay, Hamlet Machine by Heiner Müller (theatre)...to name a few! Invited to join Laurent Bortolotti's international project jazz é-tape (jazz, theatre & tap) in 2013, he performs several times a year with the company in Europe. Born in Montreal, Alex grew up in Quebec’s Eastern townships, where throughout high school he played with the award winning Ensemble Davignon and Massey Vanier Band. By 97, he was back in town checking out Montreal's effevescent jazz scene and playing at many of the weekly jam sessions. Influenced greatly by bassist, the late Skip Bey, Alex was member of the Vic Vogel Octet and played with Vogel’s guest, saxophonist Jimmy Heath, at the Montreal Jazz Festival. He is a frequent player in events such L'Off Festival de Jazz and the Montreal jazz Fest and in festivals and clubs across Canada, Mexico, Switzerland and the US.

Awards

General Motors Grand Jazz Award, 26th edition, Festival International de Jazz de Montréal.


Tags

327
Album Review

Alex Bellgarde Quartet: Caminando

Read "Caminando" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


The freedom of jazz and the joy of Cuban rhythms are what bandleader Alex Bellegarde says he loves, and Caminando combines spontaneity and structure for an affair of the heart. The Montreal-based bassist leads a vibrant Latin-leaning quartet featuring Cuban- born pianist Yoel Diaz; alto sax man Erik Hove; drummer Yvon Piouffe; and a special guest, percussionist Orlando Lavielle.The set opens with the title tune, featuring a tranquil Cuban percussion groove behind a sweet and simple meloodic line ...

Read more articles
9

Event

SortiesJAZZnights.com Celebrates Its 20th Anniversary At Montreal's O Patro Vys on January 20, 2023

SortiesJAZZnights.com Celebrates Its 20th Anniversary At Montreal's O Patro Vys on January 20, 2023

Source: Claude Thibault

This event will celebrate our body of work for the last 20 years starting with a presentation of how it all started for Claude Thibault January 1, 2003, its evolution until today’s 5th version as well as our current team. At the sortiesjazznights.com 20th anniversary birthday, you’ll also hear testimony and ad lib comments from partners, collaborators, musicians, friends of jazz and some jazzy grooves with the Alex Bellegarde Trio, some surprise guests, a jam session and more! It’s not ...

92

Performance / Tour

Bassist Alex Bellegarde to Perform at the National Jazz Awards on April 8th, 2008 in Toronto.

Bassist Alex Bellegarde to Perform at the National Jazz Awards on April 8th, 2008 in Toronto.

Source: All About Jazz

'Canadian jazz artists, festival organizers, journalists, broadcasters and enthusiasts will gather to pay tribute to their own at the Seventh Annual National Jazz Awards on April 8, 2008'

'The National Jazz Awards, presented by Galaxie, CBC's Continuous Music Network and generously supported by FACTOR, salutes “The Next Generation". Executive Director, Bill King has assembled an amazing line up that will feature many of this country's young jazz artists who will share the stage in performance and celebration.'

Kellylee Evans, Michael ...

109

Event

Neal Haiduck plays June 30 in Montreal with bassist Alex Bellegarde

Neal Haiduck plays June 30 in Montreal with bassist Alex Bellegarde

Source: All About Jazz

ALEX BELLEGARDE TRIO with GUEST NEAL HAIDUCK

Pierre Franois: piano Alex Bellegarde: double bass Isaiah Ceccarelli: drums Guest Neal Haiduck : clarinet

Les Nuits de Montreal Quartier - Festival International de Jazz de Montreal 2006 June 30th - 23h00 Nyks Club 1250, rue Bleury Montreal, QC Canada 541 866 1787

One of the few modern jazz clarinet players around, Neal Haiduck has ...

140

Recording

Alex Bellegarde Releases New CD June 27th

Alex Bellegarde Releases New CD June 27th

Source: All About Jazz

, Plays July 7th at Montreal's 2006 Festival International de Jazz and releases at the same time his new cd Caminando

Bassist Alex Bellegarde is a prominent player on the Montreal scene. An energetic and broadminded player, he collaborates with a wide range of musicians, poets, actors and visual artists and creates music drawn from a wealth of sources. His compositions, along with a great performance by his quartet, won the coveted General Motors Grand Jazz Award at the 2005 ...

109

Performance / Tour

Bassist Alex Bellegarde, from Montreal, plays with Clarinetist Neal Haiduck in NYC

Bassist Alex Bellegarde, from Montreal, plays with Clarinetist Neal Haiduck in NYC

Source: All About Jazz

Bassist Alex Bellegarde, a prominent player on the Montreal scene, will join American jazz Clarinetist Neal Haiduck for a weekend of jazz in New York City, beginning Friday, February 24, when the duo will play swinging Modern Jazz with Rob Garcia, drums, and Nathan Bloom, guitar, at Detour, East 13th Street at First Avenue. Sets begin at 9 p.m. No cover. (Take the IRT to Union Square.) Bellegarde's visit is made possible, in part, by the generosity of the Conseil ...

110

Award / Grant

The Alex Bellegarde Quartet: Winner of the Grand Prix de Jazz General Motors 2005

The Alex Bellegarde Quartet: Winner of the Grand Prix de Jazz General Motors 2005

Source: All About Jazz

The Alex Bellegarde Quartet: Winner of the Grand Prix de Jazz General Motors 2005 Radio-Canada’s ‘Prix Étoiles Galaxie’ awarded to Sage Reynolds

Montreal, Friday, July 8, 2005 – The Festival International de Jazz de Montréal — in close collaboration with General Motors du Canada, partner and official presenter of the event for the sixth year in a row — is pleased to be awarding the Grand Prix de Jazz General Motors today to Alex ...

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Alex Bellegarde Trio...

AB productions
2014

buy

Caminando

Justin Time Records
2006

buy

Videos

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.