LE VENT DU NORD
‘Quebec’s Folk Heroes’ to perform in Ukiah
The Ukiah Community Concert Association proudly presents Canadian folk band Le Vent du Nord, appearing at the Ukiah High School Auditorium on Sunday, March 26 at 2 p.m.
Le Vent du Nord (The North Wind) was originally scheduled to appear as part of UCCA’S offering last season, but complications with COVID resulted in a cancellation of their concert. LVDN, who specializes in the traditional French-canadian folk music referred to as la musique quebecoise (Quebecois music), returns as a bonus in this season’s lineup and this is not an opportunity music lovers should miss.
As the Syracuse News Times put it, “If you’ve seen them before, you already know. And if you’ve never seen them, words won’t do them justice. Le Vent du Nord is one of the best bands touring today, no matter your musical taste.”
Although Le Vent du Nord has over two decades under its belt, it was clear from its beginning that the band had something special. Officially forming in 2002, the band’s first album, “Maudite Moisson,” released the following year, won a Juno Award for Roots and Tradition Group Album of the Year (Canada’s Grammys). Since then, Le Vent du Nord has received continued acclaim, recording 10 more albums, performing over 2,000 shows on four continents, and winning numerous prestigious awards including a second Juno, a Félix at ADISQ, a Canadian Folk Music Award, and “Artist of the Year” at Folk Alliance Annual Gala.
The five current members, Nicolas Boulerice, Simon Beaudry, Olivier Demers, Réjean Brunet, and André Brunet, collectively play a rousing assortment of instruments including the fiddle, guitar, bouzouki, hurdy-gurdy, keyboard, accordion, and bass. (If you are wondering what some of those instruments are, a bouzouki is a large relative of the Mandolin family, and a hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-crank-turned, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings.)
Sometimes, however, all the instruments are put aside and the band members instead offer an a capella song in rich vocal harmonies. Hailing from Quebec, a primarily Frenchspeaking province, the majority of Le Vent du Nord’s songs are sung in French. But if you don’t speak French, don’t think this will detract from the experience of these musicians who are described by folk music publication Singout! as “Exceptionally skilled, exceptionally experienced, and exceptionally entertaining.”
With both traditional and original compositions, the band’s music is rooted in the sounds of the Celtic diaspora, though like its region of origin, it also incorporates global influences. The folk music of Quebec has its roots in the working songs of the early French settlers who transported furs by canoes in the 17th century. Later, Irish and Scottish immigrants fleeing the potato famine (though many had settled in the territory earlier) brought distinct musical traditions of their own, with the Irish fiddle being one of the most dynamic shapers of the emerging Quebecois sound. Eventually, the accordion, mandolin, and harmonica also came to feature prominently in Quebec’s cultural sound.
Settled firmly in these cultural roots, Le Vent du Nord is dedicated to preserving and
sharing their cultural heritage through their music. Yet their sound is anything but old. You’ll certainly be swept up in the fresh and lively energy of their performance where they create, in their words, “the modern sound of tradition, the music of here and now.”
Tickets are available for purchase at Mendocino Book Company in Ukiah and Mazahar in Willits (payment by cash or check only), and online at www. ukiahconcerts.org. Single tickets are $30 if purchased ahead, and $35 at the door. UCCA offers free tickets to youth 17 and under accompanied by an adult and to full-time college students (12 units). Free tickets must be reserved by calling (707) 4632738 and providing name, phone number and email address.