Maneige was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. In ...

and

fusion jazz Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, amplifiers, and ke ...

band from

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. The instrumental ensemble was one of the Quebec progressive rock scene's longest-running bands, performing regularly for several decades.

History

Maneige was founded in 1972 by Alain Bergeron and Jérôme Langlois. Bergeron played flute and

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

, while Langlois was a

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical inst ...

. They were joined by the drummer Gilles Schetagne,

percussionist A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

Paul Picard and bassist Yves Leonard, to form the initial quintet. The band played a few concerts in the early 1970s, opening for the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

progressive band,

Ekseption Ekseption was a Dutch rock band active from 1967 to 1989, playing mostly-instrumental progressive rock and classical rock. The central character in the changing roster, and the only band member present on every album, was conservatory-trained tru ...

and for Soft Machine on the 15 February 1974 at CEGEP Maisonneuve. They released their first two

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

s on the Harvest

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed ...

. Their eponymous debut release contained a side-long track and established their experimental approach. Jerome's brother, Vincent Langlois, was added as a second keyboardist and a

wind Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few ho ...

player, and an array of

percussion instrument A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

s, some tuned, were used. Guitarist Denis Lapierre had been added to the lineup. In 1975, '' Billboard'' described the band as " pop avant-garde", writing that "they mix

musique concrete Musique is the French word for music. Musique may also refer to: Music *Musique (disco band), a 1970s studio band produced by Patrick Adams *Musique, a British dance act consisting of Moussa Clarke and Nick Hanson best known for their 2001 song ...

in a style between early Zappa and Pink Floyd", and noted that the album "brought success beyond exepectations". The band signed with Capitol Records in 1974; their second album, also released in 1975, was ''Les Porches''. After these two initial albums, Jerome Langlois left due to differences in opinion concerning the band's musical direction, and Vincent Langlois took over sole keyboard duties. Paul Picard, from the original lineup but absent from the first two releases, rejoined the band. The next two studio albums were more focused, with shorter compositions. ''Ni vent... ni nouvelle'' and ''Libre Service'' were the next two releases, and both were reissued on CD in the early 1990s. The band toured in Canada, including a performance at the Winnipeg Heritage Festival in 1978. A live album followed in 1979, entitled ''Composite''. Two more albums came in the early 1980s, which were more of a jazz rock styling. In the late 1990s, ''Live Montreal 1974-1975'' was issued featuring recordings from the early version of the band, including the side-long "Le Rafiot" from their first album, as well as the unreleased "1-2-3-4-5-6". In 2005, ProgQuébec reissued some archive material, and issued the previously unreleased early composition "Manège".

Discography

*1975: ''Maneige'' *1975: ''Les Porches'', Capitol Records, EMI Of Canada: ST 6438 *1977: ''Ni Vent...Ni Nouvelle'' *1978: ''Libre Service - Self Service'' *1979: ''Composite'' *1980: ''Montréal, 6 am'' *1981: ''Images'' *1998: ''Live Montréal 1974-1975'' *2005: ''Live à l’Évêché 1975'' *2005: ''Live'' *2006: ''Les Porches Live''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maneige Musical groups established in 1972 Musical groups disestablished in 1983 Musical groups from Montreal Canadian progressive rock groups 1972 establishments in Quebec 1983 establishments in Quebec Avant-pop musicians