UZEB is a Canadian

jazz fusion 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 jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, ...

band from

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

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 ...

who were active from 1976 to 1992, and reunited in November 2016. The members are Alain Caron (

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

), Michel Cusson (

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

), and Paul Brochu (

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

s). The band won a number of Canadian awards during the 1980s. By 1989, international sales of UZEB's first eight recordings had exceeded 200,000 units, which the ''Encyclopedia of Music in Canada'' calls "an unprecedented figure for a Canadian jazz group".UZEB
" ''Encyclopedia of Music in Canada''. Web, Nov. 18, 2010.

History

UZEB was formed in 1976 in

Drummondville Drummondville is a city in the Centre-du-Québec region of Quebec, located east of Montreal on the Saint-François River. The population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 79,258. The mayor of Drummondville is Stéphanie Lacoste. Drummondville is ...

, Quebec, when guitarist Michel Cusson and bassist Alain Caron started a jazz duo. The band originally named itself Eusèbe Jazz, their first concert (in Acton Vale, QC) being on the name day of St Eusèbe. This name was later shortened to UZEB. The band soon moved to Montreal. Drummer Paul Brochu joined Cusson and Caron in 1978. Until 1987, the band included a keyboardist: first Jean St-Jacques, followed by Stephan Montanaro (featured on the album ''Live in Bracknell''), Sylvain Coutu, and then Michel Cyr. In the 1980s, UZEB had what was then a very technologically advanced

MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and re ...

system for its synthesizers. After 1987, UZEB became a trio consisting of Cusson, Caron, and Brochu. UZEB won Quebec Félix awards as group of the year in 1984 and 1989 (in competition with Quebec pop and rock bands). As well, the band won awards for jazz album of the year in 1983, 1984, 1986, and 1987. UZEB did Quebec-wide and several Canadian tours. In 1991 UZEB received the

Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian virtuoso jazz pianist and composer. Considered one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, ...

Lifetime Achievement Award Lifetime achievement awards are awarded by various organizations, to recognize contributions over the whole of a career, rather than or in addition to single contributions. Such awards, and organizations presenting them, include: A * A.C. ...

, which was presented at the 1991

Montreal International Jazz Festival The Festival International de Jazz de Montréal ( en, Montreal International Jazz Festival) is an annual jazz festival held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Jazz Fest holds the 2004 Guinness World Record as the world's largest jazz fest ...

. UZEB played its first European concert in 1981 at the Bracknell (England) Jazz Festival. In 1983, UZEB appeared at the Festival de Jazz de Paris and recorded at the Olympia in Paris. UZEB also played in other European countries and in Southeast Asia (in 1990). However, UZEB rarely played concerts in the US. UZEB's most popular songs include "Junk Funk", "Smiles and Chuckles", "Mile 'O'", "60 rue des Lombards", "Spider", and "Uzeb Club". In 2017, the band reformed for a series of five concerts in Europe and fourteen in Quebec.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Fast Emotion'' (1983) * ''You, Be Easy'' (1984) * ''Between the Lines'' (1985) * ''Noisy Nights'' (1988) * ''UZEB Club'' (1989)

Compilations

* ''Entre Ciel Et Terre'' (1996) * ''Best of Uzeb'' (2000)

Live albums

* ''Live in Bracknell'' (1981) * ''Live à l’Olympia'' (1986) * ''Absolutely Live'' (with

Didier Lockwood Didier Lockwood (11 February 1956 – 18 February 2018) was a French violinist. He played in the French rock band Magma in the 1970s, and was known for his use of electric amplification and his experimentation with different sounds on the electri ...

) (1986) * ''Live in Europe'' (1988) * ''World Tour 90'' (1990) * ''Reunion Live'' (2019)

Music DVDs

* ''UZEB - The Last Concert'' (1991)

References

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available fo ...

UZEB page
on Allmusic.com {{Authority control Canadian jazz ensembles Jazz fusion ensembles Musical groups from Montreal Musical groups established in 1976