Ville Émard Blues Band was a Canadian

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

band from

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, which played a significant role in the development of francophone

rock music Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdo ...

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in the early 1970s."Ville Émard Blues Band"
''

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'', February 7, 2006. They were most noted for receiving a

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nomination for Most Promising Group at the Juno Awards of 1975. Despite their name, the band was not a straight

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

band, but incorporated a diverse mix of rock,

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and

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influences. A rotating collective featuring anywhere between seven and 25 members at any given performance, the band was led by bass guitarist Bill (Roland) Gagnon and included singers Lise Cousineau and Estelle Sainte-Croix, pianist Pierre Nadeau, percussionists Denis Farmer, Michel Séguin and Christian St-Roch, saxophonists Carlyle Miller and Renald Montemeglio, and guitarists Rawn Bankley and Robert Stanley. Almost all of the members were simultaneously members of other bands, such as

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and Contraction, or session players for solo artists, including

Robert Charlebois Robert Charlebois (born June 25, 1944) is a Canadian author, composer, musician, performer and actor. Charlebois was born in Montreal, Quebec. Among his best known songs are ''Lindberg'' (the duo with Louise Forestier in particular), ''Ordi ...

Claude Dubois Claude André Dubois (born 24 April 1947) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. Career Dubois was an early star of the Francophone musical '' Starmania''. He was a vocalist in the Canadian famine relief song " Tears Are Not Enough" and was nomina ...

, Franck Dervieux and

Renée Claude Renée Claude (born Renée Bélanger; July 3, 1939 – May 12, 2020) was a Canadian actress and singer Denise Ménard, Suzanne Thomas and Benoît L'Herbier"Renée Claude" ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'', January 20, 2010. who was known as an inter ...

History

The band independently released the demo recording ''Minute! Ville Emard Blues Band S'en Vient Is Coming'' in 1973, before releasing two albums, ''Live à Montréal'' (1974) and ''Ville Émard'' (1975) on the Funkébec record label. They undertook a 30-city tour of Quebec in 1974, as well as playing a show on the

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. The band did not continue past 1975, although the two Funkébec albums were rereleased in 1979 as the double album compilation ''2 Disques incluant 2 oeuvres inédites''. A new compilation, ''Complete VEBB Au Complet 1973-1975'', was reissued in 2004 on the ProgQuébec record label. The band performed a number of reunion shows in this era, with new members including Kathleen Sergerie,"Kathleen vise un retour sur disque"

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, March 6, 2017. and a 2007 performance in Montreal was released by ProgQuébec in 2009 as the live album ''Live au Festival des musiques progressives de Montréal 2007''.

Discography

*''Minute! Ville Emard Blues Band S'en Vient Is Coming'' (1973) *''Live à Montréal'' (1974) *''Ville Émard'' (1975) *''2 Disques incluant 2 oeuvres inédites'' (1979) *''Complete VEBB Au Complet 1973-1975'' (2004) *''Live au Festival des musiques progressives de Montréal 2007'' (2009)

References

{{Authority control Canadian progressive rock groups Musical groups from Montreal Musical groups established in 1973 Musical groups disestablished in 1975 Musical groups reestablished in 2004 1973 establishments in Quebec 1975 disestablishments in Quebec 2004 establishments in Quebec