Concert

Saxophonist Philippe Côté joins Sixtrum Percussion Ensemble and pianist François Bourassa for the world premiere of new works that place percussion at the center of the music, shaping a shifting landscape of rhythm and texture where improvisation unfolds. 

Inspired by the duo project Confluence (Côté/Bourassa, 2023), this concert extends the dialogue of the duo into a meeting with Sixtrum’s inventive percussive universe: Évidences: Confluence Meets Sixtrum.

The main work, Évidences, traces shadows of Thelonious Monk’s Evidence: rhythms, fragments, and unexpected accents emerge, vanish, and reappear. The line between written and improvised music is never fixed; each moment is in flux, each choice resonates.

The title carries multiple meanings: in English, evidence suggests clues or traces; in French, évidence evokes what is self-evident or undeniable. Jazz and contemporary music now exist in constant dialogue, and open forms—like those of Earle Brown—offer a compelling path to merge these worlds.

With Sixtrum’s energy, Bourassa’s percussive touch, and Côté’s lyrical yet mysterious saxophone playing, the concert unfolds as a vivid, ever-shifting soundscape.