Michel Cusson

Michel Cusson - Michel Cusson & The Wild Unit - 1992 - Select

Although on the Avant-Garde label, this is a fusion date showcasing Michel Cusson on guitars and guitar synthesizer. The instrumental music is quite rock-oriented and the Canadian musicians perform with reasonable creativity within an idiom that had been largely discarded in the United States by the early 1990s. Although altoist Alain Labrosse (whose tone is sometimes similar to David Sanborn's) has a few intense solos and the rhythm section is forceful, Cusson is the main star throughout. Some of the music is bluish and funkier than 1970s fusion but in general this CD is most highly recommended to fans of the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Return To Forever. There is certainly no shortage of spirit or passion during this set. © Scott Yanow ©2013 Rovi Corp | All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-wild-unit-mw0001268344

“With Wild Unit, there are time and budget restrictions, and musician availability concerns. If I could, I’d just use my own studio if it was larger. As it is, it’s tough to get ten people together. Creativity is no problem—there are no limits there. And the band is always changing. Paul [Brochu] has joined the band, and Sylvain [Bolduc, bassist] is there permanently now too. The main reason to form the band was to explore percussion. It’s not there so much anymore, but it was good to do. It’s just too expensive to carry all of those drumkits and percussion. So, I decided to go with a group which could stretch more on the improv side. And depending on what budget I have at a given time, I do hire extra musicians. Wild Unit has had up to 12 musicians in it. Right now, there are seven. The stuff isn’t too hard to play, so I can add people as needed. The purpose of Wild Unit is to have fun, communicate, interact and groove and not to stick with one sound. With Wild Unit, I’ve explored hip-hop and worldbeat—especially African rhythms. African music is an endless source of different rhythms. And it uses the same language I use with jazz—a system of cues with sections that are very open that enable me to switch players as needed. Wild Unit’s music is very open. There is lots of interaction, long solos, and long build-ups. I want to do an album—maybe a live album—that focuses on the longer pieces”. © Michel Cusson © 2013 Anil Prasad. All rights reserved http://www.innerviews.org/inner/cusson.html

From 1976 to 1992, the hugely popular and influential jazz fusion band, Uzeb comprised of Michel Cusson, bassist Alain Caron and drummer Paul Brochu played to huge global audiences, selling over 500,000 albums. “Michel Cusson & The Wild Unit” is similar in many aspects to the fusion of UZEB, and this album has some terrific Afro - Caribbean grooves in the style of Weather Report. A reviewer on Amazon called this music “Bop'n'roll'n'funk”, a description which describes the sound of this album very well. However the album also has flavours of blues and rock, and is first and foremost a jazz fusion album with brilliant guitar work from Michel Cusson. The album is HR by A.O.O.F.C. Try and listen to the “Wild Unit 2” album and also UZEB’s great “Live in Bracknell” album [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 140 Mb]

TRACKS

1. Oukale Oukale
2. Wild Time
3. Le Chant
4. Sorry to Lose You
5. Au Fond du Temps
6. Serious Shuffle
7. And Marie
8. Mardi Gras
9. Djembe Folk

All tracks composed by Michel Cusson except Track 7 by Marc Parent

MUSICIANS

Michel Cusson – Guitars & Guitar Synth.
Michel Heroux – Bass
Yves Boisvert – Drums
Paul Brochu – Drums on Tracks 2, 8
Ibrahima Gueye, Alain Labrosse – Percussion
Luc Boivin – Percussion on Tracks 3, 9
Andre Leroux – Tenor & Soprano Saxophones
Daniel Martel – Alto Saxophone
Benoit Glazer – Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Kelsey Grant – Trombone
Marc Andre Tremblay – Synth. & Computer Programming

SHORT BIO

Michel Cusson is a critically acclaimed, world-renowned musician, music director and film music composer. Initially trained as a jazz-rock guitarist at the prestigious music departments of Montreal’s McGill University and Boston’s Berklee College of music, Cusson transitioned into film composition in the early 90’s. Cusson is the founder of the jazz-rock group UZEB. His extraordinary and prolific body of work includes musical arrangements on some of Canada and Quebec’s most iconic, award-winning television programs, cinema and IMAX 3D films including Aurore (Luc Dionne), Maurice Richard and Séraphin – Un Homme et son Péché (Charles Binamé), Riopelle Sans Titre (Pierre Houle), and the IMAX films Legends of Flight, Ultimate Wave Tahiti, Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag, Volcanoes of the Deep Sea (Stephen Low), Dinosaurs Alive (David Clark / Bayley Silleck), and Wolves (David Douglas). Cusson has also collaborated on several important international films including France’s Père et fils (Michel Boujenah) and Israel’s Metallic Blues (Danny Verete). His television credits comprise co-writing (with Richard Grégoire) original music for A & E’s celebrated historical series Napoleon (Yves Simoneau) and the cult classic, writing original music for mafia drama Omertà, the second most popular series in Quebec television history. In 2003, the Canadian Academy of Cinema & Television honored Cusson with a prestigious Prix des Immortels de la télé for the original soundtrack of the multi-award-winning television series. Cusson also composed music for many mega-shows all over the world. Two horse shows: Cavalia touring worldwide for more than 8 years, and Odysseo a new creation. Ulalena ( 12 years in Hawaii), Era ( 6 years) and the new Kaleido ( both in Shanghai, China) have been seen by thousands of spectators. His extraordinary work and achievements have been distinguished with 14 Felix Awards, 7 SOCAN Awards, 1 Jutra Award, 6 Gémeaux Awards and a Gemini. In 2006, he was given the illustrious Chevalier de la Pléiade distinction, for outstanding cultural achievement for serving the ideals of cooperation and friendship of the Francophonie. The global breadth and quality of Cusson’s melodic contributions (25 films and 19 television series) and his musical versatility has established him as one of the most sought-after composers in the world. © Productions Michel Cusson Inc. http://www.michelcusson.com/bio.html