Montreal Quebec

[TizzleNizz]

who's from montreal here? i'll be going there in a few months for school.. how's the jazz scene there? isnt oscar peterson from montreal?

well.. better polish up my french

[Eric Jackson]

Originally Posted by TizzleNizz

isnt oscar peterson from montreal?

Yeah, but he now lives in Mississauga, which is west end Toronto, Ontario.

[Devils Creek]

Tiz

Buy a "Club" for your car. They love out of province license plates there. No offence to my fellow Canuckistanians, but we have a service school there open about 4 weeks a year. We've lost 3 vehicles in the past 2 years.

[TizzleNizz]

what do you mean "club?"

[Devils Creek]

Steering wheel locking device - Vehicles over $40,000 in Quebec require GPS tracking or no insurance coverage. Therefore out of province vehicles are stolen at an unbelievable rate, especially high end pickups. We've had an unbelievable amount of trouble, right in our hotel parking lots. We even have a security video of one being stolen...98 seconds from drop off to down the highway (to Saudi Arabia)

Sorry Adrian....

[DirtDog]

Yeah - Montreal's pretty bad for vehicle theft (24,000 stolen vehicles in 2002), but no worse than Vancouver (24,000). Toronto had 17,000 stolen vehicles in 2002.

But like most Canadian cities, you are far more likely to be a victim of a property crime than any kind of violent crime. And being a victim of a property crime is pretty slim altogether - like 1 in 100 for violent crimes vs. 4 in 100 for property crimes.

DD

[Damon Rondeau]

Montreal is a fabulous town. If you're in town for the annual jazz fest, then you're in town for the world's biggest jazz fest -- everyone plays there sooner or later.

Haven't been to Montreal in quite a number of years, but you're not going to have any trouble finding a vibrant music scene there. It's going to be practically all French, though. There is a very strong musical tradition in French culture, and any French Canadian community worth its salt has got tons of music going on. In my Canadian city of about 650,000 people, many of the best local jazz players are from the French community...

Montreal's a little like Paris in that it attracts French-speaking immigrants. That means there's also quite an active community of French-speaking Africans, Haitians and other Carribbean folks. Good foundation again for music-making...

You're gonna love Montreal. Are you going to McGill? They've got a good rep as a place to study composition...

[DirtDog]

Originally Posted by Damon Rondeau

Montreal is a fabulous town. If you're in town for the annual jazz fest, then you're in town for the world's biggest jazz fest -- everyone plays there sooner or later.

Haven't been to Montreal in quite a number of years, but you're not going to have any trouble finding a vibrant music scene there. It's going to be practically all French, though. There is a very strong musical tradition in French culture, and any French Canadian community worth its salt has got tons of music going on. In my Canadian city of about 650,000 people, many of the best local jazz players are from the French community...

Montreal's a little like Paris in that it attracts French-speaking immigrants. That means there's also quite an active community of French-speaking Africans, Haitians and other Carribbean folks. Good foundation again for music-making...

You're gonna love Montreal. Are you going to McGill? They've got a good rep as a place to study composition...

That said, you can survive quite nicely without having to speak a lot of French. Much business is conducted in English and there is a large population of native Anglophones. It would certainly help if you can read and understand a few key french phrases such as "Biere Froid" (cold beer) and "Depanneur" (where you buy cold beer) and of course, "Poutine", what you eat after a night of drinking cold beer.

DD

[Damon Rondeau]

Poutine!! I had some yesterday...

You'll get by fine in Montreal without any French. If you stay there any length of time, you'll be Frenchifying too.

[erikwhitton]

I was just in Montreal last week for the first time. I think I will go back in a few months for the jazz festival. I had such a great time, the peole were wonderful, great places to eat, cheap hotels, favorable exchange rate, and a pleasant 6 hour drive for me through the White Mountains.

I did see a number of jazz clubs but my party was more interested in hockey games and checking out the "Canadian Ballet"

-erik

[TizzleNizz]

je parle assez du francais.

no, im not goin to McGill but im goin to Concordia.....

but still.. im excited.. i'll try to rent a bass from the music department..

[Adrian Cho]

Hi folks

I'm in Ottawa. Reasonably active on the jazz scene here but I find that there's not a heck of a lot happening. I moved here a few years ago from Sydney, Australia.

Anyway, I've been trying to find out what's happening in Montreal. Specifically jam sessions. I e-mailed Alec Walkington who teaches at McGill (and is originally from Ottawa) and he had this to say:

The scene in Montreal is good. There are many great musicians here and a few regular venues. You can hear good music at Upstairs, House of Jazz (formerly Biddle's), L'Escogriffe, Va-et-Vient and a few other places depending on what day of the week. I have a regular gig Thursday to Saturday at a restaurant in Old Montreal called Modavie with the Greg Clayton Trio.

I know that there are a few weekly jam sessions in Montreal. On Mondays there is the session at the House of Jazz on Aylmer St. Tuesdays there is a session at Le Sabayon on Sherbrooke St. I think there are sessions at Cafe Sarajevo on Wednesdays and on at L'Escogriffe on Thursdays. The jam session scene tends to change often so it would be wise to call ahead if you are thinking of going to one of them.

Adrian