Soundtrack to the Revolution

"I am a revolutionary first, a musician second. Instead of a machine gun, I have a trumpet," explained Yves Charbonneau, co-founder of the Montreal-based group Jazz Libre, in May of 1969. Upbeat excitement resonated throughout Montreal and across the predominantly French-speaking province of Quebec in the wake of the Quiet Revolution and in the immediate aftermath of Expo 67, the highlight of Canada's Centennial celebrations. Yet at the time, the city was also a hub of discordant politics, many of which were about the promises of various types of leftism and their intersection with nationalism. Cultural workers-individuals, groups, and their networks-participated actively in these debates, prompting new forms of communication, participation, and organization to catalyze all kinds of evocative solidarities. In telling the story of Jazz Libre, Soundtrack to the Revolution reveals the meaningful role that the art of spontaneity played in the turbulent 1960s and 1970s. It traces the path taken by Jazz Libre-a collective of improvisers who embraced free jazz to help legitimize the efforts of the Quebec left to situate its nationalist aspirations within global anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist movements. Charbonneau and his bandmates strongly believed that collective improvisation could inspire resistance and hope by fostering communication, collaboration, initiative, trust, and self-criticism-but also a disposition to take risks as well as a willingness to think creatively and make decisions on the spur of the moment. Their many initiatives (concert forums aimed at students and workers, a self-governing arts summer camp in Val-David, north of Montreal, a socialist commune in the Eastern Townships as well as an experimental cultural centre in Old Montreal) were all oriented toward the convergence of protest movements shaking Quebec. Jazz Libre's fate was, as a result, irreversibly tied to the leftist independence movement-a hodgepodge of groups in search of possible futures during these pivotal decades.