Kawandak

Normand Guilbeault presents Kawandak

As a bass player, singer-songwriter, and multidisciplinary performing artist, Normand Guilbeault has held elite status for over 40 years in jazz and musical improvisation in Quebec and across Canada. His ambitious projects have given rise to inspired and gripping masterpieces: Homage to Mingus, RIEL Musical Plea, Visions of Kerouac and, more recently, Kawandak — a First Nations/Metis music ensemble.

Driven by a distinct and original method, Kawandak stands apart from the usual clichés and opts for a new approach to traditional Indigenous and Metis singing, an approach that, depending on the inspiration, includes various musical elements, such as jazz, blues, rock, and folk, not to mention a reinterpretation of some of the great classics of contemporary Quebec, Indigenous, and Metis repertoires.

Unlike anything else on the current scene, Kawandak — a real power quartet — stands out as a unique contribution to the Quebec-Canadian musical universe. Besides Normand Guilbeault as vocalist, bass player, and musical director, this group of devoted musicians taps into the great talents of Annie Poulain on vocals and keyboard, Claude Lavergne on drums, and virtuoso Sylvain Provost on guitar.

Songs of love and hope, spirituality, poetry, political and social themes… The music is diverse, rich, and genuinely of “mixed” origins. It calls out to the listener, as an ode to nature and the sacred.