Eric Fillion is giving the Thinking Spaces talk “Jazz Libre: The Musical-Political Praxis of the Quebec Left” about free jazz, improvisation, and the Québec left on March 12, as part of the University of Guelph 14th annual Music Symposium.

A presentation and listening session by Eric Fillion (University of Toronto / author of JAZZ LIBRE et la révolution québécoise) examining Jazz Libre’s national liberation project and the music that inspired it. Founded in 1967, Jazz libre was a group of musicians who promoted collective improvisation in music to help transform Quebec society in the wake of the Quiet Revolution. During its eight years of existence, it encouraged students, artists, political activists, and working families to participate in the liberating experience of free jazz. Its members believed that the music’s symbolic and cultural significance could reinvigorate the revolutionary fervour of the Quebec left.

2:30-4:00 Lecture, 4:15-5:30 Listening Session, Mackinnon Rm 308, University of Guelph, free and open to the public