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François Bourassa

François Bourassa is a pianist, composer, bandleader, and educator whose catalog joins a long-running quartet with solo, chamber, and orchestral projects.

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Photo source · Photo: Bull-Doser, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Career Overview

About François Bourassa

Bourassa’s official biography identifies a Montréal-born pianist and composer whose trio began developing at the city’s jazz festival in 1985. The addition of saxophonist and flutist André Leroux in 1996 established the long-running quartet heard across much of his leader catalog.[1]

The same history distinguishes that quartet from solo piano, chamber and orchestral commissions, ballet scores, and collaborations with improvisers and classical musicians. Swirl documents the quartet live in 2022, while L’Impact du silence records Bourassa alone at the piano.[1][2]

Ensembles and Career Threads

Bands & Projects

Leader, pianist, and composer

François Bourassa Quartet

Quartet formed 1996

Bourassa’s official history traces the ensemble from its trio origins through more than twenty-five years of quartet recording and performance.[1]

Pianist and composer

Solo piano

L’Impact du silence gives Bourassa a fully unaccompanied setting distinct from his long-running quartet and collaborative projects.[1]

Composer and pianist

Chamber and orchestral writing

The official biography documents commissions, ballet scores, and chamber collaborations alongside Bourassa’s jazz ensembles.[1]

Selected, Not Exhaustive

Recordings to Know

2017

Number 9

Quartet leader, pianist, and composer

The ninth leader album chronicles Bourassa’s quartet writing and includes a composition saluting Carla Bley and Karlheinz Stockhausen.[1]

Release details

2021

L’Impact du silence

Solo pianist and composer

Bourassa’s first solo-piano album places his compositions and improvisation outside the instrumentation of his quartet.[1]

Release details

2023

Swirl

Quartet leader, pianist, and composer

Recorded live in 2022, Swirl features André Leroux, Guy Boisvert, and Guillaume Pilote in Bourassa’s continuing quartet.[1][2]

Release details

Live Calendar

Upcoming Jazz DateBook Shows

Fri, Sep 25, 7:30 PM

Jim Doxas Quartet Coltrane Sound - a centennial celebration of John Coltrane

Upstairs Jazz Bar & Grill · Montreal

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Fri, Sep 25, 9:45 PM

Jim Doxas Quartet Coltrane Sound - a centennial celebration of John Coltrane

Upstairs Jazz Bar & Grill · Montreal

Show details

Sources

Career copy is original synthesis from the artist, label, and project sources below. Current dates come from Jazz DateBook event inventory.

  1. [1] Official biography, projects, and recording history

    François Bourassa

  2. [2] Swirl stream and session credits

    François Bourassa Quartet