The Blues and the Soul, it’s a state of mind, it’s the music of the soul; the musicians of The Soul Clappers deeply grasped that. Masterfully led by a local guy, Remi Cormier on trumpet and artistic direction, this band, 7 top passionate and talented performers with an already impressive track record, formerly known as The Remington Blues Band (featuring Jason Remington Ford, son of Patsy Gallant as lead singer) is changing name, lead singer and is leaving a bit aside corporate performances to get on stage and present it’s very own Blues Soul.
The Soul Clappers is an exceptional band with contagious energy. Their repertoire includes major hits of Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Cee Lo Green and of many others to complete their original tunes. What’s that, The Soul Clappers? The Soul Clappers, it’s:
REMI CORMIER - trumpet -
Musical director and arranger for the band, Remi Cormier is it’s mainstay; he brought together those seven stars, working wonders to get the spectacular results that we know! In love with the trumpet since age 6, he got into lots of training, first in Classical Music at the Conservatoire de musique du Quebec in Hull (Yves Lucier and Emmanuel Thouin), in Jazz (Rick Rangno), at Cegep St-Laurent (Jocelyn Couture), at McGill University (Joe Sullivan) and finally at the University of Montreal (Ron Di Lauro). He has also been playing with bands like The Vic Vogel Big Band, Oliver Jones, The Christine Jensen Big Band, The National Jazz Orchestra of Montreal as well as with another band, that one funk: The Liquor Store.
ALEXANDER OLIVER - vocals -
Alexander Oliver was born in Montreal from Haïtian roots. Trained in his early years in a Montreal Gospel choir, he’s got the Soul in his blood. Orderly and anxious to improve his abilities, he completed his vocal training at Cegep Marie-Victorin to then perform all over the province of Quebec, in Toronto, Halifax, Detroit, and New York. It is now with The Soul Clappers that he pursues his artistic career.
ALEX DODIER - saxophone -
Originally from the Sherbrooke region, Alex Dodier started learning the saxophone at age 9. A Jazz afficionados, right while studying, he brought together a band and decided to keep on with studying sax at Sherbrooke University. He kept on improving at the Universite de Montreal where he was awarded the scholarship "bourse d’audition et de graduation Sophie Desmarais". Solo saxophonist with the Universite de Montreal’s Big Band, Alex Dodier also played with many Jazz Majors, especially Ingrid Jensen, Alain Caron, Paul Brochu, Michel Donato, Maria Schneider, David Liebman, Donny McCaslin and David Binney.
EMILE FARLEY - bass -
Emile Farley’s interest went toward the electric bass at age12. He started his music training in Jazz performance at Cegep Saint-Laurent. He then joined his friend, Remi Cormier’s band, The Liquor Store. Later, while pursuing a Bachelor Degree in Jazz performance at Universite de Montreal, he also joined the Jazzamboka Band, a mix of Congolese traditional music with Jazz.
FELIX LE BLANC - keyboard -
Felix Le Blanc, this true Jazz and pop music enthusiast went to Cegep St-Laurent and then to McGill University to study music. This talented pianist composes and performs with his own band, The Felix LeBlanc Quartet; and he performs with the young spirited band, The Liquor Store.
JEFF MOSELEY - guitar -
Jeffrey Moseley started to seriously study the guitar getting private lessons at age 10. He went on to improve his knowledge at Cegep de Drummondville (Jose Harguindey, Fancois Bourassa, Pascal Mayrand and Paule Magnan). He tried his hands at each and every musical colors: Jazz, Blues, Rock, Classical, Manouche as well as music from the Balkans, in Eastern Europe. On top of playing music for the CIA, a Montreal improvisation league, he worked with many bands among which Poum Tchak, Les Bottes Manouches, The Glenlivet Quartet, Louis and the Royal Pickle, Masson Stomp, Kutsi Merki, Swing Erable and with Denis Chang with whom he also studies. Third place at the Grand Prix de Guitare de Montreal in 2011, he was awarded a second prize in 2012. He could also be heard on stage in 2010, 2011 and 2014 at the Montreal International Jazz Festival. He keeps on perfecting his art at Concordia University and also improves by working with Marc Villemure, Gary Schwartz, Charles Ellison and Greg Amirault, to mention only those.
MAXIME REED - drums -
Maxime Reed studied Jazz at Cegep Marie-Victorin (Christian Pamerleau) and drumming with Bernard Primeau, Tony Albino, with our friend Sam Harrisson who performed here with The Paul Deslauriers Band and plays with many other bands. A versatile performer, Maxime Reed wound up on stage with numerous bands since 2008, among which Shane Murphy, John Roney, Southside, Denny Snider, Pierre Cote, Al G. Wood, Robert Garceau, Frederic Alarie, Francois D’Amours, Melanie Boulay, to mention only those. He also worked at the soundtracks of Micheline Lanctot’s movie « Suzie » (2009) and of Robert Morin’s « Les 4 Soldats » (2013).
Betcha that you won’t resist stomping and even dancing! A part of it’s 21st edition, Viree Blues Boreale features The Soul Clappers, a new band of exception with contagious energy, Wednesday, May 27 2015, around 8h00 p.m. at our famous venue, Bar Le Petit Chicago, 50 Promenade du Portage, in the Old-Hull sector. Tickets are right now on sale at: www.vireeblues.ca and will also be available at the door still for 20$ only. You can also take advantage of our interesting, practical and pleasant diner and show package and enjoy the delectable grilled dishes of Galo Piri Piri Restaurant (www.galopiripiri.com), 2 doors from Le Petit Chicago, which will also reserve your assigned places at the show. Reservations can be made at: (819)771-7474. In the meantime, you can find further information on our featured guest at: www.agentspectacles.com/thesoulclappers/. You should also visit our site which will provide you with links to all our guests’ sites and lots of other interesting information at: www.vireeblues.ca . For inquiries, please do contact Alexandre Petit at: info@vireeblues.ca . Also make sure to take part in the facebook event for this show at: www.facebook.com/events/978719815501889/ and be sure to also like us on our facebook page at: www.facebook.com/vireeblues .