Putumayo joins in the 400th Anniversary celebration of one of the world’s most fascinating and beautiful cities with the new release Québec. This collection features an array of Québécois songs ranging from traditional folk to contemporary singer-songwriters, and even includes a song by a Native Canadian artist singing in the rare Montagnais language.
Designated as a World Heritage City, Québec City has a proud musical tradition. Drawn from a variety of influences such as French and Celtic folk traditions and European pop, Québécois music includes a broad range of sounds and styles.Yet despite its potential broad international appeal, the music of Québec is not very well known to people outside of the province. Through this enchanting selection of songs, Putumayo seeks to introduce listeners to the compelling music of this unique province.
With their modern hippie attitude, DobaCaracol is a bit of an anomaly on the Québec pop music scene, but their enchanting fusion of funk, reggae vibes and African rhythms with French-language pop has earned them a wide following. Singer Chloé Sainte-Marie, after establishing herself as a film actress, has earned her place as a popular and respected vocalist whose songs draw from the poetry of French, Québécois and Inuit writers. One of the most recognizable figures in Québécois popular music, Annie Villeneuve was a celebrated winner of the television program Star Académie, the Québécois equivalent of American Idol. Singer-songwriter Florent Vollant writes most of his songs in his native Montagnais language, an Algonquian language spoken by over 11,000 people. As part of the successful Native American pop group Kashtin, Vollant has helped bring indigenous Canadian music to a wide audience throughout Canada. Québec also features 7 other artists who have drawn from a diverse range of influences to create their own unique sounds.
Québec follows the Putumayo line of successful French-language albums including French Café, Paris, French Playground and French Caribbean.
Watch the video: DobaCaracol - "Étrange"
With its catchy melody and soulful reggae groove, “Étrange” catapulted DobaCaracol to fame in Québec, and the music video for the song was aired for a record three months on the top 5 of the Canadian music video station Musique Plus.
“I have the fire of a volcano / The heat of a desert / The taste of the earth / The glow of a full moon / I have nothing in my heart / But the immensity of the open sky / Strange how I love you.”
A portion of the proceeds from Québec will be donated to Jeunes Musiciens du Monde (Young Musicians of the World), a Québec-based non-profit organization that provides children free schooling and training in traditional music.
