Q: How and when did Groove55 form?
A: Groove55 was founded in late 2009 when bassist Yves Nadeau and I committed to develop a group in the smooth jazz style of music. Actually we realized that this is what we had been doing all along. We immediately invited Yves Adam, one of the best saxophone players in Montreal, to join us. We changed drummers after a year and now Daniel Lemay is playing with us.
Q: How would you describe the jazz scene in Canada?
A: There are some unbelievable jazz musicians in Montreal. Oscar Peterson was from Montreal, you know? So is Oliver Jones. Every big city has its big jazz festival in Canada. Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal. They invite a lot of groups from elsewhere. But I don't see a lot of smooth jazz in these festivals. Smooth is not popularized enough in Canada. We should have a festival just for smooth in Montreal.
Q: How did you become a musician?
It just happened. I started playing acoustic guitar when I was 9-years-old. I always played by ear; I still do. I turned to the Rhodes when I was a teenager. I loved the Rhodes right from the start. I've been pursuing the quest for the perfect Rhodes sound for 40 years.
Daniel Lemay started playing piano at the age of six. He studied drums and percussion and won numerous awards in Canada. Yves Nadeau confides he started playing bass by accident, a long time ago, when it was hip to be part of the music scene. Yves Adam started with recorder flute lessons that his mother subscribed him to when he was very young. He switched to his first instrument, the clarinet, when his teacher needed to fill in the position for a concert. He adopted the saxophone later in high school and kept on playing it since then. You should hear him on clarinet; he is absolutely awesome.
Q: How did Groove55 end up on Billboard's smooth jazz charts?
A: Hard work, and great help by fantastic marketing and promotion people. I have to mention the good people at SmoothJazz.com and the Gorovs who did an incredible job. For an independent band from Quebec, I'd say we're doing pretty well. I'd like to see us backed by a real label one day, but we have a lot of work to do to get there. We have a lot of fun creating our songs, and we are hoping to reach a lot of listeners so they can feel that in our music.
Q: How would you describe Groove55's audience — younger or older?
It's hard to answer. Of course, the 40 to 60-year-olds are our main audience. But my parents who are over 80 absolutely adore our music. And my kids love the music too, but perhaps they are biased?
Q: What's the origin of the band's name?
A: We were having dinner with the band and my kids. Yves Nadeau and I knew we wanted the word “groove" in the name. Before anything else, the music has to groove; that's the first law of Groove55. My son-in-law at the table, Charles, came up with the number 55 because, we have to admit, in the group we're all pretty much that age. I quickly trotted to the computer and checked for the domain name, and it was available so I bought it immediately. We had our name. 55 is a special number. We always had 10 songs on our albums, because when you add the numbers 1 to 10, you get a total of 55. I think that's quaint.
A: Groove55 was founded in late 2009 when bassist Yves Nadeau and I committed to develop a group in the smooth jazz style of music. Actually we realized that this is what we had been doing all along. We immediately invited Yves Adam, one of the best saxophone players in Montreal, to join us. We changed drummers after a year and now Daniel Lemay is playing with us.
Q: How would you describe the jazz scene in Canada?
A: There are some unbelievable jazz musicians in Montreal. Oscar Peterson was from Montreal, you know? So is Oliver Jones. Every big city has its big jazz festival in Canada. Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal. They invite a lot of groups from elsewhere. But I don't see a lot of smooth jazz in these festivals. Smooth is not popularized enough in Canada. We should have a festival just for smooth in Montreal.
Q: How did you become a musician?
It just happened. I started playing acoustic guitar when I was 9-years-old. I always played by ear; I still do. I turned to the Rhodes when I was a teenager. I loved the Rhodes right from the start. I've been pursuing the quest for the perfect Rhodes sound for 40 years.
Daniel Lemay started playing piano at the age of six. He studied drums and percussion and won numerous awards in Canada. Yves Nadeau confides he started playing bass by accident, a long time ago, when it was hip to be part of the music scene. Yves Adam started with recorder flute lessons that his mother subscribed him to when he was very young. He switched to his first instrument, the clarinet, when his teacher needed to fill in the position for a concert. He adopted the saxophone later in high school and kept on playing it since then. You should hear him on clarinet; he is absolutely awesome.
Q: How did Groove55 end up on Billboard's smooth jazz charts?
A: Hard work, and great help by fantastic marketing and promotion people. I have to mention the good people at SmoothJazz.com and the Gorovs who did an incredible job. For an independent band from Quebec, I'd say we're doing pretty well. I'd like to see us backed by a real label one day, but we have a lot of work to do to get there. We have a lot of fun creating our songs, and we are hoping to reach a lot of listeners so they can feel that in our music.
Q: How would you describe Groove55's audience — younger or older?
It's hard to answer. Of course, the 40 to 60-year-olds are our main audience. But my parents who are over 80 absolutely adore our music. And my kids love the music too, but perhaps they are biased?
Q: What's the origin of the band's name?
A: We were having dinner with the band and my kids. Yves Nadeau and I knew we wanted the word “groove" in the name. Before anything else, the music has to groove; that's the first law of Groove55. My son-in-law at the table, Charles, came up with the number 55 because, we have to admit, in the group we're all pretty much that age. I quickly trotted to the computer and checked for the domain name, and it was available so I bought it immediately. We had our name. 55 is a special number. We always had 10 songs on our albums, because when you add the numbers 1 to 10, you get a total of 55. I think that's quaint.
