Richard Desjardins
Encyclopedia
Richard Desjardins is a Québécois
folk singer
and film director
. He and his friends formed the country rock ensemble Abbitibbi in the 1970s. Desjardins played piano, guitar, and sang. When the group disbanded in 1982, Desjardins pursued a solo career. He also found work scoring films, especially documentaries. This involvement in the Quebec film industry even led him to co-direct a number of feature length documentaries. As well as his singing career, he is well known for his environmental activism, especially with regards to protecting forests from over-exploitation.
in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue
region of Quebec
, Canada
, Richard Desjardins is a poetic and personal Quebec singer-songwriter. Under his mother’s influence he began taking piano lessons when he was nine years old. When he was 16 he accompanied his older brother, Roger, on piano. They performed in coffee houses in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region.
During this time he joined various music groups, of these the best know was the Fabulous Cascades. In 1969 he started working as a publicity writer for Radio North; a job he held for about a year.
He became friends with the poet Michel X. Côté. It was through Côté’s inspiration that Desjardins started writing poems, which he printed and sold in bars.
The poetry of Mexico and South America interested him, and he traveled to Central and South America in 1971. He found poetry in the villages as well as in the cities. The somber, self-reflective, and marginal nature of this poetry struck a deep chord in Desjardins; and lack of money gave him a taste of a truly subsistence life-style – he lived on the beaches and ate fruit and fish.
At the age of 23 he was back home where he began to write his own songs in French. With little or no money Desjardins went to the Municipality of Baie-James, Quebec
and found what work he could – such as gas station attendant.
Then, in 1975 he and four friends(including guitarist Francis Grandmont and violinist Theo Butsh)formed a country-rock group called Abbittibbi, they played in hotels in northern Ontario, and performed the popular Anglophone songs of the day. Desjardins wrote some songs in French which Abbittibbi performed but according to Desjardins, “At the time these were as welcome as a strip-tease artist in Tehran
.” After only a few months the group broke up. But that was not the end of the influence that this group had on Desjardins or the last time they played together.
In 1976, he and some of his Abbittibbi friends moved to Montreal
. They began performing in the metropolis, but in spite of hard work they did not get much in the way of appreciation or money.
In 1977 a call from [Robert Monderie] redirected Desjardins’ life. Monderie asked Desjardins to make a documentary with him in honour of the 50th anniversary of Rouyn
municipality. The documentary was called “Comme des chiens en pacage” (best translated as, “A Raging Disaster”). This documentary traced the troubled beginning of the region of Abitibi and the Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec|Rouyn municipality. It also drew attention to present day concerns such as lack of work, the control big companies had and still have on Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec|Rouyn’s development, and their responsibility for the surrounding environmental degradation. This documentary was the first in a series of attempts by Desjardins and Monderie to bring into public awareness the environmental problems that Quebec faces.
Desjardins also began to perform music for film. His first was “Beat” by André Blanchard in 1976, Desjardins and Abbittibbi as well as other musicians were on the sound track of this film. Then, in his first effort at composing for film, he wrote the music for the film “L’ Hiver bleu” (“Blue winter”) again by André Blanchard in 1978. The music for this film was performed by Abbittibbi.
Then finally, in 1981, Abbittibbi, recorded its first album, “Boom Town Café”, The group disbanded in 1982 due to record company problems.
That same year, 1982, Desjardins again teamed up with Robert Monderie, this time to make a documentary about the life of a Québécois country and western singer known as Mouche à feu (Firefly), which is also the title of the film.
At this time, 1982, Desjardins went out as a solo performer, accompanying himself on guitar and piano. He wrote songs and sang in bars, and, in short, “paid his dues” as a singer-songwriter for the next few years.
But composing music for films, whether they were fictional or documentaries, was never something Desjardins ignored. He composed music for “Depuis que le monde est monde” (Since the world is world) (1981) and “Le doux partage” (Soft Sharing) (1983) both written and directed Sylvie van Brabant. In 1984 he wrote the music for Robert Monderie and Daniel Corvec’s “Noranda” (1984) and in 1988 he wrote the music for [Jean Chabot]’s “La Nuit avec Hortense” (“The night with Hortense”).
And, in between all of his work on film, Desjardins managed to write the music for and was musical director of a performance of a play by Bertold Brecht, ”Têtes rondes et têtes pointues“ ("The Roundheads and the Peakheads") at the Brecht International Festival in Toronto
, he also taught music to Inuit children in northern Quebec, and put out his first solo album called, “Les derniers humains”, (“The Last Humans”, from a line in the song "Les Yankees"). He produced and recorded this album with the help of friends, who were given a copy of the album in return for their financial support.
“Les derniers humains” was relatively successful and brought him a larger audience. Desjardins was inspired to continue to write songs, songs that would appear on his next solo album. In 1989 Desjardins gave his first concert in Paris.
Richard Desjardins participated in the making of the audio-documentary/album Le trésor de la langue
released in 1989 by multi-instrumentalist René Lussier
and produced by the SOCAN and Radio-Canada. Le trésor de la langue
documented the outlook of French Canadians on their culture, heritage and language. The album is a collage of dialogues taken from various interviews (from 1987 to 1989), the Radio-Canada archives, music composed by René Lussier
and texts composed and sung by Richard Desjardins.
The year 1990 was a turning point in his career. The film “Le Party” (directed by Pierre Falardeau
), which Desjardins wrote the music for (and had a small role in), dramatized a maximum-security prison's annual variety show.
That same year, unable to find producers willing to back the production of his next solo album, and with the continued financial help of some of his supporters, Desjardins produced the album himself. The album was called "Tu m'aimes-tu?" (Do you love me?). It was a resounding success. Although some critics thought the album too raw in imagery and language, Desjardins’ poetic sensibility is remarkable both for the depth of such songs as “Nataq” and "Et j'ai couché dans mon char" and for the humor of songs such as “Le bon gars” – in any case, he found a wider and a very appreciative audience. He was invited to perform at the Quebec Summer Festival. His performance was an extraordinary success, and he was awarded the Festival’s Prix Miroir of the French language song. The following year [ADISQ] awarded him with three Felix awards; one for “Writer-composer of the Year” (for "Tu m'aimes-tu?), another one for “Popular Album of the Year”, and one for “Producer of the Year”.
His success spread to French speaking Europe where his artistry was acknowledged by critics, by award winning performances, and by a rapidly growing audience. In 1993, Desjardins was invited to Paris to perform at the Paris City Theatre. For three nights he magnetized the audience. This marked the beginning of several years of concert performances and awards both in Canada and in Europe. It also marked the beginning of other performers recording his music: the French artist Francis Cabrel recorded his song "Quand j'aime une fois j'aime pour toujours"; Karen Young (a Canadian jazz singer) also recorded songs from "Tu m'aimes-tu?".
Desjardin’s next album was recorded live at the Club Soda in Montreal in 1993. He performed some new material and some songs from the Abbittibbi days, and he included a humorous monolog or two for good measure.
Never far from the big screen, Desjardins, along with Karen Young, wrote music for Marie Cadieux’s film “À double tour” (“Twice Convicted”). A film about a woman’s prison.
In 1994 Desjardins realized an old dream, the reunion of Abbittibbi. He brought the group back together and they recorded an album called “Chaude était la nuit” ("The night was hot"). They performed concerts in Quebec and in Europe and the group played at the 1995 Quebec Summer Festival and were awarded the Prix Miroir of the French Song at the Festival. They continued to perform for the next couple of years and wanting to get the feel and energy of a live performance Desjardins had them record a live performance. In 1996 they put out "Desjardins - Abbittibbi Live ".
His third solo album, entitled "Boom Boom", appeared in 1998, and consisted of some new songs and others, such as "Y va toujours y avoir", recorded with Abbittibi. He continued to tour and to perform for the next two years.
While touring with Abbittibbi in Quebec, Desjardins’ concerns about the effects of deforestation and the resulting environmental degradation became an issue he wanted to tackle in greater depth. With his friend, Robert Monderie, Desjardins began to document the extent and the consequences of deforestation – to their own surprise; they seemed to be the first to thoroughly investigate the problem. They collected a vast amount of information. A few years later their efforts resulted in a ground-breaking documentary film, “L’erreur boréal” (English title: “Forest Alert”).
In 1999, “L’erreur boréale” was released. Its effect was profound. The government of Quebec quickly tried to discredit the film. But it was factual and accurate and its message could not be subverted.
The film proved its relevance, its accuracy, as well as Desjardins and Monderie’s creative presentation of the information, by garnering many awards, among them were:
• Prix Jutra du meilleur documentaire (Jutra Prize for the best documentary film in 1999).
• Prix Robert-Claude Bérubé, décerné par l’Office des communications sociales.
• Prix du développement durable en milieu rural, (Prize for Sustainable Development in Rural Areas) Festival international du film environnemental Ecofilm de Lille, en France.
• Prix du reportage magazine (Prize for Journalism), Festival international du film d’environnement de Paris.
• Grand Prix du festival, mention environnement, (Festival Grand Prize Environmental Citation) Festival international du film nature et environnement de Grenoble, en France.
Finally, to cap off 1999, Desjardins was chosen as man of the year by the magazine L’actualité.
In 2000, Richard Desjardins moved to Toulouse
, France for a year; where he occasionally performed in the surrounding area. And he found time to travel as a “tourist”, Spain was his favorite destination. During his stay in France he also collaborated with his sister, Louise and others, in the formation of an organization dedicated exclusively to collecting data on the condition of Quebec forests. The organization is called “L’action boréale” (Boreal Action).
He returned to Canada in 2001. For the next couple of years not only songs but the idea for a different presentation of them was brewing in Desjardins head for his next album.
Desjardins toured about 50 towns in Quebec; the tour was called “Desjardins et sa guétard” -- once again he performed solo accompanying himself on guitar and piano.
In September 2003 the CD “Kanasuta” was released. The name of the album is taken from an area in Abitibi-Témiscamingue named Kanasuta or « Là où les diables vont danser » (“There where the Devils Dance”) -- an area which was preserved through the efforts of l’action boreal.
On “Kanasuta” Desjardins had his words and music produced and arranged by Yves Desrosiers. On the resulting recording Desjardins sings and the Desrosier’s arrangements employ a variety of musicians and instruments. The words to the songs display, among other things, an unfaltering love for this region of the province of Quebec.
In 2004 Desjardins put together a touring performance of Kanasuta with Normand Guilbeault (bass), Claude Fradette (guitars), Marie-Soleil Bélanger (violins) et Didier Dumoutier (accordion). But he expanded his Kanasuta project even further with a symphonic concert at Montréal, with 50 musicians from the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières under the direction of Gilles Bellemare. Desjardins received five Félix awards for the CD and for the Kanasuta touring performance, among them were: the “singer-songwriter of the year” and the “Performance of the Year”. He brought a performance of Kanasuta to the Olympia in Paris, which also toured in Europe and Quebec. In 2005 Desjardins’ Concert Symphonique was performed at the Summer Music Festival of the City of Quebec, again under the direction of Gilles Bellemare. He was awarded the “Prix Miroir du spectacle le plus populaire” of the Festival for Kanasuta. Desjardins also released a DVD version of Kanasuta appeared that year.
Desjardins was chosen “Environmental Hero of the year 2005” by the readers of The Reader’s Digest Selection. In its January 2006 issue, when the award was announced, the magazine underscored Desjardins’ unfailing commitment to protecting the Quebec forests and acknowledged the respect of its readers.
In January 2006 Le Journal de Montréal began printing a series of articles written by Desjardins underlining the urgency of acting to save the forest by putting as much pressure as possible on the logging companies and the government officials that have okayed the logging company operations removal of the forest. The six articles were published daily starting with the January 30th issue.
In 2007 the film "Le peuple invisible" about the Algonquin people and about the unacceptable conditions that they live under was released. The documentary was directed by Desjardins in collaboration with Robert Monderie and produced by the National Film Board.
On 25 February 2010, Richard Desjardins has signed, together with 500 artists, the call to support the international campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israeli apartheid.
Live albums
Soundtrack
DVD
French-speaking Quebecer
French-speaking Quebecers are francophone residents of the Canadian province of Quebec....
folk singer
Folk Singer
Folk Singer is a 1964 album by Muddy Waters. Waters plays acoustic guitar, backed by Willie Dixon on string bass, Clifton James on drums, and Buddy Guy on acoustic guitar...
and film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
. He and his friends formed the country rock ensemble Abbitibbi in the 1970s. Desjardins played piano, guitar, and sang. When the group disbanded in 1982, Desjardins pursued a solo career. He also found work scoring films, especially documentaries. This involvement in the Quebec film industry even led him to co-direct a number of feature length documentaries. As well as his singing career, he is well known for his environmental activism, especially with regards to protecting forests from over-exploitation.
Biography
He was born on March 16, 1948 in Rouyn, a city on Osisko LakeOsisko Lake
Osisko Lake is a lake in western Quebec, Canada. It is 3 km long, and 3 km wide. The city of Rouyn-Noranda is on its western shore. The lake is a recreational area, surrounded by trails and a bike path. The city hospital is also located on the lake shore. Lake Osisko has been a poluted...
in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue
Abitibi-Témiscamingue
Abitibi-Témiscamingue is a region located in western Quebec, Canada, along the border with Ontario. It became part of the province in 1898. It has a land area of 57,674.26 km2 . As of the 2006 census, the population of the region was 143,872 inhabitants.-History:The land was first occupied...
region of Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Richard Desjardins is a poetic and personal Quebec singer-songwriter. Under his mother’s influence he began taking piano lessons when he was nine years old. When he was 16 he accompanied his older brother, Roger, on piano. They performed in coffee houses in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region.
During this time he joined various music groups, of these the best know was the Fabulous Cascades. In 1969 he started working as a publicity writer for Radio North; a job he held for about a year.
He became friends with the poet Michel X. Côté. It was through Côté’s inspiration that Desjardins started writing poems, which he printed and sold in bars.
The poetry of Mexico and South America interested him, and he traveled to Central and South America in 1971. He found poetry in the villages as well as in the cities. The somber, self-reflective, and marginal nature of this poetry struck a deep chord in Desjardins; and lack of money gave him a taste of a truly subsistence life-style – he lived on the beaches and ate fruit and fish.
At the age of 23 he was back home where he began to write his own songs in French. With little or no money Desjardins went to the Municipality of Baie-James, Quebec
Baie-James, Quebec
The Municipality of Baie-James is in northern Quebec, Canada, to the east of James Bay. It covers 297,329.66 square kilometers of land, making it the largest incorporated municipality in Canada — only eight unorganized territories are larger...
and found what work he could – such as gas station attendant.
Then, in 1975 he and four friends(including guitarist Francis Grandmont and violinist Theo Butsh)formed a country-rock group called Abbittibbi, they played in hotels in northern Ontario, and performed the popular Anglophone songs of the day. Desjardins wrote some songs in French which Abbittibbi performed but according to Desjardins, “At the time these were as welcome as a strip-tease artist in Tehran
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
.” After only a few months the group broke up. But that was not the end of the influence that this group had on Desjardins or the last time they played together.
In 1976, he and some of his Abbittibbi friends moved to Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
. They began performing in the metropolis, but in spite of hard work they did not get much in the way of appreciation or money.
In 1977 a call from [Robert Monderie] redirected Desjardins’ life. Monderie asked Desjardins to make a documentary with him in honour of the 50th anniversary of Rouyn
Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec
Rouyn-Noranda is a city on Osisko Lake in northwestern Quebec, Canada.The city of Rouyn-Noranda is coextensive with a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality and census division of Quebec of the same name...
municipality. The documentary was called “Comme des chiens en pacage” (best translated as, “A Raging Disaster”). This documentary traced the troubled beginning of the region of Abitibi and the Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec|Rouyn municipality. It also drew attention to present day concerns such as lack of work, the control big companies had and still have on Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec|Rouyn’s development, and their responsibility for the surrounding environmental degradation. This documentary was the first in a series of attempts by Desjardins and Monderie to bring into public awareness the environmental problems that Quebec faces.
Desjardins also began to perform music for film. His first was “Beat” by André Blanchard in 1976, Desjardins and Abbittibbi as well as other musicians were on the sound track of this film. Then, in his first effort at composing for film, he wrote the music for the film “L’ Hiver bleu” (“Blue winter”) again by André Blanchard in 1978. The music for this film was performed by Abbittibbi.
Then finally, in 1981, Abbittibbi, recorded its first album, “Boom Town Café”, The group disbanded in 1982 due to record company problems.
That same year, 1982, Desjardins again teamed up with Robert Monderie, this time to make a documentary about the life of a Québécois country and western singer known as Mouche à feu (Firefly), which is also the title of the film.
At this time, 1982, Desjardins went out as a solo performer, accompanying himself on guitar and piano. He wrote songs and sang in bars, and, in short, “paid his dues” as a singer-songwriter for the next few years.
But composing music for films, whether they were fictional or documentaries, was never something Desjardins ignored. He composed music for “Depuis que le monde est monde” (Since the world is world) (1981) and “Le doux partage” (Soft Sharing) (1983) both written and directed Sylvie van Brabant. In 1984 he wrote the music for Robert Monderie and Daniel Corvec’s “Noranda” (1984) and in 1988 he wrote the music for [Jean Chabot]’s “La Nuit avec Hortense” (“The night with Hortense”).
And, in between all of his work on film, Desjardins managed to write the music for and was musical director of a performance of a play by Bertold Brecht, ”Têtes rondes et têtes pointues“ ("The Roundheads and the Peakheads") at the Brecht International Festival in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, he also taught music to Inuit children in northern Quebec, and put out his first solo album called, “Les derniers humains”, (“The Last Humans”, from a line in the song "Les Yankees"). He produced and recorded this album with the help of friends, who were given a copy of the album in return for their financial support.
“Les derniers humains” was relatively successful and brought him a larger audience. Desjardins was inspired to continue to write songs, songs that would appear on his next solo album. In 1989 Desjardins gave his first concert in Paris.
Richard Desjardins participated in the making of the audio-documentary/album Le trésor de la langue
Le trésor de la langue
Le trésor de la langue is an album of music released by the guitarist René Lussier on the Ambiances Magnétique label in 1989. Many consider it to be Lussier's greatest album....
released in 1989 by multi-instrumentalist René Lussier
René Lussier
René Lussier is a musician based in the province of Québec, Canada. He is a composer, guitarist, bass guitarist, percussionist, bass clarinetist and singer. Lussier has collaborated with such figures as Fred Frith, Chris Cutler, Jean Derome and Robert M. Lepage...
and produced by the SOCAN and Radio-Canada. Le trésor de la langue
Le trésor de la langue
Le trésor de la langue is an album of music released by the guitarist René Lussier on the Ambiances Magnétique label in 1989. Many consider it to be Lussier's greatest album....
documented the outlook of French Canadians on their culture, heritage and language. The album is a collage of dialogues taken from various interviews (from 1987 to 1989), the Radio-Canada archives, music composed by René Lussier
René Lussier
René Lussier is a musician based in the province of Québec, Canada. He is a composer, guitarist, bass guitarist, percussionist, bass clarinetist and singer. Lussier has collaborated with such figures as Fred Frith, Chris Cutler, Jean Derome and Robert M. Lepage...
and texts composed and sung by Richard Desjardins.
The year 1990 was a turning point in his career. The film “Le Party” (directed by Pierre Falardeau
Pierre Falardeau
Pierre Falardeau was a Quebec film and documentary director, pamphleteer and noted activist for Quebec independence.-Profile:Falardeau studied anthropology at university and he taught that subject for a brief period...
), which Desjardins wrote the music for (and had a small role in), dramatized a maximum-security prison's annual variety show.
That same year, unable to find producers willing to back the production of his next solo album, and with the continued financial help of some of his supporters, Desjardins produced the album himself. The album was called "Tu m'aimes-tu?" (Do you love me?). It was a resounding success. Although some critics thought the album too raw in imagery and language, Desjardins’ poetic sensibility is remarkable both for the depth of such songs as “Nataq” and "Et j'ai couché dans mon char" and for the humor of songs such as “Le bon gars” – in any case, he found a wider and a very appreciative audience. He was invited to perform at the Quebec Summer Festival. His performance was an extraordinary success, and he was awarded the Festival’s Prix Miroir of the French language song. The following year [ADISQ] awarded him with three Felix awards; one for “Writer-composer of the Year” (for "Tu m'aimes-tu?), another one for “Popular Album of the Year”, and one for “Producer of the Year”.
His success spread to French speaking Europe where his artistry was acknowledged by critics, by award winning performances, and by a rapidly growing audience. In 1993, Desjardins was invited to Paris to perform at the Paris City Theatre. For three nights he magnetized the audience. This marked the beginning of several years of concert performances and awards both in Canada and in Europe. It also marked the beginning of other performers recording his music: the French artist Francis Cabrel recorded his song "Quand j'aime une fois j'aime pour toujours"; Karen Young (a Canadian jazz singer) also recorded songs from "Tu m'aimes-tu?".
Desjardin’s next album was recorded live at the Club Soda in Montreal in 1993. He performed some new material and some songs from the Abbittibbi days, and he included a humorous monolog or two for good measure.
Never far from the big screen, Desjardins, along with Karen Young, wrote music for Marie Cadieux’s film “À double tour” (“Twice Convicted”). A film about a woman’s prison.
In 1994 Desjardins realized an old dream, the reunion of Abbittibbi. He brought the group back together and they recorded an album called “Chaude était la nuit” ("The night was hot"). They performed concerts in Quebec and in Europe and the group played at the 1995 Quebec Summer Festival and were awarded the Prix Miroir of the French Song at the Festival. They continued to perform for the next couple of years and wanting to get the feel and energy of a live performance Desjardins had them record a live performance. In 1996 they put out "Desjardins - Abbittibbi Live ".
His third solo album, entitled "Boom Boom", appeared in 1998, and consisted of some new songs and others, such as "Y va toujours y avoir", recorded with Abbittibi. He continued to tour and to perform for the next two years.
While touring with Abbittibbi in Quebec, Desjardins’ concerns about the effects of deforestation and the resulting environmental degradation became an issue he wanted to tackle in greater depth. With his friend, Robert Monderie, Desjardins began to document the extent and the consequences of deforestation – to their own surprise; they seemed to be the first to thoroughly investigate the problem. They collected a vast amount of information. A few years later their efforts resulted in a ground-breaking documentary film, “L’erreur boréal” (English title: “Forest Alert”).
In 1999, “L’erreur boréale” was released. Its effect was profound. The government of Quebec quickly tried to discredit the film. But it was factual and accurate and its message could not be subverted.
The film proved its relevance, its accuracy, as well as Desjardins and Monderie’s creative presentation of the information, by garnering many awards, among them were:
• Prix Jutra du meilleur documentaire (Jutra Prize for the best documentary film in 1999).
• Prix Robert-Claude Bérubé, décerné par l’Office des communications sociales.
• Prix du développement durable en milieu rural, (Prize for Sustainable Development in Rural Areas) Festival international du film environnemental Ecofilm de Lille, en France.
• Prix du reportage magazine (Prize for Journalism), Festival international du film d’environnement de Paris.
• Grand Prix du festival, mention environnement, (Festival Grand Prize Environmental Citation) Festival international du film nature et environnement de Grenoble, en France.
Finally, to cap off 1999, Desjardins was chosen as man of the year by the magazine L’actualité.
In 2000, Richard Desjardins moved to Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
, France for a year; where he occasionally performed in the surrounding area. And he found time to travel as a “tourist”, Spain was his favorite destination. During his stay in France he also collaborated with his sister, Louise and others, in the formation of an organization dedicated exclusively to collecting data on the condition of Quebec forests. The organization is called “L’action boréale” (Boreal Action).
He returned to Canada in 2001. For the next couple of years not only songs but the idea for a different presentation of them was brewing in Desjardins head for his next album.
Desjardins toured about 50 towns in Quebec; the tour was called “Desjardins et sa guétard” -- once again he performed solo accompanying himself on guitar and piano.
In September 2003 the CD “Kanasuta” was released. The name of the album is taken from an area in Abitibi-Témiscamingue named Kanasuta or « Là où les diables vont danser » (“There where the Devils Dance”) -- an area which was preserved through the efforts of l’action boreal.
On “Kanasuta” Desjardins had his words and music produced and arranged by Yves Desrosiers. On the resulting recording Desjardins sings and the Desrosier’s arrangements employ a variety of musicians and instruments. The words to the songs display, among other things, an unfaltering love for this region of the province of Quebec.
In 2004 Desjardins put together a touring performance of Kanasuta with Normand Guilbeault (bass), Claude Fradette (guitars), Marie-Soleil Bélanger (violins) et Didier Dumoutier (accordion). But he expanded his Kanasuta project even further with a symphonic concert at Montréal, with 50 musicians from the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières under the direction of Gilles Bellemare. Desjardins received five Félix awards for the CD and for the Kanasuta touring performance, among them were: the “singer-songwriter of the year” and the “Performance of the Year”. He brought a performance of Kanasuta to the Olympia in Paris, which also toured in Europe and Quebec. In 2005 Desjardins’ Concert Symphonique was performed at the Summer Music Festival of the City of Quebec, again under the direction of Gilles Bellemare. He was awarded the “Prix Miroir du spectacle le plus populaire” of the Festival for Kanasuta. Desjardins also released a DVD version of Kanasuta appeared that year.
Desjardins was chosen “Environmental Hero of the year 2005” by the readers of The Reader’s Digest Selection. In its January 2006 issue, when the award was announced, the magazine underscored Desjardins’ unfailing commitment to protecting the Quebec forests and acknowledged the respect of its readers.
In January 2006 Le Journal de Montréal began printing a series of articles written by Desjardins underlining the urgency of acting to save the forest by putting as much pressure as possible on the logging companies and the government officials that have okayed the logging company operations removal of the forest. The six articles were published daily starting with the January 30th issue.
In 2007 the film "Le peuple invisible" about the Algonquin people and about the unacceptable conditions that they live under was released. The documentary was directed by Desjardins in collaboration with Robert Monderie and produced by the National Film Board.
On 25 February 2010, Richard Desjardins has signed, together with 500 artists, the call to support the international campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israeli apartheid.
Discography
Albums- 1981 Boom Town Café (with Abbittibbi)
- 1988 Les derniers humains
- 1989 Le trésor de la langueLe trésor de la langueLe trésor de la langue is an album of music released by the guitarist René Lussier on the Ambiances Magnétique label in 1989. Many consider it to be Lussier's greatest album....
(with René Lussier) - 1990 Tu m'aimes-tu
- 1992 Les derniers humains (new recording)
- 1994 Chaude était la nuit (with Abbittibbi)
- 1998 Boom Boom
- 2003 Kanasuta
- 2011 L'existoire
Live albums
- 1993 Richard Desjardins au Club Soda
- 1996 Desjardins Abbittibbi Live (with Abbittibbi)
Soundtrack
- 1990 Le Party
DVD
- Kanasuta - Là où les diables vont danser (2005)
Filmography
- 2007 Le peuple invisible (The invisible nation) by Desjardins and Robert Monderie
- 1999 L'erreur boréale (English title: Forest Alert) by Desjardins and Robert Monderie
- 1978 Mouche à feu (Firefly), by Desjardins and Robert Monderie
- 1977 Comme des chiens en pacage ("A raging Disaster") by Desjardins and Robert Monderie
Music for Films and Theater
- À double tour (English title: Twice Convicted), by Marie Cadieux, 1994
- Le party, by Pierre Falardeau, 1990
- La Nuit avec Hortense (The night with Hortense), by Jean Chabot, 1988
- Noranda, by Robert Monderie and Daniel Corvec, 1984
- Le doux partage (Soft Sharing) by Sylvie van Brabant, 1983
- Depuis que le monde est monde (Since the world is world) by Sylvie van Brabant, 1981
- L’hiver bleu (Blue winter) by André Blanchard, 1978
- Beat by André Blanchard, 1976 (Desjardins and Abbittibbi as well as other musicians)
- Composed music for and was musical director of ”Têtes rondes et têtes pointues“ ("The Roundheads and the Peakheads") by Bertold Brecht, at the 1986 Brecht International Festival in Toronto.
Web Sites
- Desjardins' web site.
- Words to 59 of Desjardins' songs. (site down)
- Radio Canada (Documentary about Richard Desjardins)
- Radio France, France Blue (Interviews with Desjardins)
- Summary of Desjardins Life’s work