Triio
Established in 2012, Triio has grown from a quartet featuring local Canadian composers and modern jazz to a sextet featuring cinematic compositions that focus on the interplay and mutual influence shared between written music and free/collective improvisation. Contrasting intricate written sections with open ended improvisation, the music allows for total freedom of expression while still maintaining a distinct direction from piece to piece, with the goal of continuously creating a living score that is always open to the moment.
On bandcamp (to the right) and all streaming platforms (right here)
Bea Labikova - Alto/Soprano Sax, Flute Michael Davidson - Vibraphone Naomi McCarroll-Butler - Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Alto Sax Stefan Hegerat - Drums Tom Fleming - Guitar Alex Fournier - Double Bass/Compositions
"Alex Fournier has created a beautiful labyrinth of music on his auspicious debut release. The album continues to surprise throughout, winding through many worlds, while still keeping a thoughtful and grounded center." - Mary Halvorson
“Alex Fournier is one of those rare musicians who is able to create an environment for the other musicians to work within and to push up against that allows for the possibility of a collective musical statement that is greater than the sum of its parts. On his new ensemble CD, Triio, Alex shows his considerable abilities as a player, composer, structuralist, and ringmaster. The band is very well cast, and the end result is enjoyable and at times challenging, as it should be." - Michael Formanek
“Profuse in ideas, these compositions are strong enough to stand up proudly in the modern jazz sphere. Fournier and his group rightfully deserve acclaim as their sound evolve significantly.” - Filipe Freitas, JazzTrail
“In his 10th year as bandleader Fournier has undoubtedly attained a desired plateau.” - Ken Waxman, Jazzword
Money House
Established in late 2012, Money House started as a chance to explore the music of Thelonious Monk in a context that didn’t utilize the piano. Since its inception, the group has branched off to explore the music of many more composer-performers with a special emphasis on the music of Bud Powell, Herbie Nichols, Andrew Hill, Hasaan Ibn Ali, Charles Mingus, Frank Zappa, and of course Monk to name a few.
Now with a focus on original compositions and collective improvisation, Money House captures the candour of their influences in their own chaotic way.
On Bandcamp (to the left) and all streaming platforms (right here)
Patrick O'Reilly - Guitar
Stefan Hegerat - Drums
Alex Fournier - Bass
Solo
Sometime around fall of 2015 I started working on a series of solo compositions for bass as a means of getting to know my instrument and my own language better. Bass can simultaneously be incredibly diverse in its sounds and the directions it can go while being very homogeneous in palette. A lot of what I've written has been an attempt to explore and expand on both the instruments parameters, as well as the parameters of my own thinking applied to the instrument.
On Bandcamp (to the right) and all streaming platforms (right here)
Recorded, Mixed and Mastered by Edwin Huet (2016)
Xiodjiha
Edwin Huet and I have been collaborating a slew of projects since formally meeting in 2015. Since then, we've partnered many recording projects, multiple composition initiatives and musical/multimedia showcases and live shows featuring improvised music. Xiodjiha is the barest of these collaborations, featuring us directly in a freely improvised setting. While my own contribution to the setting is pretty straight forward (double bass with standard and extended technique), Edwin's setup is designed for both independent use and live-processing, as well as live recording our improvisations, making the duo flexible and responsive in approach.
Edwin Huet - Electronics/Live Processing/anything computer related
Alex Fournier - Upright Bass/anything analog