Memories of CAMMAC

Denis Plante: bandoneon virtuoso, author and composer

Originally published in 2015.

“If you run into them someday (you’re bound to have come across them if you’re regulars), my parents will confirm it: I was still in diapers the first time my feet caressed the white sand beach at Lake MacDonald. Certainly, I couldn’t have been very tall, because from my height the beach looked like a dune, and the lake like an inland sea.

Loch MacDonald: we were no longer in Quebec, I was quite sure of it, but somewhere in the Scottish Highlands. In fact, weren’t those weird structures barely clinging to the cliff the remains of some haunted castle? Wasn’t there a scary Loch Mac monster hiding in the mud at the bottom of the lake since the beginnings of time?

Scenic, for sure.

But why would I come back, year after year?

First, as you’ll have guessed, there was the music.

As the summers went by, I explored several instruments, going where my curious nature led me. I scratched away at the lute, and eventually the guitar (note the concern for chronology), I blew on the flute, abused the shawm, and played jazz on—wait for it, note the concern for chronology again—the oboe, harpsichord and piano.

Then there were all those friends from afar that I saw only in the summertime. The ones with whom I spent my first night under the stars, drank my first beer at the legendary bar in Lost River, swam across the lake, went rowing, sailing and boarding, and fishing (one day, I caught a particularly aggressive catfish which we salted and barbecued that evening, but, I admit, my appetite had left me). The ones with whom I learned to speak English, even if it was only in the hope of getting to first base with a girl from Ontario.

Finally, it was also confronting nature in the Laurentians—you see, we camped. I cursed the mosquitoes, petted the bats, got to know the racoons and beavers, and fed the spiders. I also hunted for mushrooms, fished for catfish . . . oops, now I’m rambling.

One final memory: one morning, I was invited to the Duschêne family cottage to watch some caterpillars emerge from their chrysalises as fully developed butterflies. Those caterpillars had something of the bandoneon about them, rather like me!”

Denis Plante is Canada’s premier bandoneonist, internationally known for his unique contemporary tango style. A charismatic soloist, he is frequently invited to perform with orchestras or chamber music ensembles. In 2012, the CQM (Conseil Québécois de la musique) bestowed on him its disc-of-the-year award (Opus du disque de l’année) for “Tango Boréal,” and its “Creator of the Year” award. His compositions for bandoneon have been released on the Flores de Nacar, Atma Classique and Justin time labels.