gentiane mg trio

"Gentiane’s music is mysteriously intriguing, with the enchanting deep influences of the great impressionistic French composers like Ravel and Debussy from cultural roots lying deep within her sublime approach."
- Kerilie McDowall / Award-Winning Rythm'n'ing Radio Host

"Montreal-based pianist/composer Gentiane Michaud-Gagnon, known simply as Gentiane MG, confirms her stature as a major artist on her third album as leader…There is nothing glib, nothing faked, simply confident creativity. This is a thoroughly enjoyable release. Merci. ★★★★1/2 out of five

— Keith Black, Winnipeg Free Press

“Walls Made of Glass is the third trio album for Gentiane MG…The beautiful airiness of the discourse and the art of the halftone contrast with a work on density and collective power.”★★★★

— Vincent Cotro, Jazz Magazine

"…her writing is phenomenally brilliant. She is a standout talent. Michaud-Gagnon’s music flows masterfully with poise and grace. She commands the piano with elegance,

subtlety, and a refined quiet knowing."

—Kerilie McDowall – All About Jazz

"A fragmented little gem, open to experimentation, which creates a feeling of peace and weightlessness. Leaving aside the flashy or the showy, Walls Made of Glass offers a serene approach, with a multitude of color choices and delicate harmonies. Never austere, intelligent from the beginning to the end, Gentiane MG and her accomplices illuminate the compositions with interventions that we will qualify as brilliant."

— Christophe Rodrigez, Sorties Jazz Nights

That influence can be felt on Walls Made of Glass, with a delicacy and precision of touch, a feel for melodies within melodies, subtle shifts in dynamics and unapologetic beauty throughout.

— Dan McClenaghan - All about jazz

"Walls Made of Glass is the most accomplished of her discography. The rythm section purposely holds back, and Dover and Hamel's work gains in lyricism. Between jazz and contemporary music, between improvisation and composition. "

— Philippe Renaud, Le Devoir

" Walls Made of Glass is a seductive metaphor for spiritual and sensory openness to the world around us, and is the basis for this third opus by Montreal-based Gentiane MG."

— Frederic Cardin, PAN360

"… a very interesting album of sensitively played and written pieces."

— Lynn René Bayley,The Art Music Lounge

Award winning pianist and composer Gentiane MG perceives music, above all, as a powerful means of expression. Her compositions come together in a deeply personal universe filled with contrasting colours. She is joined by bassist Levi Dover and drummer Louis-Vincent Hamel, two pillars of the Canadian creative jazz scene, who contribute their original voices to her music. Over several years of performing and touring together, the band has developed its own language, transcending genre and striving for creative freedom.

Gentiane MG has released two albums with her trio, Eternal Cycle (2017) and Wonderland (2019) and releases Walls Made of Glass on September 23, 2022. She has received several awards for her work with her trio, including the OPUS Award for Discovery of the Year in 2020, the CBC/Radio-Canada Jazz Award in 2018 and the François-Marcaurelle de la GMMQ Award in 2017. Eternal Cycle was highlighted by CBC Music as one of 10 outstanding Canadian jazz albums of 2017.

MG’s compositions reflect her early development as a classical pianist as well as her background as a jazz pianist, incorporating the aesthetics of impressionism with the improvisational approach and rhythmic sensibility of contemporary jazz. From a more personal perspective, her most recent repertoire was born from a long search for meaning.

“When a light glows in the dark, our eyes are unavoidably drawn towards its beam. The moments from which this music originated are like this light. The contrast made them unavoidably, miraculously, perceptible.” -Gentiane MG

In addition to her own projects, she has played with many musicians as an accompanist such as Christine Jensen, Andre White, Allison Au, Chet Doxas, Yannick Rieu, Jim Doxas, Jeremy Pelt, Jean-Michel Pilc and Ira Coleman. She has performed around the world at festivals and venues including the Montreal International Jazz Festival, Ottawa’s National Arts Centre, Germany’s Jazzahead Festival, China’s Mercedes Benz Hall, Africa’s MASA Festival, and Mexico’s Festival Internacional Jazz UV.