les Paiens

“Here is the third gift from our friends, Les Païens. Sphere épiphonde 2 surpasses the first with a modern jazz-fusion universe and a trumpet that reflects the colours of the Taxi Driver years, the good old 1970s.

From the first notes in Café à Vught, our ears are fully captivated. One melody follows the other and it becomes more and more difficult not to listen to the entire CD. Afterwards, we hear Tortue, a free jazz from the end of the 1970s and the early 1980s with music that carries us away. Tourner en rond is the most alternative piece for those who like fuzz and distortion. (…)



Once again, Les Païens invite us into their universe, a universe where jazz and alternative music rub shoulders on a field of fuzz and distortion where the air is scented by a nostalgic trumpet sound. A refreshing international sound on the Acadian musical scene.”
- Marc Lalonde

“Les Païens (…) refine an instrumental music where multiple influences mix together. Jazz, of course, but also funk, progressive rock… While listening to their compositions, we inevitably think of Miles Davis, Frank Zappa and even King Crimson. Great company to keep!

Since they are definitely electric, Les Païens have also composed the soundtrack for the movie Kacho Complo screened at the Festival des Météores.

A quintet full of talent and the ability to communicate joy through their playing. The public loved them."
- La voix - 2004

" Impish, non-Christian, non-conformist. Here is an Acadian product different from the rest. Zn’T’trn is the group’s second effort. They take in various musical universes where improvisation is key. It reveals a spectre of different musical styles from jazz to alternative… (...) While listening to Zn’T’trn (Epiphonde I) of Les Païens, we discover little treasures on a variety of musical levels.” - Marc Lalonde

“Les Païens have just released Ep Phone, a first CD for this trio composed of Denis Surette, Jean Surette and Marc “Chops” Arsenault. Armed with intelligent imagination, an incredible integrity, and a striking cynicism, the Moncton group presents eclectic music from which the roots run back to the good years of Frank Zappa and King Crimson (...).” - L'Acadie Nouvelle - Robert Bourgeois

" The flow of grooves, dramatic time changes, and use of dynamics carries you along through changing moods, progressing at times with raw energetic guitar, feverous beats, and escalating bass rhythms." - Muzik etc

The great Sackville musical Juggernaut that is Stereophonic began at George's Roadhouse on Thursday, January 12. While the show wasn't the anarchic dance party of the final show, it was quite well attended, especially for George's.

Nobody needed to tell Les Paiens when to play and when not to. I had never heard of this funky horn-led instrumental quintet from the Francophone side of Monton before, but the first impression they made on me and everyone else at the Roadhouse was indelible. Their uncategorizable mixture of funk grooves, infectious bass lines and eerie guitar and keyboard effects leapfrogged from jazz to blues to hard rock, sometimes within a few bars. Every member of the band was fascinating to watch, even - perhaps especially - when they stepped back and played nothing at all. The group exemplified the greatest thing about Stereophonic: with so many bands here at once, it becomes entirely possible to randomly run into a new and unexpected musical discovery, and Les Paiens were exactly that
- By Liam Peacock - jan 2005