Born in the town of Beauport near Quebec City, self-taught bassist and Effendi Records president, Alain Bédard began his musical career in the eighties. He has since accompanied various Quebec ensembles, including Effendi JazzLab, Lapon Balèze, Carole Therrien, Dadjé (Quebecois and Senegalese musicians) B.C.J.S Quartet, Michel Lambert, Guadeloupean Frank Souriant, Thuryn Von Pranke trio, Ogane Song and many others.

Saxophonist, composer and arranger, Alexandre Côté completed a D.E.C. (Diploma of college studies) at
Cégep St-Laurent in 1994 where he specialized in jazz and pop music, with technical studies in
arranging. He then pursued a B.A. (1998) and a Master’s degree (2010) in jazz interpretation at McGill
University which he obtained with magna cum laude. His teachers were Rémi Bolduc, Janis Steprans, Frank
Lozano, Jean-Pierre Zanella, Kevin Dean, Jan Jarczyk and Joe Sullivan.

Over a career spanning more than 25 years, saxophonist André Larue has directed numerous ensembles, such
as the Crocodiles, Organic Jazz and the André Larue Quintet with whom he won the Oliver Jones Prize in 1995. He has also been part of several groups in Switzerland and Quebec, associations through which he appeared at many internationally reputed festivals and venues.