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At a relatively young age, saxophonist Benjamin Deschamps has already garnered some impressive credentials:
Révélation Jazz for Radio Canada/CBC in 2017–18 and winner of the TD Grand Jazz Award at the Montreal Jazz Festival in 2019. Since 2014, he has released three albums under his name (with a quartet, a quintet and a sextet), and two more with the No Codes collective, where he is joined by his former mentor at McGill University, Frank Lozano.
For the 2025–26 season, Deschamps is artist-in-residence for Jeunesses Musicales Canada (JMC). The saxophonist will present three different concert projects at JMC’s Joseph-Rouleau Hall in Montreal—in December, January and March. The first, All About Wayne Shorter, will feature a standard saxophone quartet format, with original arrangements for several Shorter compositions. There will also be a piece by the late saxophonist Mario Allard, who died in January 2025 at age 42 after a tragic accidental fall. “That quartet was a project we worked on together during our master’s at McGill,” says Deschamps. “He was the first I called to get the project together. Our first rehearsal was just a day before his death.” With saxophonists Jean-Pierre Zanella, Frank Lozano and François D’Amours on board, Deschamps will have solid replacements for his late friend.
Deschamps chose a different kind of quartet for Astor’s Universe, a crossover jazz, classical and tango program. With his partner, violinist Nadia Monczak, Deschamps has put together the Mistral ensemble. With this quartet, he doubles (triples!) on saxophones, clarinet and flute, effectively playing the role of the traditional South American bandoneon (a type of concertina) in the ensemble. The concert is being promoted as a “musical and narrative spectacle” and promises a unique insight into the life, career and influences of Argentinian tango composer Astor Piazzolla via Monczak’s scrupulously researched monologues.
Finally, in March, Deschamps and Monczak unite forces with pianist Gentiane MG and bassist Levi Dover for a project called Dialogues. With it, Deschamps hopes to bridge the divide between jazz and classical music—between composition and improvisation. The program will invoke themes by Nadia and Lili Boulanger, or by Erik Satie. While the saxophonist initially underplays the concept (“It’s nothing new, it’s been done before…”), one feels it will certainly go beyond the usual “jazzing up the classics.”
Hear Benjamin Deschamps at those three concerts:
All About Wayne Shorter, Dec. 4, 2025.
Astor’s Universe, Jan. 22, 2026.
Dialogues, March 19, 2026.
For more information, visit: www.jmcanada.ca/en
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