Joseph Marcel Jacques Labrecque (8 June 1917 – 18 March 1995) was a Québécois folk singer, storyteller, ethnologist, actor, producer and publisher.
Biography Jacques Labrecque was born on 8 June 1917 in Saint-Benoît, Quebec to Charles Labrecque, a farmer, and Berthe Rhéaume. He was baptized on the tenth and given the name Joseph Marcel Jacques Labrecque.Registres de l'état civil de St-Benoît, Fonds Drouin (in French).
Labrecque started singing on his parents' farm. He was taught in Montreal by Céline Marier, Henri Pontbriand and Roger Filiatrault. Oscar O'Brien taught him harmony and Marie-Thérèse Paquin taught him his French repertoire.
He made his debut at 17 as a tenor; he sung popular songs on Radio-Canada programs "Le Réveil Rural". In 1937 he played the role of Rigobert in Varney's Les mousquetaires au couvent at the . He signed a three-year contract with the National Concerts and Artists of New York in 1946 and toured Acadia.
In 1949, Jacques Labrecque represented Canada at an international folklore festival in Venise. From 1951 to 1956, he stayed in Europe and gave concerts of classical and folk music. He returned to Montreal and founded the Musicana record company. In addition to folk songs, he also performed songs from newer composers, thus making them known to a wider public. In 1957, he recorded his first major success: "La Parenté" by Jean-Paul Filion. By 1955, he was a member of the .
During the 1960s, Labrecque was known as the greatest folklorist of Québec. He won a trophy for the best folk recording of 1960 at the Grand prix du disque of CKAK. He gave multiple concerts abroad. He opened the restaurant Chez Jacques Labrecque with his wife Pauline on Stanley Street, Montreal in the mid-1960s.
After a tour with the in 1970–1971, he returned to Paris on a grant from the French government and gave recitals in France and other countries. He taught folk songs to students in psychomotor re-education at the University of Paris VI.
He returned to Québec in 1975 and retired to the Éboulements, Charlevoix. He hosted the Radio-Canada series of half-hour programs "Chansons voltigeantes... chansons dolentes" in summer 1976. He performed at the Grand Théâtre de Québec in December 1979. In the 1980s, he started directing the Éditions et Disques Patrimoine. He managed the Galerie du patrimoine in Éboulements which exhibits painters and documents related to the region. He hosted "Veillées de contes espéciales" there for tourists.
Labrecque was hospitalized due to diabetes at the Pierre-Boucher Hospital of Longueuil and died there from an heart attack on 18 March 1995.
Discography +SinglesYearTitle1949À la claire fontaine/Le fils du roi s'en va chassant1949Ah toi belle hirondelle/Alouette1949Les raftmen–Monsieur le curé/Je sais bien quelque chose1949C'est la belle Françoise/Son voile qui volait1949Gorloton glin glon/ Dans Paris, il y a une brume1949Quand j'étais chez mon père–Isabeau s'y promène/L'Escaouette–Apprenti1950Le jupon de Lison/Ma chanson1950Si si si/Chérie, sois fidèle1950La colline aux oiseaux/Pour t'aimer1953Partons la mer est belle/Les raftmen1953Trente marins de Saint-Malo/Dans ma forêt1953Mon Saint-Laurent/La ronde des provinces1956?Across Canada in Songs, Part 3: Québec1956Le miracle des cloches/Nature Boy1956Les trois cloches1957La parenté/Monsieur Guindon1958The Relatives(La parenté)/ Road to Grand-mère1958L'habitant de Saint-Benoît/En p'tit boggy1958Gondolier/Su'l chemin des habitants1958Le miracle de Saint-Anne-de-Beaupré/Ave Maria1959Des mitaines pas d'pouces/Le temps des Fêtes1959Jos Hébert/Jos Montferrand1960Monsieur Cinquante/L'abattage1960Le temps du Carnaval/La bastringue du Carnaval1960Emmenez-en d'la pitoune/Le grand Joe1961Le garçon du grand Paulin/Kino le trappeur1961Les gens/Couleurs d'automne1962Comment ça va/Les présentations1962J'suis v'nu au Carnaval/Les Québécoises1980Le temps des fêtes +AlbumsYearTitle1950French Operetta Airs1953?Chansons populaires du Canada1953Le Canada chante pour vous1957Chansons populaires de France et du Canada1958La parenté est arrivée1959L'inimitable Jacques Labrecque1959Noël et Carillons/French Christmas Songs & Chimes1959Rappel:Labrecque/Desrochers/De Courval1959Carnaval à Québec avec Jacques Labrecque1960Jacques Labrecque en France1960French Folk Songs From Canada1961On va t'y n'avoir du plaisir1967Chansons folkloriques du Canada1967Folklore du Canada1980Jacques Labrecque1981Jacques Labrecque chante Gilles Vigneault1983Géographie sonore du Québec: Charlevoix1984Géographie sonore du monde de la mer1986Chansons traditionnelles avec Jacques Labrecque
Filmography +YearTitleRole1950Soho ConspiracyCarlo Scala1958Pays neufs1959Pasaporte al infierno1963Amanita PestilensHenri Martin
References