1991 Juno Award Winner

The JUNO Award winning master of the harmonica has been compared to the legends of the harmonica: Larry Adler, Sonny Terry and Sonny Boy Williamson. The sounds he creates with his myriad harmonicas is truly astonishing. His music is highly original as well, reflecting his French Canadian and Manitoba voyageur roots but incorporating the music of the world. His compositions express his past and present, the people he has met and the places he has been.
These images explode from the harmonica when he plays and tells his stories and legends in French and English.

In addition to over 60 various harmonicas, he also uses the penny whistle, Indian mouthbow, fiddle bow, jaw harp and other percussive toys to create his unique fusion of musical styles: French-Canadian, Zydeco, Cajun, boogie, African rhythms, blues and Celtic.

Gérald Laroche is a master of his instrument and will often play up to 25 different harmonicas in a concert, while he carries nearly 60 of them on tour.
 

 

Career Highlights

  • Francophone Games - Paris 1994, representing Canada in Storytelling
  • European tours - 1984, 1994, 2000
  • Winnipeg Folk Festival - 1996, 1998
  • Festival du Voyageur - 1996, 1997, 1998
  • Montréal Jazz Festival - 1987
  • Francophone Summit - Moncton NB 1999
  • Command Performance for Gov. General Romeo LeBlanc - 1995

Recordings

  • Rubato/Stealing Time CD 1998 independent release
  • Gérald Laroche: Blues, Cajun. Zydeco, cassette 1986, independent
  • Franco-Manitoban artists compilation CD 1995
  • Saturday Night Blues: The Great Canadian Blues Project, 1991 Stony Plain Records/CBC Variety
  • Coast to Coast - CBC Montréal compilation album, 1988

Theatre

  • Manitoba Theatre For Young People, 1997, composer, "Toronto at Dreamer's Rock"
  • Toronto Children's Dance Theatre
  • Manitoba Theatre For Young People, 1990-91, performer/composer "The Red River Story"
  • In 1991, Gérald Laroche won a Juno Award for best blues/traditional album, for his participation ("Danser Le Loup") in "Saturday Night Blues: The Great Canadian Blues Project" for Stony Plain Records.

Video Recordings

Live concert at the Astrolabe, Ottawa, 1995, prod. by Amérimage for TV5 International, Bravo Canada, TV Ontario

Television program, "Auto-Stop", 1995, Radio-Canada, Winnipeg

Television Program "L'Autoroute électronique", 1987, Radio-Canada