Philippe Côté and François Bourassa Premiere Their “Muted Song” Music Video

“Confluence” is a word often used to describe when two great things come together, so it’s no wonder that’s the name given to Philippe Côté and François Bourassaare’s new record. That convergence comes to a head today with the debut of their music video for “Muted Song.”

The beauty of the composition is matched only by the beauty of the video clip, a performance video like no other. You get a very innovative view of Côté and Bourassaare on their instruments from a number of different angles thanks to some ingenious special effects and some very novel camera work. With how easily they play off of each other, you’d think they have played together for years. What they do have in common is a great love to not just play but use their respective instruments to explore the full scope of sound using improvisation as their guide.

Discussing the writing process behind the song, Côté tells us:

“‘Muted Song’ is a piece I wrote inspired by the sound produced by a piano with its strings muted. I LOVE that sound. It feels like a synth, but it’s an acoustic piano. I wrote a simple piece to have François Bourassa improvise melodies over what I play on the prepared piano. We recorded this piece on the two fantastic Steinway grand from Oktaven Audio in New York and Adrien H. Tillman captured the moment on video. I then gave the instructions to videographer Benoît Guérin ‘carte blanche’ to be inspired by the music and make the video you are now seeing.”

Both being situated in Montreal, it has allowed Côté and Bourassaare to become familiar with each other as musicians. As a duo, they are most inspired by jazz and contemporary classical music. Their collaborations are diverse, meticulous, complex, yet personal and accessible. Based on their musical backgrounds and focuses, you’d think Confluence would be just an album of piano and saxophone collaborations. It’s so much more than that, though, with a number of pieces featuring Côté on piano and different instrumental combinations.

Confluence Track Listing:

1. Tour 1 (Bourassa) 3:21
2. 1190 Chemin de la Montagne (Côté) 5:19
3. Muted Song (Côté) 4:43
Confluence Suite (Côté)
4. The Forks 4:06
5. When Blue Meets White 3:11
6. Ganges-Purification 3:01
7. Rideau Falls 3:40
8. Archipel d’Hochelaga 4:53
9. Chire (Bourassa) 3:20
10. Truc (Bourassa) 5:00
11. On Duty (Bourassa) 3:48
12. Hushed Song (Côté) 4:57
13. Tour 2 (Bourassa) 3:42

Philippe Côté and François Bourassa ‘Confluence’ album artwork