Montréal Bassist Carl Mayotte Quintet

Having started his professional career at the age of 16 and completed a master’s degree in jazz performance at McGill University, CARL MAYOTTE’s virtuosity and versatility were noticed by several musicians and critics from Alain Caron to Bass Magazine.

Grand winner of the 2020-2021 Radio-Canada Jazz Revelation title, Mayotte’s third album, Escale, earned him a Félix award for best jazz album of the year for Quebec in 2022.

In addition, he created, in the summer of 2022, a new jazz music camp at Kamouraska bringing together musicians from all ages and all levels. One of the young musician’s goals is to democratize jazz and bring this musical genre back to the forefront.

In 2023, Carl released his fourth album, Carnaval, an ode to Brazilian music.

Born and raised in Quebec, Canada, GABRIEL CYR is versatile guitar player who enjoys playing jazz, metal and everything in between. Currently working on his solo project and his growing Youtube channel, he is also playing with the Carl Mayotte Fusion Quintet and progressive metal band Universe Effects.

Beginning at the age of 11 with the bass guitar, he picked up his first electric guitar a year later and became very passionate about it when he discovered John Petrucci and Paul Gilbert. As a teenager, he explored a few different instruments like the drums, flute and some basic piano, but the guitar always was his favorite. Graduated in 2017 from Laval University, Gabriel got a bachelor’s degree in jazz guitar. In 2018, Gabriel won the guitar contest Guitarist of the Year organized by Music Radar, Guitarist Magazine and Total Guitar Magazine. In 2020, he released his first EP Spectrum Exploration I which is an instrumental rock record with jazz fusion and prog influences. Later that year, he released his second EP Spectrum Exploration II which incorporate metal influences.

Working as a professional guitar player, Gabriel is playing live shows with a few different bands and as a freelancer in Quebec. He’s also a session guitarist, recording for various contexts and multiple different music styles.

DAMIEN-JADE CYR is an award winning Quebec saxophonist, jazz performer and composer, who perfectly integrates various styles including jazz fusion, funk, rock, punk, pop.

FRANCIS GRÉGOIRE is a pianist, keyboardist and composer from Quebec, Canada. From the age of 7, he began training in classical piano up to the college level. He holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in music in jazz/pop performance from Laval University, where he was able to learn from excellent, recognized jazz musicians such as Jean-François Lambert and Rafael Zaldivar. Francis works mainly in the musical field as a stage and studio musician, composer, arranger and teacher.

A versatile musician and composer, his musical interests oscillate between jazz, classical, pop, rock and even metal. He also co-founded the progressive rock/metal group, Universe Effects, with whom he composed and co-produced two albums, where he was able to work in particular with the internationally renowned engineer Paul Northfield (Rush, Dream Theater, Gentle Giant, Queensrÿche, etc.). He is also a keyboardist in the Carl Mayotte Fusion Quintet and has performed on stage alongside Paul Brochu (UZEB), Luc Boivin, Jean-Pierre Zanella, Marie-Denise Pelletier and Senri Kawaguchi. He also collaborated with composer and audio director Jim Bonney (Bioshock, Mortal Kombat, Mafia) to compose music for the video game Romancelvania from Deep End Games. Francis also served as musical director and keyboardist for Prog Story, a musical revue show of British progressive rock from the 70s.

Francis is currently preparing the release of his first album as a composer/performer which will bring together a quintet as well as the Quatuor Crema, a string section bringing together musicians from the Orchester Symphonique de Québec and the Violons du Roy.

STÉPHANE CHAMBERLAND is an internationally recognized drummer, clinician, educator, and author. He is currently freelancing with numerous bands, touring and recording. He is also the drummer of The Carl Mayotte Fusion Quintet. Steph has presented hundreds of drum clinics and master classes in the United States, Canada, Taiwan, Europe, Brazil, and China. Steph has performed at the Cape Breton Drum Festival 2008 (Nova Scotia), the Taipei International Percussion Summer Camp 2008/2009 (Taipei National University of the Arts), the Da Dong Tian Xia Music Concert 2008 (Shanghai Grand Theatre), the Batuka International Drum Festival 2013 (Brazil), the Shanghai International Percussion Camp 2008(Shanghai), the Benny Lim SG Drum Academy (Singapore), the Capitale DrumFest 2015 (Quebec City), the Chris Lesso Drum School (Toronto), the Drumming Lab (Paris). Steph has also appeared at Drumeo in 2019 (Vancouver), at the KoSA 24 Drum & Percussion Camp 2019 (Montréal), at the Drumeo North American Live Hang 2022 (Toronto, Ontario), and the Angelillo International Drumfest 2022, among many others.

Stéphane maintains a busy private teaching schedule, coaching students from many countries online and at his studios, located in Quebec City (Canada). Students from all around the world come for intense, unique and personalized programs. Stephane has studied drumset with many renowned teachers from around the globe including Dom Famularo, Jim Chapin, Paul Brochu, Rick Gratton, Robby Ameen, Jeff Salem, Paul DeLong, Joe Bergamini, John Favicchia, Aldo Mazza, Memo Acevedo, Eduardo Guedes, Richard Irwin, Claus Hessler, and Frank Belluci. He attended the Manhattan School of Music to study with John Riley and Bobby Sanabria, and also studied at the Conservatory of Music in Quebec City.

Stéphane’s interests in writing and education have led him to become very active in the music publishing world. He is the co-author of the books The Weaker Side, Accenting The Weaker Side, Drumset Duets, and Pedal Control (Wizdom Media – Alfred Publishing). Stephane also edited the latest editions of the worldwide number one drum books, Stick Control, and Accents and Rebounds, by George Lawrence Stone. He wrote articles for various magazines such as Modern Drummer, Canadian Musician and Percussive Notes. He was also featured in Drums Etc and Classic Drummer Magazine. Stephane is also a judge and mentor for The Sabian SEN Dom Famularo Mentorship Award with Andy Zildjian (SABIAN President), Chris Stankee (SABIAN Artist Relations Director), Joe Bergamini (SABIAN Education Network Director), David Garibaldi, Claus Hessler, Jim Toscano, Paul Quin, and Rick Drumm. Stéphane endorses Yamaha Drums, Sabian Cymbals, Remo Drumheads, Prologix Percussion and Vic Firth Sticks.