Mimi Blais

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Mimi Blais

Mimi Blais is a French-Canadian pianist , composer and comedy actress with a special interest in ragtime and fun stage shows. She has been called the "Feminine Victor Borge, " the " Celine Dion of Keyboard" and the "French- Canadian Liberacette, " but she's most delighted with the name "Queen of Ragtime".

Live and act

Mimi started playing the piano at the age of seven and gave her first concert at the age of nine. She studied at the Québec Music Conservatory and McGill University. Soon she broadened her areas of interest to folk music, jazz , modern music, blues , tango and even ragtime. She played ragtime concerts in Canada, the United States, and around the world, "where she received standing ovations."

Mimi loves the theatrical. She often uses costumes or invents characters in order to prepare her concerts for the eye and to make them more lively. When she takes the stage, sometimes even the audience isn't sure that it is her.

Mimi wrote two one-woman shows showing her many talents: "Once Upon a Time, Ragtime", which shows the importance of ragtime for American musical culture, and "An Afternoon with Jean-Baptiste Lafrenière".

Discography

She recorded ten music albums with various composers, such as Scott Joplin , Tom Turpin , Eubie Blake , Zez Confrey , Jelly Roll Morton , Jean-Baptiste Lafrenière, André Gagnon , Cecil Macklin, Joseph Lamb , George Gershwin , Dave Brubeck , Claude Debussy . These albums include the following tracks:

  • Ragtime (1992),
  • Geraldine (1993),
  • Taxi (1998),
  • Old Rags - New Rags (2000),
  • Made in Quebec (2002, with the participation of violinist Sophie Rivard),
  • Sunday Morning (2004),
  • Mimi Blais Plays André Gagnon (ADISQ-2004),
  • Once Upon a Rag Time (ADISQ-2005, with the participation of pianist John Petley) and
  • Life Is a Dream (2006), which features classical music and some of Mimi's non-ragtime compositions.

In 2005/2006 Mimi received an award from the Canada Council for the Arts for doing research on Canadian ragtime; A book and a set of CDs on this subject are due to appear shortly.

Mimi Blais says that ragtime is the most important music in America: "Ragtime is the trunk of a big tree !!" ("Ragtime is the trunk of a large tree !!").

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA, Community Bulletin Board, 04/10/2006: http://today.slac.stanford.edu/today_detail.asp?id=6043 ( Memento of September 28, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) access 27 December 2009
  2. ^ The West Coast Ragtime Festival, http://www.westcoastragtime.com/bios/bio.blais.05.htm, accessed December 27, 2009
  3. ↑ MimiBlais.com, http://www.mimiblais.com/ Accessed December 27, 2009
  4. ^ The West Coast Ragtime Festival, http://www.westcoastragtime.com/bios/bio.blais.05.htm, accessed December 27, 2009
  5. ^ Lovers Point Jazz Productions, http://www.loverspointjazz.com/performances/bios/index.htm, accessed December 27, 2009
  6. ↑ “Canadian pianist headlines Eau Claire Ragtime Festival,” Eau Claire Leader-Telegram, Jan. 8, 2009
  7. ^ Lovers Point Jazz Productions, http://www.loverspointjazz.com/performances/bios/index.htm, accessed December 27, 2009
  8. ↑ MimiBlais.com, http://www.mimiblais.com/ Accessed December 27, 2009
  9. ↑ MimiBlais.com, http://www.mimiblais.com/ Accessed December 27, 2009
  10. ^ Lovers Point Jazz Productions, http://www.loverspointjazz.com/performances/bios/index.htm, accessed December 27, 2009
  11. ^ The West Coast Ragtime Festival, http://www.westcoastragtime.com/bios/bio.blais.05.htm, accessed December 27, 2009
personal data
SURNAME Blais, Mimi
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French-Canadian pianist, composer and comedy performer
DATE OF BIRTH 20th century