Oktopus is a major presence on the Canadian world music scene, with over 300 performances to its credit at home and abroad. The group’s main focus is klezmer music—the ancestral music of the Jews of Eastern Europe—which incorporates a distinctive approach that harvests elements from the classical, Quebecois and jazz repertoires.
The group’s eight virtuoso musicians offer performances that alternate between the celebratory and the melancholic, sprinkled with humour and narrative. Original compositions and finely crafted arrangements also vie with improvisation. The group’s cohesion, passion and hard work help to make each of their performances memorable, and … spectentacular, if it may be said!
Oktopus’s music is firmly rooted in the klezmer tradition—reflecting the people of a thousand wanderings, persecutions and celebrations—whose ramifications it extends further each year. The group draws its inspiration from a myriad of excellent klezmer recordings and other music that has marked the careers of its member musicians, beginning with classical masterpieces. Oktopus has reappropriated pieces by composers such as Bartók, Brahms, Mahler and Enesco, themselves inspired by Eastern European folklore. The group’s repertoire also includes jazz, Balkan and Quebecois songs, and the music of Leclerc and Vigneault has joined the round. Respect for different traditions and for authenticity, and the desire to bring people together through music are at the heart of the group’s artistic approach.
After releasing their debut album, Lever l’encre, in 2014, Oktopus released Hapax in 2017, nominated for a Juno Award and a Canadian Folk Music Award. The latter album is also notable for collaborations with Jorane and Karen Young. After appearing live on Radio-Canada’s Toute une musique in the summer of 2019, the public broadcaster used a clip from the show to submit Canada’s entry to Slovak Radio’s International Competition of Folk Music Recordings in Bratislava. Oktopus won the “Special prize for the most creative fusion of ancient and contemporary music traditions,” a first for Canada at the competition. In 2021, the group released their third album, Créature, which earned them nominations at the Gala de l’ADISQ, the Canadian Folk Music Awards, and the Opus Awards.
The Oktopus Octet was formed in 2010 on the initiative of clarinettist Gabriel Paquin-Buki, who is also the creator of arrangements and compositions. Since then, the group has garnered a string of awards, collaborations and tours. Highlights include performances at the OSM Virée classique, the Festival de Lanaudière, the Montreal Jazz Festival, the Nuit blanche de Montréal en lumière (TNM), the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Toronto’s Ashkenaz Festival, the Vancouver Folk Music Festival, Victoria’s Butchart Gardens and Germany’s Internationale Kulturbörse Freiburg, to name only a few.