Joe Bouchard

Bouchard, Joe

Joe or Jos (Joseph) Bouchard. Violoneux, composer, b Pointe-au-Pic, near La Malbaie, Que, 6 May 1905, d Île d'Orléans, Que, 12 Jun 1979. At eight he began playing the violin and was taught the folk repertoire by Élie Sioué; by 14 he was a competent violoneux. Though fiddling was largely an avocation during the 32 years that he worked in Quebec City for the CNR, Bouchard participated in local festivals (eg, winning a contest for violoneux held at the Salle paroissiale de Limoilou in 1934) and was heard in 1948 with the accordionist Théodore Duguay's Montagnards laurentiens on CHRC radio. He also performed in the Lac St-Jean region.

In 1938 Bouchard began recording for RCA Victor's Bluebird label, completing 13 78s; his most popular titles, according to the folklorist Gabriel Labbé, were his own Lancier Sème partie, Reel Pointe-au-Pic, the four-part Quadrille Bouchard, and his versions of Les Joyeuses Québécoises and Reel de Rimouski by the older violoneux Fortunat Malouin. Several Bouchard recordings from this period have served as models for performances by later Quebec folk instrumentalists, including Philippe Bruneau and Jean Carignan. Bouchard also made two 78s in 1946 for Columbia and in later years recorded for Carnaval (the LP Reel Carnaval CS-530), Tamanoir (Portrait du vieux Kébec, vol 13, TAM-513) and Opus (Jos Bouchard: Violoneux Île d'Orléans OP-221). In 1975 he performed at the Mariposa Folk Festival.