Information/Write-up
Al Baculis was one of Canada’s most accomplished jazz musicians, arrangers, and educators—a clarinetist and saxophonist whose work bridged the worlds of modern jazz, television, pop harmony, and academic instruction. Born Joseph George Alphonse Allan Baculis on November 21, 1930, in Lachine, Quebec, he studied clarinet at McGill University from 1948 to 1951, earning his Licentiate in Music, and continued privately with István Anhalt and Marvin Duchow between 1952 and 1956, honing his craft as both instrumentalist and composer. By the mid-1950s he was performing with the Canadian All-Stars—Gordie Fleming on accordion, Yvan Landry on piano, Hal Gaylor on bass, and Billy Graham on drums—recording the landmark LP Canadian Jazz All-Stars (Discovery DL-3025, 1955) and winning CBC Radio’s Jazz Unlimited poll five years running as the nation’s top clarinetist.
As the Montreal scene evolved, Baculis transitioned fluidly into studio and broadcast work, becoming one of the most sought-after arrangers and conductors in Canadian music. He contributed extensively to CBC and CTV programs including Vedettes en direct, Music Hall, and Let’s Go, and composed film scores for the National Film Board between 1961 and 1965. His soundtrack for Le Sport et les hommes (1961) was partially performed by his own octet at the 1962 Montreal Jazz Festival, revealing a fusion of classical structure and improvisational freedom that would define his later work.
In the mid-1960s Baculis founded The Al Baculis Singers, an impeccably blended studio vocal group comprising Ray Berthiaume, Rudy Pontano, René Lacourse, Jean-Pierre Rondeau, Nicole Scott, Gisèle Poitras, Renée Beaumier, and Baculis’ wife, Margo MacKinnon. Bilingual and versatile, they became fixtures on CBC radio and television, known for their lush choral textures and polished phrasing. Their first LP, The Al Baculis Singers (Canadian Talent Library CTLS-1084 / Birchmount BM-528, 1966), introduced Baculis’ sophisticated pop-jazz arrangements to a national audience, followed by Back to Baculis—also issued as Happy Together (CTL CTLS-1095 / Paragon ALS-228, 1967)—and Anne of Green Gables (Dominion 1368, 1967). Blending flute, guitars, bass, drums, and vibraphone with eight vocal parts, these albums showcased a uniquely Canadian approach to the sunshine-pop era: urbane, harmonically rich, and radiantly melodic.
Baculis’ gift for arrangement extended far beyond his own ensembles. He scored and conducted music for major network broadcasts, collaborated with Vic Vogel’s band on tours throughout Europe and the Middle East for Canadian Armed Forces audiences, and arranged the theme for the closing ceremonies of the 1976 Montreal Olympics. His musicianship was marked by technical clarity, emotional warmth, and a tireless curiosity for emerging technologies. This spirit carried into his later recordings, notably the Al Baculis Quintet session on CBC Radio Canada LM 418 (1975), where his clarinet was processed through a Maestro synthesizer to generate electronic harmonics and textures—a forward-looking experiment that blurred the boundaries between acoustic and electric jazz. Featuring Rudy Pontano on electric piano, Tony Romandini on guitar, John Lanza on bass, and Ronnie Page on drums, the session included Baculis originals Blues ’75 and Soul Search, alongside interpretations of Stevie Wonder’s Smile Please and Eugene McDaniels’ Feel Like Makin’ Love.
Throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s Baculis turned increasingly toward education, teaching arranging and composition at Vanier College (1977–86) and McGill University (1978–83). His approach combined rigorous harmonic understanding with the sensibility of a working studio musician, inspiring a generation of Montreal arrangers and instrumentalists. His compositions were later recorded by Buddy De Franco and Gordie Fleming on the LP Waterbed (Choice CRS-1017, 1977), affirming the continued resonance of his jazz writing.
Al Baculis passed away in Seminole, Florida on January 22, 2007. His life traced a uniquely Canadian musical arc—from postwar jazz and national broadcasting to pioneering studio vocal music and electronic experimentation. Whether crafting shimmering vocal harmonies for CBC radio or exploring new tonal frontiers with a synthesizer-fed clarinet, Baculis remained devoted to musical expression that was both precise and human. His recordings stand as enduring evidence of a gifted arranger and instrumentalist whose work quietly shaped the sound of mid-century Canadian popular and jazz music.
-Robert Williston
Liner notes:
Al Baculis’ name may be unfamiliar to many Canadians outside of Quebec, but in his native Montreal (he was born in Lachine), he has achieved considerable fame as a performing musician, and has established an excellent reputation as an arranger and conductor.
It wasn’t long after Al finished his studies of composition, harmony and the clarinet, that his name began to appear in the Canadian Jazz Poll as the result of his prowess with the licorice stick, and alto and tenor saxophones.
For a number of years, he has arranged for both the CBC and CTV networks, the National Film Board and the U.S. Information Service, as well as for such conductors as Neil Chotem, Art Morrow and Denny Vaughan. The Baculis brand of music has been identified with a number of CBC radio shows—some bearing his own name.
On this album, Al appears as the arranger and conductor of The Al Baculis Singers, a group of four male and four female voices, accompanied by ten musicians. Five of the selections feature five woodwinds, two guitars, piano, bass and drums. The eight singers include Ray Bertheume (who is heard in several solo passages), Elliot VanEvera, Rudy Monaton, Renée Lecoustre, Nicole Scott, Gisèle Poitras, Renée Baumer, and Al’s wife - Margo MacKinnon. The group works continually as a unit in French language recordings produced in Montreal. For those who have French as their mother tongue, this is their first journey into the English recording field.
The album contains two Canadian compositions, one of which, “Martinique,” was composed by Al Baculis. The other, “Hey Friend, Say Friend, Come On Over,” is the official theme song of Expo 67, and was chosen as the result of a world-wide competition. It was composed by Stéphane Venne, and it is sung here in both French and English.
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