Ambiances Magnétiques

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Ambiances Magnétiques is a Canadian record label and artists’ collective from Montreal, focused on avant-garde jazz and free improvisation. It started in 1983 when Jean Derome, René Lussier, and other musicians formed the group that would run the label.

In 1982, Lussier and Derome performed as a duo in Montreal under the name Ambiances Magnétiques. They later teamed up with guitarist André Duchesne and clarinetist Robert Marcel Lepage to launch the label in 1983. The label was run by the artists themselves and released music by its members and close associates through the late 1990s.

Over time, more musicians joined the core group: Joane Hétu, Diane Labrosse, Danielle P. Roger, Michel F. Côté, and Martin Tétreault. The collective performed together only twice, including on the album Une Théorie des Ensembles. They also created a distribution arm and event-production companies. By 2000, the label had released about 90 albums.