Montreal pianist and composer Gentiane MG will soon release her fourth album of contemporary jazz, highlighted by deeply expressive trio collaboration.
Montreal pianist and composer Gentiane MG, a JUNO and ADISQ nominee, announces the release of her fourth album, Can You Hear the Birds?, arriving March 27, 2026. The album marks a luminous new chapter in her artistic journey, expanding on a body of work acclaimed for its emotional clarity, cinematic scope, and deeply human approach to contemporary jazz. The highly interactive approach and commitment to collective improvisation with her trio are central to the album’s energy and identity.
Can You Hear the Birds? is shaped by connection in all its forms. Connection with others, with the natural world, with creativity itself, and with parts of oneself still being discovered. Through richly expressive piano trio writing, the album transforms experiences of friendship, grief, illness, forgiveness, and joy into open musical landscapes that invite listeners to feel present, alive, and connected. While Gentiane’s earlier work leaned inward, this recording turns outward, embracing curiosity, movement, and light without denying emotional depth.
The album is performed by Gentiane alongside bassist Levi Dover and drummer Mark Nelson, a long standing piano trio she founded in 2014 and has led through three critically acclaimed releases and extensive touring across Canada and Europe. Dover, an in demand Montreal bassist with roots in both rock and jazz, is known for his expressive sound and grounded rhythmic sense and has been part of the trio since its beginning. Nelson, who joined the group three years ago, brings a broad musical language shaped by jazz and other styles, contributing a highly interactive and creative approach. Known for their intuitive communication and refined collective sound, the trio works through an ear based creative process rooted in listening rather than intellectual construction, allowing the music to grow organically and giving the album a strong sense of immediacy, fluidity, and lived experience while reinforcing Gentiane’s belief in music as a shared human act rather than a fixed object.
The project’s first release arrived earlier this week with Les tornades meurent toujours (Tornadoes Always Die in the End), which serves as the album’s opening chapter. Urgent and propulsive, the piece sets the emotional and sonic landscape for Can You Hear the Birds?, capturing the tension between turbulence and release.
“This piece acknowledges turbulence without getting stuck in it. It’s about trusting that even intense moments can transform, and that storms, emotional or otherwise, eventually pass,” said Gentiane.
Centered on piano and driven by the explosive energy of the drums, the composition unfolds with momentum and clarity. “I wanted the album to begin with a sense of movement and release, something that feels alive and in motion from the very first notes,” she noted.
Raised in northern Quebec close to wilderness and solitude, Gentiane developed an early sensitivity to sound, silence, and emotional nuance. Music and nature became parallel spiritual languages for her, both inviting presence, curiosity, and reflection. Over time, and through extensive touring and lived experience, her artistic focus has shifted from inward contemplation toward outward connection. Can You Hear the Birds? reflects that evolution with clarity and openness.
