Norman Marshall Villeneuve, iconic drummer of the Canadian jazz scene known for his musicality, mentorship and spirited passion, has died. He was 87 years old.
His wife, Louise Artibello Villeneuve, was with him at Montreal’s Lachine Hospital when he died Wednesday morning after suffering a brain aneurysm, she said.
Louise, who lives in a seniors’ residence, says the last time she saw him before that was a week ago.
“He was very, very happy living in a building with his friend [and fellow drummer] Keith Oneill and having a great time going out for Chinese food like in the old days,” she said. “He had a lot of stuff to look forward to.”
Born in 1938 — just in time for the bebop jazz era, the style of music he would come to master — Villeneuve grew up in Montreal’s Saint-Henri neighbourhood, near Little Burgundy. The area was also home to Oscar Peterson, Villeneuve’s cousin Oliver Jones, Claude Ranger and the Sealey Brothers.
“Montreal was a marvellous, marvellous haven for so many musicians and young kids coming up at that time,” said Louise.
Having only taken five drumming lessons in his life, Villeneuve was largely self-taught, watching Jones’s practice sessions as a child and then using a drum kit he was gifted at 14. Throughout his childhood, Villeneuve tap danced at community gatherings — and also just tapped in general.
“‘Teacher couldn’t tell me enough times, ‘Norman, stop banging with the pencils,'” recalled Villeneuve laughing during an interview with Radio-Canada in 2018. “I want to be a drummer,” he would say back.
Performing with the greats, supporting young musicians
Jones, now 90 and a celebrated jazz pianist, remembers his cousin as “the most natural drummer that I’ve ever ran into.” The two worked together for decades, earning a Felix Award and travelling the world together.
Today, Villeneuve is considered a pillar of Canadian jazz, according to Charles Ellison, a jazz musician, associate professor of music at Concordia University and a friend of Villeneuve’s.
Throughout his career, Villeneuve has performed with many other jazz greats, including Duke Ellington, Charlie Biddle, Nelson Symonds, Junior Mance, and Curtis Fuller.
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