UZEB

Origins and Band Members

The band’s story began with their first performance at Labreque School in Acton Vale, Quebec. Guitarist Michel Cusson recalled the beginnings as such: "We looked at the calendar [that day] and realized it was St. Eusebius’s Day. We were big fans of absurd humor back then, so we thought it was really funny to call ourselves Eusèbe Jazz." He then suggested the name Euzebe Jazz to the other bands members, which was later shortened to UZEB.

The band moved to Montreal soon after. In 1978, bassist Alain Caron and drummer Jean Saint-Jacques joined Cusson. Saint-Jacques was replaced by Sylvain Coutu, and Coutu in 1980 by Paul Brochu. UZEB was accompanied by a keyboard/synthesizer player until 1987 — in turn, Stéphan Montanaro, Jeff Fisher, Michel Cyr, and its former drummer Saint-Jacques. From 1987 onward, the band stayed a trio, with just Cusson, Caron, and Brochu. UZEB's members also have worked as studio musicians throughout its history and the band itself accompanied Diane Tell and Claude Dubois on tours in 1980 and 1982 respectively.

Popularity in Quebec

UZEB enjoyed pop-star status in Quebec during the 1980s, winning Félix awards as group of the year in 1984 and 1989 (in competition with pop and rock bands) as well as for jazz album of the year in 1983, 1984, 1986, and 1987. In addition to many province-wide (and several national) tours, it appeared regularly at the Festival international de jazz de Montréal (FIJM), culminating in concerts at Place des Arts in 1989 and 1991, an honour given only to Oliver Jones and Oscar Peterson, among Canadian musicians. In 1991 UZEB received the FIJM's Prix Oscar-Peterson. The band's popularity and dazzling blend of instrumental technique and technology made UZEB a compelling model for young Quebec musicians and has accounted in part for the greater popularity of fusion in Quebec than elsewhere in Canada during the decade.

International Success

UZEB made its European debut in 1981 at the Bracknell Jazz Festival in England, where the first of its several live albums was recorded. Beginning in 1983 with an appearance at the Festival de Jazz de Paris, UZEB enjoyed great popularity in France; it recorded LPs at the Olympia in Paris on its own and with the French violinist Didier Lockwood in 1986. UZEB also appeared throughout Europe and in 1990 toured in the Far East, with rare appearances in the United States. Sales internationally of its eight recordings 1981–88 for the Montreal label Paroles et musique exceeded 200,000 by 1989, an unprecedented figure for a Canadian jazz group. UZEB's most popular compositions include “Junk Funk,” “Smiles and Chuckles,” “Mile 'O',” “60 rue des Lombardes,” “Spider,” and “Uzeb Club,” most written by Cusson alone or in collaboration with other band members. A folio of 16 UZEB pieces, Compilation 1982-1988, was published in 1989 by Editions UZEB/Editions Luna-Mars.

Band Reunion

After breaking up in 1992, UZEB reunited 25 years later and embarked on a series of concerts in Quebec and Europe during the summer of 2017; this led, among other things, to the live album R3union Live. Nearly ten years later, a documentary titled UZEB en fusion was released in the summer of 2026 and was among the films screened at the 46th edition of the FIJM.