Every Sunday in the spring through fall, you can hear the heartbeat of Montréal thrumming near the famous Angel of Mt. Royal.**
That heartbeat comes from the city’s famous tam-tam, a drum circle that has grown and evolved for the past 50 years. The origins of the tam-tam are in dispute, but it has persisted despite its uncharted history.
Montreal is home to musicians from around the world. At the tam-tam, an international assembly of professional and amateur drummers come together to practice their skills and make music and joy in the park. People gather, picnic, dance, get stoned, play games, and groove to the beat, not necessarily in that order. Everyone is welcome.
Despite what you might think, it’s not chaos. Michel Seguin, the current leader of the tam-tam, invests time and energy in making sure the tam-tam has value for both the pro percussionists and the “beat freaks” who join the jam each week.
Click below to enjoy three minutes of tam-tam history and bountiful beats (excerpt from a documentary called “Respect the Beat” by filmmaker Hunter Hoe, all rights reserved by Foreign Ghosts Productions):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln3EtZA66Cw
(YouTube won’t let me embed the video, but it’s worth the click).
**the “Angel” is actually the Goddess of Liberty, according to Wikipedia.
3 replies on “The Tam-Tam”
This looks so cool🤩
It is. Montreal is home to the coolest stuff in Canada, which is a big part of why we like it so much. 🙂
From you guys’ posts, I like Montreál already.