Oui, Let’s Scat’: Listening to Multi-Vocality in George Elliott Clarke’s Jazz Opera Québécité

Set on the apple-blossomed streets of Quebec City, Quebecite sings the story of two multicultural couples-Laxmi Bharati and Ovide Rimbaud, and Malcolm States and Colette Chan-whose loves are thwarted and recovered as they encounter familial and personal prejudices towards cultural difference. Listening to the two female characters, who have sparked extensive critical debate on the issue of performing cultural identity, this essay asks how Quebecite calls for a rethinking of critical approaches to sound as a medium for improvising multi-culturalisms.