Tony Roman

Resonance: One of my favorites of 2024! A page-turner. I only knew Tony Roman by name, but Jean-Christophe introduces us to a larger-than-life character, the likes of which no longer exist in Quebec.

“At first, it goes well. Normal. Tony started from the beginning. The family, elementary school, high school... But the more we drink, the more he takes off in the all-out name-dropping. Everything happens very quickly. Half the names are foreign to me. When he sees my astonishment, he grabs a pen, then draws me the organizational chart of his life on our paper tablecloth stained with red sauce. A long graphic explanation of his life begins, a vast personal and professional network woven over half a century between Montreal, New York, Paris, and Los Angeles, with himself in the middle, of course.

Slowly, the image takes shape. The Del Rio Combo, Ray Nelson, Pierre Nolès who introduces him to the Baronets, Donald Lautrec and Yvan Dufresne, Dominique Michel the feverish cougar, Vigoda, Weintraub, Shadow Morton in New York, Nanette, Guy Cloutier who takes us back to Angélil, the Sinners, Charlebois, Ahmet Ertegun of Atlantic, Eddie Barclay of Barclay. France, the States. A glass of grappa, then two. The tablecloth fills with arrows and names, some underlined several times. Tate and Finaldi, the failed Capitol deal, Japan, George Thurston, grappa flies again, punk arrives, and then Los Angeles, Pierre David and René Malo, cinema, good buddy Chris Squire of Yes, Guy A. Lepage. Sacrament...