Joseph Marcel Jacques Labrecque (8 June 1917 â 18 March 1995) was a Québécois folk singer, storyteller, ethnologist, actor, producer and publisher.
Jacques Labrecque was born on 8 June 1917 in Saint-Benoît, Quebec to Charles Labrecque, a farmer, and Berthe Rhéaume. He was baptized on the tenth and given the name Joseph Marcel Jacques Labrecque.
Labrecque started singing on his parents' farm. He was taught in Montreal by Céline Marier, Henri Pontbriand and Roger Filiatrault. Oscar O'Brien taught him harmony and Marie-Thérèse Paquin taught him his French repertoire.
He made his debut at 17 as a tenor; he sung popular songs on Radio-Canada programs "Le Réveil Rural". In 1937 he played the role of Rigobert in Varney's Les mousquetaires au couvent at the . He signed a three-year contract with the National Concerts and Artists of New York in 1946 and toured Acadia.
In 1949, Jacques Labrecque represented Canada at an international folklore festival in Venise. From 1951 to 1956, he stayed in Europe and gave concerts of classical and folk music. He returned to Montreal and founded the Musicana record company. In addition to folk songs, he also performed songs from newer composers, thus making them known to a wider public. In 1957, he recorded his first major success: "La Parenté" by Jean-Paul Filion. By 1955, he was a member of the .
During the 1960s, Labrecque was known as the greatest folklorist of Québec. He won a trophy for the best folk recording of 1960 at the Grand prix du disque of CKAK. He gave multiple concerts abroad. He opened the restaurant Chez Jacques Labrecque with his wife Pauline on Stanley Street, Montreal in the mid-1960s.
After a tour with the in 1970âÂÂ1971, he returned to Paris on a grant from the French government and gave recitals in France and other countries. He taught folk songs to students in psychomotor re-education at the University of Paris VI.
He returned to Québec in 1975 and retired to the ÃÂboulements, Charlevoix. He hosted the Radio-Canada series of half-hour programs "Chansons voltigeantes... chansons dolentes" in summer 1976. He performed at the Grand Théâtre de Québec in December 1979. In the 1980s, he started directing the ÃÂditions et Disques Patrimoine. He managed the Galerie du patrimoine in ÃÂboulements which exhibits painters and documents related to the region. He hosted "Veillées de contes espéciales" there for tourists.
Labrecque was hospitalized due to diabetes at the Pierre-Boucher Hospital of Longueuil and died there from an heart attack on 18 March 1995.