If you think you know what a bass sounds like, take a listen to Renaud Garcia-Fons’s brilliant live recording Arcoluz. On several of the tracks you’d swear he was playing a cello or a viola, at times even a violin. But as the DVD that comes with the album reveals, the 45-year-old Frenchman coaxes all the timbres, tones, and textures from a five-string upright double bass.

Garcia-Fons is a master of the bow, or arco, and his technique is flawlessly fluid and astonishingly expressive. The fingers of his left hand range all over the bass, frequently poised at the tip of its extended fingerboard, on occasion playing notes and overtones so high they’re barely within hearing. He attributes his fascination for exploring such a vast palette of sounds to his former mentor, the legendary François Rabbath.

“I studied with him from the time I was 16 until I was 20,” says Garcia-Fons, reached at his Paris home, speaking in French. “At the same time, I was learning bass at the Conservatoire [de Paris]. Everything was harmonious between my two teachers, which was lucky. I gained a lot by being able to work with two people who were, I’d say, complementary in terms of their vision for the instrument.

“François Rabbath was an amazing pioneer,” he continues. “He really shaped my technical approach, but perhaps the most important thing I learned from him is philosophical: to see the bass as a wonderfully complete instrument, and not one that’s relegated to the role of accompaniment.”

The music that Garcia-Fons performs is as unique as his style.

“My inspirations were many and various. My parents came here from Catalonia, and I heard a lot of flamenco and popular Spanish music at home. I also listened to classical music, jazz, gospel, rock. So I’ve always had very broad taste, and tried to regard music as an entity.”

Garcia-Fons, currently touring Canada for the first time with his trio, has released eight albums. On Arcoluz, flamenco and Mediterranean influences are particularly strong. “The album is closely related to Spain and North Africa, and Latin American music too. Several compositions are built on flamenco palos, or rhythms—‘Entre Continentes’ for instance, is based on the bulería, and ‘40 Días’ is based on the soleá.

Garcia-Fons has been working with flamenco-jazz guitarist Antonio “Kico” Ruiz since 2001’s Navigatore, but percussionist Pascal Rolando is new to the trio. “There’s even less use of the drum kit now—just cajón, djembe, bongos, shakers. It’s allowed us to move a step closer in the direction of making a kind of chamber music. I really like that idea—with the instruments that we have, there’s already a perfect acoustic balance.”

Renaud Garcia-Fons plays Performance Works on Friday and Saturday (June 27 and 28).