music in our messed age

lightsweetcrude's raga fusion rocks!

2011-10-14T19:42:00.001-04:00

Credit a non-committal Indian kathak dancer, the North Indian drums known as the tabla, and the revolutionary, classical Indian-flavoured Beatles track Tomorrow Never Knows for sparking Jason Steidman’s love affair with Indian music.

And it’s quite remarkable what he’s accomplished with his appreciation and knowledge of the music, specifically, the raga, which is the pattern of notes in classical Indian music that are used as the basis of improvisation.

Lightsweetcrude, Steidman’s five-member “raga fusion ensemble,” just released its debut album, Listen To The Colour and it’s a solid calling card. Alternately visceral and meditative, the music here will appeal to fans of groups like Remember Shakti or the Mahavishnu Orchestra.

Adding additional firepower to the affair are several heavies who are well-versed in classical Indian music: guitarists Fareed Haque and Rez Abbasi, tabla player Ravi Naimpally, bassist Ian De Souza and Amir Amiri who plays the exquisite- sounding santur, an ancient 72-string instrument used in Persian classical music.

Lightsweetcrude will celebrate the disc’s release at The Smiling Buddha Thursday.

“A kathak dancer came to visit my studio back in 2000 or so and she wanted to do an Indian-dance fusion thing, but she never returned after our first meeting,” Steidman says, tracing his interest in Indian music. “Meanwhile, thinking about this idea, fooling around with some tabla samples and a tamboura sample from (The Beatles’) Revolver (album), some things started coming together.”

Steidman confesses that when he embarked on assembling a project that would bring together the best of West and East, he realized how little he really knew about Indian music so he sought out a guru.

Steidman linked up with Toronto-based Pakistani film composer and producer Sohail Rana and studied the basics of North Indian classical music via the harmonium “which, despite the micro-tonalities of the music, made the most sense since I already played keyboards.

“The more I learned, the more I was awestruck by this music and I did tons of listening,” Steidman recalls. “There was a period of several years where I listened to almost nothing but sitar or sarod performances and cassettes of my teacher for hours each day. So, at a certain point, I felt confident to try writing some stuff in raga, and it evolved from there.”

He says he’s always loved jazz and other improvised music, adding that “the way North Indian classical music is organized and executed is connected to jazz in some ways, but it's also working in another universe.”

Considering quite a few bands are mixing classical Indian with other styles of music, I ask Steidman what sets lightsweetcrude apart from the pack.

“We’re all about raga fusion, so all written melodies are written strictly in a raga: attempting to evoke a specific Raga while obeying the music's ‘rules’ - except sometimes during improvisation - and fusing this with an appropriate Western genre or form that suits the mood and movement of the raga in question,” he explains. “I also think the range of this project's possibilities for fusion is wider than most. There are Indo-jazz projects and projects that incorporate Indian instruments and sounds with electronic music, but lightsweetcrude's mission is to let each song find its own way in terms of genre or style.

“That's why you will hear things move from surf-rock to ambient to funk to electronic, and I believe that the common source holds all of this together and keeps it cohesive and interesting.”

NOTE: The Smiling Buddha is at 961 College St. Doors open at 9 p.m. $7 gets you in.

Armenian ax sensation Levon Ichkhanian

2011-10-02T22:11:00.000-04:00

I jokingly ask Levon Ichkhanian why someone should bother checking out to Global Village’s series of Monday gigs at the Orbit Room and the ace guitarist goes silent.

I fear I’ve offended him, but Ichkhanian assures me that I haven’t.

“That’s a ballsy question and it’s probably the most honest one I’ve ever been asked. You just made me think about what it is I do and why I do it,” he replies. “Basically, I’m telling my story through my music.”

One of the most humble musicians I know, Ichkhanian is quick to credit his brilliant band – drummer Wilson Laurencin, bassist Pat Kilbride and keyboardist David Atkinson – for helping him tell his story.

“The audience will hear a ‘band,’ in the sense that this is a group of musicians who’ve played together as a unit for a long time,” the Lebanon-born player says over lunch at The Paramount.

“And people will hear lots of improvisation and group interplay,” he says, adding that Laurencin and he have been playing together for almost 35 years. “It’ll all be in the moment.”

Global Village’s sound embraces jazz and traditional Armenian and Middle Eastern music, and presents that gumbo with power, precision and soul. I love the different textures in their songs, especially the evocative nature of the explicitly Middle Eastern pieces. So, seeing them in an intimate spot like the Orbit Room Monday should be a treat.

And guitar heads who haven’t heard of Ichkhanian should consider stopping by, not just to see this wildly inventive axman getting loose, but to ogle the guitar he’ll be playing.
You see, Godin, one of the largest guitar manufacturers in the world, recently presented Ichkhanian with a custom-made guitar.

“The Levon Guitar is the latest generation of the Godin LGX models,” he tells me. “It features a special custom colour along with two very special inlays made of black and white mother of pearl and Japanese awabi. The inlays were designed by two prominent local Armenian artists (Hagop Janbazian and Paul Jamjekian) and the inlays were done by Mark Kett (who worked on the Metheny-Manzer guitars).”

The Metheny-Manzer Signature 6 is a limited edition guitar commemorating the 25-year association between 17-time Grammy-winning guitarist Pat Metheny and world-renowned Toronto luthier Linda Manzer.

Ichkhanian says his guitar’s genius is its capability to produce a wide range of tones.
“I can go from mellow to full-out rocking,” he says. “It also has a Piezo system which allows it to sound like an acoustic guitar since each string has a mini pick-up under its saddle.”
More importantly, he says the new ax perfectly complements Global Village’s unique fusion.
“Put it this way,” he says. “If I didn’t have this guitar, I would have to use three or four different guitars to get the same tonal varieties that I get out of it.”

Ichkhanian’s sound is the product of growing up in a well-known musical family, performing all over the world, and playing with a diverse bunch of musicians that includes Brian Wilson, iconic Indian film composer A.R Rahman, Sarah McLachlan, ex-Bauhaus singer Peter Murphy, and opera singer Isabel Bayrakdarian.

Over the last five years, the Ichkhanian has proved his versatility by making forays into the theatre world and performing in several high-profile shows. He played lead guitar in Jersey Boys, assembled the band for Come Fly Away, and played Irish bouzouki in the Lord of the Rings orchestra, to name just three major productions.

But playing with Global Village, I sense, is when he feels most alive and transports him back to growing up in Lebanon.

“I was fortunate to attend many concerts, art exhibits and dance performances featuring local and international artists when I was little,” he says. “The days and nights were blurred; no one looked at their watch. Everyone was living in the moment, enjoying everything that life had to offer. I continue to live my life every day that way – with a focus on my family, good friends, good food and music – and to fully experience the moment.”

NOTE: Global Village plays The Orbit Room Oct. 3, 10, 17 and 24. 9 p.m. $15.
580 College St.

Brampton's Got The Jazz!

2011-08-12T14:26:00.000-04:00

Oakville, Port Hope and Markham have one, and now Brampton’s got one, too.

It’s the latest suburb to establish its own jazz festival, and last night the inaugural Brampton Global Jazz & Blues Festival kicked off with a performance by the Jazz Mechanics Big Band.
The festival is the brainchild of the Art of Jazz organization which hosted a similar event at the Distillery District for four years.

“We moved from there because of the amount of construction that was happening down there,” award-winning horn player Jane Bunett says. “We proposed the idea to the City of Brampton who immediately got excited about it.”

In a statement, Brampton city councillor Grant Gibson said that when the Art of Jazz approached him with the idea “it was apparent that this is the sort of activity we wanted to attract to our downtown. This project has the potential to attract 26,000 people from Brampton, the GTA and beyond, and could generate more than $3 million for the regional economy in direct and indirect spending.”

Bunnett hopes the festival makes people in Brampton “look in their own backyard and not feel they have to drive to Toronto to see a show. And we’re also hoping that this is a place where the festival can grow.”

The highlights of the four-day fest include concerts by the legendary New Orleans pianist and singer Dr. John, vocalist extraordinaire Bobby McFerrin, Jane Bunnett, the legendary Downchild Blues Band, and the Heavyweight Brass Band.

Dr. John will perform a special concert tonight titled From Mardi Gras to Mambo. The show features Bunnett and Sarah Morrow, a trombonist who played with Ray Charles and Bootsy Collins, and the three of them will connect the musical dots between New Orleans and Cuba.

And you can expect a big crowd to show up to hear saxophonist and singer Grace Kelly when she plays a free gig Saturday evening.

The Korean-American sensation released her first album when she was 12 and was in her early teens when she performed and recorded with jazz giants like Wynton Marsalis, singer Diane Reeves, pianist Harry Connick Jr. and bassist Esperanza Spalding, who won a Grammy Award in the Best New Artist category this year.

Kelly has since performed over 500 concerts at major festivals like the Montreal Jazz Festival and Newport Jazz Festival, and she’s played at prestigious venues such as the Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and the Kennedy Center in New York.

"Grace Kelly plays with intelligence, wit and feeling,” Marsalis once said. “She has a great amount of natural ability and the ability to adapt. That is the hallmark of a first-class jazz musician.”
You can hear what the buzz is about when the Grace Kelly Quartet plays the Rose Theatre’s outdoor stage Saturday evening at 6 p.m.

The Art of Jazz says its mandate includes providing jazz education and mentorship programs to audiences of all ages, and it will fulfill this at the festival by offering a couple of not-to-be missed workshops.

Bobby McFerrin offers what promises to be a memorable vocal workshop Saturday morning at the Rose Theatre Studio. (11 a.m. $50/$20 students with ID.)

And Kelly presents a 90-minute improvisation workshop at the same venue on Sunday. (Noon. Free.) It’s open to musicians of all levels and you’re welcome to bring your instrument.
Films, a kid's blues jam, and a gospel brunch featuring the Gillian Margot Quartet are also part of the festival.

Full festival details can be found at artofjazz.org.

Cirque Madness

2011-08-11T09:08:00.000-04:00

This is not a cop-out, and I'm not taking the easy way out.

But, I can't seem to find the words to do justice to what I witnessed last night.

I've been wanting to see a Cirque du Soleil performance for years, and someone kindly offered me a pair of tickets to the premiere of its latest production, Totem, last night at the Portlands.

As a music 'critic,' I have reviewed literally hundreds of shows during my career, but on my way home last night, I admitted to myself that I would not know HOW I would review what I'd seen.

Totem is magical, a feast for the eyes and ears, and it keeps you on the edge of your seat - literally - with death defying acts performed by chiselled women and men.

From what I observed, there isn't a bad seat in the tent, so if money is tight, get the cheapest ticket available and go see it.

The Stepping Razor!

2011-07-29T20:29:00.000-04:00

On the cover of his classic album, Legalize It, reggae legend Peter Tosh is sitting in a field of marijuana plants puffing on a pipe.

While Tosh is rightfully remembered as a musical revolutionary, his close friend and reggae authority Roger Steffens will tell you he was also armed with a keen sense of humor.

“When we heard he was coming to town (in '79, a year after Tosh and Steffens met) we wanted to welcome him,” Steffens told me in an interview several years back. “A friend of mine (who grew marijuana) in northern California had a successful season that year, and he gave me the top of a 16-foot plant which must've been at least 18 inches long.

"My wife and I wrapped it up and told Peter it was a gift from his herb-smoking fans in southern California,” he added. “He ripped the paper off, looked at it, broke off a little piece, smelled it and said disparagingly, ‘It'll take a whole lot more than this to get my propellers spinning!’”

All of this brings me nicely to the reissue treatment given to Tosh’s first two solo albums - Legalize It and Equal Rights.

Both double-CD packages contain previously unreleased material from the original recording sessions along with new essays by reggae scholar Roger Steffens and Tosh’s former manager Herbie Miller.

Disc One of Legalize It presents the original nine-song album along with previously unreleased demo versions of seven of the nine songs. The second disc features Tosh’s own original mix of the album, the way he was sending it out to major record labels in 1976. Those nine tracks - all previously unreleased - are followed by a previously unreleased alternate version of the title song, and six extremely rare dubs, only one of which actually made it onto an album (“Igziabeher”).

Disc One of Equal Rights features the original eight-song album along with seven previously unreleased outtakes from the original sessions. The second disc features a mix of 15 tracks – about half of which are previously unreleased – that include original session alternate and extended versions, and extremely rare dubs.

Best of the (jazz) fest

2011-06-23T17:40:00.000-04:00

Will she sing Happy Birthday?

That’s the question that popped into my mind when it was announced in April that the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin would be kicking off the 25th edition of the TD Toronto Jazz Festival tonight.
Franklin performs at Pecaut Square (formerly Metro Square) at 9:30 p.m. and the show is free.

That’s right, folks, free.

Considering that we often pay top dollar to see Franklin and that she’s performing in a great outdoor venue, expect the spot near Roy Thomson Hall to be packed so get there early.

Anna Tom, the festival’s publicist, confirmed that King Street will be closed from John St. to Simcoe St. from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. tonight. She also says this concert will have limited capacity and that wristbands will be distributed at 4 p.m. on a first come, first serve basis.

Herewith, a list of festival gigs I think are worth checking out:

Fans of classic soul and funk should not miss a wicked double bill Saturday featuring the Average White Band and Stax!

Stax! comprises two major figures in the Southern soul movement – ace guitarist Steve Cropper and Donald “Duck” Dunn who laid down basslines for legends like Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett and Albert King.
Soul singer Eddie Floyd, who had a massive hit with Knock On Wood, is also part of the supergroup.
Pecaut Square. 8:30 p.m. $40

That same night, you can bet that jazz bassists will pack the Enwave Theatre to hear the legendary Dave Holland and his quintet.
7 p.m. $55. 231 Queen’s Quay W.

Great news for fans of Latin Jazz!
The 13-strong Spanish Harlem Orchestra has just been added to the festival.

The band’s leader and founder Oscar Hernandez says their latest album, Viva la Tradición, is a nod to the countless artists – well known and obscure – who helped usher salsa music into the cultural mainstream several decades ago.

“Preserving that legacy and introducing it to new audiences in a new century is more important than being the musical flavour of the month,” Hernandez said.
Amen to that, and congrats to the Orchestra for bagging a Grammy Award earlier this year in the Tropical Latin Album (!) category for Viva la Tradición.
Pecaut Square. Sunday. 8:30 p.m. $40.

You have some difficult choices to make Monday.

That’s because virtuoso flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia is at the Sony Centre, blues guitarist Robert Cray is at Pecaut Square (8:30 p.m. $40), and jazz singer Dee Dee Bridgewater is at Koerner Hall.

On Tuesday, Return to Forever IV – featuring Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke and Jean-Luc Ponty – are at the Sony Centre and Los Lonely Boys share a double bill with Los Lobos at Pecaut Square (8:30 p.m. $35).

Veteran local jazz singer Molly Johnson teams up with the legendary Count Basie Orchestra for a show at Pecaut Square Wednesday (8:30 p.m. $45).

Singer Eliane Elias is at the Enwave Theatre that night (7 p.m. $45), and saxophonist Branford Marsalis joins forces with Joey Calderazzo at Koerner Hall.
Enjoy!

PICKS
Reggae rockers Rebel Emergency celebrate the release of its new disc, Aphrodisiology, tonight at Sound Academy. 11 Polson St.

A benefit for Julian Fauth, who broke his shoulder while on tour earlier this year, happens at Hugh’s Room Tuesday. Harrison Kennedy, Treasa Levasseur and Bobby Dean Blackburn are some of the folks performing. 8:30 p.m. $20

Maza Meze will be performing at the lovely Toronto Botanical Gardens Thursday. Yours truly will be introducing and interviewing them. 7 p.m. Free. 777 Lawrence Ave. E.

Poster boy for good posters

2011-06-17T12:08:00.000-04:00

Steve Good designs some of the coolest posters for rockabilly gigs in the city and he finds inspiration in the most unlikely places.

“Shoe polish cans, shotgun shells, thumbtacks, matchbooks and beer labels,” the bassist for rockabilly warriors Tennessee Voodoo Coupe tells me. “I once designed a Wanda Jackson poster based on vintage shirt tag, and one of my favorite posters was inspired by an old polka album I bought in Buffalo.

“You can’t beat the old stuff,” adds Good, who says he checks out a lot of estate sales in the US and finds mid-century packaging to be a big inspiration.

I like the bold design of Good’s posters, but I especially like their vintage look.

“I’ve always been a huge fan of vintage styling, clothes, cars, music, architecture and art,” he says. “I’m most obviously influenced by the artwork of Hatch Show Print in Nashville.

“They’ve been operating since 1897 and they did the iconic Hank Williams, Elvis Presley and Grand Ol’ Opry show posters.”

Good says he’s also a big fan of album cover art from back in the day and says he wishes he had more time to invest in his work.

“(Back then) all the type was set by hand by skilled artistic guys,” he explains. “They designed based on what they had on hand and the type wasn’t manipulated like it is today. I try to capture that feel. Although I design on a Mac, I wish I had the time and space to do letterpress.”

As he’s done for all the East End Rockabilly Riot gigs, Good designed the poster for the third anniversary show at the Dominion on Queen tomorrow. The triple-bill features Three Blue Teardrops from Chicago, Tennessee Voodoo Coupe and Lead Sled Rocket from Oshawa.

Good’s creative process is kick-started by looking around for good colour and interesting font combinations. And inspiration is found in The Art of Modern Rock: The Poster Explosion and in “a couple of great books on vintage western fashion.

“I try to absorb all that for a day and then get the sketchpad out and draw up some ideas,” the Centennial College journalism graduate says. “Then I’ll grab a drink and sit by the Mac and see what comes out.”

Good discussed how he conceptualized the poster for tomorrow’s show.

“I got set up, set-up a play list of classic rockabilly and honky-tonk and went to work. I happen to have a paper sample book on my desk that shows American political swag from the 1880’s through 2008,” he says. “I latched onto the “I Like Ike” era and went from there.”

And since the headliners, Three Blue Teardrops hail from the U.S., he decided to throw some red and blue in the mix.

Good gets loads of compliments for his work, but one stands out.

He’d designed a poster for Wanda Jackson’s birthday show at the Cadillac Lounge and asked her to sign a copy for his daughter.

“She was very sweet and called over her husband and said, ‘Wendal, this is the boy who does all those nice posters for us.’”

NOTE: Doors open at 9 p.m. $10. 500 Queen St. E. (416) 368-6893.
On the subject of eye-catching art, I highly recommend taking in Bollywood Cinema Showcards: Indian Film Art from the 1950s to the 1980s, a gorgeous new exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum.

“These showcards combine paint and photography and are a unique aspect of South
Asian visual culture,” Dr. Deepali Dewan, the ROM’s curator of South Asian Arts & Culture, says. “They were originally produced by local artists but usually thrown out at the end of a film’s run. It’s remarkable that this collection has survived at all.”
For more information, visit rom.on.ca

Teeny's big Voice

2011-06-04T20:26:00.001-04:00

When I saw a video on YouTube of Teeny Tucker singing Keep The Blues Alive, I was blown away. I’d never heard of her before, and became an instant fan.

Here’s why. I love blues and gospel, and I’ve always liked singers like Etta James and Koko Taylor who had big, brassy voices. Teeny Tucker is a blues belter of the highest order and she deserves all the props she’s getting from fans and critics in the blues world.

Speaking of James, check YouTube for a video of Tucker singing James’ signature song, At Last. She’ll give you chills.

Tucker is at Woodbine Park Sunday at 4:30 as part of the seventh annual Waterfront Blues Festival and you don’t want to miss her.

Tucker, who’s been nominated for a 2011 Blues Music Award for Best Traditional Female Blues Artist, was born in Columbus, Ohio, and her dad, Tommy Tucker, had a hit in 1964 with a song called Hi-Heel Sneakers.

She was born that year, but only began singing professionally 10 years back. Tucker has released three albums so far and has become the darling of the blues world. Her latest is Keep the Blues Alive.
Other festival highlights include Scott McCord &the Bonafide Truth, who kick things off tonight at 7 p.m. They mix rock and classic soul and they’re great live.

Saturday schedule is packed with some heavies.

Harrison Kennedy brings his acoustic blues to the park at noon, boogie woogie pianist Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne is there at 5 p.m. and Larry McCray’s blazing blues guitar work will at 7 p.m.
Suzie Vinnick, who just released a blues disc titled Me ’n’ Mabel, plays the festival Sunday at 12:30 p.m., and Teeny Tucker wraps things up at 4:30 p.m.

Woodbine Park is the corner of Lakeshore Blvd. E. and Coxwell Ave.
For a complete list of who’s playing the free event, visit www.waterfrontblues.ca

ME AND THE DEVIL BLUES
Robert Johnson recorded only 29 songs during his brief career, but made a massive impact on blues and rock guitarists.

If he was alive, he would have turned 100 this month.

His playing and singing define the blues for me. He was such a versatile guitarist and singer that oftentimes it sounds like there are two people singing and playing in the studio, when in fact it was just Johnson working his magic.

To mark his birthday, Sony Music has released two great packages.

Robert Johnson: The Centennial Collection is a two-disc set that contains all 29 songs he recorded in 1936 and ’37 as well as several alternate takes. It’s accompanied by a 26-page booklet featuring excellent essays written by Stephen LaVere, a musician and historian who has researched Johnson’s life for over 40 years.

Hardcore fans will opt for the box set that features a hardbound book with sleeves housing the dozen 78 rpm vinyl-disc replicas that Johnson released; The Centennial Collection; a 2-CD set titled Rarities from the Vaults; and a DVD of the critically-acclaimed 1997 documentary, The Life & Music of Robert Johnson: Can’t You Hear the Wind Howl?

Doin' it for Dave

2011-05-28T17:22:00.000-04:00

Rich Brown could have easily spent our whole conversation telling me about the hundreds of musicians that the late local keyboard wiz Dave “Soulfingaz” Williams worked with during his short time with us.

Or he could have gone on endlessly about Williams’ compositional skills or his ear for melody.
Rather, he chose to reminisce about his soulmate’s sense of humour.

Williams passed away in his sleep last year from an aneurism. He was only 44.

On Tuesday, Brown’s jazz-funk band, rinsethealgorithm and Lula Lounge present The Purple Time, a concert to raise money for the David “Soulfingaz” Williams Humber College scholarship fund.

“Dave was one of the funniest people on earth and he always found ways to work his incredible sense of humour into music,” says Brown, one of this city’s most in-demand electric bassists. “We played together in a band called Panic - which later became The A-Team - because when we were all together making music we could,- and usually would, play anything and everything.

“I remember a gig we once did around Christmas and Dave wanted to sing The Police song Roxanne,” he continues. “So we started into the tune and hit that held chord just before the vocal entry. Dave grabbed the microphone and instead of coming in with those signature lyrics, he started singing You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch! Typical Dave, the true inventor of the mash-up.”

Brown says Williams’ ability to re-harmonize a song on the spot set him apart from other keyboard players.

“He would instantaneously substitute his own chords in the middle of a song, usually sounding better than the chords that were originally written for the song,” Brown explains. “He would sometimes scream at me to play a ‘wrong’ note on stage, but when I did he made my wrong note sound beautiful.”

Brown says Jojo Bowden, a local drummer, is spearheading the drive to establish a scholarship in Williams’ name.

“He approached Humber College and filled the application to make this a reality,” Brown tells me “However, the process requires a lot of money. I thought putting this concert together would help the cause and maybe even raise the money needed to meet our goal. So far, we've raised about 30 per cent of the money that Humber requires.

“I hope and pray that this concert will help not only to establish the scholarship and keep Dave in the hearts and minds of our community, but that it’ll help young musicians to follow in Fingaz' footsteps."

NOTE: The Purple Time starts at 8:30 p.m. $15. 1585 Dundas W. For more information, call (416) 588-0307.

A klezmer Cuban clash

2011-05-12T13:40:00.000-04:00

Whenever a group from our city successfully meshes styles I never imagined would work well together, I often feel that Toronto is one of very few places in the world capable of producing such genre-bending bands.
Odessa/Havana is one of them.

Comprising virtuosos like trumpeter David Buchbinder – who started the group with pianist Hilario Duran – drummer Dafnis Prieto, violinist Quinsin Nachoff and percussionist Rick Lazar, the nine-man army offer a spirited mix of Cuban, klezmer and jazz.

In the hands of this adventurous lot, these musical styles mesh exquisitely and make me realize how so-called dissimilar styles have so much in common.

You can hear this explosive Jewish/Cuban musical mash-up when Odessa/Havana play Lula Lounge Sunday as part of the 10-day long Lulaworld 2011 festival of world music that began earlier this week.

Buchbinder, who plays in various bands and has composed for films, says he began bringing Afro-Cuban elements into his previous band, the Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band, back in the day just because it sounded good.

“I played salsa in Germany in the early ‘80s before I’d heard klezmer with a band of Puerto Ricans, South Americans and Americans and that got the music into my blood,” he says. “After a while, I realized that I should park (the idea for Odessa/Havana) until I was ready to bring the two styles together in a really grounded way, and that would be by partnering with someone with Cuban roots. Once I met Hilario and saw how musically open he was and how he was grounded in the Cuban tradition in the deepest way, I realized we could do it together.”

You might expect that marrying two complex music styles would be a massive challenge, but Buchbinder surprises me when he says the main hurdle was getting all the players under one roof.
“This is a band of highly accomplished individuals who each have numerous projects that they lead and participate in,” he says.

If anything, that’s a testament to the calibre of the musicians involved in Odessa/Havana.
“Other than that, I can't say there are any great creative challenges, except keeping the compositions in that gloriously undefined zone of creating something new between two related cultures.”

Buchbinder says the group would like audiences to “walk away with a sense of satisfaction from a musical story well told, to feel excitement, the genius of culture doing the eternal dance of transformation, and a sense of the possibility of connection between seemingly disparate sounds and communities.

“We’d like people to feel equally moved in their head, heart and feet and to feel like there's more to be heard.”

NOTE: Odessa/Havana play Lula Lounge Sunday. 8 p.m. $20. 1585 Dundas St. W. (416) 588-0307.

Lulaworld 2011 continues with Daniela Nardi singing songs off her new album, Espresso Manifesto, on Wednesday; Dominic Mancuso with Roberto Occhipinti Thursday; Roberto Linares Brown next Saturday, and Aline Morales next Sunday.

2011-04-22T00:35:00.000-04:00

Considering that he sang gospel in the ‘40s, doo-wop on street corners in New York in the ‘50s, soul in the ‘60s and funk in the ‘70s, it seems incredulous that John Mays never entertained the idea of cutting a solo album.

Not until Andrew Galloway, the head of Toronto’s Electro-Fi label, proposed it to him last year.

“I was pleased to be asked and wanted to give it my best shot,” Mays tells me. “I appreciated the musical support from my band mates (in Fathead), I enjoyed having (keyboard aces) Lance Anderson and Denis Keldie on board as well, and I enjoyed (producer) Alec Fraser's insights and ideas on the project.”

Galloway says that “always the gent, John deflects most of the credit to others but trust me, this album is what it is due to that super soulful voice of his.”

This isn’t mere hype from the head of a record label looking to sell units.

I Found A Love is the title of the disc and it’s obvious that Mays breathes classic soul, gospel and blues. You don’t have to be a fan of those styles to be impressed by the power and sincerity in his voice. Here’s a singer who doesn’t need to resort to bluster or vocal histrionics – he just gets gritty with it with the help of an A list of local blues musicians.

Listen to the gospel-inflected title track or his version of 99 And A Half and it becomes clear why Mays has won the Maple Blues Male Vocalist of the Year award a whopping six times. Don’t miss Mays when he celebrates his 70th birthday and the album’s release at the Silver Dollar Saturday.

Galloway says that once Mays agreed to go into the studio, he and guitarist Teddy Leonard presented him with nearly 100 songs they felt he’d do justice.

“He loved getting the chance to sort through a long list of gospel gems and lost R&B treasures that we compiled with his voice in mind,” Galloway says. “’You pick ‘em and I'll sing ‘em’ was John's motto.”

Mays was born in Dawson, Georgia, in 1941 – the same hometown and the same year as the great Otis Redding – and headed north eight years later “for a life free of the constraints inflicted on African-Americans in the American South at that time.”

Mays, who says he hails from “church-going people,” discovered his love of music singing gospel in southern churches as a child.

“At the age of 15, I became a big fan of the emerging doo-wop vocal group scene and I sang harmony on New York street corners,” he says, adding that as a member of The Jive Tones, he cut a 45 rpm recording for the historic ABC-Paramount label in the late 50's.

“In the 60's, I was singing both R&B and gospel,” Mays adds. “I became a member of The Christian Soldiers and we toured the South extensively and recorded in 1967 for Don Robey's (legendary) Peacock label (in Texas). And after returning home to Rochester in the late 60’s, I formed a soul band called The Dynamic Insiders and we opened for James Brown in 1970 and ‘71.”

Galloway, who’s to be credited for also inspiring Mel Brown, Curley Bridges and Bobby Dean Blackburn to record solo discs, says that I Found A Love “puts Mays directly in touch with his long-standing gospel and deep soul roots.

“John Mays is a true southern soul man, and his music is as deep and true as it gets.”

NOTE: John Mays’ 70th birthday bash and CD release party happens at the Silver Dollar Saturday. 7 p.m. $20. 486 Spadina Ave. You can buy the album at www.electrofi.com

Cool Arts School

2011-04-15T18:22:00.003-04:00

The fear is very real that the arts will become the province of the well-off as provincial and federal funding to arts organizations dwindles. Even more worrying is the prospect of cuts to arts education programs that give disadvantaged young people opportunities to learn to play musical instruments, perform on stage and attend concerts. Here’s hoping that our city leaders don’t set their sights on institutions like the University Settlement Music & Arts School, which has been offering a wide range of private lessons and community programming at affordable rates for those living in the Grange neighbourhood and the GTA for the last 90 years. There are individual lessons on band and orchestral instruments, piano, guitar, voice and theory, Anne Yardley, the school’s director tells me. Group classes include chamber music, a community choir, children’s choir, ear training, theory, drumming circle, computer music and dance classes for kids in ballet, jazz and tap. “Regular student concerts are an integral part of our programming and this gives them performing opportunities that are low stress and family oriented, and offers the community low-cost or free access to musical performances throughout the year,” she adds. The school’s 90th birthday celebration at Glenn Gould Studio Sunday features performances by Indo-jazz funk outfit autorickshaw, Kathak dancer Joanna deSouza, the Fan Shang-E Zheng Music Association, the University of Toronto Klezmer Band, Iranian drummer Manouchehr Chahardooli, Chinese erhu player Yuan Wang, and the University Settlement Music & Arts School students. Proceeds from the event go toward supporting University Settlement’s programs and services. University Settlement is a multi-service agency that was founded in 1910 and has the distinction of being the first community-based social service agency in the City of Toronto. “The variety of programs we offer at University Settlement means that a client may take a music lesson, get help with their income tax, take an English as a Second Language class, work out in our gym, swim in our pool, drop their kids off at our day care, get assistance in finding employment, take Tai chi or Cantonese opera, come to after school or youth programs, learn computer skills and much more – all in one place,” Yardley says. When University Settlement Music & Arts School began operating in 1921, it had only two students. Today, more than 280 students of all ages, levels, ethnicities and socio-economic backgrounds study music and dance with the help of 25 highly qualified teachers “whose careful selection is based on a combination of skills relating to performance and teaching, as well as a demonstrated commitment to the community we serve,” Yardley says. To emphasize the importance of the unique school, Yardley, who began her 22 years of work at the school as a music teacher, shares the inspiring story of one of USMAS’s graduates. “John (not his real name) lived in this community with his mom, a single parent who was studying to become an ESL teacher,” she says. “She understood that John had a real love of music and she wanted to offer him the opportunity to study music, but realized that the cost of music lessons in most places was prohibitive. “She found University Settlement and enrolled him at age 7 in piano lessons,” Yardley adds. “She was able to receive a subsidy to help pay for the lessons and John excelled at piano and also began studying violin. He accompanied our students on piano in recitals and was a frequent scholarship winner.”  Yardley says John went on to study at the prestigious Glenn Gould Professional School at the Royal Conservatory of Music and now makes a living accompanying ballet classes at the National Ballet School. The school’s mandate, she says proudly, hasn’t changed in 90 years. “Fred Skitch, a former music school director who ran the school for many years starting in the 1950s, said, ‘Our philosophy is that the arts should be a right, not a privilege, and that lessons and classes should be available to everyone, regardless of age, ethnicity, perceived talent, disability or ability to pay.’” NOTE: The concert starts at 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $45 adults/$20 for seniors and children 18 and under. Glenn Gould Studio is at 250 Front St. W. For tickets, call (416) 872-4255

Rockabilly Mayhem!

2011-04-08T13:36:00.003-04:00

Christian DeArmond doesn’t seem to give a toss what tags critics use to describe the music that his band, Christian D & the Hangovers, makes. I didn't ask, but I’m guessing he’s pretty comfy with psychobilly. With a style that looks to The Cramps, Nick Cave and Elvis, The Hangovers belt out distorted, punky rockabilly on record and on stage as if their lives depended on it. Their hour-long set at the East End Rockabilly Riot two weeks back was exhilarating and one that will surely be reprised when The Hangovers - featuring Mack Black, brothers Ken and Tim Kelley and charismatic frontman DeArmond - invade the Bovine Sex Club tonight. If you can’t make it to the gig, I highly recommend snatching up a copy of their blazing full length disc, Shake It ... Or Leave It. It boasts the same volume, energy and power as their live show. “I like to mix rockabilly, punk and alt country, so the basic starting point for the band is to pick up where bands like The Cramps and X left off,” DeArmond says. “That's why The Cramps song, Cornfed Dames, is on the CD. That band was really important to me in terms of what good and wild rock ‘n roll should sound like.” Continuing in the spirit of those bands but not replicating them is what separates The Hangovers from their contemporaries in the city's small but hopping rockabilly scene. “As much as I love rockabilly, I'm equally influenced by guys like Nick Cave and Tom Waits and Iggy Pop,” DeArmond says. “I don't want to recreate a 50's sound – there are bands around that do that much better than I do. I'm in love with trash and twang and wild abandon. “I'm more interested in just trying to write songs that I personally find intriguing and then trying to present them in a way that an audience might find interesting,” he adds. “We've got a murder ballad (Mr. Handsome) that I like to throw in in the middle of a set and some stuff that's a little more what I think of as East Coast country.” If their name doesn’t hint at their hedonistic vibe, cue up Shimmy Shorts and Hot Mess for more proof that "trash, twang and wild abandon" holds a special place in their hearts. DeArmond says Shimmy Shorts started with a guitar riff inspired by listening to garage rock for a day. “In my mind it would be perfect with those stripper-style drum rolls that DJ Fontana used to play with Elvis,” he says. “That led me to thinking about Poison Ivy from The Cramps in those red shimmy shorts she wore in the video for Bikini Girls With Machine Guns, and then the song kind of wrote itself. I think I finished it in about 30 minutes, then went back and did some minor lyrical edits. “I love when a song comes together really quickly like that, they usually turn out to be my favourite ones.” Then there’s Hot Mess with these lyrics: “Saw you at the bar last night, ya got 4 inch heels and your hair piled high/Your cleavage flows down to your mystery, I’m sure you know what that does to me.” “It’s a humorous take on the kind of girl you'll sometimes meet in a bar after you're done playing,” DeArmond says. “She's kinda pretty and sexy but a little disheveled and out of control. “You're kind of attracted to her, but you can't help wondering if she wouldn't be more intriguing on the other side of 8 a.m.” he adds. “When you meet someone at closing time, it's sometimes amazing how differently they act in the light of day. “You've got to accept anything that happens at 2 in the morning with a certain suspension of disbelief,” he says. “You're living in a hazy night time reality there, and what you see often has little bearing on day to day reality.” NOTE: Christian D & the Hangovers, The Grave Mistakes, and Ginger St. James play the Bovine Sex Club tonight. 10 p.m. $5. 542 Queen St. W.

Women In Jazz: Sheila and Yvette

2011-04-01T18:10:00.002-04:00

Yvette Tollar is listing off everything she admires about the legendary jazz singer Sheila Jordan when she stops to share a precious anecdote that speaks to one of Jordan’s endearing qualities. “I once took a bus trip to New York City to study with her,” she says. “My bus broke down about an hour outside of the city and when I got to her apartment she got me to sing her the whole story of my trip over blues changes!” This unabashed love for life and music, Tollar feels, is just one reason why the 82-year-old’s touring schedule is busier than ever. “I heard Herbie Hancock once say that jazz is such a beautiful art because it represents all the best aspects of humanity; communication, listening, creativity, bravery, being in the moment, collaboration and co-operation. “All of those things make jazz great, and Sheila really embraces them while she sings and interacts with her audiences.” We’ll get a rare chance to witness Jordan’s greatness – and her renowned sense of humour – in an intimate space when she performs tomorrow night as part of Tollar’s Women In Jazz series. The evening will feature Tollar performing a short opening set, Jordan doing a lengthier set with pianist Dave Restivo and bassist Kieran Overs, and several duets. Expect to hear “drippy, traditional ballads and burning up tempo swing tunes” from Jordan and Tollar singing traditional standards, a bossa nova, and a couple of tunes from her last album, Ima. Watching Jordan perform is a lesson in itself, says Tollar, who’s been studying with the singer since attending her workshops in Banff in the late ‘90s. “How sincere she is with lyrics knocks me out and inspires me,” Tollar gushes. “Singing lyrics adds a dimension that instrumentalists just don't get to work with, but it can sometimes go terribly wrong. Singing lyrics sincerely and with real honesty takes guts, wisdom and compassion. “Sheila has all those things and more.” Tollar first heard Jordan, who won the prestigious Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Award for her lifetime of service to jazz in 2008, when she was a teen. She says hearing her singing with just a bassist was challenging and exciting. “There was so much improvising,” she says. “I'd heard lots of jazz but I’d never heard a singer solo like that live before. That night I went home and dreamt that we were singing together on stage and I woke up and thought how could that ever happen since I hadn't even sung in public at that point.” Forward wind 10 years and Tollar is at the now defunct Top O' The Senator hearing Jordan performing with a full rhythm section. Meeting her after the show, Tollar was struck by her warmth and spirit. “I could feel that she was an ambassador for the music,” Tollar recalls. “She really wanted people to feel the passion she felt for jazz.” Tollar was inspired to attend Jordan’s workshops in Banff in 1998 and ‘99 and describes those experiences as pivotal. “She’s taught me so many practical things like how to lead a band and put together set lists, how to memorize lyrics and how to build repertoire,” she says. “She's introduced me to many of the standards that I know and sing today.” I ask Tollar if she’ll be pinching herself before tomorrow’s special show with her mentor. “I will be pinching myself before, after and during this show!” she replies. “I'm going to enjoy every minute of it.” NOTE: Women In Jazz 3 happens tomorrow at Gallery 345. 8 p.m. $20 adults/ $15 seniors/ $10 students. 345 Sorauren Ave. For more information, call (416) 822-9781 Sheila Jordan will be conducting a couple of her jazz vocal workshops on Sunday at Gallery 345. For times and prices, email yvettetollar@hotmail.com

Rockabilly Riot!

2011-03-24T22:55:00.005-04:00

When Steve Good and David Faris were scouting for spots in the east end that would welcome rockabilly acts, fate, it seems, drew them to The Dominion on Queen. Not only was Sean Duranovich, the pub’s owner, hip to their vision, but the room charmed Good and Faris immediately and they began booking acts right away. That was three years back, and thanks to Good and Faris’ efforts, The Dominion has since become ground zero for rockabilly fans in the city. “It suited our events perfectly, it’s not pretentious and it’s big enough that a decent turnout really gives the room a fantastic vibe,” says Good, who plays bass with Tennessee Voodoo Coupe. “At the same time, it’s small enough that even if we don’t sell out, the room still has great energy. “It also has historical clout – it’s been around since 1889 – so the room has a sense of history,” he adds. “I’ll bet old cats in the 50’s used to sit at the bar, drink Red Cap, and enjoy a smoke back when rockabilly was young.” Tomorrow night, Tennessee Voodoo Coupe headlines East End Rockabilly Riot 9 and the triple bill includes The Greasemarks and Christian D and the Hangovers. As Faris does at every EERR, he’ll be spinning “revved-up rockabilly.” Faris, who’s been promoting rockabilly shows since 2007, agrees with Good about The Dominion’s storied history and vintage feel, but says its Corktown location is its other selling point. “Most rockabilly shows tend to happen downtown or in the west end, so it seemed like a good idea to host some events in a different part of town for a change,” he says. “The club has since launched a weekend rockabilly brunch and books other rockabilly shows to keep audiences coming back. Famed rockabilly artist Ronnie Hayward has been performing a weekly Saturday matinee since last fall and that’s further cemented its status as a prime venue for the music.” Faris describes the scene as fairly small but dedicated, but he’s quick to add that rockabilly is just a blanket term for the music he and Good promote. “The bands draw from a broad range of different sounds like traditional rockabilly, psychobilly, hillbilly, country, swing, instrumental rock, '50s rock 'n roll, jump blues and more,” he explains. “It's really a diverse blend of music and influences coming together so it's hard to pigeonhole.” Good describes Tennessee Voodoo Coupe as “a hillbilly jive”’ band that counts Web Pierce and Hank Williams as influences. “Having Big Rude Jake on board is a big help too because we mine his jazz influences, often covering Cab Calloway or Bull Moose Jackson,” he says. “We’ll also cover contemporary hits with a hillbilly arrangement and we feel that fits with the tradition of the genre. “When Elvis covered Blue Moon of Kentucky he was covering a popular song of the day and putting his touch on it, and that’s what Tennessee Voodoo Coupe is doing, “Good says. “We’re a lot fun, but we’re very serious about our music and the implications of calling ourselves a Hillbilly Jive band.” There’s no denying the energy of a typical East End Rockabilly Riot gig, and it’s a treat watching guys rocking pompadours dancing with gals in retro dresses. Don’t worry, you won’t feel out of place if you’re not dressed to the nines. As Faris says, audiences are a mix of “serious music fans, musicians, swing dancers, greasers, hot rod enthusiasts, artists, and generally people looking for a good night out. “Clubs like the Cadillac Lounge, The Dominion and the Dakota Tavern host these kinds of shows on a regular basis and bands like The Royal Crowns, The Swingin' Blackjacks, Tennessee Voodoo Coupe, The Greasemarks, Alistair Christl and many more keep the joints jumpin'!” NOTE: East End Rockabilly Riot 9 kicks off at 9 p.m. Saturday. $10. 500 Queen St. E. (416) 368-6893

Bluebird Blues

2011-03-18T20:38:00.000-04:00

Ace guitarist Chris Whiteley and singer Diana Braithwaite don’t mind it one bit when folks mistake their originals for old songs. The duo, who have a deep love affair with the Bluebird Sound – the classic blues sound of the '30s and '40s – excel at making records that sound contemporary and traditional at the same time. They masterfully capture the spirit and the feeling of the music made by legends like Lil Green, Tampa Red and Big Bill Broonzy without replicating it, and that makes it easy to assume they’re just a cover act. The duo, who’ve won eight Maple Blues Awards between them, will be joined by British boogie woogie piano legend Bob Hall for a rare date at Hugh’s Room Sunday. Hall is a master of blues and boogie woogie and has been a seminal figure on that country’s blues scene for decades, Whiteley says. The three performed at art centres and clubs across the UK in 2008 and 2010, and the response was so overwhelming that they’ve decided do it again come September, but this time around they’ll also take the Bluebird Sound to major festivals in England and Ireland. A founding member of the legendary ‘60s blues rock outfit Savoy Brown, Hall has toured Europe and the UK with icons like Chuck Berry, Howlin’ Wolf and John Lee Hooker. He also worked with most of the British blues elite, including Alexis Korner, Charlie Watts (of the Roling Stones) and Paul Jones (from Manfred Mann). In ’91 and ’93, he won the British Blues Connection Instrumentalist of the Year award. Playing with Hall makes perfect sense for Braithwaite and Whiteley. “There are so many great artists and songs from the ‘30s and ‘40s,” Whiteley says. “The small, tough ensembles that recorded back then had a distinctive sound. We perform a mixture of originals and old songs, although stylistically they’re very much based in the same approach and tradition. Also, we’ve been lucky enough to learn something about the music from some of the original artists of that era – people like Lonnie Johnson and Blind John Davis. “We really love all types of blues and our latest recording (Deltaphonic) reflects a bigger, more electric sound which we’ll be taking to several festivals this summer,” Braithwaite adds. “But, we love performing these intimate, classic sounds with Bob and, yes, we want to help keep the traditional blues sound alive.” NOTE: The Bluebird Blues Revue happens Sunday at Hugh’s Room. 8.30 p.m. $22.50. 2261 Dundas St. W. (416) 531-6604

Poetry In Emotion

2011-03-04T23:14:00.003-05:00

Trying to introduce young ears to chamber music when they’re tuned to chart mauling sounds from Ke$ha, Rihanna and Gaga might seem like a lost cause. But that’s not deterring the Wanton Fawns composers’ collective who are performing a concert titled Pour les enfants, Par les enfants tonight. The show features poems written by local French students set to music composed by Caitlin Smith and Rebecca Pellett and played by an all-star chamber ensemble comprising soprano Kristin Mueller-Heaslip, Doug Perry on viola, Alex Sevastian on accordion and cellist Elizabeth McLellan. “Rebecca approached me with the idea,” Smith tells me. “She worked for many years with the late Christopher Dedrick, an amazing composer who wrote Suite pour l'ange Gabriel, which was inspired by poems written by a child who passed away at a young age. The suite was originally scored for piano and voice, but Rebecca re-orchestrated it for chamber ensemble for this concert.” Smith says that Pellett then contacted Dominique Denis of Alliance Française de Toronto and proposed including the work, along with other new pieces written by the collective, in its concert series. She says that when Suite pour l'ange Gabriel was being composed, she recalls thinking it was unfortunate “that little Gabriel would never have the opportunity to hear the beautiful music that his words inspired. “We hope that this project will educate and inspire the children that we are working with,” she adds. “We are so grateful for their charming poetry and we’ve enjoyed every part of the process – reading the first drafts, working with the children to refine the poems, writing and rehearsing the music and seeing the children's reactions the first time they heard the poetry and music brought to life.” Smith says that over 80 poems were submitted and that she and Pellett reviewed all of them, reading them aloud to each other to hear the musical potential in each. Six of those will be performed tonight with top notch musicians. “Kristin Mueller-Heaslip is a soprano extraordinaire and the perfect embodiment of this music,” Pellett says. “Alexander Sevastian is a world champion accordionist who has won major awards and competitions around the globe. He is truly a master musician, able to make his instrument sound like a brass fanfare, a sombre church organ, even the wind and rain of a storm! “Doug Perry and Elizabeth McLellan, who play viola and cello, shine in this small ensemble and their solos will melt your heart!” Pellett adds. “I think everyone at the concert will see the world through the eyes of a child – from the innocent joy of Saturday morning breakfast to the wondrous places you travel in your imagination when you're under the covers with a good book.” Smith says that the show will definitely appeal to children. “Many of the children who wrote these poems will be there, and the audience will have a chance to meet them and to find out what it's like to have their original poems set to music,” she says. “It's also a unique and accessible way to approach classical chamber music.” Pellett agrees. “I think any child will appreciate both the poetry and the music,” she says. “The show is filled with melodies that we'll be humming all weekend long. Caitlin and I both want to inspire and engage the kids in the process of making music, to show them where their weekly piano lessons or choir rehearsals might one day lead.”

Space Is The Place

2011-02-21T00:10:00.002-05:00

George Koller draws an interesting analogy between Chinese calligraphic painting and the music that the Koller/Michels duet makes. Spend some time with bass and voice, their brand new disc featuring Koller on stand-up bass and singer Julie Michels, and you’ll see - rather hear - what he means. The analogy makes sense when you consider that the spirit of space consciousness that informs calligraphy also informs every composition on bass and voice. The album’s a little lengthy at 14 songs, but the employment of silence is a major selling point of an album that‘s powered by just those two instruments. Koller/Michels, who’ve been performing together for 17 years, celebrate the release of bass and voice Thursday at Glenn Gould Studio. “Like a painting with gray and black brushstrokes, the remaining white part of the paper is extremely important,” the in-demand bassist tells me. “The space allows for the subtle qualities of tone on the bass and voice to become more exposed. This is not a common thing in most recorded music. We play with the space as the third member of the band, and what we leave open or empty becomes very powerful in this type of duo setting.” Koller says this dynamic allows the two “to instantly move towards any creative direction or inspiration that comes to us. “We can bend all the rules when there are no restrictions of form,” he explains. “When there are only two sounds, it’s very easy to make quick u-turns or modulations of form and tempo. We’ve learned to surprise and test each other on the fly, and some of the resulting experiments have become our most successful arrangements.” I tell Koller that when he talks about surprising and testing each other, I pictured him coming up with basslines that took Michels by surprise and the two having a good laugh in the studio. “The surprises, the spontaneous creativity, the fact that we never do the same thing twice...this is what makes this kind of jazz so exciting to me! The doors are open and any shade, any tempo, any idea or theme can be explored.” The concept of a bass-and-voice disc might strike some as simple, but Koller says the project demands the highest levels of alertness and reflex response but also requires them to be relaxed. “It demands everything, yet it’s very satisfying,” says the multi-instrumentalist who’s collaborated with musicians as diverse as Bruce Cockburn, Peter Gabriel and Loreena McKennitt and who helped spearhead the World Jazz For Haiti benefit disc that I wrote about here last year. Along with the excitement and challenges involved in making such a unique record come certain risks, Koller says. “I guess the biggest risk of all is just trusting that even though our sound and style is different from so much of the jazz, blues, and pop that’s out there, that we stay on course,” he says. “We do know that no matter where the music industry’s heading, our audiences tell us that our presentation and sound is loved and appreciated. “So, yes, we do have a sound of our own,” he adds. “That risk has paid off. Now, we have a chance to try to reach higher levels in the music world.” NOTE: George Koller and Julie Michels will be joined by Kevin Barrett, Davide Direnzo and Diane Leah at Thursday’s concert. It starts at 8 p.m. and tickets can be bought by calling (416) 872-4255

So, you wanna be a music critic?

2011-02-08T13:42:00.002-05:00

I'm a 20-year veteran of the scene who's been involved in journalism and broadcasting - with a strong focus on music and culture. I've covered news and music for the alternative weeklies NOW and EYE, and I write a weekly music column every Friday in The Toronto Sun. I've appeared on several CBC Radio flagship shows, and I contribute a popular music commentary spot on Metro Morning - the city's top rated morning show - and Big City Small World.

I've also taught journalism at Centennial College and Ryerson University, and I've also taught an Arts & Entertainment Journalism course at Centennial. If you love writing about music and culture and would like to sharpen your writing skills, please contact me - my email address appears at the top of this page.

I've designed a course that's a lot of fun, but it will challenge you, too. By the end of the course, you'll have an idea of the various types of articles that an arts journalist is expected to cover and the inherent challenges in writing them. More importantly, you will have the skills to write informed, engaging and colurful profiles and concert reviews.

Arts & Entertainment Journalism at Centennial College

2011-01-24T21:11:00.002-05:00

Thanks to Linda White for showing me and my Arts & Entertainment Journalism course some love in the Sunday Sun. Click on the link to read the piece. www.scribd.com/doc/47495821/Arts-amp-Entertainment-Journalism-CC

From Rajasthan to the Sahara

2011-01-23T20:54:00.002-05:00

Kiran Ahluwalia has never stepped foot in the Sahara nor has she visited the northern Indian desert state of Rajasthan but those places hold a powerful allure for the chanteuse. This is evidenced in Aam Zameen: Common Ground, her recent collaboration with Saharan sensation Tinariwen, that arrived in stores Tuesday. The heady, hypnotic mix of Indian rhythms and desert blues is easily the most convincing and engaging marriage of those styles – pardon the pun – on record. On Saturday, Ahluwalia performed at Koerner Hall with Rhythm of Rajasthan, a group comprising traditional musicians and dancers from the Indian state. “I’ve been a fan of the music from both these places and with the audiences, I’ll travel to both through the music,” says Ahluwalia, who was born in India, raised in Canada, and now lives in New York. Since releasing her debut album, Kashish, 10 years back, Ahluwalia has increased the vocabulary and popularity of ghazals -- a romantic song form that originated in Persia around the 10th century and introduced to India four centuries later -- by collaborating with non-Indian musicians and introducing Western instruments into the mix. I became a big fan of Tinariwen’s layered, electric blues after hearing its second album, Ammasakoul. The seven-member group belongs to the nomadic Tuareg tribe of northeastern Mali and has a fascinating history. In the 70s, a drought and civil war forced many of them to flee to Libya and Algeria and the founding members of Tinariwen met in one of Muammar Ghadafy's military training camps. It was there that they learned how to use a Kalashnikov and play the guitar. They returned to Mali in the early 90s when a second rebellion over land and linguistic rights was launched. But a peace accord was reached and the fighting stopped in the mid-90s. Ahluwalia says she first saw Tinariwen when they played Harbourfront six years back, and like those of us who were there, she became an instant fan of their visceral, guitar-driven sound. “I was wrapping up my CD, Wanderlust, at the time and ended up composing a song (Teray Darsan) for the album which was inspired by Tinariwen,” she says. “After seeing them, I continued to listen to other Tuareg groups of the African Sahara.” Ahluwalia says that about two years ago she met Justin Adams, the British guitarist who produced two of Tinariwen’s four albums and who’s worked with Robert Plant and Brian Eno, at a music conference and they talked about collaborating. “My CD was sent to Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, the leader of Tinariwen, and I found out that my excitement to work with them was being reciprocated,” she says. “Justin, my husband (and guitarist) Rez Abbasi and I travelled to France where we recorded with a Tuareg group called Terakaft and then with the lovely folks of Tinariwen. “Their sound touches me, it enters my heart,” she raves. “I love their hypnotic grooves and the style of Ibrahim’s guitar playing. It’s original and completely mesmerizing.” Ahluwalia, who’s worked with artists as diverse as Jane Bunnett, Pakistani qawwali singers and Portugues fado musicians, said she studied Tinariwen’s music before entering the studio to record Aam Zameen. “I studied the grooves, the phrasings and other aspects of the music,” she says. “Even though I compose the tunes with the collaborations in mind, what actually happens in the final event is always different. So many things were spontaneous – as they are with good musicians.” The recording experience, she adds, was emotionally bonding. “We just finished a video for (the album’s single) Mustt Mustt which I am about to upload to You Tube,” Ahluwalia says. “It shows footage from the Paris sessions, and I’m so glad we have it because it shows how much we were in our own world.”

All Blues!

2011-01-14T18:35:00.003-05:00

There’s a big, bluesy birthday bash at the Silver Dollar Saturday for a 14-year-old and a 77-year-old.

Local blues label Electro-Fi Records is celebrating its 14th anniversary and R&B pioneer Curley Bridges celebrates his 77th birthday.

Chris Whiteley and Diana Braithwaite, Bobby Dean Blackburn, Harrison Kennedy, Fathead, Julian Fauth and David Rotundo will also be in the house.

Born in North Carolina, Bridges moved to Toronto sometime in the 60’s and then relocated to Barrie.

Electro-Fi founder Andrew Galloway told me he was familiar with Bridge's records from the 50's and 60's, but didn’t know he was living in Barrie. After finding out that Bridges was playing a solo gig at a supper club in Orillia, he drove up to see him.

Galloway introduced himself and asked Bridges if he still sang the blues and was shocked when he said that no one had asked him that in 15 years. Bridges sang some Joe Turner tunes, Galloway was blown away and signed him to Electro-Fi.

Electro-Fi Records is a forward-looking blues label that promotes the legends - many of whom call Toronto and Canada home - as well as young guns who are bringing something new to the table.

Galloway perfectly summed up his label’s philosophy in the liner notes of one of the records: “No teenage guitar heroes, no fawn¬ing tribute CDs, and no aging rock stars rediscovering their imaginary blues roots. Instead, just plenty of straight, natural blues served up by some of the origina¬tors alongside the best of this generation’s emerging artists.” 7 p.m. $15. 486 Spadina Ave. TAKE IT TO THE TOP Blues Summit Five happens at the Delta Chelsea Hotel Saturday to Monday and Scott McCord & the Bonafide Truth will kick it off in fine style.

The rock ‘n soul group will perform at the opening reception at Monarch's Pub (inside the hotel) at 5 p.m. Saturday.

The event’s a great opportunity for the blues community to network as well as for artists to strut their stuff in front of tastemakers, festival directors and blues delegates from Canada and around the world.

The keynote speaker this year is XM Radio broadcaster Bill Wax, the online host and program director of B.B. King's Bluesville. Wax has been playing blues on satellite radio for 10 years and on terrestrial radio for 20 before that.

Artists scheduled to perform at the event include The 24th Street Wailers, catl, Johnny Max, Dylan Wickens, Layla Zoe and Angel Forrest.

For more info on the Summit, call 416-538-3885 or 1-866-871-9457 AND THE AWARD GOES TO… The 14th annual Maple Blues Awards take place on Monday at Koerner Hall and Downchild leads the pack with six nominations.

Ottawa’s Monkey Junk is up for five, Shakura S’Aida and Fathead each have four nominations, and Harrison Kennedy garnered two nominations.

The nominees are selected by a panel comprising radio hosts, journalists, and festival organizers from across Canada. Raoul Bhaneja hosts and performers include Jack De Keyzer, Shakura S’Aida and Dawn Tyler Watson.

7 p.m. Tickets are $20-$28. 416-408-0208. PICKS If you’re a teacher, I highly recommend taking your class to Sugar & Gold: The Story of the Underground Railroad in Canada at Koerner Hall Tuesday. The interactive performance uses storytelling and music – courtesy of the Maple Blues Band, Diana Braithwaite and Chris Whiteley – to tell an important part of our history. 10:30 a.m. 416-408-2824

When Sisters Speak, a showcase of female black poets, happens tomorrow at the Jane Mallett Theatre. 8 p.m. $45 and $35. 416-366-7723

Get your dose of 90s hip-hop every Wednesday at What’s Poppin’. Sneaky Dee’s. 416-603-3090

The Power of Music

2011-01-08T21:01:00.002-05:00

As a musician who sees “the healing and joyous effect music has on people” on a fairly regular basis, Ron Davis didn’t think twice about participating in an upcoming benefit concert for the Canadian Music Therapy Trust Fund. “I live that effect,” the pianist tells me. “It's why I gave up lucrative careers and why I weather the harsh environment of the music business – to share and bring that feeling to people.” The Music Therapy Centre, which is operated by the Canadian Music Therapy Trust Fund, offers several programs that use music to improve its clients’ mental, physical, and emotional health. Some of its services include weekly musical meetings for individuals with polio or post-polio syndrome, a program for those affected by autism, and programs for adults and children with Down Syndrome. Davis and his trio will be joined by DK Ibomeka, Andrew Cash and a few other musicians at Hugh’s Room on Monday. All proceeds from the show and silent auction go toward supporting music therapy programs for medically fragile children. “I've known about and admired music therapy for years,” Davis says. “I was always intrigued by the power of music. I used to live with a caregiver who looked after geriatric Alzheimer patients and she would tell me that even after they were unable to speak or connect in any way, she could always reach them through music. “That illustrated the primal power of music and gave me insight into the therapeutic potential of music,” he adds. “We know that music affects the brain, the mind, the emotions. Its use as a therapeutic tool seems to me to be a necessary and important response to the needs of people out there who are suffering and in distress.” Davis says that after Jodi Greenwood, the Centre’s clinical manager, contacted him, he researched the organization and was blown away by its work. “They’re dedicated to helping children, people with mental health challenges, people with addiction issues and many others through music,” he says. “Not only is this work inherently good and valuable, but it strikes me that the health system could help many others in need, and even reduce other more expensive treatments and medication with the greater use of music therapy.” The Fund’s website is filled with powerful testimonials from organizations like Autism Canada and the Alzheimer’s Society and inspiring stories from music therapists who’ve witnessed the magical effect music has had on the people who’ve passed through the Centre’s Bloor West clinic. One of my favourite comments on the site is credited to Dr. Robert Zatorre, a neuroscientist at Montreal’s Neurological Institute who has studied how music affects the brain. “We’ve done a lot of research on music because it touches on almost all of the most complex mental functions that we are capable of. Music is incredibly complicated, but we seem to be wired to do this. “If you don’t have music you won’t die, but you won’t be happy.” NOTE: Tickets for Monday’s concert are $25 advance/$30 at the door. For tickets, please call Hugh's Room at 416-531-6604. For more information, email info@musictherapytrust.ca or call 416-535-0200. And for information on the Fund, visit www.musictherapytrust.ca

Happy 2011!

2010-12-31T15:25:00.003-05:00

Regardless of what kind of music moves you or what your budget is, this select list of cool club gigs just might help you usher in the new year. For me, the New Year’s Eve parties at The Drake, The Gladstone, and Alice Fazooli’s qualify as the most original. It’s fitting that Maylee Todd, an artist whose music cannot be categorized, is the main attraction at a prohibition-themed show at The Drake that features “booze-filled teacups, live jazz soundscapes, top hats and moustaches, feathers and pearls, as well as some fun and games.” 7 p.m. 1150 Queen St. W. For ticket information, call 416-531-5042 ext.1 Skin Tight Outta Sight’s ranks include performers with names like Honey B. Hind, Tanya Cheex, and Coco La Crème. Together they make up the notorious “rebel burlesque” group and for the eighth year running, they will be welcoming 2011 in their own, shall we say, unique way. On its website, the troupe says the show features “Canada's first reigning Queen of Burlesque 2010 Miss Roxi DLite, the salacious Dew Lily of Boylesque TO, double-jointed darlin' St. Stella local freak show Obskyura, and the musical rock ‘n roll poundings of guitar God Alistair Christl and The Cosmotones.” I won’t argue with that. 9 p.m. $50. 1214 Queen St. W. And how’s this for a green gig? Eco Eve 2011 at Alice Fazooli’s is a “sustainable New Year's Eve celebration with candlelight and reduced lighting, repurposed decor, local sparkling wine, and no party favours.” Tickets are $45-$60. 294 Adelaide St. W. 416-979-1910 Blues fans have a couple of options to ring in 2011. You can head to Monarch’s Pub in the Delta Chelsea Hotel to hear two veterans of the scene doing their thing - ace harp player Jerome Godboo, who released a very personal album, Rooting Out My Devils, earlier this year and guitarist Jack de Keyzer. The show starts at 9 p.m. 33 Gerrard St. W. For more details, call 416-585-4352 Or you can swing by Hugh’s Room, one of my favourite venues, to catch guitarist Chris Whiteley and his All-Star Cast. Diana Braithwaite, John Sheard and Jesse Whiteley are some of the guests. Tickets are $145 per person (includes HST) and includes a four course meal, the show, party favours, champagne at midnight and gratuities. Dinner seating begins at 7 p.m. 416 416-531-6604. 2261 Dundas St. W. The Trane Studio's 7th Annual New Year's Eve Jazz Bash features Victor Jones, one of New York's most acclaimed drummers, and his group Cultureversy. TO’s own Brownman Ali guests on trumpet. $70 for show only/ $115 for show and 4-course dinner. 8 p.m. 964 Bathurst St. For more info, call 416-913-8197 And at The Rex Jazz & Blues Bar, Grooveyard play funk, soul and R&B classics. Doors open at 8:30 p.m. 194 Queen St. W. For ticket info, call 416-598-2475 Roots/country fans have a difficult choice to make tonight. The Beauties, who played every Sunday night at the Dakota Tavern well before they christened themselves The Beauties and released their solid self-titled album this year, return to the Ossington St. club tonight. If, in the words of the band’s drummer Derek Downham, you’re up for “a night of tar-kickin', twang-rockin', spirits and barn dancing,” you know where to be Friday. 249 Ossington. 416-850-4579 If you like The Beauties, chances are high you like The Sadies who bring together country, rock, psychedelic and surf brilliantly live and on record. The group plays its 10th (!) annual New Year’s Eve gig at the Horseshoe tonight and will undoubtedly play tracks from its Darker Circles disc which it released in May. I’ve seen them perform and the ‘Shoe’s definitely gonna be rockin’ tonight. Advance tickets are $20. 8:30 p.m. 370 Queen W. DJ NV says he’ll be “smashing up the jams on the 1's & 2's all night, playing the best of hip-hop, funk, soul, Motown, 80's classics, sizzlin' rocksteady reggae anthems and dancehall” at the Painted Lady. The club’s famous burlesque dancers are also on the bill. And here’s the fourth incentive to check this one out – there’s no cover and you don’t have to get all dressed up. 9 p.m. 218 Ossington Ave. For more info, call 647-213-LADY Over at the Rivoli, an army of ace DJ’s including Mike Tull, Paul E. Lopes, Jason Palma and Carlos Mondesir will be spinning disco, hip-hop, Latin and a lot more from their massive collections. And it’ll all be coming at ya from three soundsystems. Tickets are $25 in advance. 334 Queen St. W. 416-596-1908 Dancers will be hot-footing it to Lula Lounge tonight for two sets of killer Latin Jazz and salsa. The double bill features celebrated Cuban pianist Hilario Duran and his trio, and salsa powerhouse Lady Son y Articulo Viente who I profiled here earlier this year. Duran is on at 7:30 p.m. and Lady Son and her band follow at 10 p.m. 1585 Dundas St. W. The $150 dinner package includes a three-course meal, a beginner salsa lesson and the shows. Or, if money’s too tight to mention and you still want a solid fix of salsa, $40 gets you in at 10 p.m. to catch Lady Son’s show and includes bubbly at midnight. For more info, call 416-588-0307 or email info@lula.ca The Sam Roberts Band is great live and you can catch them at Gage Park in Brampton tonight. The annual New Year’s Eve celebration there also features ice skating, two displays of fireworks, and “marshmallow roasting over open-air fire pits.” 7 p.m. Free. www.brampton.ca The New Year’s Eve party at Scarborough’s Civic Centre is one of the most family friendly events happening tonight. Sultans of String, whose music I described in these pages as “an organic mix of rumba, Gypsy, jazz, Middle Eastern and Spanish flavours that’s mixed together beautifully and brilliantly executed,” and Sol De Cuba are two of the featured bands, there’ll be screenings of Shrek 3 and How To Train Your Dragon, and organizers are promising popcorn, party hats, outdoor skating – weather permitting, of course – noisemakers, balloons and face painting. 7 p.m. Free. For more information, call 416-396-7766 If you like being in a big crowd, you can huddle with the masses at Nathan Phillips Square tonight when City-TV hosts its 26th annual New Year’s Bash. This year’s lineup – featuring Shawn Desman, Danny Fernandes, Stereos, These Kids Wear Crowns, and Divine Brown – is pretty underwhelming but I’m sure the fireworks will be good, though. 10 p.m. Free. Regardless how you choose to usher in 2011, have fun and play safe. PICKS OF THE WEEK Percussionist and Colombian music authority Reuben Esguerra hosts an open mic at Ellington’s Music & Café Sunday. 805 St Clair W. 416-652-9111 Vaudevillian troupe Friendly Rich & The Lollipop People play Korova Milkbar Tuesday. 488 College St. 416-961-1600 You’re like to hear some great jazz singing if you check out Lisa Particelli’s Girls’ Night Out Jazz jam at Chalkers Pub Wednesday. 247 Marlee. 416-789-2531

An Indigo Christmas: Kwanzaa Litanies

2010-12-17T16:39:00.004-05:00

For Dr. Brainerd Blyden-Taylor, Kwanzaa doesn’t come but once a year. An African-American holiday that celebrates family, community and culture, Kwanzaa is observed from December 26 to January 1, but the founder and artistic director of the Nathaniel Dett Chorale says he tries to mark the occasion throughout the year. “More than that, I endeavour to celebrate the Nguzo Saba (the seven principles of Kwanzaa) year-round, and I had them at the forefront of my mind when founding the Chorale,” he says. “They’re a conscious underpinning of Afrocentricity as I understand it. “Kwanzaa is a time of heightened awareness of my year-round practice,” Blyden-Taylor adds. “It’s an important point of focus for my family and for my nine-year-old daughter in particular. I love that I can celebrate it with others here, and that every year it becomes more and more a Pan-African festival.” For the twelfth consecutive year, the Nathaniel Dett Chorale will once again bless our ears with a unique Christmas concert, this time focusing on Kwanzaa. An Indigo Christmas: Kwanzaa Litanies happens at Glenn Gould Theatre Saturday and like previous concerts in the Chorale’s Indigo Christmas series, it promises to be both eye and ear-opening. One of the highlights promises to be a performance of the Nguzo Saba Suite, which boasts seven movements, by the late composer, pianist, and conductor Glenn Edward Burleigh. Nguzo Saba, incidentally, is the title of the brand new recording by the Nathaniel Dett Chorale. “I met Glenn at a conference at Hampton University in Virginia, and was introduced to the Nguzo Saba Suite,” Blyden-Taylor says. “I was fascinated by how he fused classical, gospel and jazz into a powerful work that invites us all to look at the Nguzo Saba in a very personal way, and from both a sacred and secular point of view.” The suite will be complemented with A Kwanzaa Litany, which is “widely known for its stirring bass-solo and percussive rhythms often performed on a variety of African instruments such as beaded gourds, drums and cowbells,” Blyden-Taylor explains. The program also includes a performance of The Ballad of the Brown King, which the African-American pianist Margaret Allison Bonds’ composed with the famed poet Langston Hughes. Featuring nine movements, it combines elements of jazz, blues, calypso, and spirituals to tell the story of the Three Wise Men, focusing primarily on Balthazar, the so-called brown king. The piece premiered in New York City in 1954, but continues to be performed during the Christmas season by various African-American chorales. In an interview that appeared on the AfriClassical blog, Eliza Rubenstein, the director of the Long Beach Chorale, provided the context for the composition. "Hughes' text picks up on the fact that one of these kings is the dark-skinned king," said Rubenstein. "He reframes this bit of symbolism as sort of a point of African-American cultural pride." Rubenstein explains that The Ballad of the Brown King is a point of entry into the famous biblical story for a demographic that might have felt alienated from it at the time. “Consider that the cantata dates from right around the time of desegregation and the stirrings of the early civil rights movement in the mid-1950s,” she said. “So, this was a way in which Langston Hughes could reflect an African-American consciousness into the story." NOTE: An Indigo Christmas: Kwanzaa Litanies begins at 8 p.m. Tickets are $39.50 for adults, $35 for seniors and $30 for students. Glenn Gould Studio, 250 Front St. W. 416-340-0550. PICKS Can’t wait to take the kids to Tea at the Palace, the acclaimed Puppetmongers Theatre production. Tomorrow to January 1 at Tarragon Theatre's Extra Space. 2 p.m. $13 for children/seniors/students and $18 for adults. 416-531-1827 The annual lantern parade marking the winter solstice snakes its way around Kensington Market Tuesday. 6:30 p.m. A benefit for the Second Base Youth Shelter featuring the David Rotundo Band, Danny Marks and Dawn Tyler Watson, among others, happens Monday and Tuesday at Hugh's Room. 8:30 p.m. $30. 2261 Dundas St.W.

2010-12-17T16:39:00.001-05:00

For Dr. Brainerd Blyden-Taylor, Kwanzaa doesn’t come but once a year. An African-American holiday that celebrates family, community and culture, Kwanzaa is observed from December 26 to January 1, but the founder and artistic director of the Nathaniel Dett Chorale says he tries to mark the occasion throughout the year. “More than that, I endeavour to celebrate the Nguzo Saba (the seven principles of Kwanzaa) year-round, and I had them at the forefront of my mind when founding the Chorale,” he says. “They’re a conscious underpinning of Afrocentricity as I understand it. “Kwanzaa is a time of heightened awareness of my year-round practice,” Blyden-Taylor adds. “It’s an important point of focus for my family and for my nine-year-old daughter in particular. I love that I can celebrate it with others here, and that every year it becomes more and more a Pan-African festival.” For the twelfth consecutive year, the Nathaniel Dett Chorale will once again bless our ears with a unique Christmas concert, this time focusing on Kwanzaa. An Indigo Christmas: Kwanzaa Litanies happens at Glenn Gould Theatre Saturday and like previous concerts in the Chorale’s Indigo Christmas series, it promises to be both eye and ear-opening. One of the highlights promises to be a performance of the Nguzo Saba Suite, which boasts seven movements, by the late composer, pianist, and conductor Glenn Edward Burleigh. Nguzo Saba, incidentally, is the title of the brand new recording by the Nathaniel Dett Chorale. “I met Glenn at a conference at Hampton University in Virginia, and was introduced to the Nguzo Saba Suite,” Blyden-Taylor says. “I was fascinated by how he fused classical, gospel and jazz into a powerful work that invites us all to look at the Nguzo Saba in a very personal way, and from both a sacred and secular point of view.” The suite will be complemented with A Kwanzaa Litany, which is “widely known for its stirring bass-solo and percussive rhythms often performed on a variety of African instruments such as beaded gourds, drums and cowbells,” Blyden-Taylor explains. The program also includes a performance of The Ballad of the Brown King, which the African-American pianist Margaret Allison Bonds’ composed with the famed poet Langston Hughes. Featuring nine movements, it combines elements of jazz, blues, calypso, and spirituals to tell the story of the Three Wise Men, focusing primarily on Balthazar, the so-called brown king. The piece premiered in New York City in 1954, but continues to be performed during the Christmas season by various African-American chorales. In an interview that appeared on the AfriClassical blog, Eliza Rubenstein, the director of the Long Beach Chorale, provided the context for the composition. "Hughes' text picks up on the fact that one of these kings is the dark-skinned king," said Rubenstein. "He reframes this bit of symbolism as sort of a point of African-American cultural pride." Rubenstein explains that The Ballad of the Brown King is a point of entry into the famous biblical story for a demographic that might have felt alienated from it at the time. “Consider that the cantata dates from right around the time of desegregation and the stirrings of the early civil rights movement in the mid-1950s,” she said. “So, this was a way in which Langston Hughes could reflect an African-American consciousness into the story." NOTE: An Indigo Christmas: Kwanzaa Litanies begins at 8 p.m. Tickets are $39.50 for adults, $35 for seniors and $30 for students. Glenn Gould Studio, 250 Front St. W. 416-340-0550.PICKS Can’t wait to take the kids to Tea at the Palace, the acclaimed Puppetmongers Theatre production. Tomorrow to January 1 at Tarragon Theatre's Extra Space. 2 p.m. $13 for children/seniors/students and $18 for adults. 416-531-1827 The annual lantern parade marking the winter solstice snakes its way around Kensington Market Tuesday. 6:30 p.m. A benefit for the Second Base Youth Shelter featuring the David Rotundo Band, Danny Marks and Dawn Tyler Watson, among others, happens Monday and Tuesday at Hugh's Room. 8:30 p.m. $30. 2261 Dundas St.W.

Dave Brubeck: Legacy of a Legend

2010-12-08T09:32:00.003-05:00

Legendary jazz pianist Dave Brubeck celebrated his 90th birthday on Monday and, as expected, several projects have been released to mark the occasion. On CBC Radio, this morning, I reviewed one of them: a 2-CD compilation titled Dave Brubeck: Legacy of a Legend. What separates this from all the other Brubeck collections out there is that every one of the 21 tracks was handpicked by Brubeck. It’s a great collection and the selling point for me is that it features notes on each composition and liner notes written by his son Darius. There’s another 2-CD set available titled The Definitive Dave Brubeck. It features some of Brubeck's session work from the ‘40s as well as recordings from the past few decades. The songs were picked by Russell Gloyd, Brubeck's manager, producer and conductor for more than 30 years.And on Monday, The Turner Classic Movies channel aired a documentary that Clint Eastwood produced called Dave Brubeck: In His Own Sweet Way. Here's some information on the set from Sony Music: "The disc opens in 1954 with Jeepers Creepers from his second Columbia LP (and first studio album for the label) Brubeck Time; and closes with a pair of tracks from 1970 with Gerry Mulligan, Out Of Nowhere and St. Louis Blues from the Live At The Berlin Philharmonie LP. On CD Two, Brubeck dips into his deep personal archive of recordings for a previously unreleased live version of Three To Get Ready from the final concert of the classic quartet: Brubeck on piano, alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, bassist Eugene Wright, and Joe Morello on drums. Three To Get Ready was a centerpiece of the breakthrough album of 1959, Time Out, one of the quartet’s first LPs together, so it is an appropriate choice for Legacy of a Legend to include this version from their final concert together."

Whole Lotta Lennon

2010-12-04T18:03:00.002-05:00

It’s like Beatlemania all over again. This being The Beatles’ 50th anniversary, everyone, it seems, has devised a way to pay tribute to the Fab Four. There’s the crass – a furniture company has designed a unique settee to mark the occasion. There’s the predictable – several musicians have felt the need to join the ranks of millions who’ve recorded a Beatles tribute record. And there’s the cool and anything-but-predictable – Imagine: A Jazz Tribute to John Lennon at the Central United Church in Unionville tomorrow sees several top-flight local jazz musicians putting their mark on Lennon’s music. The group features Michael Occhipinti, Mark Kelso, Kevin Turcotte, Roberto Occhipinti and singers Laila Biali, Elizabeth Shepherd and Dominic Mancuso. Occhipinti says our familiarity with Lennon’s music is “kind of liberating from an arranger's point of view. “It’ll allow us to stretch out and alter the songs in different ways and open them up for improvising,” he explains. “And people will still be able to reference the original in their head. “I've had a lot of fun over the years with projects tackling the music of Bruce Cockburn and Pink Floyd, and for me it’s never been about replicating music but rather trying to reinvent it in a way that’s creative while still expressing an admiration for the source material.” The guitarist and leader of the Sicilian Jazz Project says the group’s biggest challenge is finding ways to make Lennon’s music sound fresh and original. “From a musical point of view, perhaps some of his later Beatles and solo songs are about the words more than the melody,” he says. “Lennon admitted that at times he could be quite happy repeating a single note or two, and those songs perhaps are trickier to recast as jazz tunes if one only fixates on the melody. “Luckily, we can either play with the melody or the many other aspects of the music, and it's really quite limitless,” Occhipinti adds. “My personal challenge is trying to make each arrangement a little different from the others, although when I listen to Beatles albums like Revolver that's exactly what I hear them doing, too.” Adding firepower to this homage’s eclectic vibe is Occhipinti’s choice of singers. Laila Biali, Elizabeth Shepherd and Dominic Mancuso are three of this city’s most distinct and diverse voices and this means you’re guaranteed to hear some utterly original music if you attend the show. “I wanted to work with them on this project because they’ll put their own stamp on whatever they sing, and they are such strong singers that I feel I can arrange the music however I wish and they will sing it beautifully,” he says. Not to put a damper on things but earlier this year, The Times of London remarked that much of Lennon’s "solo work was poor" and his genius “lay in doing the simple things well and having the complicated things in his head for other people to do for him." I ask Occhipinti what he thought of those comments. “Lennon did do simple things well, and he did get help in the studio piecing together complicated things like Strawberry Fields, but The Times fails to address the full picture of what he did. “I'm a guitarist, and people forget that Lennon was the first to record intentional feedback (on songs like I Feel Fine) ahead of Jimi Hendrix or Pete Townshend, or backwards tape guitar (on I'm Only Sleeping and Tomorrow Never Knows), and that a lot of what we identify as the Beatles ‘sound’ lies in his musicianship and creativity.” NOTE: The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. Central United Church is at 131 Main St. Tickets are $20 and available by calling (905) 471-5299

Arts & Entertainment Journalism at Centennial College

2010-12-01T21:05:00.009-05:00

There are only 3 spots available for the Arts & Entertainment Journalism course that I designed and will be teaching at Centennial College's East York campus this winter. The weekly three-hour class will begin on January 12 and runs for 10 weeks. If music and culture is your life-blood, creativity runs through your veins, and you've always wanted to express yourself in words, this eclectic course is for you. To register, please visit http://db2.centennialcollege.ca/ce/coursedetail.php?CourseCode=AREJ-100 I've been covering the arts since graduating from Centennial's journalism program and it continues to be a thrilling ride. Writing about music has definitely enriched my life and, to date, I've shared my passion for good music in the pages of The Toronto Sun, Eye Weekly, and various music mags. I've talked about music trends and culture on several CBC Radio shows including Sounds Like Canada, Definitely Not The Opera, Global Village, and Bandwidth. Every Wednesday, I discuss a new album or preview a concert on Metro Morning, TO's top-rated morning show, and every Saturday I profile a local band on CBC's Big City Small World Show. And in the summer of 2007, I hosted a one-hour music show that aired across the country. My knowledge of music has led to me serving as a judge for the Juno Awards, speaking at music conferences, and discussing music on TVO, Global, CBC, and MuchMusic. This course is going to be a lot of fun, but it will challenge you, too. By the end of the 10 weeks, you'll have an idea of the various types of articles that an arts journalist is expected to cover and the inherent challenges in writing them. More importantly, you will have the skills to write informed, engaging and colurful profiles, concert and film reviews. I pride myself on writing insightful articles, and I'm always complimented for my unique story angles and for capturing the essence of an artist who I profile. I can't wait to share my knowledge with you.

The Detroit Soul Ambassador

2010-12-01T09:09:00.002-05:00

Detroit Soul Ambassador is the title of the album that I talked about on Metro Morning today and the title befits the singer it’s named after. Melvin Davis is his name and judging from this compilation of gems that he recorded in the early to mid-60s, the man was a genius. This is such a diverse album – there are songs with strings, gritty soul songs, Motown-type tunes and even a couple of garage-R&B tracks. Davis was a songwriter, drummer, producer, arranger and a label owner. His bands have included everyone from a pre-Temptations David Ruffin to a post-MC5 Wayne Kramer. And his drumming can be heard on The Miracles' hit Tears Of A Clown. It's safe to say Davis isn't well known since Motown had such a huge presence in Detroit. As he says in the liner notes, “It’s not like Motown just happened and before there was nothing and after there was nothing. It’s just that Motown overshadowed a lot of other stuff. But Detroit has always been a hotbed of expression - of soul on the cutting edge.”

Singing for The Stop

2010-11-29T11:29:00.002-05:00

The Stop Community Food Centre (www.thestop.org) is a food bank unlike any other. And that’s why jazz pianist Bill King is throwing his musical weight, and that of some all-star friends, behind it.

The Stop, which has locations at Davenport Road and at Christie Street, isn’t just about feeding those less fortunate. Rather, in the words of the centre’s director Nick Saul, “it uses food to build community, skills and self-esteem.

“It’s a nurturing hub where people come to cook and grow and be active,” Saul said on TVO’s The Agenda. “They’re not passive recipients of charity, that’s not what we want to foster in our community.”

Aside from offering breakfast and lunch, The Stop teaches adults how to cook nutritious meals, shows children from local schools where their food comes from with hands-on cooking and growing activities, and runs a sustainable food production and education centre which houses a greenhouse, a sheltered garden, community bake oven and compost demonstration centre.

King says a recent encounter with Saul “instantly sold me on innovative ideas for conquering poverty.”

He was so inspired to respond to the issue that he came up with the idea of a benefit song and proposed it to members of Jane Bunnett’s African/Cuban Blues Summit band. All jumped on board immediately and volunteered their services as did Mike Haas, a Juno award-winning recording engineer, who mixed the song - titled War On Poverty - at Inception Sound Studio.

King says the recording session was quick and magical and he calls the song a jazz/funk mash-up.

“You’ve got the soul, the Cuban funk, the 60’s wah-wah guitar of Neil Chapman, the African rhythms of Altaf (Velliani), Jane blowing the roof off, Larry (Kramer) doing his Miles Davis mute thing, and me providing the mash – pounding out some avant garde harmonic clusters underneath.” The group also features bassist Roberto Riveron and singers Shakura S’Aida and Stacey Bulmer.

King wrote War On Poverty over the space of a few weeks and says he wanted it to have “the same language of the sixties” since he felt that contemporary protest songs have lost the ability to grab people’s attention. His anger at the government’s lack of action on the issue of hunger is evident in some of the song’s lyrics.

Here’s a sample: “Food banks going empty, thousands standing in line. While the man on the hill builds a palace of thrills and watches our decline.”

A little over the top maybe, but we should all be incensed at the fact that 90 per cent of The Stop’s funding comes from private sources and that the provincial government throws in a measly 10 per cent.

“That’s a serious problem,” Saul said in an interview. “We need to get government into the equation. We have a right to food in this country, but the truth is thousands of people go to bed hungry. We’re trying to raise some noise about that.”

NOTE: To purchase War On Poverty, go to www.ourstage.com/tracks/SCPASKJQNCQL-war-on-poverty

On Sunday, December 5, Runnymede United Church once again hosts its annual dramatic reading of the Dickens' classic, A Christmas Carol. This year’s event features Barbara Budd, Score's Noah Reid, R.H. Thomson and CBC Radio’s Matt Galloway.

$20. 7:30 p.m. 423 Runnymede Rd. All proceeds go to The Stop. To buy tickets, call 416.767.6729.

Laila's Light

2010-11-12T16:20:00.002-05:00

As long as folks are playing it, the highly subjective question, What is jazz? won’t go away.

Laila Biali, whose latest album, Tracing Light, recently arrived in stores, can attest to this.

Sure, she won the composer and keyboardist prizes at the 2005 National Jazz Awards, but her music isn’t just rooted in jazz. Yet the jazz police seem to have claimed her and questioned the direction she chooses to take her music.

“You're absolutely right that my music is not just rooted in jazz,” Biali says, from her home in Brooklyn, NY. “The musical choices I make are inspired by my unique history as a musician in which jazz has played a vital role. But it’s inevitable that my heavy classical upbringing and love for funk, pop, soul, rock and other genres will also be heard.”

Biali says that over the years she’s noticed that there’s “somewhat of a code that should be observed and respected when it comes to the genre. But what’s interesting is that even the most established jazz musicians today often disagree with one another on what are the distinguishing qualities of this music!”

Biali, who sang back up for Sting’s DVD recording and winter tour of If On a Winter's Night... Live from Durham Cathedral, shares an anecdote that further proves how ridiculous music purists can be.

“A few years ago, a group I co-led was chosen to participate in an educational workshop at Carnegie Hall, and I'll never forget watching two members of the teaching faculty get into a shouting match over what should be the definitive qualities of jazz,” says, Biali, who boasts a sublime singing voice. “One was adamant that music isn't jazz unless the swing feel is present. And the other claimed that the elements of improvisation and freedom of expression were most important, and that the ‘feel’ was secondary.

“It was an interesting lesson indeed.”

Fortunately for us, Biali won’t be bullied by anyone to stick to one path. I think it’s telling that the album’s first track sees her continuing to proudly wave the flag for eclecticism by offering up a jazzy, drum ‘n bass version of Let Go, a song by Frou Frou.

“I came up with that groove,” she says. “It felt like my own unique spin on Frou Frou's version, but at the same time it was a subconscious nod to Imogen (Heap, a former member). Much of her music has an electronica or drum ‘n bass vibe so I think it was instinctive to start there.”

I confess to Biali, whose album is cover heavy, that I’m not a fan of the trend among countless jazz singers to cover the American Songbook and pop hits. Few, like Cassandra Wilson, offer daring takes of recognizable songs and even she once questioned this habit.

"The resources are gonna blow soon,” Wilson said. “You won't be able to find songs that you can cover. It’s a finite pool and eventually you have to begin to be daring and step outside the traditional approach."

Bassist George Koller, who produced Tracing Light, says that if there is “a way to bring something new to someone else's song or a clever re-harmonization or arrangement or a way to highlight different colours of a known song, I'm all for it. And Laila does this very well.”

As a jazz musician fresh out of college, Biali says she was almost exclusively playing original music. She led an octet that performed only original songs and says evidence of this can be heard on her debut album, Introducing The Laila Biali Trio. This changed when From Sea To Sky was released.

“It was commissioned by the CBC and they favoured covers because they’d be recognizable to listeners,” she explains. “I had great fun exploring the work of other writers and made some important discoveries along the way, and I especially enjoyed the process of reinventing songs and making them my own.”

Then Biali makes a confession – one that I haven’t read anywhere.

“This trend towards covering music by other musicians has started to feel oddly disingenuous since writing original music has always been a relevant facet of my musical identity,” she says. “All that’s to say that you’ll definitely see more original material on future albums.”

Here Come The Drums!

2010-11-05T17:39:00.002-04:00

It’s remarkable what a small woman who was born in a small fishing village on a small island in the Inland Sea of Japan has brought to a TO-based drumming ensemble that was made up mainly of lads.

When Aki Takahashi joined Nagata Shachu (formerly the Kiyoshi Nagata Ensemble) seven years back, it was clear to Kiyoshi Nagata, the outfit’s artistic director, that she was a force to be reckoned with.

“She has a unique vision that’s different from my own, and that’s helped expand Nagata Shachu's horizons,” Nagata says. “Before Aki joined, we focussed mainly on the musical aspect of taiko (Japanese drumming), but she’s opened the door by bringing in vocal pieces, the shamisen (a traditional three-stringed instrument) and more movement and choreography on stage.”

This will be evidenced when the ensemble premieres its latest production, Iroha, tonight and tomorrow at the Fleck Dance Theatre. It’s directed by Takahashi, who is also the founder of Ten Ten, a Japanese folk music collective.

“Iroha means colour in Japanese,” Nagata explains. “When people walk into the theatre, they’ll experience and feel the sensation of colour through the various performers, notes and instruments they play. These are not colours in the literal or obvious sense such as blue, red or green, but rather how we can associate colour with nature and in the four seasons.

“Japan has four distinct seasons with various colours and emotions attached to each, and all the songs have been influenced and informed by the idea of colour.”

Takahashi says that she always see colours when she plays traditional Japanese folk instruments, adding that sometimes they appear note by note depending on her mood.

“It might be something to do with my background,” she says. “I was an art student and became a textile designer when I lived in Kyoto. In traditional design, we use seasonal themes using colours and patterns inspired by nature. There are seasons in my music and I really want to bring those seasonal colours onto the stage.”

As at every Nagata Shachu performance, the evening will feature thunderous taiko drumming as well as more subtle compositions showcasing instruments such as the shakuhachi (bamboo flute) and shamisen.

“Some of the pieces are celebratory, some are comical, and others more ceremonial,” Nagata says.

And, yes, that female energy will infuse the weekend’s performances.

“Certain songs are only played by our three female performers and they bring a sense of elegance, grace and refinement (to the pieces),” Nagata says. “The songs that are only played by the men are occasionally more physical and aggressive.”

NOTE: Both shows start at 8 p.m. The Fleck Theatre is on the third floor of Queen’s Quay Terminal. 207 Queens Quay W. Tickets are$30 adults/$25 seniors & students and can be bough by calling 416.973.4000

Thriller!

2010-10-29T12:17:00.003-04:00

It's close to midnight and something evil's lurking in the dark. Under the moonlight, you see a sight that almost stops your heart. Okay, okay, I’ll stop quoting lyrics from Thriller but it seems appropriate considering that Halloween’s almost upon us. Herewith, two Halloween-themed concerts with a twist definitely worth catching. THRILLER NIGHT! Given its adventurous nature, I’m not surprised that the Brownman Electryc Trio has decided to celebrate Halloween by covering songs from Michael Jackson’s Thriller. “Doesn't Halloween and Thriller go hand in hand?” trumpeter Brownman asks. “Surely I can't be the only one who thinks that! When I was a kid my mom would often put that record on Halloween. There's a spooky element to the title track that just screams Halloween.” Jazz musicians have a long history of covering popular songs – check sax giant John Coltrane’s version of My Favourite Things, trumpeter Miles Davis did Time After Time, and several artists including guitarist Pat Martino have covered Sunny – so it’s not extraordinary that the BET, which won the 2007 Canadian National Jazz Award for Electric Jazz Group of the Year, has set its collective sight on Jackson. “On Sunday we'll be doing the same thing except that we’ll be using those seminal tunes from Thriller as frameworks for creating something entirely new,” Brown explains. “We'll use the bass lines, melody and harmonic progressions that MJ created, but we'll be collectively reinterpreting and reworking his music in the moment. Each tune will be a journey of its own.” He adds that initial bass lines, like the one that anchors Beat It, “will start that tune off and I'll state the melody similarly to how MJ would have sung it, but then the song - bass line included - becomes a framework for improvisational reinterpretation. Each piece will begin like the original, but no one’s predicting where the song will go after that. “The spirit of collective real time reinvention is at the core of the Brownman Electryc Trio's sound,” Brown says. “If people are expecting sonic photocopies of what's on (Thriller), they'll be sadly disappointed, but if they’re up for taking a journey into the deep end of the interpretive pool, then we promise a funkafied ride.” 8:30 p.m. $15. Trane Studio. 964 Bathurst St. CREEPY CLASSICS The Toronto Symphony Orchestra is getting into the Halloween spirit in fine style this weekend. Its Creepy Classics program, which is part of its Light Classics Concerts Series, features “famously haunting and recognizable classical works connected to All Hallow’s Eve.” Conducted by Alastair Willis and featuring pianist Todd Yaniw, the performances include the magical The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique - a portion of which can be heard during the opening of Stanley Kubrick’s horror classic, The Shining - and Bach’s ominous Toccata in D Minor. Being a big fan of Alfred Hitchcock’s, I’m also looking forward to the TSO performing Prelude from Psycho and The Nightmare from Vertigo. Oh, you’re encouraged to wear a costume to the concerts so here’s your chance to leave the natty threads at home. Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. at Roy Thomson Hall. Tickets range from $30 to $82 and can be bought by visiting www.tso.ca or by calling 416.593.4828.

Experience Hendrix

2010-10-27T13:55:00.004-04:00

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Jimi Hendrix’s death and the Experience Hendrix tribute at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts Thursday is part of the celebrations. It features a ton of top-notch musicians like Robert Randolph, Jonny Lang, Ernie Isley from The Isley Brothers, and Living Colour paying tribute to the greatest guitarist who ever lived. The bill features Robert Randolph, Jonny Lang, Ernie Isley from The Isley Brothers, and Living Colour. They’ll perform their favourite Hendrix tracks like “Little Wing,” “Purple Haze,” and “Voodoo Child.” But what I’m really looking forward to is seeing these guys playing with each other. Joe Satriana has been blogging from the road and he was raving about Eric Johnson performing Are You Experienced with two drummers, Will Calhoun from Living Colour and Chris Layton from Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Double Trouble. He said that Eric's backwards guitar solo must be seen to be fully appreciated. If you’re a Hendrix fan, watch for West Coast Seattle Boy: The Jimi Hendrix Anthology, a 5-disc (4 CD/1 DVD) box set coming out November 15. It contains 45 unreleased live and studio recordings, demos and alternative versions of songs from his three studio albums, and performances with the Isley Brothers and Little Richard. The set includes Jimi Hendrix Voodoo Child, a new 90 minute documentary directed by the multiple Grammy award winning Bob Smeaton (Beatles Anthology, Festival Express, Beatles: The Studio Recordings, Band of Gypsys). An autobiographical journey told in the legendary musician's own words as read by Parliament-Funkadelic's Bootsy Collins, the film incorporates interviews with Hendrix, coupled with the artist's letters, writings and recordings to provide new insight into one of the most enduring icons of popular culture. The documentary features some of Jimi's greatest performances as well as rare and never before seen footage and photos including--for the first time ever--examples from the Hendrix family archive of the late guitarist’s personal drawings, postcards home to his father, song drafts, sketches, and lyrics. For more info on the show, visit www.sonycentre.ca

Showing some class at The Emirates

2010-10-19T22:38:00.003-04:00

So often we read about football fans acting up.

Not at The Emirates todaTuesday when former Gunner Eduardo scored a late goal against Arsenal.

The home crowd applauded and gave him a standing ovation, and Eduardo refused to celebrate.

It's the end of the world!

2010-10-19T21:51:00.003-04:00

England’s acclaimed Soundway Records has released yet another album of Nigerian music titled, The World Ends: Afro Rock & Psychedelia in 1970s Nigeria. We’re talking two discs jammed with spaced-out funk and American-style rock mixed with African rhythms. It’s trippy, mesmerizing stuff and available for the first time in 30 years. Soundway says that The World Ends represents a forgotten chapter in Nigeria’s musical history. The Biafran war, which started in 1967 and claimed over three million lives, was happening just as America was celebrating the summer of love. The music being made by Santana, Jimi Hendrix and James Brown filtered into Nigeria in the early 70s and inspired this whole Afro-Rock explosion. Soundway does a fantastic job re-releasing lost and forgotten recordings from various musical cultures.

From Broadway to Colombia

2010-10-15T20:43:00.002-04:00

In the May issue of Vanity Fair, Michael Feinstein wrote that “regardless of conventional wisdom’s naysayers, classic Broadway music continues to re-assert itself in varied venues, from Glee to Glynde¬bourne (the internationally renowned opera house in Sussex, England).” This applies to three performances of Broadway Divas happening at Roy Thomson Tuesday and Wednesday. The shows kick off the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s Pops concert series featuring jazz, Christmas and Celtic compositions performed with a classical twist. The TSO has been programming these concerts for decades in an attempt to welcome folks who’ve felt intimidated to take in one of their performances. Making this one more appetizing is the pairing of Julia Murney and Jennifer Laura Thompson, stars of the hit musical Wicked, with New York Pops’ new musical director, Steven Reineke. Together, they’ll be performing songs from My Fair Lady, Chicago and Wicked as well as pieces like Diva’s Lament from Spamalot and I Hear a Symphony: Symphonic Sounds of Diana Ross. “Singing with a symphony is delicious in so many ways,” Julia Murney gushes. “Having the whole group on stage with you, for one! There's a great energy share that goes on between the players and the conductor and the singers. And the sound...wow!” You can hear Broadway Divas! Tuesday at 8 p.m. and Wed. at 2 and 8 p.m. Tickets can be bought at the Roy Thomson Hall box office. BAILA ESTA CUMBIA! If you want to know why DJs and musicians all over the globe approach cumbia with a mash-up mentality, the answer lies in Sergio Elmir’s answer to my question: What turns you on most about the music? “That rhythm can be deep and syrupy or it can be really fast and sweaty,” he says. “So, it adapts to so many different styles of music and it always delivers a kick on the dancefloor.” A courtship dance and music style that originated in Colombia’s Atlantic coast during Spanish colonization, cumbia went on to become one of the most popular dance styles in South and Central America. Over the last few years, innovative groups like Systema Solar have reworked it into strange new shapes by adding hip-hop, funk, techno and house to the mix. You can treat your ears to these brave new experiments by tuning in to Dos Mundos Radio every Wednesday night on CIUT (89.5) FM. Colombian-born Sergio Elmir, who’s been hosting the show for the last three years, says he christened the program Dos Mundos since it “represents the two worlds I come from - North and Latin America, and that's basically the sound of the show. You’ll hear traditional music, emerging artists and new hybrids. We are the past, present and future of Latin music.” Elmir recently teamed up with journalist/broadcaster David Dacks to produce a radio documentary titled Yo Soy Cumbia that airs this Sunday on CBC Radio 1 and 2. “I’d say I've been quite obsessed with cumbia for the past few years,” Elmir says. “I play a lot of it on my show and I DJ in an experimental cumbia sound system. It seemed that the music’s popularity has been slowly blowing up amongst music heads and DJs, so it only made sense to sit down and really explore the topic and try to find a fresh angle. “We really tried our best to go beyond the academic and historical perspective and tried to talk more about the people - mostly Canadians working in cumbia - and how the music has helped them define themselves as artists, musicians and as Canadian-Latinos,” he adds. NOTE: Yo Soy Cumbia airs on Inside The Music Sunday at 3 p.m. on CBC Radio 2 and at 9 p.m. on Radio 1. Dos Mundos Radio airs every Wednesday night from 6 to 8 p.m. on CIUT 89.5 FM.

Rita's Blue Blues

2010-10-08T19:52:00.003-04:00

If you think Lady Gaga is risqué, then you’ve never heard of Lucille Bogan. A blues singer from the ‘30s, Bogan frequently sang about prostitution, adultery, alcoholism, abusive relationships and, of course, sex. There’s a reason why a Parental Advisory sticker graces the cover of Shave 'Em Dry: The Best of Lucille Bogan that came out a few years back and why I won’t reprint some of the lyrics here. Bogan, of course, wasn’t the only singer who cut suggestive, rib-tickling songs. As compilations like Let Me Squeeze Your Lemon: The Ultimate Rude Blues Collection or Risque Blues: It Ain’t Meat prove, many of her contemporaries sang spicy songs with equal gusto back in the day. If you like your music salty and flavoured with juicy double entendres, step into Rita’s Parlour Oct. 22 and delight in “tunes with attitude.” Rita is jazz singer Rita di Ghent, and along with guitarist Sam "The Shark" Sharkawy and Drew Austin, she’ll transform Aquila on Keele Street into an intimate space full of old world charm and atmosphere. “We speak and joke around with the audience and encourage them to sing,” says di Ghent, who teaches singing at York University. “I like to tease my audience and ask them what the blues concerns itself with and they'll shout out their answers. And if you think about it, the answer is usually sex, intoxicants and money!” Expect to hear tunes like Don't You Feel My Leg - the first song ever to be banned by a U.S. President - Big 10 Inch, My Daddy Rocks Me With One Steady Roll, and It Ain't the Meat, It's the Motion. In between covers of songs by Trixie Smith, Little Miss Cornshucks, Albinia Jones and Buddy Moss, di Ghent will slip in a few originals. “I'll be throwing a few in, like the song I wrote for my new boyfriend,” she says excitedly. “One of the cleaner lines in the song is, ‘He's my metronomic lover 'cause he's got all kinds of speeds, I tell him what I want and then he satisfies my needs.’” Alrighty, then. Di Ghent credits David Barnard, who hosted Dr. Feelgood’s Blues Emporium, an excellent blues show that aired on CKLN (88.1) FM from 1984 to 1996, for hipping her to the songs she sings at her shows. “I'd always been a jazz singer, but David knew that I'd grown up in Chicago and he was trying to encourage my love for the blues and my Italian-Chicago sass,” she says. “As much as I loved the tunes, I didn't know who to put together for a band. I didn't want straight blues players and I was afraid the music was too old school and not challenging enough for jazz players. “Plus, in these economically unviable times for musicians, I didn't know how lucrative the act would be, so nothing happened.” While moving a couple of years back, di Ghent found the tape that Barnard had made her, blew the dust off it, and realized she really wanted to sing the tunes. And from the sounds of it, she’s having a ball singing ‘em and folks are enjoying exposing themselves to an act like no other in out city. “One of the most distinguishing things about Rita's Parlour, apart from the material, is that we dress fine,” she says. “No matter where we play – it could be a kitchen or a gin joint – Sam wears two-tone shoes, a pin-striped suit and fedora and I wear an evening gown.” “Aquila is casual so you can dress up or dress down, and don't be surprised if the owner asks you to dance,” di Ghent adds. “And here's the greatest thing of all – they care about music enough that they have a real piano!” NOTE: Rita’s Parlour starts at 9 p.m. No cover. Aquila is at 347 Keele St. 416.800.1378

Aloe! Aloe!

2010-10-06T00:30:00.003-04:00

Good Things is the wicked new album from a young singer by the name of Aloe Blacc.

He’s barely 30, but he sounds a lot like Bill Withers and the music is vintage-sounding 60s and 70s soul. And if you give Good Things a couple of listens, you’ll discover that Aloe’s a brilliant lyricist.

He was born Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins, his parents are Panamanian and he lives in Southern California. He formed a rap group in 1995 called Emanon and he released his first album in 2006. It was called Shine Through and it was a wild mix of soul, hip-hop, salsa and tropicalia but this one is more focussed. It’s all about the soul.

And good news! He's coming to TO. Blacc plays Wrongbar on Queen West on November 15.

To get an idea of what he's like live, check out his website and you’ll see footage of him and his band performing a track called Loving You Is Killing Me on a French TV show.

http://www.aloeblacc.com/

If you like Mayer Hawthorne's A Strange Arrangement disc, you'll dig Good Things. Hawthorne, by the way, is doing a DJ set at This Is London on October 14 as part of Mohabbat: A Benefit for Pakistan. De La Soul's Maseo will also be spinning.

All proceeds go to Plan Canada’s relief efforts in the flood-affected areas of the country. 8 p.m. $20.

Celebrating Heritage

2010-10-01T13:46:00.002-04:00

Koerner Hall is without a doubt the most gorgeous and acoustically perfect venues in the city. And it’s a good bet that played a role in it being chosen as the venue for the 36th annual Heritage Toronto awards happening there next Tuesday. But, for Heritage Toronto’s executive director Karen Carter, there’s more to the structure than stunning sound and perfect sightlines. “The RCM building is a great metaphor for how we would like to see Heritage Toronto evolve in the coming years,” she says. “The old building has been restored with a 21st century addition that’s a perfect marriage of the past and present. “No matter what entrance you take into the RCM, you’re greeted with a sense of the past and present and left feeling that the organization is very aware of where it has come from and that it’s harnessed the best of its heritage to build a great future.” Like Jeff Melanson, the former dean of the RCM who was responsible for introducing practical classes and private instruction in a variety of world-music styles at the 124-year-old institution during his tenure, Carter feels the time is right for Heritage Toronto to expand its definition of heritage. “We have an opportunity to build on what Heritage Toronto does to promote and celebrate Toronto's heritage by bringing more diverse voices to the conversation, and to take all of those voices into the future together for the organization’s long-term growth and viability,” she says. “I think we can offer the city’s cultural communities an opportunity to work together to share the different stories that truly represent our heritage for our fellow citizens today and tomorrow and for visitors, too.” The organization is fulfilling its mandate to raise awareness of the city’s history and architecture through programs that “seek to engage Torontonians with their city’s heritage in different ways,” Carter says. These include the annual awards ceremony, a plaques and markers program, free neighbourhood walking tours that happen every weekend between May and October, and the Building Storeys exhibit which showcase well-known and often unknown heritage buildings and sites. At Tuesday’s event, Peter Oundjian, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s Music Director, will be giving a lecture titled Notes On Toronto. He’ll talk about how the city has changed musically in his lifetime, and compare his experience of music and the arts here with his experiences in other cities. Oundjian will also discuss how music and cities influence each other. NOTE: The 2010 Heritage Toronto Awards begin at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Tickets at $27 (plus HST) and can be bought by calling 416.408.0208 or online at www.rcmusic.ca. Tickets for the Mayor’s Reception, a pre-program cocktail reception that begins at 6 p.m., are $100 (plus HST). Shakura S’Aida will perform at the reception. COME TO THE CABARET The third annual Global Cabaret Festival is happening at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts until Sunday and the line-up is mighty impressive. The event features folks like Murray McLauchlan, Molly Johnson, Carol Pope, and Sarah Slean, as well as multi-artist tributes to master songwriters like Leonard Cohen and Bob Marley. Patricia O’Callaghan, who’s part of the Marley tribute, says she was intimidated by the prospect of covering the reggae icon’s music “since it’s really not my genre at all. But, I agreed to be involved because I like to put myself in artistic situations where I’ll be challenged and stretched, and because (resident artist) Waleed Abdulhamid made it clear that his vision was to take the songs out of the reggae context so people could hear them anew. “I agree with his philosophy in that, why would you want to cover a song the same way the original song was interpreted? “ You’ll hear Marley anew if you swing by the Centre Sunday at 6:30 p.m. 416.866.8666

Helping Haiti

2010-09-24T12:43:00.003-04:00

The world-at-large may appear to have forgotten the Haiti earthquake, but Canada’s corner of the jazz world hasn’t. As the New York Times noted recently, “the scale and urgency of needs on the ground continue to be enormous: millions of people still require shelter; access to basic services like education, water and sanitation, electricity and health care; and the tools to lift themselves from poverty.” Thankfully, several prominent Canadian musicians remain acutely aware of Haiti’s plight. When they were asked to lend their voices to a benefit album that was later christened World Jazz For Haiti, they didn’t hesitate to get on board. The disc’s release will be celebrated at Hugh’s Room Sunday and all proceeds from the show and album will go to the Canadian Red Cross Haiti Relief Fund. Many of the artists who appear on the double CD – among them, John McDermott, Laila Biali, Luanda Jones, Mark Mosca, DK Ibomeka, the Shuffle Demons, and Jane Bunnett – will perform Sunday. As you might expect, the project presented several logistical nightmares – among them scheduling, recording, mixing and mastering – but everyone involved stepped up to the plate and should be extremely proud of what they’ve accomplished. “When Number 9 Audio Group managing director George Rondina called me in January to help out as a producer, I was on board immediately since I’d been questioning what I could do,” says bassist George Koller, who also served as the disc’s musical director. “The photos and news stories (coming out of Haiti) were difficult to watch, but we simply began and finished seven months later.” Featuring 23 original songs – 12 vocal and 11 instrumental – the 2-CD set was titled World Jazz For Haiti because jazz improvisation now exists in many forms of world music and several jazz musicians integrate world elements into their compositions, says Koller. The singing and musicianship on the album is stellar, making it a challenge – and also unfair – to choose highlights. In the midst of his studio duties, Koller found a novel way of generating interest in World Jazz For Haiti while nourishing the spirits of those who were on board. “Once I realized I was in deep, I needed to educate myself as much as possible,” Koller says. “There was a lot to learn and the issues were complex so I’d scour the Internet in the evening looking for information, pictures, videos,” he says. “It was traumatizing, but I also found amazing stories and I discovered that there were over 70,000 Facebook users in Haiti so I assembled a little announcement and targeted the news of the CD directly to them.” “What motivated me most was the thought that someday, some way, this CD could be heard on Haitian radio and that Haitians and relief workers from around the world might be comforted or uplifted by the music,” Koller says. He says he searched for the work of famous Haitian painters since he was curious whether a collective similar to Canada’s Group of Seven existed, but to also “fortify the tough news with the inspirational colours of the artworks. That helped me and hopefully the whole team stay focused and energized.” You can check out some of these gorgeous paintings on World Jazz For Haiti’s page on Facebook and also read a recent update of the Canadian Red Cross' relief efforts in that country. NOTE: Sunday night’s concert begins at 8 p.m. Admission is $25. 2261 Dundas St. W. 416.531.6604 For more information, please visit www.worldjazzforhaiti.com

Slide Magic

2010-09-22T11:34:00.004-04:00

Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt is one of the most expressive slide guitarists in the world, and you shouldn't miss the chance to see him when he plays here this Saturday.

I saw him before he won a Grammy Award in 1994 with Ry Cooder for their album, A Meeting by the River. The show lasted three hours and it was unbelievable.

I’m familiar with classical Indian music but I’d never seen an Indian musician playing slide before. He has phenomenal technique but he also plays with a whole lot of soul.

When I interviewed him he told me that he came across a guitar that a student of his dad’s had left behind in their home in India. He began experimenting with it – modifying its structure and adding 14 extra strings – and came up with an instrument he called the Mohan Veena.

Essentially, VM plays an instrument that sounds like the sitar and sarod but also can also produce Hawaiian and blues slide sounds. Watching him playing it will leave you slack-jawed. Sleepless Nights is his most recent record and it features him playing with Matt Malley, the former bassist for Counting Crows.

Malley has been practising yoga since the late 1980s, and it was during a pilgrimage to India that he met Bhatt. The two became good friends, Malley began studying with Bhatt, and they ended up recording Sleepless Nights last year.

V.M. Bhatt plays the Betty Oliphant Theatre Saturday at 7 p.m.

THERE’S A RIOT GOIN’ ON!

2010-09-17T17:15:00.002-04:00

The Dominion on Queen has quickly become ground zero for fans of rockabilly music thanks to the efforts of The East End Rockabilly Riot. It was responsible for bringing the legendary Sleep Labeef to the historic pub in July and I was fortunate to catch his blazing show. The joint’s gonna be jumpin’ again tonight and tomorrow ‘cause that’s when the second annual East End Rockabilly Weekend happens. David Faris, who helps promote EERR gigs, says Steve Good, whose rockabilly combo Tennessee Voodoo Coupe is the host band for the events, came up with the plan to promote the music. “The idea was to present a great night of live rockabilly music along with a DJ spinning red hot rockabilly cuts,” says Faris, who DJs at the shows. “It's meant to be more than just a band night, and for our annual weekend event we’ve added rock 'n' roll movies, a vintage hot rod show, rock 'n' roll dance lessons, and photography and tattoo flash art to the mix. We also booked the events into the Dominion on Queen, a nice room on the east side of town that suits the music quite well.” The Royal Crowns, who were one of the highlights of last year’s event, play the Dominion tonight with Bloodshot Bill and the Handcuffs and The Swingin’ Blackjacks. The Millwinders kick things off on Saturday with a matinee show and the evening triple bill features The Howlin’ Hound Dogs, local faves Tennessee Voodoo Coupe – who call their music “100 proof reckless hillbilly jive” – and Canadian Rockabilly Hall of Famer Ronnie Hayward. Admission to tonight’s show is $15, $20 will get you in on Saturday, and a weekend pass is $30. 500 Queen St. E. (416) 368-6893. www.myspace.com/eastendrockabillyriot FIVE FOR MILES Over five Fridays next month, trumpeter Brownman will lead five different all-star groups through five eras of Miles Davis' career. Tonight, he’ll play a small sampling of each weeks flavours – from Davis' time in Charlie Parker's band in the late 40's through to his electric periods in the 80's. "Throughout his career, his musical explorations caused him to turn his back on five eras of jazz in order to move forward," Brownman (born Nick Ali) told me the last time he played the series. "And that's what makes him one of my greatest influences and one of the most important figures in jazz -- his courage to move forth into the blackness of the unknown.” 8 p.m. $15. 964 Bathurst St. And speaking of Davis’ electric period, I highly recommend Bitches Brew: The Legacy Edition. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the release of the revolutionary record and the event is being celebrated with a three-disc set comprising two CDs that contain the original double album along with several bonus cuts, and a DVD that contains a previously unissued concert filmed in Copenhagen in 1969. Few groups mixed rock and jazz like this one. The rhythm section featured two bassists, two drummers, two pianists, and a percussionist and the music they made was visceral, atmospheric and energizing. VIVA COLOMBIA! It’s a sad reality but many associate Colombia with kidnapping, civil war and narco-terrorism. Here’s hoping a weekend celebration of the South American nation at Harbourfront helps change some people’s one-dimensional view of the country. Vibrant Colombia Diaspora Festival begins today and features theatre, dance, music, visual arts, food and family activities. Being a music head, I recommend you check out Orquesta Fantasia, a 12-piece that’s been playing salsa, cumbia and bachata for 30 years, and the Diego Marulanda Quintet. For detailed info, please visit http://www.harbourfrontcentre.com/

So you wanna be a writer?

2010-09-14T18:54:00.004-04:00

If you're a first-year journalism student and need help curing the writer's block blues, please contact me. I have been playing with words for more than 15 years. I have written for high-profile publications like The Toronto Sun where I was a news reporter and a music columnist, as well as the alternative newsweeklies NOW and EYE where I covered issues such as racism, censorship, social justice and municipal affairs. I have also taught first and third-year journalism classes at Centennial College and at Ryerson University. These positions required me to design course outlines, teach story structure, identify and correct spelling, grammar and punctuation errors, and to share my excellent interviewing and research skills. In addition, I have conducted writing workshops at high schools and at community centres for 'at risk' youth. I bring discipline and compassion to the table and I like challenging students. Nothing gives me a bigger high than inspiring an aspiring writer to really let their voices fly and express themselves in a way they never thought they could. If this note speaks to you, email me at enaz@openflows.net

Twist & Shout!

2010-09-03T14:35:00.002-04:00

Now I know what Michael Wrycraft means when he calls Christine Duncan & the 20-member Element Choir “an astounding avant-choir that must be seen and heard to be believed.”

I sampled the group’s music on its myspace page where Duncan says exploring “textural and timbral sound qualities, soundscapes, rhythmic patterns, sound poetry, group and individual composition ideas, musical genre interplay and extended voice techniques” is what the choir is all about.

Not exactly a group you’d expect to hear at a Beatles tribute night.

But, Wrycraft, who dreams up these fantastic concepts – his tributes to Elton John, Tom Waites, Simon and Garfunkel have featured an eclectic bunch of singers and players – didn’t hesitate to book the Choir to play Twist & Shout, a tribute to the Fab Four at Hugh's Room tonight.

Coming together for this magical musical tour are Wendell Ferguson, George Koller with Pat Murray, James Keelaghan, Scott McCord & the Bonafide Truth Horn Section, Michael Occhipinti with Lester McLean, and Maury Lafoy and Graham Powell.

“At my shows, I always like to have some kind of featured vocal performance beyond whatever wonderful singer-songwriters I might have on the bill,” he explains. “Christine Duncan is a vocal adventurer, improviser, innovator and teacher who leads a extraordinary choir of like-minded vocal adventurers who perform with anywhere from eight to 80 members.

“Think Glee on mushrooms,” he adds. “They’ll be singing – or more correctly performing – A Little Help From My Friends and Help.”

And tearing up Happiness Is A Warm Gun and In My Life in her own inimitable way will be Alejandra Ribera.

Wrycraft says that for almost two years his friends had been raving about the singer and that he finally caught her in Memphis earlier this year.

“I stumbled into a small intimate room where she was performing, sat very close and almost had the flesh torn off my skull!” he raves. “This woman’s a force of nature and I vowed to get her on the next show I could. After turning me down a couple of times, she finally said yes.” Ribera explained why she chose to reinterpret the two tunes.

“The contrast of ironic visual imagery – stemming from a gun magazine take-off on the original Snoopy cartoon – against the visceral and suggestive sexual and drug references creates a really wonderful tension that I'm drawn to,” she says. “I didn't grow up listening to The Beatles and I have often been criticized for writing songs that sound like two songs that should have been recorded separately.

“It’s been a great pleasure to discover that this so-called disjointed approach was often used by this innovative group.”

Wrycraft agrees.

“The Beatles' genius was the ability to write hundreds of fantastic, memorable songs in just about every style and genre and apparently effortlessly,” he says. “A stunning, serendipitous meeting of fertile musical minds for a short period of time that changed music as the world knew it forever.” NOTE: Twist & Shout happens tonight at Hugh’s Room. 8: 30 p.m. Admission is $25. (416) 531-6604

Northern Soul!

2010-08-27T10:57:00.002-04:00

Winnipeg isn’t exactly a hotbed of soul music and that’s evidenced by the two bonafide soulsters that it’s given us over the last eight years.

Remy Shand impressed mightily with his 2002 debut, The Way I Feel, and then disappeared off our radars. 2010 is set to be Treasa Levasseur’s year and I’m hoping she doesn’t fall off the musical map like Shand.

When I profiled singer and multi-instrumentalist here last year, I wrote that her album, Low Fidelity, is all Stax-influenced soul and blues and that her voice lends itself nicely to those sounds. Well, judging from a recent interview, her next disc is going to be an even more soulful affair.

If you stop by the Silver Dollar tomorrow night, you’ll hear tunes from her upcoming album including songs she recorded in Memphis’ famed Royal Studios with Lawrence ‘Boo’ Mitchell, the son of the late legendary producer Willie Mitchell. An added bonus is that Levasseur, who usually performs with a quartet, will be accompanied by a bigger band that includes a couple of horn players.

Watch for the first single to drop in Canada in late September, she says, “with a 45 of the other two tunes – yes on vinyl! – to be released in November.”

“Playing with legends like (Rufus Thomas’ son) Marvel Thomas, Hots Cleveland (who’s in BB King’s band), and Lanny Richardson (who’s played with soul giants Al Green and Ann Peebles) was the fulfillment of a dream and Memphis will always have a special place in my heart,” she says.

Levasseur’s love affair with the musical mecca began inadvertently three years back. Her flight to Chicago was cancelled due to a snowstorm and she ended up stuck in Memphis. Fortuitously, she crossed paths with Cindy Cogbill (of Folk Alliance International) who invited her to visit the Stax Museum of American Soul Music.

"Knowing little to nothing about Stax, I said, 'Yes,' and when I arrived there, we were hurried into the main studio where all of the stars of Stax, including Dave Porter, Steve Cropper and Isaac Hayes, held a three-hour press conference in the round, sharing stories of the glory days of the label,” Levasseur told me. "For me, that was like mainlining Memphis soul crack. I got hooked right away. That random act of Southern hospitality changed my life completely!"

That experience inspired her to write Stuck In Soulsville, a song that made the rounds in Memphis and reached the ears of some influential folks.

“Charley Burch (a famed record producer and artist manager) came to catch a set of mine in a hotel room and walked right in on me singing Stuck In Soulsville with a couple of people dancing on the bed... and he was hooked,” Levasseur says. “He brought me to Royal and introduced me to Willie and Boo Mitchell.

“I think what they like about my sound is that it's a tribute to the Memphis soul sound while still having my very own thing,” she adds. “We had such a blast in the studio and everyone there said they didn't really know there was an old soul music scene happening in Canada.” NOTE: Treasa Levasseur and her band are the Silver Dollar Saturday. 8 p.m. $12.

Jazzy Belles

2010-08-21T00:09:00.002-04:00

The fact that she rarely records or performs led England’s Guardian newspaper to call Mary Margaret O’Hara “one of modern music's most mysterious creatures.”

The last time we saw and heard the inimitable singer – who R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe called "one of the most powerful singers I've ever heard ... a performer of astonishing force" – was at Hugh’s Room last November when she was part of a tribute to Tom Waits.

Singer Yvette Tollar, who conceptualized the Women In Jazz series, has managed to do what very few have done – inspire O’Hara to sing in a club again. O’Hara will be joining Tollar at Lula Lounge Wednesday and they’ll be backed by an all-star band that includes guitarist Kevin Breit, violin virtuoso Hugh Marsh and bassist Rich Brown.

“I can identify with Mary in that she’is never bound by genres,” Tollar says. “Her wildly successful album, Miss America, is alternative pop/rock, but if she sings a folk tune or a Christmas carol it will make you melt and regardless of genre you know it's her immediately.

“I heard Mary sing live for the first time at the Canwest Cabaret festival,” she adds. “Her version of In A Sentimental Mood just stopped me in my tracks. She seems to have an unobstructed connection with the divine and I thought, ‘I hope to have a chance to play with her one day.’”

Tollar says the two hung out at a jam session after the show, exchanged email addresses, and O’Hara came to her CD release concert a few months later. That’s when Tollar proposed working together.

“Mary is gracious and warm and said yes right away,” she says. “Although, it did take over a year to book the date with her.”

And what can we expect to hear at the show?

“There’ll be some improv, we're also going to do some tunes from my CD (Ima), some Kevin Breit tunes, and some favourite tunes from movies.”

8:30 p.m. $20. 1585 Dundas St. W. 416.588.0307 STOP THE VIOLENCE

Juno award-winning hip hop duo Ghetto Concept and R&B singer Kim Davis will headline the fifth annual urbanNOISE festival - a free, all-ages arts festival organized by young people in the Rexdale and Jamestown communities to inspire youth to stand up to violence.

According to its site, UrbanNOISE began in 2006 as a joint production of Expect Theatre and Arts Etobicoke and says its mandate is to provide arts training to at-risk youth in North Etobicoke while fighting the popular perception of Rexdale as a gang war zone.

UrbanNOISE says this year’s event was organized by “a group of young urbanNoise Ambassadors from the area, including gang-influenced youth, community activists, local artists and students.

"We are dedicated to serving our community and tearing down the misconceptions and stereotypes that have been plaguing our area,” the organization says. “Having experienced the trials and tribulations that come with living in the area, we joined the UrbanNoise team to help demonstrate that there is a wealth of talent, motivation and determination from our youth to make a positive difference."

UrbanNOISE happens Saturday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on the grounds of the Albion Library. 1515 Albion Road (across the street from the mall). www.urbannoise.ca ALL BLUE

The CNE Bandshell Blues Festival happens Saturday and features some big names in Canadian blues.

The bill includes the Johnny Max Big Band, The Rick Fines & Suzie Vinnick Big Band, Paul Reddick, and Kenny "Blues Boss" Wayne. The Maple Blues Revue also makes an appearance and will be joined by Chuck Jackson, John Mays, Chris Whiteley and Diana Braithwaite, and Duke Robillard.

It starts at 11 a.m. and wraps up at 5:30. Free with admission to the CNE. The Bandshell is on the CNE grounds directly south of the Dufferin gates.

Happy Birthday, Honey!

2010-08-13T11:04:00.007-04:00

This originally appeared in The Toronto Sun on Friday, August 13

Fifteen years back, I wrote about a brand new female-centric event called Honey Jam in these pages. What’s noteworthy about this is that the photo that accompanied

my column featured a young singer who called herself Nelstar. It was Nelly Furtado and it was the first time she’d been featured in a major daily.

If the women in your past include Nelly Furtado, Jully Black and Divine Brown, you have a right to boast. And Honey Jam has earned that right with kudos to spare.

I first wrote about the then-brand-new-female-centric event in these pages 15 years ago. And it's noteworthy that the photo accompanying the column featured a young singer who called herself Nelstar. It was Nelly Furtado. And -- as she reminded me recently -- it was the first time she'd been featured in a major daily newspaper.

The Jam went on to become a hugely popular showcase of mainly black female artists, and as its profile grew, so did the level of talent that graced the bills. Singers like Black and Brown performed at Honey Jam and a legion of young women were suddenly inspired to take the stage and entertain a career in the music industry.

The event’s longevity can be directly attributed to the sweat and tears that founder Ebonnie Rowe invested in it.

“For more than half of its 15 years, I spent my own money from my job as a full-time legal secretary to finance it,” she says. “It's been a struggle every year to get support since arts funding has been cut and corporations have slashed their marketing budgets.

“I was laid off from my law firm job last year, so things were really strained all around,” Rowe adds. “Many similar size events and festivals chose to shut down recently because it just got too hard. I was advised to do the same or at least take a break, but I didn't want to become recession roadkill. I didn't want to be defeated, to end this thing based not on my own decision but on outside circumstances.”

Rowe soldiered on and says that sustaining Honey Jam “required a huge leap of faith and, some might say, insanity. I had to believe that things would come together, and they did. We made it through last year and this year is better still.”

More than 15 aspiring young artists will help celebrate Honey Jam’s 15th anniversary Sunday at the Mod Club, and to further mark this auspicious occasion, they’ve recorded Nelly Furtado’s I’m Like a Bird. You can buy it on iTunes later this month and the proceeds will be shared by Honey Jam and the YWCA Toronto programs for women and girls.

Rowe says the first Honey Jam was supposed to be a one-off event and she never thought she’d be organizing it for the next 15 years. It was filling a void and the public demanded it, she says, and it became her life’s work.

“I love music and supporting and helping women,” Rowe says. “And I love promoting and supporting charitable causes and mentoring and providing educational opportunities.” Despite the gains made my women in the music industry, positions of power are still held by men.

Still, Rowe says she’s encouraged by the changes she’s seen since Honey Jam’s inception.

“I see more women in senior positions in the industry, including two members of my board - Vivian Barclay who runs Warner Chappell Music Canada and Aisha Wickham Thomas who runs the Canadian Independent Recording Artists' Association,” she says. “There are more women in every area - artists, DJs, producers, managers, writers, photographers, promoters. “We’ve come a long way, but there’s more progress to be made.”

Honey Jam happens this Sunday (Aug. 15) at the Mod Club. 8 p.m. $25. 722 College St. honeyjam.ca

To Jamaica, With Love

2010-08-06T12:02:00.004-04:00

Frolicking on a beach was not on singer/songwriter Dylan Murray’s mind when he first visited Jamaica 12 years ago. The then-18-year-old was on a nobler mission - one that would profoundly influence his life and music. Murray’s parents had told him about Fintan Kilbride, a former priest who’d launched an international cooperative educational summer school program at Neil McNeil Catholic Secondary School in 1991. The goal was to introduce high school students to the lifestyles of people in poor countries and Kilbride would take groups to Jamaica on a work/study trip for two weeks each summer. The program - later christened Students Without Borders - continues to send groups twice yearly to Jamaica. According to its website, “participants work in some of the most impoverished areas of Kingston in a variety of settings, including a school in a shanty community built on Kingston's landfill site, a home for children with HIV, and a home for abandoned seniors.” Like most North Americans who visit a developing nation for the first time, Murray quickly realized how fortunate he is. “I remember meeting and spending time with a seven-year-old girl who was at one of the summer schools we were visiting,” he recalls. “While the other children were running around, she sat in the class and worked on the little assignments they were given and I did my best to help her. While she worked so diligently, I remember thinking that I had so many more opportunities in Canada than she did and that I need to make sure I was trying my best. “I was so inspired by her that when I got back to Toronto, I brought my grades up from about a C average to an A+ that year,” Murray adds. “I realized that I was really taking many things for granted.” The first visit was so life-changing that he found himself returning for the next 12 years. On recent trips, he and his family spent time at an orphanage in Montego Bay and Kingston. “The children at the orphanage in Mo’ Bay range in age from a couple months to around 5 years and most of them just want to be picked up and held, like most children do,” Murray says. “Unfortunately, they don't get enough one-on-one time since there are just too many children for the amount of staff so we spend most of our time just playing with the kids. The orphanage in Kingston is also a very special place. All the children there are HIV-positive and range from a couple years old up to about 13.” Subsequent trips to Jamaica saw him teaching kids how to read and play guitar, as well as spending time writing and recording music. After all, the country is ground zero for reggae fanatics and Murray counts himself as one. Reggae and folk are the preeminent sounds on Murray’s excellent EP, White Wing Roots, and his thoughtful songs of social injustice and love are delivered in a sweet, soulful, evocative voice. And if you weren’t familiar with his background, you’d be forgiven for thinking he was born and raised in Jamaica. Spending time in the ghetto community of White Wing has clearly influenced the way he sings. “Yeah, every so often people ask me, ‘Are you Jamaican?’” he tells me. “In the beginning, I would try to sound like some of my favourite reggae artists - people like Bob Marley, Sizzla, Capleton and Beres Hammond - but years later, I found my own sound.” And how has Jamaica responded to his music? “From the very beginning, the people have showed a lot of love, respect and support for my sound,” Murray says. “I’ll always be grateful for that. It's such a blessing to hear your music being played in the heart of the ghetto as well as uptown.” NOTE: Dylan Murray and his band play an all-ages gig at Revival tonight. 10 p.m. $15

Summer Madness

2010-08-04T13:47:00.003-04:00

The annual SummerWorks Festival starts tomorrow and its music component features a real original – singer/musician Maylee Todd. Summerworks is a well-known independent theatre festival and on its site it calls itself “the place where dedicated, professional artists are free to explore new territory and take artistic risks.” And Maylee Todd is definitely doing that. Not only is she making some of the most catchy and adventurous pop in this city, but she also incorporates performance art in her shows. See for yourself when Maylee plays the Performance Bar at The Lower Ossington Theatre Friday. Or pick up her CD, Choose Your Own Adventure. Maylee was born to an English/ French father and a Filipino/ Spanish mother. She credits her dad, who’s an Elvis impersonator, for hipping her to jazz and Brazilian music. She’s done musical theatre, stand-up comedy, played in several bands, and covered Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth” in a Telus commercial. And she makes some truly bizarre videos, too. Aside from Maylee, I suggest you check out Kamau, a brilliant rapper/poet. Theatre, of course, is the main focus of the festival and I highly recommend Word! Sound! Powah! which I saw at the Fringe Festival This is a powerful one-woman show featuring dbi young. She is absolutely mesmerizing as she plays several different characters who are affected by the elections in Jamaica in 1980. For more details on the festival, please visit http://www.summerworks.ca/2010/home.php

Sweet Steel

2010-07-31T22:14:00.003-04:00

It’s one of few acoustic instruments invented in the 20th Century, but the history behind the humble steel pan and the directions that musical innovators are taking it are the real stories. For evidence of the latter, all you had to do was witness Mark Mosca performing Flight of the Bumblebee with ease and grace on his steel pan at last weekend’s Beaches Jazz Festival. I watched in awe. It’s not often you see a steel pan player fronting a group – in this case, Canefire – while smashing people’s perceptions of the instrument at the same time. “Mark is quite simply one of the world's best pan players,” Canefire’s Jeremy Ledbetter says. “In the pan world, there are a lot of conventions that everyone uses in their steel band arrangements. If you put all those elements together, you get a formula or template that most arrangers follow. “Mark doesn't use the template,” he adds. “His arrangements are very progressive and always sound like he’s trying to do new and inventive things. When Mark's band loses a competition, the judges say it was because they had ‘too much music.’ I've actually heard them say that.” Mosca, whose Silhouette Steel Orchestra performs at Harbourfront Sunday, credits his dad for turning him on to the pan. “I learned my first tune at the age of 5 – it was a song called Sugar Bum Bum by the late great Lord Kitchener of Trinidad – and I eventually fell in love with the mellow sounds of the pan,” he says. “Seeing that I’d been playing the piano for a while, this instrument felt like a steel piano to me and I ended up becoming the first person to take the jazz program at Humber College with the steel pan being my lead instrument.” Mosca’s been playing professionally for 20 years and is heartened by the instrument’s rising profile, noting that several bands all over the world are sticking the steel pan player up front. “Back in the day, the instrument’s tonal quality couldn’t compare to, say, the saxophone or even the piano when it was used in a combo setting,” he says. “What I mean is that the way the instrument is being made has improved drastically. The pan tuners have become experts in manipulating the steel to produce a high quality instrument that’s on par tonally with the sax or the piano. This makes the pan more internationally acceptable, especially amongst musicians who play with other types of bands and instruments.” A graduate of the Royal Conservatory of Music, Mosca says he approaches playing the pan as he would any other instrument. “You have to do your homework and you can never stop,” he says. “It must be an ongoing process of practicing different styles and patterns on the instrument. Getting your own personal technique is of utmost importance.” Mosca’s clearly not content being an innovator, hence his involvement with the Silhouettes. Youth are the focus of the Scarborough-based ensemble that his dad, Danny, formed in 1979. “It’s great to see young people taking a liking to the steel pan,” he says. “And many are studying it in depth, learning the fundamentals. In Trinidad, which is the home of the pan, they’ve now expanded the school curriculum to include the steel pan as a major subject, and it’s great that so many schools here have added steel pan classes to their agenda.” Ledbetter feels the Silhouettes are “a positive force in the community, teaching young people to play music in a way that’s fun and communal. “The steel band gives young people a place where they are a part of something bigger, where they feel they belong, where they play music instead of playing with guns. That's why you find steel pan schools all over the world because the potential of the instrument as a way for young people to create something positive together is amazing.” NOTE: Silhouette Steel Orchestra play Harbourfront’s Redpath Stage Sunday at 5:30 p.m. Free.

Dub & Beyond

2010-07-23T21:32:00.003-04:00

As evidenced by six crucial albums that comprise the critically-acclaimed Jamaica to Toronto series released by an American (!) independent label a few years back, this city was a hotbed of crucial reggae, soul and funk some 40 years back.

You wouldn’t know that if you lived here at that time since the music didn’t get any love from the mainstream media. Forward-wind to 2010 and the situation is the same.

But just because reggae’s mainstream profile is static, it doesn’t mean there isn’t a local scene.

Tune in to college radio shows like Carrie Mullings’ Rebel Vibez on CHRY (105.5) FM or check out reggae and dub parties like Super Heavy Reggae or Dub & Beyond to hear and see what’s up.

Or pick up these three essential discs: Aram Scaram’s Citizen Sound, Renegade Rocker from Dubmatix and Shatter The Hotel: A Dub Inspired Tribute to Joe Strummer which was produced by Prince Blanco.

“The local scene is really exciting right now,” says Scaram, a DJ and producer who’s co-hosted Version Xcursion on CKLN (88.1) FM with Sassa'le for the last 13 years. “Toronto has some great vocalists and producers who are making world-class reggae right here. In the past, there was this belief that you had to go to Jamaica to get a real reggae sound, but that’s no longer the case.

“Dubmatix is a perfect example,” he adds. “His sound is heavy, he’s worked with so many legends in reggae and he’s gained respect worldwide - and he does it all right here.”

If the above-mentioned records prove anything, it’s that some cutting edge dub is being made in this city at a pretty hectic pace. Sure, there are some throwaway tracks on each of those discs, but they’re great introductions to compelling new voices like Ammoye.

“I like Ammoye a lot,” says Scaram, who invited her to lend her sweet, emotive vocals to Citizen Sound. “She’s been recording with Dubmatix and Natewize and is definitely an artist to look out for. Treson is also a really talented voice so look out for him, and Dubmatix has a new album (System Shakedown) coming out in the fall featuring Jamaican reggae legends like Gregory Isaacs, Tippa Irie and The Mighty Diamonds.”

To that list, add names like Jason Wilson, Bonjay, Melodic Yoza and Dylan Murray.

One of Citizen Sound’s selling points is that it isn’t a rehash of classic Jamaican reggae rhythms or repertoire.

“The production style is influenced by reggae, however, I wanted to bring modern elements into the production and sound and hopefully create something unique and exciting,” Scaram says. “I didn't want to do a straight-up traditional reggae album, but I did want to approach it from a riddim perspective so the songs were built always with the music first and then I’d pick the right artist to do a version.

“The first song on the album was inspired by a classic song (Wa Do Dem) and Ammoye’s soulful toasting really sets the tone for the CD,” he adds. “Finally, in the tradition of sound system culture, part of my future plans for this project will be to get other artists doing versions on these riddims along with remixes.”

Scaram sure knows how to shake things up in the studio and on the air, and this appeals to Prince Blanco, who won a Juno this year with Dubmatix for their single Gonna Be Alright.

“I've listened to Version Xcursion for many years and what I love is the fact that it's not just two hours of straight reggae or dub, not that there would be anything wrong with that of course, but the guys rinse all the off-shoots of bass culture like drum & bass, trip-hop and dubstep,” Blanco says. “And their Canadian Spotlight segment is essential for artists like myself when it comes to promoting a new single, album or remix since it provides one of the few terrestrial radio outlets left that will give exposure to what we're trying to put out there.”

Incidentally, Blanco composed the rhythm for Reggae Is Her Name, the album’s Juno-worthy single. A sweet love letter to reggae, it features Blessed and is one of the disc’s standout tracks.

“I gave him the theme and he took that concept and wrote great lyrics, delivered a strong performance and tells a great story,” Scaram says. “I think we created something really special with that song – a tribute to the music I love and the music that has inspired me as a producer, and inspired the Citizen Sound project.”

Sweet & Shorty!

2010-07-16T09:46:00.002-04:00

"We walked in and the place was jumping. There was this little funk band but they were all playing brass instruments, which is something I'd never heard of or seen before. We were just mesmerized by him."

That’s The Edge, from that hugely popular rock group, recalling the first time he saw Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews & Orleans Avenue in full flight.

And here’s what master trumpeter Wynton Marsalis has to say about the 24-year-old Nawlins native: "Shorty possesses the rarest combination of talent, technical capability and down-home soul. I'm his biggest fan."

While testimonials like that have definitely raised the group’s profile, we don’t really need The Edge or Marsalis to tell us what a fantastic musician Shorty is. Just spend some time with the group’s major label debut, Backatown, which debuted at Number One on Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz Album chart and has been sitting in the top five for nearly three months.

It’s a gritty, high-octane combination of funk, rock, R&B and hip-hop that Shorty calls “supafunkrock” and not surprisingly, it’s making converts fast.

We’ll get the rare opportunity to see Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue give one of its legendary shows when the group plays Woodbine Park Saturday night as part of the Beaches International Jazz Festival.

I don’t use the word legendary loosely. This crew played 200 dates last year so come ready to hear a well-oiled machine that plays with the energy of a rock band.

Shorty began playing trombone when he was four, taking part in brass brand parades and performing at the famous New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival when he was 10.

At 19, the multi-instrumentalist toured the world with Lenny Kravitz and the ax man returned the favour by singing and playing on the album’s single, Something Beautiful.

“Shorty’s a genius,” said Kravitz, “He plays his ass off and he’s a beautiful human being.” And in 2006, Shorty joined U2 and Green Day for a concert to reopen the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina had devastated his hometown.

The horn virtuoso says when it came time to record Backatown, he and band mates Mike Ballard, Pete Murano, Joey Peebles, Dwayne Williams and Dan Oestreicher “weren't afraid to approach a bunch of different musical styles - rock music, R&B, whatever - just because there's a horn in front. We just did what we do, and over time we developed something fresh.” NOTE: Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue play the main stage Saturday at 8:30 p.m. Other highlights of the three-day festival include performances by Digging Roots, Jay Douglas & The All-Stars featuring Rusty, Canefire, Alejandra Ribera, and Son Ache Sunday. For dates and set times, visit www.beachesjazz.com/woodbine.html

Soul For Real!

2010-07-14T12:40:00.004-04:00

Judging from the feedback I’ve received from listeners over the years, I’ve discovered that many are huge fans of classic soul and R&B.

The disc I reviewed on CBC Radio Wednesday will definitely appeal to you if you count yourself a fan of those styles.

R&B Hipshakers Volume One: Teach Me To Monkey is the title of the disc and it’s a fantastic collection of R&B gems that were recorded between 1956 and 1967.

When I listen to albums like this I often wish I was around at that time to see all this amazing music being made. A lot of great soul and R&B was being made in the late 50s, 60s and 70s so you’re probably wondering if these cuts appeared on a particular label or different labels. All these songs were released by the Federal and King labels in the U.S.

The King label was founded in 1943 by Sydney Nathan and its focus was on country music. He noticed that black music was being ignored by major labels so he set up a subsidiary label and called it Federal. So you had this unique label where country artists covered R&B songs and black musicians dabbled in country. A DJ who goes by the name of Mr. Fine Wine chose the songs on this collection.

He hosts a popular show called Downtown Soulsville on WFMU, a New Jersey radio station, and he dug deep into Federal and King’s vaults to find these songs. He also included songs that had never been reissued.

Here's an excerpt from the liner notes that Fine Wine wrote:

"This collection of genuine King and Federal R&B sides encompasses crazy dances (the impossible-but-highly entertaining-to-picture 'Slummer The Slum'; 'Posin'', which beat Madonna to the voguing punch by some 30 years); intense guitar instrumentals (what can you say about a label employing so many superstar guitar slingers that even Freddie King probably has to fight for a spot in one's top 3, what with Johnny Watson, Ike Turner, Mickey Baker and Lowman Pauling staking pretty strong claims for inclusion themselves?); inspired forays into mind-altering whimsy ('Hog Killin' Time', the first of a trilogy of swinetingling masterpieces by Eddie Kirk, along with 'The Hawg' on Volt and 'The Grunt' on Fortune); the timeless ode to male horniness 'One Zippy Zam'; and hook-filled, honest-to-goodness love songs (try to get 'I Don't Know About You' out of your head - or your heart)."

The record comes to us courtesy of Vampisoul, a hip reissue label based in Madrid. It’s been around for 8 years and it continously releases fantastic music from Africa and Latin America as well as obscure soul and funk recordings from the US and Europe.

For more info, visit http://www.vampisoul.com/

Colombia!

2010-07-07T22:32:00.003-04:00

In commemoration of the 200th anniversary of Colombian independence, Lula Lounge will be presenting a series of shows from now until July 24. Las Alegres Ambulancias makes a very rare appearance at Lula Thursday. And there’s a lot of history in their music. It was formed in 1905 and was declared “a treasure of intangible heritage” by UNESCO in 2005. The village they come from is called Palenque de San Basilio and it was settled by escaped slaves in the 17th century. Las Alegres is led by 78-year-old Graciela Salgado Valdez, a master drummer and singer, and the group performs several traditional music styles that reflect its Afro-Colombian roots. “Graciela is a master drummer and singer and currently the female chief of the lumbalú cabildo, a prestigious position assigned to her through family lineage,” Ruben ‘Beny’ Esguerra, a Colombian-born multi-instrumentalist and ethnomusicologist, told me in an interview. “In the Spanish and Portuguese colonies, the cabildos were mutual aid societies where African cultures were sustained and pan-African culture began to develop in the Americas during and after slavery.” Esguerra says that Palenque de San Basilio, where the group came together, is a village near Cartagena where many well-known musical traditions originated. Percussion instruments, vocals and hand-clapping all feature prominently in these styles. In the 70s and 80s, DJs in cities on Colombia’s Caribbean coast began mixing African, Caribbean, and Latin rhythms like highlife, compas, afrobeat and soca. The result was a layered, percussion-heavy dance sound they called champeta. These DJs influenced a bunch of bands that began replicating this sound live, and until recently the 21 tracks that are on Palenque, Palenque: Champeta, Criolla & Afro-Roots in Colombia were very hard to find since they were released on a small label in Colombia. You can hear this music on a wicked compilation titled Palenque, Palenque: Champeta, Criolla & Afro-Roots in Colombia. It just came out and you should be able to find it some of the specialty record stores around town. Lula Lounge is at 1585 Dundas West. For more info on the series, visit www.lulalounge.ca

Fringe Fest

2010-07-02T23:47:00.002-04:00

(This originally appeared in The Toronto Sun)

It's that time of year again, and with the Fringe: Toronto's Theatre Festival in full swing, we had Errol Nazareth out and about on Wednesday night catching up with a few of the more than 150 shows that make up this, the 22nd edition of the popular smorgasbord of alternate theatre.

Here's Errol's take on what he saw — and stay tuned. Errol's passed off the torch to theatre critic John Coulbourn, who will be wading in throughout the remainder of the Fringe Festival to offer his postcard perspectives on a few of the show's he's managed to catch in his wandering through the Fringe. The Tightrope (Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace)

“The circus lets them believe the fantasy, let’s them believe the lie. It lets them live their dreams through us.”

Those words are spouted not my some embittered unemployed clown but by the lion tamer in a travelling circus. I mean, isn’t he supposed to play hypeman instead of being so dark?

Not in The Tightrope, which offers a depressing and often moving look at life behind the big tent through the eyes of Sheila, the daughter of a travelling circus family. Incidentally, her family – mom’s a domineering, cheating ringmistress and dad’s a washed up, often drunk lion tamer – is a circus in itself.

Sheila fondly recalls growing up around “the smell of popcorn and hay” and aspiring to join

The Amazing Johnny up on his tightrope. As this engaging play progresses, Sheila’s rejection of the circus begins to surface and at one point she confesses that she’s forgotten “there’s a world outside this tent.”

Her performance has you empathizing with her every step of the way, but strong acting from her dad and mum, a mute who steals the show, a draft-dodging gofer, and the playboy tightrope walker make The Tightrope worth checking.

If there’s one line that captures the essence of Kate Fenton’s play, it is this: “Being up on the wire makes you think you’re free but you’re still stuck inside this tent.” Saucy Jack (Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace) Was he evil or just misunderstood?

That question is posed to the audience at the beginning of Saucy Jack, Doug McLauchlan’s powerful one-man play, and it’s one he forces us to ponder for the next 60 minutes.

And it’s asked by none other than Jack the Ripper who proudly tells us he won’t apologize and has no regrets for committing a string of heinous crimes in London in 1888.

In his quest to examine “evil in all its forms,” Saucy Jack – whose show is packed with memorable sound bites – transports himself to this century and asks us some tough questions about “the evil that men do.” He’s basically holding up a mirror and questioning if he’s really that bad.

Listing off the Holocaust, the number of civilian and military casualties of the ongoing wars in

Iraq and Afghanistan, citing the sexual abuse of children, and the environmental havoc we are wreaking upon the Earth, Jack asks how our actions compare to the prostitutes he killed.

“I may have put down five women, but your actions are putting down entire species,” he lectures.

An intense ride, for sure, but one that might inspire you to question your definition of evil by the end of the play. Word! Sound! Powah! A Biomyth Monodrama (Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace) D’bi.young excels in a genre she calls dub opera, “a hybrid of dub poetry and opera’s ability to communicate through music, drama and theatricality.”

And Word! Sound! Powah! is a perfect example of this.

The star of Da Kink In My Hair, young is a mesmerizing performer and ace storyteller who assumes several personalities – and does them damn well – in this, the last play in her trilogy titled Sankofa.

Word! Sound! Powah! is a one-woman tour-de-force that parachutes us into Jamaica in 1980.

It’s election year and political violence has claimed hundreds of lives. And if lives aren’t being lost, they’re certainly being affected.

In the space of an hour, young convincingly portrays a political poet enduring mental torture from a cop, the merciless interrogator, two poets who attend an arts camp which is a hotbed of political activism, a lying politician, a poor housemaid, and the arrested poet’s grandmother.

Young goes deep into each character and evokes all sorts of emotions from us in this magical and musical show.

Simply arresting!

For show times and ticket info, visit http://www.fringetoronto.com/

Jazz Fest workshop

2010-06-28T21:39:00.000-04:00

If you're not doing anything at 2 p.m. Tuesday come by the HMV Store at Nathan Phillips Square. I'm hosting a cool workshop - Jazz Across the Atlantic: The Influence of Classical East Indian Music on Jazz - with autorickshaw's Suba Sankaran.

Music & Politics

2010-06-27T20:50:00.001-04:00

So, the hugely disruptive and expensive G20 Summit is finally here, and considering how much we’ve bitched about it over the last several weeks, I would’ve been surprised if the weekend went by without a concert to protest the event.

Thanks to a bunch of roots musicians, I haven’t been let down.

Global Troubadours: Songs of Protest, Conscience and Hope happens at Hugh’s Room tonight and it features nearly a dozen artists including Hotcha!, Lucie Idlout, Ken Whiteley, and Jon Brooks. The gig kicks off the seventh annual Toronto City Roots Festival.

“In an era where the bankruptcy of most traditional institutions is evident – governments, religious, financial, and big corporate – where trust is eroded, and self-interest and short-sightedness seem the guiding principles, even in such an era, the world needs what the artist can provide,” says Howard Gladstone, the festival’s artistic director, who’ll be performing tonight.

“A well-crafted topical song can deliver plain speech in the face of distortion, moral clarity in the face of deception and beauty in the face of ugliness. It can even occasionally make a difference.”

Protest songs are big part of folk music so it shouldn’t surprise us that the musicians you’ll see at Hugh’s joined forces quickly to voice their dissent.

“Much of our music is written in the voice of rural working class people, and it’s in this spirit we felt compelled to add our voice to the rising tide of protest against the hypocritical, disgusting and wasteful display that is the G20 Summit,” Bev Kreller and Howard Druckman, who comprise Hotcha!, told me.

“It’s been especially galling to witness our government spending a billion of working peoples’ hard-earned tax dollars on this circus. And it’s equally infuriating to see small local businesses in downtown Toronto being forced to close their doors and lose substantial income because of ridiculously extreme ‘safety’ measures being taken for this event.”

Kreller says that her contemporaries in the roots music world haven’t shied away from tackling the issues of the day, adding that every generation of folk musicians includes more than a handful of socially conscious singer-songwriters.

Jon Brooks, who Kreller says “writes with stark realism about the struggles of love and war,” is one of them.

“As Brooks says, ‘The folk song should not tell us how to vote - today's topical folksingers should inspire us to vote. Where the citizens offer no vote, the state does so eagerly on the citizens behalf.’

“And in fact, this is why we will be living in a police state for the duration of the Summit – we had no vote.

Adds Druckman, “We read a post online by a guy named Roger Wilcox who said, ‘If the G20 want to be so secure they should rent Alcatraz.’”

2010-06-19T21:33:00.002-04:00

When Skratch Bastid proudly says that he, beatboxer Scratch, and DJ Starting From Scratch provide listeners with “a totally unique take on music,” it’s not mere hype.

Visit his site and listen to Skewed Empathy, a jam he recently composed. In his words, it features “classic Outkast and Raekwon verses over Crystal Castles’ latest single’s infectious rhythm.”

Listening to the track reminded me of something that Public Enemy’s longtime producer Hank Shocklee told Keyboard Magazine many years back.

“We believe that music is nothing but organized noise. You can take anything – street sounds, us talking, whatever you want – and make it music by organizing it. That’s still our philosophy. To show people that this thing you call music is a lot broader than you think it is.”

Shocklee’s comments and the fact that a back-to-basics hip-hop show is part of the jazz festival will irk a lot of jazz purists, but later for them, I say.

The trio brings its hot show, Scratch, Skratch, Scratch, to the Mod Club on College St. Thursday and chances are the joint’s going to be packed.

“It was inspired by the desire to take the live DJ experience one step further,” Skratch tells me. “As a DJ with two turntables, you can be limited by the amount of ideas you can execute at once. But, by combining two DJs and a 'human beatbox' with similar backgrounds in music, we don't have that restriction,” he adds. “We give the listener a totally unique take on music, beats and songs that they've most likely only heard in their original form their whole lives.”

So, what can you expect to hear Thursday other than t a whole lotta scratchin’?

“With two veteran DJs and one of the best beatboxers in the world (Scratch from the massively popular hip-hop band The Roots), our library of music is unlimited,” he says. “One of the greatest things about our show is that the energy is spontaneous. We really read the crowd and see what they’re feeling and where they want to go musically.

“Our show combines old school hip-hop, funk, soul, rock, house, new hip-hop and R&B and more, so we can really take the show wherever we feel that it wants to go on a given night. And you better believe we'll be throwing in some nods to the jazz greats this time around as well!”

In order to draw new audiences and stay alive, jazz festivals all over the world have been embracing non-jazz sounds for a while now. So-called jazz festivals in the Caribbean that I’ve attended feature more American R&B than straight-ahead jazz and even festivals here have begun programming more ‘world’ and soul acts.

Skratch says this festival is a perfect forum for the group.

“The jazz music approach of 'improvisations on a theme' is essentially what we do, but in a very non-traditional way. We're going to give the crowd a show they will not forget.”

As James Brown famously shouted on one of his classic songs, Skratch wants folks to come ready to get up, get into it, and get involved.

“Come ready to hear some great music and listen to us take you on a trip using bits and pieces of your favourite music and forgotten classics,” he says. “We hope people walk away knowing that they experienced something that was 'in the moment', original, and above all exciting.” NOTE: Tickets are $17.50 at Ticketmaster. The Mod Club is at 722 College St. Doors open at 9 p.m.

2010-06-16T11:07:00.002-04:00

Strummerville is a charitable organization in England that’s named after The Clash’s Joe Strummer.

It is also the title of an excellent documentary that’s part of North By Northeast’s film festival. It starts with a blast of The Clash on stage, and features interviews with the good folks who run Strummerville, several musicians that it’s helped, and footage of Joe performing after he disbanded The Clash.

The doc was made by Don Letts, the London-based DJ/broadcaster/and a friend of The Clash who won a Grammy in 2003 for his film, The Clash: Westway To The World.

And Carnival!, Letts’ definitive look at London’s massively popular Notting Hill Carnival, screens tonight at 7:30 p.m at the NFB as part of NXNE. You can see Strummerville this Saturday at 6:30 p.m at the Toronto Underground Cinema. (186 Spadina Ave.) Strummerville - the organization - was founded by family and friends of Joe Strummer’s in 2003, a year after he passed away suddenly. It’s a charity that helps new bands get a foot up by giving them money to buy instruments and providing them with rehearsal and recording space. Two comments in the film stood out for me.

One of the founders of Strummerville says: “I think Joe Strummer was an old soul with a child-like quality who had an enormous capacity for love yet he always seemed to be seeking it.” And Billy Bragg says, “I don’t believe in the legend of the Clash, I don’t believe in the myth of the Clash, I don’t even believe in the myth of Joe Strummer. But I do believe in the legacy of the Clash and the legacy of Joe Strummer.” We signed off with a version of the classic Clash track, London Calling, featuring Don Letts and Toronto’s Dubmatix. You can hear this track on the CD, Shatter The Hotel: A Dub Inspired Tribute to Joe Strummer. For more info on NXNE’s film program, visit http://nxne.com/film/2010-film-program

For more information on Strummerville: The Joe Strummer Foundation for New Music, go to http://www.strummerville.com/

Alexis' Blues

2010-06-04T09:20:00.004-04:00

With a voice as big as Woodbine Park and as deep as the lake next to it, Alexis P. Suter is going to destroy the Waterfront Blues Festival this weekend.

She’s been blowing audiences away with her hurricane force voice for a few years now, and the latest offering from the Alexis P. Suter Band, Just Another Fool, has received rave reviews in the blues media. Incidentally, Dan Akroyd has called Suter “America’s number one contender for the new Queen of the Blues.”

The crack 7-member group makes it Canadian debut at the free festival Sunday at 5 p.m.

Born in Brooklyn, NY, Suter has music in her blood. Her mother was a music teacher and an accomplished singer who worked with notables such as Harry Belafonte, Mahalia Jackson and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. She encouraged young Alexis to sing in recitals and gospel plays, and after breaking out on her own she had several dance music hits.

Listening to Just Another Fool, it’s evident that blues and soul is her calling and Suter credits her guitar and bass players – brothers Jimmy and Peter Bennett – for bringing her to the music.

Joining Suter at the event are several local and American heavy hitters.

Fathead, who rocked The Gladstone at last Friday’s 25th anniversary party for the Toronto Blues Society, perform tonight at 9 p.m.; Paul Reddick plays Saturday at 5 p.m.; Blackburn, whose Brotherhood CD is a personal favourite, perform at 7 p.m.; and hard rockin’ Lil Ed & The Blues Imperials bring their blistering Chicago Blues to the main stage at 9 p.m. Michelle Malone plays Sunday at 1 p.m., James Armstrong follows at 3 p.m., and the Alexis P. Suter Band wraps up the festival at 5 p.m.

Woodbine Park is at Eastern Ave. and Coxwell Ave. and is easily accessible by car and TTC. Please take a beach umbrella along since there are no shaded areas in the park. For more info, visit http://www.waterfrontblues.ca/

HERE COME THE DRUMS! The sound of drums will fill Queen’s Park this weekend when the Muhtadi International Drumming Festival takes over the spot for the 11th consecutive year.

Celebrating Women in Rhythm is the theme of this year’s event, and the main stage will spotlight several female percussionists representing an array of musical styles.

According to Muhtadi, the festival’s artistic director, “Women have always been a part of our drumming festival, but this year we wanted to put them centre stage for people to see just how many women are playing and the various kinds of drums they are playing.”

Some of the featured artists include Joy Lapps (solo steel pan sensation); Mousso Foli (West African rhythms); Primilia Williams (Sri Lankan percussion); Japanese taiko drumming by Isshin Daiko, and R.A.W. (Ragin’ Asian Women). There’ll be a special performance by Archie Alleyne protégé Jasmine Jones Ball and Aaron Suie Sieunarine.

Also appearing at the event will be Samba Squad, the East Indian Hummingbird Tassa Group, Dhol Circle, Korean drummers Samul Nori, Cameroonian percussionist Njacko Backo and Toumkak, and the Northern China Waist Drum and Dance Group.

The free festival runs Saturday and Sunday from noon to 8 p.m. For more info, visit http://www.muhtadidrumfest.com/

2010-05-28T12:58:00.002-04:00

Google ‘Blues Society’ or ‘Blues Societies’ and check out the first two results.

That’s testament to the high profile that the Toronto Blues Society, which celebrates its 25th anniversary at the Gladstone Hotel tonight, enjoys.

The all-blues evening features Shakura S’Aida, Fathead, The 24th Street Wailers, Harrison Kennedy, a live blues painting by Mark Smith, photo exhibits, poetry and movies.

“The Toronto Blues Society was founded around a big table at the back of Albert's Hall, a great blues bar that has now been converted into a betting parlour, during a surge of blues popularity,” recalls Derek Andrews, who started the organization with David Barnard and John Valenteyn.

“The scene had been revived with appearances by legendary artists like Junior Wells, Etta James and Albert King,” he says. “However, there was a concern that the tide would turn so we decided to set up a collective to bring supporters of the music together who would protect us in the event of a shifting interest.

“The 60s and 70s had seen waves of blues fans come and go, and we wanted to make sure the music was not forgotten,” Andrews adds.

The TBS has done a stellar job preserving and promoting Canadian blues over the last two-and-a-half decades. It publishes Maple Blues, a popular monthly newsletter; hosts the Maple Blues Awards each January; organizes guitar and harmonica workshops and annual events like the TBS Talent Search and the Women’s Blues Revue, and hips young ears to the music through its Blues In The Schools program.

“I’m one of a number of blues musicians and blues fans who`s been around since the days when there was no Toronto Blues Society and no supportive organizations like it,” veteran bassist and promoter Gary Kendall says. “What I like most about the TBS is that it brings together like-minded folks who either play the blues, listen to the blues, work in the blues business and most of all, love it as an art form. It also makes room for those who are just curious and want to find out what the blues is all about.”

Andrew Galloway, the president of Toronto-based Electro-Fi Records agrees with Kendall.

"I think what the TBS has done best over the last 25 years is to become the focal point for blues music here and in Canada,” Galloway says. “On a practical level, I've had (our releases) reviewed in their newsletter and within days had calls and orders for them not only from across Canada but also from Europe and the U.S.”

Andrews attributes the TBS’s longevity to the music he’s had a lifelong love affair with. “It’s honest music and it attracts people who look beyond trivia and celebrity, so the audience and the organization has prospered by placing artistic integrity high on our priority list,” he says. “The TBS has been creative and resourceful, leading the way amidst the rollin' and tumblin' of music evolution.” NOTE: Tonight’s celebration begins at 7 p.m. $15 TBS members / $20 public. The Gladstone Hotel is at 1214 Queen St W. FROM CLASSICAL TO CALYPSO The Nathaniel Dett Chorale maintains its reputation for presenting groundbreaking works when it joins forces with Legacy Pan Groove, a five-member pan ensemble, at Glenn Gould Studio tomorrow.

You’ll hear unique takes on signature pieces by Lord Kitchener and David Rudder as well as interpretations of West Indian folk music favourites like She Take Me Money (Matilda).

“And Still We Sing… Steel Singin’ is a concert that I have wanted to program for some time now,” the chorale’s artistic director and founder Brainerd Blyden-Taylor says. “Given its exquisite tonal range, pan music is a perfect complement to the multi-dimensional voices of the Chorale. And that allows us to draw from the opposite ends of the musical spectrum to create an electrifying performance.”

Saturday. 8 p.m. $39.50. Glenn Gould Studio. 250 Front St. W.

2010-05-26T13:27:00.002-04:00

The Afrosound of Colombia Volume One is a solid 2-disc set highlighting the impact that African cultures have had on Colombian music. It recently arrived in stores and I talked it up on CBC Radio's Metro Morning today. The number of rhythms that you can hear on this set is quite mindblowing and the fusion of all these different sounds gives us an idea of how much cutting edge music was being made in Colombia in the 60s and 70s. This track, by a group called Afrosound, features a mambo style piano vamp over a sped-up cumbia beat, as well as accordion and fuzz guitar. There’s lots of tasty, groundbreaking stuff like this on this collection. The role that Africans played in shaping the sound of Colombia has been explored on past compilations, but this set takes things to another level. The Afrosound of Colombia Volume One features 43 tracks, over two-and-a-half hours of music, and an excellent, thoroughly researched 36-page booklet that includes rare photos and original LP covers. This record comes to us courtesy of Vampisoul, a hip reissue label based in Madrid. www.vampisoul.com It’s been around for 8 years and it continously releases fantastic music from Africa and Latin America as well as obscure soul and funk recordings from the US and Europe. The tracks on this collection were chosen from the archives of Colombia’s famous Discos Fuentes label. According to the liner notes, the title of this compilation comes from one of the Fuentes bands, Afrosound, but here it's taken more as a general term to denote the funkier side of the label's prolific output in the 60s and 70s. The unifying factor for the collection is that the tracks all have something to do with African roots or influences in one way or another, and they mark a period of sonic experimentation, self expression, upheaval, rebellion and rebirth in the industry, nurtured by Discos Fuentes and its stable of musicians, producers, and engineers.

Bringing The Fire!

2010-05-21T19:28:00.004-04:00

CaneFire couldn’t have come up with more perfect cover to capture the essence of its brand new disc.

Pandemonium, which also hints at the album’s explosive contents, features the shadow of a guy jumping while going to town on the steelpan.

Caribbean-flavoured Latin jazz – or is it Latin-flavoured Caribbean jazz? – is what the septet specialize in and they do it with fire and versatility. The group’s sound encompasses Cuban, Puerto Rican, French-Caribbean and Trinidadian styles and, on this record, Brazilian and Venezeulan sounds, too. But, it never sounds clinical or messy.

“Most of the album is what I would describe as controlled chaos so the title seemed to fit,” Jeremy Ledbetter tells me. “We’re trying to be the most exciting jazz group around so through much of this album we keep the energy level pretty high.”

Ledbetter says the “pan” in Pandemonium refers to the steelpan, the lead instrument and the key to CaneFire’s sound.

“The pan is one element that defines us and so I suppose you could call it a recurring theme in our music,” he says. “We have Mark Mosca, who is probably one of the three best steelpan players anywhere in the world right now. He spent years lifting Oscar Peterson and Milt Jackson solos, and his improvisational skills are just incredible. I tell people that if Oscar Peterson played the steelpan, this is what he would sound like.”

Cue up the disc’s opening salvo, The Madman’s Jig, and you’ll realize that Ledbetter’s talk of high energy isn’t mere hype.

“It would be a pretty straightforward Latin jazz piece except that it’s in a composite time signature that adds up to 27/4,” Ledbetter explains. “I guess I wanted to see how high we could count. It’s meant to sound crazy and to make people picture a raving lunatic – especially the horn lines behind the melody which mimic the incoherent rantings of a delusional mind. “It was a last-minute addition to the album so it has an edge to it,” he adds.

Edge is what separates CaneFire from most of its contemporaries in the Caribbean Jazz scene, and it’s evidenced in pieces like Baptism By Fire. It starts off real slow and gospel-ly before the group throws some fuel and a match on the proceedings.

“It’s our take on a kind of music that you hear played in Pentecostal churches in Trinidad called gospelypso,” Ledbetter explains. “But, being CaneFire, we had to turn up the heat a bit. We fuse the gospel with blazing fast soca instead of calypso, with some scorching bebop solos just for fun.”

Ledbetter says he started CaneFire partly as a reaction to what he saw as “a trend towards laid-back music that I saw in most Caribbean jazz.

“There seems to be a widespread idea that once you use the word jazz to describe the music it has to be very low energy, mellow stuff,” he says. “The steelpan naturally has a very soft, soothing tone and most Pan Jazz focuses on that aspect of the instrument. So, quite a lot of Caribbean jazz these days is very soft and unobtrusive – music that would fall into the category of smooth jazz.

“With CaneFire, I wanted to create a band that would bring the fire inherent in so much Caribbean music back to Caribbean jazz.”

CaneFire has developed a big fan base in some parts of the Caribbean and Ledbetter attributes this to showing the humble steelpan respect.

“We never do anything to sacrifice the integrity of its leading role in this band, and we do everything we can to showcase the versatility of the instrument and take it to some places where it doesn’t usually go,” Ledbetter says. “Even in Trinidad, there’s a tendency to stereotype the pan, and even Trinidad’s pan people will tell you that they have to fight constantly to get the pan the respect it deserves.”

2010-05-14T20:40:00.003-04:00

Trying to pin down the Roaring Girl Cabaret’s sound is analagous to playing the popular children’s game, Pin The Tail On The Donkey. It ain’t easy.

Equal parts folk, jazz, classical and opera, it’s a sound executed with sass and style.

“We are fundamentally a quartet - vocals and violin, guitar, upright bass and drums - but we've done gigs with flugelhorn, piano, glockenspiel, saxophone, organ, burlesque dancers...you name it,” Mulholland says. “I think this keeps the songs fresh and I enjoy the different dynamics new people bring to the group.”

Folks like guitarist Jen Bryan.

“She got her start playing metal guitar in Sudbury and then went to school for jazz in Toronto, a combination I love,” Mulholland tells me. “She also makes one heck of a margarita out of beer, frozen lime concentrate and some magic ingredient she won't disclose. You can take the girl out of Sudbury, but you can't take the Sudbury out of the girl!”

You can hear the colourful crew’s special brew when it plays the Young Centre for the Performing Arts tomorrow. Their show is part of the Saturday Night Cabaret Series that was launched at the beginning of this month.

“The series is a terrific idea sprung from the popular Cabaret Festival,” she says, “I love performing at the Young Center – it’s a hub of artistic activity and a meeting place for actors, dancers, musicians and visual artists...and there’s a bar! I'm looking forward to a beautiful night.”

After studying opera and performing as a sideperson for musicians like jim Cuddy and groups like The Mahones and Great Lake Swimmers, Mulholland says she “felt the need for an outlet to combine all those elements.

“I was lucky enough to find some other musicians who were up for some mixing of genres,” she says. “Truthfully, our rehearsals were also a little like a bowling league except with wine and gossip. I'm sure that influenced the writing!” $15. 10 p.m. 55 Mill St., Building 49 in the Distillery District.

LISTEN UP!

Congrats to Juan Baquero who I profiled here last week.

Listen To This, his look at an after-school arts program in the Jane & Finch neighbourhood, was voted one of the top 10 most popular flicks by audiences at this year’s Hot Docs festival. “Making a documentary really takes a lot from you – time, dedication... everything,” he says.

“Every time I finish a project, I'm usually exhausted. And more often than not, I tell myself this is the last project I'll ever make and that it's time for me to move on to something less demanding. But, a few weeks or sometimes a couple of months later, I find myself thinking of my next project.”

It’s safe to say that Baquero’s next film will cause an equally big buzz.

Hockey In The Hood focuses on the Brookview Middle School Bulldogs, a mostly black hockey team from one of Toronto’s poorest neighbourhoods as it pursues its first year of formal competition under the guidance of principal Karl Subban, whose son, Pernell Karl Subban, plays for the Montreal Canadiens.

Baquero says the elder Subban “believes that the best way of helping his most vulnerable students is to take them out of the ‘hood while teaching them the virtues of hard work, discipline and dedication.”

Listen To Them

2010-05-07T14:19:00.005-04:00

After watching documentaries like the Academy Award-winning Born Into Brothels, a raw yet inspiring look at the children of prostitutes living in Calcutta, India, I often question if such films are the work of idealistic, white liberals from the West on a mission to ‘save’ a few young brown souls.

That question didn’t pop into my head while watching Listen To This, one of the most talked about films being screened at this year’s Hot Docs festival. Juan Baquero’s lively little documentary, which introduces us to three feisty kids – Whitney, Jasmine and Donta – who attend Evolving Through The Arts, a songwriting workshop for children living in Jane-Finch, doesn’t reek of liberal condescension.

How could it when the filmmaker comes from a country that is demonized by the media much the way Jane-Finch is?

“Even though I don’t live in the Jane and Finch area, I feel I have lots in common with people who live there,” Baquero tells me. “I am an immigrant and a lot of new Canadians end up living in areas such as Jane and Finch. And also, Colombia, just like Jane and Finch, is a place that has traditionally been maligned by mainstream media. There’s only limited space in newspapers and limited airtime on TV and radio so there’s no room for in-depth explanations (about what’s happening in those places), and as a result the average person ends up with a sketchy image of a place and its people.

“In the case of Jane and Finch, it’s gangs and guns,” he adds. “In the case of Colombia, it’s drugs and violence. I’m not trying to say that those things don’t happen. It’s just that they are a small part of the reality of living in those places.”

Armed with this empathy and respect for his subjects, Baquero spent several months in the neighbourhood before bringing his equipment along. He even volunteered to teach a video workshop the summer before the start of the workshop and returned regularly to the area.

“I think people saw that I was being genuine and they decided to give me what I’ve now learned is the most essential gift a documentarian can ever hope to receive – the gift of trust,” says Baquero, who studied law and chose making films over making arguments. “Without it, you will never be able to tell a story that falls out of the ordinary. With it, the doors to the most universal feelings, aspirations and desires open up and all of a sudden you find yourself in the company of people who can provide the raw emotions for stories to which we can all relate.”

This trust is evidenced by folks who invite him into their homes and the film’s main characters who don’t display an ounce of nervousness or attitude when they’re in front of Baquero’s lens.

Baquero says he discovered Evolving Through The Arts when he met the program’s founder, Thompson Egbo-Egbo, while doing research for a documentary about the Regent Park School of Music. After Egbo-Egbo received funding to run a week-long songwriting workshop at Firgrove Public School, he hired Baquero to make a short film about the program. The film, Baquero says, “ended up evolving into a longer documentary after Thompson was able to put the funding together to run a workshop that ran a full four months.” Asked what he hopes audiences can learn from Jasmine, Whitney and Donta, Baquero says, “I truly hope that people will see kids growing up in the Jane and Finch neighbourhood with a different set of eyes. These are kids with just as much potential and talent as any other kid growing up in any other part of the city. And if and when things go wrong, it’s not because there’s some sort of mutating gene in their DNA’s that makes it so. There must be a reason for that.

“Listen to This doesn’t attempt to explore that question, it merely poses it.”

NOTE: Listen To This screens Sunday at 4:30 p.m. at The Royal Cinema. 608 College St. For more info, go to www.hotdocs.ca. And for more information on Evolving Through The Arts, visit www.egbofoundation.org TO DO LIST: Dylan Murray headlines the Artists For Refugees benefit at the El Mocambo tonight. 7 p.m. $12. 464 Spadina Ave. The event is sponsored by Serving Charity and the Office for Refugees. http://www.servingcharity.com/

A Drummer’s Dream, a doc featuring seven master drummers from various genres performing at a camp in cottage country, screens Sunday as part of Hot Docs. 1:30 p.m. The Royal Cinema. http://www.hotdocs.ca/

Afrolatino Dance Company, Roberto Linares Brown, Changuito and Telmary play Lula Saturday as part of Lulaworld 2010. 9 p.m. $20. 1585 Dundas St. W.

2010-05-05T13:36:00.003-04:00

Hot Docs, the international documentary festival, is in full swing, and several music-related films will be screened over the next few days. On CBC Radio's Metro Morning, I reviewed a documentary titled Beyond Ipanema that screens at the Cumberland on Saturday at 9:15 p.m. and at the Royal on Sunday at 7 p.m. We started with a song by Bebel Gilberto that you’ll find on a cool compilation titled Brasil 2 Mil. And I chose this song because I feel it complements Beyond Ipanema perfectly. This is a documentary about Brazilian music that serves as a primer to the scene, but also looks forward. And by looking forward, you get the sense that the music that came out of that country continues to retain its popularity and continues to morph. Beyond Ipanema attempts to cover a lot of musical ground in the space of 90 minutes. Chronologically, it’s a bit of a mess, and for a doc about music, it doesn’t have much music. It starts off with a nod to Carmen Miranda, jumps to the influential Tropicalia movement, goes back to bossa nova, looks at the popularity of artists like Bebel Gilberto in 1996 and explores the music coming out of the favelas. There’s some great archival footage as well as interviews with Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, and David Byrne, whose Luaka Bop label has done a brilliant job championing next wave Brazilian music. Journalist and filmmaker Guto Barra made Beyond Ipanema. He’s originally from Brazil and moved to New York in the nineties, working as a music and film correspondent for several media outlets. There’ll be a Q&A with him after the Saturday screening. For more information, go to http://www.hotdocs.ca/film/title/beyond_ipanema

Playing with Clay & Paper

2010-04-23T17:04:00.007-04:00

David Anderson believes personal space may be overrated. And experience suggests he’s right. “Citizens need places to meet and gather, to physically rub shoulders and to become connected to one another,” says the founder of the terrific al fresco performance troupe Clay & Paper Theatre.

Just witness how we flock to Kensington Market during Pedestrian Sundays or pack two kilometres of Queen Street East during the Beaches International Jazz Festival. I’ve attended both these events, and find it exciting to be part of a movement that transforms traffic-clogged streets into cultural playgrounds and inspires us to interact with each other.

Convinced that “the best audiences are to be found in public space,” Clay & Paper Theatre stages all its performances in the great outdoors.

“Our audiences represent the widest cross-section of the population, who are not denied access to theatrical performance for want of cash or status,” he says. “We want the whole public - regardless of economic position, age, race or religion - to be able to access our work.

“I seek out this audience because I believe that the role of theatre, and of all art, is to give us an image of ourselves, to ask questions about who we are and where we’re headed, and to celebrate our common humanity,” adds Anderson, who is Clay & Paper’s artistic director. “For me, theatre is thinking in public. So it’s important that as wide a cross-section of the citizens of Toronto as possible is represented in the audience.”

Clay & Paper Theatre’s admirable mandate will receive a boost at a fundraiser at Supermarket in Kensington Market on Monday (April 26).

Singer Terra Hazelton, the Richard Underhill Quartet, and Rita di Ghent are just some of the featured performers on the bill.

Anderson, who founded the company in 1994, feels that public spaces in our city are diminishing. And he’s not alone.

“What used to be public spaces are now private,” he says. “Housing and office development forces are building massive new populations with almost no public space in which to hang out. Cities need to acknowledge that the widening gap between poor and rich is a social disaster waiting to happen and they need to do something about it.

“And democratizing public space, preserving public space, celebrating public space is a way to begin the retrieval of human proportions to our cities,” Anderson adds.

Until that happens – if ever – the feisty company will continue to inject life into public areas in the way it knows best.

This summer, it will stage its seventh annual Day of Delight in Dufferin Grove Park, a five-week run of a new Canadian play, The Circus of Dark and Light, and the second year of Cyclops (Cycling Oriented Puppet Squad) project – “a bicycle-based theatre squad who will entertain at cycling, environmental, and community events and who will discover, infest and liberate new street performing locations in the course of their work.”

And its 11th annual The Night of Dread event in late October will once again invite us “to build images of our private and collective fears so that we can parade our fears, laugh and mock our fears, and remember those who have passed from our midst.”

NOTE: Monday’s fundraiser for Clay & Paper Theatre begins at 8 p.m.

Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the door. (416) 537-9105.

Supermarket is at 268 Augusta Ave.

For more info on Clay & Paper, visit www.clayandpapertheatre.org

2010-04-16T14:41:00.003-04:00

When award-winning soprano sax and flute virtuoso Jane Bunnett told me last week that her Saturday night concert is one of her biggest gigs in 20 years, it initially struck me as a pretty heavy statement.

It’s not often you hear someone of Bunnett’s stature trumpeting one of her gigs this way, but when I factored in who she’ll be playing with and where she’ll be performing, her comment made sense.

Hilario Duran, Elio Villafranca, and 83-year-old Guillermo Rubalcaba – three immensely talented Cuban jazz pianists from three different generations playing on three grand pianos – will join Bunnett and her group at the Royal Conservatory of Music’s magnificent Koerner Hall for what promises to be one of the highlights of the gorgeous hall’s season. (This show is now sold out.)

Bunnett has played with some of the heaviest pianists that Cuba has produced, among them Frank Emilio, Gonzalo Rubalcaba (Guillermo’s son), and Chucho Valdés, but she can’t wait to share the stage with this trio.

The last time Bunnett performed in concert with Cuban piano greats was in 1993 when Jose Maria Vitier and Emilio joined her at Glenn Gould Studio. That show was captured on the CD, Jane Bunnett and The Cuban Piano Masters.

“All of them have a great sense of the history of Cuban piano,” says Bunnett, who studied piano at the RCM before tendonitis led her to switch instruments. “Hilario writes really beautiful melodies, his compositions have a lushness, and he has a distinct harmonic sense.

“Elio’s on the cutting edge of the New York jazz scene and his compositions are unique,” she adds. “He has an individual style that has a bit of edge to it.

“And Guillermo is elegantly classic. When he passes, I don’t know who will carry on that style of playing. It’s really the music of a by-gone era. It has that Afro-Cuban influence, but also (influences) from France and Spain.”

Choosing music for Saturday’s concert was a challenge, Bunnett says.

“I wanted to pick pieces that would show (each pianists) compositional skills, but also cover the different periods of Cuban music so people get a sense of the different stylings,” she says. “So, you’ll hear something from the 1930s and you’ll hear something that was written six months ago. I want it to be elegant, but funky at the same time.”

Which is a good way to describe Koerner Hall.

“I looove it!” Bunnett says, adding that the space tops her list of the best venues in North America.

NOTE: Jane Bunnett and The Cuban Piano Masters concert begins at 8 p.m.

Koerner Hall is located inside the TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning. 273 Bloor St. W. The legendary timbale player Changuito has just been added to tomorrow night’s bill. And Mervon Mehta, the Royal Conservatory’s Executive Director of Performing Arts, will interview Jane during the intermission.

2010-04-09T09:21:00.002-04:00

In the words of the song from Show Boat, fish gotta swim and birds gotta fly. But Paul Quarrington had no use for pigeonholing. He had to swim, fly, write, make music and share life.

A renaissance man in the most hands-on sense, Quarrington was an accomplished non-fiction writer and novelist, musician, screenwriter and educator. He’s best known for his novel Whale Music which is loosely based on the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson.

Whale Music won the 1989 Governor General's Award and became a film by the same name in 1994.

Lung cancer claimed Quarrington’s life last January. He was only 56.

On Tuesday, friends and family will celebrate Quarrington’s full life with music and theatrical presentations of his literature at the Opera House.

Featured artists include his brothers Joel and Tony Quarrington, Gordon Pinsent, Porkbelly Futures with Teddy Leonard, BidiniBand, Soul Stew with Dan Hill, Melanie Doane, Jim Cuddy and a special guest magician.

Judith Keenan, a friend of the iconic literary figure and the executive director of the Quarrington Arts Society, says Quarrington’s ability to deliver award-winning creative projects in all the media in which he worked made him special.

“Most know of his writing books, both fiction and non-fiction, but did you know that he won or co-won more than 30 magazine awards, won writing and music and directing awards for his films and television series, and very early in his career had a number 1 hit song?” she asks. “Music was actually the field in which he first launched his career as a professional artist. He wrote his first book while on tour with Joe Hall and the Continental Drift in the early 80’s, using an old typewriter and an upside down dresser drawer for a desk.”

Keenan says Quarrington got the most satisfaction from making audiences laugh and cry at the same time.

“That’s his genius,” she says. “Knowing that a person is at their most receptive when they are laughing, and surreptitiously slipping in a deeper insight at the same time. It’s why his work resonates long after the last page or the last note or the last frame of film.”

It’s hard to disagree with Michael Burke, president and founder of the Quarrington Arts Society, who said that Quarrington’s versatility is an inspiration to those artists who “use more than one discipline to express the full range of their creative voice.”

Keenan adds that “it’s not uncommon for an artist who achieves certain renown in one discipline to be seen as a ‘dabbler’ when they also practice a second. Somehow, one or the other is seen as less ‘legitimate’ – either by the public or those that would provide tactical support such as financing, exhibitions, performance opportunities and the like. “The (Quarrington Arts) Society wants to address this misconception by bringing visibility to multi-disciplined artists and by focusing attention in the key area of arts education.” In an interview with CBC Radio, musician and author Dave Bidini, who’ll be participating in Tuesday’s tribute, said he feels Quarrington’s work resonated with Canadians because he “wrote about things that were common to his generation like rock 'n' roll and hockey. “He showed you didn't have to write poetically about the sleeping plain and undulating forest to create exciting and real Canadian literature."

NOTE: The show starts at 7 p.m. Tickets are $38 and on sale at www.ticketbreak.com. A limited number of student/senior/under-employed/arts worker packages are also available: 4 tickets for $80 (cash or cheque). For more info, call 416-519-0806 or email judith@quarringtonartsociety.ca

Paul Quarrington’s memoir, Cigar Box Banjo: Notes on Music and Life, will be published by Greystone Books May 29, the same day that the documentary, Paul Quarrington: Life in Music, will be broadcast on Bravo! His solo album Paul Quarrington: The Songs, is out a few days later.

2010-04-07T13:17:00.002-04:00

There’s no doubt that the success of the Broadway run of Fela! has helped popularize Afrobeat. But the little label that put out Nigeria Afrobeat Special: The New Explosive Sound in 1970s Nigeria has been hipping the world to this music for the last 6 years. There are11 crucial cuts on this collection from Soundway Records, a very cool label based in England, and 10 of them have never been reissued outside of Nigeria. Included is Fela’s highly sought after version of Who’re You. Originally released on 7” in 1971, it would later be re-recorded at Abbey Road for his album Fela’s London Scene and here is re-issued for the first time ever. This is a gloriously rowdy mix of highlife, Nigerian Yoruba music, funk and jazz. Most of us know that Fela Kuti introduced the world to Afrobeat back in 1970. But, clearly, he wasn’t the only one making Afrobeat. He definitely influenced a whole bunch of bands to switch styles. And this disc introduces us to some of those groups. People like Segun Bucknor, Bongos Ikuwe & The Groovies, Eric & His Royal Ericos. All of them added their own vibe to the mix and helped popularize Afrobeat. Soundway is a label dedicated to re-releasing lost and forgotten recordings from the world's most vibrant musical cultures. And they do this very well. This is the fourth in a series focusing on the different scenes in Nigeria – the others looked at the disco/funk scenes, the rock scene, and the jazz and blues scenes. For more info on this release, go to http://www.soundwayrecords.com/

2010-03-25T00:08:00.001-04:00

If you thought the Jackson 5 were the only group of young brothers from the American north-east who found fame singing together, chances are high you haven’t heard of The 5 Stairsteps & Cubie. We kicked things off with Don’t Change Your Love from their album, Love’s Happening. The Stairsteps, by the way, were called the First Family of Soul well before the Jacksons came along. They made some wicked soul music and five seemed to have been the magic number for them since they had a bunch of hits during their five-year run. On the weekend, I was looking through a pile of records that had been sent to me, picked this one up and saw the name Mayfield next to most of the song titles. Being a huge fan of Curtis Mayfield, I cracked open the CD and immediately liked what I heard. Then I researched them and found out that Curtis Mayfield discovered them and produced several albums that came out on his Windy C and Curtom labels. The 5 Stairsteps and Cubie are from Chicago and they formed in 1958. And the group got its name from their mom who noticed that her kids looked like stair steps when they stood next to each other according to their ages. Cubie, the youngest of the lot, was 5 when he joined the group but left after a couple of years. After winning first prize in a talent contest at the legendary Regal Theatre in Chicago, the group received several recording contract offers. Fred Cash, a member of The Impressions, introduced them to the great Curtis Mayfield and the group had several hits with his help. The group often toured with The Impressions and in 1970, it released its million-seller and biggest pop hit, O-o-h Child.

2010-03-17T20:40:00.004-04:00

Lionel Loueke has been called one of the brightest and most original young stars in jazz today, and I featured his music on CBC Radio's Metro Morning show this week. http://www.cbc.ca/metromorning He is definitely bringing something new to jazz. Loueke’s a brilliant, innovative player who has his own sound and his second album, Mwaliko, is a worthy addition to your record collection. The fact that he’s from the West African nation of Benin led to him creating his own sound. The African influences are evident in his sound. But, he’s also unafraid to mess with technology and experiment. This album features vocals with layered harmonizer effects, he uses a nylon-string guitar with a Whammy pedal on some songs, and he also employs a custom-made guitar that allows him to access low bass tones to fill out the sound. Loueke studied in Paris, and he attended the Berklee College of Music and the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz in Los Angeles. When he was at the Monk Institute, he met Terence Blanchard, Herbie Hancock, and Wayne Shorter and they became big fans of his. Even before graduating from the Institute, Loueke had begun performing in Blanchard’s sextet. And he’s also a member of Hancock’s touring band. Karibu, his debut album, featured his trio with Hancock and Wayne Shorter as special guests, and won widespread critical praise. TIME called the album "a jamboree of sprung rhythms, splashed with African and Brazilian flavours, in which Loueke scat-sings, drums on his guitar, mouth-clicks and plays some wicked jazz." The New York Times declared Loueke "a startlingly original voice… a spellbinding presence…one of the most striking jazz artists to emerge is some time." For more information on Loueke, go to http://www.lionelloueke.com/

2010-03-11T21:04:00.003-05:00

“I believe that we are all connected on this very basic emotional level by music — by rhythm and harmony,” Paul Simon once said. “But how can we begin to communicate if we don’t use a wider vocabulary? If we don’t speak in someone else’s language, then how can they hear you? So, I’m someone who speaks ‘broken music.’”

Simon’s “broken music” will be celebrated at Hugh’s Room tonight when several musicians will offer their interpretations of his signature and not so well-known songs. 50 Ways To Love Paul Simon is yet another in Michael Wrycraft’s quirky and popular series of tribute shows featuring singers offering their unique spin on songs by iconic musicians.

The Global Fusion trio of Suba Sankaran, Ed Hanley and Dylan Bell are part of tonight’s show. Sankaran, who’s participated in many of Wrycraft’s shows, says that these tributes offer the opportunity to ”dive deep inside the featured artist, whether you know them or you’re becoming familiar with them.”

She says the genius of Paul Simon is multi-fold.

“Superb lyrics and poetry and songwriting skills, prowess on both guitar and voice, and the marriage of rhythm and melody within his songs,” Sankaran raves. “His poetry is so real: imaginative and conversational, but doesn't often fall within the usual and predictable rhyme schemes.

“His voice is sweet and unpretentious, and emotion and poetry are always at the fore,” she adds. “His lyrics flow rhythmically like an undercurrent. Plato once said, ‘Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, a charm to sadness and life to everything.”

“Paul Simon's music could fit within any of these statements.”

High praise, indeed, and up there with the New York Times who once said Simon makes “intellectually ambitious pop music.”

Wrycraft agrees.

“His songs are fantastic, they cross all boundaries and genres and he lets his passion for all music guide him in his writing and composing,” he says. “Because he’s explored so many musical styles, and very successfully, I wanted a broad selection of styles and an eclectic group of musicians to reflect that.”

If you’ve been to any of Wrycraft’s shows, you know that this philosophy guides his programming.

“I'm always looking for a wide range of interesting styles and genres of music to filter a particular artist through to both honour the source and to let you hear the music in a fresh new way and in ways you might not have thought of,” he explains.

Joining Global Fusion will be Cadence, Lorrie Cullen, Kevin Fox, Gregory Hoskins, Jory Nash, Soul Influence, and Tony Gouveia.

“We have three fantastic Canadian singer-songwriter troubadour types to honour the folky Paul Simon, three different vocal combos representing three continents, solo cello with voice and a great fado singer.”

Sankaran says her trio will be rearranging and reinterpreting songs from some of Simon’s solo albums in “a pop-jazz-classical-world stew!

“I'm performing with my husband Dylan Bell (who’ll be playing piano, bass and beat-boxing) and Ed Hanley on tabla,” she says. “So you can expect some blistering tabla bits, East-West vocal percussion and complex harmony, while still keeping Paul's melodies and poetry intact.”

2010-03-07T20:29:00.003-05:00

If you're a fan of past Juno nominee and jazz pianist Elizabeth Shepherd, like i am, then you've definitely heard or seen Scott Kemp and Colin Kingsmore. Scott plays stand up bass, Colin plays drums, and together they've played a huge role in making the Elizabeth Shepherd Trio a hit with hipsters all over the world. In fact, the group played a string of dates at Tokyo's famous Cotton Club at the end of last month to celebrate the Japanese release of the trio's third album, Heavy Falls the Night. If you dig the trio's eclectic vibe, then you'll like Scott's solo album, Introductions. It's a tasty, bass-driven groovefest that not only showcases Scott's melodic bass playing but his compositional skills as well. Guitarist Michael Occhipinti, who leads the Sicilian Jazz Project, is one of several guests on the disc. I asked him what he likes most about Scott's sound, and he hit the nail on the head when he said, "The tunes are modern and challenging but at the same time they feel very natural and have a catchy quality that belies their intricacy." After listening to Introductions several times, it became evident that Scott encouraged everyone who played on the disc to improvise and stretch out in the studio. Like Elizabeth Shepherd's music, Scott makes music that will appeal to casual listeners as well as hardcore jazz heads.

Check his site for more info: http://www.scottkemp.net/

For more info on the Elizabeth Shepherd Trio's newest disc, go to www.dorightmusic.com/discography/dr041

The Holmes Brothers' Sweet Soul Music

2010-03-07T20:18:00.004-05:00

In my book, the Holmes Brothers, can do no wrong. And their new disc, Feed My Soul, strengthens that belief.

When listening to this record I said to myself, if someone asked me to describe their music, I’d say, ‘This is the sound of America.’ You can hear country, roots, blues, jazz, gospel, and classic R&B in their music. They bring all those sounds together so beautifully, they harmonize so well and their playing is brilliant. There’s a theme running through this record. Wendell Holmes was diagnosed with cancer two years back but he beat it. So several songs deal with friendship, family, illness, ageing. But none of the songs bring you down, by any means. These brothers always make a joyful noise. Although their first album came out in 1989, they’ve been making music for 30 years. Sherman and Wendell Holmes were raised in Christchurch, Virginia. Their schoolteacher parents fostered the boys’ early interest in music as they listened to traditional Baptist hymns, anthems and spirituals as well as blues music by Jimmy Reed, Junior Parker and B.B. King. Wendell told the Virginian Pilot, "It was a small town, and my brother and I were about the only ones who could play anything. I guess you could say we were large musical fish in a small pond. So we played around in all the area churches." The night before, though, they would play blues, soul, country and rock at their cousin's local club, Herman Wate's Juke Joint. "When he couldn't get any good groups to come from Norfolk or Richmond, he'd call us in," Wendell recalls. "That's how we honed our sound. We used to say we'd rock 'em on Saturday and save 'em on Sunday." Sherman and Wendell met drummer Popsy Dixon, a fellow Virginian, at a New York gig in 1967. Dixon sat in with the brothers and sang two songs. “After that second song,” recalls Wendell, “Popsy was a brother.” They continued to play in a variety of Top 40 bar bands—Wendell even toured with Inez and Charlie Foxx - until 1979, when the three officially joined forces and formed The Holmes Brothers band. Since releasing albums on Rounder and Alligator Records – which are big roots and blues labels - they’ve made music with Bob Dylan, Van Morrison , Springsteen, Merle Haggard and Ben Harper. Earlier, I called their music ‘the sound of America’ and when you consider that these guys regularly play jazz, folk and blues festivals, that tag makes sense.

For more info on The Holmes Brothers, visit http://www.alligator.com/

2010-02-26T20:57:00.003-05:00

While a reggae tribute to Pink Floyd may strike you as either exotic or straight-up weird, a reggae inspired homage to the late, great Joe Strummer of The Clash should not.

Considering The Clash’s forays into reggae – and these white boys from London did a stellar job cutting crucial reggae and dub tracks – it seems strange that it’s taken this long to release such a tribute. But, it’s here and the majority of it satisfies the ears of this massive fan of The Clash.

Conceptualized by Toronto’s Mark Matthews, aka Prince Blanco, Shatter The Hotel: A Dub Inspired Tribute to Joe Strummer features Dubmatix, Citizen Sound, Nate Wize, Ammoye, Creation Rockers and Don Letts, who was tight with The Clash. All serve up spirited interpretations of songs like London Calling, Lost in the Supermarket, One More Time, Rock the Casbah and White Riot.

“My original intention was to make a 'Prince Blanco plays The Clash' record, just my own personal tribute to Joe and The Clash and their legacy,” Matthews tells me. “Since I work in reggae, dub and ska, the plan was to rework some classic Strummer-(Mick) Jones tracks in that manner.”

Matthews bounced his idea off a few fellow musicians to see if they’d be interested in collaborating with him and he soon realized he had a hot project on his hands. During a visit to his hometown of London, England, two years back, Matthews hooked up with Dave Girvan, an old friend of Strummer's who hipped him to Strummerville: The Joe Strummer Foundation for New Music. (www.strummerville.com)

Meeting with Girvan, who’s a key member of the organization along with Strummer’s widow, Lucinda, and their daughters Lola and Jazz, inspired Matthews to assemble a tribute CD and donate the proceeds to Strummerville.

“Once I got word that they had approved the collaboration, I was good to go,” he says. “At this point, I asked Jesse King (aka Dubmatix) if he would like to get on board and we started reaching out to artists and producers.”

Matthews says one of the goals of Shatter the Hotel is to build upon what Strummer once called “the rasta-punk interface.” The phrase appears in Don Letts’s Westway to the World documentary.

“Joe was elaborating on the early days of punk at The Roxy in London when there were very few punk records for the DJ to play - that DJ, coincidentally, was Don Letts! - so Don played what he thought would sound good and that was reggae and dub records from his own collection,” Matthews says.

“Strummer suggested that what happened during that time was a rasta-punk interface, influencing bands like The Clash. However, as Don (Letts) will also tell you, Joe, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon and John (Rotten) Lydon were already well into reggae long before this.” Matthews feels that same “interface” birthed some of the most vital music that came out of the UK in the 80s.

“It influenced bands like The Ruts and Stiff Little Fingers, and ska bands like The Specials, The Selecter, and Madness,” he says. “Coming from London, I know all about this 'interface.’ It’s just part of the fabric of youth culture there and is still very much alive only it's more of a 'Anglo hip-hop - Jamaican dancehall interface' encompassing genres such as grime, drum ‘n bass and dubstep.”

For Jesse “Dubmatix” King, reworking London Calling was a labour of love and getting Don to sing on it was “pure magic!

“He was part of the scene, shot (The Clash’s) videos, and was a member of Big Audio Dynamite after they split. For me, it was a direct connection to The Clash and having Dan Donovan from Big Audio Dynamite contribute was just icing on the cake.”

For more info, go to www.shatterthehotel.squarespace.com and www.dubmatix.com

2010-02-15T16:29:00.002-05:00

Being a huge fan of Aretha Franklin, I ordered up some early Aretha discs as soon as I heard they were being released in their entirety for the first time ever. The disc has 2 albums on it – The Electrifying Aretha Franklin and Laughing On The Outside. The first was originally released in 1962 and the second was released a year later. They’re both fantastic records. They’re jazzier than the classic soul albums she went on to release, but they still showcase one of the most awe-inspiring voices of that time. There seems to be some controversy surrounding Aretha’s times at Columbia, but for me it’s a non-issue. Here’s some background: Aretha recorded for Columbia Records between 1961 and 1967. John Hammond, the famous producer, signed her to that label when she was 18 or 19. The legendary Jerry Wexler signed Aretha to Atlantic in 1967 and the six years she spent at Atlantic are considered the most creative period of her career. Critics say that when she was at Columbia, she recorded pop standards and blues that didn’t highlight her fiery gospel singing style. Regardless if the instrumentation and arrangements on her Columbia discs were different from her Atlantic sides, her amazing voice still gave people chills. If you’re fiending for more early Aretha, I highly recommend these titles. Both feature 2 albums on 1 disc. Take It Like You Give It/Soul Sister and Yeah!!!/Runnin’ Out Of Fools.

2010-02-02T22:45:00.002-05:00

The last time we heard from Corinne Bailey Rae, she was singing breezy soul songs like Put Your Records On. Life has changed radically for her since then and I talked about her story on the show today. We began by sampling The Blackest Lily off her second album, The Sea, that hit stores Tuesday. Musically and lyrically, this disc is quite different from her self-titled debut album that came out 3 years back. That disc earned her 3 Grammy nominations and sold about 4 million copies. Musically, The Sea is more diverse. There’s a fair bit of rock, jazz and soul and her lovely, tender voice suits all these styles remarkably well.

Lyrically, well, her husband, Jason Rae, died 2 years back of an accidental overdose of drugs and methadone, so a lot of songs focus on him and her recovery.

The interesting thing is that many songs were written when her husband was alive so listening to her singing about him in the present and past tense makes this a pretty engaging album. Incidentally, in an interview in The Guardian, Rae said, “What surprises me most is how the songs I wrote before it happened resonate almost as much as the ones I wrote after. The circumstances have cast it all in a different light. It began as a 'before and after' record, but it's become an 'after' record." Rae is from Leeds, England. When she was 15, she played in a female rock band called Helen. And when she was 19, she worked in a jazz club where she often sang soul standards. Her husband played there with the great Maceo Parker one night and they played Georgia On My Mind. Corinne says she burst into tears and knew that from that day on, her life was going to change. For more info on this wonderful singer, go to www.corinnebaileyrae.com

2010-01-28T21:32:00.003-05:00

When Dominic Mancuso talks about “embracing the southern Italian dialect and musical repertoire of my forefathers,” it’s easy to dismiss it as a sexy sound-bite from a musician who suddenly got in touch with his roots.

Dig a little deeper into his story and his rock-solid attachment to his culture comes from a very real place.

“Three years ago, my mother had a brush with death,” the singer tells me “After she spent eight hours in hospital to stop a haemorrhaging within her oesophagus, I said to myself that before any of my parents passed away, I wanted to show them how proud I was of them. So I set out to make a record that pays homage to them and the culture I was born into.”

If a non-Italian like me is impressed with Mancuso’s musical love-letter to his parents and roots, you can imagine how Mamma and Papa Mancuso felt when they heard his exquisite solo album, Comfortably Mine, which he released last year.

Full of old-world charm, the record has an honest, authentic feel thanks to Mancuso’s husky tenor, his impassioned singing style, and the fact he’s singing in the older dialects that make up much of Sicily’s folk music.

“The obvious hardcore Sicilian folk music (staples) like Mi Vutu, Curuna, and Favi Amari had to be there,” he explains. “That's the roots and blues of my people. But, it wasn't just about Sicily. Our neighbours here were from all parts of Italy and they were like family so I wanted to include some nostalgic pieces like Caruso and O Sole Mio that paid homage to that community.”

Before you roll your eyes and ask if the world really needs to hear another version of O Sole Mio, treat your ears to Mancuso’s intimate reading of the classic.

“The key was to avoid cliches in the production and approach,” he says. “Instead of the bel canto approach, I went the intimate route and opened up the harmonic ideas. That piece was the toughest to do because I was incredibly exposed, and it makes the statement that I am seriously challenging the public, and putting myself on the line for the love of art.”

Mancuso says that honouring the source material was achieved by singing in the various dialects such as Napolitan, Pugliese, Sicilian and correct Italian.

“I worked very hard at getting the diction one hundred per cent correct, wanting to avoid any critics in Italy or anywhere else for that matter who might be ready to shoot me for being sloppy or insensitive to the language,” he says.

To get it right, Mancuso even contacted colleagues from the respective regions in Italy to critique his style before releasing Comfortably Mine.

You can hear what Mancuso does best at Mancuso Live & Intimate, a weekly series that begins at Lula Lounge tonight and runs every Friday for an unlimited run. Joining him will be actors, poets, painters and musicians from various genres.

“I’m envisioning a place where performers, entertainers and creative people will find comfort in hanging out and taking in the organic vibe,” he says. “My intent is to highlight the incredibly talented people I’ve had the privilege to work with over the years.”

NOTE: Tonight’s show starts at 8 p.m. $10 gets you in. Please visit www.dominicmancuso.com, www.cdbaby.com and iTunes to buy Comfortably Mine.

Help Haiti!

2010-01-21T22:12:00.003-05:00

TEARS ARE NOT ENOUGH

Every one of us has seen the tragic images coming out of Haiti and many of us have been moved to respond in whatever way we can. Musicians are usually the first to act when help is needed and these three benefits prove that they have a whole lotta heart.

All proceeds from Haïti, Je T’Aime, a benefit happening at Revival Monday, will go to Plan Canada. The evening will feature DJ sets from Eon from Bedouin Soundclash, k-os, Brendan Canning from Broken Social Scene, Blk Btlz, Starting From Scratch, and DJ Paul E Lopes. The event also features a silent auction with more than 50 different items - including shoes signed from every Toronto Raptor, concert tickets, dinner gift cards and more. The auction ends at 11:30 p.m. and winners will be announced immediately after. Anyone wishing to make a donation or to find out more about Plan’s work can visit www.plancanada.ca/Haiti. 8 p.m. $10

On Thursday, some of this city’s most well-known hip-hop DJs – including Grouch, Dopey, and P-Plus – will be participating in We See You Haiti, a benefit for those affected by the earthquake. All monies raised will be forwarded to the Red Cross. The event will also feature a silent auction and sponsors include Adidas, Fila, Athlete's World, HMV, Virgin Mobile, Playstation, Marc Ecko Watches, Delta Hotels, The Tourism Board of Saint Lucia and Universal Music Canada. “A number of people have asked if we are making any money on this,” says Mansa Trotman, one of the event’s organizers. “We want everyone to know that every penny is being donated. The club has donated the space, the DJs donated their time, the guy who designed the flyer donated his skills. We have spent no money on producing this event so that we can afford to give every cent to charity.” $10. Wet Bar, 106 Peter St.

Also on Thursday, several heavies from the jazz and Latin worlds will be singing and playing their hearts out to raise money for the work that Doctors Without Borders is doing in Haiti. At press time, the bill included Jane Bunnett & The Spirits of Havana, Amanda Martinez, Hilario Duran and Molly Johnson. $30. Hugh’s Room. FILM THIS! The Toronto Urban Music Festival is hosting a bunch of cool flicks at the NFB this weekend. Admission is $6 per screening, $10 for a one-day pass and $20 for a two-day pass. Tickets are available at the door. When I wrote about Still Bill here last October, I called it a loving portrait of soul icon Bill Withers and said that one of its selling points is the fact that the filmmakers let the legend, his family and friends do all the talking.

Jan. 22 at 8 p.m.

Rise Up: Stories from Jamaica’s Music Underground is Luciano Blotta’s first feature documentary and chronicles the lives of three singers -- a shy girl from the country with an awesome voice, a young kid from the ghetto, and a white kid from a rich family -- and their struggle to rise from Jamaica's underground music scene to reggae superstardom.

January 22 at 9:30 p.m. and January 23 at 7:00 p.m.

2 Turntables and a Microphone: The Life and Death of Jam Master Jay documents the investigation of the unsolved murder of Jam Master Jay, Run-DMC’s groundbreaking DJ and producer. Exclusive, candid interviews with 50 Cent, Ja Rule, Russell Simmons and others offer insight into Jam Master Jay's life, “including information that could finally help police solve the murder that shook the music world to its core.”

Jan. 23 at 8:45 p.m.

2010-01-19T21:46:00.003-05:00

A legend of American soul passed away last week and I paid tribute to him on CBC Radio's Metro Morning show today. We started off with If You Don’t Know Me By Now by Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes. Teddy Pendergrass was the group's lead vocalist and colon cancer claimed his life last week. He was only 59. Pendergrass was born and raised in Philadelphia. He joined the Bluenotes but Pendergrass became frustrated with Harold Melvin's ego – as well as people thinking the singer's name was Harold – and left in 1975. He went solo and became the first black male singer to record five consecutive multi-platinum albums. Met with a well-publicized car accident in 1982, was confined to a wheelchair but continued making records. The tunes on today's show are from a box set titled, The Philly Sound: Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff and The City of Brotherly Love. I have a ton of box sets and this is one of my favourites. I’m a big fan of the Philly Sound that was big between the late 60s and late 70s. Unlike the Motown sound and the Stax sound, the soul music that Gamble and Huff were producing was highly orchestrated, it had classical elements, pop hooks and gospel and jazz influences. This set really proves what geniuses they were.

2010-01-14T21:48:00.003-05:00

There'll be a healthy dose of melancholy amidst all the merriment at the Maple Blues Awards Monday. The blues community lost many soldiers last year - among them Jackie Washington, the brilliant guitarist Mel Brown and Al Kirkcaldy, a huge supporter of Peterborough's scene - and we'll be reminded of their contributions thanks to a loving tribute video produced by Talkin' Blues Media's Mako Funasaka. "This year's tribute is especially meaningful to me because it includes two people who I felt very privileged to know and who were very special to me - Mel Brown and Al Kirkcaldy," says Funasaka, who's presented four "In Memoriam" videos at the prestigious W.C. Handy/Blues Music Awards in Memphis. "Mel was a legend who I was lucky enough to get to know and work with. I respected him and to be honest, he is someone I think about and miss a great deal. "And Al Kirkcaldy was a friend who supported my work from the moment I met him," Funasaka adds. "He wasn't a musician, but ask any blues musician who knew him and they'll tell you that Al was one of them. He supported the blues in Peterborough through his radio show, his newspaper column and through the shows he promoted. I'm sure the blues scene in Peterborough isn't the same without him. He was an amazing man who I was very lucky to call a friend." Funasaksa says that, for him, conducting interviews and documenting the blues and roots music scenes goes way beyond just capturing a moment in time for a single project - whether it be for television, the internet or for events like the Maple Blues Awards. "You realize very quickly that it is much bigger than just capturing images to video and that unlike other videos I produce, a tribute video shown at an event like this takes on a life of it's own," he says. "It changes the whole atmosphere of the event for those few minutes and it's hard to describe. There's a collective focus on the piece and the respect paid to people which is really special. I feel very lucky to honour the musicians we pay tribute to simply because I have such respect for these gifted musicians who dedicate their whole lives to sharing their musical passion with us." If Brown and Kirkcaldy were alive, I bet they'd be impressed by the fact that the 13th annual awards show is being held at Koerner Hall, a gorgeous venue which, in my opinion, boasts the best acoustics in the city. "The Maple Blues Awards began as a cozy dinner at the now defunct Montreal Bistro and has grown in interest every year," says Derek Andrews. "As the demand has escalated, the Canadian blues community has become more organized and engaged with the event." When swank Koerner Hall opened its doors and declared itself a friend of all styles of music, the event's organizers figured it'd be a good fit for the awards ceremony. Andrews says that Mervon Mehta, who's responsible for managing and programming the Hall, "welcomed the proposal from the start, suggesting that it was natural for the venue to be a setting from blues as well as the jazz, classical and world music he is programming." Mehta, who's known Andrews for many years and calls him one of the best and most knowledgeable programmers in the business, says when Andrews suggested that "we open up the Telus Centre to the awards show I jumped at the opportunity. "It is part of our mission to present the finest music across all genres, so a show with the likes of Harry Manx, Shakura S'aida and Monkey Junk was a perfect fit," says the son of the internationally acclaimed conductor Zubin Mehta. "If the artists and audiences respond, I hope that this will become an annual tradition." The Maple Blues Awards happens at Koerner Hall, 273 Bloor Street W. 7:00 p.m. Tickets: $20.00 - $28.00 available at www.rcmusic.ca or 416.408.0208

2010-01-12T23:46:00.003-05:00

The last time most of us heard from Percy Sledge he was singing When A Man Loves A Woman. And just when I was wondering whatever happened to the soul singer, I received Mr. Sledge's brand new album, My Old Friend The Blues. The last record he released was five years back. And prior to that he released Blue Light, which was nominated for a Grammy in 1994. I like this record. I like country soul and I like Percy's smooth voice. Sledge's signature song came out in 1966. He was big back then but by the late 70s, no one seemed to take notice of him. But he refused to just let the world pass him by so he toured like crazy for the next 2 decades, often playing playing over 100 shows a year. In 2005, he was rightfully inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I've interviewed several soul legends over the years and caught up up with Percy Sledge in 1995. Meeting him was a real treat because we were talking about his hit song and he began singing lines from the original version. He told me it was titled Why Did You Leave Me Baby? and that it was about a girl he liked at his high school. Sledge told me he was crazy about her but that she wouldn't go out with him because he was two grades lower than she was. Interestingly, Sledge told me his mother didn't think much of young Percy's voice while he sang over the demo acetates of Why Did You Leave Me Baby? at home. "It was raining cats and dogs one night and I was playing it on one of these old-fashioned record players when my mom came in and said, `Son, will you please cut that thing off? You can't sing this old bluesy music, you need to go back to church and sing.' "And I said, `One of these days I'm gonna have me a number one hit,' and she said, `That'll be the day.'"

Sledge was recovering from an appendix operation the day When A Man was released. Said Mother Sledge, who heard it while watching over Percy: "By the way, congratulations, you can sing."

A Time For Giving

2009-12-21T21:56:00.005-05:00

Here were some suggestions for last minute gift ideas. These discs also made it to the top of my Best Of 2009 list. A 4-disc set titled The Roots Of Led Zeppelin contains three discs of music, a DVD, and an excellent 30-page booklet. Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson, Elvis and Eddie Cochran, Bo Diddley and Fats Domino are all here. If you have Zeppelin's self-titled debut album, you'll see that it contains reworked songs by Muddy Waters and Eddie Cochrane. If there's a jazz fan in your life, you can't miss with a great 2-CD set titled The Flamingo Collection: Great British Modern Jazz from the Ember Label. The Flamingo was a club in London where a who's who of British jazz musicians played in the 50s and 60s. These artists also recorded for the Ember label and this is a solid collection of mainly hard bop tunes. And if you know someone who loves Latin music, pick up Bugalu Tropical Gozalo Volume 3, a very tasty compilation of tropical music that was being made in Peru in the 60s. Listen carefully and you'll hear elements of Colombian cumbia, Cuban salsa, mambo, merengue and jazz. And easily one of my favourite records that came out this year. 2009 was a strong year for Brazilian releases - not your typical bossa or samba records, mind you. Leading the way was England's Far Out Recordings. It's released over 150 singles and albums since it was established 15 years back. FOR is all about putting out classic and innovative Brazilian music. This year, it released Far Out Strictly Samba, Gilles Peterson Presents Brazilika, and Sabrina Malheiros's New Morning Deluxe Edition. And this was a big year for classic soul releases Lee Fields, who began recording 40 years back, released an excellent album titled My World. And also worth checking: Good To The Last Drop, a compilation of rare 60s and 70s soul; Mickey Stevenson's Here I Am, and Out Of The Woods from Carol Woods. And an honourable mention goes to soulmate, the latest album from jacksoul, whose lead singer haydain neale passed away in November at age 39.

Quote This!

2009-12-21T21:36:00.003-05:00

Rather than bore you with yet another best-of list, I thought I’d share some choice quotes from several artists who I profiled here this year. “Both began with tremendous bursts of truth and vital¬ity, but seemed to have lost something along the way. Both have suffered from sell-outs and hypocrites, but also from true believers whose devotion crippled their crea¬tive drive. Both are viewed by outsiders as uni¬fied, cohesive communities but nothing could be further from the truth.” Michael Muhammad Knight whose book, Taqwa¬cores, has been turned into Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam. “It’s about that deep understanding and rever¬ence for the period of ges¬tation and creative spark that can only happen when the surface of our lives and landscape appears bar¬ren,” she tells me. “It’s about keeping faith and surviving through a time where there’s a severe lack of light and not becoming addicted to the dark. How do you draw the line and protect yourself from being completely swal-lowed up by the winter?” Singer Alejandra Ribera who created a big buzz with her weekly Tuesday night gigs at the Cameron House. “Soul is about life and Haydain was uncompromising about how he viewed life and music, and that was reflected in his music. We became very close over the five years that we worked together, and there was no ego. He was funny, thoughtful and he put his family first no matter what.” Stephane Lecuyer, a close friend of jacksoul’s Haydain Neale and one of the singer’s management representatives for five years. “Every song has a specific meaning or visual picture that we try to convey to the listener. We play instrumental music that is about something. Something much bigger than the individual musician or even the group as a whole. This way, the music is more interactive in that the band and the audience are on the same journey.” Bassist Rich Brown shares the essence of his jazz-funk-rock outfit rinsethealgorithm “Soul and blues allow for an expression of feelings that really connects people. That is something I think I’m striving for in life - real connection. Song writing for me right now is simply getting me in touch with my feelings. It’s pretty powerful stuff and not an easy place to go to sometimes, but thrilling when I finally get the chance to play for people - and then the Elvis comes out!” Soul singer Scott McCord who leads the Bonafide Truth (and who sounds like a young Elvis.) “Gold teeth ain’t got nothing to do with manhood! Your grim, foul-mouthed rappers got nothing to do with manhood! Calling women bitches and ho’s ain’t got nothing to do with manhood! A man is a not a man for himself. A man is a man for his family, his people, and his community.” Jaramogi Kimathi , the Bishop of the Shrine of the Black Madonna of the Pan African Orthodox Christian Church in downtown Detroit, speaks his mind in the documentary Black Nation. “For me, that was like mainlining Memphis soul crack. I got hooked right away. That random act of Southern hospitality changed my life completely, and made me do a 180- degree turn from folk.” Singer Treasa Levasseur recalls a trip to Memphis that rocked her world “Nobody in Canada had the vision to do this. It’s really ironic that an American company is preserving Canadian history.” Kevin Howes, a music collector/DJ/journalist who conceptualized the highly acclaimed Jamaica to Toronto series of albums five years back, gives props to Seattle’s Light In The Attic. The series shines a light on the wicked reggae, soul and funk sides that were cut in Toronto from the mid-’60s through mid-’70s. “People, relationships, love, and on this record, a lot of internal, emotional conflict with myself. Being a 26-year-old female makes you feel like you need all the answers and necessary actions discovered immediately or else your entire life is going to pass you by.” Pianist/singer Valery Gore shares the sources of inspiration for songs on her lovely album, Avalanche to Wandering Bear “This continues to boggle my mind since I’m accomplished, creative and a direct descendent of the Yoruba tribe of Nigeria - whose music is the heart and the pulse of Cuban music. The Cuban community has not discovered that inclusion rather than exclusion could enhance their lives and musical journeys.” Percussionist/singer Yeti Ajasin, who leads the salsa group, Lady Son y Articulo Veinte, says it’s been a battle to gain the respect and acknowledgement from much of the Cuban community.

2009-12-12T16:23:00.003-05:00

If you're looking for a gift for someone who's a fan of soul and funk, check these discs I talked about on the show. Panama! 2 Latin Sounds, Cumbia Tropical & Calypso Funk On The Isthmus 1967-1977.

According to the liner notes, the music from that country has never been on our musical radar. Panama is home to three million culturally diverse people, and its music is a soulful blend of Latin American, Caribbean, European and indigenous forms. From Calypso Funk to Típico Soul, from hard Descargas to Cumbia-related styles, Panamanian musicians fearlessly combined and brilliantly executed styles that reflected their multi-cultural environment during a turbulent time in the young country’s history.

The obscure recordings on this compilation have never been released outside Panama until now. Soundway released this title. It's a cool little label based in Brighton, England that says its mission is to present the very best in obscure a-sides, b-sides and album cuts that have remained unavailable… until now.

To date, it's released killer compilations of Colombian, Nigerian, Ghanaian music. Also worth checking out: Sensacional Soul Volume 2: Groovy Spanish Soul & Funk Stompers New Orleans: The Original Sound of Funk. Volume 2 Wheedle's Groove: Kearney Barton. Sensacional Soul is a 2-CD set packed with soul and funk cuts by Spanish groups we've never heard of. It was released by Spain's Vampisoul label.

http://www.vampisoul.com/

The New Orleans disc contains some incredibly funky music that was made in theCrescent City in the late 60s and early 70s. It comes courtesy of Soul Jazz Records in the UK

http://www.souljazzrecords.co.uk/

And Wheedle's Groove: Kearney Barton features some of the legends of Seattle's 70's soul scene. Light In The Attic, which is based in Seattle, put this gem out.

It features 9 new songs recorded with legendary sound engineer Kearney Barton (The Sonics, The Wailers) at his classic studio Audio Recording. Tracks feature such Seattle Soul/Funk greats as Patrinell (Pastor Pat Wright) Staten, Robbie Hill, Ron Buford, Black On White Affair, and others.

http://www.lightintheattic.net/

If these intrigue you, check Soundscapes on College, Mike's Music on the Danforth, and Sunrise Records in the Sheppard Centre. And if they don't have these titles, I'd check amazon.

Alejandra's Blues

2009-12-04T20:48:00.008-05:00

I abhor winter. I’ve lived here for 28 years and dealing with it never gets easier and never will. Alejandra Ribera agrees that winter can be a bleak time physically and psychologically, but doesn’t view this season with the same derision. In fact, the Argentinian-Scottish singer embraces the cold months and just penned a winter solstice song titled Goodnight Persephone. “It’s about that deep understanding and reverence for the period of gestation and creative spark that can only happen when the surface of our lives and landscape appears barren,” she tells me. “It’s about keeping faith and surviving through a time where there’s a severe lack of light and not becoming addicted to the dark. How do you draw the line and protect yourself from being completely swallowed up by the winter?” Good question, and one I’ve never really pondered. I tend to just curse the gods as I navigate snow-covered sidewalks and try to shelter myself from the bitter winds. As challenging as it is, getting out of the house is one way to beat the winter blahs. And heading to the Cameron House on a Tuesday night to hear Ribera is another. Her unique voice has been filling the venerable club for close to a year, and Ribera’s much talked-about Tuesday residency ends Dec. 29. (She won’t be performing Dec. 15.) Ribera says the Cameron’s vibe makes the place special. “The staff is some of the funniest and kindest people I’ve ever met,” she says. “It’s an incredibly warm space drenched in fairy light with heavy velvety curtains hanging from the stage. There’s something kind of classic and familiar, yet totally random about the vibe.” If not for spots like the Cameron, we’d be cheated from hearing zany, quirky, ambitious artists like Ribera. Earlier I wrote she has a unique voice. I stand corrected. Ribera possesses several unique voices, and her music straddles various genres. Listen to her CD, Navigator/Navigateher, and you’ll be struck by how elastic and versatile her voice is “My influences include Odetta, PJ Harvey and Cleo Lane, but I would say the strongest references I can hear in my work are Rufus Wainwright and Chavela Vargas,” Ribera says. “It wasn’t really until I began the residency at the Cameron that I became aware of these distinct voices and it was only because people started to comment on it fairly frequently.” She says that it’s never been a conscious decision to phrase a song a certain way or approach it with a particular voice. “It happens quite naturally and I’d argue that depending on the day you may hear the same song sung in a different voice,” she offers. “My aim is to serve the song and open myself up to whatever happens to be flowing through me.” Interestingly, Ribera says that sometimes it feels like she’s not doing any work because she’s “tapping into something that is guiding her voice.” Speaking of voice, Ribera’s spent four days in York's vocal jazz program before ditching it to study with a witch doctor in Slovakia. “I really wasn’t feeling it at university, and I did go to Slovakia to study with a woman who was doing psychic energy healing out there,” she confirms. “It was a fabulously strange experience! “I’ve always been drawn to the healing arts and I think my work in music is ultimately an extension of that,” Ribera says. “I’m simply acting as a conduit for songs in the hope that they resonate with people. “I love that a song can have the same effect on your mood as a sneeze or an orgasm. There’s all this potential for movement and release. It’s an incredibly exciting place to be.”

Songs From The Garden Of Eden

2009-12-02T20:34:00.002-05:00

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, I'll be offering up some musical gift ideas. If you're looking for something for a new parent, I highly recommend the storybook/CD I talked up on Metro Morning Wednesday. Songs From The Garden Of Eden is a CD that accompanies a 52-page storybook of the same name. The disc features 28 Jewish nursery rhymes, lullabies and songs from the Ashkenaze, Sephardic and Yemenite communities. The book is gorgeous, and the lyrics are printed in English, Hebrew, Yiddish and Arabic, and there are detailed notes on every song. Regardless of your religious leanings, this storybook/CD makes a great gift. Songs From The Garden Of Eden is part of a series. And when you get one of these storybook/CDs, trust me, you'll want to collect them all. The illustrations are pure eye candy, and the music is excellent. There's a series called Dream Songs Night Songs which feature lullabies from China, Mali, Senegal, and Brazil. But there also books that'll appeal to children 5 and older like Sunday In Kyoto, My Name Is Chicken Joe and A Duck In New York City. The Secret Mountain, an award-winning publisher based in Montreal, publishes these lovely books. It started off releasing music CDs but began putting out book/CD combinations 6 years back. Ronald Stringer, who founded the company, has said that he though it'd be nice to give kids something imaginative that involved storytelling, pictures, and drawings with music from around the world. For more information on Secret Mountain, go to http://www.lamontagnesecrete.com/index_eng.shtml

Bhopal Remembered

2009-11-27T10:34:00.003-05:00

In the dead of night on Dec. 3, 1984, 40 tons of highly poisonous methyl isocyanate gas leaked from a chemical factory near the Indian city of Bhopal and seeped into the homes of the city’s inhabitants. According to Amnesty International, the noxious vapours killed between 16,000 and 30,000 people and a further 15,000 over the next 20 years. The human rights organization also claims that more than 100,000 people continue to suffer from health problems, and that “efforts to provide rehabilitation – both medical care and measures to address the socio-economic effects of the leak – have fallen far short of what is needed.” What happened in Bhopal 25 years ago is widely considered the world’s worst industrial accident, and several events are being planned around the globe to commemorate the tragedy. Local Indo-jazz-funk outfit Autorickshaw will mark the anniversary with a special show at Lula featuring violinist Aleksander Gajic of Beyond the Pale, violist Claudio Vena of Quartetto Gelato, cellist Amy Laing of The Lord of the Rings production, violinist Parmela Attariwala, singer Dylan Bell and noted hurdy gurdy player Ben Grossman. The group will launch its new single, City Of Lakes, that day and all funds will be directed to Bhopal’s Sambhavna Clinic. “Sambhavna is a free clinic that cares for survivors of the disaster as well as children with birth defects due to their mothers’ exposure to the gas,” Autorickshaw’s Ed Hanley says. “The clinic survives solely on donations, and many of the staff are volunteers.” Hanley and Suba Sankaran say that a book that had been written about the event fuelled them to write the song five years back. “We were both reading It Was Five Past Midnight in Bhopal by Dominique LaPierre and Javier Moro and we were inspired by the idea that as musicians we could instill some awareness, even on a small level,” Sankaran says. “Even though we’re not hardcore political activists, we do believe that it’s our responsibility as artists to give back.” Sankaran says the lyrics are meant to convey a sense of sadness, desolation, anger, frustration – the very emotions that people in Bhopal experienced on that fateful night and are still experiencing. Here’s a sample of the lyrics: “A wind invades your slumber at midnight, bringing you poisoned gifts of progress. Progress turns away from the fading lights, hiding from a crime unconfessed. Through the trenches and noxious stenches, come the clouds of impending disaster, Broken dreams and industrial schemes, innocent puppets with a corporate master.” Autorickshaw plan on extending the life of City Of Lakes – thus generating more money for the clinic – in incredibly innovative ways. “The first version we’ll put up will be version 1.0, if you will, with the basic bed tracks: voice, drums, bass, Wurlitzer and tabla,” Hanley explains. “The instrumentation doesn’t end there, however. A number of musicians have expressed interest in the project so there will be a number of other parts recorded like a string quartet, hurdy gurdy, guitar, kanjira, and various other percussion. “It's also a remix project,” he adds. “Once all the overdubs are done, we will farm the tracks out to different engineers and musicians to make different mixes. So, while there is only one track now, over the next few months we will add a number of different mixes. “The songs are name-your-price, and will all be released under a Creative Commons license to allow other artists and creators freedom to work with the material in non-commercial ways.” NOTE: City Of Lakes will be available at http://www.autorickshaw.bandcamp.com/ on Thursday. And you can donate directly to Sambhavna by visiting http://www.bhopal.org/

My Tribute to Haydain Neale

2009-11-26T12:02:00.003-05:00

My tribute to Haydain Neale appeared in The Toronto Sun today (Thursday, Nov. 26)

On my facebook page Monday night, the testimonials were being posted at a crazy pace. We’d just heard that lung cancer had claimed the life of singer Haydain Neale of jacksoul and there was no stopping the outpouring of praise and emotion.Haydain was only 39 and he leaves behind his wife, Michaela, and daughter Yasmin. I knew Haydain and I respected the man and his work, and although we’d lost touch over the last few years, I often wondered how he was faring after his well-publicized scooter accident in the summer of 2007. I was assuming he was back on track when Sony Music Canada announced in late October that jacksoul’s fifth album, SOULmate, would be released on Dec. 1. I first heard jacksoul sometime in the mid-90s when a friend hooked me up with a cassette of their music. Alternately sensuous and gritty, it was soul music like no one in Canada was making. And Haydain’s smoky voice and delivery led many to compare him to Seal. Few are carrying the soul banner like jacksoul and Haydain’s voice will be dearly missed. “Time stood still for me when I heard Unconditional (the gorgeous single off the group’s first CD, Absolute),” says Stephane Lecuyer who was one of Haydain’s management representatives for five years. “ That track was worldly and timeless and no soul act in Canada has been able to replicate that sound.” On stage, Haydain oozed sex appeal and commanded the stage and jacksoul’s live gigs were sweaty, fun, communal affairs. I interviewed Haydain twice for The Sun and always found him to be thoughtful, opinionated about the state of black music, and humble. When I wrote about jacksoul’s album, Resurrected, in 2004, I commented that the music wasn’t a radical departure from what they’d served us before, and I took Haydain to task for wearing his influences so explicitly on his sleeve. Classy guy that he was, he didn’t get defensive. “What I endeavour to do with jacksoul is bring things forward with new progressions, new melodies, a new way to jump off vocally, but I park it on something that’s universally full of love and vibe and soul,” he said, explaining his philosophy. Over the course of his career, Haydain earned a reputation as a gifted songwriter. He was awarded the SOCAN Award for R&B Song of the Year; a Canadian Urban Music Award for Songwriter of the Year, and two Juno Awards for Best R&B/Soul Recording. “Soul is about life and Haydain was uncompromising about how he viewed life and music, and that was reflected in his music,” Lecuyer said. “We became very close over the five years that we worked together, and there was no ego. He was funny, thoughtful, and he put his family first no matter what.” Here’s something Haydain wrote in the liner notes of jacksoul’s last album, mySOUL, that’s worth sharing only because as someone who knew him, I can attest to the fact he meant every word. “I think music can heal and educate. If jacksoul never makes another recording, I'll always be proud that our music was a positive force for not just love between couples, but love of self, community and the world. It's been a crazy place, this earth, since the last record. And if we could all exercise some true tolerance of each others’ existence; some understanding of each others’ cultures; and accurate knowledge of our common histories, we would then find ourselves in a much better world indeed.” NOTE: Sony Music Canada just confirmed that SOULmate will still be released on Dec. 1. All proceeds are going to the Haydain Neale Family Trust.

Rosanne's List

2009-11-24T20:42:00.003-05:00

Her last album dealt with grief, pain and the enduring human spirit, and her new album takes us into a sea of heartbreak and tears. Rosanne Cash is who I profiled on Metro Morning Wednesday and her 12th disc is titled The List. And judging by the reviews it's getting, it's a good bet that The List will be on the Top 10 lists of a lot of music critics at the end of the year. I love the soul and emotion and quiet determination in her voice, and stripped-down songs like this onereally showcase her wonderful voice. Rosanne's famous daddy, Johnny, was discussing music with her one day back in 1974 and was alarmed that she wasn't aware of all the greats who he adored. So, he compiled a list of 100 folk, blues, country and gospel songs, gave it to her and said, 'This is a template for excellence.' On her site, Cash says, “The List was far-ranging and thorough. It was assembled from my father’s intuitive understanding of each critical juncture in the evolution of country music. There were old Appalachian folk ballads, and the songs of Jimmie Rodgers and Woody Guthrie. The influence of gospel and Southern blues were crucial. Then he segued into rockabilly and the birth of modern country music by way of Hank Williams, and up to the present, which was then 1973. He also included a couple of his own songs. I endeavored to learn them all and it was an education. “I looked to that list as a standard of excellence, and to remind myself of the tradition from which I come. This album enables me to validate the connection to my heritage rather than run away from it, and to tie all the threads together: past and future, legacy and youth, tradition the timelessness.” Rosanne held on to the list for 35 years and in the liner notes of the album she paraphrases T.S. Eliot to convey the essence of her album which features 12 versions of songs from that list. She writes, "I have arrived where I started and I have known it for the first time." The List includes Cash’s covers of songs by The Carter Family (“Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow”), Hank Williams (“Take These Chains From My Heart”), Jimmie Rodgers (“Miss The Mississippi and You”), Hank Cochran/Patsy Cline (“She’s Got You”), Merle Haggard (“Silver Wings”), and Bob Dylan (“Girl From the North Country,” famously done by Dylan and Johnny Cash in 1969). The album also features a host of special guests whom Cash admires, including Bruce Springsteen (on “Sea of Heartbreak”), Elvis Costello (on “Heartaches by the Number”), Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy (on “Long Black Veil”), and Rufus Wainwright (on “Silver Wings”). Cash began her career touring with her father - she joined him on the road after graduating from high school - and she's been singing for more than 25 years. Aside from releasing a dozen albums, she's published two books, her writing has appeared in the New York Times and Rolling Stone, and her memoir will be published next summer.

Haydain Neale - Gone Too Soon

2009-11-23T20:23:00.005-05:00

We've just lost another soulful voice.

I received an email from Sony Music Canada this evening informing me that Haydain Neale, the smoky voiced lead singer of jacksoul, passed away Sunday at Mount Sinai Hospital after a private seven-month battle with lung cancer.

In a statement, his wife Michaela said, “Through all these challenges, Haydain’s sense of humour and love of music were ever-present. He constantly brightened the room with his singing and his smile.

His joyful presence and beautiful voice will be missed by us all.”

Two years back, we were all shocked when we heard that Haydain had met with a serious motorcycle accident. I knew Haydain for many years and every so often, I'd ask a mutual friend how he was faring.

Late last month, Sony announced that it was releasing SOULmate on Dec. 1. What a shame that Haydain won't be here the day the album hits shelves.

Here's something he wrote in the liner notes of his last album, mySOUL, that I think is worth sharing:

“I think music can heal and educate. If jacksoul never makes another recording, I'll always be proud that our music was a positive force for not just love between couples, but love of self, community and the world. It's been a crazy place, this earth, since the last record. And if we could all exercise some true tolerance of each others’ existence; some understanding of each others’ cultures; and accurate knowledge of our common histories, we would then find ourselves in a much better world indeed.”

To this day, I still rank jacksoul's Unforgettable as one of my favourite songs of all time.

And here's my last interview with Haydain that appeared in The Toronto Sun

http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/J/Jacksoul/2004/03/25/746247.html

All That (Sicilian) Jazz

2009-11-22T13:00:00.005-05:00

When I raved about the Sicilian Jazz Project in my column last October, I knew that somewhere down the road, the group’s ambitious self-titled recording would bag an award or three. Now, as Canadians, we’re so fond of saying that our best tend to get recognized outside Canada before getting props at home. The SJP proved this is true when it won the Ragusani nel Mondo prize in September. “It’s a prize which the province of Ragusa in Sicily gives to people who trace their roots there and who have had significant success in their fields, and who make a contribution or have a connection to Sicilian culture,” the group’s guitarist and founder Michael Occhipinti tells me. “They were giving the prize to my brother Roberto and me for the success we've had as musicians performing with different artists in different styles and for our own individual projects, but they viewed the Sicilian Jazz Project as especially important because it involved the two of us together – I composed/arranged the music, and Roberto produced the recording, and of course we both play with the band – and because it was a unique interpretation of Sicilian music.” Unique, indeed. Inspired by Sicilian folk and popular music, Occhipinti came up with the the idea to arrange that repertoire for his jazz group. As I wrote in this space, the music could have resulted in a hodgepodge, but it does not. The musical mix is exuberant and engaging, and the playing by some of T.O.'s finest musicians is stellar. The Project plays an early show at Lula Lounge tonight.

Occhipinti, who just became a dad for the third time, says the awards took place over four days “in the beautiful baroque city of Ragusa,” and were televised internationally. He adds that the city of Modica, his parents’ hometown, “presented us in concert in the main square, and we did a couple of performances in Ragusa as well.” He believes believe the SJP won the award since the jury viewed it as a significant ambassador of Sicilian culture. “My brother and I, along with singer Dominic Mancuso who came to Sicily with us for our performances as part of the awards, grew up in households hearing the dialects that our parents brought to Canada in the 1950s,” he says. “Those dialects are dying out and aren't really spoken anymore, and they were impressed that we speak ‘archaic’ Sicilian and that Dominic sings Sicilian folk music so authoritatively. “I think they also recognize that we’ve fused their folk music with the sounds of multicultural Toronto and that we’re approaching it differently than Sicilian musicians typically do,” Occhipinti adds. “Roberto and I like to think that the recording is as much a reflection of where we’ve grown up as it is a tribute to where our parents came from.” The show starts at 8 p.m. $15. 1585 Dundas St. W.

2009-11-19T09:26:00.003-05:00

Congrats to my man Richard Flohil for winning a prestigious international blues award!

A long-time publicist and concert promoter in this city, Flohil and 18 other individuals and organizations will be honored with The Blues Foundation's 2010 Keeping the Blues Alive Award during a recognition brunch at the Downtown Doubletree Hotel Saturday, January 23rd, 2010, in Memphis, Tennessee.

The Keeping the Blues Alive Awards recognize the significant contributions to blues music made by the people behind the scenes. Each is selected on the basis of merit by a panel of blues professionals.

I've known Rich for many years and I love hearing him share stories about all the blues legends he hung with back in the day. He's got great taste in music and he's definitely helped open my ears to wonderful roots music being made by musicians from here and across Canada. He's got a wicked sense of humour and I am sure his acceptance speech is gonna be memorable.

For more than 50 years, Richard has been committed to the blues. As a concert promoter, he was involved with the first appearances in Canada (in the late '50s and early '60s) of Sleepy John Estes, Robert Nighthawk, Muddy Waters, Bobby Bland, and Buddy Guy, among others.

He started his first publicity company, Richard Flohil and Associates, in 1970. In the years since, he has handled the Canadian publicity for Canada's leading blues and roots-music record label, Stony Plain Records, whose roster includes Duke Robillard, Maria Muldaur, Amos Garrett, Ronnie Earl, Big Dave McLean, the late Long John Baldry, and others.

Some of his current clients include Shakura S'Aida, Roxanne Potvin, Paul Reddick, Treasa Levasseur, and the estate of the late Jeff Healey, for whom he worked for five years. He also handled publicity for Canada's Downchild Blues Band for 39 years, and served on the board of the Toronto Blues Society for 12 years.

Hot buttered soul!

2009-11-17T15:24:00.007-05:00

All of us are familiar with Motown, but very few know the names behind the hit-making machine anchored by Berry Gordy. One of those was Mickey Stevenson. Stevenson recruited musicians who became major Motown stars and wrote hits for many of them. He released an album back in 1972 titled Here I Am on the British indie label, Ember, and I featured it on CBC Radio's Metro Morning show this morning (Nov. 18). Firstly, props due to a label in England called Future Noise Music for releasing this album. Future Noise is dedicated to releasing soul, blues, jazz and pop from the '20s to the'70s, and this marks the first time this album has been released on CD. Stevenson's got a nice smooth voice and you can definitely hear elements of the Motown sound on some of these songs. He co-wrote Dancing In The Street with Martha & The Vandellas and Stubborn Kind of Fellow with Marvin Gaye. He also helped establish Motown's house band, The Funk Brothers. Berry Gordy called him a superstar A&R man and one of the label's "greatest creative forces during our formative years." The two parted ways in 1967 and Stevenson cut Here I Am in 1972. Aside from Here I Am, Future Noise just released an album called Out Of The Woods that I really like. It, too, was released in 1972 on Ember by a brilliant singer by the name of Carol Woods.

Ember, by the way, released a bunch of soul albums throughout the 60s and 70s and a cool compilation titled Good To The Last Drop will give you an idea of who they signed back in the day. As the liner notes say, some of the discs were "big sellers, while others were unjustly ignored at the time and have since become pricey items keenly sought by discerning soul lovers.

"This album... shows that Ember's soul catalogue was indeed good to the last drop!"

For more info on these discs, visit http://www.futurenoisemusic.com/

Keep It Real!

2009-11-16T21:31:00.004-05:00

If, like me, you detest how glossy and overproduced music sounds these days, you'll totally agree with the author of The Death Of Mistakes Means The Death Of Rock.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/monitormix/2009/11/the_death_of_mistakes_means_th.html?sc=nl&cc=mn-20091114 I'm not an enemy of technology, but I don't believe it should be used to cover up a musician's imperfections and con people who don't know better that their fave singer or musician is incapable of hitting a wrong note. As John Mayer was widely quoted earlier this month after the Australian media attacked Britney Spears for lip synching on her tour: "If you're shocked that Britney was lip-syncing at her concert and want your money back, life may continue to be hard for you." And that brings me nicely to the 416 Toronto Creative Improvisers Festival which begins Tuesday (Nov. 17) in Toronto. “The festival is the most creative assembly of musicians in Toronto,” boasts Dougal Bichan. “It’s a place where the performers can go to cut loose, to play whatever they want to play at the time. The music is all created ‘in the moment, at the moment of performance, by the performers.’ “There are no set lists, no charts, no Top 40 material played to appease the audience,” he adds. “It is the best music you've never heard. Come with an open mind and ear. Come and be amazed.” http://www.416festival.com/