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Tonight on The Signal with Pat Carrabré, part two of Pat's who's who of his favourite musical Canucks.
Kid Koala scratches some squawks on "Like Irregular Chickens", Amy Millan from Stars joins Montag for a tune and 12 choirs sing R. Murray Schafer's mammoth "Credo".
True to the name, Calgary group Pear is a “sweet yet gritty” alt-country band fronted by Denis & Lynae Dufresne. They also describe themselves as "The most accomplished band you've never heard of".
They joined forces with singer songwriter Lorrie Matheson in the second "Combo to Go" concert presented by CBC Radio and the Epcor Centre in Calgary.
You'll hear the results tonight on Canada Live with Patti Schmidt.
This evening on Tonic with Tim Tamashiro, a celebration of jazz dee's with Dee Daniels, DD Jackson and Dee Dee Bridgewater.
Dee-lightful.
Later, Tim marks the 40th anniversary of the summer of love with music that topped the pop charts in the 60's. There's also jazz that made the billboard charts and some new tracks from Elizabeth Shepherd and Laila Biali.
Plus, music from Jamie Cullum, Ramsey Lewis and Dragon Fli Empire.
The way that actors find their way into a role is both the stuff of legend and the fodder of talk shows. But what about opera stars? They act, in a manner of speaking, but their story is so much carried by the music that we tend to focus on that.
Sir Thomas Allen - who begins his umpteenth rendition of the role of Don Alfonso in Mozart's "Cosi Fan Tutte" at London's Royal Opera House on July 14th - offers a rare glimpse into his "method" and the variety of back-stories he's brought to the role in a piece for The Guardian that really pulls back the curtain.
You can read this piece by the other Tom Allen at Guardian Unlimited | Music.
Martin Frobisher was certainly an adventurer - a privateer who eventually ingratiated himself to the Queen by sharing the spoils of his piracy. He wasn't a very nice person either - clearly driven by the promise of riches to be found through a Northwest Passage to Asia, he did a fair bit of plundering and kidnapping on the way (Inuit and Inuk people he captured to display in England died of disease soon after arrival in not-so-jolly-Old).
Nevertheless, his tale is bound up with the history of Canada and it is immortalized in John Estacio's opera "Frobisher". On today's edition of Saturday Afternoon at the Opera with guest host Bill Richardson, you'll hear the Calgary Opera performance of the work starring Laura Whalen, John Fanning, Kimberley Barber, Elizabeth Turnbull, Marc Hervieux and David Bedard. Jean-Marie Zeitouni conducts.
Now, first of all I should confess that I'm a bit of a sucker for these things - I used to cry every time that Bell Mobility commercial came on where the kid calls his grandpa from Dieppe.
And by now, it's made all the papers and he's been to New York for an appearance on NBC's Today Show but there really is something in the performance of Puccini's "Nessun Dorma" by Welsh mobile phone salesman Paul Potts on the TV show "Britain's Got Talent".
Potts has recently won the competition and been awarded a multi-million dollar contract and is being swept into the studio to record an album for release in a scant 3 weeks.
But if you're a softy like me and you want to see something so moving that even the super-surly Simon Cowell is blown away, you really should watch this video on YouTube.
In particular, watch the reaction of judge Amanda Holden - it's a mirror for us all.
Just in time for Canada Day, this morning's edition of the Vinyl Café with Stuart McLean presents “Songs in the Key of Canada”, a tribute to Canadian Music.
Back in October, I attended the Ontario Council of Folk Festivals Conference in Ottawa. At one point a young woman came up and introduced herself to me. I knew her father through work on a project for the National Capital Commission but he hadn't told me he had a daughter who was a musician.
Moments later she picked up the guitar and showed just what kind of a musician she was. Kyrie Kristmanson is an utterly unique voice in music. The closest thing that comes to mind is Regina Spektor but there's a gentleness in Kyrie's singing the weaves into her quirky arrangements and brilliantly poetic lyrics that adds an element of mystery not found in Spektor's cabaret delivery.
Kyrie Kristmanson is just one of the artists featured tonight on The Signal with Pat Carrabré as Pat kicks off and All-Canadian weekend in honour of Canada Day on Sunday. Also on the show, electronic duo Original Recipe and "psychedelic jazz" group Inhabitants.
And there's lots of Canadian "classics" - speaking in a groundbreaking, contemporary manner - like the Zmf Trio, Marilyn Lerner and west coast composer Douglas Schmidt. Plus, Melissa Laveaux calls in about "My Boat," the love song she dedicated to her guitar.
Last night musicians, family, friends and music lovers gathered in Toronto to celebrate the life of Canadian composer Oskar Morawetz.
Some of that concert will be heard on Tuesday July 3rd on The Signal with Laurie Brown. On July 22nd The Signal with Pat Carrabré will devote an entire hour to Morawetz.
Starting right now you can stream the entire Oskar Morawetz Memorial Concert at Concerts On Demand. Along with performances of Morawetz’s music there are spoken tributes by Anton Kuerti, Jan Matejcek and the composer’s daughter Claudia Morawetz.
Guitarist Clinton Pelletier has music in his genes.
He started guitar lessons under the instruction of his father, Freddie Pelletier. But Clinton has definitely developed his own unique voice.
Drawing inspiration from styles as diverse as country, Celtic, rock, flamenco, and gypsy-jazz -- Clinton and his band fire up the CBC Regina Galleria tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway.
I don't even need to provide last names, do I?
Well, they'll both make appearances on this evening's edition of Tonic with Katie Malloch (sort of).
You'll hear a very funky version of the Rolling Stones' "Miss You" from soul sensation Musiq (that's your Mick component) and Marilyn Monroe makes her appearance later in the show.
Also, the cool sounds of the Caribbean Jazz Project and their tune "Turnabout" - among other things.
Award Winner for “Pianist/Keyboardist of the Year”, and nominee for “Best Female Vocalist” at the 2006 Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards, Carol Welsman is riding a new wave of success. She has released five CDs to date, and four have received Juno Award nominations. Carol has a beautiful voice and an undeniable passion for the legacy of Jazz. “Swing Ladies Swing” is her tribute to a memorable era in popular song.
Dig in for a concert of tunes made famous by the great ladies of the swing era: Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Peggy Lee and more. Carol is joined by Mark Eisenmann, PJ Perry, Terry Clark and John Taylor, onstage at the Winspear Centre in Edmonton. Maestro William Eddins brings them all together with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.
Carol Welsman’s “Swing Ladies Swing” at Concerts On Demand.
Clarinettist Don Ross – the leader of the Saint Crispin’s Chamber Ensemble – is joined by local standouts Ian Woodman on cello and Sarah Ho on piano. A theme of lushness and beauty runs through a program featuring the wild British seascapes of John Ireland’s Fantasy-Sonata and Don’s arrangements of passionate songs by Gabriel Fauré and Manuel De Falla.
This concert also marks the world premiere of Mandala, written especially for the ensemble in classical Indian style by young Calgary composer Sonya Guha-Thakurta.
And as always with Saint Crispin’s concerts there are short whimsical additional pieces, in a warm and inviting atmosphere.
Saint Crispin’s Plays Nice at Concerts On Demand.
The London Symphony Orchestra is over a hundred years old and next season marks the 150th anniversary of the Hallé in Manchester. Compared to those, the 21st birthday of one of Britain's favourite orchestras may not seem like a big deal but the whippersnapper known as The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment is giving classical music fans a real reason to celebrate.
You can read an appreciation of the OAE at Guardian Unlimited | Music.
They call them "lazy days of summer" but we all know that they can be anything but. Summer always seems so short and we try to pack so much in.
My summer, for instance, will include visits to nearly a dozen festivals in various parts of the country so I have at least some idea about my weekend music playlists.
And what about professional musicians? How much of their summer is spent performing? How much is spent sitting on the dock? How much is spent sitting on the dock studying the music they'll be performing in the fall?
You'll get at least part of an answer to those questions today on Studio Sparks with Eric Friesen as opera stars Isabel Bayrakdarian and Russell Braun drop by to talk about what's on their summer listening agenda.
Former New York opera diva Beverly Sills is gravely ill with cancer and has been hospitalized, according to media reports.
Read the full story at CBC | Music News
This morning on Here's To You with Shelley Solmes there's music by Dvorak, Handel and Beethoven.
There's also a gorgeous piece by Friedrich Von Flotow performed by soprano Edith Wiens and harpist Judy Loman called "Last Rose of Summer". A little premature but lovely nonetheless.
And a piano work by Lepo Sumera played by Lauri Vainmaa which is driving me crazy. I'm sure it's been used as a movie theme somewhere but I can't think where. If you recognize it let me know.
Shelley also reminisces about Chez Heléne - remember that show? It was part of my young CBC television diet as well. I often imagined Heléne and Mr. Dress-Up hanging out together after their shows. Apparently Shelley imagined herself and Suzy the Mouse performing vignette for the show. She keeps it to a minimum today.
Tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown, a work from this year's Montreal Nouvelles Musiques Festiva International.
You'll hear the Continuum Ensemble perform James Rolfe's award-winning composition "raW". And it's not just 'War' backwards. In fact, it was written by filtering J. S. Bach’s "Second Brandenburg Concerto" through Bob Marley’s "War", Burning Spear’s "The Invasion", and John Philip Sousa’s "Stars and Stripes Forever".
Not surprisingly, "raW" was composed during the buildup to the American invasion of Iraq.
Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, clarinetist Don Ross, the leader of the Saint Crispin’s Chamber Ensemble is joined by Ian Woodman on cello and Sarah Ho on piano. A theme of lushness and beauty runs through a program featuring the wild British seascapes of John Ireland’s "Fantasy-Sonata" and Don's arrangements of passionate songs by Gabriel Fauré and Manuel De Falla.
The show also marks the world premiere of "Mandala", written especially for the ensemble in classical Indian style by young Calgary composer Sonya Guha-Thakurta.
This evening on Tonic with Katie Malloch, vocalist John Legend sings unabashedly about public displays of affection.
Later, pianist Oliver Jones and orchestra offer a lush rendition of the Fields & Kern classic "The Way You Look Tonight” and Gladys Knight pays tribute to Ella Fitzgerald with "Good Morning Heartache".
The "exotic lands" of Canada's North have captivated the White Stripes as much as the American rock duo has captivated thousands of fans this week with sold-out shows in Whitehorse, Yellowknife and Iqaluit.
Read more about the tour at CBC | Music News
The Great Canadian Theatre Company’s home on Ottawa’s Gladstone Avenue was also the longtime home for the highly successful Acoustic Waves Series. As this building gets ready to close the Ottawa Folk Festival brings together 2 Acoustic Wave veterans, Lynn Miles and David Francey and up-and-comer Steve Marriner for a song-circle to say goodbye to this intimate space. Part way through the concert another veteran – Ian Tamblyn – makes a surprise appearance.
Acoustic Waves - The Last Round at Concerts On Demand.
Two special guests pop into Studio Sparks with Eric Friesen today:
China Forbes and Thomas Lauderdale are members of the 15-piece band Pink Martini, beloved for their eccentric and nostalgic approach to classic tunes, as well as surprising takes on unusual material. They join Eric in studio to talk about their approach to music-making.
This morning on Here's To You with Shelley Solmes, selections from Canadian composer Howard Shore's film score for “Lord of The Rings”. Apparently, Shore lobbied heavily to get the job and he's definitely gone down in history for the work.
Also, Tchaikovsky's "Violin Concerto in D" and Jurgen Petrenko brings us Organ Thursday - this week, with Dietrich Buxtehude and the Mean-Tone Organ - played by Hans Davidsson.
It's not a big deal. The Intersteer bar in my neighbourhood is moving a couple of doors south so it's not exactly like the end of an era or anything. Not only that, but they've pretty much replicated the layout of the old place in the new place - same panelling, same booths and all that.
But the great thing about the Intersteer (whatever that means) is that it's never tried too hard to be inviting - it just is in its own understated and slightly surly way. It is what it is and it's fantastic. Eva, the owner, would never have made anything of the move so tonight was just like any other night. She even pretended not to care when a group of local musicians paraded through the bar to the pool table at the back. But I could tell that she thought it was a special moment - mostly because she turned off the juke box.
Makita Hack & the Log Rollers are a bluegrass band and they just set themselves up and started to play as their own kind of hommage to the last night of the Intersteer at 361 Roncesvalles. Regulars who don't usually dance danced. People clapped along. It was one of those rare unrehearsed musical moments.
I'm sure that bluegrass sessions around the pool table won't be a part of the new Intersteer two doors down but I'm glad that - at least on this one night - the unspoken love between the staff and the customers at a simple bar found expression through a little music.
Tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown, more music from the Esprit Orchestra under the direction of Douglas Schmidt - this time with a freaky fairy tale edge.
The 19th century Germans seemed to know how to scare the kids with cautionary tales. You'll hear a piece based in part on the story of a thumb-sucking child who lost his digits to an evil tailor.
Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, you'll hear Vancouver’s fabulous Tango Paradiso.
Douglas Schmidt leads on the bandoneon with Henry Lee on viola, Amanda Chan at the piano and Mark Haney on bass. They recapture the original drama and danger of tango while adding many fine original compositions to the classic repertoire. In this way they are changing the idiom and creating new possibilities that even Astor Piazzolla may never have imagined.
This evening on Tonic with Katie Malloch, Canadian jazz vocalist Melissa Stylianou sings Fats Waller's tune "Jitterbug Waltz.".
Then, the soulful (and oh-so-cute) Javier turns up the heat with a sexy song called "Once We Start” and Don Thompson summons a mystical and atmospheric treatment for his vibraphone version of "Blues for Jim San".
And so very much more.
I hadn't had any for a while but recently there have been a few comments posted to the blog asking for details on recordings heard during various shows.
This is a reminder that those posts do not go directly to the shows. Sometimes the producers are monitoring the comments particular to their shows but it's not guaranteed that they'll see your query and answer it when you need to know - which is probably "right away".
For that "right away" kind of answer, the best thing to do is to make use of our PLAYLIST feature. It's one of the tabs available at the left side of the screen. Click there and navigate to the show and date you're looking for and you should have no problem finding that precious information.
If that still doesn't tell you what you need to know, click the SHOWS tab and find the show where you heard the music you're asking about. Click on the show and you'll see a CONTACT form where you can ask the question of the people best equipped to answer it.
The venerable Canadian actor and Stratford Festival stalwart died in a Stratford hospital this morning at age 87. The cause of death was listed as acute leukemia.
No further information seems to be available at the moment but I thought you might like to know.
Sam the Record Man, the iconic Toronto store where a generation of music lovers bought their first record, sells off its contents today.
I knew it was coming but I suppose I thought there would be some kind of reprieve. At least the giant spinning neon records will be preserved by the City of Toronto.
Read the full story at CBC | Music News.
Today on Studio Sparks with Eric Friesen is the final installment of The Concerto According to Manny.
In this, episode 10, pianist Emanual Ax turns his attention to the "Piano Concerto #2" of Johannes Brahms, a work of grand architecture and mysterious inspiration.
If you missed any of the episodes or would just like to have them on hand for regular reference, they are now available on CD through the CBC Shop.
This morning on Here's To You with Shelley Solmes, music by Antonin Dvorak with his "Overture: In Nature's Realm".
Plus, Beethoven's glorious 9th and a much simpler (but equally beautiful) "Duo for Violin and Piano" in memory of Oscar Morawetz, who died on June13th.
Tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown - highlights from a concert recorded live at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.
You'll hear one of the most original artists in contemporary jazz - Quinsin Nachoff - as he melds jazz improvisation on sax with strangely beautiful string arrangements.
This recording is with his ensemble Horizons ensemble but he has several other groups as well, including one called the Rhodes ensemble built around the distinctive sound of - what else - the Fender Rhodes electric piano.
Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, a fond farewell to The Great Canadian Theatre Company’s home on Gladstone Avenue in Ottawa.
For years, it was also the home of the highly successful Acoustic Waves Series. As this building gets ready to close the Ottawa Folk Festival brings together two Acoustic Wave veterans, Lynn Miles and David Francey plus up-and-comer Steve Marriner for a song-circle to say goodbye to this intimate space.
The GCTC will move into new digs - the Irving Greenberg Theatre Centre - at the corner of Wellington St. and Holland Ave. to launch their 2007/8 season this fall.
Tonight on Tonic with Katie Malloch, enjoy Pink Martini's languorous version of "Tea for Two" (It's gotta be spiked!)
Also, a piece called "Betterman" from Musiq Soulchild and Joe Sample's funky version of "The Sidewinder" - a Lee Morgan tune.
Put that in your shaker.
Today on Studio Sparks with Eric Friesen, you'll hear acclaimed pianist Murray Perahia in a performance from his recent recital at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. He'll play Beethoven's "Piano Sonata n.10 in G".
This past Saturday evening Canada Live broadcast two more concerts from the Django Festival in Vancouver. The festival features bands which carry on the tradition of the pioneering jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt and the Hot Club of France.
Lache Cercel and The Roma Swing Ensemble brought their gypsy-enthused passion.
Van Django give us an exciting and entertaining nod to both Django and his frequent musical partner, Stephane Grappelli.
Both concerts are now available at Concerts On Demand. Just follow the links.
This morning on Here’s To You with Shelley Solmes, an all-Beethoven edition of Over the Transom, plus Angela Hewitt playing his "Appassionata Sonata".
Tonight's edition of The Signal with Laurie Brown features Sarah Slean performing classic Canadian songs that have been rearranged in new and inventive ways by the likes of Gavin Bryars, Phil Dwyer, and Roberto Occhipinti, and performed in concert with The Art of Time Ensemble.
Once I was in Paris - in front of the Centre George Pompidou - and among the musicians and jugglers around the square was an old man with the most extraordinary craggy face. At first, it wasn't clear if he was just hanging around or some kind of busker. But as people walked by, he picked up a picture frame and put it around his face. If you put some money in his can, you could take a picture.
Tonight on Tonic with Katie Malloch, saxophonist Stan Getz and the Caribbean Jazz Project play a Dave Samuels tune called "Picture Frame".
Also, guitarist Jacques Labelle plays Cole Porter's "Night and Day" and a torchsong trilogy from vocalists Hazel Walker and Jimmy Scott.
The Los Angeles Opera announced that Woody Allen is scheduled to direct "Gianni Schicchi", one part of Puccini's "Il Trittico" trio of one-act operas in the 2008 season. The two others, "Il Tabarro" and "Suor Angelica", will be directed by film legend William Friedkin, who directed such films as "The French Connection", "The Exorcist", "Cruising" and "To Live and Die in L.A.".
Read the full story at The Guardian Unlimited.
Back on Global-Village, we reported a couple of times about an Iraqi heavy metal band called A. Crassicauda and their attempt to continue to make the only music that made sense to them in an environment that was getting increasingly harder to deal with - the canaries is a coal-mine of a war zone.
Their travails are the subject of a new film that will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September
.Read the full story at The Guardian Unlimited | Music.
The founder of the Tokens and producer of "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" for Tony Orlando & Dawn is dead at 68.
The Tokens had a huge international hit with the anglicized arrangement of Solomon Linda's "Mbube" - better known as "Wimoweh (The Lion Sleeps Tonight)". There were multiple versions of the song but The Tokens' remains the definitive vocal-group version.
Read the full obituary at The Guardian Unlimited | Music
It's a rare radio treat today as a pair of jazz greats - renowned vibraphone player Peter Appleyard and pianist Dick Hyman - stop by Studio Sparks with Eric Friesen for some conversation and a live music session in front of a studio audience.
This morning on Here's To You with Shelley Solmes, music inspired by the Arctic and Antarctic, and people living near these regions.
Works include, selections from Ensemble Polaris, the Penguin Cafe, Inuit throat singers, Ian Tamblyn's "Antarctica" and "The March of the Penguins".
Tonight on The Signal with Pat Carrabré, a look at young movers and shakers in the new classical composer scene.
Ulo Krigul, Gordon Fitzell and Kati Agocs are ones to watch out for and you'll hear them tonight.
And later, Pat features a concert entitled "Eastern Pulse," the CBC Radio Orchestra's collaboration with the Safa Ensemble.
Each year Canada’s East Coast Music Industry gathers to celebrate their finest and put off one of biggest kitchen parties on the planet. This year Halifax played host to the event where the buzz was all about songwriters.
The ECMA / SOCAN Songwriters Circle has long been recognized as “the jewel” of the East Coast Music Awards and 2007 edition was one of the best. Round One was hosted by Newfoundland’s “Man of A Thousand Songs” Ron Hynes and features Prince Edward Island’s Rose Cousins, Nova Scotia’s Charlie A’Court, and Steven Bowers with special guest Jully Black.
That's tonight on Canada Live with Patti Schmidt.
On tonight's edition of Tonic with Tim Tamashiro, Ella Fitzgerald is covered, remixed and saluted. Apparently, it doesn't hurt.
There's a spotlight on Canadian percussionist Brian Barlow and there's a jazzier side to pop/r&b; singer Deborah Cox.
Plus, you'll hear a track from Carol Welsman's not yet released recording and some great female blues artists as well as music from Russ Little, Christine Jensen and Macy Gray.
Bob Egan is a folkie who has done time with Wilco and Blue Rodeo - to name just a couple from a very long list.
Zaki Ibrahim is an up-and-coming singer of hip-hop-soul.
Together, Bob and Zaki create a new urban-roots hybrid that blends everything from rap to pedal steel.
That's coming up on Fuse, with Alan Neal.
This week on Roots and Wings, host Philly Markowitz spins tracks from a new album of Afro Beat music that's raising awareness - and funds - for people in war ravaged Darfur.
Also, an exploration of a new wave of Asian women artists experimenting with exciting and often avant-garde sounds based in roots music traditions.
This weekend I'm taking in the Dragon Boat Race Festival in Ottawa. It's a ton of fun - lots of great music, food, colour and.... oh right - dragon boats!
Everyone knows that Ottawa (the Capital) can be a frustrating place - but that may be exactly why Ottawa (the City) does so much to displace any bad vibes emanating from the halls of power.
In my books, they've been pretty darned successful but they've really done a number on Andre Alexis. That's why this week's edition of Skylarking is all about Ottawa love. Yes, it's a rare disease, but Andre has it bad.
Catch the show before Andre turns into pumpkin, the only known (and incurable) end for one who loves O-Town too much.
This afternoon's edition of On Stage with Shelley Solmes is a tour of French music filled with poetry and passion.
Measha Brueggergosman, one of the most celebrated Canadian singers of today, brings her dynamic artistry to the luscious music of Duparc and Chanson, while principal conductor Alain Trudel leads the orchestra in the music of Milhaud, Ravel and Debussy.
Today's edition of The Singer and the Song with Catherine Belyea consists just two song cycles: "The Seven Verses of Alexander Blok" by Dmitri Shostakovich, from 1964, sung by soprano Aline Kutan with the Gryphon Trio, and a 1986 cycle by R. Murray Schafer, "Letters from Mignon", newly recorded by 'Mignon' herself, Eleanor James, along with the Esprit Orchestra conducted by Alex Pauk.
On tonight's edition of The Signal with Pat Carrabré, smashes and crashes make up part of the percussion section. Pat finds music that brings out the kid in us (the one banging on pots and pans)... Dustin Cole and the Specialest, The Books and Boats! all bring their best "smashy" moments.
Later, Pat heads down the Silk Road with Maryem Tollar, Autorickshaw and the Safa Ensemble.
A long-lost work by the American composer John Cage had its North American premiere in Vancouver Friday evening.
Read the whole story at CBC | Music News
Tonight on Canada Live with Patti Schmidt, a festival of all things Django Reinhardt, recorded at St. James Hall as part of the Rogue Folk Club.
The festival featured four bands that carry on the tradition of Django Reinhardt and the Hot Club of France. The Hot Club of Mars brought big tunes that included a Django-esque reworking of the Britney Spears tune "Toxic".
Now, where's my Duane Andrews from St. John's?
This evening on Tonic with Tim Tamashiro, different brands of soul from from Joss Stone and Aretha Franklin.
Also, there's a track from Emilie-Claire Barlow's new disc and some Canadian turntable tunes from Buck 65 and Kid Koala.
Plus, you'll hear from Molly Johnson, Randy Bachman and Lauryn Hill.
Today on Saturday Afternoon at the Opera with guest host Bill Richardson, Opera de Montreal presents "Lakme" by Delibes, starring Aline Kutan in the title role, with Frédéric Antoun and James Westman. Jean-François Rivest conducts.
I see that music from "Lakme" is in a new commercial (can't remember what for). It seems to get used in something new just about every 6 months. My favourite use remains Patricia Rozema's "I've Heard the Mermaids Singing".
Today on Sound Advice with Rick Phillips, the spotlight is on three new releases from male voice choirs.
Would you like some testosterone on your toast?
For Chechens, music is both a way of dealing with their bloody history and an expression of defiance, as Michael Church found when he was arrested attempting to record it.
Read the full story at Guardian Unlimited | Music
It's the start of summer; it's the end of school. So this morning's edition of The Vinyl Café with Stuart McLean is for the students. One last academic hoorrah and it's all about writing.
Stuart asked young writers to send in their stories. They had to be true and they had to be short...after that it was up to them. Stuart will read some of those stories today on the show and talk about writing from his own point of view … what he likes about it and about what he finds difficult.
Sandy Scofield is proudly Métis, a fact which plays a big role in her music. She sings in Cree, Algonquin and English. Her incredible versatility has led to her being known as a ‘transforming trickster.”
Sandy is also known as a great mentor, which is how she and her band came to be in CBC Vancouver’s Studio One last year. Sandy was there to mark the end of a CBC Radio/Radio Canada series called “BC’s Red Edge”. It was all about aboriginal youth breaking down stereotypes. She was someone to look up to for a lot of people in the audience that day.
For this Studio One concert, Sandy Scofield played from her album, “ketwam”, which means “Until We Meet Again. She was joined by two equally powerful singers … Glida Ann Morgan and Brenda Hanson and a great band that included Randall Stoll on drums, Steve Nikleva on guitar, and Brian Minato on bass.
Sandy Scofield at Concerts On Demand.
Tonight on The Signal with Pat Carrabré, music drenched with samples:
Duo Original Recipe, producer Lampshade and turntablist Kid Koala combine sound effects, old jazz records, found sounds and field recordings into thrilling combinations.
I'll say it again, Kid Koala is a genius so this should be interesting.
Later, Pat gets tied up in the tango music of Astor Piazolla, Gotan Project and more.
Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, an Ottawa event hosted by the host of CBC Radio's A Propos, Jim Corcoran.
Jim is also a songwriter and has hosted several of these Songwriters' Sessions in the past. Each one is unique and this one brought together musicians with very different personal styles, performing original songs in an intimate setting.
You'll hear performances by Michel Rivard, Monica Freire, Urbain Desbois and Mario Peluso.
This evening on Tonic with Katie Malloch, an unlikely duo, Little Richard and Tanya Tucker, sing a joyful rock anthem called "Somethin' Else” . (Frankly, Little Richard is unlikely all by himself - a duo with Tanya Tucker doesn't really stretch it that much).
You'll also get music by Billie Holiday from guitarist Jake Langley, vocalist Jill Scott and tumpeter Chris Botti.
And Tito Puente injects a little "Guajira Soul" into your Friday evening mix.
Tanya Tagaq grew up in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut where she probably could have learned throat singing as a girl. But it wasn’t until she moved south that she immersed herself in this ancient Inuit art form.
While Tanya was at art school in Halifax her mother started sending her tapes of throat singers. The sounds captivated her and one day she decided ‘I can DO this!’
Iceland’s most famous pop star, Bjork, says Tanya Tagaq’s singing is “like Edith Piaf, or something totally emotional.”
Tanya Tagaq loves to mingle electronics in her sound - and you can hear that in her collaboration with DJ/producer, Michael Red.
Tanya Tagaq at Concerts On Demand.
June 21st is National Aboriginal Day and Canada Live was there to help celebrate. You can hear the music from that show any time you like at Concerts On Demand. We have four concerts in all.
Follow the links from the artists’ names to the individual concerts at Concerts On Demand.
This morning on Here's To You with Shelley Solmes, Bach’s, "Violin Sonata in C Minor" and Beethoven's "Piano Sonata No.13 in E flat".
And more, of course.
Tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown, highlights from a concert of Sicilian folk music, arranged with a jazz twist by guitarist Michael Occhipinti.
Michael used original source material, recorded by ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax, as the basis for his intricate jazz arrangements of this traditional southern Italian music. The concert features Alessandra Belloni on vocals, and percussion, along with the rest of the Sicilian Jazz Project gang, led by Michael Occhipinti.
Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, a performance from Red Road Music in honour of National Aboriginal Day.
According to Native American tradition, walking the Red Road is a metaphor for living a life of truth, friendship, respect, spirituality and humanitarianism. “Red Road Music” is an exciting performance celebrating new songs and stories.
Eagle & Hawk headline the evening with a rare acoustic set. Also on the bill, up-and-coming singer songwriters Tracy Bone, J.C. Campbell, Don Amero and Jared Sowan.
Tonight on Tonic with Katie Malloch, a funky remix of Jr. Walker & the All-Stars' classic motown tune, "Shotgun."
Then, Etta James pays tribute to Ella Fitzgerald with "Do Nothing 'til You Hear from Me" and "I'll Never Smile Again," from Laila Biali's latest CD.
The Ottawa International Jazz Festival kicks off 11 days of great music today and Branford Marsalis swings by the Sparks Street studios to make it official. He'll be Eric's guest today on Studio Sparks for an hour of conversation and music.
Today on Here’s To You with Shelley Solmes, Tchaikovsky's "Symphony No. 5", Mozart's "Wind Serenade No. 10 in b flat" and Francois Espinasse plays excerpts from the First Organ book of Louis Marchand.
Three extraordinary soloists provide the electricity for this concert with Toronto’s esprit orchestra.
American guest artist Joanne Kong plays both piano and harpsichord in the World Premiere of a “double concerto” composed for her by Michael Colgrass, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer.
Canada’s own Shauna Rolston is featured in two works of distinctly different moods – the Ligeti Concerto and Douglas Schmidt’s “Grandma’s Sore Back”.
Canadian mezzo-soprano Eleanor James performas a piece which her love letters to composer R Murray Schafer inspired, Letters from Mignon (1984).
Esprit Orchestra’s Red Hot New Wave Finale at Concerts On Demand. Can we turn these shows around or what?
Tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown, music from the Esprit Orchestra’s first New Wave Composer’s Festival. Although there's no Duran Duran, Blancmange or Knack on the programme, you will hear Michael Colgrass's piece "Side by Side". A work that reviewer Stanley Fefferman dubbed "Harpo Marx with bats in his belfry playing on a movieola piano". (When exactly did he make that comment, I wonder?)
Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, from Pollack Hall in Montreal, English cellist Steven Isserlis and Russian pianist Kirill Gerstein, two of the biggest stars on the international chamber music scene, team up for an all-Russian programme.
This evening on Tonic with Katie Malloch, Sam Moore and Conway Twitty team up for a soulful version of "Rainy Night in Georgia” and "Hot Barbecue" from Pucho & His Latin Soul Brothers.
Plus, "Remember When", a great jazz number from Toronto drummer Barry Elmes.
Saying he needs to distance himself from "intrigues and disappointments," American tenor Neil Shicoff has pulled out of Austria's renowned Salzburg Festival.
Read the full story at CBC | Music News
The curtain goes up this evening in Milan, Italy, on Canadian director Robert Carsen's controversial production of Candide at the famed La Scala opera house for a nine-performance run.
Read the full story at Globe and Mail | Music News
Today on Studio Sparks with Eric Friesen, pianist Emanual Ax continues his "The Concerto According to Manny" series. This week is #9, in which Manny discusses a piano concerto he commissioned himself: John Adams' "Century Rolls".
The freshly re-minted Royal Festival Hall was the site of a fascinating sounding evening: a thoroughly diverse group of artists and arrangers from many genres brought together to re-imagineer the early songs of Disney films - all under the direction of that master compiler, Hal Willner, at the request of the increasingly cranky Jarvis Cocker.
Read the full review at Guardian Unlimited | Music
This morning on Here's To You with Shelley Solmes, listener requests take you from Gilbert & Sullivan to Jean Sibelius to Franz Schubert and beyond.
Tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown, everything old is new again with Ancient Cultures, New Sounds.
It's new music performed on the ancient instruments from Bali and environs. You'll hear the Evergreen Club Gamelan Ensemble, recorded in concert at Glenn Gould Studio.
The Gryphon Trio is one of Canada's very best chamber ensembles, with a well-established international career in the classical music world. But violinist Annalee Patipatanakoon and cellist Roman Borys are true musical explorers, and at least once a year they kick out the jams at Lula Lounge in Toronto with a concert presented by Music Toronto that reaches well beyond their home musical turf.
You'll hear this year's foray tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway.
This evening on Tonic with Katie Malloch, Canadian vocalist Jennifer Scott sings "East of the Sun" from her new CD.
There's a funky reggae tune, "This Room", from the New Zealand group Fat Freddy's Drop.
Also, Bobby McClure joins Fontella Bass for a soulful duet, "Don't Mess Up a Good Thing."
The forecast calls for rain today but the sky is beautiful at the moment so the Grove should be fine for the next little while.
One of the objections that's come up in some comments into the blog has revolved around a distinction between "high" art and "low" art - the implication being that at least parts of the new schedule are headed south. I want to talk a little bit about this puzzling distinction - partly because it resonates with a very old essay by Brian Eno and partly because it positively booms from a chapter in the book "What Good Are the Arts?" by critic John Carey.
First of all, let's look at the high/low paradigm in general.
Continue reading "Thoughts from the Grove: High Art / Low Art" »
Richard Bell was a Canadian multi-instrumentalist and songwriter who was there at the very beginning of the Canadian folk/rock scene in the Toronto Yorkville of the 1960's. It was there that he hooked up with Ronnie Hawkins and became one of his famous Hawks as keyboard player. From there, there were stints as piano player for Janis Joplin's Full Tilt Boogie Band, Joe Walsh, Paul Butterfield,, Bruce Cockburn, Judy Collins, Bonnie Raitt and others. In 1991 he took over the piano chair with The Band after the death of Stan Szelest.
He died last Friday after a long battle with cancer. His funeral will be held tomorrow at the Steamwhistle Brewery in Toronto, hosted by musician Colin Linden, for whom Bell wrote the song, "Out of the Wilderness".
Loreena McKennitt is that rarest of breeds: a harpist superstar. She's also an industry unto herself.
Amidst the hustle and bustle of Loreena Inc., she remains a tirelessly curious musical traveller.
She's the in-studio guest for a conversation about life and music today on Studio Sparks with Eric Friesen.
Veteran saxophonist and free jazz innovator Ornette Coleman collapsed while performing at Tennessee's Bonnaroo Festival Sunday and was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
Read the full story at CBC | Music News
Duo Diorama are Chinese violinist Minghuan Xu and Canadian pianist Winston Choi. The Honens International Piano Competition had invited Duo Diorama to perform in their “Music as a Second Language” series and were given the theme of “The Birds and the Bees”. The young couple’s performance took place in spring time in Calgary.
Duo Diorama celebrate spring at Concerts On Demand.
Combo to Go is a bit of musical matchmaking by CBC Radio 2 in Calgary.
Woodpigeon are a collective of Calgarians - seven officially, maxing out at 14 with guests - playing Mark Hamilton’s episodic orchestral pop concoctions.
VoiceScapes: a professional music collective created in 2000 by two couples: Christina Jahn & Paul Grindlay, and Julie Harris & Jerald Fast. Each singer brings a broad range of performing experience: from medieval ensembles to opera companies, from solo to choral work, spanning four continents.
Woodpigeon and VoiceScapes in the Combo to Go Series at Concerts On Demand.
Tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown, a live recording of the music of John Weinzweig from a tribute concert to the late Canadian composer earlier this year. You'll hear his "Prologue to a Tango", performed by Jean Stilwell and the Canadian Opera Company Quartet.
Of course, you can't have a prologue to a tango without a bit of actual tango, so you'll also hear a selection from Astor Piazzolla as played by Les Violons du Roy.
VoiceScapes is a music collective created in 2000 by two couples: Christina Jahn & Paul Grindlay, and Julie Harris & Jerald Fast. Each singer brings a broad range of performing experience: from medieval ensembles to opera companies, from solo to choral work, spanning four continents.
They'll bring it all together in song tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway.
Tonic with Katie Malloch begins this week with "Trouble" played by saxophonist Stanley Turrentine.
Plus, Canadian jazz vocalist Dione Taylor gets wistful with the classic torchsong "These Foolish Things." There's a track from R&B; heartthrob Robin Thicke singing "Wanna Love U Girl."
Plus! The winners of the fabulous Tonic / Montreal International Jazz Festival contest will be announced!
A chart-topping phenomenon in Britain and a world-wide hit on YouTube are the Zimmers. They're the ensemble of 80-somethings (and older) who really sink their dentures into The Who's "My Generation". Have a look at the video on YouTube.
But the Zimmers (it's the British term for one of those walkers) aren't the only ones cranking out....hmmmmm, I'll say it.....the Rock of Ages. You'll want to meet Fred Knittle in today's
Globe and Mail | Music News
Today's edition of Studio Sparks with Eric Friesen features a special guest appearance by singer, pianist, choir director, radio and television host Gregory Charles for some music and conversation in front of a live studio audience.
This morning on Here's To You with Shelley Solmes, Beethoven's wonderful 5th Symphony. It premiered in a freezing cold Vienna Theatre in December of 1808 and the reception wasn't that warm either. Everyone was exhausted and frostbitten, the players made mistakes and Beethoven had to start the performance over again. Ultimately, though, it was a huge success and has become one of the most performed pieces in the repertoire.
Also on the show, music by Dvorak, Tchaikovsky and more
...on Canada Live, it's now available On Demand.
“An evening of classical music for the digital age.” That’s how this concert from the 2007 MUTEK Festival in Montreal was billed. Three artists are showcased.
Mark Templeton (Edmonton) plays, samples, and dissects a variety of string instruments as he builds his white-noise requiems.
Colleen(France) revives the viola da gamba, clarinet, guitar, and music box all sampled and looped.
Hauschka (Germany) is a classically trained pianist who manipulates the instrument’s interior with bits of plastic, bottle caps, woven string and duct tape to produce indelible piano pieces that sound at once familiar yet disarming.
The concert includes links to related content on Flickr and YouTube.
A/VISIONS 2 from MUTEK Festival 2007 at Concerts On Demand.
Being a dad, Pat Carrabré fully intends to celebrate Father's Day tonight on The Signal ... with music composed by fathers, performed by their children. You'll hear the kids of Malcolm Forsyth, Harry Freedman and many other classical composer dads.
In the second hour, you'll hear Canadian guitarist Sylvie Proulx in a concert recorded in St. John's Newfoundland. Her program includes a Suite called "The Prince's Toys," music from a "Secret Garden" and an homage to Alfred Hitchcock.
Tonight on Canada Live with Patti Schmidt, take one 125 year old blues bar, add a dozen or so of Vancouver's best musicians, a pinch each of Nova Scotia, Scotland, Spain and Ireland, many shots of single malt and a keg of Guinness. Shake vigorously. And what you end up with is The Yale Hotel barely containing a sold out, opening night céilídh at the 4th annual Vancouver Celtic Fest.
British-Canadian songsmith Tim Readman hosted the night, which saw members of The Paper Boys, Mad Pudding, Spirit of the West, the Shona LeMotte Band, Daniel Lapp and the fabulous Ashley MacIsaac inflame the crowd and burn down the stage (you know, figuratively speaking - 'cuz those 125 year old hotels can be powder kegs).
Tonight on Tonic with Tim Tamashiro, great music for Dads from Dizzy Gillespie and Renee Rosnes.
Plus, multiple versions of that much-covered classic, "Fever" from the ubiquitous Michael Buble, Sarah Vaughan and more!
You'll also hear some great pop covers from Herbie Hancock and Paul Anka.
Last year, an album came out by a Toronto group called Kobo Town. They've been getting some attention from CBC and I see them playing around town and on the festival circuit a fair bit. I'm just willing to bet that 20 years from now, there will be a retrospective (a la Light in the Attic's "Jamaica To Toronto" compilation) that will marvel at this extraordinary group and their twist on a particular antecedent of Trinidadian Calypso.
They'll twist it up a little themselves on today's edition of Fuse when they team up with The People Project.
Alan Neal hosts as usual. The results will be anything but usual.
That's the literal translation of vallenato - from the valley. It refers to both the music and the people of the valley between the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and the Serranía de Perijá in the northeast region of Colombia. It's a strongly Caribbean part of the country and the music of this area contains a strong connection to west African griot - or storytelling music.
On today's edition of Roots and Wings with Philly Markowitz, you'll hear the wildly popular vallenato music of Colombian superstar Fonseca.
Plus, new music from Brazilian poet and songstress Beatriz Azevedo and funky vintage beats from the Bokoor Band from Ghana, to name just a few.
Empathy…
What does it mean to feel someone else's pain?
And in the scheme of things, does it make you a better predator or worse?
These odd questions and more, this week on Skylarking with Andre Alexis.
Shelley Solmes is practicing her best Casey Kasem voice for today's edition of On Stage as the CBC Radio Orchestra runs through the "Top 20 of the 20th Century" from the stage of the Chan Centre in Vancouver.
A word of advice, Shelley: avoid those embarrassing fits of swearing that Casey's prone to and you'll be just fine.
Today on The Singer and the Song with Catherine Belyea, the Aldeburgh Connection presents a quartet of singers singing Schubert songs and a duet, Gerald Finley sings thoughtful but quirky songs by Charles Ives and from Deborah Voigt's recording of American songs you'll hear three by Leonard Bernstein, which she sang on her recent concert tour.
And, at this time of year, Catherine finds it impossible to resist Samuel Barber's 'lyrical rhapsody' "Knoxville, Summer of 1915". Anna Netrebko sings a familiar Rachmaninov song and Aline Kutan sings an almost unknown one by Valentin Silvestrov with the Gryphon Trio.
Most days, my music listening is random - the computer generates a mix (tweaked now and then by me) from my collection and it keeps things pretty interesting. When I get new music, I tend to give each album a thorough listen-through a couple of times at least before it goes into the mix.
Then there are days when I just want to listen to one thing. Once, I listed to twelve straight hours of Iranian classical music. Another time it's Tom Waits or Nick Cave. And sometimes I want to saturate with electronic music. Feels like this day is going to turn into one of those. Keeping the plug in after Canada Live's visit to Mutek, The Signal with Pat Carrabré continues with a show dedicated to the theme of electronic music.
What exactly does "electronic music" mean anyway? Is it different in classical and in pop music? Pat plays with this idea... from electronic pioneer Hugh le Caine's "Dripsody" to some of Canada's newer electronic players, like Caribou and Inclination.
Plus, Bryce Kushnier, a.k.a. vitamins for you, drops by to give his take on electronic music making and later, we head to a concert from the Musee d'art Contemporain de Montreal exploring the possibilities of electronic toys and mechanical instruments from Duo Travagliando.
Some of my favourite moments on the road were collapsing into a hotel bed at 3:00am and hearing what Patti Schmidt was spinning on Radio Two. And Patti had a knack for finding lots of grimy electronica that perfectly fit the mood and the hour.
Well, Montréal recently hosted its 8th Mutek Festival of Electronic Music so a world of those sounds descended on the city and Patti was naturally there to catch them for prime time on Canada Live.
Tonight you'll hear highlights from a festival that included more than 100 artists from around the world working in a number of the seemingly arcane sub-genres of the universe of electronic music.
At least they do for a while on tonight's edition of Tonic with Tim Tamashiro. You'll hear from David Braid and Rik Emmett. Eric Clapton plays the blues and John Mayer plays Hendrix.
Plus, Joe Sample, Canefire, an ode to Sinatra and some jazzed up kids tunes.
And Tim'll pave the way for Canada Live with a little Eliana Cuevas.
This Sunday Canada Live comes from the MUTEK Festival in Montreal and this is one of the concerts you’ll hear.
On Parc Jean-Drapeau (site of Expo 67) the yearly outdoor summer weekend series Piknic Electronik merged with the MUTEK Festival for this show featuring Chic Miniature - the cross-continental duo of Guillaume Coutu-Dumont (Canada) and Ernesto Ferreyra (Argentina). Two of Montreal’s finest up-and-coming micro-house producers, here they perform a 76-minute non-stop set.
The concert includes links to photos of the show posted by fans to Flickr and short clips posted to YouTube.
Chic Miniature on Concerts On Demand.
A court has ordered heirs of German composer Richard Strauss to share royalties with the heirs of librettist and poet Hugo von Hoffmansthal for nine collaborations, including the popular operas Der Rosenkavalier and Elektra.
Read the full story at Globe and Mail | Music News
Well, maybe not quite but elements of that story are part of Richard Strauss's opera "Daphne", completed in 1938. What Daphne really loves is nature and - after jilting a rather important suitor - she gets to spend a lot of time in it by the end of the opera.
The Pacific Opera version stars Sookyung Park, Kurt Lehmann, Anthony Pulgram, Brian McIntosh and Rebecca Hass and Timothy Vernon conducts on this week's edition of Saturday Afternoon at the Opera with guest host Bill Richardson.
Oskar Morawetz, one of Canada's best-known and frequently performed classical composers, died Thursday in Toronto at age 90.
Read the full obituary at CBC | Music News
This week on Sound Advice with Rick Phillips: all new recordings of the three “B’s” of classical music:
Bach, Beethoven and Brahms. Nothing but…. including a new recording of Symphony #1 by Brahms.
BTW, the Three B's of pop are The Beatles, Bob (Dylan) and the Beach Boys.
Stuart McLean's Vinyl Café has its virtual home in Halifax this morning where Stuart's stories share the stage with the extraordinary one-man orchestra Owen Pallett (aka Final Fantasy) and up and coming singer-songwriter Joe Grass.
Tonight on The Signal with Pat Carrabré, songs from Blunderspublik, Stars and Kinnie Starr - all artists that have used the lilt and cadence of speech for inspiration.
And, with his hair freshly trimmed, Pat teases out music from Caribou, Blonde Redhead and a remix of Nina Simone... all on the topic of hair, hair colour and haircuts.
C'mon Pat, how about some Haircut 100?!
Lori Cullen moves easily within Toronto's singer-songwriter scene but there's a kind of wink in her stage presence and the occasional sense that she's about to burst with some secret she's been dying to tell. That secret is sometimes not-so-secret when she sits in on jazz sessions and her bell-like voice meshes so beautifully with jazz arrangements.
It was perhaps this experience that got her thinking about horns and how she wanted to immerse her voice among them. So, with a little help from some friends, she's done just that. Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, you'll hear Lori in a concert of new and old material arranged for a large band that includes The True North Brass.
Later in the show, the Toronto-based Great Lake Swimmers come home for the last concert of a cross-country tour in support of their latest CD, entitled "Ongiara" and you'll hear highlights from the Amanda Martinez set is from the "Canada Live in the Global Village" concert at Lula Lounge.
The later two concerts are both available in our Concerts On Demand Panel. You'll find the Great Lakes Swimmers here and Amanada Martinez here.
...to the last post...
The summer concert tour of former American Idol champion Kelly Clarkson was cancelled Thursday, with weak ticket sales apparently to blame.
Read the full story at CBC | Music News.
You know what "reality" show I really like?
Iron Chef.
Its execution is arch - more hokey than Wrestling - with the dramatic lighting, music and Chairman Kaga's outlandish costumes. But the core activity of the show is brilliant and fascinating: a challenger chef faces off against an "Iron Chef" expert in either Japanese, Chinese, French or Italian cuisines (why Indian is not in there, I don't know - probably the time factor) in a culinary battle built around one key ingredient. The show becomes an exploration of themes of culture, flavour, texture, technique - with each of the competing chefs riffing as a jazz soloist would around a particular melodic theme (I'm thinking here of Coltrane's many versions of "These are a few of my favourite things").
You know what "reality" show I hate?
Continue reading "Idolize This" »
Admit it.
There are "classic" records, chart-toppers, trend-setters, sea-changers that "define" artists, genres, years and even decades. Everybody thinks so and to merely mention them is to summon a whole set of assumptions about their greatness and importance. And you don't tell anyone but in private you don't think they're really all that good.
Several musicians and authors were recently asked to fess up for an article in The Guardian - now its your turn. Hit the ADD A COMMENT link below and tell me about some disc that no collection is complete without that you could secretly do without. (And let me know if you don't want me to publish your name!)
Studio Sparks with Eric Friesen comes to you today liver from the lobby of the National Arts Centre with the season finale of the NAC/CBC Aber Diamond Debut Series.
Michéle Bogdonowicz, soprano, Lawrence Wiliford, tenor and pianist Robert Kortgaard perform music by Fauré, Mozart, Chopin, Vaughan-Williams, Quilter, Holman and Britten.
In just weeks, Victoria Hart has gone from waiting tables to singing for Brad Pitt to a £1.5m record deal.
Read the full story at Guardian Unlimited | Music
Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway from Convocation Hall at the University of Regina - an eclectic concert featuring bass-baritone Garry Gable and pianist Kathleen Lohrenz.
Then it’s over to the CBC Galleria for up-and-coming Canadian soprano Allison Arends, who will perform arias ranging from Handel to Bernstein.
And, to round out the evening, guitarist Clinton Pelletier and his band manage to make a coherent sound from a melange of country/celtic/rock/flamenco and gypsy jazz.
Among the offerings tonight on Tonic with Katie Malloch, singer Abbey Lincoln performs a song from the movie "The Wizard of Oz" and the late James Brown fronts the Louis Belson Orchestra with Sammy Cahn & Jules Styne's "It's Magic".
In my opinion, James Brown is the real wizard there.
U.S. singer-songwriter Bob Dylan has been awarded Spain's Prince of Asturias arts prize, one of the country's most prestigious honours, for his contributions to music.
Read the full story at CBC | Music News
The National Arts Centre Orchestra has commissioned a new orchestral work from Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer to premier on his 75th birthday in 2009. It's also the NAC's 40th season.
Read the full story at CBC | Music News
What do Enrico Caruso, Maria Callas, Vladimir Horowitz, Winston Churchill, the Toronto Symphony, the Concertgebouw Orchestra, Eleanor Roosevelt, Charlie Parker, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Gordon Lightfoot, Rush, The Afro-Cuban All Stars, Crowded House, Laurie Anderson, Phillip Glass, David Byrne, Ron Sexsmith and Feist have in common?
They've all held the audience in their grasp from the great stage of Massey Hall - the Grand Old Lady of Shuter St. in Toronto.
To tell you the truth, the building isn't all that grand. It's quite plain, really. But since it opened on this day in 1894 it has taken on the patina of all the music, all the passion that has flowed through it and because of that it is beautiful beyond compare - every little nook and cranny of it.
Continue reading "Happy Anniversary to a Grand Old Lady" »
Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, the Montreal Chamber Music Festival dedicates a night to the moon’s influence on artistic creativity. Performers include Nathalie Paulin, Michael McMahon and Orion Weiss in a program that features music inspired by the aura of the moon, which of course must include Beethoven’s "Moonlight Sonata", Dvorak’s "Song to the Moon" and more.
[Anyone know that gorgeous Justin Rutledge song, "The Suffering Of Pepe O'Malley (Pt. III)" - with its gorgeous, fading end refrain: "I wanna die in Vienna / listening to the Moonlight Sonata". You can check out the video here].
Later on Canada Live, Gilles Apap, a versatile young violinist, pays homage to jazz great Stephane Grapelli.
Tonight on Tonic with Katie Malloch, hip-hop trio Lucy Pearl teams up with Q-Tip and Snoop Dogg (which, I suppose makes it a quintet, doesn't it) for a smooth tune called "You".
You'll also hear a cut from pianist Joe Sealy and bassist Paul Novotny's terrific CD "Blue Jade" along with a whole lot of other stuff.
Roberto Minczuk leads the National Arts Centre Orchestra in the world premiere of Gary Kulesha’s Symphony No. 3.
Kulesha says that this symphony was inspired by a performance NACO gave of Beethoven’s 6th.
The world premiere of Gary Kulesha’s Symphony No. 3 at Concerts On Demand.
This is a very simple little new feature I've decided to add to encourage CBC Radio Two listeners to explore more of what's being written and discussed online in the world of Canadian music. I'm going to lean mostly toward classical for the time being.
So first up, I'd like you to meet my friend Jamie Thompson. He's an artist and flautist and the author of the Urban Flute Project blog.
Enjoy.
Oscar Peterson had a Canada Post stamp issued in his honour on September 15th, 2005 (I got the first day cover!). Now, Canada Post is adding Joni Mitchell, Anne Murray and Gordon Lightfoot to the collection.
Read the full story at CBC | Music News
Arnold Schoenberg is a composer who can still strike terror into the hearts of music-lovers as the man who abandoned tonality. But pianist Emanual Ax makes the case for the Schoenberg Piano Concerto in episode 8 of "The Concerto According to Manny” today on Studio Sparks with Eric Friesen.
The show will go on, but Richard Bradshaw won't be conducting, because the Canadian Opera Company's general director is stranded in London without a passport. Bradshaw's British passport went missing on June 8, one week before he was to have led two concert performances of Verdi's "Giovanna D'Arco" in Budapest. A statement from the COC said that ''despite exhausting every possible resource,'' the English-born conductor has received ''little or no assistance from the British Identity and Passport Service,'' which has refused his request for an emergency 24-hour passport.
Read the full story at Globe and Mail | Music News
Inspired musicians seldom make inspirational teachers, but Christopher Rowland, who has died aged 60 from cancer, gave up a career as one of Britain's best quartet leaders to become director of chamber music at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), Manchester, and made it a prime destination for aspiring players.
Read the full story at Guardian Unlimited | Music
The Royal Festival Hall and the rest of the South Bank Centre came back to life Monday night after a lengthy renovation process that addressed both the look of the place and the sound of it. It was put through the paces at the gala re-opening with all four of the resident orchestras taking a turn.
Read the full story at Guardian Unlimited | Music
Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway it’s a celebration of the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra’s tenth anniversary with a concert before a packed house at the Winnipeg Art Gallery featuring original arrangements of music by Irving Berlin. Special guests for the occasion include guitar whiz Bjorn Thorreddsen and vocalist Prudence Johnson.
Then a concert featuring Winnipeg's Papa Mambo playing classic Latin and South American dance music.
Tonight on Tonic with Katie Malloch, a 1954 recording, of Gershwin's "A Foggy Day" with pianist Art Tatum and alto saxophonist Benny Carter.
And for all the commuters out there, a cut called "Go Train" from the brand new CD release of the not-so-brand-new group Manteca.
BTW, Katie's still running the Tonic Contest, which could land you at this year's edition of the always-outstanding Montréal Jazz Festival. Click the link to enter.
Actually, the Grove has been relocated today to Toronto's newest lakeside park, HTO - very nice indeed.
There's a phrase that's been popping up in some of the comments and feedback to the blog - mostly directed at changes to the Radio Two programming and schedule. They regard the changes as the "dumbing down" of CBC. "Dumbing down" is one of those phrases that's had some currency in recent years (though it's kind of akin these days to saying "Don't have a cow, man").
Continue reading "Thoughts from the Grove: Dumbing Down" »
Close to 20 million dollars worth of rare instruments – including Stradivarius violins and a cello – from the Canada Council Instrument Bank are showcased by young Canadian professionals in concert from the National Arts Centre.
Alain Trudel leads the NAC Orchestra and soloists in music by Bach, Handel, Brahms and more.
Stradissimo! at Concerts On Demand.
Petr Cancura returns to the Ottawa area from New York with his trio to perform original jazz compositions.
The Petr Cancura Trio in concert from the Black Sheep Inn at Concerts On Demand.
Tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown, an expandeded re-listen to some of Andrew Burashko's wonderful Art Of Time Ensemble recorded live in concert with the music of Franz Schubert à la Martin Tielli, Andy Maize, John Southworth, Sarah Slean, and Danny Michel.
Laurie will also peel back the shrinkwrap on new CDs by The Acorn and Azeda Booth.
Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, young Canadian musicians are given the opportunity to perform on rare and extremely valuable instruments in a concert from the National Arts Centre featuring selections by Bach, Handel, Brahms, and more.
Then, Roberto Munczuk leads the NAC Orchestra in the world premiere of a brand new Canadian symphony.
And finally, Petr Cancura with his trio performing original jazz compositions with a Latin beat.
The Temptations had a big hit with "Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” and tonight on Tonic with Katie Malloch you’ll hear David Elizond’s remix of that classic Motown song.
Then "The Girl of My Dreams" from Dizzy Gillespie and then vibraphonist Cal Tjader takes explores musical savannah with "Serengeti."
Toronto Luminato's Friday night opera concert might have been called the Drive From Home Gala, because almost all of the singers live in or near Toronto. Very convenient, you might think, but no doubt it still took quite some effort by producers Wende Cartwright and Neil Crory to get all of those eminent voices at home at once.
Read the full story at Globe and Mail | Music News
The Django Festival is a series of concerts hosted by the Rogue Folk Club in Vancouver. The festival features bands which carry on the tradition of the pioneering jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt and the Hot Club of France.
In this concert The Marc Atkinson Trio bring their brilliant original compositions to St. James Hall in Kitsilano.
Enjoy these hot club sounds and keep an ear out for more concerts from this festival on Canada Live and at Concerts On Demand.
Let's see, he's got Blur - one of the top British pop acts of all time (most famous in Canada for the use of "Song 2" in a beer commercial), a platinum-selling cartoon pop act called the Gorillaz, a film score collaboration with composer Michael Nyman ("Ravenous") and now the super-group The Good, The Bad and the Queen.
So how does Damon Albarn follow these acts? With the Chinese, folklore-inspired Monkey opera, of course.
Find out more at Guardian Unlimited | Music
Although the great man himself was too ill to be there in person, the concert that launched the international career of a young Oscar Peterson was commemorated Friday night on stage where it started.
Read the full story at CBC | Music News
Mountains, rivers and gardens inspire a host of composers tonight on The Signal with Pat Carrabré.
John Burge, Christos Hatzis and Bright Sheng all play a part in tonight's set of "music for specific places."
As well, highlights from the International Rostrum of Composers.
Tonight on Canada Live with Patti Schmidt it's a live-to-air broadcast from the Scotia Festival of Music, the Maritime's most prominent festival of classical music.
This year there’s an electrifying grand finale concert - two world premieres from Canadian star composer Christos Hatzis plus the powerful "Concerto for Orchestra" by Bela Bartok.
Soloists will be Steven Dann on Viola, and percussionist Bev Johnston. Alain Trudel (conductor of the of CBC radio orchestra) will lead 80 musicians drawn from across North America and around the world.
It's quite the musical cocktail tonight on Tonic with Tim Tamashiro.
There's some jazz infused remixes of Charlie Parker and Curtis Fuller’s music. You'll find out who worked as a janitor after recording with Miles Davis…and what artist is a psychiatrist by day, pianist by night.
Plus music from Bill Mcbirnie, The Mike Allen Quartet and Lori Cullen.
This afternoon on Fuse, with Alan Neal:
Ellen McIlwaine has shared stages with guitar greats like Jimi Hendrix and John Lee Hooker. But she's a slide-playing force to be reckoned with all on her own.
Lal is a Toronto trio who have beats, politics and a middle-eastern sensibility.
Together, Ellen and Lal re-define fusion, with sparks of blues, spoken word and tablas along the way.
You may know the story of the controversy behind Enigma's multi-million selling hit "Return to Innocence". It was a big hit in Europe and took off in American when it was used as the theme for the Atlanta Olympic Games. The song included the sample of an Ami folk song sung by an elderly couple - Taiwanese aboriginal rice farmers who had made the recording for a French ethnographic record years before. It took a massive legal battle for these poor elderly farmers to get any recognition or any compensation for their role in the hit.
The British group Baka Beyond did things a little differently when they employed the rhythms and chants of the Baka pygmies of Cameroun.
Continue reading "Baka Beyond" »
I didn't get any advance information this week about Skylarking with Andre Alexis.
Whenever that happens, that Tom Waits piece always drifts into my head:
"What's he building in there?"
This afternoon On Stage with Shelley Solmes comes to you from the wonderful and historic Orpheum Theatre in Vancouver with the CBC Radio Orchestra presenting The Concerto Project.
It's a welcome for the orchestra's new music director Alain Trudel and three distinguished Canadian piano soloists in Classical, Contemporary and Romantic concertos for piano and orchestra.
Janina Fialkowski performs a Mozart piano concerto, Ramona Luengen gives a world premiere of a concerto by Jane Coop and Winston Choi plays Mendelssohn’s "Piano Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 40".
This afternoon on The Singer and The Song with Catherine Belyea, Canadians sing a program of summery French songs:
You bring the bread, I'll bring the cheese (as I so often do).
This morning on Symphony Hall with Katherine Duncan, pianist Anton Kuerti and violinist Jacques Israelievitch join the Toronto Symphony Orchestra under guest conductor Gianandrea Noseda.
The concert includes Sofia Gubaidulina’s "The Rider on the White Horse", "Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 54" by Schumann, and Rimsky-Korsakov’s "Sheherazade, Op. 35".
By the way, Jacques is also half of the Israelievitch Duo with his percussionist son Michael. If you ever get a chance to see them, they are suberb.
See, those other shows with their one or two hour tributes are mere punters compared to Choral Concert with Howard Dyck, which continues its month-long celebration of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Edward Elgar.
This week, "The Dream of Gerontius", starring mezzo-soprano Jane Irwin and bass Anthony Dean Griffey with the City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus, the BBC National Chorus of Wales and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Sakari Oramo.
That wacky Pat Carrabré on The Signal: last night it was a focus on the tambourine. Tonight it's the banjo, with Julie Doiron, Alexis O'Hara and Joanna Newsom all playing the instrument in fresh ways.
[I've got my fingers crossed for an all-Zither Zunday!]
Also on the show, lots of great new stuff from Canadian musicians, including Mother Mother, Apostle of Hustle, and a remix of Stars from their latest CD comprised of remixes of their songs by many of their musical friends.
....from where Tonic left off, Canada Live with Patti Schmidt tonight features the aforementioned Bomba! recorded live in Edmonton.
Later, Bob Jahrig, a long time Edmonton-based singer/songwriter who only began performing in public in the last couple of years. He got pretty good pretty fast.
Some kind of weird alternate universe has taken over today's edition of Tonic with Tim Tamashiro.
Apparently Barry Manilow will sing Sinatra and Sinatra will sing Manilow .
Also, cats and dogs get along and the water in the toilet will flush in the opposite direction.
Once that vortex collapses on itself, you'll hear six degrees of Sting with music from Herbie Hancock, Chris Botti and Branford Marsalis.
Plus numbers by Ed Bickert, Melissa Stylianou and Edmonton's premiere Latin jazz outfit, Bomba! (The exclamation point is part of the name - not a gratuitous exclamation from me - though I do like them).
Today on Saturday Afternoon at the Opera with guest-host Bill Richardson, the Canadian Opera Company presents a production of Gounod’s "Faust", starring David Pomeroy, Egils Silins, Brett Polegato, Lauren Segal and Ana Ibarra. Yannick Nezet-Seguin conducts.
I believe this is the very first opera I ever bought on vinyl (except for maybe some Rossini Overtures) and I still have a soft spot for it. Hope you will too.
Today on Sound Advice with Rick Phillips, the spotlight is on a wide variety of recently recorded symphonies.
And in The Library, the series “Slava” wraps up with a recording of Rostropovich conducting "Symphony Number One", which was composed by his mentor and friend, Dmitri Shostakovich.
If you walk down to the bottom of my street in Toronto, then take the footbridge over the Gardiner Expressway and Lakeshore Boulevard, you'll find yourself in front of a piece of music history - the Palais Royale. Before the expressway, the whole area was once an amusement park - and it's fitting because the poor old Palais has been on quite a roller coaster ride over the decades. After years of neglect - punctuated by the occasional punk night or surprise Rolling Stones gig - the venue has recently been restored to its former glory.
This morning on The Vinyl Café, Stuart McLean visits the Palais Royale where he pays tribute to the era of the hall's original heyday with his special musical guests the Toronto All-Star Big Band.
Stuart also has the story of Dave’s shock when he returns home to Cape Breton to find that he is no longer the only man in his mother’s life
Booty?
Moneymaker?
Martini?
No, tonight on The Signal with Pat Carrabré it's all about the first instrument many of us ever picked up - the one that gave Davey Jones something to do in The Monkeess – of course it’s the tambourine, and tonight Ammoncontact, Montréal's Miracle Fortress and Lily Frost all demonstrate the qualities of this underrated instrument.
I'm telling you right now, though, Pat - if you don't have some Calabrians in there, you're missing some virtuosic tambourine tradition.
Later, it’s the music of the movie "Donnie Darko" which, interestingly, you may recognize as a couple Tears For Fears cover songs - one of which was used to great effect in a recent first-person-shooter video game commercial.
Well, after much ballyhoo the night has finally come on Canada Live with Matt Galloway.
Tonight, from Toronto, it’s the Luna Gala – a special concert featuring ten of Canada's greatest opera singers with arias, duos and trios that are all inspired by the moon or moonlight.
The program features arias by Bellini, Rossini, Verdi, Canadian composer Alexina Louie and many more.
Next week, Verve Records releases "We All Love Ella: Celebrating The First Lady Of Song" - a tribute album to Ella Fitzgerald produced by the legendary Phil Ramone (I like to think of him as the 5th Ramone ;->) and featuring a star studded cast. Among them are several Canadians including Michael Bublé, Diana Krall, k.d. lang and a 13 year old singing jazz prodigy from Quebec named Nikki Yanovsky. You'll hear her version of Ella's "Airmail Special" tonight on Tonic with Katie Malloch.
Also on the show, the James Brown classic "Lickin' Stick" and The Caribbean Jazz Project gets into the weekend spirit with "Against the Law."
The Vienna State Opera, one of the world's most prestigious and best known arts organizations, has signed French arts administrator Dominique Meyer as its new director.
Hey - he's an arts administrator so you know it's in good hands.
Read the full story at CBC | Music News
Matbakh means "kitchen" in Arabic. It's also the moniker for a unique collaboration between 15 musicians from Morocco, Jordan, Tunisia, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt under musical director Justin Adams - the guitarist who's worked with Robert Plant, Jah Wobble and produced those amazing Tinariwen albums.
The project was prompted by the British Council and ultimately toured to each of the countries of the member musicians.
You can read the full story on the challenges and the successes of the project at
Legend has it that Norman Granz wanted to introduce Oscar Peterson to America through his Carnegie Hall concerts, but - being a Canadian citizen - Oscar couldn’t obtain a work visa. So Granz planted him in the audience and asked him to appear on stage with bass player Ray Brown for a set as if it were completely spontaneous. Of course, he blew the audience away and became the talk of the town immediately afterward.
Tonight at Carnegie Hall they'll remember that auspicious occasion as a who's who of jazz gathers to pay tribute to Oscar Peterson. The cast will include Hank Jones, Billy Taylor, Mulgrew Miller, Clark Terry, Roger Kellaway, Christian McBride, Russell Malone, Houston Person, Jimmy Heath, Lewis Nash, Freddie Cole, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Roberta Gambarini, David Finck, Borislav Strulev, Renee Rosnes, Marian McPartland, Florin Niculescu, Eldar, Paquito D'Rivera and - believe it or not - a few more special surprise guests.
Today on Studio Sparks with Eric Friesen they'll do their own tribute and forecast tonight's Carnegie Hall gig.
BTW, if you'd like to hear Oscar reminiscing about that first night, you can hear him online in this 1975 interview from the CBC Archives.
This morning on Here's To You with Shelley Solmes, it’s a stroll through the universe with Mozart’s “Jupiter” Symphony No. 41 K551, and (in anticipation of this evening’s live Radio 2 Luna broadcast) Richard Margison sings Verde’s "Celeste Aida", which in English means “Heavenly Aida”.
“The Firebird” by Stravinsky rounds out the show.
Tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown it’s a remix of traditional songs from The Outaouais region of Quebec by The Acorn, an exploration of the many uses of salt from the duo Belanger/Guilbeault, and a topical piece by Henry Kucharzyk on the state of affairs in North Korea. The piece was commissioned especially for The Signal, and it's performed by a mystery vocalist, whose initials may or may not be L.B.
Coming up on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, from Vancouver, recorded at St. James Hall as part of the Rogue Folk Club, it’s a festival of music featuring musical groups influenced by Django Reinhart.
The Marc Atkinson Trio specializes in brilliant original compositions, The Hot Club of Mars will play a jazz version of Toxic, plus numbers by Lache Cercel and the Roma Swing Ensemble.
There’s plenty of soul on today's edition of Tonic with Katie Malloch, featuring performances by young American singer Leela James, and Canada’s own Joani Taylor.
Then hear tunes about angels from trumpet virtuoso Mike Herriot and singer Joe Coughlin.
And pianist Oliver Jones joins bassist Skip Bey for the classic tune "Old Folks".
Luna, the opera-gala component of the Luminato Festival, took on a bit more lustre yesterday, as the event's producers rushed to find a place on the bill for Canadian soprano Marianne Fiset, who claimed the grand prize last week at Montreal's Concours Musical International de Montreal.
Read the full story at Globe and Mail | Music News
Toronto composer and conductor Alex Pauk has won the $50,000 Molson Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts.
Read the full story at CBC | Music News
Alcan Inc., the Canadian aluminum maker in the midst of a takeover fight, has donated $6 million to the Montreal International Jazz Festival.
Read the full story at CBC | Music News
Canadian singers keep lighting up the world's opera stages. Tenor Joseph Kaiser is one of them. He stars as Tamino in Kenneth Branagh's new production of "The Magic Flute". He'll be appearing in this week's Luna Gala, a celebration of the very best in Canadian opera, and he'll be making a special guest appearance in hour one today of Studio Sparks with Eric Friesen.
Just try not to laugh this morning during Here's To You with Shelley Solmes when you hear Tony award winner Alan Bennett’s immortal comedy aria, “Take A Pew.”
Then enjoy Oscar Peterson’s “Gentle Waltz”, and Prokofiev’s “Love for three Oranges Suite".
When the wind and rain carve a rock, the eerie formation that results is called a hoodoo. Tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown, hear how a creative jazz outfit from Drumheller Alberta performs the musical equivalent to a hoodoo.
Then some live jazz from the Quinsin Nachoff Quintet; and progressive jazz from the Bad Plus who rearrange the Tears For Fears hit, “Everybody Wants to Rule The World.”
Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway from Montreal:
Soloist André Laplante performs piano music by Beethoven and Chopin.
Later, renowned Quebecoise jazz pianist Lorraine Desmarais and her Trio welcome guest trumpeter Tiger Okoshi for an evening of be-bop set mostly to a Miles Davis songbook from the1950s.
Tonight on Tonic with Katie Malloch, a very funky number called, "Luny Tune," from the group Organic Grooves.
Also in a Lunar mode, legendary jazz singer Carol Sloane sings" What a Little Moonlight Can Do".
Then, it's Brazil via Montréal with the bossa sounds of Paulo Ramos.
It was twenty years ago today...
that the contemporary ensemble Bang on a Can instituted an annual performance marathon.
This year, in celebration of their anniversary, they invited other ensembles to join them in New York for what turned into a 36-straight-hour marathon of music.
Read the whole story in The New York Times | Music News.
The summer festival season is right around the corner (I've already been to three early birds!) and it truly is one of the best things about summer in Canada. There's nothing quite like being under the open sky listening to live music - whatever your preference.
You may have noticed in recent years more and more festivals attempting to mirror the kind of attitude they bring to the sharing of music in the way they treat their environment. Increasingly, festival boards are recognizing the environmental impact of their events and doing their best to mitigate any negative effects. The popular Hillside Festival in Guelph Ontario is one great example, having built green-roof technology into their main stage. Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver - many other festivals distribute re-usable dishes and cutlery in their food areas.
This summer, make a point of seeing how good a job your local festival is doing in its relationship to the environment.
The world famous Glastonbury Festival in the UK was fined a few years ago for environmental damage and has since become a leader in the green festival trend. Read the full story at Guardian Unlimited | Music News.
This morning on Here's To You with Shelley Solmes, Grammy award winning group the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet take a journey from jazz to country and many other stops in between as they perform their take on the baroque classic, Pachebel’s "Canon in D".
There are also the final two movements of "Symphony No. 2" by Rachmaninov; and a brand new live recording of the Berlin Radio Choir and the Berlin Philharmonic performing the "German Requiem" by Johannes Brahms.
If you look at the arts in Indonesia, you'll see a tremendous influence from Indian culture in singing, poetry, visual arts and so on. But the history of the gamelan - the largely metallophone orchestra - predates the Hindu-Buddhist culture that dominated Indonesia in its earliest records. So we're looking at a musical form that goes back probably 10 centuries and maybe more.
It is so unique that it's not surprising it has long been the ultimate "exotic" music. It was hearing the music of the gamelan that so inspired composers like Debussy, Satie and, of course, Canadian Colin McPhee, who ended up living in Bali with his anthropologist wife and conducting the first thorough western study of the music.
In fact, this music that has been around for so long and lived within western culture
Continue reading "Gamelan Signals" »
Tonight from Vancouver on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, pianist (and master of the French repertoire) Pascal Rogé joins the Vancouver Chopin Society for a recital he put together exploring the links between Chopin and the works of 20th century French composers such as Ravel, Debussy and Satie.
Later, three-time Juno Award-winner Jenny Whiteley and her band recorded at Café Rime on Vancouver's Commercial Drive. The band keeps things traditional by playing pure and simple country music, complete with banjo, fiddle and even a saw. Vancouver-based guitarist Steve Dawson, who also produced her latest CD, “Dear”, joins Jenny and the band.
It’s been recorded by many jazz greats from Ella Fitzgerald to Diana Krall, but tonight on Tonic with Katie Malloch you'll hear Canadian jazz vocalist Dione Taylor’s rendition of "Gee Baby Ain't I Good to You?"
Then, vibraphonist Gary Burton joins bassist Dave Young's trio for the Duke Ellington tune "It Don't Mean a Thing." And then savor the beautiful ballad, "This Love," from the super-seductive Glenn Lewis.
And lots more, of course.
Mitt Romney, the Massachussets governor currently running for the Republican leadership in the U.S. is a devout Mormon with long family ties to the church elite. Romney is downplaying his religion and the church leadership is taking an official "hands-off" approach to his candidacy (although Brigham Young University email lists were used for fundraising purposes). Romney is apparently trying to reach out across religious lines to "family-values" voters of all stripes.
With politics putting Mormonism under the microscope, the other most famous Mormon institution in the world is doing some outreach of its own. The 300 voices of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and its 60 accompanying musicians are on tour performing a varied program of classical choral masterworks, American folk songs, patriotic hymns, and selections from the Choir’s recent CD, "Showtime! Music from Broadway and Hollywood". (I'm guessing they don't do the theme from "The Exorcist")
The only Canadian stop on the tour will be June 22nd for two shows at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto.
La Scala Philharmonic, the resident orchestra of Milan's famed opera house Teatro alla Scala, will play in Toronto this October as part of a North American tour commemorating Arturo Toscanini's 1921 foray to North America with the La Scala Orchestra.
Read the full story at CBC | Music News
Three time Juno Award winner Jenny Whiteley and her band travel from Ontario to the West Coast for a show at Cafe Rime on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive. The band keeps things traditional by playing pure and simple country music, complete with banjo, fiddle and even a saw.
Vancouver-based guitarist Steve Dawson – who also produced her latest CD, “Dear” – joins Jenny and the band.
Jenny Whiteley at Concerts On Demand.
Tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown, The Bad Plus revisits the progressive rock era, but with a creative jazz angle. You'll hear their version of Rush's "Tom Sawyer" from the new album "Prog".
There's also something of a percussion extravaganza in the second hour of the show with a solo performance of "The Waldo" by percussionist Rick Sacks, and NEXUS playing up a military sound with the piece "Away Without Leave" (a.k.a. AWOL).
Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, Juno Award winning vocalist Kiran Ahluwalia in concert from the Enwave Theatre in Toronto with the unique updating of the ancient Indian tradition of Ghazal (love poetry) singing that has made her hit with audiences in North America and India.
Later, Harry Manx and Kevin Breit offer another Canadian take on South Asian music, combining classical Indian music and traditional blues.
In this concert Juno Award-winning vocalist Kiran Ahluwalia performs music from her new CD "Wanderlust".
Originally from India, Kiran adds a Canadian twist to the ancient Indian tradition of Ghazal singing. You'll hear tabla and harmonium but also accordian, bass and guitar - not to mention lyrics from the growing number of Indo-Canadian ghazal poets.
Kiran Ahluwalia at Concerts On Demand.
Tonight on Tonic with Katie Malloch, pianist Oliver Jones gets us started in lively fashion with the Burke & Van Heusen tune "Swinging on a Star."
Then, vocalist Alice Russell joins the Quantic Soul Orchestra to up the happy ante with a tune called "Feeling Good."
And then transition to a smouldering Brazilian tune from the soundtrack of the Fernando Mereilles brilliant but less-than-happy-go-lucky film "City of God."
Back on May 11th, guitarists Derek Olive and Johnny Eden did a show in Powell River, BC. After the show, they packed up their instruments and gear, loaded it all onto their bikes and set off for Gabriola Island. They have followed the same pattern since then and will do so until they wind up in Petit Riviere Nova Scotia on - if all goes well - September 8th. That's 6500 kilometers, folks!
I'll check in periodically but you can follow their tour blog on your own if you like as well. Sounds like a great way to see the country.
Well, not exactly from the Grove today - but from a café across the street. This is a retelling of a story I've written about previously.
Back in the late 80's, I had a small part in a Diet Pepsi commercial. It was cut really fast so just about everyone in it had a small part - including Monty Python's Graham Chapman who appeared for about 1.5 seconds at the top of the spot. I always knew when the spot was coming on if I was doing something else with the TV on because the music - played on a sort of clipped, cheezy synthesizer sound and a little too fast - was the theme from the Chorale movement of Beethoven's 9th Symphony with the words: "Come and taste new Diet Pepsi/Marching to a di-frent drum".
Continue reading "Thoughts from the Grove: Beethoven & Diet Pepsi" »
This morning on Here's To You with Shelley Solmes, an Allsorts assortment including Francesco Geminiani’s "Concerto Grosso in C minor op. 2 no. 2", "Romantic Concerto" by Joseph Marx, and Schubert’s "Symphony No. 2 in B flat".
Tonight's edition of The Signal with Pat Carrabré explores the world of student/teacher relationships - and he doesn't mean that in a National Enquirer kind of way. Composers such as David Scott, Vincent Ho, and Kelly-Marie Murphy all get thrown in the mix.
Then, music from Groundswell's Robert Turner Celebration concert, featuring the music of - not surprisingly - Robert Turner, for harp, string quartet and more.
BTW, have you ever seen the list of musicians who studied under the French composer and conductor Nadia Boulanger? Seriously, take a look.
Speaking of student-teacher relationships...
Continue reading "Give the Man an Apple" »
Tonight on Canada Live with Patti Schmidt, the Winnipeg Chamber Music Society celebrates its 20th anniversary season with a concert of music from Haydn's 'Sunrise' String Quartet and Schumann's Piano Quartet in E-flat major. They'll also heat up the room with Piazzolla's fiery Grand Tango for electric viola and piano.
Later, the Turtle Duhks, a trio led by Len Podolak of the Manitoba roots band the Duhks. The musicians present a cozy house concert of rootsy, old-time music that reflects a different era.
And Virtuosi Concerts presents a solo recital by pianist Li Wang, featuring music by his own father, Chinese composer Yan-Qiao Wang, as well as music by Chopin and by Canadian composer Alain Gagnon.
Ahhhh, soon even that language will be obsolete as we all dutifully buy our flat-screen televisions.
Tonic on Tonic with Tim Tamashiro, music featured in commercials from iPod to VW from Wynton Marsalis to Gene Kelly.
[Speaking of which, I just want to give a big-up to Torontonians Lindy Vopnfjord and Todor Kobakov and their new band Major Maker, whose super-catchy pop-tune lights up the Maynard's Candies commercial.]
You'll hear three different sides of Canada's Leslie Feist and great music from CBC's Jazz å Espace Musique recordings. You'll also hear from Jake Wilkinson, Marc Atkinson and Alicia Keys.
Today on Fuse, with Alan Neal:
Mike Evin combines his sweet vocals with a playful piano style to create a love-song pop that'll keep you smiling. The Brothers Creeggan conduct a rich pop orchestra that fills their songs about joy and dreams.
Together, Mike Evin and the Brothers Creeggan weave a heart-shaped sound that will make you want to reach out and hold someone's hand.
I first became aware of Karelian music back in 1999 on an album by the wonderful Swedish/Finnish folk-rock band Hedningarna. It was a real departure for them and you could almost imagine parts of it being made by a glass harmonica made of ice.
Karelia is a pocket of territory that straddes Finnish and Russian jurisdictions. To read the history of Karelia will make your head spin but you'll love the music.
This week on Roots and Wings with Philly Markowitz - highlights from a concert by the Karelian art-folk ensemble Va Ta Ga recorded in Russia earlier this year.
Plus the north-African fusion sounds of Karim Ziad and Odessa meets Havana in Toronto.
Tonight is the last of three performances of "Book of Longing", the new work by Phillip Glass centered around the poetry of Leonard Cohen, following the world premiere Friday night in Toronto as part of the Luminato festival.
Not to be outdone, Andre Alexis turns his attention to Cohen's work this week onSkylarking with - including Cohen's own vintage readings and good old "Bird On a Wire", which has to be nearing the "Yesterday" mark for number of cover-versions out there.
I expect Andre to be arpeggiating all over the place!
This afternoon on On Stage with Shelley Solmes, it's the 13th annual Canadian Opera Company Orchestra Opera Gala, directed by Richard Bradshaw: "From Cherubino to Chérubin - Music of Mozart and Massenet".
The concert features two rising stars - soprano Joni Henson and bass Robert Gleadow, both graduates of the COC’s Ensemble Studio, with the COC Orchestra under the direction of Richard Bradshaw.
Toronto trumpeter Guido Basso made a rare appearance in Calgary on March 26 at the University Theatre. This concert was part of the University of Calgary Monday Night Jazz Series 2006/07 season.
Guido Basso is one of Canada’s most charismatic and influential jazz musicians. Whether performing as soloist, sidesman or leader, as arranger, composer or conductor, he has been thrilling audience worldwide for over four decades.
Guido Basso is joined by Calgary’s Verismo. This jazz quintet is made up of Calgary’s premier jazz musicians including saxophonist (and Department of Music Head) Dr. Jeremy Brown, Pat Belliveau (sax), John de Wall (drums), Derek Stoll (piano) and John Hyde (bass).
Guido Basso with Verismo at Concerts On Demand
This morning on Symphony Hall with Katherine Duncan there's apparently no Elgar at all.
Trumpeter Richard Simoneau joins Symphony Nova Scotia under the direction of Bernard Gueller. The program features Suite No. 2 from Respighi’s "Ancient Airs and Dances", Malcolm Forsyth’s "Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra" and "Symphony No. 104" by Haydn.
Were we up to "mania" yet?
Lots of recognition of the Elgar sesquicentennial at the end of the week. It continues here on the day AFTER his birth on Choral Concert with Howard Dyck. In fact, Choral Concert really is making it an Elgar-a-thon by featuring his music for the whole month of June.
This week, renowned Elgar biographer Michael Kenned offers a retrospective on Elgar and his music.
It’s 20 Sept 2006 and Alain Trudel is making his debut as Principal Conductor of the CBC Radio Orchestra at the Orpheum Theatre in Vancouver. The concert features three piano concertos and the distinguished soloists are Janina Fialkowska (Mozart), Jane Coop (Luengen) and Winston Choi (Mendelssohn).
Ramona Luengen’s Concerto is a CBC commission and this is the world premiere performance.
The Concerto Project at Concerts On Demand.
Tonight on The Signal with Pat Carrabré, Veda Hille gives her impressions of bird calls, Andrew Bird uses word play and chirping samples, and Kid Koala plays music for the early birds out there.
Later on, for you night owls, Pat plays Henry Gorecki's "Little Requiem for a Polka".
By the way, can I just say that Kid Koala's version of "Moon River" (written by Henry Mancini, lyrics co-written by Johnny Mercer, sung by Audrey Hepburn in "Breakfast at Tiffany's") is one of the greatest performances I've ever heard. You can watch this extraordinary turntablism performance on video here and another version here - each offering different glimpses into his extraordinary craft. I defy anyone reading this to watch this video and tell me this is not footage of a virtuoso and a musical genius.
Tonight on Canada Live with Patti Schmidt, a show I had the pleasure of hosting at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium in Halifax. The programme is built around the remarkable band Mir - a project fronted by the Ilyas brothers, Asif and Shehab: great musicians with a generous spirit and a generous musicality that invites all comers to the party. This show includes friends Jill Barber, Nick Van Eede from the Cutting Crew, and the Halifax-based Sudanese Kalimba group Kojo.
Later, jazz guitarist Michael Occhipinti teams up with three string players from Symphony Nova Scotia to create a concert of atmospheric, creative music. Also, Daniel Heikalo is a master of many world instruments, from the citern to the dijeridoo. For this concert, he teamed up with guitarist/percussionist Ryan Leblanc for an incredible night of music making.
Tonight on Tonic with Tom Tamashiro, you'll hear one version or another of the Gorillaz' "Clint Eastwood" AND you'll hear music from Clint Eastwood's son Kyle.
Tim'll celebrate Marvin Gaye's music with a nod to Motown and great jazz from the Occhipinti family as well as super soul from the marvelous Mavis Staples, Jacksoul and The Philosopher Kings.
Plus, the Mississippi Blues get a makeover with studio effects and live instruments from Tangle Eye.
It's Saturday afternoon and I'm doing laundry.
But speaking of damned spots, today on Saturday Afternoon at the Opera, guest host Bill Richardson presents the Vancouver Opera production of Verdi’s "Macbeth", starring Greer Grimsley, Jane Eaglen, Burail Bilgili and John Bellemer. Jonathan Darlington conducts.
That's it for this post. A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
Following a recent popular trend, Rick Phillips spotlights guitar music this week on Sound Advice. I swear I had nothing to do with it!
Then on to some selections featuring the cello, including The Library where Rostropovich - the guy Yo Yo Ma called the greatest cellist in the world - performs a Dvorak cello concerto.
Did I mention I have a great picture of one of the members of Quartetto Gelato holding a guitar as if it were her cello?
This morning in the Vinyl Café, Stuart McLean will tell us why he's not allowed to buy another book. Ever. Never. Not even one...And about why he hates squirrels.
And he makes a remarkable apology to one of the provinces in our country.
There’s also new music to be heard featuring Lori Yates, Feist, and Shaye - an extraordinary array of sirens if ever there was one - calling you to the shores of the VC.
Tonight on The Signal with Pat Carrabré, a musical salute to the typewriter in all of its old fashioned glory! Winnipeg's trio of typewriting performers Poor Tree 'returns'. Plus a concert recording of Moritz Eggert's unbelievably musical "Symphony for 12 Mechanical Typewriters".
Later in the show, Pat looks at another everyday object we don't often think of as musical - the telephone; vitaminsforyou and Andy Creeggan both incorporate the telephone into their definitive styles.
Sandy Scofield is a treat. When she's not peppering her audience with jokes, she's delivering sometimes hard-hitting, always heartfelt songs in a powerful voice. Her 2003 release “Ketwam” won the 2003 Western Canadian Music Award for Aboriginal music. That same year, the album also won Best Folk Album and Best Production in the 2003 Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards. You'll hear her and her band tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway recorded in CBC Studio One in Vancouver.
Later, Euis Komariah, in a concert of traditional and contemporary Indonesian tembang. And, Saxophilia, a contemporary saxophone quartet based in Vancouver, in concert at the Cellar Jazz Club, playing music by Strayhorn, Torke and Rivier.
Mix a gentle bossa nova with a jigger of hard rock & roll, and what do you get? Glambeats Corp.’s version of “You Could Be Mine.”
Then a heart-rending vocal of "My Cryin' Eyes," from Canadian soul songstress Divine Brown, and Montreal's Doxas brothers lead their quintet in an adventurous take on Cole Porter's "Night and Day."
Lots more too tonight on Tonic with Katie Malloch.
My friend Chris just alerted me to the availability of some video of composer John Cage on a 1960 game show called "I've Got a Secret". Interestingly, the host very quickly abandons the pretense of the game in order that Cage get the maximum amount of time to perform his composition "Water Walk". As he was to the end of his life, in this video you get a sense of a person who is intelligent, thoughtful, unfailingly polite, fearless and with a wonderful sense of humour and sense of play.
Continue reading "Caged Video" »
One of my favourite songwriters, Ottawa’s much-loved Jim Bryson releases Where the Bungalows Roam, a CD which has already garnered lots of critical buzz. For the past decade, this guy from Stittsville, Ontario has been strumming guitar, pounding the keys and waving around his shaker collection to create some great tunes of melancholy and hope.
This concert took place at Jim’s favourite venue, The Black Sheep Inn. You’ll hear some songs from the new CD, some classics and maybe some tunes from Jim's extensive back catalog.
Jim Bryson at The Black Sheep Inn on Concerts On Demand.
Milan's La Scala will honour Giacomo Puccini in its 2007-08 season, marking the 150th anniversary of the Italian composer's birth next year with two of his best-known works, Trittico and La Boheme.
Read the full story at Globe and Mail | Music News.
New Orleans has lost another of the veterans of the city's living musical history with the death of jazz clarinetist Alvin Batiste - a passionate advocate for acknowledging the unique African-American heritage that resides in the music.
Read the full obituary at Guardian Unlimited Music.
You heard Here's To You's "Elgarversary" show. Now, not to be outdone, it's "Elgarfest" on Studio Sparks with Eric Friesen, featuring performances of his Cello Concerto, Violin Concerto and more.
What's next, "Elgarmania"?, "Elgarama"?, lunch at the "Elgarteria"?, battles with "Elgarholism"?
This morning on Here's To You with Shelley Solmes they're marking the 150th anniversary of the birth of Sir Edward Elgar. In his honour, and in response to many listener requests, all of the first hour is devoted to his music including "Severn Suite", "Sea Pictures", and "Enigma Variations".
Then enjoy Mozart’s "Piano concerto no. 17 in G Major", Mendelssohn’s "Octet", and more.
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