September 30, 2007
Posted by on September 30, 2007 at 09:00 PM
Pat Carrabré had a question one day. Or maybe his producer did. Or most likely, knowing how these things happen, they both had the same idea at around the same time. (Kind of like Madame Curie and those other scientists who narrowly missed the boat, but different.)
This was that question: "What is up with all those huge pipe organs in churches and the fact that no one seems to be appropriating that great sound into pop music?"
But you'll have to tune in to The Signal on this Sunday evening to hear the answer. (And I suspect he found some exceptions to that rule.)
Posted by on September 30, 2007 at 04:00 PM
Classical meet pop -- on Fuse. Today on the show you can hear cellist Denise Djokic (renown for her interpretations of Stravinsky and Schumann), and pianist David Jalbert with The Acorn, an indie/folk rock/crunk band beloved to Ottawa.
The Fuse folks say that The Acorn will soon "take over Canada with their catchy, sensitive tunes," and I have no reason to disbelieve them. You know, mighty oaks and all that.
Posted by on September 30, 2007 at 02:00 PM
It's pretty incredible to think that the top-selling poet in the English language is a man who wrote poems in Farsi almost eight centuries ago. And today, on the final edition of Roots & Wings, host Philly Markowitz celebrates the 800th birthday of Sufi mystic and poet Mevlana Jallal-a-Din Rumi with an hour of music inspired by and created from his works.
You'll hear classical and contemporary music from the former Persian empire (including present-day Iran and Turkey), plus excerpts from Rumi’s writings about music. You'll also learn how Rumi's words echo through the voices of Canada's Sufi musicians, eight centuries - to the day - after his birth.
For the past fifteen years Philly has entered the homes of many CBC listeners, with her wonderful voice and her passion for music. You'll be glad to know that you can continue to hear her as weekend host of Nightstream (beginning in a couple of weeks), as well as contributing to the new network show Inside The Music, which starts next Sunday.
And a personal note...R&W; has a special place in my own heart, as fifteen years ago (Philly, has it REALLY been that long?!?) I had a little idea for a show that would present "world music" on disc, in what I hoped would be a fun and engaging way. Philly was the first and only person I thought of asking to host the show -- we'd both worked in community radio, and shared a lot of the same ideas about radio and the same excitement about all the music we were discovering -- it was at about that time that "world music" recordings began steadily funneling into North America.
Continue reading "Rumi At 800, Roots & Wings At 15" »
Posted by on September 30, 2007 at 12:06 PM
Guest host Rick Phillips presents OnStage today, and another outstanding concert from the CBC-McGill Series. Ecstatic Surrender is a musical exploration of The Song of Songs. (And a heck of a name for a concert too.)
What you'll hear is Stephen Stubbs leading a group of vocalists and musicians who interpret the music of Schutz, Palestrina, Walton and Willan, on voice and period instruments.
Posted by on September 30, 2007 at 11:00 AM
As you most likely already know, Catherine Belyea has become full-time host of Here's To You. And today is the last day of her weekend show, The Singer & The Song.
But they go out in a Blaze Of Glory, (Blaze Of Glory is one of those phrases, like Live To Air that is best put in caps, don't you think?), winding up its five-year run with some of Catherine’s all-time favourite songs sung by the best of the best!
So she's rounded up the usual suspects: Canadians we're on a first name basis with, like Measha, Michael, Russell, Karina and Gerry, and internationals we'll attach last names to, just in case -- Magdalena Kozena, Marie Mclaughlin, Matthias Goerne and Thomas Quasthoff, as well as music from the late Lorraine Hunt Lieberson. All this plus Iva Bittova with a birch leaf! Now, that's a Blaze Of Glory alright.
Posted by on September 30, 2007 at 09:06 AM
Yoav Talmi leads the 2007 National Youth Orchestra of Canada in concert this week on the final edition of Symphony Hall. (As next Sunday the programming changes mentioned in a previous post, R2 Changes do get underway.) The concert includes music by Wagner, Barber, Ravel, Dvorak, Sibelius and Canada’s Kelly-Marie Murphy. btw, you may already know this but in case you don't -- you can continue to hear Katherine Duncan hosting Alberta's contributions to Canada Live.
Posted by on September 30, 2007 at 07:00 AM
Have the urge to belt out Land Of Hope And Glory? No? Well, bet it'd be pretty hard to resist if you were at the Proms, as it serves as an unofficial closing anthem. And today Choral Concert wraps up its summer-long series of concerts from festivals with highlights from this year’s BBC Proms, including the wildly popular (and often just wild!) Last Night Of The Proms.
All those who answered "yes," here's your warm up:
Land of hope and glory,
Mother of the free,
How shall we extol thee,
Who are born of thee?
Louder! Louder!
Posted by on September 30, 2007 at 12:00 AM
In case you are wondering which concert is being broadcast on Sunday night as part of the Variations On Gould series, wonder no more. In fact there are two. First, the music that is undoubtedly most associated with Glenn Gould – Bach’s Goldberg Variations – played by pianist Minsoo Sohn.
And the second, a really quite daring musical idea is presented, as Sudanese-Canadian Waleed Abdulhamid and his band Waleed Kush offer an African interpretation of the Goldbergs.
“Glenn Gould opened a door for me,” says Abdulhamid. “I heard a freedom in the way he played the Goldberg Variations. And I felt I really wanted to perform this music in a North African way.”
September 29, 2007
Posted by on September 29, 2007 at 09:00 PM
Pat takes a slightly different look at the concept of country music Saturday night on The Signal, and he’ll let Neko Case "light the first firecracker."
From that I'm guessing we won't be hearing a lot of Shania. Not that there's anything wrong with Shania, but I just don't think That Don't Impress Me Much kind of firecrackers are what he's getting at. I'm guessing it's more "insurgent country" oriented than that. (A term which for some reason always sounds medical to me, "Doctor, we've got an outbreak of insurgent country on our hands.") Anyway, since I admit I have skeletal (ha ha) info on the nature of these firecrackers, there's only one way to find out. Tune in!
Posted by on September 29, 2007 at 06:55 PM
In case you missed my much earlier post on tonight's Variations On Gould concerts, here's the scoop:
Six songwriters explore the "idea of north" in a concert recorded on Friday at Ottawa's Museum of Civilization, and broadcast tonight on Canada Live. Representing everything from throat singing (Tanya Tagaq) to acoustic instrumentals (Creaking Tree String Quartet) to art-pop (Veda Hille), the musicians will react, re-interpret, re-think and re-write the some of the ideas of north presented in Glenn Gould's 1967 CBC documentary, The Idea Of North, through specially commissioned, new works.
Here's the full line-up of participating musicians.
Tanya Tagaq
Veda Hille
Creaking Tree String Quartet
(And since I gave a brief description of the music of the above, here are some brief descriptions of the music below!)
Catherine MacLellan (folk from PEI)
Grand Analog (crafty hip hop from Winnipeg)
The Flaps (imaginary soundtrack music from Ottawa)
Also on the show, a second Gould-related concert from Calgary: Close in Distant Cold Light by David Berezan.
It's an homage to Gould's Idea of North, and is done partly in the style of his original piece, but also in the style of the Berezan's electroacoustic music.
So you'll hear interviews with people around the world (mainly from "southern" countries) talking about ideas of "north", and also transformed sounds exploring different characteristics of "north."
Posted by on September 29, 2007 at 05:00 PM
"That's you all over."
If those four words made you immediately picture a certain man of Tin, we are, as Anne of Green Gables would say, "kindred spirits." Consequently you too may be intrigued to know that Tonic features some jazz versions of Over The Rainbow and If I Only Had A Brain this evening.
And just in case you need your fix, here's Judy at the wagon wheel...
Posted by on September 29, 2007 at 02:45 PM
I was so glad to see that there is a happy ending to the tragic plunge of the Bosendorfer dropped by some delivery men (dropped!) en route to delivering the beast to the Two Moors Festival not long ago.
If you saw the original picture (recaptured in this good news story at The Guardian) you too will be glad. It was almost too terrible to look at! That poor delivery man, he probably didn't sleep for weeks.
Anyway it turns out that now an £85,000 hand-built Bosendorfer Imperial Concert Grand is being presented by the company to the festival (which sounds delightful -- classical music scattered among dozens of parish churches and halls across Exmoor and Dartmoor -- you can show up in your hiking boots if you want)...for FREE!!!
Posted by on September 29, 2007 at 01:05 PM
Bill Richardson presents another production from the Salzburg Festival this week on Saturday Afternoon At The Opera. Peter Mattei sings the title role in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, and the cast also includes Anna Samuil and Joseph Kaiser -- Daniel Barenboim conducting.
btw, if you are a opera fan, but haven't explored the world of opera blogs, I wanted to point you to Opera Chic, much up-to-date coverage of opera doings in New York and Europe, delivered in a (sometimes quite irreverent) very entertaining style. Think of it as "cheeky chic."
Posted by on September 29, 2007 at 11:00 AM
This week on Sound Advice, host Rick Phillips continues exploring the new boxed set of all the Beethoven symphonies (played by the Russian National Orchestra under the direction of Mikhail Pletnev).
In the Library, more in the series Great Gould Recordings. This week, it’s Gould's controversial 1962 live concert recording of Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1, with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor Leonard Bernstein so strongly disagreed with certain aspects of Gould’s interpretation that he gave a disclaimer to the audience (included in the recording) before the performance began! (Although not without a certain amount of humour, and also with a great deal of regard for Gould.)
Pretty incredible though, when you think about it -- one artist issuing a disclaimer before both artist's perform together...and not to steal Rick's thunder, but you may want to check out this archival clip of the incident. (And of course, to hear the music you will need to tune into Sound Advice...)
Posted by on September 29, 2007 at 08:44 AM
There are some things that should be universally understood. Anniversaries are best spent doing things agreeable to both parties, the tried and true. Sometimes the grand romantic gesture may backfire.
Although I can't say for sure how Dave and Morley’s anniversary will turn out – the one Dave was left in charge of planning. Stuart McLean can, he'll have the story this weekend on the Vinyl Cafe, which comes to you from Salt Spring Island. (Apparently even though D&M; haven’t been in a canoe together since their honeymoon, Dave is planning a trip into Algonquin Park. I sure hope it's not one of those with the longgggggg portages, speaking from recent experience!)
Stuart also welcomes musical guest Harry Manx, a really quite remarkable multi-instrumentalist who blends the music of India with everything from blues to jazz and Celtic.
Posted by on September 29, 2007 at 12:00 AM
A distant early warning of a good kind -- that a fresh take on ideas of what Canada's north is all about is presented Saturday night as part of Variations On Gould.
Six songwriters explore the "idea of north" in a concert recorded on Friday at Ottawa's Museum of Civilization, broadcast tonight on Canada Live. Representing everything from throat singing (Tanya Tagaq) to acoustic instrumentals (Creaking Tree String Quartet) to art-pop (Veda Hille), the musicians will react, re-interpret, re-think and re-write the some of the ideas of north presented in Glenn Gould's 1967 CBC documentary, The Idea Of North, through specially commissioned, new works.
Here's the full line-up of participating musicians.
Tanya Tagaq
Veda Hille
Creaking Tree String Quartet
(And since I gave a brief description of the music of the above, here are some brief descriptions of the music below!)
Catherine MacLellan (folk from PEI)
Grand Analog (crafty hip hop from Winnipeg)
The Flaps (imaginary soundtrack music from Ottawa)
Also on the show, a second Gould-related concert from Calgary: Close in Distant Cold Light by David Berezan.
It's an homage to Gould's Idea of North, and is done partly in the style of his original piece, but also in the style of the Berezan's electroacoustic music.
So you'll hear interviews with people around the world (mainly from "southern" countries) talking about ideas of "north", and also transformed sounds exploring different characteristics of "north."
September 28, 2007
Posted by on September 28, 2007 at 08:45 PM
It's funny how the word "orchestra" has become popular for all sorts of ensembles that by no means resemble the traditional classical orch. You know, art-pop bands involving multiple instruments, perhaps strings even, but also electric bass and drum kit. Maybe it's because it has a kind of cheeky irony, maybe it's because everyone secretly hungers to play in an orchestra. Perhaps all will be revealed this evening on The Signal as Pat takes a look at (and a listen to) the zeitgeist of orchestras...that aren’t.
And another episode of Vertical Tasting, which despite what you might think, does not take place in an elevator with a wine flight. No, it is an audio sampling of one artist’s best vintages over time, and this evening it's Canadian composer Christos Hatzis.
Posted by on September 28, 2007 at 06:50 PM
An evening reminder of tonight's Variations On Gould concert, featuring the multi-talented Canadian jazzman, Don Thompson, and the singularly talented Paul Galbraith.
Don Thompson and Paul Gailbraith , pianist/bassist/vibist and guitarist, respectively, take the stage to pay tribute to Glenn Gould with Galbraith’s expanded 8 string Brahms Guitar in transcriptions of Byrd, Schoenberg and Bach. And Bach’s harmonic genius will be explored by Thompson in a jazz quartet setting.
Posted by on September 28, 2007 at 04:00 PM
As I remember it, Queen Latifah as Matron "Mama" Morton in the movie version of Chicago, stole the show -- some people actually clapped when she did her opening number. (The whole notion of clapping in appreciation at a movie is so interesting, don't you think? Even though there is no one to receive the applause, it still feels right, after a powerhouse performance like that...)
Anyway, tonight Tonic gets your weekend off to a rockin' start with Weekend Love, a soulful hip-hop tune from the mighty Queen Latifah herself.
And in the "old favorites" category, Katie's playing a couple tracks from the legendary Alone Together, the recording Tony Bennett and Bill Evans made on this day in 1976.
Now, I am willing to bet there was some applause out in the control room at the end of that day.
Posted by on September 28, 2007 at 03:33 PM
This just in, well, in a couple hours ago but still pretty fresh in the news department: Leonard Cohen has been nominated for a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.
And you can read the whole story at CBC | Arts News.
Posted by on September 28, 2007 at 01:30 PM
Ever wonder what would happen if classical composers re-enacted moments from movies? Here's one answer, as Soho The Dog presents Strauss And Mahler...and a scene from Midnight Cowboy.
Posted by on September 28, 2007 at 11:00 AM
Just last week pianist Jon Kimura Parker took on Beethoven's mighty Emperor Concerto in Ottawa, with the National Arts Centre Orchestra conducted by Pinchas Zukerman. And today you can hear the results - on Studio Sparks.
I love what a critic for the San Antonio Express-News once said about Jon Kimura Parker:
"Well, let's see - gargantuan technique, awesome timing, oceanic depth, volcanic fire and more fun than the whole Marx Brother's catalog."
More fun than the Marx Bros., now there's a slogan!
Posted by on September 28, 2007 at 08:01 AM
Here's To You listeners are by no means exempting themselves from the Glenn Gould celebrations, -- today you can hear some of your Glenn Gould requests, including the great pianist playing Haydn’s Piano Sonata In E Flat and Bach’s Partita No. 1 In B Flat. (I just thought I should mention that, lest H t Y was feeling left out of the party! Not at all...)
Posted by on September 28, 2007 at 12:00 AM
It's hard not to wonder what Glenn Gould would have made of all the attention sent his way, via the Year Of Gould and CBC's own Variations On Gould celebrations.
One thing I bet he would have found most interesting about the latter, is the "variations" aspect of the music that's being created during this ten day salute. The music being created is no mere simulacrum. (At last! The opportunity to use the word "simulacrum.") No, it's about imaginative approaches to a musician whose work inspired on any number of levels.
Friday night's concert features Don Thompson and Paul Gailbraith pianist/bassist/vibist and guitarist, who take the stage to pay tribute to Glenn Gould with Galbraith’s expanded 8 string Brahms Guitar in transcriptions of Byrd, Schoenberg and Bach. And Bach’s harmonic genius will be explored by Thompson in a jazz quartet setting.
Live, and live-to-air, so if you are interested in being part of the radio audience, contact the Glenn Gould Studio.
September 27, 2007
Posted by on September 27, 2007 at 08:49 PM
Sylvie Proulx is featured tonight on The Signal, coaxing the sounds of toy soldiers from her guitar, in a live recording of Nikita Koshkin's work The Prince's Toys.
And more interesting guitar on the show -- from Brit guitar icon Fred Frith, from his project with percussionist Evelyn Glennie.
Did you know Evelyn Glennie was a Dame? Not that kind of dame, involving cigarette smoking and duplicity in black & white, but a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Somehow I missed that. I wonder if she ever gets together with Helen Mirren and Judi Dench for tea?
Posted by on September 27, 2007 at 06:30 PM
Tonight, the main event -- not that other concerts Variations On Gould series aren't important -- but this one is an artistic and technical undertaking on quite a scale: six pianists in six cities playing the Goldberg Variations in a multi-media event produced by Espace Musique, R2's French cousin, and broadcast on Canada Live.
So a few scant hours from now, live-to-air in Gatineau from the Museum Of Civilization, with live relays from studios in Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Montreal and Halifax, you can hear following pianists:
Vancouver: Jane Coop
Edmonton: Wonny Song
Winnipeg: Katherine Chi
Gatineau: David Jalbert
Montréal: Maneli Pirzadeh
Halifax: Richard Raymond
Also, at 8pm eastern time you can watch video of the concert, streamed live online at Espace Musique. [NOTE! This video stream will happen live at 8pm eastern only.]
Posted by on September 27, 2007 at 05:00 PM
If you've been curious about the new Herbie Hancock CD, The River: The Joni Letters, but aren't quite ready to shell out, tune into Tonic tonight -- Katie will be sampling the disc.
Still haven't seen tons of reviews of the CD, perhaps because there was quite a bit of advance press about it. (Not to mention it was only released two days ago.) Although the New York Times did call say, in their advance piece, that the album "delivers an intimate reinvention issuing from someplace deep inside the music." The tracks I've heard here and there online certainly bear this out...
Posted by on September 27, 2007 at 03:45 PM
In case you are in Vancouver -- or perhaps thinking of attending the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra's 2007/2008 season opener, but were wondering if indeed it would take place given the ongoing labour disputes, here is some news -- performances on September 29th & October 1st will go ahead at the Orpheum Theatre as scheduled.
From the press release sent out by the VSO with full details:
"This was made possible by a decision reached Wednesday by the Labour Relations Board, which issued an interim order granting third party picketing relief at the stage door of the Orpheum Theatre, allowing opening weekend concerts to proceed. The VSO respects CUPE Local 15’s right to picket the main audience entrance of the Orpheum, which will likely occur. Both parties are still in the midst of an ongoing process to determine whether this relief will be temporary or permanent, and an announcement about concerts scheduled beyond the opening weekend will be forthcoming."
Posted by on September 27, 2007 at 03:07 PM
In the wake of my wildly enthusiastic embrace of Across The Universe, Julie Taymor's movie that uses The Beatles music in a totally imaginative way, it's nice to see news of yet another Beatle-related movie to look forward to. In this case, Reuters reports that Martin Scorsese is set to direct an authorized documentary about George Harrison.
The bad news? It'll take several years to complete.
Posted by on September 27, 2007 at 01:30 PM
It would be understandable that it might be hard to keep track of everything during CBC's Variations On Gould celebrations -- indeed, the Gould celebrations around the world right now.
And if you meant to tune into the So You Want to Write A Fugue? concert but forgot, or got too busy washing the dishes, the dog, your collection of salt and pepper shakers, whatever, you will be pleased to know that So You Want To Write A Fugue? is now available as a Concert On Demand.
Posted by on September 27, 2007 at 10:45 AM
That motorcycle-riding tenor, Ben Heppner, has even more arrows in his quiver (beyond the fact as well as singing just a bit, he likes to unwind by taking out the two-wheeler). Today he turns radio host, guest-hosting Studio Sparks! Heard him earlier in the week being interviewed by Jian Ghomeshi on Radio 1's "Q,", and Mr. Heppner professed to be nervous, but I bet he'll be a swell host. Maybe he'll tell more stories about his biker dude alter ego. Whatever, the main thing is you know it will be in That Voice. Sigh.
btw, Eric Friesen is resting up to host the big Gould extravaganza tonight, which is thoroughly explained in the post previous, just scroll on down a few lines to The Goldberg Relay.
Posted by on September 27, 2007 at 12:00 AM
Although it is the wee hours of a new day, it is not too early to mention that on Thursday night, you can hear the centrepiece of Variations on Gould – six pianists in six cities playing the Goldberg Variations, in a multi-media event produced by Espace Musique, R2's French cousin, and broadcast on Canada Live.
It's going to be a pretty incredible event, and I imagine that all involved -- performers, radio producers, technicians -- are a tad nervous, but also very excited.
Here's what will happen. It's a live-to-air in Gatineau from the Museum Of Civilization, with live relays from studios in Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Montreal and Halifax.
Video of the concert will also be streamed live online at Espace Musique. [NOTE! This video stream will happen live at 8pm eastern only.]
And the featured pianists are:
Vancouver: Jane Coop
Edmonton: Wonny Song
Winnipeg: Katherine Chi
Gatineau: David Jalbert
Montréal: Maneli Pirzadeh
Halifax: Richard Raymond
September 26, 2007
Posted by on September 26, 2007 at 09:00 PM
From this year's Atlantic Jazz festival, you can hear legendary drummer Jerry Granelli and his V16 Project tonight on The Signal.
Also, new music from Hassle Hound (who aren't kidding when they say they "voraciously sample everything in their paths" -- check out their MySpace site or better still, listen to the radio!) and a bit of minimalist fun from the Marc Mellits Consort with a piece called The Misadventures Of Soup. I've had misadventures with soup myself, (usually involving spillage) but never known soup itself to have misadventures. Curiouser and curiouser.
Posted by on September 26, 2007 at 06:43 PM
Just a quick reminder that tonight on Canada Live, live from Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto, pianist Louis Lortie plays a program that honours Glenn Gould's fascination with transcriptions - works for other instruments or ensembles arranged for piano....all part of Variations On Gould.
Posted by on September 26, 2007 at 04:00 PM
It's been fifty years since Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story opened on Broadway. Time, she flies.
Tonight Tonic salutes West Side Story, the translation of Romeo and Juliet into the world of NYC gangs, with tunes like America, I Feel Pretty, Somewhere, Tonight and more.
Funny, Chita Rivera (the original Anita), told CBS news that she remembers looking at the script for the first time, and thinking that "a musical with a dead body being carried over the heads at the end...just can't work." Guess she's glad she was wrong!
Posted by on September 26, 2007 at 01:07 PM
In England a sound recordist named Chris Watson describes dawn birdsong in Britain as some of "the very best wild music on earth." Wild music, I love that.
The Guardian Unlimited Music has a brief story about how Watson's recordings of birds will be played for patients at hospitals in Liverpool. Hopefully there will be follow up -- does birdsong have the power to heal?
And in a (possibly) related matter, a new book is out by Oliver Sachs that is all about how the brain deals with music. Boing Boing (a "directory of wonderful things," and a fav. site of mine, and not only because the name) has the story.
Posted by on September 26, 2007 at 11:00 AM
Russian violinist Vadim Repin is in Ottawa today as part of the National Arts Centre's Beethoven Festival.
Repin, whose playing Le Monde described as "sensitive, elegant, subtle, also profound, generous and tender. . ." (sheesh, what isn't it?) is taking time out to drop by Studio Sparks to talk about his approach to Beethoven, whose work is the focus of Repin's upcoming recording. (Bets he'll be thoughtful, perceptive, insightful, also really quite clever and so forth and so on!) Oh, and Eric will be playing some music from that about-to-be released recording as well.
Posted by on September 26, 2007 at 08:00 AM
Here's To You springs into Gould action this morning, when Catherine plays part of Gould's acclaimed documentary The Idea Of North. What Gould called his "dream documentary," The Idea Of North was inspired in part by Katherine Anne Porter's Ship Of Fools -- apparently the novel was still among his possessions when he died.
Continue reading "The Idea Of North" »
Posted by on September 26, 2007 at 12:05 AM
Transcribing music by ear, when you sit in front of your staff paper and try and accurately recreate the music on the page, is one of those great challenges for many a young student of jazz. Well do I recall struggling to notate a Miles Davis solo in my first year of music school, lo these many moons ago.
But when it comes to another meaning of transcription, really arrangements of, say, orchestral works recast as piano scores, we're talking a whole other ballpark -- student efforts of the kind I made are kind of like what your local minor league team is to "going to The Show."
And there are transcriptions by exceptional musicians like Glenn Gould. And Gould's fascination with transcription, particularly with the the works of Wagner, sheds much light on his own approach to to the work.
In the second night of Canada Live's live performances at the Glenn Gould Studio the great pianist, Louis Lortie, explores just that, in a concert called Glenn Gould And The Art Of Transcription. (And at time of blogging there were still tickets available, btw.)
September 25, 2007
Posted by on September 25, 2007 at 08:28 PM
Tonight, The Signal wraps up a special series of concerts from the X Avant Festival from Toronto. Local bass wizard Rich Brown teams up with New York saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa for a concert of jazz, improvised music, and laptop experimentation.
And if you've ever asked yourself, "What is laptop music?" here is a brief history of that very thing, from The New Music Box.
Posted by on September 25, 2007 at 06:00 PM
There's a good chance you already know about the concert on Canada Live tonight, as it's been much talked about as the first concert of CBC R2's 10 day long Glenn Gould celebrations, Variations On Gould.
But as well as the much ballyhooed opening concert, So You Want to Write a Fugue, a concert that includes ten works based on the letters in Gould’s name commissioned from ten Toronto composers for ten Toronto pianists, Canada Live will also play two new works that are also based on Gould's name -- but not from classical musicians, from roots artists Daniel Koulack and Richard Moody.
Posted by on September 25, 2007 at 04:04 PM
I have a feeling Glenn Gould didn't entertain the notion of "guilty pleasures." There was pleasure, or not. Proof is that Gould declared, more than once, "I am a Streisand freak and make no bones about it. With the possible exception of Elizabeth Schwarzkopf, no vocalist has brought me greater pleasure or more insight into the interpreter's art."
This is wonderful to hear. I think more people should simply acknowledge what they love without apology, regardless of its fashionability or not. Not that I have much of a problem with that, long a fan of pop music critics poo-poo. And before it became fashionable to like the pop music that previous eras of critics would have poo-poo'd, were they still critics. If that seems a baffling notion, check out this explanation of Poptimism and Rockism, by Jody Rosen. (Not a new debate, but perhaps new to you, if you don't spend time perusing nerdy music stuff.)
But back to Gould. Today on Tonic it's all about setting the mood for Variations On Gould, as Katie spins Barbra Streisand singing I'm In The Mood For Love.
Posted by on September 25, 2007 at 02:47 PM
Two long awaited recordings connected to Joni Mitchell were officially released today, her own Shine, and a tribute recording by Herbie Hancock, called River: The Joni Letters.
I've only heard excerpts so far, so can't weigh in yet, but the early reviews of Joni's recording are...mixed. Robert Everett-Green, writing about Shine in the Globe, says the recording is "a jeremiad that blunts its own message, with music that's too mellow to express the frustration seething in the lyrics." Whereas the BBC's Jon Lusk says it's "the best thing she’s done since her 1970s heyday," and that it's "one hell of a comeback."
In the days to come it'll be interesting to see how others view (or hear) it -- not to mention Herbie's CD. Feel free to share your thoughts on either, if you've had a chance to check them out...
Posted by on September 25, 2007 at 11:00 AM
Many of the musicians who have been guests on Studio Sparks over the past three years have reflected on the influence of Canada's Glenn Gould. And today, in honour of the Gould anniversary, Andre Previn, Jamie Laredo, Emanual Ax and others will share their views on Gould's artistry and impact.
So many musicians have been influenced and inspired by Gould, of course, and not just classical players -- came across these thoughts about the intensity of the reaction jazz pianist Jessica William's had to Gould's playing, in a post simply called Glenn Gould.
Posted by on September 25, 2007 at 09:00 AM
As you know, if you read this blog and listen to Radio2, today marks the beginning of Variations On Gould, CBC's homage to Glenn Gould, who would have been 75 today. All the concerts are broadcast live, on Canada Live, and of course depending on where you live you can be part of the audience, if tickets are still available -- check via the full schedule of Gould concerts. Tonight it's So You Want To Write A Fugue.
And here are a couple of fun, Gould-related matters:
The Idea Of Glenn, a little quiz to test your Glenn Gould knowledge.
Excerpts from interviews Glenn Gould did during his career.
Posted by on September 25, 2007 at 07:21 AM
The Polaris Prize results were announced last night -- and Patrick Watson takes home the $20,000. In some quarters the victory is seen as an upset, or perhaps a tad mystifying (as in the Pitchfork quarter). But I'd say it would be a pretty difficult field to choose from -- a great crop of Canadian music.
For the whole story, go to cbc.ca/arts.
September 24, 2007
Posted by on September 24, 2007 at 09:00 PM
More music on The Signal from the most interesting 2007 X Avant Festival, presented by the Music Gallery, (that link will take you there) and featuring experimental electronica, free-jazz, contemporary chamber music, minimalist composition etc., hosted by The Signal’s Laurie Brown. Tonight the concert broadcast is by the Madawaska String Quartet.
Posted by on September 24, 2007 at 06:00 PM
Just earlier today I was saying how guitarist Django Reinhardt's music lives on, both in France and here at home in Canada. And here's more proof, if you need it -- tonight on Canada Live the Duane Andrews Quartet play a mix of traditional Newfoundland music and Reinhardt-style jazz. Sort of the Hot Club On The Rock I guess. Want a little preview? Check out this interview/music video with Duane Andrews. Though I think you'll have to tune into Canada Live for the Newfoundland folk part -- the tune in this vid seems pretty much weighted towards the Reinhardt side of the equation.
Also on the show this eve, from this year’s Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival, the Blues Songwriters’ Session, featuring Atlantic Blues legends Denis Parker and Peter Narvaez with special guest Little Miss Higgins, a.k.a. "the pride of Nokomis, Saskatchewan."
Posted by on September 24, 2007 at 03:30 PM
Jazz clubs they do come and go, much to the dismay of jazz lovers, not to mention musicians. Tonight on Tonic host Katie Malloch plays a set by pianist Kenny Barron that was recorded at the beloved and lamented New York City jazz club Bradley's.
Fortunately some clubs seem to endure, for instance the perennially candlelit and hushed Ronnie Scotts in London. Though apparently it had a controversial makeover this past summer, as noted by The Independent's jazz writer, Sholto Byrnes, in a piece about the legendary Ronnie's.
And Byrnes, writing about Barron's performance there last March, paid a lovely tribute to the pianist with the opening words of his review:
"Fame has taken a long time to attach itself to Kenny Barron. It's only in the past decade or so that this 62-year-old American has been recognised as the impeccable pianist that he is, and it's been 15 years since he last played at Ronnie Scott's. But during his apprenticeships as a sideman to the likes of Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Getz, Barron was honing a style that makes him one of the foremost exponents of the modern mainstream."
Posted by on September 24, 2007 at 01:22 PM
You may have read with delight, or with shock horror that someone was making a movie using The Beatles music, set to a fictitious love story in which the actors sing. After having read reviews, both good and bad (though mostly good), I went to see Across The Universe on the weekend.
Reader, I am here to tell you it is amazing. Not without flaws, not beyond criticism (although what is?) but truly amazing. It's movie as art.
One of the most powerful things about it is the way it makes us hear songs we've all heard a million times before as though we have not. I was a little worried about the actors-who-are-not-singers factor, but in most cases the performances are so different from what we are used to, and delivered with such conviction, that the words have fresh impact and the songs are newly beautiful.
Highlights: A killer gospel version of Let It Be. A cheerleader singing I Want To Hold Your Hand. And everything that Jim Sturgess a.k.a. "Jude" sings.
Posted by on September 24, 2007 at 11:53 AM
This Just In!
Studio Sparks' live guests, Van Django, (see previous post) are not only performing live on the show, it's live on the Sparks Street Mall, so if you're in the neighbourhood in Ottawa, hustle on over...
So that's "outside" as in out of doors, not in the jazz sense, in case the subject heading had you wondering...
Posted by on September 24, 2007 at 11:01 AM
When I was in Paris, not long ago, I was struck by how the music of Django Reinhardt lives on in France. Now, aside from any mild annoyance you may have felt at someone saying "when I was in Paris not long ago," particularly on a Monday workaday morning, if you are a fan of the guitarist I'm sure you'll be pleased at this news. There are plenty of musicians still performing in the style virtually created by Reinhardt, his blend of French dance-hall music, gypsy music, and early swing.
And the music also lives on in Canada, as you can hear today on Studio Sparks, with the Vancouver swing trio Van Django performing in front of a live studio audience.
Posted by on September 24, 2007 at 09:00 AM
No, not me, a fugue I could never write. I stopped with the 12-bar blues. But the men and women listed below wanted to write or play one -- as a tribute to Glenn Gould, and part of the Variations On Gould, CBC R2's Glenn Gould celebrations, which begin Tuesday. You can hear this concert for yourself as the show goes Live To Air!
I had to put that in caps, since there is always something exciting about the live concert broadcast for both performers and audience. (Not to mention radio producers...) If you're in T.O. you can attend in person, if not, tune into Canada Live.
Here's how it works: Ten Canadian Composers wrote preludes and fugues to be performed by ten Canadian pianists. The concert happens at, natch, The Glenn Gould Studio on Tuesday night.
And here are those brave men and women of fugue:
The Writers:
Kati Agócs, St. John’s
Ka Nin Chan, Toronto
Malcolm Forsyth, Edmonton
Stewart Goodyear, Toronto
Gary Kulesha, Toronto
Andrew P. Macdonald, Sherbrooke
Diana McIntosh, Winnipeg
Joclyn Morlock, Vancouver
Heather Schmidt, Toronto
Ana Sokolovic, Montreal
The Players
Gregory Oh
Lydia Wong
Peter Tiefenbach
Stewart Goodyear
Andrew Burashko
Robert Kortgaard
Stephen Clarke
David Swan
Heather Schmidt
Christina Petrowska-Quilco
Posted by on September 24, 2007 at 07:44 AM
It's officially autumn now. Never mind that the temperatures where I live have been in the upper 20s, never mind that people walk slowly down the sidewalks still wearing short-sleeved shirts and talking about the heat. The light has shifted, the leaves are turning, and every town and burg has had or is about to have a fall fair.
The one I was at yesterday covered the gamut: children trying to persuade their ponies to leap over minute fences, children trying to persuade recalcitrant calves to walk when asked, children trying to persuade their parents to buy them more tiny deep fried donuts. Not to mention competitions involving atrophying baked goods. Much fun was had by all.
And today Catherine Belyea pays tribute to the fall fair on Here’s To You musically, with Ridout’s composition named after that very event, the Fall Fair. As well, she has Chaminade’s salute to Autumn.
September 23, 2007
Posted by on September 23, 2007 at 08:30 PM
You know, there are an awful lot of anniversaries being celebrated in classical music, Glenn Gould's, Grieg's, Buxtahude's...and they tend to be celebrated as the number of years reaches some nice tidy sum, 75ths, 100's 300s...
So I admire Pat Carrabré for swimming against the tide by getting a running start at celebrating the 101st birthday of composer Dmitri Shostakovitch this Sunday on The Signal. Why not? 101 is nothing to sneeze at.
To mark the big day Pat will play recordings commissioned by the CBC from the likes of Marilyn Lerner, Richard Moody, Phil Dwyer, Robert Lepage and others.
Posted by on September 23, 2007 at 04:00 PM
John Coltrane would have been 81 today, were he still alive. And Tonic marks the day with some Trane tunes from The GRP All Star Big Band & Bill McBirnie.
Now, this post on The Bad Plus' blog, Do The Math, is from last year, but what a great list of stellar Coltrane moments it is.
Posted by on September 23, 2007 at 03:00 PM
Lori Yates has rightly been called a pioneer of alt-country music in Canada. Well do I remember hearing her play bars many moons ago with Rang Tango, part of the same scene that gave us Handsome Ned, Blue Rodeo, Cowboy Junkies. And it's great to see she is still going strong, with a new recording out, called The Book Of Minerva.
Also great to see that she's teaming up with Wendy McNeill an Edmontonian who has been spending most of the time in Europe, with her accordion, and her own original pop songs.
You can hear them today finding common (or possibly uncommon) musical ground on Fuse.
Posted by on September 23, 2007 at 02:17 PM
On Roots & Wings today Philly Markowitz celebrates the autumnal Equinox in song, presenting music inspired by the fragrance of tea. I don't know what specific music she'll be playing, but I'm not surprised that music might be inspired by the fragrance of tea.
Particularly if it was something like, say, Lapsang Souchong, which, if you start perusing tea websites, inspires much prose, for example: "The heady aroma of an oak fire," "an exotic smoky flavor," "quite possibly the most famous undrunk black tea in existence." What! That's just wrong, some of us drink it all the time, particularly in autumn, which it perfectly suits.
Though it is possible the music on R&W; was inspired by Red Rose, only Philly can say.
And a quick addendum, also on the tea beat. Apparently there are Japanese tea-oriented work songs that date back hundreds of years, with lyrics like:
In the weather beautiful,
Our peasant girls pick leaves while singing,
Their noise a joyful sound, free of care.
'Pick all you can, young maids, for if you
Do not, we Japanese will have no tea!'
At least, that's what the TeaMuse says.
Posted by on September 23, 2007 at 11:30 AM
Singer Patricia O'Callaghan gets together with Andre Alexis today for a little Skylarking. Ms. O'Callaghan is a good sport alright -- she agrees to play Stun The Soprano, in which she is confronted with vocal music from Mars. I'm not kidding, that's what Andre says, from Mars. Guess you (and I) will just have to tune in.
Mars!
Sorry, can't get over it. What would music from Mars sound like? We just don't know. But we do know what music was played on the Mars rover Spirit mission in 2004. A playlist for Mars that included everything from Rodgers and Hammerstein to The Ramones.
Posted by on September 23, 2007 at 09:00 AM
This morning on Symphony Hall, you can hear violinist Renaud Capucon with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Kent Nagano, with some chestnuts (as the jazzers would have it) of the repertoire -- the program features Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, plus Beethoven’s Pastorale Symphony.
And OnStage presents another outstanding concert from this year’s CBC McGill series, as a bevy of flutes join forces for a programme called Flutissimi!, with music ranging from the Baroque to the 20th century, featuring music by Boismortier, Prokofiev, Delibes, Doppler, Debussy, Villa Lobos and more.
Posted by on September 23, 2007 at 08:00 AM
Christmas came a little early in Elora, Ontario this year, when the famous Nine Lessons And Carols For Christmas from King’s College Chapel, Cambridge, was performed at the Elora Festival. The adaptation included two newly-commissioned works by Tim Corlis and John Burge.
You can hear it this Sunday on Choral Concert, with Narrators Christopher Newton and Jennifer Phipps, organist Michael Bloss and the Elora Festival Singers, under the direction of Noel Edison.
September 22, 2007
Posted by on September 22, 2007 at 11:59 PM
Apparently Billy Strayhorn's motto was "ever up and onward," something I very much admire but could not begin to emulate. (Being more of the "forward in all directions" school...) It worked for him though, he wrote beautiful music and had an extraordinary partnership with one of the greatest jazz musicians ever, Duke Ellington.
Sunday night on Canada Live, Vancouver pianist/composer Sharon Minemoto pays respect to Strayhorn with a concert featuring her own arrangements of Billy Strayhorn compositions such as Lotus Blossom and A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing as well as the marvelously named, Ballad For Very Tired And Very Sad Lotus Eaters.
Ms. Minemoto will be accompanied by Jon Bentley and Ross Taggart saxophones, Brad Turner trumpet, Darren Radtke bass, and Bernie Arai on drums.
Posted by on September 22, 2007 at 08:45 PM
You know, I've never actually seen someone put a rose between their teeth. It's always struck me as kind of hazardous. But it remains the great cliche of the tango. Somewhat like the way racing chili peppers at the ball-game seem to symbolize, to some, Mexican culture. But that's all a matter for those more deeply involved in analyzing the tenacity of cultural stereotypes than I. (And I confess, it's true, despite my misgivings I laugh like a hyena when the chili peppers hit the dirt, gets me every time.)
Tango is one of those art forms that despite its trad. image, has actually evolved in leaps and bounds in the last couple of decades, and tonight The Signal plays some musical examples, from the Gotan Project and from Canadian composer Doug Schmidt.
And go ahead if you want, of course -- grab the rose and strike the pose. Just make sure to de-thorn first.
Posted by on September 22, 2007 at 07:00 PM
Two concerts tonight on Canada Live, first, saxophonist, clarinetist and flautist André Leroux from the L'Off Festival De Jazz, in what is billed as "a personal retrospective that pays tribute to the numerous musicians with whom he has worked over the past two decades."
And second, the Attar Project: violinist Parmela Attariwala and tabla player Shawn Mativetsky who combine contemporary composition (and classical virtuosity) with traditional Indian rhythms.
What does that actually sound like? You could do worse than the description from Attar Project's Myspace site..."virtuoso violin (sometimes dancing) meets Benares gharana tabla meets country fiddle meets contemporary Western composition meets improvisation meets contemporary bharata-natyam choreography."
In other words, interesting, innovative, challenging, and ultimately unclassifiable!
Posted by on September 22, 2007 at 04:00 PM
Grab your goat, and get your cat...as some of us like to sing. Though I expect it will be the more traditional lyrics tonight on Tonic when New York vocalist Robin McKelle sings Sunny Side Of The Street. She's got a great throwback kind of sound, btw, real 40's big band swing style presentation...
My alternate Sunny Side Of lyrics remind me of something I wrote about a while back, (but never fails to amuse those of us amused by such things), the concept of "dummy lyrics," words that are temporary place-holders before the real words are written. My fav, and probably the most famous, are the dummy lyrics Ira Gershwin wrote for I Got Rhythm.
"Roly-poly
Eating solely
Ravioli
Better watch your diet or bust."
Then there's that other, related matter, the satirical lyric or title, for example, Duke Ellington's famous In A Semi-mental Mood. Know any more? Do tell.
Posted by on September 22, 2007 at 02:20 PM
For all that art-pop bands, or whatever you choose to call them, are fond of using strings in their music these days, the idea is as old as, well, pop music.
Brit musician and journalist, Bob Stanley, in a piece for The Guardian called Baroque And A Soft Place, lovingly traces some of that history.
Stanley's description of what he calls "the quintessential English baroque group," Honeybus, who had one hit in 1968, I Can't Let Maggie Go is, shall we say, quite evocative of time and place.
"Its melancholy air ('she flies like a bird in the sky') hung in the early 70s ether when it accompanied a woman in an air balloon advertising Nimble bread. They hailed from the badlands of Hackney Wick, a hotbed for bone-crushing plants and animal fat recyclers, but not renowned for pop groups, especially ones of such a gentle disposition."
As for the members of Honeybus? "We all liked Mozart and all that," recalls guitarist Colin Hare.
Posted by on September 22, 2007 at 12:00 PM
Attention Beethoven-lovers! This week on Sound Advice, Rick Phillips samples a new boxed set of all nine Beethoven symphonies, played by the Russian National Orchestra under the direction of Mikhail Pletnev.
In the Library, more in the series Great Gould Recordings as CBC honours the 75th anniversary of the legendary pianist’s birth. Rick will continue the Beethoven motif with a look at Gould’s recordings of Franz Liszt’s piano transcriptions of Beethoven’s symphonies.
Speaking of CBC's Glenn Gould celebrations, Variations on Gould, there are some really great concerts you can attend, across the country, and of course if you are in T.O., many are being held at the Glenn Gould Studio, fittingly enough.
Posted by on September 22, 2007 at 09:00 AM
I didn't know that Stuart McLean has been walking around town wearing a shirt that proclaims that he’s fond of Conrad Black, but apparently he has been. And now that I know, and you know, we all want to know one thing. Why. Why? Only Stuart can tell us, and he will -- today on the Vinyl Cafe.
Actually, some of us want to know a second thing too. Is Stuart wearing socks as he walks around town?
September 21, 2007
Posted by on September 21, 2007 at 11:58 PM
Canada’s Michael Schade co-stars with Annette Dasch in Haydn’s Armida this week, as Saturday Afternoon At The Opera comes to you from the Salzburg Festival. (The cast also includes Patricia Petibon, Vito Priante, Richard Croft, and Ivor Bolton conducts.)
And in case you want the skinny on Armida, here's the lowdown on its origins, from Opera Quarterly:
"Haydn's Armida (1784), the last of his stage works written for Prince Esterházy's household, was a success. Performed a total of fifty-four times at the Eszterháza Court Theater between 1784 and 1788, it was also heard during the composer's lifetime in Bratislava, Budapest, Vienna, and Turin. Then, after a long period of neglect, the opera received its first modern performances in 1968 (at first in concert form, in Cologne; then staged, in Berne)."
Also, in case you haven't heard, SATO grows by half an hour starting October 6th, starting at 13:00, as we say in radio land. (1pm to you civilians.) So it will be a glorious five hours long. Whoo hoo!
Posted by on September 21, 2007 at 08:00 PM
Winnipeger Christine Fellows' inspirations range from spinsters to pigeons. She also has lovely multi-hued keyboard, presumably upon which to create her self-styled minimalist/showtunes, as you will see if you click on that link. And as you will hear, if you tune into The Signal tonight, where some of her music will be played.
It's also time for another installment of the new feature, Vertical Tasting, where Pat samples one artist’s best vintages over time -- tonight it's pop-electronica from Caribou.
Posted by on September 21, 2007 at 04:40 PM
When you think about it, there aren't that many bass players whose names have near-household recognition factor, but I'll go out on a limb and say that Jaco Pastorius is one.
His playing on the fretless was remarkable, his bass had such presence as a soloist, as a melodic voice.
Pastorius was also one of only four bass players to be inducted into Downbeat Magazine’s Hall of Fame, and of course he was part of the seminal jazz-fusion band Weather Report.
Pastorius died at the age of 36, 20 years ago today. And I'm very glad to say that tonight Tonic pays tribute to Jaco.
His influence was so wide reaching -- his impact so great. In 2000, guitarist Pat Metheny wrote about that in the liner notes to the reissue of Jaco's eponymous debut CD, curiously all in lower case, but the visual challenge aside, it's worth reading. Here's the opening:
Continue reading "Jaco Pastorius Tribute On Tonic" »
Posted by on September 21, 2007 at 03:40 PM
According to this Times Online feature about Spanish/French/World Citizen Manu Chao, a fortnight after its release, his much awaited recording, La Radiolina, is outselling every other album across Europe.
So much for the notion of so-called world music as "niche," eh? The article claims that "along with Gogol Bordello and Rachid Taha, it’s Chao’s music you’ll most commonly find on the iPods of travelling antiglobalists and backpackers seeking to lay down roots in the West."
An interesting notion. That music that travels through multiple cultures/styles is also music that literally travels. (And even if your road trips are mostly via streetcar, whilst carrying a purse, I can vouch for the fact that Chao's music is indeed excellent travelling music.)
Posted by on September 21, 2007 at 01:35 PM
The Gould celebrations are fast approaching, as CBC R2 marks the what would have been Glenn Gould's 75th bday on September 25th, then continues with concerts and tributes until October 4th, the 25th anniversary of his death.
Naturally the Glenn Gould Studio is home to some very fine concerts as part of the Variations on Gould series in Toronto, and if you are in the vicinity, I suggest getting your tickets while the gettin' is good! (At time of blogging there are still tickets available for Louis Lortie's Glenn Gould And The Art Of Transcription concert on the 26th, for example, but I can't imagine they'll hang around for long.)
There are also Variations On Gould concerts across the country you can attend, plus radio broadcasts, of course. (If you click on the preceding link, you can see the complete schedule.)
Posted by on September 21, 2007 at 10:40 AM
Studio Sparks wraps up the week-long series of BBC Summer Festival concerts today with a performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, performed by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra led by Mariss Jansons, and featuring Canada's Michael Schade as a soloist.
And Pinchas Zukerman wraps up his series of reminiscences with his memories of another fiddler he's known well - Jack Benny.
You just knew I had to steer you to Jack Benny And His Magic Violin, as a (very funny) warmup for Sparks...never has the phrase "Give me an A" meant so little...
Posted by on September 21, 2007 at 09:00 AM
As you may have heard, there will be some changes to the Radio 2 schedule over the weekends, beginning October 6th/7th.
One you almost certainly already know about, if you are a faithful R2 listener, (because it was announced a while ago), is that starting Sunday October 7th, the estimable Bill Richardson will host a new programme called Sunday Afternoon In Concert. Bill, who has been guest hosting Saturday Afternoon At The Opera, will continue as regular show host -- and, this just in -- SATO is being expanded by a half-hour, to start at 1pm.
But newer news is the introduction of Gregory Charles to R2, with a Sunday morning show (10 to noon) called In The Key Of Charles. Charles has been a mainstay on the Quebec music scene, where he's sometimes known as Super Gregory! He's one of these rare, phenomenally multi-talented people. He's performed as a classical pianist, he's hosted radio shows (on Radio Canada), worked as an actor, and he has a hit pop recording I Think Of You (which has meant that now the rest of the country is starting to become familiar with Mr. Charles too).
As well, a new show called Inside The Music, hosted by the ever-popular R2 host, Patti Schmidt will be launched. Her show is about music and ideas, and will air Sundays from noon till 1 pm. The first series will explore the sources of inspiration for Canadian composers: from nature to story-telling to spiritual matters.
Looking forward to hearing them all!
September 20, 2007
Posted by on September 20, 2007 at 11:59 PM
Dave Brubeck is in his late eighties now, still performing, still adored by his fans, and probably still most associated with the tune written by his band-mate, saxophonist Paul Desmond. It's arguably the best known jazz composition ever, Take Five.
If you're curious to know how the band played it in its heyday, back in 1961, here's a video taken from Ralph Gleason's Jazz Casual collection.
Brubeck and co. can be credited with playing a role in the development of the cool west coast jazz school, and for their forays into atypical jazz time signatures. (Like 5/4, 7/4 and even 13/4!). But I think their legacy is really that "perfect dry martini" sound.
On Friday night Canada Live features The Dave Brubeck Quartet at the Centennial Concert Hall in Winnipeg, where they performed in front of a crowd of some 2000 fans.
Posted by on September 20, 2007 at 09:00 PM
Now here's an interesting idea. What would it sound like if you took (electronic) music by David Bowie, Brian Eno and Philip Glass, and performed it using only acoustic instruments?
The contemporary music ensemble Contact decided to try it, and you can hear the results on The Signal tonight.
Posted by on September 20, 2007 at 06:30 PM
You could view the first two concerts on Canada Live tonight as rather painterly.
First, Melissa McClelland, an expressive singer of what she has called "pop noir," with songs painting pictures of characters, their lives, sad and otherwise. (Her latest is called Thumbalina's One Night Stand!)
Second, Jesse Cook, a guitarist who uses the colours of music originating in distinctly different parts of the world, (for instance music of Spain, Africa, Egypt and Brazil), for his own vision.
The last concert? Perhaps less painterly in either of the above senses, but making it's own kind of impact -- the smoking Malagasy guitar blues of Madagascar Slim & Donné Roberts.
Posted by on September 20, 2007 at 05:00 PM
A lot of buzz about Canadian jazz singer Diana Panton, who is also a French teacher in Hamilton, Ontario. (She has a masters degree in French literature, and also taught for a while at the University of Paris...)
Best of all is when the buzz comes from one who would know. Here's what the great Canadian multi-instrumentalist, Don Thompson, said about Panton when he first heard her -- when she was only nineteen:
"She really knocked me out that night. She was so young but she had a lot of depth and real feeling."
You can hear for yourself when Tonic plays Panton singing Sergio Mendes So Many Stars.
Posted by on September 20, 2007 at 03:31 PM
If you couldn't go to the Calgary Folk Music Festival this year, here's the next best thing -- you can hear The Sadies, who rocked the joint, as a Concert On Demand.
Their music has been described as a “breathless conflation of punk, surf, bluegrass, Ennio Morricone-esque spaghetti Western instrumentals and cosmic country rock.”
The Sadies at the Calgary Folk Music Festival on Concerts on Demand.
Posted by on September 20, 2007 at 12:30 PM
Yo Yo Ma fans, take note. Alex Ross, over at The Rest Is Noise has posted an interview he did with the cellist, an interview conducted specifically for his blog. (Guess that would make it a "blog exclusive," a.k.a. a "blogusive." Any day now we'll be talking about blogusivity, just you wait.)
Ross' interview was timed to coincide with the release of the latest Silk Road CD, New Impossibilities. He talks to Ma about "how the project has evolved and how it has affected his musicianship."
Posted by on September 20, 2007 at 10:33 AM
The Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel is the talk of the town, using town in the world-wide sense. He's disgustingly young, (26), cute (yes, I know that's extremely superficial, but he is), and talented. Just this past spring The Los Angeles Philharmonic announced he would become their new Music Director.
Today on Studio Sparks he conducts the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra in Bernstein's Symphonic Dances from West Side Story.
Also on the program, more memories of great personalities from the world of classical music, as (less young but no less acclaimed) violinist and conductor Pinchas Zukerman continues his series this week reminiscing about some of his many musical encounters.
Posted by on September 20, 2007 at 08:00 AM
Here's To You marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Sibelius today, with The Oceanides, performed by the Lahti Symphony Orchestra conducted by Osma Vanska, excerpts from Kullervo, by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Colin Davis, and (deep breath, this is a very long sentence) Symphony N6 in D minor performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra with Herbert von Karajan.
September 19, 2007
Posted by on September 19, 2007 at 11:59 PM
DiscDrive continues to broadcast from the coast opposite to their usual home, today from St. John's Newfoundland, from The Fairmont Newfoundland, to be exact.
Musical guests include Gayle Tapper, whose passions include Paraguayan harp AND sea kayaking, with button accordionist stalwart Art Stoyles, and acoustic guitarist Gordon Quinton.
Posted by on September 19, 2007 at 07:05 PM
More music from the X Avant New Music Festival on The Signal, as Marcello Marandola fires up his laptop and and transforms himself into Des Cailloux et du Carbone.
As Des Cailloux etc. he plays techno/house/ambient music, in this instance made by building layers of sounds, including those produced by chopsticks and Lego blocks.
Funny, it's hard to imagine what kind of sound you could get from a Lego. My childhood memories of them (other than arguments over ownership), is that they are very brittle, and would not produce much sound at all. Mind you, I never tried to play them with chopsticks.
Posted by on September 19, 2007 at 03:18 PM
It's a curious thing, the use of "baby" in song lyrics. In real life, if a man calls a woman "baby," she may well laugh. Or perhaps look over her shoulder to see if there's someone in the room wearing diapers.
Or maybe she does recognize it as a term of endearment, but one ever so slightly tinged with irony. (Even further down that path would be the use of the always delightful "babycakes.")
Tonight on Tonic "baby" shows up in some tried and true guises, with the Quincy Jones Orchestra doing Comin' Home Baby, and Sarah Vaughan singing Cool Baby.
Yes, in music "baby" never seems to go out of style. At least, not in my books, babe.
Posted by on September 19, 2007 at 01:00 PM
Sometimes you hear people grumbling (at least that peculiar breed, the hard news junkie) about it being "a slow news day." Funny how often said slow news days seem to happen in midsummer, but that's a topic for another sort of blog.
Today, in my own quest to satisfy the music news hunger, usually a past-time that means it is possible to put off doing anything useful or productive for hours on end, I was shocked at both dearth of news, not to mention the way in which language is being taken by its scruff and given a good shaking, in such news as exists. For example:
-According to Billboard, Britney Spears’s manager has terminated their "professional relationship” with her. Does this mean they will continue to have an unprofessional relationship with her? That would probably be more fun. Or not.
-Luciano Pavarotti did leave lots of stuff to his second wife after all. His manager, Terri Robson, told Associated Press that “Pavarotti now has his chance to speak out, and contrary to media reports and rumors, he did not change his will to the detriment of his second wife.” To the "detriment?" Like he was going to actively seek to harm her? (I'm not touching the "speaking out" aspect of the statement...)
(Update: The will is being contested.)
-Brit rock icon Paul Weller has praised singer Amy Winehouse, whose problems with drug and alcohol have been documented in such painful detail these past months, calling her a "great role model."
"She is an amazing, great talent and despite what all the papers say she is a great role model for people," says Weller.
"Amazing great talent?" Absolutely. "Great role model?" One wonders what Weller's definition of a lousy role model would be...
Posted by on September 19, 2007 at 11:00 AM
Who doesn't love a good story, particularly when told about someone famous by someone famous, neither of whom are merely famous for being famous? (You get some kind of award if you followed that construction without thinking twice.)
Today you can satisfy your story-tooth, when Pinchas Zukerman continues his reminiscences about some of the great musicians he’s worked with over the years, on Studio Sparks. This time around, Pinchas talks about Artur Rubinstein. Arthur too.
Also on the show, Symphony No. 5 by Sibelius, played by the European Youth Orchestra under Sir Colin Davis, recorded at the Proms in London last month.
Posted by on September 19, 2007 at 07:45 AM
Some HtoY highlights for you this Wednesday morning...
The Black Mountain Chorus and the Orchestra of the Welsh National Orchestra perform the traditional song Men of Harlech.
The Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra with Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture.
Victor Borge performs Happy Birthday Variations.
And while you're waiting, here's a classic Borge routine to start your day on an endearingly ridiculous note: Page-Turner, complete with German subtitles.
Posted by on September 19, 2007 at 06:55 AM
Of the many things you may read about Dadawa online, "the Chinese Enya,"(not sure who said it first, but it spawned a hundred quotes) "like Bruce Lee, her aim is to conquer occident with her music," (My Best Life) a fact that strikes me as most noteworthy is that apparently she is the first Chinese singer to receive an international release since the 1940s. That's pretty incredible.
Her music is not without controversy -- early recordings featured her take on Tibetan music, of course a politically sensitive matter. (More recently she's adopted something of a Pan-Asian approach, with a focus on Chinese-based folk music.)
To hear what her music is all about, tune into Canada Live on Wednesday night for a concert that was recorded at the Chan Centre. That concert was glowingly reviewed at the wonderfully named GungHaggisFatChoy, a blog about "Asian Canadian adventures in inter-cultural Vancouver" AND "home of Toddish McWong's Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner." (Canada, you gotta love it.)
Also for a sneak preview of Dadawa's music, you can hear a track on the BBC Awards For World Music 2007 page...) And finally, for a recentish feature/interview with Dadawa, check out an article by Alexander Varty in The Georgia Strait. There, now go forth and Dadawa!
September 18, 2007
Posted by on September 18, 2007 at 08:00 PM
Montreal DJ Marc LeClair, a.k.a. Akufen, doesn't mess around with the inconsequential, the or the merely entertaining. At least, not in the piece 5mm. In it he explores the concept of the evolution of human life itself.
It's based on the fact that by the time cells have finally migrated and are forming a humanoid shape, the human embryo measures approximately 5 millimetres. (Somehow this reminds me of that Neneh Cherry/Youssou N'Dour song, Seven Seconds, hmm...)
Anyway, The Signal plays a recording of a live glitch-electronica performance that features Akufen performing and talking about this composition, from the X Avant Festival.
Glitch, btw, is not that moment when you think you've finished writing your masterpiece and then your computer does a graceless fade to black before you've saved, forcing you to tell those who are waiting for the delivery of your masterpiece that you've had "a little glitch." Although it bears some similarities, as it is music that tends to use mechanized and non-natural sounds. Certainly the sound you make when your computer fades to black sounds unnatural.
Posted by on September 18, 2007 at 06:00 PM
No, those three things are not at work simultaneously, but in three concerts broadcast tonight on Canada Live.
Somehow, amidst the Grieg and Gould anniversaries, Dietrich Buxtehude seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle. But the 300th anniversary of his death is noted tonight on Canada Live, with a concert of his work by Les Voix Baroques and Les Voix Humaines. (Don't know Buxtehude? He was one of Bach's idols, and if he was good enough for Bach...Also, I know of at least one dog who was named for him...a Schnauzer, in case you're wondering. So Buxtehude does live on in various and strange ways, aside from his music I mean.)
Next up, a concert featuring the music of Bernard Herrmann, the composer who forever terrified us with the music in Psycho. Tonight, a different side of Hermann's work -- chamber music.
And finally, Montreal jazz pianist Steve Amirault teamed up with bassist Jim Vivian for a performance at this summer’s Montreal Jazz Festival, some of which you can hear on Canada Live tonight.
Posted by on September 18, 2007 at 03:29 PM
If you thought jazz stopped evolving sometimes circa 1960 as a popular art-form, the emergence of nu-jazz in the 90s came along to contradict, or at least challenge that notion.
Not to be confused with smooth jazz, that oft reviled but also relatively recent development, nor nubuck, (so hard to listen to as it sits there placidly on your feet, becoming more and more difficult to clean as the days go by), no, nu-jazz is a an attempt to categorize the intersection of some aspects of jazz with dance/club/electronica.
You're not likely to hear too much nu-jazz in trad jazz clubs, but you'll certainly hear it elsewhere, in spades. (btw, that nu-jazz link will take you to a site featuring a music TV series, but has lots of nu-jazz info...)
And you will hear nu-jazz on Tonic this evening, when Katie plays Everybody Knows by Metropolitan Jazz Affair.
Posted by on September 18, 2007 at 01:33 PM
By popular demand, on demand...a number of people asked if the No Strings Attached concert, featuring three harpists, might be available as a Concert On Demand...and now it is.
The concert features Sharlene Wallace, an accomplished and innovative harpist who explores a wide range of genres, including Celtic and South American styles. And for this concert Sharlene invited two similarly adventurous colleagues – Lori Gemmell, Principal Harp of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra, and Austrian Jazz harpist Monika Stadler – to explore music for harps in various combinations and settings.
No Strings Attached at Concerts On Demand.
Posted by on September 18, 2007 at 11:00 AM
The National Arts Centre says that Pinchas Zukerman has been "recognized as a musical phenomenon for four decades," and I'd wager they're not wrong. (If you go to that link you can get the thumbnail on a career that leaves you wondering, "Does he ever sleep?")
All week on Studio Sparks Mr. Zukerman shares memories of moments from that career, specifically encounters with other great musicians. Today he talks about one of his most cherished mentors -- the great violinist Nathan Milstein.
Also on Studio Sparks "sked," as we say in radio, another outstanding concert from the BBC Summer Festivals, today the Bach Partita No. 4 in D, played by Angela Hewitt, recorded live at a Proms Concert in London.
Posted by on September 18, 2007 at 08:58 AM
Nice to be able to give you some news about DiscDrive this morning, as Jurgen Gothe takes the show on the road, literally, broadcasting from the New Brunswick Museum in Saint John this week. Musical guests today are the Saint John String Quartet, Richard Hornsby and David Myles.
Jurgen Gothe trivia bulletin for the day:
Did You Know that in 2000 Mr. Gothe became first Canadian journalist to be a judge in the prestigious Julia Child Cookbook Awards competition?
Posted by on September 18, 2007 at 07:07 AM
You can hear Danny Kaye's unique take on Tchaikovsky today on Here’s To You. (His take involves naming something like 54 Russian composers in 38 seconds!) And in related news, Catherine features new releases of music by Russian composers on today's show.
Also on the comic tip, the Weather Report, a lovely and hilarious setting of an English forecast, by the Master Singers Vocal Ensemble.
September 17, 2007
Posted by on September 17, 2007 at 08:00 PM
The Hard Rubber Orchestra are a "post-modern, new music ensemble, consisting of many of Vancouver’s finest musicians under the leadership of composer, conductor and trumpeter, John Korsrud, plays daring, unpredictable, high energy music that draws on the influences of John Zorn, Krzysztof Penderecki, Public Enemy, John Cage and Miles Davis." (John Korsrud, btw, cites J.S. Bach as one of his myspace friends.)
Anyway, the above description of the group is from the horse's mouth, the band's own description. Alex Varty, writing in the Georgia Strait, describes them in less musical but rather more evocative terms, as the "Godzilla of the Vancouver jazz scene, a big, goofy monster that stomps through complex charts with the swagger of big swing band and the heat of a thermonuclear explosion."
How can you resist? Tune in tonight to The Signal, they'll be broadcasting a concert of the HRO recorded at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre.
Posted by on September 17, 2007 at 05:00 PM
...tonight on Tonic, as Katie plays tunes from Dionne Warwick, Blossom Dearie, Gerald Levert, Deborah Cox, Kevin Mahogany and Ray Charles.
I was sorry to have missed some fabulous singing at my new local on the weekend. When I walked in there on Sunday afternoon, for a last stab at sitting outside with a cider before the snows fall, I saw the entire bar was bedecked with boas and feathers, and all decorations frothy -- leftovers from the previous night's tribute to the singer Julie London.
Anyway, I'm told that there were many versions of Cry Me A River (though no one did my favourite, Dont'cha Go Away Mad), which led me to this scene from The Girl Can't Help It, where the ghostly Ms. London tells Tom Ewell just how much of a river he can cry over her...talk about fabulous!
Posted by on September 17, 2007 at 02:38 PM
The Bottle and the Truth: the name says it all. It’s a new band with some of Vancouver’s very best young alt country musicians.
Now the story goes that the band members live in a house not far off Commercial Drive in East Vancouver. The band rehearses there, the band lives there, the band writes there. Likely the band argues over whose turn it is to wash the dishes there too, but we don't know that for sure.
Anyway, they held a special concert right in their own home, just for their friends, loved ones and very best fans. CBC Radio 2 was there to capture it and now you can listen too - on demand.
And that’s the truth.
The Bottle and the Truth at Concerts on Demand.
Posted by on September 17, 2007 at 12:38 PM
Why did Lief Ove Andsnes put a piano on a mountain top, asks the Times Online (complete with vertiginous photo).
They have the answer too -- it's in honour of Edvard Grieg of course...the hundredth anniversary of his death was this past weekend. Most interestingly, Grieg's work is being reconsidered in some quarters, for instance in the quarters explored by the New York Times' Anthony Tomaasini, in a piece called Respect at Last for Grieg?
Posted by on September 17, 2007 at 11:01 AM
Fans of the late Beverly Sills take note. Great coverage of Sunday's joint Lincoln Center/Metropolitan Opera/New York City Opera Tribute To Beverly Sills can be found at Opera Chic. (The blogger whose tag line is: "I'm a young American woman in Milan...and you're not. I go to La Scala a lot...and you don't.")
Posted by on September 17, 2007 at 11:00 AM
It's always fun hearing stories from famous people about other famous people. Even when it's second hand. Or third. For instance, movie journalist Johanna Schneller relating a story about John Wayne as told by Michael Caine in a Toronto International Film Festival wrap up. (Imagine Caine doing Hamlet in John Wayne's voice...)
So hearing one of the world's greatest violinists, Pinchas Zukerman, tell tales of his encounters with other music greats -- Bernstein, Rubinstein, Perlman among others -- as he will all week on Studio Sparks, should be loads of fun. It begins today with his memories of his long-time violin partner, Itzhak Perlman.
Posted by on September 17, 2007 at 09:30 AM
When Doug Riley, a.k.a. Doctor Music, died a few weeks ago, the Canadian music community lost a man whose influence, to quote the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada, "on the sound of Canadian popular music after 1970 was enormous." He was a multi-instrumentalist, an arranger, a producer and a spark for many recordings and musical projects.
Tonight Canada Live honours his memory with three outstanding concerts. First, from the PEI Jazz Fest, the all-Maritime Tonic quartet, featuring Riley on keyboards, Halifax saxman Chris Mitchel, drummer Dave Burton and bassist Jamie Gatti.
Then you can hear Riley on both piano and Hammond B-3 in a solo concert recorded at CBC Halifax.
And finally, Riley and the Edmonton Jazz Orchestra, recorded at a gala that marked the 50th anniversary of Edmonton’s legendary jazz venue, the Yardbird Suite. The music was commissioned from Riley and from drummer Sandro Dominelli to honour Edmonton’s jazz community.
Posted by on September 17, 2007 at 09:05 AM
Seems to me that "rhapsody" has become a neglected word. When have you last heard someone say, "I was rhapsodic?" Sure, there's "enraptured," "transported," any number of stand-ins, but none have quite the same je ne sais quoi.
As for musical rhapsodies, they too seem to have fallen out of fashion, as far as I can tell. (Though if there are thousands of composers out there writing them, please stand up and speak now for the rhapsody!)
Meantime, Catherine Belyea has that honour this morning on Here's To You, as she plays Jean Coulthard’s Spring Rhapsody, sung by Maureen Forrester, along with Gershwin’s Rhapsody No. 2, played by pianist Stuart Goodyear with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. (She’ll also play Debussy’s tribute to The Girl With The Flaxen Hair, played by pianist Francine Kay. Not a rhapsody, I don't think, but sure to make someone wax rhapsodic.)
September 16, 2007
Posted by on September 16, 2007 at 09:00 PM
The Signal is not a themed show tonight. That's OK. One doesn't always need a theme for an interesting and varied show. In fact I only mention it because I do enjoy The Signal's themes, which are often unexpected, from musical connections to hair or families. (Two of life's most fascinating subjects.) But tonight? No theme, but quite an array of music. For example:
Music for mallets, voice and organ by Steve Reich.
Music by Canadian composers Kelly-Marie Murphy and Allan Gilliland. (btw, here's an interesting bit of an interview with Ms. Murphy that CBC's Katherine Duncan posted during the Banff International String Quartet Competition.)
Nine Irish Madrigals by England's Gavin Bryars
Sun Dogs by James MacMillan of Scotland.
And, I am sure, the proverbial more.
Posted by on September 16, 2007 at 01:55 PM
Now this is an interesting pairing, and I look forward to hearing what music these two create together: Andrew Cash and Jenn Grant. Cash, a stalwart on the scene for more than twenty-five years, playing everything from punk to roots music, is about to release his tenth record. Jenn two "n"s Grant is a young and talented Haligonian singer.
Now, it's easy to bandy about that word, "talented." In fact perhaps it's been so-bandied that it's become diminished in meaning. "Talented," may be the new "pretty good." But I mean talented in the traditional Merriam-Webster sense: "A special often creative or artistic aptitude."
And you can hear what kind of music they create together on Fuse.
Posted by on September 16, 2007 at 01:45 PM
Skylarking asks that you make sure you’re somewhere where you can stand up this Sunday when you listen to to the show. Not only will Andre Alexis and friends sing the national anthem, but they’ll also ask that burning question: “Beaver – sacred animal or what?”
I'm glad that Andre is encouraging this singing of anthems. I know some people view anthem singing as some kind of misguided nationalism that divides us from personkind, but I don't look at it that way. I look at it as a chance to celebrate the place you live. Granted, some anthem lyrics are more orientated that way than others, something that is frankly obvious at Jays baseball games, when both American and Canadian anthems are sung. But if the lyrics disturb you, you can always hum, and stare at Vernon Wells and Frank Thomas, willing them to become the heavy hitters they truly are. Even if it is too late for this season.
Or, you can forget about the whole anthem thing and just ask the burning question: "Beaver -- sacred animal or what?"
Posted by on September 16, 2007 at 11:55 AM
Guest host Rick Phillips presents a concert from the CBC-McGill series this Sunday on OnStage, called Traverse Miraculeuse, a program of folk songs from Quebec, Newfoundland and the Maritimes.
It features soprano Meredith Hall, fiddler Laura Risk and friends. (More specifically, the friends include members of La Nef, Les Voix Humaines and Les Charbonniers de l'Enfer.)
Posted by on September 16, 2007 at 08:41 AM
Katherine Duncan, host of Symphony Hall, just emailed me to say there has been a last minute change to their schedule, so you may have been expecting a concert from the VSO, but in its place you can hear a beautiful concert of French music, performed by the CBC Radio Orchestra with soprano Measha Bruggergosman.
And here are the details of that concert:
CBC Radio Orchestra: "Tour de France"
Alain Trudel, conductor
Meahsa Brueggergosman, soprano
Milhaud: Suite Francaise
Ravel: Pavane pour une Infante Defunte
Duparc: Sour Songs
Debussy: Danses Sacree et Profane
Chausson: Poemk de L'Amour et de la Mer
Posted by on September 16, 2007 at 06:55 AM
Choral Concert presents highlights from this year’s Festival Vancouver this morning.
The broadcast includes performances by the Vancouver Chamber Choir, the Seattle Men's Chorus, Philomela Women's Choir and the popular six-voice Finnish a cappella ensemble, Rajaton.
September 15, 2007
Posted by on September 15, 2007 at 11:59 PM
In the past, composers who were homosexual or bisexual were often limited to music as a way to express their orientation. Tonight you can hear works that reflect that sensibility on Canada Live, in a concert called Entre Les Lignes – Between The Lines. Baritone Mark Pedrotti, violinist Oliver Thouin, and pianists Paul Stewart and David Jalbert perform music by Schubert, Colin McPhee, Ravel and others.
Also, a concert by clarinetist Lori Freedman, the Constantinople Ensemble and soprano Shannon Mercer that celebrates the poetry of Sappho, along with other music from ancient Greece. (Host Patti Schmidt reads Anne Carson’s lovely translations of Sappho’s works too.) One of the works presented was commissioned for the event by CBC, Someone Will Remember Us, by Kiya Tabassian, the artistic director of the Constantinople Ensemble.
Posted by on September 15, 2007 at 09:00 PM
The National Parcs are a Montreal band who go into the woods and record the sounds (including some which are man-made, like paddles slapping, and axes axing) and incorporate those sounds beautifully into their music.
If you've time, check out that website -- there are some great visuals of the lengths to which they went to record their latest, Timbervision, including a charming shot of them standing in a slough, shouldering recording equipment!
And if you're near a radio tonight, tune into The Signal, who are featuring them on the show.
Posted by on September 15, 2007 at 06:00 PM
Kind of the country version of in vino veritas, The Bottle And The Truth are an alt-country band, whose members played a special concert right in their own home off Vancouver’s Commercial Drive, just for their friends, loved ones and very best fans -- and Canada Live recorded it, for broadcast tonight on the show.
The second part of the bill is Damian Rice, Irish singer songwriter of The Blower's Daughter fame...
Posted by on September 15, 2007 at 03:50 PM
Tonic celebrates the trombone this Saturday, with Canadian trombonists Ian McDougall, William Carn and Russ Little.
You know, I was perusing the Online Trombone Journal earlier, during that special time of day that those of us who write for a living think of as "part of the writing process," because it sounds much better than "procrastination," and came across this comparison (written by David Wilken) between trombonists Miff Mole and Kid Ory.
He says that Miff was "perhaps stylistically the opposite of Kid..." And that although both played Dixieland, "Ory's style was boisterous and rough, Mole's was more technical with a brighter sound." Additionally, "Mole also avoided the glissandos and growls that Ory favored."
It made me think about how incredibly individual a person's sound on an instrument can be. If you hear someone play a lot you recognize them instantly, it's really no different from identifying a person from their speaking voice -- something we also easily do.
It also made me think about how different life might be if one was called "Miff," or "Kid."
Posted by on September 15, 2007 at 02:30 PM
The, shall we say, "outspoken" writer and author Joe Queenan, an American who writes for The Guardian despite that fact, is always a fun or annoying read, depending on your perspective. I'm in the former category (although I get why some are in the latter).
Anyway, his latest Guardian piece is an alphabetical rundown of key moments, characters, and trivia related to Wagner's Ring Cycle, which is set to open at the Royal Opera House on October 2.
Replete with groan-worthy puns and politically incorrect asides, here are a couple of quick excerpts:
A: Alberich. A dwarf, and like most mythological dwarves, an evil one. Etc.
D: Debussy. Debussy once referred to the Ring as a gigantic telephone directory, where every character had a specific musical theme or calling card that announced his arrival. In other words: a Ring tone.
And so on. For the entire alphabet, go to The Guardian.
Posted by on September 15, 2007 at 01:25 PM
Just a quick reminder that Italian bass-baritone Ferruccio Furlanetto sings the title role in Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov from the Vienna State Opera this week on Saturday Afternoon At The Opera.
Daniel Gatti conducts a cast that also includes Robert Hall, Clifton Forbis, Olga Borodina and Falk Struckmann. Enjoy!
Posted by on September 15, 2007 at 11:35 AM
The Gould Anniversary is coming up, to mark what would have been Glenn Gould’s 75th birthday, and the 25th anniversary of his death. This week on Sound Advice, Rick Phillips begins a series in the Library called Great Gould Recordings. (No shortage of material there!)
In part one of the series, Gould’s recordings of music by the composers of Tudor England – Byrd, Gibbons and more.
And a bonus anniversary celebration, musically speaking -- it’s also the 100th anniversary of the death of Edvard Grieg, so Rick will play music by the great Norwegian composer. That's on Sound Advice today.
Posted by on September 15, 2007 at 07:24 AM
The Vinyl Café goes where it has never gone before, no, not to a Trekkie Convention, to Quebec City. Stuart welcomes 3 Gars S’ul Sofa – Three Guys On The Couch, a Quebec band with really nice harmonies. And their sofa's not bad either -- if you click on that link you can see for yourself.
Coincidentally, Dave and Morley were also in Quebec, and Stuart has the story of what doesn’t go according to plan when they rent a cottage there. (What DOES go according to plan when you rent a cottage? Invariably there are difficult mice or neighbors, or you forget the beer and someone sulks.) Anyway, to find out what happens to Dave and Morley, tune into the Vinyl Café.
September 14, 2007
Posted by on September 14, 2007 at 11:55 PM
No weekend is truly complete without a little opera. Or a lot of opera. You have this option on Saturday afternoon, as Ferruccio Furlanetto sings the title role in Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov from the Vienna State Opera on SATO.
Daniel Gatti conducts a cast that also includes Robert Hall, Clifton Forbis, Olga Borodina and Falk Struckmann.
Hard to believe, but in the late 1860s (Mussorgsky wrote Boris Godunov in 1868/9) the opera was rejected by the Maryinsky Opera, so he set about revising it. Among other things he added a "love interest."
Funny how some things never change.
Posted by on September 14, 2007 at 08:00 PM
Rewriting Tolstoy (hey, it's a blog, we can do these kinds of things), I'd venture to say that every family is dysfunctional in its own way (happy or otherwise).
Tonight The Signal weighs in on the function and dysfunctions of the family dynamic -- musically -- with Brother Danielson, Great Lake Swimmers and the Department of Eagles.
Plus just a note for fans of Do Say Make Think and Emily Haines --you can hear concerts tonight from both artists, recorded at Guelph’s Hillside Festival.
AND this is very cool, a new segment on the show called Vertical Tastings, a sampling of one artist’s best vintages over time. Host Pat Carrabré inaugurates Vertical Tastings tonight with Iceland’s Bjork.
Posted by on September 14, 2007 at 04:00 PM
If your curiosity is piqued by the notion of an opera based on Toni Morrison's book, Beloved, (and co-written by Morrison), as mine was, you may want to check out the review of Margaret Garner on the cheeky opera blog, Opera Chic. (Cheeky Chic, it's a whole new literary, or at least blogerary, genre.)
Anyway, half social column, half review, you can read Opera Chic's take on both. (Hank Aaron was at the New York City Opera's premiere last night! I'm telling you, baseball and music go together like baseball and music.)
Oh, and don't miss the second part of Opera Chic's review, not obvious from that first link.
Posted by on September 14, 2007 at 01:42 PM
Tonic tells me that it's Ladies Night this evening. For some reason I instantly picture inebriated men, possibly salivating, but no, they're billing the show as Ladies Night because Katie will spin the 1979 song of that name by Kool & the Gang. Also, a tune from Brazilian vocalist Ivan Lins all about his leading lady, Madalena.
Plus, continuing on the Fiddler On The Roof kick from yesterday, one of Canada's leading jazz ladies, Sophie Milman sings Matchmaker, Matchmaker from Fiddler On The Roof. (Was Yente a lady? That's not how I remember it.)
Posted by on September 14, 2007 at 01:00 PM
"I had Kathleen Battle, Itzhak Perlman, Gil Shaham cards. Wish I had them now."
Oh, I know the feeling. Though I wouldn't give up my Aaron Hill card even for a Perlman, but that's just a personal quirk.
Yes, trading cards have moved into the realm of classical music, most recently when the Houston Symphony did up a pack featuring their musicians, as a promotional device.
The flip side of the cards has personal info on the players, instead of the usual stats -- for instance, violinist Kurt Johnson "is an avid sportsman who can be seen walking his basset hound around midtown."
For the whole story, go to the Los Angeles Times.
Posted by on September 14, 2007 at 11:00 AM
In case you missed the Bruce Cockburn concert last night, you can hear it again, and again, as a CBC Radio 2 Concert On Demand.
In a career that now extends 40 years and over 25 albums, Cockburn is famed for his compelling songs, whether they speak of political events, spiritual revelations or everyday experience -- revealed in a decidedly not-everyday way. He's without question one of this country's most celebrated artists, not to mention a passionate social advocate, a deft guitarist, and an adventurous musical spirit.
Hear Bruce Cockburn perform solo at Concerts On Demand.
Posted by on September 14, 2007 at 08:55 AM
Ever since they hit the pop charts with Procol Harum, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra has been into collaborating with performers from other genres of music. (Speaking of, I recently heard A Salty Dog, from that 1972 collaboration -- the first time I'd heard it in years -- it's really very beautiful.)
Anyway, tonight on Canada Live, The the ESO continues their collaborative tradition, as conductor William Eddins leads members of the orchestra with special guests: James Campbell on clarinet and PJ Perry. Together they play jazz-inspired pieces by Edmonton composer Allan Gilliland, as well as Howard Brubeck (Dave’s bro), and David Amram.
Also on the show tonight, keyboard player/hometown hero Graham Guest welcomes Lurrie Bell, a Chicago blues guitar player and singer, also the son of the late Carey Bell, the legendary blues harmonica player.
And finishing off the show with a little more blues-influenced music...almost four decades after it all began, seminal Edmonton blues/rock band Hot Cottage get together again to prove they still have the chops.
In fact, I think the very expression, "hot cottage," should be reclaimed to mean "chops," in terms of music. So, for example, anytime you think a musician has really great chops, you could just shout out, "hot cottage!" Just a thought.
Posted by on September 14, 2007 at 06:54 AM
Ah, the last rose of summer. Such a nostalgic, bittersweet image. Although, come to think of it, the last roses of summer in my garden are just kind of crummy looking, all withered and crusty.
I guess The Last Rose Of Summer is meant to make you think about the phase before the rose really is the last. (Or maybe it only applies to gardens with conscientious gardeners, who do something before it gets that far.)
Anyway, soprano Lois Marshall will, I am sure, sing The Last Rose of Summer in a way that bears absolutely no resemblance to what's in my garden. Thankfully. And of course you can hear for yourself today on Here's To You.
Equally nostalgic, Elgar’s Wand Of Youth No. 2, played by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Plus a little tango and Handel’s Music For The Royal Fireworks. All presented by the ever-youthful Catherine Belyea. (She must have Wand No. 1 someplace.)
September 13, 2007
Posted by on September 13, 2007 at 08:45 PM
No, not that kind of sampling, although you can bet there will be samples within the samples of new releases Laurie Brown features tonight on The Signal. Included in the mix are releases from Montag and Caribou.
Also, Joanna Newsom plucks her harp/sings as no previous harpist has ever plucked/sung, the Art Of Time Ensemble tries a hand at gambling, (I'm guessing this means a performance of Gavin Bryars' Man In A Room Gambling No. 9), and there's a live concert recording from Toronto post-rock band Do Make Say Think.
Posted by on September 13, 2007 at 06:15 PM
Just a reminder -- tonight Canada Live broadcasts a concert of Bruce Cockburn performing solo, from the Eric Harvey Theatre at the Banff Centre. (It was supposed to be an outdoor show, but inclement weather meant it had to move indoors.) There'll be oldies and also new songs from his recent 29th album. A great opportunity to hear poetic, political, (and brilliant guitarist) Bruce Cockburn...recorded live.
Also, a reprise of a concert by City And Colour a.k.a. Dallas Green at the 2007 Calgary Folk Music Festival.
Posted by on September 13, 2007 at 03:01 PM
Tonic salutes the Jewish New Year – Rosh Hashanah – tonight with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley playing To Life, from Fiddler On The Roof.
Adderley, btw, didn't just interpret the one song from the musical -- in 1964 he released an entire LP of Jerry Bock's music, titled, appropriately enough, Cannonball Adderley's Fiddler On The Roof. (With, I might note, the late Joe Zawinul on piano.)
But it's not the only Fiddler spin-off worth noting. A few years ago bassist Eddie Gomez released Jazz Fiddler on the Roof .
Then there's Knitting On The Roof, from 1999, a compilation put out by Knitting Factory Records of covers of Fiddler songs by bands including The Residents, Negativland, and The Magnetic Fields.
And of course, Gwen Stefani's take on If I Were A Rich Man, If I Was A Rich Girl, which you can still hear all over the place.
Just to name a few. Great music inspires re-workings, good, bad, weird. Not to mention satire.
In the early 1970s, Mad Magazine published a parody called Antenna On The Roof, which speculated about the lives of Tevye's descendants living in 1960s suburban America.
P.S. For an interesting perspective on Fiddler's role in culture, check out this article from 2006 in The Jewish Daily Forward, called Tevye, Today, and Beyond.
Posted by on September 13, 2007 at 01:36 PM
Larry LeBlanc, famed Canadian music journalist, who after departing Billboard has continued to put out regular newsletters for those in the "industry," included this recent squib from legendary producer Joe Boyd. Boyd had just attended Canadian singer Martha Wainwright's wedding. Now if only most "society columns" in newspapers read like this. (Heck, if only most weddings were like this!)
“The bride was gorgeous, Brad (the groom)’s father astounded all the folkies with his impeccable crooning, Teddy Thompson and Jenni Muldaur delivered a joyous Viva Las Vegas. Rufus sang the Gounod/Bach version of Ave Maria, Linda Thompson harmonized with her offspring on Dimming of the Day. Kate McGarrigle hovered over everything like the angel she is, the weather was beautiful and a good time was had by all."
And Mr. Leblanc also passed on the news bulletin from Mr. Boyd that Mary Magaret O'Hara's seminal Miss America recording is going to be re-released, date TBA, but with Boyd, apparently, credited as co-producer on some tracks. He was not credited on the original release, due to various "industry" shenanigans.
Moral of the story? More weddings, less "industry."
Posted by on September 13, 2007 at 11:00 AM
A couple of Canadian music news notes:
Violinist Jacques Israelievitch is stepping down as the concertmaster for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra after 20 years at the post. You can read the whole story at CBC | Arts News
And The Canadian Folk Music Awards committee has unveiled a list of scheduled performers for this year's gala, a list headlined by Sylvia Tyson. (Also, CBC's Shelagh Rogers will co-host the awards ceremony, with Juno Award-winning Quebec musician Benoît Bourque.) More details to be found at CBC | Arts News.
Posted by on September 13, 2007 at 09:00 AM
I wanted to note this one early, so you can put it into your appointment book/alert your personal electronic minder/set your alarm, whatever you need to do.
Tonight Canada Live broadcasts a concert of Bruce Cockburn performing solo, from the Eric Harvey Theatre at the Banff Centre. (It was supposed to be an outdoor show, but inclement weather meant it had to move indoors.) The producer of the show tells me Bruce sings oldies, but also new songs from his recent 29th album. It's a great opportunity to hear poetic, political, and brilliant guitarist Bruce Cockburn...recorded live.
Posted by on September 13, 2007 at 07:00 AM
As per usual, a diverse assortment of music on Here's To You this morning, including tunes from Lerner and Loewe’s Brigadoon, from the original Broadway cast recording, as well as music by Mozart, Puccini and Bryars.
And then...there's music by Kenneth J. Alford. A march. You know which one. Possibly the most famous march ever written, this morning played by the Band of Britain’s Royal Marines. Although I'm sure they cannot rival this parrot (yes parrot) in terms of the process of learning the famous Colonel Bogey march. After all, the parrot was learning by ear.
Thinking of the Colonel Bogey, as I am not wont to do, (only when watching Bridge On The River Kwai or noticing that it will be played on Here's To You), I recall the strange and inexplicable lyric set by my siblings and I to the tune in the long ago mists of our childhoods: "Foofy, he makes the world go round."
Which is a lot nicer than the more commonly sung lyrics involving Hitler.
September 12, 2007
Posted by on September 12, 2007 at 09:00 PM
Margaret Atwood has done it. Canadian composer Gordon Monahan still does. All you have to do is raise your hands in the air, wave them in the right place and in the right way, and an eerie sound emits. If, that is, you're playing a theremin (the instrument that took the pop world by surprise on the Beach Boys’ Good Vibrations).
You can hear how Monahan uses the theremin tonight on The Signal, as well as the latest from experimental folksters Tunng, and Daniel Lanois -- sans vocals.
Posted by on September 12, 2007 at 07:08 PM
Many hours ago, in the dawning of this day, (OK, so it was after breakfast but still, before the day was truly underway), I wrote about pianist Michael Kaeshammer's concert tonight on Canada Live.
But there is also a second concert on tonight's show, from Sekoya, a young Vancouver collective blending nu-jazz and future-soul. Their influences range from Berlin-based Jazzanova to the UK’s Bugz in the Attic, and to bands like Weather Report. And that last reference, of course, is heartening news right now, following the death of Weather Report's co-founder, Joe Zawinul. What better way for his legacy to continue, than through new bands playing new music...
Posted by on September 12, 2007 at 04:57 PM
Tonic suggests basking, grooving and chilling tonight, as per the following prescription:
Bask in the Moonglow courtesy of saxophonist Coleman Hawkins.
Groove to the gospel-inflected vibe of John Legend in Stay With You.
And chill out to bossa nova, as played by harmonica virtuoso Hendrik Meurkens and vocalist Ivan Lins.
Posted by on September 12, 2007 at 02:42 PM
Yesterday I blogged a little blog about "road trip music," inspired by thoughts on mix "tapes" (and very cute hand illustrated CDs) at Bottomless Cup. It made me think about what music I like traveling to (and why), and wonder about music others choose for road trips. (That means you. Any shortlists?)
Anyway, today, in a total coincidence (no, really!) I stumbled on a website called Roadtrip Nation, now a PBS series, but once just a group of college grads who couldn't figure out what to do with their lives, so they hit the road. They devote some of their site to new music they take on the road, called Great Music From Bands You've Never Heard Of.
Crossing the yellow line into still more corporate territory, I came to Roadtrip America, where they suggest certain music for specific journeys, for instance Gershwin and Copland for the Blue Ridge Parkway. (I'd say yes to Copland, but Gershwin? I see that as more streets of NYC.) And they recommend Wagner (eg Ride Of The Valkyries) for Germany's Autobahn. Just in case you aren't driving fast enough already.
Posted by on September 12, 2007 at 01:30 PM
Yesterday, as you probably know, Joe Zawinul, the keyboardist-composer (and co-founder of the seminal fusion band, Weather Report) died.
And in the past hours, the tributes have rightfully begun, for the man one jazz writer, Howard Mandel, calls the "assertive, articulate, groove-and-grit-loving, multi-kulti celebrating pianist-organist-synthesist and studio composition pioneer," in a post called Joe Zawinul, In Soundful Way, on Mandel's blog Jazz Beyond Jazz.
Continue reading "Joe Zawinul (1932-2007) " »
Posted by on September 12, 2007 at 10:38 AM
Strad mag says Nikolaj Znaider's playing is "reminiscent of the good old days of great violin artistry." (Makes you wonder what precisely the bad new days are made up of, but regardless, it is of course meant as a great compliment.)
Today on Studio Sparks you can hear a performance by Znaider, who is widely considered one of the world’s hottest younger violinists, playing the Sibelius Violin Concerto with the Dresden Staatskappelle Orchestra, under the direction of Sir Colin Davis. (Who is arguably one of the hottest older conductors...having just turned 80 this month.)
Posted by on September 12, 2007 at 09:00 AM
There's an old expression of praise about boogie-woogie piano greats: "He had a left hand like God." Michael Kaeshammer might not like to claim that about himself, as it would be immodest. And who knows, perhaps he'd find it sacrilegious, or in questionable taste. (Although given boogie-woogie's origins -- bars, nightclubs, and houses of ill repute -- that should be the least of anyone's worries.) But getting to the point -- Kaeshammer is a fine piano player, who has a predilection for boogie. You can hear for yourself tonight, as Canada Live features Kaeshammer in concert.
And actually, if you want to be strictly accurate, although he is most frequently called a boogie-woogie player, it's really only part of what he does. (Hey, anyone who cites as influences Nina Simone, Frank Sinatra and Sam Cooke, as well as James Booker, Art Tatum, Professor Longhair and Earl Hines, is clearly painting from a slightly broader musical palette.)
So what he does is really a melange of traditional piano styles, including boogie-woogie, but also ragtime and stride, and more contemporary stuff as well. Plus he's a bit of a crooner.
Maybe given all that he'd be happy to have a left hand like an apostle?
Posted by on September 12, 2007 at 07:00 AM
According to information from the Here's To You team,"if you don’t find yourself humming 'boop, boop, diddum diddum waddum shoo,' you may be taking life too seriously."
At first this worried me. I have never found myself humming “boop, boop, diddum diddum waddum shoo.” Not once.
But then I read their missive in entirety to discover it is only after hearing Kay Kyser and His Orchestra playing Three Little Fishies that one is meant to hum this, and Catherine will provide that opportunity for all of us on today's show.
Still, although the song title rang a vague bell in the compartment of my mind marked Novelty Tunes, I couldn't hear the boop boop etc. part in my mind and commence humming. Until I watched these two mermaids singing the song. I'll warn you, it's a bit scary. I'm looking forward to Kay Kyser's original 1939 version on the show though.
September 11, 2007
Posted by on September 11, 2007 at 07:00 PM
Kent Nagano kicks off his second season as the Montreal Symphony Orchestra’s music director in style, featuring two orchestras - the OSM in Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, as well as a student's orchestra outdoors, on the esplanade of Place des Arts. (The program features music by Strauss and Mozart.)
I know this is a tad early to mention, but if you are in Montreal on October 2nd, the OSM with Nagano will be doing a tribute to Canadian animator Norman McLaren, where his work (like the Oscar winning Neighbours, seen by every Canadian schoolchild, at least of my vintage) will be screened while the OSM performs. Really interesting idea.
But back to the present -- also on Canada Live tonight (the same place you hear the OSM season kick off), a performance by actor, poet, singer and more, Chloé Ste-Marie, recorded at this summer’s Francofolies.
Posted by on September 11, 2007 at 04:01 PM
Pianist Oliver Theophilus Jones (did you know this was his middle name? I didn't, until now) will be featured playing Swinging On A Star tonight on Tonic. Jones, who was born September 11, 1934 (happy birthday, Mr. Jones!) retired in 2000, then un-retired, at least partly, most recently releasing a recording called One More Time in 2006.
He also un-retired long enough to play a benefit concert which was largely responsible for funding a business plan to re-open a boarded up community centre (once called "The Negro Community Centre") in Montreal's Little Burgundy neighborhood. Little Burgundy was home to the majority of the city's black community, beginning in the late 19th century. Jones, Oscar Peterson and others grew up in Little Burgundy. Now the community centre is scheduled to re-open sometime next year.
"The kids need a place to go to," Jones told Hour magazine. "You need a place like I had when I was a kid. There are a lot of talented youngsters who just need that little push, that little incentive to let them know that someone cares."
Oliver Theophilus Jones, pianist, philanthropist...
Posted by on September 11, 2007 at 02:00 PM
You get in the car. (Well, in my case first you take a bus then a subway to the car rental place, and THEN you get in the car...) You turn the radio on, and head out of town. And then, once you get to a certain point of highway, and the signal is breaking up and you can't get your favourite station (we know which one that is) you put on your driving music.
A composer named Kelly Fenton explores both the art of what we used to call mix tapes, and a related matter -- road trip music -- on her sweetly-illustrated blog, Bottomless Cup. As she puts it, "there is magic in road trips."
I find that road trip music is rarely a constant, as the years go by, the music changes. Also, it depends on where I'm going. Northern Ontario, I must admit, always seems to have a tendency to demand Neil Young, Gordie, and, for no apparent reason Hank Williams. So I take it back, there's a constant. But other highways call for other music.
You? Favourite road symphonies/songs?
Posted by on September 11, 2007 at 11:28 AM
This just in, a correction from Studio Sparks about the Bruckner being played this aft -- it's actually Symphony No. 0 In D Minor (A concert performance with the Minnesota orch, Osmo Vanska conducting.)
And here is host Eric Friesen's explanation of the zero thing:
"Known in German as 'die Nullte' - or zero, it's the 3rd symphony Bruckner wrote, but he withdrew it and never gave it a number. Why? Because of an off-hand remark made by then conductor of the Vienna Phil - Otto Dessoff. Bruckner, as Georg Tintner has written so eloquently, lacked any self-confidence and always thought that musicians, especially those in authority, knew better than he did.
So when Bruckner asked the conductor of the Vienna Phil what he thought about the first movement of this new symphony, Dessoff said: 'But where is the main theme?' Bruckner was so deflated by this question - a dumb question by the way - that he withdrew the symphony and it's forever remained in this curious limbo of #0. A work annulled. In fact, Bruckner wrote all over the autograph score: 'corrupt,' 'totally worthless,' 'invalid' and then drew a diagonal dash through the O, from which the idea of calling it the sympony #0 probably comes."
Wow. How sad. Clearly no one ever counselled Bruckner on avoiding "negative self-talk." On the other hand, he kept writing music, so I guess there must have been some tiny shred of self esteem still intact?
Posted by on September 11, 2007 at 11:00 AM
Coming up on Studio Sparks this Tuesday morning:
Canada’s Angela Hewitt at this year’s Proms concerts in London, with Bach’s Partita No. 1 In B Flat. (btw, a very nice tip of the hat to Ms. Hewitt on Sunday in the New York Times.)
Continue reading "Musical Remembrances" »
Posted by on September 11, 2007 at 09:34 AM
Something sad to share...I just heard that keyboardist Joe Zawinul, who created the band Weather Report, played with Miles Davis, and was hugely influential in the concept and development of jazz fusion, died from cancer in Vienna today. Here is the story from Reuters. Zawinul was 75, and still performing -- apparently he had concerts scheduled for this fall. Very sorry to hear this news. He was a brilliant musician.
Posted by on September 11, 2007 at 09:00 AM
About eleven hours from time of writing, you can hear Laurie Brown hosting The Signal. And tonight on the show, early music becomes new music. For some reason this reminds me of Mourning Becomes Electra. But no, this has nothing to do with Eugene O'Neil, everything to do with composer Gavin Bryars. Bryars, the prolific Yorkshire-born composer known for works such as Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet (and for his opera Medea, speaking of things Greek and tragic) has composed and arranged new settings for 13th and 14th-century songs from Italy, featured tonight on The Signal.
I like what author Michael Ondaatje once said about Bryars music (and I'm sure Bryars likes it too):
Continue reading "Early Music Becomes New Music" »
Posted by on September 11, 2007 at 06:45 AM
Here's To You features Trevor Pinnock leading the English Concert in Vivaldi’s Concerto for Oboe and Bassoon today. Also, more oboe music in the form of the Oboe Concerto by Strauss, played by Douglas Boyd, with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.
Now, maybe you've been asking yourself lately, "I wonder, what are the oboe bloggers blogging about?" Or maybe you have not. But if you have, here are few tidbits.
From Oboeinsight a little lesson on the oboe's place in the orch: "The principal oboist is the moral authority of the wind section," claims a post entitled Well of COURSE!
Eat, Sleep, Oboe is kind of bummed out about an audition that didn't go so well. Plus her hard drive crashed. Sheesh, what a week that was.
Adventures Of Cooper And His Oboe, Barbara, has been making billions of reeds AND has tons of Chudnow Staples for sale. (I'm sure the latter has very specific meaning to Oboists...I'm just spreading the news.)
So you see, the oboe may be a difficult instrument to play, with rather particular needs and opportunities, but sometimes in shared adversity there is great community.
Not to mention hours of fun for people who do not, nor ever will, play the oboe.
September 10, 2007
Posted by on September 10, 2007 at 08:23 PM
...according to the Guelph Jazz Fest, which just took place over the weekend. If you are, like me, suffering from attendee-envy, you can at least check out New York based (writer, editor, author, arts producer for National Public Radio ) Howard Mandel's take on the proceedings, on his blog Jazz Beyond Jazz.
Posted by on September 10, 2007 at 07:00 PM
Monday evening's Canada Live features The Manitoba Chamber Orchestra -- playing jazz. Winnipeg jazz pianist Michelle Gregoire premieres her new concerto for jazz trio and orchestra, Gratitude Suite, commissioned by CBC. (As a fan of Charlie Parker and strings, I'm intrigued.) Apparently it's Gregoire’s first composition for strings, and her first time on stage with the MCO. Rounding out the concert, music by George Gershwin, George Antheil and Hugh Fraser.
And speaking of chamber music, you can also hear a concert from the Agassiz Festival a summer chamber music festival held in Winnipeg in June. This concert is called A Taste of Bohemia, and features a Brahms string quartet and a rarely-heard Piano Quintet by Czech composer Josef Suk.
Posted by on September 10, 2007 at 03:45 PM
On this day 51 years ago, Miles Davis and John Coltrane recorded the classic Round Midnight, by Thelonious Monk. Tonight Tonic salutes that event by playing that legendary recording.
I bet most of us, at this point in time, take for granted that tunes like Round Midnight (or Round About Midnight) are widely considered gorgeous pieces of music, accessible to all.
But a 1948 review from Downbeat (a mag typically not enthused about Monk in those days) is a reminder that it wasn't always so:
"The Monk is undoubtedly a man of considerable ability both technically and harmonically but his abstractions on these sides are just too too -- and I played them early in the morning and late at night. Needn't doesn't require a Juilliard diploma to understand, but Midnight is for the super hip alone."
btw, that review was printed in an excellent book about Monk, edited by Canadian scholar Rob van der Bliek, called The Thelonious Monk Reader -- all kinds of insight into the life and times and music of Monk can be found between its covers.
Posted by on September 10, 2007 at 01:00 PM
The folks at WFMU's Beware Of The Blog point out that we are only two days from the fourth anniversary of Johnny Cash's death, and to mark the occasion early they want to share a rare early spoken word recording by the Man In Black.
The album, The Lure of the Grand Canyon, recorded in 1961, features Ferde Grofé's Grand Canyon Suite, conducted by Andre Kostelanetz, along with ambient sounds said to be recorded at the Grand Canyon. And on the last track Johnny Cash explains everything about the recordings, the Grand Canyon, and, most importantly, the mules. You can hear Mr. Cash and "singing mules" yourself: Johnny Cash - A Day In The Grand Canyon (MP3)
Apparently the original album has never been released on CD, but this track is available on the compilation The Man In Black: 1959-1962.
Johnny Cash sure did know how to tell a story.
Posted by on September 10, 2007 at 10:33 AM
For all that some believe "writing about music is like dancing about architecture," it sure doesn't stop anyone from doing it. (Besides, they're wrong, writing about music is more like reading about music -- thought provoking, albeit with a distinct lack of audio.) Anyway, I'm pretty sure with the opening of the blogfrontier to one and all, there is more writing about music than ever.
And what about literary writing about music? The opening scenes in Anne Patchett's Bel Canto, for instance, describing a fictitious opera singer's performance in a fictitious South American country manage to beautifully bring the reader (at least this reader) to an imagined world of music (and political strife, but that comes a little later).
The lives of not-fictional musicians are also inspiration for some authors -- for instance Sir Edward Elgar's trip up the Amazon River in 1923, a voyage that formed the basis for Gerontius, a 2002 novel written by James Hamilton-Paterson. Hamilton-Paterson imagines the aging composer facing the end of his creative life.
Eric Friesen will read passages from the novel and play related music on Studio Sparks today, (including music by Elgar and by Schumann) bringing it full circle.
I can hear it now, "reading out loud about music is like..."
Posted by on September 10, 2007 at 09:00 AM
Earlyish morning distant early warning for a concert this evening jazz fans will be interested in...Montreal saxophonist Chet Doxas leads his trio, Byproduct along with a string quartet in a session recorded for the CBC, tonight on The Signal.
Doxas, whose original compositions have been said (by All About Jazz) to "demonstrate a depth and degree of complexity beyond his years" has also been called "a jazz star in the making," by our own Katie Malloch, and she should know.
OK, so the guy is still in his 20s, is starting to get great reviews (from the likes of Downbeat magazine)...all that, plus he has a perfect jazz name, don't you think? "Chet Doxas," what else could he do but play jazz?
Posted by on September 10, 2007 at 07:01 AM
...to the piano music of Richard Strauss, as played by Glenn Gould, is entirely possible this morning. (Depending, of course, on what time you rise.) If you rise during Here's To You, you're in luck. Host Catherine Belyea will also be playing music by Schumann, Grieg, and Hildegard of Bingen this morning.
Myself I woke to a chorus of irked cats in the alley, but this was just because the radio had not yet come on. It was not music to my ears. Here's To You, or Music and Co., or for you really early risers, Nightstream, are much better bets.
September 09, 2007
Posted by on September 9, 2007 at 08:00 PM
The Canadian premiere of Amanzule Voices for cello and tape, by Swedish composer Orjan Sandred (inspired by an excursion to Africa) is featured tonight on The Signal.
In case you are wondering what Amanzule is -- it's a lake near the coast in western Ghana. As described by Orjan Sandred, on the lake there's a village built on stilts, reachable only by canoe, in a marshy lagoon thick with aquatic vegetation. This was where his journey began, a journey which inspired this piece -- and contributed to it hugely through the sounds he recorded there.
So many times I've thought, walking through a woods, or lying awake in a tent at night listening to the sounds of the natural world, 'oh, I should record this.' Of course, then there would be the small matter of writing for cello. Fortunately others have that figured out.
Posted by on September 9, 2007 at 04:00 PM
Another season premiere this weekend, when Fuse brings together the exuberant pop of Henri Faberge And The Adorables (who play organs, bells and glockenspiels, among other things) And Abdominal, who uses just his voice and beats for some smart old school hip hop.
Can I just take a moment here to share just how very exuberant in all ways Henri and the Adorables really are, via CBC Radio 3's Grant Lawrence, who describes the heights of this exuberance in a post titled Take Your Shirt Off? And since that link will just take you to the Radio 3 blog where you'd have to search for the post, I'll do a little cut and paste down there in the Continue Reading zone...it's pretty funny. You don't get the visuals, but you still get the picture, as it were.
But back to Fuse. Naturally, together Abdominal and the Adorables -- as heard on Fuse -- become the Abominables. Presented in all their glory this evening by host Amanda Putz.
Let's see, Amanda, Abdominal, Adorables...Am-Indomitable?
Continue reading "Exuberant (And Clothed) Meet Old School" »
Posted by on September 9, 2007 at 03:03 PM
Musically speaking, one of them is what Roots & Wings host Philly Markowitz calls “Gypsy-tronica,” music that mixes traditional Roma sounds with contemporary re-mixes. She'll be featuring some of those bands this afternoon on R&W.;
And in totally unrelated world music news...you might be interested in this feature piece about the recently released collaboration between Anoushka Shankar and Karsh Kale on Spinner.com. It's a project including Anoushka's famous dad, Ravi, and sister, Norah Jones. When Anoushka was just starting to become known I had occasion to interview her. She was a great interview, frank, and quite sweet, talking about her "Uncle George" (Harrison) and things like that in a completely unaffected way. It's interesting watching how her career is developing -- given the practically sainted place her father holds in international music. She seems to be both embracing that legacy and creating space for her own work in a more contemporary direction at the same time.
(She also told me that a number of Indian women told her they were going to name their daughters Anoushka after her, which she found quite funny -- the name being Russian, after all. Ah, the deep musical insights from a journalist, eh?)
Posted by on September 9, 2007 at 02:00 PM
Hey, a contest. Who doesn't feel a small thrill of potential victory when entering one? Even if, speaking from personal experience, one never seems to win. (Unless you count the giant stuffed animal turtle I once took home from a fair as an eight-year-old. Of course, it couldn't really improve on than that, could it.)
Today some lucky Skylarking listener can take home a great novel by Spain’s Javier Marias. (Note how easy it is to slip into "contest speak?" Step right up, lady luck is riding with you today.)
And Mr. Alexis will give one lucky listener Marias’ When I Was Mortal.
And now we get to the radio prize. No, not an actual radio, silly. A satisfying radio moment, when Andre Alexis reads from When I Was Mortal.
Posted by on September 9, 2007 at 11:55 AM
Rick Phillips fans take note -- Rick is hosting OnStage this weekend, presenting a concert from McGill University, of British Chamber Music, featuring pianist Kyoko Hashimoto, violinists Jonathan Crow and Olivier Thouin, violist Douglas McNabney and cellist Matt Haimovitz, in music by Bridge, Britten and Elgar.
Posted by on September 9, 2007 at 11:00 AM
You'd expect a show called The Singer And The Song to feature great voices, of course. But check out this lineup of great Canadian voices.
Maureen Forrester singing Ravel's Trois poemes de Stephane Mallarme (recorded in 1978 with the Canadian Chamber Ensemble).
Excerpts from an historic production of Verdi's opera 'Don Carlo' from Covent Garden in 1958, starring Jon Vickers in the title role.
And performances by Marie-Nicole Lemieux, Michael Schade, Isabel Bayrakdarian.
That's let's see, five stellar voices; five great reasons to listen.
Posted by on September 9, 2007 at 08:45 AM
Katherine Duncan is probably taking a wee bit of a rest after hosting CBC's coverage of the Banff International String Quartet Competition, but not too much of one as she's here today with Symphony Hall.
And on today's show, Alexander Mickelthwate, described by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra as " one of the most exciting, emerging talents on the musical stage today" leads the WSO in music by Beethoven and by John Adams.
More of Adams' music is performed by the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Alain Trudel a little later on the show. This concert also features the Michelle Gregoire Trio, performing Antheil’s Serenade For Strings No. 1 and Gregoire’s Gratitude Suite.
Posted by on September 9, 2007 at 07:00 AM
CBC was at the Festival 500 -- Sharing The Voices (a celebrated international non-competitive festival of choral music held in St. John’s, Newfoundland) in a big way this year, and today you can hear highlights on Choral Concert. I've heard bits and pieces from this year's festival on various R2 programmes -- but here's an opportunity to hear a solid two hours worth!
September 08, 2007
Posted by on September 8, 2007 at 08:30 PM
White noise, in music, is defined by the Encyclopedia Britannica as "the effect of the complete range of audible sound-wave frequencies heard simultaneously, analogous to white light, which contains all the frequencies of the light spectrum." In other words, a wash/wall of sound that is not identifiable as discreet pitches, and works to mask other sound. At least, that's my understanding of it, but feel free to correct me, science/physics etc. is not my strong suit. (I think grade 10 biology was where I left off.)
Anyway, I do vaguely know about white noise. But only recently did I hear about "pink noise," and I still think it's a bit of a send up. However Merriam Webster defines it as "a constant background noise; especially one that drowns out other sounds; meaningless or distracting commotion, hubbub, or chatter."
And here I thought that was just a typical day in the office.
I also didn't know, until now, of the "white noise requiems" by Edmonton's Mark Templeton. But tonight they are performed on The Signal, a live show from this year's Mutek Festival in Montreal.
Posted by on September 8, 2007 at 05:00 PM
Tonic, I dare say, considers itself to be primarily a jazz show. Me too, but I consider it to also be an open minded take on related music as well.
Take tonight's programme, for example. Weekend host Tim Tamashiro plays Joss Stone, Robbie Williams, Mel Tormé with the Boss Brass, Alberta's Aaron Young, Sultans of String, Hip Pocket Quartet and Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers. And of course, the proverbial more!
Posted by on September 8, 2007 at 03:13 PM
In the past few days, the tributes and stories about the late Luciano Pavarotti have been pouring in. You can't open a paper or go to a news website without reading some kind of tribute, account of his life, or of his burial in his home town of Modena, Italy.
But I find the personal responses -- for instance from a couple of listeners who wrote in after Studio Sparks' Eric Friesen did a tribute on Thursday, or from bloggers, like composer Matthew Guerrieri and journalist like Alex Ross more interesting, more moving, or (in the case of Mr. Ross) more provocative. See if you don't agree. And perhaps add your own...
Posted by on September 8, 2007 at 01:00 PM
Saturday Afternoon At The Opera presents Fabio Luisi conducting, from the Vienna State Opera. It’s Verdi’s Sicilian Vespers, or Les Vêpres Siciliennes, as they like to say in Paris (where, in fact, it was composed). This production stars Leo Nucci, Francisco Casanova, Robert Scandiuzzi and Sondra Radvanovsky.
Posted by on September 8, 2007 at 11:00 AM
The new season has begun everywhere, kitchens (parents suddenly making those lunches again), alleyways (for dawdling in on the way home from school) and of course, on the airwaves.
Rick Phillips kicks off the new season of Sound Advice with a bit of an oddity – two new versions of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 by different pianists, released on the same label. The first is by Mikhail Pletnev, the second by Lang Lang. Then Rick will compare them with a version by Canada’s Glenn Gould that’s half a century old.
Clearly Rick is not of the "comparisons are odious" school of thought. But then, what broadcaster/music critic is? We'd be put out of business if that were the case.
And before I forget, a note to Sound Advice regulars -- the long-awaited solution to the Musical Tree Quiz that’s been running all summer will be unveiled on today's show!
Posted by on September 8, 2007 at 08:00 AM
They’ll be holding the Olympics of Osculation this week at the Vinyl Cafe. Goodness.
Stuart observes as seven couples try to break the Guinness World Record for longest kiss ever. (Well, it certainly sounds more interesting than the Olympics of Obfuscation, at any rate.)
Also, a look back at the history and evolution of popular music in Quebec.
And, in a leap from lips to song to the afterlife...Stuart reflects on this startling new wrinkle to coming back as a______(fill in the blank). Apparently if you live in Tibet and wish to be reincarnated, you now have to seek permission from the Chinese government. (What about if you DON'T wish to be reincarnated -- but other forces have different ideas? That's for a future show.)
September 07, 2007
Posted by on September 7, 2007 at 08:00 PM
Host Pat Carrabré takes a trip on The Signal into the "wild west" tonight, with what The Signal posse describe as "twang-inspired music" from Coco Rosie, Ohbijou and Hudon-Placard.
"Twang," as a word, is enormously satisfying. As is "plush" or "hullabaloo" or "frozilator." (The thing that changes channels on a television.)
As a description of music it's intriguing. According to Merriam-Webster, "twang" could mean one of three things:
1. A harsh quick ringing sound like that of a plucked banjo string
2. A nasal speech or resonance/the characteristic speech of a region, locality, or group of people
3. An act of plucking
I think twang is typically used in reference to music as a kind of short-hand to something connected, however loosely, to country music, but I also think there's something implicit in its usage that suggests it's not to be taken too seriously. If any of the music being played on the show was genuine from-the-genre country, that word twang would probably never enter into our conversation. Am I over-thinking this? Probably. Maybe I'll go take an underthinking break with the frozilator for a while...
Posted by on September 7, 2007 at 05:00 PM
Sometimes I worry about the weekday listeners missing out. No, really, I know just how easy it is to get stuck in one's habits. So there you are, having your ritual Thursday night of sushi, popcorn and BBC crime drama, only to find out that you missed, say, hearing Mariza sing.
I don't want this kind of thing to happen to you. So if you're a diehard weekday R2 listener -- but tend not to tune in on the weekends -- consider the following. I can't preview all the shows, of course, but here's what's coming up on Canada Live this weekend.
On Saturday -- the world-jazz-flamenco ensemble, Sultans of String, on this occasion with special guest vocalists Amanda Martinez and Maryam Tollar. (Talk about special! Two seriously talented singers...) And later in the show, one of Cuba’s greatest gifts to Canada, pianist Hilario Duran with big band, featuring many of Toronto’s top jazz musicians from a live concert at Toronto's newest jazz venue, The Courthouse.
Then it's Sunday evening. You may be thinking of watching that tape you made of the morning's epic Coronation Street, but it can hold. Instead, consider tuning in to Can Live again for some contemporary Canadian country music from this year’s Canadian Country Music Association awards show in Regina.
You have alt-country artist Sean Hogan (who looks a little like Luke Perry, don't you think? Check out his website and see if you don't agree...) and fellow Saskatooner Melanie Laine with a set of classic country songs. And you have Shane Yellowbird, who's been making country fans take notice with a combination of music based in part on his First Nations heritage and his years as a cowboy in Alberta. And finally it's the Poverty Plainsmen, who Fish Griwkowsky of The Edmonton Sun calls "Canada's answer to Alabama!"
Posted by on September 7, 2007 at 03:45 PM
...35 years ago, Curtis Mayfield's legendary soundtrack to the blaxploitation classic Superfly went gold, the Bosox whupped the Yankees 10-4, and the Mankato Minnesota city council had an adjourned meeting (seven bids were received for a pumping station, interceptor sewer and forcemain).
But Tonic will restrain its celebrations to the first event, by playing Freddie's Dead, one of the top-selling singles from Superfly. (Which, according to some sources, is one of the only films ever to have been outgrossed by its soundtrack!)
Posted by on September 7, 2007 at 02:31 PM
Ethiopian New Year is coming up on Tuesday (according to the Julian calendar,) and this year also signals the beginning of the millennium. I know there will be local celebrations in Ethiopian-Canadian communities, like this one at Christie Pits in my hometown, and much activity in Addis Adiba (though ongoing rumours of a performance by Beyonce at the latter seem to be unfounded).
But I also thought it was timely to point to a couple posts about Ethiopian music, this from an Irish music blog, Nialler9 and this from a Canadian based music blog End (-) of (-) World Music. (Not that either blogger writes mostly about Ethiopian music by any means, but a nice reason to send you there.) More specifically, there's the website, Addis Music, a great hub for videos of current Ethiopian music stars.
Always nice to have a millennium to celebrate. But glad no one seems worked about Y2K this time.
Posted by on September 7, 2007 at 12:00 PM
I am sure that people who a) do not live in Toronto and/or b) are really not that interested in movies and/or c) despise the bowing and scraping and gawking at celebrities, just groan and pull the covers over their heads every year when the Toronto International Film Festival rolls around.
Regardless, if you are into music, you might appreciate this round up of new docs that are being premiered at TIFF, as it is brightly called, written by Toronto Star music writer John Teraudes, headlined Musical Documentaries Target Boomers.
I've already had a firsthand review of one of the docs, Carlos Saura's Fados, the first film in a trilogy on music in Lisbon. Sadly, I could not go, but the movie got many thumbs up from my lucky husband who did attend -- AND Mariza, the great fadista was in attendance, as was Saura. Saura spoke, Mariza sang.
But at least the rest of us can keep an eye out for Fados' appearance (likely at the nearest art house cinema) and the nearest purveyor of interesting DVDs, down the line.
Posted by on September 7, 2007 at 09:00 AM
Canada Live is like audio proof of Canadian cultural diversity on some occasions -- and tonight it's also proof of Ottawan diversity, with a concert from Ottawa's (via Burundi and Rwanda) Mighty Popo (recorded at the Black Sheep Inn in Wakefield, Quebec), and a concert billed as Music Is The Weapon, featuring The Souljazz Orchestra and Kobo Town at Barrymore’s Music Hall.
I take slight issue with the billing though. Music isn't a weapon, nor are words. (Another common misappropriation -- hey, if you've ever had an encounter with an actual weapon you'll know what I mean.) But music as political force is a fascinating subject, and if you're into exploring that you may want to take a look at a Canadian book from just a few years back on that very subject, Rebel Musics: Human Rights, Resistant Sounds, And The Politics Of Music Making by Daniel Fischlin and Ajay Heble. (The latter, in a nice six degrees kinda moment, is the Artistic Director of the Guelph Jazz Festival, running until Sunday.)
No issue with any of the music though -- in fact, on a short list of top Canadian "world music" groups all three would surely make the cut.
Posted by on September 7, 2007 at 06:22 AM
A Here's To You brief: Today's highlights include a classic version of the closing scene of Anna Bolena by Donizetti, sung by Joan Sutherland with the Welsh National Opera Orchestra, clarinet virtuoso Sabine Meyer playing the Clarinet Concerto In A by Mozart, and Judy Collins’ version of Leonard Cohen’s Suzanne.
And I can't resist linking to this 1970 performance by Cohen singing Suzanne. It's so 1970...and so beautiful.
September 06, 2007
Posted by on September 6, 2007 at 07:00 PM
From country to celtic tonight on Canada Live, starting with 13-time nominee for female singer of the year at the Canadian Country Music Awards, Lisa Brokop. (Keep positive, Lisa, just think of Scorsese.) Actually, Lisa's doing just fine, thank you very much, over the summer hosting her own CBC Radio 1 show, Twang. And tonight on Can Live she performs songs from her six albums, including her latest, Hey, Do You Know Me.
And then a little celtic/pop/bluegrass with The Paperboys. Or, as the band likes to say: File under Celtic/Mexican/Latin/Folk/Acoustic/Alt-Country/Roots/ Soul/ Pop. Or another of the band's self-ascribed handles: "Guinness with a tequila chaser while listening to an Americana Jukebox." Sounds good to me!
Posted by on September 6, 2007 at 05:00 PM
Katie takes you to Montreal’s legendary Lion D’Or tonight on Tonic to hear a set by saxophonist Janis Steprans' Quintet.
I remember being in the club once when Katie was hosting an event there -- it's the kind of place, on the right occasion, where you feel perfectly at home in an ankle length backless black dress. (At least, if you're a woman you do.) Dating back to the 1930s, when it was a cabaret, the Lion D'Or was shut down in the 1970s, stayed empty until 1987 when the Petit Extra bistro took over. Art deco, and sumptuous.
And a perfect spot for a native Montrealer such as Mr. Steprans to perform...
Posted by on September 6, 2007 at 03:30 PM
In case you missed this news flash yesterday, THIS JUST IN: Study shows that rock'n'roll seriously damages your health.
Funny, I'm pretty sure I could have drawn that conclusion without involving science, but there you are. Greater minds than mine say that the findings, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, "could be used to prevent rock'n'roll deaths."
For the full story, go to The Guardian.
Posted by on September 6, 2007 at 11:21 AM
Studio Sparks is doing a tribute to Luciano Pavarotti, who as you probably know, died yesterday. In the second hour of the show, Eric Friesen will play a variety of music highlighting the breadth of Pavarotti's artistry -- and what a breadth that was. Earlier this morning Tom Allen was playing Pavarotti on Music & Company, and talking about just how natural a singer he was -- and the music was just breathtaking. I'll look forward to Studio Sparks' tribute. Also, there is a wonderful photo gallery at cbc.ca arts you may want to look at, featuring the singer at various stages of his career.
Posted by on September 6, 2007 at 09:00 AM
Tonight on The Signal, hear contemporary classical music recorded live at Maxwell's Bistro and Club in Ottawa, where the clinking of beer glasses mingles with the music of Kelly-Marie Murphy, Eldon Rathburn, Evan Ware, Frank Levin, and Roddy Ellias. (Sorry if you read this earlier and saw a different bunch of composers listed -- the line up had a last minute change!)
Now, some might find this objectionable. Keith Jarrett, for example. But others are more willing to tolerate the happy clink of glasses if it means that their music is being heard in new places. (Expanding his audience is probably not a major concern of Jarrett's.)
In related matters, guitarist Marc Ribot, who is speaking at the Guelph Jazz Festival this morning, on a panel called The Crisis In New Music Vanishing Venues And The Future Of Experimentalism In New York City, wrote a very interesting essay on this very subject not too long ago. He started by calling it "the care and feeding of a musical margin". It's about how new music and improvised music ties into the marketplace, and it's a thorough exploration of one (informed) man's view of funding the fringes of musical culture. Not the jolliest of reads, but quite thought provoking.
The good news? Last season when the Ottawa Chamber Music Society presented that new music night in a bar - the aforementioned Maxwell's Bistro and Club on Elgin Street in the heart of Ottawa -- the show sold out so quickly that and a second one was added.
Posted by on September 6, 2007 at 07:30 AM
Sometimes, it is best to let the music speak for itself...Pavarotti, from La Bohème.
Luciano Pavarotti: October 12, 1935 -- September 6, 2007
Posted by on September 6, 2007 at 07:00 AM
It's an eclectic array of music today on Here’s To You – from traditional English folk songs sung by Maddy Prior, to selections from Fela Sowande’s African Suite (which those of you who go back a tad will recognize as the theme from the much beloved CBC Radio program Gilmour’s Albums). There’ll also be violin music by Paganini, and Rachmaninov’s Spring Cantata.
Speaking of Clyde Gilmour, a little while ago I had occasion to go digging around in the LP's that are in the Toronto record library as part of The Clyde Gilmour Collection, looking for Duke Ellington's Such Sweet Thunder LP. Yes, it is available on a CD, but for reasons too uninteresting to bore you with I could not lay my hands on the CD in time for a broadcast. But the LP was there. And in careful notation alongside of each track Mr. Gilmour had listed correct track times, in some cases a note on the personnel, and there was even a small newspaper review taped to the LP jacket.
I'm not a luddite (in fact I am the first to admit that my mp3 player changed my life, just as my walkman did before that) but I confess to a full on flood of nostalgia for the era when a radio show host could sit in front of the mic, tilting the record back into the light so as to check for info -- something so tactile about it, right down to the yellowing tape holding the edges of the cardboard together.
On the other hand, there's something so tactile about not putting your back out carrying bags full of records around too.
P.S. If your curiosity is piqued about the Gilmour Collection though, you can find out a little bit about it at CBC Archives.
September 05, 2007
Posted by on September 5, 2007 at 09:00 PM
Tonight on The Signal you can hear Halifax drummer Jerry Granelli's band The V16 Project, recorded live at the 2007 Atlantic Jazz Festival. Billed as "16 cylinders of raw improvisational power," the band takes its name from a rare 1930 Cadillac. Granelli (who among many musical matters was the drummer on the Vince Guaraldi’s A Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack) is joined by his son, J. Anthony Granelli on bass, and Christian Koegel and David Tronzo on guitars.
Posted by on September 5, 2007 at 06:00 PM
Quite a triple bill on Canada Live tonight.
First, recorded at the Old Port in Montreal, from the Festival International De Tango De Montréal, the tango "supergroup" Sexteto Tango, led by by Venezuelan master bandoneonist Miquel Varvello. They feature new arrangements of classic tango repertoire, along with new compositions by Varvello.
Second, Intakto, a Montreal-based group featuring Chilean-Canadian guitarist-singer Alejandro Venegas, and Montreal violinist Simon Claude, who have been playing together since 1995. It being tango, many of their mostly original compositions are dedicated to desire, to sorrow, to “the full delirium of an embrace.”
And wrapping things up, Malian singer Mamani Keita (best known as the voice of the recording, Electro Bamako) with French guitarist Nicolas Repac, who you may know through his work with French singer Arthur H.
btw, the Keita/Repac duo isn't about the electronica of Electro Bamako, it's much more organic than that, and based on what I heard when they played Harbourfront Centre this summer, quite challenging. In large part this is down to to Repac's (a.k.a. "the white wizard's") audacious guitar playing. When I heard them the crowd didn't seem to quite get it, or maybe just didn't much like it, but I'll be curious to hear how Montreal audiences respond -- tonight's broadcast is from Festival Nuits d’Afrique in Montreal.
Posted by on September 5, 2007 at 04:00 PM
It was 1940, Woody Guthrie wrote This Land Is Your Land, and Count Basie and his Orchestra, including legendary sax player Lester Young, recorded Lester Leaps In. You won't hear the former on Tonic tonight, but you will hear the latter.
Both musicians had tremendous influence in their spheres, Guthrie in terms of the entire subsequent history of the labour movement and folk music, Young in terms of the entire subsequent history of jazz sax.
But does Woody Guthrie have a dog named for him, with its own website? Lester the Hungarian Vizsla does.
Hard to say if this is a good thing or not, mind you. But regardless of canine tributes or lack thereof, Guthrie's career, posthumously speaking, is going strong as this recent article in the International Herald Tribune illustrates.
Posted by on September 5, 2007 at 03:11 PM
It's been difficult reading the ongoing health bulletins about opera star Luciano Pavarotti, and I've not wanted to chronicle each one as it comes in -- it seems unnecessarily morbid. But CBC Radio news just reported that the singer, who has been fighting pancreatic cancer, is in serious condition and his health is deteriorating, according to Italian news agencies. I thought that blog readers would probably want that update, sad as it is to relate. CBC | Arts News has more detail.
Posted by on September 5, 2007 at 12:50 PM
"It was supposed to be Amy Winehouse's night, but the Mercury Music Prize produced a surprise winner when the 'nu rave' band Klaxons took the Album of the Year award."
Thus begins this morning's piece in the Times Online, about the winner of the prestigious Mercury Prize.
But why the surprise? The pop/jazz/soul throwback singer Winehouse has been dragged through the media mud in recent weeks so deeply that Paris and Lindsay must be envious. Her own parents-in-law went on BBC Radio Five Live and said that perhaps the singer's alleged drug problems should preclude her from being nominated for such awards, and fans should consider not buying her music.
Continue reading "Drug Testing For Musicians? Somehow Doubt It." »
Posted by on September 5, 2007 at 10:40 AM
Some of Terence Blanchard's recently released jazz requiem for Hurricane Katrina (A Tale Of God's Will -- A Requiem For Katrina) will be played today on Studio Sparks today. I've not yet heard the piece, although I gather it evolved from Blanchard's score for Spike Lee's four-part documentary, When The Levees Broke, which I've seen parts of -- and the music is really standout. ("Moving," seems an understatement.)
Also on Studio Sparks today -- a brand new recording of one of the most challenging of the Beethoven piano sonatas, the Hammerklavier, performed by pianist Mitsuko Uchida, who, among other things, has the most delightful impish look. (Go ahead, click on that link and see if you don't agree.)
Posted by on September 5, 2007 at 09:00 AM
They played - people danced - and Canada Live recorded it at the Old Port in Montreal. CBC was at the Festival International De Tango De Montréal, to record a tango "supergroup" orchestrated (no pun intended, really) by Venezuelan master bandoneonist Miquel Varvello. The band was dubbed Sexteto Tango Libre and featured new arrangements of classic tango repertoire, along with new compositions by Varvello.
Speaking of all things tango, I was admiring some tango photos on a blog called The Topic Is Tango (love the blog's subtitle:"There are lots of things that you can do alone, but.... ") and was struck by a post on the "Official Judging Criteria For World Tango Championships." There's no messing about in tango:
Continue reading "Everybody Tango!" »
Posted by on September 5, 2007 at 07:00 AM
I'm trying to remember which Woody Allen film has that scene of him in a chain gang, hobbling through fields in an escape effort. (Am I remembering this right?) Anyway, I know it's the same movie where he tries to hold up a bank, but the teller misreads his note and insists he's written: "I have a gub," not a gun.
The notion of a Runaway Choir seems about as absurd. But then again, it's Garrison Keillor. You can hear the saga of the Runaway Choir, along with music from the Toronto Consort’s new CD, The DaVinci Collection, (utterly unrelated to runaway choirs) today on Here’s To You.
It just came to me. Take The Money And Run!
Now, in a free association moment, I'm reminded of that Leacock story where he walks into a bank and is so rattled by the experience of dealing with bureaucracy that he leaves without his money. (For some reason these kinds of stories strike a chord.) But what's THAT story called? Can't remember.
I hearby dedicate Tuesday, September 5th, 2007, a day for forgetfullness and remembering.
September 04, 2007
Posted by on September 4, 2007 at 09:53 PM
My curiosity was piqued a few days back Kyle Gann's blog, Post-Classic, a post titled Where Never Is Heard A Maximalist Word. (And whose wouldn't be?) Kyle was attending the First International Conference on Music and Minimalism...and if you have an interest in all things minimalist, you may want to have a look at his blog to hear how the conference went.
Continue reading "Where Never Is Heard A Maximalist Word" »
Posted by on September 4, 2007 at 08:45 PM
Who among us has not placed hands on a stranger's hips and tottered about gracelessly while singing the deathless line, "Come on, come on, and do the Locomotion with me." You haven't? You must go to the wrong weddings. Or I do.
Anyway, even if you haven't endured group wedding dance hell to Kylie Minogue, you may well still get a kick out of her music re-imagined and re-designed by guitarist Noel Akchote, as broadcast on The Signal this evening.
On a non-Kylie note, you can also hear Gorecki's Harpsichord Concerto, recorded live by the Composers’ Orchestra at Glenn Gould Studio.
Posted by on September 4, 2007 at 04:36 PM
Back in the late 1960s Carlos Santana and his band had a huge hit with an album called Abraxas.
Back in the 1950's, Oye Como Va was a dance favourite of another kind, at the Palladium Ballroom on Broadway where its composer Tito Puente's latin big band packed the house.
Back in the 1980's the song was so established as part of the popular music canon that Tito Puente was asked to perform it with his Latin-jazz combo -- backed by the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra.
And there you have it. A capsule (and partial) version of the journey of a song.
Tonight on Tonic, you can hear the Santana leg of the trip, from Abraxa. And Katie also plays Tito Puente himself, with a slinky tune called Picadillo A Lo Puente.
Posted by on September 4, 2007 at 03:42 PM
A note to fans of the Canadian Opera Company: it was announced today that Paolo Olmi, music director of France's Opéra National de Nancy, will step in for the late Richard Bradshaw this autumn to direct Don Carlos.
You can read the whole story at CBC | Arts News.
Posted by on September 4, 2007 at 03:14 PM
I always remember the first time I heard the Barra MacNeils singing My Heart's In The Highlands, their setting of the Robbie Burns tune. Simply beautiful, and one of those moments where voices transcend the ordinary. Maybe even the extraordinary. Anyway, it seems like just yesterday they were a newish group. But no more. This year marks 20 years in the recording and touring career of the Barra MacNeils.
The concert broadcast tonight on Canada Live was part of an international tour to celebrate the release of their most recent CD, and comes to us from the Marigold Theatre in Truro, NS.
Bonus -- also on the show, a totally different musical face of the Maritimes, with a couple of bluesy sets, from Matt Anderson & JP Leblanc. Anderson is a New Brunswick native who has shared the stage with the likes of Bo Diddley, Randy Bachman and Little Feat. And JP, among other talents, sings the blues in both official languages. C'est vrai!
Posted by on September 4, 2007 at 12:30 PM
The ever provocative soprano, Anna Netrebko, continues to provoke. (Remember the "breakfast I am eating a hot sandwich, like with the cheese, toasted" and other, far more salacious quotes?")
As an article I was reading over the weekend puts it, onstage "she's dazzling audiences with her wild, charismatic interpretations of classic roles, offstage she's doing the can-can in St Petersburg nightclubs."
Read the whole story at Guardian Unlimited Music
Posted by on September 4, 2007 at 11:00 AM
Studio Sparks pays tribute to Doug Riley, “Dr. Music”, today. Riley was a multi-talented jazz and pop musician, arranger and conductor who died at the age of 62 last week.
Writer Larry Leblanc called Mr. Riley "a Canadian mix of Duke Ellington, Allen Toussaint, and Henry Mancini,"... a wonderful musical summation.
Posted by on September 4, 2007 at 07:00 AM
Sometimes people come along with extraordinary talents, and then go and do something with those talents that annoys people. I don't think it's going out on a limb to say Bobby McFerrin nailed that one when his song, Don't Worry Be Happy became, how shall we put it politely, ubiquitous.
So Here's To You host Catherine Belyea is very brave woman to reclaim Don't Worry Be Irksome I Mean Happy on today's programme. She does so with the best intentions -- by contrasting the little ditty with McFerrin's collaboration with Yo-Yo Ma on Vivaldi’s Andante.
I once saw McFerrin perform his Wizard Of Oz reduction -- I think it took him about five minutes to tell, or rather sing, the entire story -- very funny, and again, it showed what an incredible instrument that man's voice really is. I think this excerpt from a concert review some years back on All About Jazz pretty much covers it:
"Listening to Bobby McFerrin was like listening to the jostling procession of humanity in all its colours and guises singing, talking, shouting, mumbling, keening, whispering. From moment to moment it seemed possible to hear hints of any number of languages, yet the very outlines of words shape-shifted at will: almost apprehended, then gone like faces in crowds."
September 03, 2007
Posted by on September 3, 2007 at 08:30 PM
Alex Varty, writing in the Georgia Strait, called The Hard Rubber Orchestra "the Godzilla of the Vancouver jazz scene, a big, goofy monster that stomps through complex charts with the swagger of big swing band and the heat of a thermonuclear explosion."
Whoah. There's an image. For the audio to accompany it, you can tune into The Signal tonight, as The HRO plays Keith Hamel's composition, Off-Ramp, recorded live in concert.
Also on the show tonight, R. Murray Schafer's classic work of acoustic ecology, Wolf Music.
Smaller prints, big concept.
Posted by on September 3, 2007 at 05:00 PM
Just a quick note to mention that Canada Live, with guest host Katherine Duncan at the Banff Centre, will broadcast winners of the 2007 Banff International String Quartet Competition (a.k.a. BISQC) tonight!
Posted by on September 3, 2007 at 03:00 PM
Tonight Tonic celebrates Labour Day with songs about jobs: Work Song by Milt Jackson, played by the Oscar Peterson Trio, Workin' In A Coal Mine, sung by Lee Dorsey, and Car Wash by Rose Royce.
Now, I don't know about you, but I honestly never thought of Car Wash as a work song. Maybe because I can't picture it without imagining a disco ball twirling someplace nearby. Or maybe it's because apparently a car wash is a place where things are "always cool, and the boss don't mind sometimes if you act a fool." Personally I think that should be true of every work place though. Since everybody plays the fool, sometime.
Posted by on September 3, 2007 at 12:00 PM
Funny how we "play music," but when it comes to work, supposedly we just... work. Wouldn't it be nice if the two were as one? Of course sometimes they are. I like work that has an element of play. Writing, for example. Making radio shows, for another. And to be able to play while working is, to my way of thinking, pretty much the cat's PJs. (Why ever would the cat be wearing them is another story.)
But Labour Day is a reminder that this kind of work life is, well, a luxury. And whatever kind of work you do, Labour Day is also a reminder that the kind of working enviroment you have -- or do not have -- has a lot to do with the struggles of previous generations to try and define what is right and fair in the workplace.
But the labour movement would not be what it is were it not for play -- as in playing music. And although this here blog is largely devoted to Radio 2 programming, I did want to mention that after your local noon shows on Radio 1 today you can hear an interview about music's role in the labour movement, with Billy Bragg. Bragg, whose labour songs made the pop charts during the UK miners strike era, and who is a passionate voice for the underdog, will talk with host Jian Ghomeshi on the show "Q."
So go visit Radio 1. But ya'll come back now, ya'hear? (And meantime, don't work too hard.)
Posted by on September 3, 2007 at 10:33 AM
I know there are people who get annoyed when summer begins to wane, but I am not among them. True, it means there will be no tomatoes that taste like tomatoes for many months to come, but on the other hand, there will be crisp apples.
Yes, it will not be possible to cavort lightly across the porch in short pants as one takes garbage from house to curbside, but then again, one can feel fairly certain there will be no danger of garbage strikes.
Of course it goes without saying that if there were one, and such strike was for good reasons, I would back them 100 %. One Hundred Percent.
Did I say Happy Labour Day yet this morning?
Eric Friesen marks the unofficial beginning of fall today musically, on Studio Sparks, with a special tribute to Johannes Brahms. It's three hours of Brahms ... from his lullabies and Hungarian dances to his symphonies and concertos - music to help you reflect on the summer months past, and to look forward to autumn.
Posted by on September 3, 2007 at 07:05 AM
It’s Catherine Belyea’s first day as the new host of Here’s To You. Fans of the show, rest assured, she’ll continue the tradition of eclectic and informed musical choices begun by her predecessor, Shelley Solmes.
And by way of an introduction for those of you who don't know her, Catherine's love of music was nurtured at CBC Vancouver, where she was one of the producers of Bob Kerr's Off the Record. She also worked at the classical station CFMX for seventeen years, but eventually turned her frequent appearances on the Opera Quiz into a more permanent home at the CBC, hosting The Singer And The Song.
Some of the music Catherine will spin today includes Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending, played by violinist Gwen Hoebig with the Winnipeg Symphony, Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony, played by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under Carlos Kleiber, Stan Freberg’s zany Boston Tea Party and Frankie Laine’s sojourn On The Sunny Side Of The Street.
Meantime, as it is Labour Day and I am planning to Labour less than usual, think I'll take an early morning walk. I'll just grab my coat, and get my hat, and direct my feet...
Posted by Katherine Duncan on September 3, 2007 at 02:30 AM
So.... It's 12:30am MST, and after an intense and satisfying six days of high quality chamber music, the prizes have been awarded...
4th prize of $ 5,000 goes to the Tokai Quartet of Canada.
3rd prize of 8,000 dollars goes to the Ariel Quartet of Isreal and the U.S.
2nd prize of 12,000 goes to the Zemlinsky Quartet of the Czech Republic
The Szekely prize of 3,000 dollars for the best performance of a Bartok String Quartet goes to the Ariel Quartet.
The Canadian Commission prize of 2,000 dollars, for the best performance of Kelly-Marie Murphy's piece, Dark Energy, goes to... the Koryo Quartet of the U.S.
And... the grand prize of 20 thousand dollars goes to the TinAlley Quartet of Australia
First prize also includes a set of bows by the internationally renowned Canadian bowmaker Francois Malo;
European and North American concert tours arranged by the Banff Centre; and the production of a promotional compact disc, produced here at the Banff Centre;
And that's it for this tired blogger/broadcaster. Thanks for listening, and writing in.
Tune in to Canada Live tomorrow night at 8 (I guess that's tonight at 8 -- Monday Sept 3 in any case) for Highlights of the entire BISQC!
Posted by Katherine Duncan on September 3, 2007 at 01:11 AM
The last notes of the 9th Banff International String Quartet have been played.
The audience and the quartets are filing out of the auditorium... some heading out into the cool mountain air; others waiting in line for a drink...
Many are discussing the very odd "mystery noise" that stopped the performance between quartets twice. BISQC Director Barry Schiffman asked the audience to observe complete silence as two audio engineers paced the aisles, headsets on, one with a shotgun microphone in hand -- in search of the offending device. Nine hundred silent audience members fiddled guiltily with their Blackberries, cellphones, and hearing aids. It felt rather like the tension even perfectly innocent tourists feel as the airport security dogs wander between the lines in search of contraband. In the end, after various in-hall lighting and air conditioning systems were turned up and down, and eventually off altogether, the strange high-pitched buzzing sound continued.
At least one quartet member was distracted enough by the noise to feel it impeded her performance.
Alas, nothing could be done to create the absolute silence that would have offered the audio perfection we broadcasters and musicians strive for. The only consolation is that the jury will base its decisions not on tonight's final round alone, but on the cumulative performances of each quartet over the entire 6 days of competition.
We await their decisions, however lengthy the jury's deliberations. No matter how late it is here in Banff (where it's currently 23:20 MST), you can hear the final results and award presentations as part of our continuing live web BISQC coverage. Stay tuned!
September 02, 2007
Posted by on September 2, 2007 at 07:02 PM
...features music from and for specific places tonight on CBC Radio 2.
On Canada Live -- from the East Coast Music Awards, the very popular Song Circles, where singer-songwriters swap songs and stories. One of the best this year featured Cape Breton’s Stephanie Hardy, Newfoundland indie rocker Mark Bragg, Folk and Female Artist of the Year nominee Amelia Curran, with special guest Sarah Slean. The host for the session is the “father” of the ECMA Songwriters Circle and winner of 9 East Coast Music Awards, Bruce Guthro.
And on The Signal, the geography of music -- music inspired by mountains, rivers and gardens. John Burge, Christos Hatzis and Bright Sheng contribute their “music for specific places." As well, highlights from this year’s International Rostrum of Composers.
Posted by on September 2, 2007 at 04:00 PM
Tonic celebrates hard bop pianist Horace Silver's 79th birthday today, with his compositions performed by PJ Perry and Amanda Tosoff.
And going back just a few years...here's Horace Silver playing Cool Eyes back in 1958, with a somewhat bemused looking audience, and a crackerjack lineup --trumpeter Blue Mitchell, tenor saxophonist Junior Cook, bassist Gene Taylor and drummer Louis Hayes.
Posted by on September 2, 2007 at 03:30 PM
In case you missed the radio broadcast this aft...from the On Stage concert series comes music for and inspired by the Gamelan ensembles of Bali, featuring Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan and the Bergmann Piano Duo.
Works in this concert include piano pieces by Colin McPhee, Maurice Ravel, Alexina Louie, Marcel Bergmann, plus music for gamelan by John Wyre, Andrew Timar, Lou Harrison and a world premiere by Henry Kucharzyk.
Ancient Cultures | New Sounds on Concerts on Demand
Posted by on September 2, 2007 at 12:00 PM
...is replete with excellent music.
Here's a quick 'n' dirty rundown. (Well actually it's all pretty much family listening, but you know what I mean.)
***OnStage presents Ancient Cultures/New Sounds this week - music for and inspired by the Gamelan ensembles of Bali, from music by Colin McPhee to the premiere of Aria, a new work for Gamelan and piano by Henry Kucharzyk. You’ll hear Elizabeth and Marcel Bergmann, winners of the 4th Murray Dranoff International Two Piano Competition, and the eight-member Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan, the only ensemble of its kind in Canada dedicated to the commissioning and performance of contemporary music.
***Roots & Wings begins with variations on Sephardic music, explores flute sounds from Ukraine and Egypt, celebrates the accordion from France and Texas, gets funky with Afrobeat sounds and ends with some time-tested classics from Cuba.
***Fuse takes Kobo Town's Trinidadian-Canadian calypso and introduces it to The People Project, who feature one Mexican cell, one French Canadian cell. What, you may ask is a cell? Here's the description from The People Project myspace site:
"Based simultaneously in Ottawa and Mexico, the group works in two cells—Philippe Lafrenière (2006 OCFF Songwriter Award Winner – Best Political Song and Best French Song) and Steven Patterson up north; Gabriel Bronfman and Maria Emilia Martinez down south. The group is often joined by 2006 Latin Grammy Award Winner Natalia Lafourcade. Each cell recruits new musicians locally and performs in Canada and Mexico. Both of them compose Afro-Brazilian music with lyrics that are sung in four languages. Airplanes, the Internet and ubiquity do the rest!"
Posted by on September 2, 2007 at 10:38 AM
It's true. At least for those who grew up in Canada. The real new year is the mid-point of labour day weekend, when the anticipation of the school year seizes hold with stomach tightening fierceness, and you sharpen your multicoloured Laurentien pencil crayons once again, and pray no one actually asks you to write an essay about your summer vacation since it mostly involved quarreling with your brother. Or some such.
The season opener of The Singer And The Song, with Catherine Belyea (also new host of Here's To You) hits the airwaves with every pencil perfectly sharpened, in a diverse lineup including music from the early 17th century from England and Italy sung by Charles Daniels, English songs accompanied by--wait for it!--a saxophone quartet, and small choral ensembles singing Byrd and John Tavener. Also, the Hilliard Ensemble sings a celebratory motet by Bach, and soprano Donna Brown performs a song from Gitanjali, by R. Murray Schafer.
Posted by Katherine Duncan on September 2, 2007 at 09:47 AM
Late last night at the Banff Centre, BISQC director Barry Schiffman announced which of the four quartets will perform in tonight's final round: The Ariel Quartet of Isreal and the U.S.; the Tokai String Quartet of Canada; the TinAlley String Quartet from Australia; and the Zemlinsky Quartet of the Czech Republic.
In tonight's final round, the four finalists will each present Webern's Six Bagatelles, followed by either a quartet from Beethoven Opus 18 or one of the 10 celebrated Mozart quartets.
Missed any of the early rounds? Listen to any of them at Quartets on Demand.
Can't make it to Banff for tonight's finals? Listen online, here. We'll present the entire concert followed by the awards presentation, beginning at 7:30pm MST, tonight.
Posted by on September 2, 2007 at 08:44 AM
Consists of some mighty fine music.
For instance Symphony Hall's broadcast of the last September's (it's September again already? where does the time go!) Montreal Symphony Orchestra gala to welcome their new maestro, Kent Nagano. Special guests included soprano Erin Wall, alto Marie-Nicole Lemieux, tenor Michael Schade and bass Alan Held.
They were joined by instrumental soloists Louise Bessette on piano, trumpeter Paul Merkelo and percussionist Serge Desgagnes in a programme featuring music by Charles Ives, Galina Ustvolskaya and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Posted by on September 2, 2007 at 07:00 AM
"Imagine that the Universe bursts into song.
We hear no longer human voices,
but those of planets and suns which revolve. "
--Mahler
This morning the universe may or may not burst into song, but certainly singers on your radio will, as Choral concert presents a performance of Mahler’s epic (I think it takes almost an hour and a half to perform) Symphony Of A Thousand.
Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts the Swedish Radio Choir, the Latvian Radio Chorus and Stockholm’s Mikaeli Chamber Choir, with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra.
September 01, 2007
Posted by on September 1, 2007 at 08:30 PM
I think it's no gamble to say that if you were to do a statistical breakdown of what songwriters write about, love would come up trumps. Tonight The Signal plays Signally type songs of love, from Yacht, Bob Wiseman and the Happy Campers.
Also on the show, some globetrotting sounds from Eccodeck, Gigi, Maryem Tollar and Autorickshaw -- all Canadian-based musicians, I should point out (with the exception of the Ethiopian singer, Gigi).
Posted by on September 1, 2007 at 06:00 PM
David Usher and his band showcase their latest CD, Strange Birds, in a Routes Montreal concert (a CBC Montreal initiative to promote local and national songwriters) on Canada Live tonight.
Also on the show, Montrealer Vanessa Rodrigues with her trio Soul Project on vocals and Hammond B-3 in a session of acid jazz funk, featuring special guest DJ Killa Jewel.
Posted by on September 1, 2007 at 05:00 PM
Tonic has jazz from Australia tonight, with Theaktet, and a version of Australia's unofficial national anthem, Waltzing Matilda. Also, jazz from Japan, with Hiromi.
It's no secret that jazz is big in Japan. But I don't know about Aussie jazz. When I was there, some eight years ago, it seemed blues was everywhere, and lots of indie rock bands, but I must have missed the jazz scene. A quick virtual walkabout to sites like Jazz Australia and Jazz Scene Magazine suggest the scene is not huge, but active.
Posted by on September 1, 2007 at 03:30 PM
Is pop music a trick, a revenge against the banality of daily life?
For an interesting perspective from novelist Jonathan Lethem, writing about his dance moves, his record collection and his obsession with the Fifth Beatle, check out this piece at Guardian Unlimited Music.
Posted by on September 1, 2007 at 01:00 PM
Are you sitting down? OK, take a deep breath, don't panic. Here's the news: There isn’t actually an opera this week on Saturday Afternoon At The Opera.
But the good news is you’ll hear arias from many different operas, sung by ten outstanding singers, assembled for the Luna Opera Gala at Toronto’s Luminato Festival. The vocalists are Peter Barrett, Marianne Fiset, Russell Braun, Robert Gleadow, Joni Henson, Joseph Kaiser, Richard Margison, Robert Pomakov, Adrianne Pieczonka, and Sondra Radvanovsky, with Giordano Bellincampi conducting the orchestra. Not too shabby, eh?
Posted by on September 1, 2007 at 11:00 AM
Rick Phillips suggests we "break out the vodka and caviar." Seems a tad early in the day for that, but who am I to pass judgment on other people's celebratory habits? Besides, there's musical motivation, as Rick spotlights Russian music this week on Sound Advice – chamber works, vocal music and more.
In the Library, part of a series called Slava, the profile of cellist/pianist/conductor Mstislav Rostropovich. This week, the focus is on his role as a conductor, as demonstrated in his versions of the Ballet Suites by Tchaikovsky.
Posted by on September 1, 2007 at 08:33 AM
It's such a cliche, but of course it is true. Breaking up is hard to do. Even if you only see them once every six weeks or so. Once you've said to them, "Oh, that looks so great!" they assume you're theirs for life.
But hopefully the breakup doesn't trigger marital discord as well, as it does on the Vinyl Cafe today. When Morley enters a difficult period with her hairdresser and begins meeting another stylist on the side, Dave gets the wrong idea about the nature of his wife’s infidelity.
Oh dear. And there she was, just looking for someone who truly understood her (hair).
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