November 20, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on November 20, 2007 at 12:00 AM
Sangha is a Sanskrit word that I've seen translated as "assembly" or "group," or "spiritual community," and I suspect it is this last meaning that inspired a Vancouver based ensemble to take it as their name.
Because Sangha the musical group mixes music of various music cultures, including Persian, Indian, and Arabic. They're based in Vancouver, the instrumentation is Tar, Oud, Tombak and Tabla, and they've performed their cross-cultural music at festivals around B.C. This concert also features special guest vocalist Fatieh Honari.
And here's a little teaser (sans vocal though) of the group performing at the Vancouver International Jazz Fest. To hear a full concert -- tune into Tuesday night's Canada Live broadcast, that's at 8 p.m.
November 19, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on November 19, 2007 at 12:00 AM
For nine days in October, the Celtic Colours Festival attracts tens of thousands of visitors to Cape Breton Island and features hundreds of musicians. I haven't had the good fortune to go, but have talked to people who have -- and they say it's really pretty great. And part of what makes it great is combing local and international musicians, in all kinds of venues, from fire halls and parish halls to community and civic centres.
When Celtic Colours began, ten years ago, one of those BIG international acts was The Chieftains, the Irish band who really have been international ambassadors for traditional Irish music for something like 40 years, and have been there both before and after any Riverdance hoo haw.
Monday night Canada Live broadcasts The Chieftans in one of those local/international collaborative affairs, featuring Fiona & Ciarán MacGillivray, Wendy MacIsaac, Mary Jane Lamond and the man who is arguably the world's best known folk/rock fiddler, Ashley MacIsaac. And here's a little review of that show, on a folk/roots/traditional music website called Rambles.
November 18, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on November 18, 2007 at 07:00 PM
Any number of great Canadian jazzers have come from the east side, including two time Juno nominee, pianist, composer, producer, educator, Justin Time recording artist (whew, there's a mouthful) Jeff Johnston, a St. John's native.
Twenty-five years after their original formation, the Jeff Johnston Quartet reunited last summer back in their old stomping grounds, performing a concert in St. John's at the Holy Heart of Mary Auditorium. (Would not have been my first guess as to a likely venue for jazz, but they reportedly have a wonderful music programme, so there you go.) And you can hear that concert this evening on Canada Live, at 8 p.m.
Also on the show -- Vancouver's fine Orchid Ensemble, best known for their explorations of Chinese instruments and music traditions, collaborate with the Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador Chamber Choir.
November 17, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on November 17, 2007 at 12:00 AM
Some band names just grab you. It's an individual thing I guess. One woman's Sheep Look Up is another man's Three Dog Night. Anyway, a fav band name of mine -- and fortunately I like a lot of the music that goes along with the name too -- is Apostle of Hustle, fronted by guitarist Andrew Whiteman.
This weekend you can hear Apostles hustling in a concert broadcast, Saturday night on Canada Live at 8 p.m.. (I still love that thing they did on the indie rock kids compilation, See You On The Moon -- sampling kids voices in one of the most menacing but fun musical uses of children in their natural habitat I've ever heard. They were on a playground, if you were wondering.)
November 16, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on November 16, 2007 at 12:00 AM
Country singer Lisa Brokop is featured on Friday night's Canada Live (8 p.m.) broadcast. She's a 13-time nominee for female singer of the year at the Canadian Country Music Awards, and tonight you can hear her performing songs from all of her albums, including her latest, Hey, Do You Know Me. (If you want a little preview, here's Lisa singing Whiskey And Wine.)
And the second concert on the show is The Paperboys, just back from a tour of Ireland, now, I think, in California. Anyway, the Vancouver-based group blend Celtic, pop, bluegrass and the proverbial more...and since I sent you to a Lisa Brokop video, fairplay -- here's one of The Paperboys, doing Fall Down With You.
November 15, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on November 15, 2007 at 12:00 AM
A concert straight from the heart of musical Quebec tonight -- recorded at the Festival Mémoire et Racines, featuring Les Tireux d'Roches (I think the closest translation is "the stone throwers) who have been performing trad. Quebec music since the 1990s. They aren't a revivalist band though -- they're also influenced by the music of North Africa, Scandinavia and the Balkans - as well as jazz. Let's see, what else -- their third CD, Roche, Papier, Ciseaux, released last year, was nominated for a Felix in the "Best Traditional Album” category at L’Adisq.
And a second concert on Canada Live on Thursday night (did I mention that is the show? no? sorry!) is by the Polish-born pianist and composer Jan Jarczyk, with the Schulich String Quartet. But for this show, and here's a nice link to Les Tireux d'Roches, Jarczyk arranged Quebec folksongs (and performed them at Tanna Schulich Hall at McGill University).
And in the hole, as it were, a third concert from Italian-Canadian singer Marco Calliari at the Lanaudière Festival, in Joliette, Quebec (home of the incomparable La Bottine Souriante!).
November 14, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on November 14, 2007 at 04:00 PM
Very exciting to see that tonight Canada Live will be broadcasting a concert by Marcel Khalife, the virtuosic Lebanese oud player who is also a hugely influential figure in the Middle East, culturally speaking.
This concert, recorded in Edmonton, is from the same tour that came through my burg -- and the show here was was pretty great, so I can only imagine this one will be as well. The concert was an interesting combination of the boundary-pushing instrumental side of Khalife, and the older songs, songs that have galvanized people since the days he performed them in abandoned Beirut concert halls during the Lebanese Civil war.
And a second concert on Can Live tonight -- Edmonton acoustic blues artist Mark Sterling performs original compositions and blues classics with his trio, bass player and singer Ron Rault and harpist/singer Dave 'Crawdad' Canterra, under the moniker, Come On In My Kitchen.
November 13, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on November 13, 2007 at 05:00 PM
Every time I hear the new Lori Cullen on the radio -- and she is played a fair bit on my local afternoon show -- I'm struck by how much fun her approach is -- great arrangements. The music has a slight retro feel -- in a good way -- but still feels like contemporary jazz. It's charming. And that sound (on the new CD, anyway) is partly because of the the great brass arrangements, performed by the True North Brass.
So I'm happy to note that tonight Canada Live broadcasts a Lori Cullen concert, featuring older covers and original tunes from her brand-new album Buttercup Bugle.
The second concert is also one that appeals to moi, and hopefully to toi as well. Trumpet player/composer/Flying Bulgar guy David Buchbinder teams up with Cuban-Canadian pianist and composer Hilario Durán, plus a heavyweight band to explore some of the connections between klezmer and Cuban music.
And if for some reason you can't catch the broadcast, both concerts are also available as at Concerts On Demand. Lori Cullen at CoD. Odessa/Havana at CoD.
November 12, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on November 12, 2007 at 12:00 AM
Monday night from Vancouver, THE UKE! on Canada Live, with a concert by ukelele whiz James Hill, accompanied by cellist Anne Davison. Hill was "smitten with the uke at age 9," and has been "pushing the instrument's limits ever since."
What a thrill. As any regular blog reader knows, I follow the ukulele revival with great interest, so news of a feature uke concert is inspiring. (And I should mention that Mr. Hill's website is a good source for some nice ukulele links, including this one to the Deutsches Ukulelenfestival or 2008 European Ukulele Festival, in Groß-Umstadt, Germany.)
But it's true there is more to just the ukulele on Monday night's show, difficult as that may be to believe. There's also a concert from the interior of British Columbia, a concert that reunited alumnae from the Prince George Conservatory of Music. Jonathan Crow, David Louie, Darryl Strain, and the Stobbe brothers, Karl and Joel all came home for a concert of chamber music.
November 11, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on November 11, 2007 at 01:00 PM
Just a reminder of some Remembrance Day programming coming up later today...on Canada Live, a concert called Of War and Peace, featuring Canadian baritone Russell Braun and Canadian soprano Monica Whicher, performing a programme featuring songs by Mahler, Britten, Morawetz, Pete Seeger, Jacques Brel and Sting.
This is followed by America and the Black Angel, a concert opening with Black Angels, a string quartet inspired by the Vietnam War as “a parable on our troubled contemporary world” by George Crumb, performed by the Art of Time ensemble.
Also, Andy Maize and Josh Finlayson sing protest songs by Dylan and Pete Seeger, and Ted Dykstra narrates Allen Ginsberg’s iconic 1955 poem Howl, in a new CBC commission from Jonathan Goldsmith.
And finally, the Sunday night broadcast of The Signal explores music that honours those who fought -- and the lives of those not lucky enough to have returned from battle. Music featuring Canadian composer Oscar Morawetz, Coleen, The Most Serene Republic and a concert by John Kameel Farah and Hauschka. The evening will end with the epic piece An American Requiem by Richard Danielpour, which celebrates life -- and the afterlife.
November 10, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on November 10, 2007 at 06:41 PM
Keri-Lynn Zwicker might be best known as a harpist, (calling her website harpchickcanada is something of a giveaway), but she is also an ethnomusicologist and a singer who performs a mix of celtic and Latin music. It's all true. She's one of a number of artists who performed at the Salute to Showcase in Alberta, recorded and presented by Canada Live this evening.
Others include Southern Albertan singer-songwriter John Wort Hannam, and Lindsay Ell, a singer-songwriter who has collaborated with Randy Bachman, (shifting her music somewhat from folk to pop).
And last but not least, that bluesy powerhouse Ndidi Onukwulu.(Seriously, she does have a powerful set of pipes, as you will know if you've ever seen her live.)
November 09, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on November 9, 2007 at 03:00 AM
Growing up with folkies as parents ensures a number of things. You develop a taste for jazz. (Sorry, parents, couldn't resist.) You can sing basic harmonies, most of the time. And you experience the power of song as a way of rallying people.
Having marched (or been dragged/carried, I was very young) along with thousands of people singing against one war, I can appreciate that it isn't only bagpipes that can cause other hearts to quake. Not being snarky about out-of-tune singing either -- people singing together can feel like a pure expression of humanity.
But do songs of protest -- specifically against war, or in response to war -- make any actual, tangible difference, quaking aside? Do they make governments or politicians or even individuals change their minds about involvement in war? I think not.
Over at the "Your View" section of CBC's website, there's an in-depth feature about how musicians have responded to war through songs -- and many people have chimed in with war-related music to add to that list.
But for all those songs, some of them great and moving, it still leaves me wondering whether we should even expect songs written about or against war to have any tangible impact. But maybe that's not the point. What SHOULD music written about war do? Should it indeed "do" anything? I'd be curious to know what you think.
My best hope is that now, with the days of mass anti-war rallying seemingly in the past, music can at least provide an opportunity for deeper reflection. And that's a valuable thing in itself -- in fact for me that's really what Remembrance Day is about. Not protest, and certainly not glorification.
On Radio 2, Remembrance Day programming begins on Friday, with Here's To You, playing Remembrance Day requests, including: Jenkins' Benedictus from Armed Man - A Mass for Peace.
And on Studio Sparks, music written for a day of remembrance by Kingston, Ontario composer, John Burge -- two movements from his work, Flanders Fields Reflections.
Friday evening The Signal broadcasts Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time, which he wrote while imprisoned in a concentration camp.
On Saturday morning on The Vinyl Cafe, host Stuart McLean's special musical guests are Martha Wainwright and John McDermott, and he tells the story of how Dave, while renovating his house, finds a postcard of an old soldier caught between the walls.
Then Rick Phillips plays a recording of music composed by inmates in the Terezin concentration camp, that's on Sound Advice.
On Sunday -- the 11th -- on In The Key Of Charles, Gregory Charles plays music inspired by war: renaissance polyphony by Clément Janequin, symphonic poems by Franz Liszt and Gustav Holst, contemporary choral music by Stephen Chatman and David del Tredici, and pop songs featuring Edith Piaf, Harry Nilsson, Sting and others.
Later on Sunday, on Canada Live, a concert called Of War and Peace, featuring Canadian baritone Russell Braun and Canadian soprano Monica Whicher, performing a programme featuring songs by Mahler, Britten, Morawetz, Pete Seeger, Jacques Brel and Sting.
This is followed by America and the Black Angel, a concert opening with Black Angels, a string quartet inspired by the Vietnam War as “a parable on our troubled contemporary world” by George Crumb, performed by the Art of Time ensemble.
Also, Andy Maize and Josh Finlayson sing protest songs by Dylan and Pete Seeger, and Ted Dykstra narrates Allen Ginsberg’s iconic 1955 poem Howl, in a new CBC commission from Jonathan Goldsmith.
And finally, the Sunday night broadcast of The Signal explores music that honours those who fought -- and the lives of those not lucky enough to have returned from battle. Music featuring Canadian composer Oscar Morawetz, Coleen, The Most Serene Republic and a concert by John Kameel Farah and Hauschka. The evening will end with the epic piece An American Requiem by Richard Danielpour, which celebrates life -- and the afterlife.
Posted by Li Robbins on November 9, 2007 at 12:01 AM
Band names containing numbers abound. Fer' instance: U2, 3 Dog Night, Gang of Four, Ben Folds Five, Finger 11, Matchbox 20, Sum 41, BR5-49. I could go on, but now it's getting a bit boring.
Anyway, the venerable Vancouver band 54-40's name comes from something quite specific, historical and political, and to attend a concert recorded by Canada Live at The Warehouse, you had to know what those things were. 54 people who did won a contest to see the band at this exclusive concert.
Did I just hear you say, "so, come on, what does it mean?" Tell you? Are you kidding? No spoiler I. For that you'll have to tune into Canada Live on Friday night.
There's also a second concert I want to mention, performed by the jazz band that seems to inspire love or hate and much discussion about their jazz cred -- The Bad Plus.
The Bad Plus have a history of innovation, of being somewhat audacious, and have nicely blurred lines of jazz and pop, which, as I mentioned, annoys the hell out of some, pleases others. I like what the Village Voice once said about them: "After years of steady work, that shit is deep. If the stars align, they will mow you down."
This concert was recorded at the 2007 Vancouver International Jazz festival.
November 08, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on November 8, 2007 at 12:00 AM
The CBC True North Concert is a long-running event which started in Frobisher Bay in 1980. This year, the concert comes from Iqaluit, featuring five acts chosen as winners in the first-ever Northern talent search called Undiscovered. The envelope, please.
And the winners are:
Roots/reggae band Soir De Semaine from Whitehorse.
Singer/songwriter Dana Sipos of Yellowknife.
Inuit country-rockers Tusk from Rankin Inlet, Nunavut.
Throat singer Akinisie Sivuarapik from Pangnirtung in Nunavik, Northen Quebec.
Singer/songwriter Brian Fireman from the heart of Eyou Istchee, the land of the James Bay Cree.
Also featured on the Canada Live broadcast (Thursday night, 8pm) members of the CBC Radio Orchestra under the direction of Alain Trudel, visiting Iqaluit for the first time with a programme including a piece commissioned for the event, featuring Simeonie Keenainak of Pangnirtung, (sorry, couldn't find an ideal link!) a master of the button accordion.
The work is said to "combine traditional accordion music dating back to the arrival of European whalers with modern classical music," which sounds pretty darn interesting, does it not? This second concert on Thursday's show is also available as a Concert On Demand.
November 07, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on November 7, 2007 at 12:00 AM
Way back when in the 80's, (time, she flies), Manteca was Canada's best-known Latin/jazz/funk big-band. And I don't mean best-known to the small coterie of jazz fans and musicians -- they actually were, while not household names, leaning in that direction. Led by Matt Zimbel and Henry Heilig, Manteca put on a hugely engaging live show. (Note: not unnecessary linking, first goes to website, second to their MySpace page. Just so those of you who obsess about such things are clear.)
So where was I. Oh yes, Manteca, the 80s, and the 90's, and then, well, you know how the rest of this story goes. They disbanded, went their separate ways, blah blah blah. And that's all true. (Although the blah blah part does have actual content, just don't have room/time to get into that here.) And then, a decade later, they decided to re-unite, which brings us to the present day. Not only did they re-unite, but they also released a disc, called, appropriately enough, Onward!. Zimbel says that the current music of the band is "hard to describe, but Onward! feels a little like Gil Evans, a little like Sergent Garcia and a little like Manteca. There’s a certain retro vibe circa 2012.” Hmm.
Their slogan? "Mantecians are like wine - we just get better with age." Hear for yourself -- as Canada Live broadcasts a gig from Montreal at La Tulippe -- 8pm Wednesday evening, right here on CBC Radio 2.
November 06, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on November 6, 2007 at 07:00 PM
The first concert on Can Live tonight was recorded at CBC Winnipeg’s historic Studio 41. Why historic? Well, 'cause of the music it's heard over the years, from Hymn Sing's three decades of TV broadcasts, to The Guess Who, Lenny Breau etc.
For this concert it was home to some brand new music from Chic Gamine, with a brand new line-up featuring Montreal percussionist Sasha Dahoud and singer Alexa Dirks. What I've heard of their music is in a kind of Zap Mamaesque/jazz/roots vocal group vein, sung in a variety of languages. (Both chic and gamine!)
Next up, Saxology from a concert recorded in Winnipeg's Park Theatre last spring, featuring the sax quartet's then new line-up. (Members include Shane Nestruck, Chuck Mcllelland, Neil Watson and Dan Ardies.) Their repertoire is drawn from both the jazz and classical repertoires, and this concert was their debut with the new band.
November 05, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on November 5, 2007 at 07:00 PM
Some hours ago, in a post called Stradissimo!, I wrote about a concert being broadcast Monday night that was recorded at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, showcasing young Canadian musicians playing rare instruments on loan to them from the Canada Council Instrument Bank.
But that's only one part of what's on Canada Live tonight -- you can also hear the world premier of Symphony No. 3 by National Arts Council Award composer Gary Kulesha.
Plus, from legendary venue The Black Sheep Inn, (just over the river in Wakefield Quebec), you can hear original jazz from sax player Petr Cancura's trio.
Posted by on November 5, 2007 at 12:00 AM
There are over 20 million dollars of rare instruments (including Stradivarius violins) in the Canada Council Instrument Bank. And on Monday night's broadcast of Canada Live you can hear some of them played by young Canadian professionals in a concert at the National Arts Centre called Stradissimo!
One can imagine the first time they were handed these instruments was a tad nerve-wracking, maybe like holding your friend's brand new baby. Thrilling, yes, but also slightly anxiety provoking. Fortunately these performers did have plenty of time to get used to it, as they were loaned the instruments for a three-year period. (I'd rather not imagine what it was like having to give them back...)
The concert itself was a celebration of the Canada Council's 50th Anniversary, and features Alain Trudel leading the NAC Orchestra and the soloists in music by Bach, Handel and Brahms and more.
November 04, 2007
Posted by on November 4, 2007 at 07:01 PM
Sunday night's double bill on Canada Live begins with music from The Boxwood festival in Lunenburg Nova Scotia, a concert featuring flute traditions - performers include the internationally revered flutist, Hariprasad Chaurasia, (who calls the flute "the symbol of the spiritual call -- the call of the divine love") as well as Irish master flutist June McCormack.
Then from The Indian River Festival, a diverse group of artists who came together to perform individually and collectively. Performers include vocalists Kiran Ahluwalia and Patricia O'Callaghan.
Now, I've been chided before for not mentioning every concert that is on the Canada Live broadcast so let me make sure to say that although I've given this post the heading of Flutes And Voices, really it should read Flutes And Voices And Bass Players And Saxophonists, as you can also hear a concert with Juno award winning Bassist Andrew Downing and the Halifax based sax player Danny Oore.
AND a concert featuring a band assembled by Danny Oore for a performance at the 2007 Atlantic Jazz Festival. Think that's it! A very full show tonight...
November 03, 2007
Posted by on November 3, 2007 at 07:00 PM
Telmary is a Toronto-based Cuban rapper, though most recently she was not hanging around Toronto, she was in Seville, Spain for the annual world music extravaganza, WOMEX. (For a report on the Canadian contingent at this year's WOMEX, go to the Toronto Star.)
But to hear a concert that was recorded at another, closer-to-home annual event called Salsa On St. Clair, tune in Saturday night at 8pm to Canada Live, as Telmary joins forces with Tipica Toronto.
You can also hear music from Jeff Healey’s Jazz Band Ball, featuring the Hogtown Syncopators and The Climax Jazz Band, all of it coming to you from the beautiful old Palais Royale, home to much of the history of jazz in this country.
November 02, 2007
Posted by on November 2, 2007 at 10:42 AM
Two concerts you may want to catch tonight, one bluesy and kind of country, the other kind of singer-songwritey. The first, Ray Bonneville, a Canadian-born guitarist who splits his time between Montreal and Austin, Texas. This strikes me as somewhat perfect for a musician -- given the music scenes in both cities.
He's one of these performers who thrives on playing live, too, so perfect for Canada Live (8pm Friday night). "[Playing live] is the time and place where I really live, where I feel the most alive. When a show is over, I can’t wait to get down the road to the next one, always looking to get back onto another stage and seek out another groove."
The second concert on the broadcast is Acadian performer Marie-Jo Thério, well known as an actress, as well as as a singer-songwriter. She was the first-ever recipient of the Félix-Leclerc Award in 1996 and the first Canadian signed by the French record label Naïve. Came across this video of Marie-Jo you may want to check out as a warm-up, performing Song For Lydia Lee. From the looks of it, she sure likes performing live too.
November 01, 2007
Posted by on November 1, 2007 at 06:33 PM
In Ashcroft, British Columbia one legacy of its gold rush past is a 19th century opera house. Go ahead, click on that link, and get an eyeful of what has to be one of the more distinctive opera houses anywhere, with quite an interesting history.
Tonight on Canada Live, a concert from the newly re-opened Ashcroft Opera House, a decidedly non-operatic programme called Guitar Women featuring Sue Foley, Ellen McIlwaine, Rachelle Van Zanten and Roxanne Potvin. Plus a slide guitar extravaganza from Doug Cox, Steve Dawson and Ivan Rosenberg.
October 31, 2007
Posted by on October 31, 2007 at 07:00 PM
Already mentioned that Winnipeg band Keith & Renee are performing an interpretation, track by track, of the Beatles album Rubber Soul on Canada Live tonight (as well as some music from their recent CD, Revolution).
But a second concert from Winnipeg comes from someone's home, a house off of "the Crescent," as Winnipeger's call the town's big-fancy-houses-street, officially known as Wellington Crescent.
Apparently the regional noon show asked listeners to volunteer their homes for concerts -- and listeners responded. (Very generous, I must say.) This concert features two sets, performed in front of about 20 people who crowded into the living room, starting with the duo Twilight Hotel. The second set was with Dan Frechette, raconteur and singer-songwriter.
I wonder if they served dainties in the intermission?
Posted by on October 31, 2007 at 12:00 AM
Keith & Renee up until recently were known as "Easily Amused." Not as human beings, although maybe that too, but in terms of a band name. Now they're known as Keith and Renee, likely because their names are Keith Macpherson and Renee Lamoureux. Keith was a finalist in Canadian Idol, Renee has a clothing line, and the music I've heard in their current incarnation is pretty poppy, a bit rocky, and features their strong vocals.
None of which would lead me to imagine that they'd be performing an interpretation,track by track, of the Beatles album Rubber Soul. Really. This is on Canada Live, and you can hear it Wednesday night. The first part of the concert also features music from their recent CD, Revolution, recorded in their hometown of Winnipeg when the temperature was -50 below and, as they say, "it was so cold outside that we had no choice but to stay inside and create music."
For some reason this makes me think of that Guy Maddin film My Winnipeg, and I'm seized with an urge to flee. No wait, I already did that! Anyway, memories of darkest winters of my Winnipeg teenaged years aside, I think their Rubber Soul idea is both appealing and intriguing, and look forward to hearing the show.
October 30, 2007
Posted by on October 30, 2007 at 06:45 PM
Tonight from Vancouver on Canada Live (at 8pm), it’s troubadour and storyteller Jeremy Fisher recorded live at the Chan Centre Studio Theatre. He’s one of these guys who's built a massive audience by touring - apparently he once spent six months touring by bicycle to support his independent debut CD. ("I’m highly motivated," says the Vancouverite, in a massive understatement.) The song that really grabbed people is a bit of a viral sensation on Youtube -- Cigarette, which cost him all of about $60 bucks to shoot.
The whole viral video/myspace thing continues to fascinate, with its success stories, which are sometimes quite understandable, because they're really original, other times...less so. (For example the poor woman's French Lily Allen/Regina Spektor, Soko. Yes, a bit charming. A bit. But feel free to disagree.)
But before I forget, back to Canada Live's broadcast tonight -- also on the show, from The Cultch on the east side of Vancouver, it’s the release concert for Kim Barlow’s new CD, Champ.
October 29, 2007
Posted by on October 29, 2007 at 07:00 PM
Mentioned this hours ago, but a quick reminder. Tonight on Canada Live you can hear music from a concert that accompanied 300 new Canadians who took the oath of citizenship (in a special ceremony in celebration of the 60th anniversary of Canadian citizenship).
To be more precise -- the music didn't actually happen during the ceremony, but immediately following, at the Glenn Gould Studio. Thumb piano player Achilla Orru's band performed, along with fado singer Sonia Tavares, and jazz pianist Robi Botos and his trio. Having gone through the citizenship ceremony myself, many years ago, I'm happy to hear that sometimes the musical range is greater than the one I experienced. Which, as I recall, was a recording of the national anthem as we shuffled out. Appropriate, but not terribly representative of the musical breadth of Canada -- this concert went a tad farther...
Posted by on October 29, 2007 at 07:24 AM
Taking an oath of citizenship is probably no small thing for an adult who has spent a fair portion of their life in some other part of the world. A turning away from something -- and towards something, hopefully a place and way of life that you feel certain you want to embrace.
Usually you don't get to do that accompanied by music though -- which is what happened the other week when 300 new Canadians took the oath of citizenship, in a special ceremony in celebration of the 60th anniversary of Canadian citizenship. After the ceremony, conducted in the atrium of the Canadian Broadcasting Centre, there was a concert in the Glenn Gould Studio with Baana Afrique, thumb piano player Achilla Orru's band. Also performing, fado singer Sonia Tavares, and jazz pianist Robi Botos and his trio.
I heard some of the new citizens interviewed, as well as a bit of the music from the event -- seemed like a pretty special day for all involved -- and Monday night you can hear some of the results on Canada Live.
October 28, 2007
Posted by on October 28, 2007 at 07:04 PM
Some music from the long-running Festival Nuits d'Afrique in Montreal tonight on Canada Live. Starting with Hassan El Hadi, a Moroccan-Montrealer, who writes original material, a combination of North African rhythms, Andalusian influences, jazz and more. I heard him this summer and he and his band had a very nice groove, almost hypnotic at times.
And there's a second concert on your radio from Nuits d'Afrique tonight, from Cape Verdean singer Gabriela Mendes. She's from the northern island of Sao Vincente, which is practically a household name now, at least, for fans of Cape Verdean music, since that's also the island Cesaria Evora hails from.
Mendes isn't a star of that stature, but she is on the rise -- she's even been called "newcomer diva." (Hopefully this won't include her wanting to smoke halfway through her shows, I don't know if the world's stage managers could handle that in the next generation!)
October 27, 2007
Posted by on October 27, 2007 at 05:47 PM
Mother Mother. If you were tempted to sing "what's going on" when you read that, you're on the wrong track. This Mother Mother is the name of a Vancouver band (started by a brother-sister duo) that you can hear in concert tonight on Canada Live, in front of an appreciative audience at UBC.
The music is catchy and smart pop music that's gotten them great reviews -- from Pitchfork to the Globe. But I kind of like this quote from the blog, From Blown Speakers: "I remember reading a claim somewhere that Vancouver's own Mother Mother (formerly just Mother) were like 'nothing you've ever heard.' The statement's completely untrue, but I can see what they were getting at." The band must like it too, they post it on their myspace site. (I see what they were getting at too -- Mother Mother does some some pretty original stuff.)
A second concert on the show features Veda Hille, playing songs that will appear on her new disc (due out next year). One week after recording the tunes in studio, she performed them at East Vancouver's Wise Hall, recorded for broadcast this evening.
October 26, 2007
Posted by on October 26, 2007 at 06:00 PM
Small World Music Festival is an annual event in Toronto that's grown and developed into something that's really quite great -- it brings in international acts from around the globe, and at the same time presents some of the finest hyphenated Canadian acts. (That's my new term for what might otherwise be called "Canadian world music," which makes about as much sense as the term world music itself. Though somehow I doubt my hyphenated thing will catch on.)
Anyway, Small World has a repertoire development programme and part of that is called World On A String, which encourages hyphenated Canadian cross-cultural collaboration, resulting in hyphenated-hyphenated Canadian music, if you can follow that. If not, here are the straight goods.
Tonight on Canada Live you can hear the following performers, together: Rich Brown, Aditya Verma, Levon Ichkanian, Amir Koushkani, and Mansa Sissoko on instruments ranging from sintir and oud to banjo, kora, guitar, sarod and more.
But wait, there's also AND MORE in terms of the actual concerts -- Jayme Stone & Mansa Sissoko a banjo player and Malian griot, respectively. (For some reason I can't find a webpage for Mansa Sissoko, but I've linked to the National Geograhic site -- it's also a good resource if you're interested in music from around the world.)
And finally, there is a third concert tonight, with one of the hottest Latin groups in the country, Plan C. Here's a review of that concert from The Live Music Report, which says, among other things, "While Plan C plays, there are two parties going on: an explosive one on the stage; and, the other, a party of similar proportions, happening amongst their audience throughout the club."
October 25, 2007
Posted by on October 25, 2007 at 07:00 PM
Buck 65 is featured on Canada Live tonight -- as part of a triple bill that also features a concert from the MIR Super Show, organized by the band MIR. It brings together Nova Scotian folk, jazz and world musicians, fer' instance Lennie Gallant, Jill Barber, Nick Van Eede, El Viento Flamenco, KOJO, Saheed Foroughi and Meedhi Koushesh.
And there's also a third concert I wanted to mention, as it features one of the country's most creative guitarists, Michael Occhipinti. He's performing what I think of as his Bruce project, as in Cockburn. In other words, songs from Creation Dream, his instrumental interpretations of Cockburn's work. And in this case he's teamed up with three string players from Symphony Nova Scotia.
Posted by on October 25, 2007 at 12:00 AM
He started out as as Stickin' Rich. Not really, in fact he was just a kid, but maybe it was meant to be a good omen for his future. Which it seems to have been, for while Buck 65, as he is now known, may not be stinkin' rich, he's certainly made his name as one of the most interesting hip-hop artists to emerge from Canada or anywhere else for that matter. Actually, given his penchant to mix it up, some call what he does "post-hip-hop." (Why not make it simple though, and just go with post-hop?)
Buck 65 Trivia Bulletin: As Stinkin' Rich he put out a cassette (remember them?), called Chin Music, obviously a tribute to baseball. (Think of those pitches when the guy at bat lunges backwards so as not to get beaned in the schnoz and you'll know why.) Baseball was his first love, so I can only imagine what he's thinking about this year's fall classic, has not exactly been a stellar post-season this year.
Anyhoo, Canada Live broadcasts a concert by Buck 65 on Thursday night -- as part of a triple bill that also features a concert from the MIR Super Show, which is not, as you might have initially thought, something to do with space stations, it's an annual event connected to the band MIR. It brings together Nova Scotian folk, jazz and world musicians with the band MIR. More about that later today...
P.S. NEWS FLASH After writing the above I heard Buck 65 interviewed, and he says he's rooting for the Rockies! Alright, Buck, I'm with you. (Despite the horror last night, there's always tonight!) We don't need any more preening from Manny et al.
October 24, 2007
Posted by on October 24, 2007 at 06:00 PM
People go crazy for Django Reinhardt. Every year, cities around the world hold Django fests celebrating the guitarist (who virtually created a style of jazz), including the biggie in Samois Sur Seine, the town he lived in during the last years of his life.
But Canada has one too, via Vancouver's Rogue Folk Club. Like the others, it's a festival of all things Django, but it focusses on musicians in the Vancouver area who carry on the Hot Club de France tradition.
On Wednesday night Canada Live broadcasts excerpts from the festival, with Van Django (great name) who salute both Django and his best known accomplice, (sometimes adversary and greatest artistic partner), Stephane Grappelli. Also featured, a set from Lache Cercel and The Roma Swing Ensemble.
October 23, 2007
Posted by on October 23, 2007 at 07:00 PM
Tonight, a rebroadcast on Canada Live of a sold out show featuring three clarinetists, James Campbell, Phil Nimmons and Airat Ichmouratov, recorded at the Almonte Old Town Hall. It was a night of eclectic clarinet, with music from Mozart and Brahms, to Ellington and klezmer tunes.
Speaking of clarinet, one day I was looking for something else about clarinets online, and came across the Hot Clarinet blog, by a clarinetist in Slovenia who likes to share info about the instrument, as well as their performances, in English. This is very brave, and I commend him.
(A sample: " I had a lot of free time since my last post. I played Clarinet on several places...now i hope to have more time to write, because i had to finish collage, work a bit and slowly find myself in chemistry.")
October 22, 2007
Posted by on October 22, 2007 at 07:08 PM
Hours ago, so many hours ago that it is lost in the weeds of blog, I noted that tonight there is a very interesting concert being presented on Canada Live, with Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal, one of Canada's finest smaller orchestras, and Quebec singer Pierre Lapointe.
He's been compared to Rufus Wainwright, and cites influences like Aznavour, Brel and Serge Gainsbourg -- and has caused quite a stir among Quebec music critics and fans in the past few years.
Also from Montreal tonight -- the adventurous ensemble Constantinople begins its new season with a special program entitled Perle Afghane, or Afghan Pearl. Homayoun Sakhi performs with the group on the rubab, (a bit lute-like, if you're looking for a comparison) in a concert combining traditional Afghan and Persian music.
Posted by on October 22, 2007 at 12:00 AM
Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal is one of Canada's finest smaller orchestras, around since the early eighties, and known for getting out and about, into the community, performing in parks, talking about the music before their concerts -- you get the picture, they're kind of a grass roots organization.
But maybe that sounds too "worthy," or something, and that's not what the Orch is about. Proof may be Monday night's concert on Canada Live, when they team up with Quebec singer Pierre Lapointe. Why? Well, if you don't know Lapointe's music Just click on that link to his website. There you will be rewarded with hearing a track that will demonstrate why this concert should be quite special.
And I know I'm not the first to say it, but he does remind me a bit of Rufus Wainwright, in a good way. Perhaps more aptly, and certainly more Frenchly, he's also been said to be channeling Aznavour, Brel and Serge Gainsbourg. (All at once? Goodness, that would be quite a meeting.) Anyway, ultimately he's his own man, and has been causing quite a stir among Quebec music critics and fans in the past few years.
Continue reading "Channeling Aznavour, Brel And Serge Gainsbourg" »
October 21, 2007
Posted by on October 21, 2007 at 07:10 PM
It's funny as autumn (the word is getting a very good workout today, what with Gregory Charles' show earlier being devoted to the season and all) approaches to look back to summer. But that is the case, musically speaking, this evening on Canada Live.
In fact it's all about looking back, as the show broadcasts a workshop recorded at the Winnipeg Folk Festival, called There Are Places I Remember. Speaking of remembering, if you go to that link you'll see exactly what it looked like for those gathered at the "Shady Grove" stage. Feel the heat! Swat the mosquitoes! (Hey, I'm a former Winnipeger, so I know whereof I speak. Though to be honest, it's mostly the sun/lack of shade and fabulous music that stay in my mind from many years at the festival, the mozzies were somehow held at bay. Probably baked off.)
Anyway, there is also a second, presumably indoor concert from Winnipeg broadcast tonight, featuring the fine band Vikrama, led by pianist and composer Knut Haugseon.
October 20, 2007
Posted by on October 20, 2007 at 07:03 PM
From the Western Canadian Music Awards Showcase in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada Live presents an an eclectic concert featuring Regina roots rockers Jason Plumb And The Willing, Vancouver Island’s folk/alt-rocker, Wil, Saskatoon singer-songwriter Carrie Catherine, and Winnipeg's own Cajun/zydeco/funk guy, Johnny Cajun.
October 19, 2007
Posted by on October 19, 2007 at 07:18 PM
Daily Triva Question:
Q: "Which two Canadian singer/songwriters are also identical twins, AND recorded their first CD in their high school’s recording studio?"
A:
Continue reading "They Look Alike, AND They Sing!" »
October 18, 2007
Posted by on October 18, 2007 at 08:00 PM
In case this slipped oe'r the transom earlier and disappeared -- that there are highlights from four v. strong Canadian singer/songwriters tonight on Canada Live. Here's a (briefly) annotated lineup.
Continue reading "The Briefly Annotated Lineup" »
Posted by on October 18, 2007 at 12:00 AM
Concerts from four very strong performers will be broadcast Thursday night on Canada Live, starting with Justin Rutledge.
*Rob Bolton, writing in Exclaim Magazine: "[Rutledge's recording] No Never Alone pulls it off with its near-perfect marriage of traditional country arrangements and Rutledge’s stories of love and heartache."
Second, Oh Susanna.
*Mote/Moregoatthangoose says: "Susie pretty-well held everyone spellbound, if the truth be known. If you weren't there, there will come a day, I can't say when, when you will rue this missed opportunity."
Concert#3, Treasa Levasseur
*The Ottawa Blues Society does the mix n' match: “Think Joni Mitchell, Etta James, Carole King and Dusty Springfield rolled into one.”
And wrapping things up, Serena Ryder.
*Popmatters (writing about Ryder's If Your Memory Serves Me Well) asserts: "The young Serena Ryder surprisingly manages to breathe life into a repertoire of semi-familiar tunes by older artists. The Canadian singer has selected a batch of songs written by fellow musicians from her native country and brings out qualities not always evident in the older versions."
October 17, 2007
Posted by on October 17, 2007 at 06:37 PM
Just a reminder that tonight's featured concert on Canada Live is The Bottle And The Truth, an alt country band that live, rehearse and perform together in the same house in East Vancouver -- this concert was actually recorded in their home. (Hopefully they also clean up together.)
But there's also a broadcast on the show of a concert by Irish born singer of The Blower's Daughter Fame, Damien Rice, who filled Vancouver's Centre for Performing Arts for two nights recently. (Bet you know that Blower's Daughter song, even if you think you don't -- go to that link and see if you haven't heard it before...)
Posted by on October 17, 2007 at 12:00 AM
The last time a concert by The Bottle And The Truth was broadcast the response, was, to put it truthfully, over the moon. I can see why, they're a kickass (can I say kickass on the R2 blog? why yes, I think I just did) alt country band.
For their music -- tune in Wednesday night to Canada Live.
For their story -- here it is in their own, understated words:
"Between snowcapped mountain ranges and east of the Pacific ocean in the boomtown know as Vancouver British Columbia, is home to three humble young men and a truck load of great music.
One is a Word-slinger, hip-hop rhymin’, bonafide campfire storyteller. The other has the blue blood of a cowboy coursing through his veins and the musical talent of a legend to boot. The third of the posse is a tender-hearted songwriter with a mean sense of melody and a wicked sense of song.
Together Ridley Bent, Dustin Bentall, and Cameron Latimer form the Bottle and the Truth, a stampede of songwriters, storytellers and grade A musicians."
October 16, 2007
Posted by on October 16, 2007 at 07:00 PM
Great double bill tonight on Canada Live!
From the Gladstone hotel, (which the New York Times says offers "immediate immersion into Toronto's arts scene), the band Tasa performs an original repertoire inspired by the traditional music of India, as well as songs that have taken on the more contemporary influences of the diaspora. And they're very good at it.
And then in concert from the Distillery District, (called by Toronto Life "the hippest address in town," but more importantly, even with their focus on the tourist trade they put on some very good music events) it’s jazz legend Carla Bley with the Art of Jazz Orchestra, and special guests Steve Swallow and Howard Jones.
October 15, 2007
Posted by on October 15, 2007 at 10:15 AM
Roberto Lopez is a Montreal musician who is originally from Bogota. He describes his music as "the new sound of Latin music," and it certainly is one of the newer directions Latin musicians are taking -- a kind of pan-Latin approach. In his case he has something of a big band, featuring over a dozen musicians and singers from Colombia, Cuba, Brazil, Uruguay, Panama, and Quebec. Latin rhythms are mixed with hip-hop, jazz and electronica.
Continue reading "A New Sound In Latin Music" »
October 13, 2007
Posted by on October 13, 2007 at 07:05 PM
It's a jazz thing...tonight on Canada Live. A really great double bill.
First, tenor player David 'Fathead' Newman. He made his mark with Ray Charles, he’s played with Herbie Mann, Aretha Franklin, B.B. King, Jimmy McGriff, Eric Clapton, and Queen Latifah, and Saturday night you can hear him in concert with the Tilden Webb Trio, a Vancouver-based group led by the pianist of the same name. (And here's a review on All About Jazz of an album they recorded together a couple years ago -- just as a kind of literary preview...)
Later in the show, the imaginative and eclectic clarinetist, saxophonist, composer and arranger Don Byron, paying homage to R&B;/jazz sax player and vocalist, Junior Walker. Why? This is what Byron said on one occasion:
“Junior Walker was an important part of ‘soul music’ as a movement. Along with guys like King Curtis and Eddie Harris, he was successful at creating an instrumental improvisational style out of the gospel/blues techniques that were transforming popular singing. I managed to see him play once at a bar in Boston and thought I had never heard a better sound on an instrument.”
There you are.
October 12, 2007
Posted by on October 12, 2007 at 07:15 PM
Just a reminder that CBC Radio's A Propos host Jim Corcoran hosted a stellar Songwriters Session held in Ottawa, that's being broadcast tonight on Canada Live.
Musicians included Michel Rivard, (of Beau Dommage fame) Monica Freire, (a singer of Brazilian music, based in Montreal), singer-songwriter Mario Peluso and Urbain Desbois (a.k.a. Luc Bonin).
Posted by on October 12, 2007 at 12:00 AM
Last spring the National Arts Centre presented an arts fest called Quebec Scene , and as part of that extravaganza CBC Radio 1's A Propos and host Jim Corcoran moved to Ottawa for a Songwriters Session. The concert was much-praised, and you can hear it on Friday night on Canada Live, that's at 8pm, 8:30 in Newfoundland.
It included Michel Rivard, (of Beau Dommage fame) Monica Freire, (a singer of Brazilian music, based in Montreal), singer-songwriter Mario Peluso and Urbain Desbois (a.k.a. Luc Bonin). I don't know Urbain Desbois, (although it turns out Luc has worked with long-running theatrical/cabaret/rock band, Rhythm Activism.) But I quite enjoyed this description (obviously in translation) of his current project:
"The galvanic motormouth quickly won audiences over with his bewildering charm, and soon ascended to the status of featured act."
October 11, 2007
Posted by on October 11, 2007 at 07:00 PM
It sounds like it would make a good short story: Little Miss Higgins and Foy Taylor sing the blues, in Yellowknife. But Little Miss Higgins, of Nokomis Saskatchewan, is real alright, albeit something of a throwback. She likes to write in the style of turn-of-the century blues (that's the previous turn of the century) as well as sing classics of that era like Memphis Minnie’s You Ain’t Done Nothing To Me. And Foy is her sidekick, a mean guitarist in his own right.
You can hear them on Canada Live tonight, yes, from Yellowknife, a town said to have a music scene that is witnessing a resurgence. If you know about that, do comment, because although I've heard rumours, have not yet gathered proof...
October 10, 2007
Posted by on October 10, 2007 at 07:00 PM
In case you missed this earlier post, Bursting With Creative, Un-Jaded Energy, this is your reminder that one of the country's up n comin' true singer-songwriter talents is featured in concert tonight on Canada Live.
Also on the show -- the National Youth Orchestra with a performance from the National Arts Centre.
Posted by on October 10, 2007 at 12:00 AM
It's probably a good thing that most of the up and coming singer-songwriter's tend towards the young and hopeful, as opposed to the old and jaded. Given the odds of breaking through the masses of singer-songwriters out there, I mean. For every Jenn Grant there are who knows how many girls and guitars in garrets, writing songs, recording songs, trying not to obsess about Feist.
But even for the unjaded, it must be a thrill to meet with the kind of positive response that Meredith Luce has.
Case in point: The Ottawa Sun had this to say about her recording, October, which came out this past summer. "It's a remarkable document of an artist bursting with creative energy...October points to a distinctive style in the making, due in equal parts to Luce's accomplished songwriting, expressive voice and proficiency on a variety of acoustic stringed instruments."
OK, so they liked her. I do too, what I've heard so far.
You can hear/decide for yourself, with a preview at Meredith's MySpace site. And for a full concert broadcast, tune into Canada Live on Wednesday night.
October 09, 2007
Posted by on October 9, 2007 at 07:00 PM
As I mentioned earlier today, guitarist Alpha Yaya Diallo (originally from Guinea, but based in Vancouver for many years) is featured on Canada Live this evening, with bassist David Marion and cellist Peggy Lee, in a new project, called the Alpha Yaya Diallo Trio. (I didn't find any info about the new group online, but in searching I did come across this video of Diallo featuring some amazing dancing, from last year's Ottawa Bluesfest.)
But there is also another concert on the show tonight, of classical Indian music, from both north and south India. It features two groups, first a Vancouver trio with vocalist Neetu Matharu, harmonium player Mohan Bhide and tabla player Sunny Matharu. The second part of the concert (all this presented by the Vancouver organization SaPaSa) brings veena performer Geetha Ramanathan Bennett together with Ramamurthy Dharmala on the mridangam, as well as local grade 12 student Sayenden Supramaniam on kanjira.
Posted by on October 9, 2007 at 09:00 AM
Live from Vancouver, Alpha Yaya Diallo is a guitarist you're quite possibly familiar with, either as part of the African Guitar Summit, or ffrom his own solo work. He's originally from Guinea, but has been based in Vancouver for many years. And in case you're not familiar with his music, here's some critical response to his playing, from south of the border -- Rhythm magazine said "Diallo ranks easily as among the most exciting and appealing African artists to ever hit the United States."
Canada Live's Tuesday night broadcast features Diallo in a new configuration (also known as a band), with bassist David Marion and cellist Peggy Lee. (Cello, how interesting.) Logically enough, he's calling it the Alpha Yaya Diallo Trio. I don't actually see any info about this new group online, but in searching I did come across this video of Diallo featuring some amazing dancing, from last year's Ottawa Bluesfest...
October 08, 2007
Posted by on October 8, 2007 at 06:00 PM
Three concerts this Monday evening on Canada Live, starting with Chris Norman and David Greenberg, internationally-renowned as performers of both traditional and baroque music
On deck, Symphony Nova Scotia, in a performance of Haydn’s Symphony No. 104. And in the hole, Angela Cheng, one of Canada’s finest pianists in an intimate performance -- recorded onstage at the Indian River Festival. Not that Angela's waiting around for her turn at the plate -- here's what an unnamed critic writing in the Globe and Mail said about one of her performances:
"...[Cheng] is now speaking not with the voice of generic virtuosity and conventional received wisdom, but with her own voice, about individual works in which she is passionately and artistically involved...It was enthralling."
October 07, 2007
Posted by on October 7, 2007 at 06:00 PM
Did you know there's only 361 days left to the Jerusalem Ridge Bluegrass Festival? That's right. But there are only mere minutes to the Canada Live broadcast (8pm Sunday night) of Edmonton's Jerusalem Ridge.
Like the fest, they take their name from the western Kentucky birthplace of Bill Monroe, the grandaddy, Big Kahuna, however you want to look at it, of bluegrass music.
And some advanced press -- the last time a Jerusalem Ridge concert was played on CBC, people went nuts for them! btw, this is not the same concert, this one comes to you from the Arden theatre in St. Albert, Alberta, a SRO show. (That's "Standing Room Only" for those of you who do not subscribe to such shorthand. FYI.)
October 06, 2007
Posted by on October 6, 2007 at 06:02 PM
CBC Radio teams up with Espace Musique this Saturday night on Canada Live to present Africa Musique, a concert that honours the U-N’s International Day of Peace. It's an excellent lineup, featuring performers from Africa and of African heritage who bring messages of peace through their songs. (Which, I have to say, means you would have a wide choice, given how frequently songs from African artists connect to the topic.)
So, on the bill: Congo’s Lokua Kanza, a witness to the Hutu/Tutsi holocaust, along with former Sudanese boy-soldier and now rapper for peace Emmanuel Jal.
Also performing, Vancouver-based Alpha Ya Ya Diallo and Montreal-based Lilison Di Kinara (originally from Guinea Bissau), plus Cameroon/Montrealer Muna Mingole and Malian singer, via Moncton N.B., Oumou Soumare. The band is led by Haitian vibraphonist Eval Manigat. (Sorry, those last two are Youtube links, but can't seem to find websites. However, you won't be sorry if you take a look at that Manigat performance...nice groove, horns...) I'll say it again, quite a line-up!
October 05, 2007
Posted by on October 5, 2007 at 06:00 PM
Chris Frye (once called "Victoria's answer to Lyle Lovett!) and his solo project (with a band made up of guest musicians, called Analog Ghosts) play music from his recently released CD Raised On Rhythm And Rhyme tonight on Canada Live.
Not coincidentally, Chris is also the leader singer of folk quintet The Bills, who are also presented tonight in concert.
Chris, busy man, is even in a third ensemble called The Marc Atkinson Trio.
What does Chris do in his spare time? We don't know. Call around to see if anyone's free to get together and play?
October 04, 2007
Posted by on October 4, 2007 at 07:03 PM
Just to reprise from many hours ago, in case you missed it, tonight's final concert broadcast on Canada Live, from the Variations On Gould celebrations, is a perfomance by pianist MARC-ANDRÉ HAMELIN. He'll perform a programme devoted to works from the 1st and 2nd Viennese School, from Haydn and Beethoven to Schoenberg and Berg - all works that Gould championed.
Posted by on October 4, 2007 at 12:00 AM
No doubt about it, it's been a bit of a Gouldathon. I hope you've enjoyed what you've heard, and can still hear, at Concerts On Demand -- many of the concerts broadcast during the Variations On Gould fest are available there.
Thurday night you can also hear the final concert of the series, Live To Air (as always, you must imagine some kind of fanfare to accompany those words) from the Glenn Gould Studio.
And that concert features (and here you can insert a drum roll) MARC-ANDRÉ HAMELIN, at the piano.He'll perform a programme devoted to works from the 1st and 2nd Viennese School, from Haydn and Beethoven to Schoenberg and Berg - all works that Gould championed.
btw, at time o'bloggin', there were some tickets left for this concert, if you happen to be in the vicinity. If not, you can always tune into Canada Live.
October 03, 2007
Posted by on October 3, 2007 at 07:04 PM
Tonight's Variations On Gould concert is called Don't Be Frightened, Mr. Gould Is Here and it pays tribute via new compositions to Gould's unusual creative vision, and striking individualism. (Broadcast, as all the Gould Concerts have been, on Canada Live.)
What you'll hear is three new works commissioned for the occasion by CBC Radio, from composers Chantale Laplante, Louis Dufort and Martin Tétreault.
You can also hear a rare performance of Glenn Gould's only major composition: his String Quartet, Opus 1 featuring violinists Jonathan Crow and Olivier Thouin, violist Neal Gripp and cellist Brian Manker.
Posted by on October 3, 2007 at 12:01 AM
...Mr. Gould is Here..." is the name of a concert. Yes, it is. You may have thought, hey, great name for a kid's book, and it could be that as well, but in this case, it's a concert that pays tribute to Gould's unusual creative vision, and striking individualism. And you can hear this concert from Montreal Wednesday night on Canada Live. It's part of CBC Radio 2's Variations On Gould. But you probably figured that.
What you'll hear is three new works commissioned for the occasion by CBC Radio, from composers Chantale Laplante, (who has the most marvellous picture of a two-lane highway on her website), Louis Dufort (who has a most intriguing picture on his) and Martin Tétreault, (his "self-portrait" photo is the ultimate anti-Facebook shot going).
Also on Wednesday night's broadcast, a rare performance of Glenn Gould's only major composition: his String Quartet, Opus 1 featuring violinists Jonathan Crow and Olivier Thouin, violist Neal Gripp and cellist Brian Manker.
October 02, 2007
Posted by on October 2, 2007 at 07:00 PM
A reminder that you can hear Hilario Duran and David Virelles, two really fabulous Cuban-Canadian piano players, performing music they've written inspired by Glenn Gould. This concert will be broadcast live this evening, on Canada Live.
They represent two generations of Cuban-Canadian pianists, the younger rising star, David Virelles, and the established virtuoso, Hilario Duran.
I heard David Virelles on our local morning show today, talking about when he was a music student still living in Cuba, and his teacher played him some Glenn Gould. What impressed him as a kid was the way Gould had such an individual style.
More recently Virelles has been listening to Gould's radio docs, and he described them as a "vehicle for composition," suggesting they show how Gould saw/heard "music in everything."
Should be a very interesting concert.
Posted by on October 2, 2007 at 12:00 AM
This looks so interesting. Hilario Duran and David Virelles, two really fabulous Cuban piano players, both living in Canada, performing Live To Air music they've written inspired by Glenn Gould. (The show is happening Tuesday night at the Glenn Gould Studio, and at time o'bloggin' there are still some tickets, plus the show will be broadcast on Canada Live.)
They also represent two generations of Cuban-Canadian pianists, the younger rising star, David Virelles, and the established virtuoso, Hilario Duran. They'll be performing with their own ensembles, and some pieces with string quartet. They'll also play together -- something I understand they've not done before rehearsals for this concert.
What will the music be like? I honestly don't know. But I'm extremely curious. I've heard both guys play Cuban music and jazz, both have formidable technique and are great musicians, so the forecast is excellent.
October 01, 2007
Posted by on October 1, 2007 at 07:55 PM
A brief reminder -- pianist André Laplante pays tribute to Glenn Gould this evening with a programme that includes piano works by Scriabin, the 7th Sonata of Prokofiev, and Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet, and is broadcast Live To Air from the Glenn Gould Studio, on Canada Live. Broadcast Time: 8 p.m. (9 AT, 9:30 NT).
Posted by on October 1, 2007 at 12:00 AM
Not only is it Glenn Gould’s 75th birthday and the 25th anniversary of his death, but this year also marks the 50th anniversary of Gould’s historic Russian debut. (Listen, this is nuthin' compared to baseball stats...)
Anyway, fittingly enough, on Monday night pianist André Laplante pays tribute to Gould with a programme that includes piano works by Scriabin, the 7th Sonata of Prokofiev, and Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet, and is broadcast Live To Air from the Glenn Gould Studio.
Which means if you are in the T Dot, as almost no one says anymore, you might be able to be in the audience, if tickets are still available -- just check the listing for André Laplante - Glenn Gould - Russia and Russian Chamber Music.
The broadcast can also be heard on your radio of course, on Canada Live.
September 30, 2007
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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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.
September 24, 2007
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 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
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 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!
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 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.
September 19, 2007
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 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.
September 17, 2007
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.
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 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...
September 14, 2007
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.
September 13, 2007
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 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.
September 12, 2007
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 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?
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.
September 10, 2007
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.
September 07, 2007
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 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.
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!
September 05, 2007
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 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!" »
September 04, 2007
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!
September 03, 2007
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!
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.
September 01, 2007
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.
August 31, 2007
Posted by on August 31, 2007 at 07:02 PM
...there's an Edmonton band that "pays tribute" to 40 years of British pop and other sixties sounds, called Cone of Silence? There is.
But they're not actually first on the Canada Live bill tonight. (Sorry about that chief, I just wanted to use the Would You Believe line as the subject heading.) No, first on the bill are four Edmontonian women – Maria Dunn, Ann Vriend, Colleen Brown and Samantha Schultz – who share the stage to swap songs and stories about being female and being performers, all in aid of the Edmonton Women’s Shelter.
And to cap off the evening, Edmonton’s Stew Kirkwood showcases his poetic pop tunes in one of the last concerts from the now defunct Sidewalk Café.
August 30, 2007
Posted by on August 30, 2007 at 05:31 PM
Smithers B.C. is located in the Bulkley Valley of northern British Columbia along Yellowhead Highway 16, roughly half way between the cities of Prince Rupert and Prince George. It's home to all the nice things you might expect, given that location, like good fishing, skiing and hiking.
It's also home to some very fine Latin music, from Alex Cuba who lives there. Fortunately for those of us who do NOT live in Smithers, he also likes to tour regularly. And tonight you can hear him from a Vancouver date at the Media Club, on Canada Live.
And speaking of Latin music, the second concert features Grupo Fantasma, a Latin fusion band from Austin. I see on their website they were recently at the Chicago Summer Dance Series in Grant Park. I can just imagine that, having been last summer. It's pretty magical -- as night falls the picnickers pull up their blankets, and the bands start to play, salsa and merengue and cumbia. And all around the bandshell people begin to dance: couples who can, couples who can't, grandmothers and children, and even people from Toronto.
August 29, 2007
Posted by on August 29, 2007 at 08:00 AM
Sometimes the name of a band makes you want to hear them. Which is probably why there are likely as many intriguing band names as names of race horses. (And some of them just as absurd. I once won $10 on a horse called No Dorp, the bet placed out of pity, poor little filly.) Everyone wants a good name, few manage to find one.
But sometimes people get it just right. Lullaby Baxter, or the Lily String Quartet, for example. Both names seem somehow elegant while still maintaining an air of simplicity. Or maybe the truth is I just like the sound of them.
To hear the sound of them musically, tune in tonight to Canada Live, for part of the annual Combo To Go series presented by CBC Radio and the Epcor Centre, which brings together musicians from different musical backgrounds or styles.
Lullaby Baxter, who, legend has it, got her start singing in between slinging cocktails at Montreal's Jello Bar, (where in days gone by I misspent many a Montreal night), writes her own original pop songs.
And The Lily String Quartet are four young women based in Calgary, none of whom are named Lily. (They're named after the composer Lily Boulanger, sister to Nadia.)
In this program, the string quartet interprets Lullaby Baxter's pop songs, and Ms. Baxter interprets a Mendelssohn string quartet.
August 28, 2007
Posted by on August 28, 2007 at 07:04 PM
The double bill tonight on Canada Live starts with the chamber music organization Via Salzburg, led by violinist Mayumi Seiler, performing music by Arnold Schoenberg and Canadian composer Jose Evangelista.
And ends with the young Canadian pianist Laila Biali, who you undoubtedly have heard on the CBC before as she recorded her very fine recording From Sea To Sky for CBC records. Tonight Biali showcases her own arrangements of songs by various Canadian songwriters.
August 26, 2007
Posted by on August 26, 2007 at 07:03 PM
You can hear pianist Janina Kuzmas on Canada Live tonight with a concert of Mozart Sonatas and Fantasies. And the second concert of the evening is with bass-baritone Garry Gable, from Convocation Hall at the University of Saskatchewan. It sounds like quite a diverse programme, with songs in four languages -- Chinese, Russian, French and English -- and works by Canadian composers Malcolm Forsyth, Violet Archer and Paul McIntyre.
Speaking of Canadian composers, if you aren't familiar with it already, you may want to virtually visit the Canadian Music Centre, a great resource.
And speaking further of Canadian composers, the great John Weinzweig is celebrated tonight on The Signal. Weinzweig died a year ago at the age of 93, and this tribute to him is a concert called The Radical Remembered, recorded at Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto.
The biography of Mr. Weinzweig at the aforementioned Canadian Music Centre, begins with this delightful quote from the composer about his start in music...thought it was too endearing not to share:
"Between the ages of 14 and 19, I studied the piano, mandolin, tuba, double bass and tenor saxophone, as well as harmony. I played and conducted school orchestras, dance bands, weddings, lodge meetings and on electioneering trucks for a range of fees between two dollars and a promise. I played Pirates of Penzance, Poet and Peasant, Blue Danube, St. Louis Blues, Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies, Chopin waltzes and Tiger Rag. At age 19 I got serious and decided to become a composer."
August 25, 2007
Posted by on August 25, 2007 at 06:45 PM
I like a bungalow. Never lived in one, no, it's always been apartments and flats in houses and even whole houses, but never a bungalow. Whenever I pass through Leaside, a neighbourhood in east-end Toronto where there are streets and streets of them, I imagine life in a bungalow. For some reason I think it would be a simpler life, one with fresh lemonade. Probably that's just some kind of romanticization of the era in which they were constructed though.
Guess Jim Bryson has an affinity for bungalows too -- he named his last CD after the diminutive dwellings -- it's called Where the Bungalows Roam. Why "roam" though? A cursory investigation did not turn up any explanation -- so if you know, do tell.
You can hear the Ottawa-based singer tonight performing some of the songs from Bungalows on Canada Live.
And when the CD came out, Exclaim magazine said it showed "a more tender side of Bryson," calling it "a lovely evolution for one of Canada’s most underrated songwriters, and one that will hopefully help him finally transcend that unfortunate label."
Well, but it beats "overrated" all to heck.
August 24, 2007
Posted by on August 24, 2007 at 06:00 PM
Who can resist a band called The Hurtin' Albertans, led by a guy who isn't afraid to yodel? Not I. Edmonton based country/roots artist Corb Lund and his Hurtin' Albertans can be heard in concert tonight on Canada Live, from the Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton.
Tonight's concert includes songs from his two most recent albums, Five Dollar Bill and Hair In My Eyes Like A Highland Steer. (For a preview go to Lund's Myspace site, where you can also hear The Truck Got Stuck...he sure does have a way with song titles!)
Also on the Can Live bill is the fine singer-songwriter Joel Kroeker. (Love that song Patricia Callaghan covers, title track of her CD Naked Beauty.) Guess I'm not alone in thinking highly of his songwriting abilities -- now he's signed to (what I can't help thinking of as "the Bruce Cockburn label,") True North. Tonight's concert comes to you from The Vat in Red Deer, Alberta.
Posted by on August 24, 2007 at 09:00 AM
Who can resist a band called The Hurtin' Albertans, led by a guy who isn't afraid to yodel? Not I. Edmonton based country/roots artist Corb Lund and his Hurtin' Albertans can be heard in concert tonight on Canada Live, from the Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton.
Lund is frequently mentioned in the same breath as the word "cowboy." But then, so are other singers, as part of "cowboy chic." (You know, people who've never been closer to a ranch than a truck stop on the side of the Trans-Canada wearing cowboy boots and acting all Brokeback Mountainish. Fashion, in other words.) But Lund is the real deal. Born and raised in rural southern Alberta, comes from four generations of Canadian ranchers and cowboys. He grew up riding horseback, chasing cattle and rodeoing on the prairies and in the foothills of the Rockies.
Then he spent ten years driving across Canada, the States, Australia and Europe in an old van with indie rock band the smalls, playing every funky dive along the way.
Eventually he went a little more country, and tonight's concert reflects that, including songs from his two most recent albums, Five Dollar Bill and Hair In My Eyes Like A Highland Steer. (For a preview go to Lund's Myspace site, where you can also hear The Truck Got Stuck...he sure does have a way with song titles!)
August 23, 2007
Posted by on August 23, 2007 at 09:00 AM
The ECMAs, as the East Coast Music Awards are affectionately called, are an annual tribute the breadth of music originating on Canada's right side. Going on 20 (that anniversary will be held in Fredericton, New Brunswick in February 2008), some of #19's highlights are presented tonight on Canada Live.
First, CBC Radio brings together 13 musicians from very diverse backgrounds in a world music summit. Then Chris Norman bends the boundaries of folk music when he plays the wooden flute with David Greenberg and Tempest. And finally, one of Canada’s jazz legends – Mike Murley – leads his trio in a set at Staynor’s Wharf in Halifax.
August 22, 2007
Posted by on August 22, 2007 at 08:55 AM
Celtic music was around long before its fifteen minutes, a decade or so ago. (Remember the sudden infatuation with Riverdance/Rankins/Enya/early MacIsaac etc. etc.?) The good news is that Celtic music is still around, and many of the artists who were so heavily glommed onto in the "revival" era continue along just fine, thank you very much, whether or not they make front page news. And it is rare that they do.
But what's not rare is the evolution of the tradition. In fact, I have a feeling that creativity and musical exploration flourish when there is less scrutiny. It's a theory, anyway. And you can hear some support of it tonight on Canada Live, with music from the 4th annual Vancouver Celtic Fest. Tune in to hear members of the Paper Boys, Mad Pudding, Spirit of the West, the Shona LeMotte Band, Daniel Lapp and Ashley MacIsaac.
August 21, 2007
Posted by on August 21, 2007 at 08:43 AM
The first thing you need to know about the Hannaford Street Silver Band is that they're brass. (In the tradition of 19th century brass bands, at least in terms of instrumentation.) The second thing you need to know about them, is they're very good. (American Record Guide called them "the finest brass band on the continent.") And the third? You can hear them tonight on Canada Live.
Although they're known for their work in new music, commissioning compositions from Canadian composers including Gary Kulesha and John Beckwith, tonight the two-dozen strong HSSB present a program of Russian classics – Mussorgsky’s Pictures At An Exhibition, Khachaturian’s vivid ballet suite Gayane and Shostakovich’s Festive Overture. Horn virtuoso Amie Sommerville makes his debut conducting the HSSB.
Oh, and the fourth thing -- they actually do have a recording called Heavy Metal!
August 20, 2007
Posted by on August 20, 2007 at 07:00 PM
Tonight Canada Live broadcasts two great pianists, from two different musical genres. First Andre Laplante performing in a concert recording from McGill’s Pollack Hall, featuring Chopin’s F Minor Fantasy along with Beethoven’s Waldstein Sonata and Prokoviev’s Sonata in B Flat Minor Opus 83.
And then the Lorraine Desmarais trio, playing some Miles Davis in front of a capacity crowd at the Maison de la culture Frontenac in Montreal. (Helping to make this an extra special night was Japanese trumpet virtuoso - Tiger Okoshi who joined Lorraine and her band.)
Posted by on August 20, 2007 at 09:00 AM
Writing about music isn't easy. (You know that "it's like dancing about architecture" line? Yup, that's about how difficult it is. Not impossible, but difficult.)
Which is why I enjoy what Ken Winters, writing about Andre Laplante in the Globe and Mail, has said about the pianist on two occasions, first in 2003:
"Laplante is not only a great pianist, but also a great musician, aurally absolutely inside the music's fabric and momentum..."
And then in 2006: "..bone deep musical sensibility; a perfection of detail in the meaningful context of the whole. Nothing, neglected, nothing inflated, and everything brimming with life...."
You get a sense (at least I do) of what kind of pianist Laplante is from this -- and I can think of no higher praise for a review -- then that you can almost hear the music in your mind.
Tonight you can hear it in actuality, in your home, car, wherever -- as Canada Live broadcasts Andre Laplante performing in this concert recording from McGill’s Pollack Hall, featuring Chopin’s F Minor Fantasy along with Beethoven’s Waldstein Sonata and Prokoviev’s Sonata in B Flat Minor Opus 83.
August 18, 2007
Posted by on August 18, 2007 at 09:00 AM
These are the days when the seas boil, wine turns sour, dogs grow mad, and all creatures become languid...all, apparently, traditional symptoms of the dog days of summer.
But not at music festivals or on the radio broadcasts of same. There the seas are high and bright, the wine is dry, dogs fetch when asked, and the listening is easy, but not lazy...
Let's cut to the chase, here's the weekend festival outlook for Canada Live:
On Saturday, from the Saskatchewan Jazz Festival flute-based funk/jazz fusion of the Sam Mitchell Band, reggae from Sean Viloria, Tim Vaughan's original soul and R&B;, and blues singer Suzie Vinnick.
Later on the show, from the Ness Creek Music Festival, Saskatoon rock band Sexually Attracted to Fire. (Yes, that's what they're called.) Also, Kyrie Kristmanson, a singer who has been billed as "quirky and whimsical," (nothing I could relate to) and the Indian fusion band Galitcha, alt-country singer-songwriter Dustin Bentall and the C.R. Avery Band's "high energy fusion."
And that's just Saturday. On Sunday, songwriter Karla Anderson headlines from the Edmonton Folk Festival, there's a set by country mainstay Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives (love love love the fabulous fabulosity of the name) and the infrequently heard and excellent Mary Margaret O'Hara, plus Cameroon/Celtic fusion band Baka Beyond, and R&B; from James Hunter.
Now ideally I'd like to tell you more about all of these artists, and link to each of their websites, but that would take (virtual) pages and pages, not to mention inducing carpal tunnel syndrome. So I recommend you go to the festival websites if you'd like more info on any of the performers. Or just listen, but not too languidly.
August 17, 2007
Posted by on August 17, 2007 at 09:00 AM
To the disgruntlement of some, but the pleasure of many, the blues have become a wide-ranging form that goes far beyond the 12-bars and the Windy City, or even the deep south. Tonight Canada Live broadcasts some of the eclectic music that's on the blues scene these days, recorded live at the Ottawa Bluesfest. (I like their slogan this year -- the "attack of the killer bluesfest.")
You can hear Ontario's Basia Bulat -- with strings; original songwriter and powerhouse singer Ndidi Onukwulu, with a backup band including Canada's number one Malagasy bluesman, Madagascar Slim, and Xavier Rudd, an Aussie solo artist who plays guitar, foot percussion and didgeridoo.
August 16, 2007
Posted by on August 16, 2007 at 05:25 PM
An evening of diverse voices tonight on Canada Live, first from Prince Edward Island's Indian Rivers Festival. Performers include vocalists Kiran Ahluwalia and Patricia O'Callaghan, Juno Award-winning bassist Andrew Downing and Halifax-based sax player Danny Oore.
The second concert of the evening is from the Atlantic Jazz Festival, with music from another Haligonian, violinist, composer and singer Chris Church. He considers his music to be a "world-wide fusion of classical, jazz, middle-eastern and fiddle music."
August 15, 2007
Posted by on August 15, 2007 at 04:00 PM
Guitars meet marimba tonight on R2 from the Festival of the Sound, as The Canadian Guitar Quartet perform with marimba virtuoso Beverley Johnston on Canada Live .
Then we turn our thoughts to shrimp dumplings, sesame balls, maybe a few of those squishy buns, pot stickers...whoops, sorry, dim sum not literally included. But the music recorded at this summer's Dim Sum Chinese Festival in Toronto sounds pretty savoury, with erhu master George Gao and his ensemble. The programme mixes traditional and modern Chinese music, and includes special guests, B.C.-based guzheng virtuoso Wei Li, and Grammy-winning Kitaro's pipa master Tu Shan Xiang from Japan.
Gao (and you must check out his website, if only for the picture of him leaping like a rock god with the erhu) is almost single-handedly responsible for sharing the erhu word here in Canada, and is much sought after by film and television producers -- among other things he's featured in the soundtrack for Earth: Final Conflict.
Posted by on August 15, 2007 at 09:00 AM
Shrimp dumplings, sesame balls, anything with sticky rice...sorry, I forgot momentarily that this is not a food blog, but the very mention of Dim Sum sends me down that path -- where at every juncture there is a laden cart rolling towards me with more small delectable things.
This summer's Dim Sum Chinese Festival in Toronto turned out to be less about things to eat though, and more about large delectable listening experiences. And tonight Canada Live broadcasts one such, with erhu (the two-stringed bowed instrument with an unforgettable sound) master George Gao and his ensemble. The programme mixes traditional and modern Chinese music, and includes special guests, BC-based guzheng virtuoso Wei Li, and Grammy-winning Kitaro's pipa master Tu Shan Xiang from Japan.
Gao (and you must check out his website, if only for the picture of him leaping like a rock god with the erhu) is almost single-handedly responsible for sharing the erhu word here in Canada, and is much sought after by film and television producers -- among other things he's featured in the soundtrack for Earth: Final Conflict.
August 14, 2007
Posted by on August 14, 2007 at 05:00 PM
Speaking of how jazz insinuates itself into everything, as we were earlier today, tonight swing, blues and pop meet head-on, on Canada Live. The Susie Arioli swing band mixes jazz, blues, cabaret, and in this concert, Suzie welcomes special guest Michael Jerome Brown.
And the second concert provides a great way to hear some of what's going on in Quebec's singer-songwriter scene. Jim Corcoran, host of A Propos, gathers some of Quebec's hottest singer-songwriters to swap songs and talk about their craft. This session, with Louis-Jean Cormier (lead singer of the band Karkwa), Antoine Gratton, Vincent Vallières and Sylvie Paquette, was one of the highlights of A Propos' 19th season.
August 13, 2007
Posted by on August 13, 2007 at 06:00 PM
Jenny Whiteley, a fine singer rooted in country/folk/bluegrass, is one of the featured concerts tonight on Canada Live, from a show at Vancouver's Cafe Rime. It's a trad countryish set, with banjo, fiddle and saw. Yes, saw. Vancouver-based guitarist Steve Dawson, who also produced her latest CD, Dear, joins Jenny and the band.
And in another music direction entirely, you can also hear internationally-acclaimed pianist Pascal Rogé from a concert presented by the Vancouver Chopin Society, exploring the links between Chopin and the works of 20th century French composers such as Ravel, Debussy and Satie.
Posted by on August 13, 2007 at 08:45 AM
I've always liked Jenny Whiteley's music. She's got one sweet voice. And there's a kind of direct honesty to her music that's impressed me since first hearing her at the venerable Silver Dollar with the band Heartbreak Hill. It was the era of bluegrass gettin' hip with a new generation of urban kids -- the club was packed every week for Jenny, Dottie Cormier and the band.
But then Jenny moved on, and established herself as a solo act, although I've never felt she's gotten the full recognition she deserves. Most likely because her style is more rooted in country/folk/bluegrass than pop. Not to say I'm a Whiteley fan club of one or anything -- she's won three Juno awards. Maybe it's just wishful thinking -- that the "roots" music circuit got as much public attention as the indie rock.
So it's good to know she'll be featured tonight on Canada Live, from a show at Cafe Rime on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive. It's a trad countryish set, with banjo, fiddle and saw. Yes, saw. Vancouver-based guitarist Steve Dawson, who also produced her latest CD, Dear, joins Jenny and the band.
August 12, 2007
Posted by on August 12, 2007 at 04:00 PM
If you don't live in my hometown you might not realize what a huge, huge deal Caribana is, each and ever year. It's like the jazz fest in Montreal -- it kind of takes over the city, with a major influx of tourists, and music playing all over town. Actually, its organizers say it's North America's largest street festival!
Canada Live has a little audio slice of related music tonight, with music from Toronto's Island Soul Festival, Harbourfront Centre's Caribana-related celebration. There'll be vintage calypso performances by Black Stalin, Lord Superior, Singing Sandra and Valentino. And they're backed by Kobo Town, a six-piece Toronto-based outfit that explores the musical heritage of Trinidad and the Anglo-Caribbean. (btw, I happened to be in a CBC studio last week when Kobo Town were playing "unplugged," and they were completely charming on their own -- imagine they'd also be great backing up all the above.)
A quick mention of one more feature on tonight's show -- a classic concert based on a recording called Jamaica To Toronto, a tribute to the musical explosion that took place in Toronto in the mid-1960s, thanks to an influx of musical talent from the Caribbean.
August 11, 2007
Posted by on August 11, 2007 at 09:20 AM
Interesting how few things seem to signal Canada (to the rest of the world) as strongly as our north.
Tonight Canada Live has an audio peek into that world, with musicians from the north who perform in a number of styles.
First, Juno-nominated singer-songwriter Kim Barlow. Love what Alexander Varty, writing in the Georgia Strait said about her music:
"Humour, lust, and empathy are the themes that run through Barlow’s songs; living in an environment where you can die if you wear the wrong clothes seems to have impressed her with a sense of life’s fleeting fragility."
Continue reading "The Great Musical North" »
August 10, 2007
Posted by on August 10, 2007 at 05:12 PM
Just a reminder, great concerts coming up from the Hillside Festival on Canada Live tonight.
Starting with the Bebop Cowboys, purveyors of fine western swing,"followed by Mali's Jah Youssouf, making his North American debut. Then it's Blackie & The Rodeo Kings - Stephen Fearing, Colin Linden and Tom Wilson, art-rockers Do Make Say Think, and it all wraps up with a set from singer/songwriter Emily Haines, backed up by members of Broken Social Scene and Stars. Holy lineup!
Posted by on August 10, 2007 at 09:00 AM
You know, it would be impossible to say which festival in any part of Canada is the best, but it's not impossible to say which festivals seem to always have lots of buzz around them. And for sure the Hillside Festival on Guelph Lake Island is on that short list.
Named as one of the Top 50 (50!) Ontario Festivals for the last 3 years, on Canada Live tonight you can hear a few reasons why, starting with the Bebop Cowboys who call themselves "purveyors of fine western swing."
And they are. Led by guitarist Steve Briggs, who's well versed in jazz and C&W;, the band has great chops, tight arrangements, and a lot of love and respect for the western swing tradition from whence they came. I have a feeling Bob Wills would be tickled.
August 09, 2007
Posted by on August 9, 2007 at 09:00 AM
That The Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival is an institution is not news. But I love this description of its institutioness, as reported by the Ottawa (X)Press:
"Like most cities, summer in Ottawa has its own distinct signs and rituals. The tour boat operators hawking their services in front of the Château Laurier. The rickshaw guys loping around the Market, towing their cargo of giggling, hammered girls. And the lines of people queuing up morning, noon and night for the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival.They come from all over, prepared to stand cheerfully for hours in the sun to attend the world's largest chamber music festival."
Tonight Canada Live has three concerts recorded at this summer's festival:
Concert 1: Pianist Angela Hewitt and cellist Daniel Müller-Schott perform music by de Falla and Franck.
Concert 2: St. Lawrence String Quartet, playing Beethoven.
Concert 3: Israeli-born clarinetist Guy Yehuda in a concert of new music and klezmer.
August 08, 2007
Posted by on August 8, 2007 at 09:00 AM
Diversity, thy name is Canadian music festivals. Check out this lineup on Canada Live's broadcast tonight alone, from The Vancouver Island Music Festival in Courtenay, B.C.:
Carmen Souza, a Cape Verdean raised in Portugal. (You'll know if you've been in Lisbon, for example, that although Fado is everywhere, you can also hear Cape Verdean and Brazilian music in local bars -- quite wonderful.) But back to Souza. She's an original singer songwriter, not working close to the tradition a la Cesaria Evora et al -- I like how this reviewer (Matile Dias) describes the experience of hearing her:
“... A voice that whispers in the ear, songs that we miss even without ever hearing them - the identification is immediate because it’s Cape Verdean music with a different clothing in soul/afro jazz.”
The second concert is by Aditya Verma, a virtuosic young sarod player who grew up in Montreal, was steeped in the traditions of India, and is now gaining audiences in North America, India and Europe.
And the third: Bedouin Soundclash who mix up reggae with rock and ska. They're from Kingston...Ontario. “We wanted to try to make something that was ours and was our experience ... to incorporate the music we love in a new way,” say the Bedoin Soundclashers.
August 07, 2007
Posted by on August 7, 2007 at 07:00 PM
The Song of Songs, the rapturous and much debated love poetry from the Old Testament, is the inspiration for some of the music you can hear on Canada Live tonight, with a concert from the CBC/McGill series featuring countertenor Matthew White, a quintet of internationally acclaimed singers, and an instrumental ensemble under lute virtuoso Stephen Stubbs, performing music from Renaissance England to 20th century Canada.
Later on the show, pianist Steve Amirault's trio performs a concert at the Jazz and Justice Series at the Unitarian Church of Montreal. What, you may ask, has jazz to do with justice? I asked too, and the answer is that it is a fundraising effort by Montreal Unitarians and friends, as the Montreal Mirror explains.
August 06, 2007
Posted by on August 6, 2007 at 07:00 PM
Concerts from out west tonight on Canada Live: Paul Lewis, a busy piano-man, plays classics like Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, in a performance for the Vancouver Recital Society.
And jazz vocalist Denzal Sinclaire, sings with a quintet co-led by tenor-man Mike Allen, recorded at Capilano College.
This is how the radio-woman at Canada Live describes Sinclaire's voice: "It sounds like a fine port wine tastes, velvety and rich." Can someone pass me a glass please?
August 05, 2007
Posted by on August 5, 2007 at 06:45 PM
Canada Live celebrates the 30th anniversary of the Lanaudiere Festival with a special thirtieth bday concert -- Virtuosi Reunited - featuring some of Canada's best instrumentalists under the direction of violinist James Ehnes, performing concertos by Bach and Vivaldi.
And a little b.g. on the festival -- it was founded by Father Fernand Lindsay, focuses mainly on classical music, and brings both Canadian and International artists to different stages of the Lanaudière region, just north of Montreal. Some of the concerts are heard in churches, and bigger events are heard at an outdoor amphitheater in Joliette. (Home of La Bottine Souriante, among other greats!)
August 04, 2007
Posted by on August 4, 2007 at 09:07 AM
What is Sangah? A group, or an assembly. A Buddhist festival. Or a quartet? Answer: All of the above.
Sangha the quartet is made up of Tar, Oud, Tombak and Tabla. If you're familiar with these instruments you'll know this assembly implies a combination of cultural influences, including Arabic, Persian and Indian.
And if you aren't familiar but would like to be, you can hear some of Sangah's music tonight on Canada Live, from the Vancouver Jazz Festival The performance also features special guest vocalist Fatieh Honari.
I've not heard them with Fatieh, but as an instrumental quartet they have a lovely (and sometimes quite energetic) sound -- plus some pretty flashy improvisation.
August 03, 2007
Posted by on August 3, 2007 at 09:00 AM
One of the things that's notable about the Edmonton Jazz Festival (formerly known as the Yardbird Jazz Festival) is its support of local talent. Case in point -- Edmonton-based jazz/R&B; saxman Dave Babcock.
You can hear Babcock and his quartet tonight on Canada Live, moving all over the musical map -- from the aforementioned jazz n' R&B; to hip-hop, house, funk and Latin grooves.
It's a double Edmontonian bill too -- second up, composer and pianist Andrew Glover, who's played with everyone from Jack Semple to the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.
August 02, 2007
Posted by on August 2, 2007 at 07:00 PM
Just a wee reminder, in case you missed this earlier post, that the Calgary Folk Music Festival, described by some as "a musically blissful little festival"(check out these photos of the fest by CBC Radio 3 contributor, Charles Gunn, if you'd like visual proof) is the focus of tonight's Canada Live broadcast.
Some of the music you may hear: City & Colour, the Rembetika Hipsters, The Cape May, the Sadies, Cowboy Celtic, Cam Penner & the Gravel Road, Don McLean, and the Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir.
Posted by on August 2, 2007 at 08:23 AM
When someone tells you, as I was told by the purveyors of music at Canada Live, that the Calgary Folk Music Festival is "a long weekend of bliss," you might think:"hyperbolic or what?" But I've been, and I can attest -- in the right conditions it can be pretty blissful.
Sure, if you happen to be having a fight with your significant other, or you're at the festival all on your lonesome wishing you had a significant other (and all those happy couples holding hands at workshop stages are making you crazy), or if you just waited wayyyyy too long in the line up getting in, you might not rate it high on the bliss-ometer.
But putting aside these less than salubrious scenarios, it really is a musically blissful little festival. (Check out these photos of the fest by CBC Radio 3 contributor, Charles Gunn, if you'd like visual proof.) It likes its music eclectic -- this year there was blues, Celtic, dub, bluegrass, funk, country, hip-hop, R&B; and old-timey music, among other genres and sub sub sub genres. And Canada Live was there, mics on stands, producers in truck. Tune in tonight to hear some of the results, from the following artists:
City & Colour, the Rembetika Hipsters, The Cape May, the Sadies, Cowboy Celtic, Cam Penner & the Gravel Road, Don McLean, and the Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir.
August 01, 2007
Posted by on August 1, 2007 at 06:41 PM
Two outstanding performances from the Montreal International Jazz Festival tonight on Canada Live.
The first is from Richard Bona, Gérald Toto, and Lokua Kanza, each known in his own right, but here they join musical forces as Toto-Bona-Lokua. (Note the Miracle on 34th Street Macy's moment -- that link takes you to NPR. But I just know you'll come back for the CBC broadcast...)
The second concert is from Femi Kuti and The Positive Force. In case you're not familiar with Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, here's the thumbnail: he virtually created the music known as Afrobeat, and was a larger than life political hero to Nigeria’s poor and oppressed. Son Femi is a little less on the political side (as you will hear if you clicked on the previous link) but great music, proving the Afrobeat marches on. (Well, dances on.)
Posted by on August 1, 2007 at 09:00 AM
Did a bit of a double take earlier this summer when I saw that not one, but two sons of the great Fela Kuti were touring. (If you're not familiar with Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, here's the thumbnail: he virtually created the music known as Afrobeat, and was a larger than life political hero to Nigeria’s poor and oppressed.)
Much to my dismay turned out I couldn't make it to either Sean or Femi Kuti's concerts. The good news, Femi Kuti and The Positive Force as recorded by Canada Live at the Montreal Jazz Festival is being broadcast tonight on the show. (Go ahead, click on that Femi Kuti link, you won't regret it, that Beng Beng Beng song is infectious...albeit more than a bit dubious on the p.c., let alone political activism side...)
btw, the Femi Kuti concert is actually the second of two great African music shows being broadcast tonight -- the first is from Richard Bona, Gérald Toto, and Lokua Kanza, each known in his own right. As Toto-Bona-Lokua they promote a message of both "diversity and oneness." (Now this is a Miracle on 34th Street Macy's moment -- note that link takes you to NPR...but I just know you'll come back for the CBC broadcast...)
July 31, 2007
Posted by on July 31, 2007 at 07:00 PM
Guess that's a question Pinchas and Amanda have resolved. You can hear the proof this evening, as Pinchas Zukerman and his wife, cellist Amanda Forsyth, are featured in a program of chamber music on Canada Live. It was recorded at the National Gallery of Canada, and features music by Kodaly, plus the Quintet for Piano and Strings by Dvorak. (The pianist is rising Israeli star Benjamin Hochman.)
Also on the show: Janina Fialkowska plays a program of music from the Romantic era in a concert recorded in Almonte, Ontario.
In answer to the question though -- sure I could. As long as he understands I'm almost always right.
July 30, 2007
Posted by on July 30, 2007 at 06:05 PM
Years ago I interviewed guitarist Michael Occhipinti at The Rex, longstanding jazz venue (not many places you can say that about, at least, not in Canada) on their excellent side patio. We talked about his then-new Bruce Cockburn project, interpreting Cockburn's songs as jazz instrumentals.
But somehow I managed to miss his more recent Sicilian Jazz Project, Canzoni del Sud, with percussionist Alessandra Belloni. So I was pleased to have it drawn to my attention by Canada Live, who broadcast a performance of the work tonight. They describe the concert as giving "Italian folk music a jazz kick." (Shouldn't that be, a jazz "fissa?")
Also on this evening's show: guest conductor Alastair Willis leads the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra in a spirited performance of the beautiful Symphony No. 2 by Finnish composer Jan Sibelius.
July 29, 2007
Posted by on July 29, 2007 at 06:32 PM
No shortage of chamber music in the country this summer, or tonight on Canada Live.
First up, from the Lachine Music Festival, violinist Alexandre da Costa and pianist Wonny Song share the stage. Then clarinetist James Campbell and the Arthur Leblanc String Quartet perform the music of Johannes Brahms, as part of the Sainte-Pétronille Chamber Music Festival.
I'm sorry not to find a link to the Saint Pétronille festival, but not sorry to gaze longingly at this site about Saint-Petronille itself, which looks absolutely lovely...sigh, perhaps next June...
July 28, 2007
Posted by on July 28, 2007 at 07:30 PM
Unlike some kinds of music I can think of (say, boy bands?) you can grow old in jazz, gracefully or otherwise. Case in point of the former, jazz icon Dave Brubeck. Tonight on Canada Live you can hear him from a live recording made at the Winnipeg Jazz Festival.
Then, it's the Knappen Street All-Stars, a quartet led by Winnipeg's own multi-instrumentalist (though best known for his eclectic and always interesting banjo playing) Daniel Koulack.
July 27, 2007
Posted by on July 27, 2007 at 07:00 PM
I remember going to some Bollywood films in India many years ago and just being floored -- hadn't a clue what the songs were about, but the over-the-top dance numbers, the abrupt intermission half-way through (where everyone walked out of the theatre), the sense of occasion, of a real communal experience -- it was something. And then there was the music.
It struck me at the time that folks back home would love the music -- if it was readily available. And lo, these many years later this has come to pass. Bollywood is pretty much entered mainstream global culture, creating all kinds of spin-offs, including groups like Masala Mixers, whose style combines Bollywood hit tunes with jazz and electronics. Can't seem to find a place on the World Wide Web for Masala Mixers, but they are reviewed here at the Live Music Report.
You can hear the Masala Mixers on Canada Live tonight, along with a wealth of Cuban-Canadian music.
Continue reading "Bollywood Havana Canada Style" »
Posted by on July 27, 2007 at 09:00 AM
It's been about a decade since the flood of mainstream interest in Cuban music began (largely courtesy of Ry, Wim and The BVSC). Who could have predicted it? Anyone could have predicted the eventual tapering off of interest though, and sure as shootin,' these days a lot of that music is only heard on low rotation in your nearest non-corporate coffee shop.
Meantime, Cuban music in Canada is flourishing -- more than ample compensation for not hearing Chan Chan on a daily basis. One of the newer groups (new enough that they don't seem to have a website I can link to, although check out this bio at the Lula Lounge) is Tipica Toronto, a Cuban orchestra featuring vocals, flute, violins, cello, tres, piano, bass and percussion, a configuration sometimes known as a “charanga francesa.”
They're just one of two Cuban-Canadian acts you can hear on Canada Live this evening, recorded at the hopping Salsa on St. Clair Street fest. (If you check out that link you'll see the festival literally lives up to its name... marvellous, as dancing on the streets is certainly not part of the normal course of life in uptown hogtown.)
Continue reading "Salsa On The Air" »
July 26, 2007
Posted by on July 26, 2007 at 05:00 PM
We've got Can-Lit, why not Can-Sax? Given how many great Canadian sax players there are out there. And two of them pair up twice tonight, on both Tonic and Canada Live: saxophonist Tara Davidson and her teacher, saxophonist Mike Murley. In the former instance, it's with a rendition of No Regrets, featuring the Glenn Gould Studio Strings, in the latter it's part of a concert from Halifax's Atlantic Jazz Festival.
And if you need more proof that Tonic and Canada Live sometimes have freakishly astounding synchronicity, get this -- tonight on Canada Live you can also hear a band called the Tonic, recorded at the PEI Jazz Festival. Wow, man.
July 25, 2007
Posted by on July 25, 2007 at 06:31 PM
Berlioz had Les Nuits d'été, (broadcast earlier today); Montrealers have Nuits d’Afrique. And so do CBC listeners...tonight on Canada Live.
The annual festival of African music is a special one, originally held at the legendary Club Balattou, now held at venues across the city. Funny, just writing that makes me nostalgic for Montreal and its summer music scene, which has always struck me as a more free-wheeling creature than that of my home-town T.O. Must go to Montreal soon...
Anyway, at least there is the Can-Live broadcast from the festival to enjoy tonight, with a concert from Moroccan-born, Quebec-based Hassan El Hadi, a singer and oud player who blends Berber rhythms with the music from Andalusia. (I heard him play Afrofest this year, with his band Maroc'N Real -- gotta love the name -- a thoroughly enjoyable show, energetic and engaging.)
The second performance is by Gabriela Mendes, who is of Cape Verdean heritage (think Cesaria Evora), and sings both original and traditional songs in Portuguese and Creole. I've only seen her via this sweet video shot in Cape Verde, but that's certainly more than enough to recommend her music.
July 24, 2007
Posted by on July 24, 2007 at 07:00 PM
John Reischman is an eclectic cat. I think I can call him that -- check out the previous link and see if you don't think he looks like someone who could be called a cat. Anyhoo, Reischman plays both Latin jazz and trad bluegrass, the latter with his group John Reischman & the Jaybirds, featured tonight in concert on Canada Live. It's a bit of a release party for their latest CD, Stellar Jays. (Baseball Aside: hey, three wins in a row, things are looking up! Maybe not quite stellar, but getting there.)
The second concert on tonight's show, having nothing to do with any kind of Jay, is from Sara Davis Buechner featuring music by Rudolf Friml and Gershwin. Davis Buechner is a pianist and an assistant professor of piano at UBC, and she's made the piano works of Friml something of a focus -- in 2004 she released a CD of his work that got great reviews, including one from Anthony Tommasini no less.
"I can't imagine this music played with more integrity and affection," said Tommasini.
I can't imagine a nicer thing to say about someone's playing.
July 23, 2007
Posted by on July 23, 2007 at 06:55 PM
Tom Wilson (of Junkhouse and Blackie and The Rodeo Kings fame) has been running a café/folk club in Rosebud Alberta, which looks about as perfect a spot for an intimate folk/roots concert as you can imagine. Tonight Canada Live broadcasts from the Rosebud, featuring Tom's own music, veteran blues man Tim Williams, and 18-year-old singer-songwriter Lindsay Ell.
And the second concert of the evening is from Toronto trumpeter Guido Basso, performing with Calgary quintet, Verismo, in the Monday night jazz series at the University of Calgary. If for some reason you miss the broadcast, (because you're making travel arrangements to Rosebud or some such) you can also hear the concert on this very website, as part of Concerts On Demand.
July 22, 2007
Posted by on July 22, 2007 at 06:48 PM
Now I heard some of the music from the Festival 500 (it's a biennial choir festival) on Studio Sparks not long ago, and I also happened to hear one of the choirs live. And I have this to say about that: if you like choral music, check out the broadcast on Canada Live tonight -- interesting, diverse choirs, singing on The Rock. (Well, someplace in St. John's, anyway.) The featured choirs on the broadcast are the New Zealand Youth Choir called TOWER, Gondwana Voices from Australia, and The Saskatoon Children’s Choir.
July 21, 2007
Posted by on July 21, 2007 at 06:35 PM
Canada Live continues to make its way across the country, broadcasting concerts from many of the great Canadian music festivals. I've not been to the Regina jazz fest, where tonight's first concert originates, but I have heard Dione Taylor live, and let me assure you, she has a mighty fine set of pipes.
Next up it's a Regina native, based in NYC, pianist Jon Ballantyne who won a Juno in 2007 for his recording, Avenue Standard.
And behind Door Number 3, a short set from virtuoso acoustic guitarist Ken Hamm. Mr. Hamm I've also heard live any number of times in the past, at folk festivals, playing bluesy, slidey guitar. I like what a review in the Manitoba Blues Society newsletter had to say about Hamm's playing: "I swear I saw sparks as he moved up and down the neck of the guitar."
July 20, 2007
Posted by on July 20, 2007 at 06:30 PM
A week or so ago I heard Jian Ghomeshi, over on CBC Radio 1's "Q," talking to someone at the Winnipeg Folk Festival about their elephant ears. No, it wasn't a reality TV judge moment, it was just a Winnipeger waxing rhapsodic about the glories of the food at the fest -- particularly the deep fried variety.
This put me in mind of the glories of the food at Afrofest. No elephant ears, but so much good African, Carribean and related foods -- it's incredible. So good that foodie bloggers like Save Your Fork There's Pie even blog about it.
Ditto on the music front. (The good factor, I mean.) And tonight Canada Live is all about Afrofest. Concerts include Ruth Mathiang, who grew up singing and composing in her native Sudan, came to Canada to attend university. In 2002 she released her a collection of gospel and peace songs on her first CD entitled My Cry, Peace.
Then Katenen Dioubate brings the rich heritage of griot - singing storytellers of Guinea. And in concert 3 it’s Hajamdagascar and The Groovy People, a project that gathered musicians from Africa and African diasporas.
July 19, 2007
Posted by on July 19, 2007 at 06:40 PM
Someone should do a photo-essay of Canadian summer music festivals, if it hasn't been done already. If you're a festival goer, you'll know what I mean, they really are incredible hives of social (oh yes, and musical) activity.
But even if radio can't capture the sheer exhilaration-meets- lunacy-meets-music of a festival in pictures, it can, obviously, capture some of that energy in sound. Fer'instance tonight on Canada Live you can hear two concerts from the Vancouver Folk Music Festival.
First by famed labour organizer and folk singer Utah Phillips, who modestly calls himself the “Golden Voice of the Great Southwest.” And then The Be Good Tanyas, who do a mix of folk, country, old-time Americana, with their own original songs.
Speaking of, happened to be plowing through the dvds of Weeds the other night, and was pleased to find a Be Good Tanyas song on one episode. Funny, just can't seem to remember which episode it was though, man.
July 18, 2007
Posted by on July 18, 2007 at 06:20 PM
Is it ever jazz season! Jazz festivals and jazz bloggin' going strong. Speaking of, this blog called Visionsong takes a brave look at the idea of post-modern jazz. And on Canada Live tonight you can hear two primo concerts from the 28th annual Festival International de Jazz de Montréal.
First, pianist François Bourassa, this year’s Oscar Peterson Award winner, with his quartet and special guest New York saxophonist David Binney.
Second, sax player Yannick Rieu with a show conceived specifically for the festival, in which Rieu displays his extensive array of musical influences, ranging from acoustic to electronic.
July 17, 2007
Posted by on July 17, 2007 at 07:01 PM
Tonight on Canada Live the 125th anniversary of Russian composer Igor Stravinsky's 125th birth is celebrated by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
And then, music from a different kind of "orchestra," one made up of bronze and wooden instruments from Indonesia, the Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan . Their concert includes the premier of a new work for gamelan and piano.
July 16, 2007
Posted by on July 16, 2007 at 06:13 PM
Music to dance to, music to tap your toes to and music to listen to on the ever-eclectic Canada Live this eve...there are folk-songs from Quebec, Newfoundland and the Maritimes, from Les Charbonniers de l'Enfer, (an a cappella group featuring a few La Bottine Souriante alumni) and fiddler Laura Risk with soprano Meredith Hall.
Plus some tango with the aptly named Tango Tango, one of Montreal's most active ensembles specializing in tango. (They'll perform music from the trad repertoire as well as new compositions by the leader of the group, Victor Simon.)
As if that wasn't enough, you can also hear music from La Nef and Les Voix Humaines.
July 15, 2007
Posted by on July 15, 2007 at 06:00 PM
Actually the subject heading would work much better if Jerry Granelli was called "Bill." In the bad puns department at least. But since bad punning is not something one should cultivate let's just stick to the musical excitement of this two-fer.
If you tune into Canada Live tonight you can hear Bill Frisell, who is an iconoclastic jazz guitarist, and a completely engaging live performer. (I saw him play solo in a little New York club once, and I tell ya, it was riveting.)
So you have your Bill Frisell, and to open up you have your Jerry Granelli, legendary jazz drummer. A good match for Bill in the iconoclast stakes, come to think of it.
Both performances are from Friday night, the opening night of the Atlantic Jazz Festival.
July 14, 2007
Posted by on July 14, 2007 at 06:40 PM
The Fugitives are not criminals. Nor are thtey just your run-of-the-mill bar band. No, they describe themselves as a mix of "energetic SLAM poetry with Canadiana and folk-cabaret grooveboxing." Not sure about the grooveboxing (is this like kickboxing in old vinyl?) but the tracks on The Fugitive's myspace site sure show their SLAM poetry Canadiana folk-cabaret side.
Catch them on Canada Live tonight. No punches pulled.
July 13, 2007
Posted by on July 13, 2007 at 05:30 PM
I remember reading about the concert that will be broadcast tonight on Canada Live when it was coming up, and thinking how lovely it would be to go the Palais Royale and hear jazz. I've heard roots and blues music there, been to functions and film fest parties, but never heard jazz -- and that's what the place was created for. (Actually at first it was a boathouse, but that was relatively short-lived.)
The Palais, if you don't know it, is a beautiful dance hall in the old Sunnyside neighborhood of Toronto, right on Lake Ontario, built in the 1920s. Ellington, Count Basie, Fats Waller, Benny Goodman and Louis Armstrong all played there -- what a history!
Anyway, it's nice to know that jazz can still be heard today at the Palais Royale. And tonight on the radio -- even though we won't get the visuals we can at least have the aural experience, with Jeff Healey's Jazz Band Ball, recorded at the Palais. Healey and his band, The Jazz Wizards, are joined by three special guests - banjoist Marty Grosz, clarinetist Dan Levinson and bass saxist Vince Giordano.
btw, the place has been totally renovated, have not yet been. But if you go to the Palais Royale website you can see some wonderful old photos of it over the years...
July 12, 2007
Posted by on July 12, 2007 at 06:45 PM
Tonight Canada Live presents Hayley Sales.
This is what Krist Novoselic, former bassist of Nirvana says of Ms. Sales.
"Wow! I cry when I hear her sing!"
If you need more commendation, let it be said that Haley Sales also won "Female Vocalist of the Year" at the Vancouver Island Music Awards, and performed to standing ovations at Seattle's Northwest Folk Life festival.
The Canada Live team, who knows first hand say, "Sales' performances are inspiring and infectious; her mission is to take audiences on a journey that moves from reggae dance party one minute to a meditative, thoughtful state the next." Dance, meditate. Dance, mediate. Sounds like a code to live by.
July 11, 2007
Posted by on July 11, 2007 at 06:36 PM
The Festival International de Jazz de Montreal turns 28 this year, and Canada Live is celebrating with some music from this year's fest.
I don't know which particular musicians they'll be playing on the show tonight, but you know, it almost doesn't matter, given the typical energy of performances at the Montreal fest. Maybe it's something to do with the sheer mass of excited people, cross-pollinated with the cumulative weight of all that tradition --whatever the case may be, the Montreal jazz fest usually seems to inspire both musicians and audiences alike.
For a quick peek at a visual representation of that energy, check out Ojos de Brujo's blog re: their Montreal date.
July 10, 2007
Posted by on July 10, 2007 at 06:45 PM
The Art of Time Ensemble, led by pianist Andrew Burashko, takes a catholic approach to classical music. Burashko is unabashed in saying that collaborating with musicians better known outside the classical world is one of the ways classical music can refresh itself, stay relevant and draw in new and younger audiences. In other words, all of the things that classical music organizations are desperate to do.
Tonight you can hear one outcome of this attitude as Canada Live presents the Art of Time performing mostly Canadian songs, with new arrangements by the likes of Aaron Davis, Phil Dwyer, Roberto Occhipinti and Gavin Bryars. Pop singer Sarah Slean does the singing, and songs are by by Mary-Margaret O'Hara, Ron Sexsmith, Hawksley Workman, Feist, Leonard Cohen and others.
July 09, 2007
Posted by on July 9, 2007 at 06:45 PM
What do you think, does the clarinet get overlooked? Does it languish in the shadow of the saxophone? Seems to me that once the big band era went kaput, the clarinet became something of the poor country cousin to the sax. (Eric Dolphy and Don Byron aside.)
Tonight on Canada Live the clarinet has its day though. Three star clarinetists, James Campbell, Phil Nimmons and Airat Ichmouratov, (as pictured stage left), share the bill on what was a sold out show from Almonte Old Town Hall. What's more, they're doing something of a Nigel Kennedy (does this make them the bad clarinet-playing-boys?) by playing both jazz and classical, with music from Ellington, Mozart and Brahms, as well as some contemporary jazz and klezmer.
You can also hear this performance at Concerts On Demand.
July 08, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on July 8, 2007 at 06:08 PM
Pierre Flynn is one of Quebec's best singer songwriters. His songs seem to be bathed in an aura of mystery.
Starting out in the 70s as the lead singer of a very popular band called Octobre, Flynn only recently decided to play solo: his piano, his guitar and his voice.
For this special concert, a few special guests join him on stage for some exceptional collaborations.
That’s tonight on Canada Live with Patti Schmidt.
July 07, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on July 7, 2007 at 06:16 PM
If you've just been listening to Tonic (or your ear to the Vinyl Café now and then), you'll have had a taste of one of Canada's foremost jazz pianists, Michael Kaeshammer.
He's released a series of award winning, critically acclaimed recordings and has developed a large, international following through his dynamic live performances and his encyclopedic knowledge of traditional piano styles.
You'll hear his full range in performance tonight on Canada Live with Patti Schmidt.
July 06, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on July 6, 2007 at 06:16 PM
The Winnipeg Folk Festival is legendary for its presentation of music, its variety, its spectacular location, its longevity and its baseball-sized mosquitos.
Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, you'll drop in on the opening night mainstage show, featuring an exciting mix of Canadian and international artists at their peak. Performances include Olla belle, The John Jorgensen Quintet, The Duhks and the Indigo Girls - all recorded live at Birds Hill Park. No DDT required.
You know, the other neat thing about the Winnipeg Folk Festival is that Birds Hill Park is a fair way from downtown Winnipeg. They overcome the distance handily with regular shuttle buses. What remains is a really special sense that you're travelling to a special space to hear special music. It's like Avalon or something.
July 05, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on July 5, 2007 at 06:15 PM
Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, Vivaldi’s Angels conductor Matthias Maute brings together two sopranos, two baroque ensembles and a women's choir to perform sacred works by Vivaldi, including his "Gloria".
July 04, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on July 4, 2007 at 06:13 PM
Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, Iranian musician Amir Amiri presents his latest compositions backed up by drummer Sandro Dominelli at Edmonton's Cathedral Church of the Redeemer.
July 03, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on July 3, 2007 at 06:18 PM
At its première in 1913, the awe-inspiring evocation of ancient pagan ceremonies that is Stravinsky's “The Rite of Spring” provoked the greatest scandal in twentieth-century music. Long a classic of the orchestral repertoire, its elemental titanic rhythms and vivid orchestration make for one of the most virtuoso pieces in the repertoire. Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, you'll hear the first of a two-part Stravinsky festival from the TSO.
While we're at it, there's a new production of "The Rite of Spring" at the newly opened Festival Hall, South Bank in London featuring 3-D Holographic projections and other innovations. You can read an appreciation of Stravinsky from Artistic Director Jude Kelly in this article from the Independent Online.
July 02, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on July 2, 2007 at 06:17 PM
In case you haven't already checked it out on the Concerts On Demand panel, or heard it on Symphony Hall over the weekend, tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, you'll hear a remarkable project commissioned by the CBC Radio Orchestra in Vancouver.
For "The Great Canadian Songbook", the Orchestra commissioned four Canadian composers to orchestrate songs by four icons of Canadian songwriting: Gordon Lightfoot, Buffy Saint Marie, Joni Mitchell and Serge Fiori (whom you may remember from the band Harmonium).
The arrangements are by Glenn Buhr, Giorgio Magnanensi, Phil Dwyer and the Artistic Director/Conductor of the CBC Radio Orchestra, Alain Trudel.
Then, in "I Remember Wayne", narrator Stuart McLean and composer Cam Wilson put their creative talents together to tell the culture-clashing story of Wayne Gretzky's fictional boyhood neighbour. This musical story is accompanied by an original score by Cameron Wilson performed by the CBC Radio Orchestra recorded at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts.
July 01, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on July 1, 2007 at 06:08 PM
The Canada Day edition of Canada Live with Patti Schmidt brings you the 5th Annual Global Divas benefit concert that took place just over two weeks ago at Toronto’s historic (and beautifully refurbished) Palais Royale Ballroom.
This year’s concert was once again hosted by international acclaimed jazz virtuoso Jane Bunnett and her band The Spirits of Havana and features the voices of Emeline Michel, Telmary, Suba Sankaran and Rita Chiarelli.
June 30, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 30, 2007 at 06:16 PM
True to the name, Calgary group Pear is a “sweet yet gritty” alt-country band fronted by Denis & Lynae Dufresne. They also describe themselves as "The most accomplished band you've never heard of".
They joined forces with singer songwriter Lorrie Matheson in the second "Combo to Go" concert presented by CBC Radio and the Epcor Centre in Calgary.
You'll hear the results tonight on Canada Live with Patti Schmidt.
June 29, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 29, 2007 at 06:18 PM
Guitarist Clinton Pelletier has music in his genes.
He started guitar lessons under the instruction of his father, Freddie Pelletier. But Clinton has definitely developed his own unique voice.
Drawing inspiration from styles as diverse as country, Celtic, rock, flamenco, and gypsy-jazz -- Clinton and his band fire up the CBC Regina Galleria tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway.
June 28, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 28, 2007 at 06:18 PM
Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, clarinetist Don Ross, the leader of the Saint Crispin’s Chamber Ensemble is joined by Ian Woodman on cello and Sarah Ho on piano. A theme of lushness and beauty runs through a program featuring the wild British seascapes of John Ireland’s "Fantasy-Sonata" and Don's arrangements of passionate songs by Gabriel Fauré and Manuel De Falla.
The show also marks the world premiere of "Mandala", written especially for the ensemble in classical Indian style by young Calgary composer Sonya Guha-Thakurta.
June 27, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 27, 2007 at 06:18 PM
Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, you'll hear Vancouver’s fabulous Tango Paradiso.
Douglas Schmidt leads on the bandoneon with Henry Lee on viola, Amanda Chan at the piano and Mark Haney on bass. They recapture the original drama and danger of tango while adding many fine original compositions to the classic repertoire. In this way they are changing the idiom and creating new possibilities that even Astor Piazzolla may never have imagined.
June 26, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 26, 2007 at 06:18 PM
Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, a fond farewell to The Great Canadian Theatre Company’s home on Gladstone Avenue in Ottawa.
For years, it was also the home of the highly successful Acoustic Waves Series. As this building gets ready to close the Ottawa Folk Festival brings together two Acoustic Wave veterans, Lynn Miles and David Francey plus up-and-comer Steve Marriner for a song-circle to say goodbye to this intimate space.
The GCTC will move into new digs - the Irving Greenberg Theatre Centre - at the corner of Wellington St. and Holland Ave. to launch their 2007/8 season this fall.
June 24, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 24, 2007 at 06:18 PM
Each year Canada’s East Coast Music Industry gathers to celebrate their finest and put off one of biggest kitchen parties on the planet. This year Halifax played host to the event where the buzz was all about songwriters.
The ECMA / SOCAN Songwriters Circle has long been recognized as “the jewel” of the East Coast Music Awards and 2007 edition was one of the best. Round One was hosted by Newfoundland’s “Man of A Thousand Songs” Ron Hynes and features Prince Edward Island’s Rose Cousins, Nova Scotia’s Charlie A’Court, and Steven Bowers with special guest Jully Black.
That's tonight on Canada Live with Patti Schmidt.
June 23, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 23, 2007 at 06:13 PM
Tonight on Canada Live with Patti Schmidt, a festival of all things Django Reinhardt, recorded at St. James Hall as part of the Rogue Folk Club.
The festival featured four bands that carry on the tradition of Django Reinhardt and the Hot Club of France. The Hot Club of Mars brought big tunes that included a Django-esque reworking of the Britney Spears tune "Toxic".
Now, where's my Duane Andrews from St. John's?
June 22, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 22, 2007 at 06:18 PM
Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, an Ottawa event hosted by the host of CBC Radio's A Propos, Jim Corcoran.
Jim is also a songwriter and has hosted several of these Songwriters' Sessions in the past. Each one is unique and this one brought together musicians with very different personal styles, performing original songs in an intimate setting.
You'll hear performances by Michel Rivard, Monica Freire, Urbain Desbois and Mario Peluso.
June 21, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 21, 2007 at 06:18 PM
Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, a performance from Red Road Music in honour of National Aboriginal Day.
According to Native American tradition, walking the Red Road is a metaphor for living a life of truth, friendship, respect, spirituality and humanitarianism. “Red Road Music” is an exciting performance celebrating new songs and stories.
Eagle & Hawk headline the evening with a rare acoustic set. Also on the bill, up-and-coming singer songwriters Tracy Bone, J.C. Campbell, Don Amero and Jared Sowan.
June 20, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 20, 2007 at 06:15 PM
Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, from Pollack Hall in Montreal, English cellist Steven Isserlis and Russian pianist Kirill Gerstein, two of the biggest stars on the international chamber music scene, team up for an all-Russian programme.
June 19, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 19, 2007 at 06:11 PM
The Gryphon Trio is one of Canada's very best chamber ensembles, with a well-established international career in the classical music world. But violinist Annalee Patipatanakoon and cellist Roman Borys are true musical explorers, and at least once a year they kick out the jams at Lula Lounge in Toronto with a concert presented by Music Toronto that reaches well beyond their home musical turf.
You'll hear this year's foray tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway.
June 18, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 18, 2007 at 06:18 PM
VoiceScapes is a music collective created in 2000 by two couples: Christina Jahn & Paul Grindlay, and Julie Harris & Jerald Fast. Each singer brings a broad range of performing experience: from medieval ensembles to opera companies, from solo to choral work, spanning four continents.
They'll bring it all together in song tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway.
June 17, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 17, 2007 at 06:10 PM
Tonight on Canada Live with Patti Schmidt, take one 125 year old blues bar, add a dozen or so of Vancouver's best musicians, a pinch each of Nova Scotia, Scotland, Spain and Ireland, many shots of single malt and a keg of Guinness. Shake vigorously. And what you end up with is The Yale Hotel barely containing a sold out, opening night céilídh at the 4th annual Vancouver Celtic Fest.
British-Canadian songsmith Tim Readman hosted the night, which saw members of The Paper Boys, Mad Pudding, Spirit of the West, the Shona LeMotte Band, Daniel Lapp and the fabulous Ashley MacIsaac inflame the crowd and burn down the stage (you know, figuratively speaking - 'cuz those 125 year old hotels can be powder kegs).
June 16, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 16, 2007 at 06:17 PM
Some of my favourite moments on the road were collapsing into a hotel bed at 3:00am and hearing what Patti Schmidt was spinning on Radio Two. And Patti had a knack for finding lots of grimy electronica that perfectly fit the mood and the hour.
Well, Montréal recently hosted its 8th Mutek Festival of Electronic Music so a world of those sounds descended on the city and Patti was naturally there to catch them for prime time on Canada Live.
Tonight you'll hear highlights from a festival that included more than 100 artists from around the world working in a number of the seemingly arcane sub-genres of the universe of electronic music.
June 15, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 15, 2007 at 06:16 PM
Lori Cullen moves easily within Toronto's singer-songwriter scene but there's a kind of wink in her stage presence and the occasional sense that she's about to burst with some secret she's been dying to tell. That secret is sometimes not-so-secret when she sits in on jazz sessions and her bell-like voice meshes so beautifully with jazz arrangements.
It was perhaps this experience that got her thinking about horns and how she wanted to immerse her voice among them. So, with a little help from some friends, she's done just that. Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, you'll hear Lori in a concert of new and old material arranged for a large band that includes The True North Brass.
Later in the show, the Toronto-based Great Lake Swimmers come home for the last concert of a cross-country tour in support of their latest CD, entitled "Ongiara" and you'll hear highlights from the Amanda Martinez set is from the "Canada Live in the Global Village" concert at Lula Lounge.
The later two concerts are both available in our Concerts On Demand Panel. You'll find the Great Lakes Swimmers here and Amanada Martinez here.
June 14, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 14, 2007 at 06:18 PM
Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway from Convocation Hall at the University of Regina - an eclectic concert featuring bass-baritone Garry Gable and pianist Kathleen Lohrenz.
Then it’s over to the CBC Galleria for up-and-coming Canadian soprano Allison Arends, who will perform arias ranging from Handel to Bernstein.
And, to round out the evening, guitarist Clinton Pelletier and his band manage to make a coherent sound from a melange of country/celtic/rock/flamenco and gypsy jazz.
June 13, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 13, 2007 at 06:12 PM
Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, the Montreal Chamber Music Festival dedicates a night to the moon’s influence on artistic creativity. Performers include Nathalie Paulin, Michael McMahon and Orion Weiss in a program that features music inspired by the aura of the moon, which of course must include Beethoven’s "Moonlight Sonata", Dvorak’s "Song to the Moon" and more.
[Anyone know that gorgeous Justin Rutledge song, "The Suffering Of Pepe O'Malley (Pt. III)" - with its gorgeous, fading end refrain: "I wanna die in Vienna / listening to the Moonlight Sonata". You can check out the video here].
Later on Canada Live, Gilles Apap, a versatile young violinist, pays homage to jazz great Stephane Grapelli.
June 12, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 12, 2007 at 06:11 PM
Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway it’s a celebration of the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra’s tenth anniversary with a concert before a packed house at the Winnipeg Art Gallery featuring original arrangements of music by Irving Berlin. Special guests for the occasion include guitar whiz Bjorn Thorreddsen and vocalist Prudence Johnson.
Then a concert featuring Winnipeg's Papa Mambo playing classic Latin and South American dance music.
June 11, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 11, 2007 at 06:19 PM
Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, young Canadian musicians are given the opportunity to perform on rare and extremely valuable instruments in a concert from the National Arts Centre featuring selections by Bach, Handel, Brahms, and more.
Then, Roberto Munczuk leads the NAC Orchestra in the world premiere of a brand new Canadian symphony.
And finally, Petr Cancura with his trio performing original jazz compositions with a Latin beat.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 11, 2007 at 02:15 PM
The Django Festival is a series of concerts hosted by the Rogue Folk Club in Vancouver. The festival features bands which carry on the tradition of the pioneering jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt and the Hot Club of France.
In this concert The Marc Atkinson Trio bring their brilliant original compositions to St. James Hall in Kitsilano.
Enjoy these hot club sounds and keep an ear out for more concerts from this festival on Canada Live and at Concerts On Demand.
June 10, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 10, 2007 at 06:17 PM
Tonight on Canada Live with Patti Schmidt it's a live-to-air broadcast from the Scotia Festival of Music, the Maritime's most prominent festival of classical music.
This year there’s an electrifying grand finale concert - two world premieres from Canadian star composer Christos Hatzis plus the powerful "Concerto for Orchestra" by Bela Bartok.
Soloists will be Steven Dann on Viola, and percussionist Bev Johnston. Alain Trudel (conductor of the of CBC radio orchestra) will lead 80 musicians drawn from across North America and around the world.
June 09, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 9, 2007 at 05:59 PM
....from where Tonic left off, Canada Live with Patti Schmidt tonight features the aforementioned Bomba! recorded live in Edmonton.
Later, Bob Jahrig, a long time Edmonton-based singer/songwriter who only began performing in public in the last couple of years. He got pretty good pretty fast.
June 08, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 8, 2007 at 06:09 PM
Well, after much ballyhoo the night has finally come on Canada Live with Matt Galloway.
Tonight, from Toronto, it’s the Luna Gala – a special concert featuring ten of Canada's greatest opera singers with arias, duos and trios that are all inspired by the moon or moonlight.
The program features arias by Bellini, Rossini, Verdi, Canadian composer Alexina Louie and many more.
June 07, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 7, 2007 at 06:13 PM
Coming up on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, from Vancouver, recorded at St. James Hall as part of the Rogue Folk Club, it’s a festival of music featuring musical groups influenced by Django Reinhart.
The Marc Atkinson Trio specializes in brilliant original compositions, The Hot Club of Mars will play a jazz version of Toxic, plus numbers by Lache Cercel and the Roma Swing Ensemble.
June 06, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 6, 2007 at 05:57 PM
Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway from Montreal:
Soloist André Laplante performs piano music by Beethoven and Chopin.
Later, renowned Quebecoise jazz pianist Lorraine Desmarais and her Trio welcome guest trumpeter Tiger Okoshi for an evening of be-bop set mostly to a Miles Davis songbook from the1950s.
June 05, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 5, 2007 at 06:10 PM
Tonight from Vancouver on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, pianist (and master of the French repertoire) Pascal Rogé joins the Vancouver Chopin Society for a recital he put together exploring the links between Chopin and the works of 20th century French composers such as Ravel, Debussy and Satie.
Later, three-time Juno Award-winner Jenny Whiteley and her band recorded at Café Rime on Vancouver's Commercial Drive. The band keeps things traditional by playing pure and simple country music, complete with banjo, fiddle and even a saw. Vancouver-based guitarist Steve Dawson, who also produced her latest CD, “Dear”, joins Jenny and the band.
June 04, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 4, 2007 at 05:46 PM
Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, Juno Award winning vocalist Kiran Ahluwalia in concert from the Enwave Theatre in Toronto with the unique updating of the ancient Indian tradition of Ghazal (love poetry) singing that has made her hit with audiences in North America and India.
Later, Harry Manx and Kevin Breit offer another Canadian take on South Asian music, combining classical Indian music and traditional blues.
June 03, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 3, 2007 at 05:49 PM
Tonight on Canada Live with Patti Schmidt, the Winnipeg Chamber Music Society celebrates its 20th anniversary season with a concert of music from Haydn's 'Sunrise' String Quartet and Schumann's Piano Quartet in E-flat major. They'll also heat up the room with Piazzolla's fiery Grand Tango for electric viola and piano.
Later, the Turtle Duhks, a trio led by Len Podolak of the Manitoba roots band the Duhks. The musicians present a cozy house concert of rootsy, old-time music that reflects a different era.
And Virtuosi Concerts presents a solo recital by pianist Li Wang, featuring music by his own father, Chinese composer Yan-Qiao Wang, as well as music by Chopin and by Canadian composer Alain Gagnon.
June 02, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 2, 2007 at 05:56 PM
Tonight on Canada Live with Patti Schmidt, a show I had the pleasure of hosting at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium in Halifax. The programme is built around the remarkable band Mir - a project fronted by the Ilyas brothers, Asif and Shehab: great musicians with a generous spirit and a generous musicality that invites all comers to the party. This show includes friends Jill Barber, Nick Van Eede from the Cutting Crew, and the Halifax-based Sudanese Kalimba group Kojo.
Later, jazz guitarist Michael Occhipinti teams up with three string players from Symphony Nova Scotia to create a concert of atmospheric, creative music. Also, Daniel Heikalo is a master of many world instruments, from the citern to the dijeridoo. For this concert, he teamed up with guitarist/percussionist Ryan Leblanc for an incredible night of music making.
June 01, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on June 1, 2007 at 05:50 PM
Sandy Scofield is a treat. When she's not peppering her audience with jokes, she's delivering sometimes hard-hitting, always heartfelt songs in a powerful voice. Her 2003 release “Ketwam” won the 2003 Western Canadian Music Award for Aboriginal music. That same year, the album also won Best Folk Album and Best Production in the 2003 Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards. You'll hear her and her band tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway recorded in CBC Studio One in Vancouver.
Later, Euis Komariah, in a concert of traditional and contemporary Indonesian tembang. And, Saxophilia, a contemporary saxophone quartet based in Vancouver, in concert at the Cellar Jazz Club, playing music by Strayhorn, Torke and Rivier.
May 31, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on May 31, 2007 at 05:37 PM
You may have heard some of the finalists of this year's edition of the Montreal International Musical Competition last week on Studio Sparks. This year's competition was devoted to voice, with 33 semi-finalists from 11 countries, competing for nearly $100,000.
Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, you'll hear highlights from some of the best performances from the semi-finals and finals.
May 30, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on May 30, 2007 at 05:41 PM
Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, a concert in celebration of Asian Heritage Month.
First, Ottawa's Mushfiq Ensemble delivers dynamic performances of Indian classical and Afghan folk music using an array of instruments (harmonium, tabla, violin, acoustic tanpura) and an array of languages (about 12!).
Later, the Aber Diamond Debut series recital by Yuja Wang. At only 17, she wowed Ottawa audiences when she stepped in for an ailing Radu Lupu at an NAC Orchestra concert. This concert features music by Haydn, Chopin and Scarlatti.
May 29, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on May 29, 2007 at 05:54 PM
The response to Radio Two's all-day Victoria Day "Ring Cycle" marathon was spectacular - as were so many of the performances. Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, you'll hear one of those performers in a very different setting as soprano Adrianne Pieczonka offers an intimate recital titled “A Woman’s Life and Loves” .
Later, Toronto trumpeter Guido Basso teams up with the Calgary quintet Verismo in the Monday Night Jazz series at the University of Calgary.
May 28, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on May 28, 2007 at 05:49 PM
Jesse Cook's amazing virtuosity on guitar is matched by his eclectic style, blending influences from Spain, Africa, Egypt and Brazil. Hear the Juno Award-winning guitarist tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, in a concert of Nuevo Flamenco subtly flavoured with world music and jazz.
Later, Toronto's Melissa McClelland - a singer/songwriter who paints pictures in what she calls "pop noir".
And the host of Vinyl Tap, Randy Bachman, takes to the stage with a career retrospective, featuring everything from his early inspirations playing jazz guitar as a teenager to how that influenced some of his big hits with BTO and the Guess Who.
Come to think of it, sounds kind of like an edition of Vinyl Tap - only live!
May 27, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on May 27, 2007 at 05:49 PM
Toronto horn virtuoso Jamie Sommerville was recently named the new Artistic Director of the Hamilton Philharmonic - adding conducting to his platform skills. He introduced himself to the Hamilton public in a recent program of chamber music, playing alongside principals of his new Hamilton orchestra.
You'll hear this getting-to-know-you concert tonight on Canada Live with Patti Schmidt in a programme including Mozart's "Quintet for Piano and Winds".
Also - if you haven't already checked it out already on the Concerts On Demand panel - tonight you can hear the return of English composer Gavin Bryars to Toronto after a hiatus of more than a dozen years in a concert recorded at Glenn Gould Studio. He's joined by Swedish soprano Anna Maria Friman, English tenor John Potter, Canadian instrumentalists Max Christie on bass clarinet and
Douglas Perry on viola, in a melding of contemporary and early music.
May 26, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on May 26, 2007 at 05:48 PM
Jay Semko, front man for the Saskatchewan band The Northern Pikes, showcases his second solo CD, "Redberry", tonight on Canada Live with Patti Schmidt coming to you from Regina.
Later, Kim Fontaine and her band bring a unique blend of folk, rock, jazz and country as they showcase her second solo release, "Life Happens."
Then, the producer of Kim's CD, David J. Taylor, steps into the limelight with a concert of original tunes.
May 25, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on May 25, 2007 at 05:53 PM
Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, Canada's one-man blues encyclopedia Colin James recorded on the final stop of his "Little Big Band 3" tour in Edmonton.
Then, New York pianist Polly Ferman has been called "Musical Ambassador of the Americas".
She's joined by Edmonton accordionist Antonio Peruch and percussionist Mario Allende, plus string players from the University of Alberta and the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. The concert featured music by the
undisputed master of the Tango, Astor Piazzolla, and the torchbearer of his cause, Daniel Binelli.
May 24, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on May 24, 2007 at 05:40 PM
Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, two of Canada's most promising young opera singers - soprano Joni Henson and bass Robert Gleadow - sing arias from operas by Mozart and Massenet. Richard Bradshaw conducts the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra, recorded at the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto.
Later, composer-pianist-improviser Glenn Buhr, with an eclectic mix from jazzed Mozart to Asian-influenced urban sounds and steamy blues.
May 23, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on May 23, 2007 at 05:53 PM
Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, you'll hear music by Vancouver's Red Chamber Ensemble, featuring a quintet of women on a variety of traditional Chinese plucked instruments: Guilian Liu on the Pipa; Ling Yang on Pipa, Ruan and Liuqin; Mei Han on Zheng and Liuqin; Geling Jiang on Sanxian and Ruan; and Zhi Min Yu on Ruan and Daruan.
PLUS, Canada's YouTube sensation Jeremy Fischer, who was recently picked up in the U.S. by indie label Wind Up Records.
May 22, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on May 22, 2007 at 05:46 PM
Features the Skye Consort and Michael Slattery plus the Quatuor de Guitares du Canada et de Salzbourg.
I'm guessing it's four guitars from Canada and Salzbourg.
May 20, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on May 20, 2007 at 05:44 PM
Tonight on Canada Live, Patti Schmidt presents the concert that opened this year's "Music at Memorial" concert series in St. John's Newfoundland.
First, cellist Theo Weber and pianist Kristina Szutor repeat the recital that won them international acclaim in Rio de Janeiro this past summer.
Later, Amarcord, a remarkable six-man singing ensemble from Germany, joins forces with the male voices of Shallaway and Newman Sound at Gower Street United Church in St. John's. After a dazzling display of vocal gymnastics by the German guests, S-way and N-Sound join them for a burst of Newfoundland folksongs to close the show.
May 19, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on May 19, 2007 at 05:44 PM
Brazilian-born Monica Freire mixes traditional Afro-Brazilian rhythms with electronica and sampled sounds on her most recent CD. She'll showcase that new recording at Montreal's Lions D'Or tonight on Canada Live with Patti Schmidt.
Later, Jane Bunnett leads her band through a hot night of Cuban-influenced jazz touched with North American blues and Louisiana 'Gumbo'.
Mmmmmm....gumbo.
May 18, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on May 18, 2007 at 05:53 PM
...which is just one of the many awards heaped on PEI-born singer-songwriter Lennie Gallant.
He lives in Halifax now but last summer, I did a little road trip to PEI with Lennie. I have to tell you, nothing opens more doors or gets you stopped in the street more than a trip to PEI with Lennie Gallant. Everyone just loves him. And for good reason: he's a great guy who writes and sings some great songs. You'll hear him in performance tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway.
Later in the show, New Zealand-born harmonica wizard Brendan Power and British guitar virtuoso Andrew White in concert. And finally, internationally-acclaimed jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player Ingrid Jensen.
May 17, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on May 17, 2007 at 05:39 PM
Two concerts from Montreal tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway. First, it's Fete Francaise, featuring Pentaedre. The Montreal-based wind quintet plays works by French composers Darius Milhaud and Jean Françaix, plus the world premiere of a work by Quebec composer Denis Dion commissioned to celebrate their 20th anniversary season.
Later, French-American singer Madeleine Peyroux performs old-style jazz tunes, as well as chanson française with a jazzy twist, for her fans in Montreal.
May 16, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on May 16, 2007 at 05:47 PM
Norah Jones is the daughter of the great Ravi Shankar but she grew up with her mother in Texas.
Her half-sister Anoushka Shankar grew up very much in her famous father's shadow. But in recent years she's been emerging as her own unique musical voice.
Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, you'll hear her lead the Anoushka Shankar Project in a concert recorded at the Epcor Centre in Calgary.
Later, Lullaby Baxter and the Lily String Quartet, also at the Centre. It's part of the annual Combo to Go series, which I posted about earlier today since it's also available in our Concerts On Demand panel.
May 15, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on May 15, 2007 at 05:53 PM
I had the great privilege of sitting on an Arts Council jury with Pierre Schryer a couple of years ago and we really hit it off. He's a wonderful guy with a wonderful view of the world and a particular pride about his Franco-Ontarian roots - all bound together by a spirit of musical generosity as both a player and as a listener. I had the further pleasure of introducing him just a few weeks ago at a concert in his home region of Thunder Bay. I watched as he dazzled with some virtuoso fiddling, then stepped back to let the guitar player shine and later crept on stage to lend a little support to some talented young players from the Kam Valley Fiddlers.
You'll hear all of that spirit come through in concert tonight as the Pierre Schryer Band joins the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Rae Hotoda tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway. It's a concert that features everything from bluegrass to Celtic, Gershwin to Grappelli.
Later, bassist extraordinaire Alain Caron and pianist Francois Bourassa recorded at the Franco-Manitoban Cultural Centre in St. Boniface, at the end of their first tour together. The music is melodic, enchanting and brilliantly played - improvisation at its best!
May 14, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on May 14, 2007 at 05:54 PM
Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, "Requiem Flamenco: In Praise of the Earth" by flamenco guitarist Paco Pena and friends, with the Vancouver Chamber Choir under the direction of Jon Washburn.
Later, Dharmakasa, a unique collaboration between two widely divergent Asian musicians - Alcvin Ramos, master of the Japanese flute and the didgeridoo, and Andrew Kim, a keen inventor of stringed instruments with a background in both Indian sitar and African music . They're joined for this concert by tabla player Tarun Nayar.
May 13, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on May 13, 2007 at 05:49 PM
Tonight on Canada Live with Patti Schmidt:
The Song of Songs, rapturous love poetry from the Old Testament, has inspired generations of composers to write some of the most sensual music in the repertoire. The CBC/McGill series presents countertenor Matthew White, a quintet of internationally acclaimed singers and an instrumental ensemble under lute virtuoso Stephen Stubbs in music from Renaissance England to 20th century Canada.
Later, the award winning Steve Amirault Trio, reunited for the Jazz and Justice series.
May 12, 2007
Posted by on May 12, 2007 at 06:50 PM
Canada has the indie market practically cornered. Or at least, we like to think so.
We go all glowing/parental every time the New York Times gushes about Feist or Arcade Fire, or Feist or Arcade Fire, or Feist or Arcade Fire...you get what I mean.
That said, we really do have a good solid indie scene.
And Canada Live presents a club recording of a good solid indie band tonight, the cinematic, sometimes Latin-esque Apostle of Hustle.
But wait, there's more!
The apostles of gospel music, all 85 of them. The second concert tonight is from the massed York University Gospel Choir.
There's also a third concert excerpt, but I'm tired of the apostle thing now. So here are the straight goods: Tenor saxman Kirk MacDonald from a concert recorded at The Rex, in Toronto.
May 11, 2007
Posted by on May 11, 2007 at 06:00 PM
Here's what Caribou Records, Kim Barlow's label, (in some kind of co-pro with Jericho Beach) has to say about her:
"Kim Barlow is a leaf set in stone: jagged as a Yukon horizon; tender as spring."
Goodness. And here I thought she was a folksy singer-songwriter based in Whitehorse, born in Quebec, raised in rural Nova Scotia, and graduated from Florida State University with a BA in music.
I guess she can be a leaf too though. Heck, why not. As long as she can do that AND play the banjo.
You can hear Kim tonight on Canada Live, a concert recorded at the CD release party for her latest, "CHAMP."
May 10, 2007
Posted by on May 10, 2007 at 06:15 PM
I hope someone, somewhere, is penning (inputting?) a composition about Pluto. What a sorry day that was, when Pluto was declared a planet no more.
Plenty of other planets have their day on Canada Live tonight though, as cellist Alban Gerhardt joins the Toronto Symphony Orchestra at Roy Thomson Hall in a special live-to-air concert, featuring a not-a-planet-related piece, Schumann's Cello Concerto, and then the Planets by Gustav Holst, plus the world premiere of The Unnamed Planet, by Canadian composer Abigail Richardson.
Ms. Richardson, you know that unnamed planet piece? Can we talk?
May 09, 2007
Posted by on May 9, 2007 at 04:35 PM
In my neighborhood there's a popular spot called Allen's. It's not my regular, too pricey.* And I begrudge the day I was told the kitchen would not substitute fruit for something called fadge. (It's an Irish thing. The fadge, I mean.)
But I love the look of the place. It's got a real bar, you know, all dark and oaky and polished. Also a fantastic back patio, with great big trees and long cool drinks. And if you care about such things, at Allen's you're bound to see the famous and the quasi famous. And then the rest of us.
Some folks I'd say fall into the famous Canadian (musicians) category -- Murray McLaughalan, Ian Thomas, Marc Jordan and Cindy Church -- used to get together at Allen's. So when they formed a band they named it in honour of their regular. (Probably they prefer fadge to fruit, many do.)
You can hear Lunch at Allen's tonight on Canada Live. Singing and playing, that is, not lunching.
*CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the opinions of Li Robbins on what is, or is not, too pricey.
May 08, 2007
Posted by on May 8, 2007 at 06:45 PM
This summer, Denzal Sinclaire, Canadian jazz singer (note I did not say "crooner," don't you think that's somehow faintly pejorative these days?) has a role in Soulpepper Theatre's production of William Saroyan's The Time of Your Life, a drama set in a San Francisco honkytonk at the end of the 1930s. Sounds well worth seeing.
Well worth hearing tonight is Sinclaire's concert on Canada Live, in the second half of the show.
The first half features Liverpudlian pianist Paul Lewis, from a recital series presented by the Vancouver Recital Society, a series in which he works his way through all of Beethoven's 32 sonatas.
Unrelated Paul Lewis trivia: In addition to coming from Liverpool, apparently Lewis never heard classical music when he was a kid. At age four, someone gave him a toy organ with less than an octave range, and that was enough to set him on his musical path.
I'm pretty sure you'll hear him cover more than an octave tonight though.
May 07, 2007
Posted by on May 7, 2007 at 06:45 PM
Tonight on Canada Live you can hear some of the music that's made Canadians from Yellowknife to St. John's get off their sofas and into the vertical soft seats -- recorded at the first stop on the MSO's much publicized, first coast to coast tour. As conductor Kent Nagano told the assembled flock at the symphony's season launch:
“Canada is part of who the MSO is. It’s part of Montreal and Quebec, but it’s also part of this profound and huge nation. I didn’t want our first tour to be overseas. We are, after all, a Canadian orchestra.”
Nice to get nationalistic for musical reasons. Also nice to celebrate cultural activity "rooted in place," as some would have it. (Though this always makes me picture culture as some weed growing through cracks in the sidewalk. Hmm...) Anyway, the point is, it's a Montreal double bill, with the second concert from a recording done at a CBC/McGill concert series, featuring flute music from renaissance dances to Celtic tunes.
May 06, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on May 6, 2007 at 05:53 PM
Tonight on Canada Live with Patti Schmidt, Walter Delahunt returns to his home province - Nova Scotia - to demonstrate why he is one of the world's top classical pianists and teachers. The program features Chopin's "Piano Sonata in B minor".
Later, Doug Riley - Doctor Music himself - plays piano and Hammond B-3 in an intimate studio session in front of a very happy audience in Halifax.
And finally, a trio of jazz greats - Neil Swainson, Dave Restivo and Gene Smith - recorded in a special concert at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish.
May 05, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on May 5, 2007 at 05:28 PM
It's true.
Jim Bryson is the kind of singer/songwriter who builds a cult following thanks to great writing and fine musicianship, but often without getting the kind of popular attention he deserves. Maybe that will change after you hear him tonight on Canada Live with Patti Schmidt in a concert recorded at the Black Sheep Inn in Wakefield, Quebec. Honestly, the man writes gems.
Later, jazz bassist John Geggie welcomes three equally talented friends for a sold-out concert of instrumental tunes at the National Arts Centre.
May 04, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on May 4, 2007 at 05:42 PM
A feast of jazz and blues from Montreal tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway. Montreal's Altsys Jazz Orchestra pays tribute to the great jazz organ player Jimmy Smith. Fifteen musicians play his favorite music onstage at Maison de la culture Frontenac.
Later, Espace musique's Soirée Blues - a cross-cultural presentation from Espace Musique and Radio One's Saturday Night Blues recorded at the Montreal Spectrum. This major blues event in Montreal featured great Canadian and American artists, including Curley Bridges, Chris Thomas King, Boo Boo Davis, Shakura S'Aida, Bill King and the Saturday Nite Fish Fry.
May 03, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on May 3, 2007 at 05:41 PM
It's a tradition as great as the great outdoors.
Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, Musical Director Robert Minczuk has been putting his own stamp on the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. And that's led to some interesting collaborations, including tonight's concert, featuring Brazilian cowboy guitarist Yamandu Costa, playing a concerto written especially for him in a Brazilian folk style.
Later, the Singer-Songwriter Circle: four Alberta singer/songwriters gathered at the Ironwood Stage in Calgary on a cold and stormy night. The weather kept the crowds away but it made for a cozy atmosphere for the performers. They are Jane Hawley, the mother-daughter combo Myrol, Rob Heath and Gord Mathews.
Listen on your radio, timeshift from the Listen Live panel or listen when you like at the Concerts On Demand link.
May 02, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on May 2, 2007 at 06:00 PM
Think about some of the great songs that have come out of Canada over the years. Now imagine these songs lushly orchestrated and recast for some of today's most compelling performers. The result is the Great Canadian Songbook.
Tune in to Canada Live with Matt Galloway tonight for music by Gordon Lightfoot, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Serge Fiori and Joni Mitchell sung by Sarah Slean, Veda Hille, Ron Sexmith and Marc Dery. They're backed by the CBC Radio Orchestra under the direction of Alain Trudel.
Later, legendary Canadian rock band Chilliwack, recorded at the Harmony Arts Festival in West Vancouver.
May 01, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on May 1, 2007 at 05:49 PM
Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Gallowy, hear Via Salzburg, one of Toronto’s top chamber ensembles.
Led by internationally-celebrated violinist Mayumi Seiler, in this concert Via Salzburg plays works by Arnold Schoenberg and Canadian composer Jose Evangelista.
Then it’s jazz with pianist, composer and vocalist Laila Biali. She’s won two National Jazz Awards, and opened for Diana Krall at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival. In this performance, Laila is joined by an all-star line-up of musical friends as she showcases her own arrangements of songs by several Canadian songwriters.
April 30, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 30, 2007 at 05:57 PM
Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, Winnipeg jazz pianist Michelle Gregoire joins the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra to premiere her brand new concerto for jazz trio and orchestra, "Gratitude Suite".
The program also includes music by George Gershwin, George Antheil and Hugh Fraser. Later…what happens if you cross Billie Holiday and Macy Gray and persuade the resulting crooner to sing in French? Terez Montcalm. Recorded at the Franco-Manitoban Cultural Centre, the Montreal-based singer does jazz standards and original material in French and English
Plus a musical tribute to a number of well-known Manitoba composers, including Daniel Lavoie, Neil Young, Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings.
April 29, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 29, 2007 at 06:30 PM
and it's very Jazzy.
Tonight on Canada Live with Patti Schmidt, the Prairie Fire Jazz Band plays original compositions and arrangements in a hot concert recorded in front of a very enthusiastic full house on the University of Saskatchewan campus in Saskatoon. Also, the Kimbal Siebert Trio, featuring the critically-acclaimed Saskatoon finger-style guitarist leading his trio in a selection of original tunes. And Prairie Virtuosi, a chamber group that performs without a conductor, recorded in the acoustically beautiful St. Alban's Cathedral in Prince Albert. They're joined by guitar soloist Ben Schenstead and flutist Sally Cochrane, in a program of works by Vivaldi, Telemann and more.
April 27, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 27, 2007 at 05:46 PM
There are two concerts tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway designed to get you prepped for the weekend:
David Usher and his band perform material from his most recent CD, "Strange Birds", in front of an enthusiastic crowd at CBC Montreal's Studio 12.
Later, Vanessa Rodrigues and her Soul Project with their take on acid jazz funk. Rodrigues performs funky songs on her Hammond B3 organ with her trio, and pushes back musical frontiers with guest performer DJ Killa Jewel.
April 26, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 26, 2007 at 05:41 PM
George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" was the "Stairway to Heaven" of its time and genre.
Scoff if you must but it's true - a tour de force that shifts with considerable flash between distinct movements within a pop structure. Also like "Stairway to Heaven", it's one of those pieces we don't really hear in its entirety much: often, the opening bars recall the whole experience and we move on.
I'm used to not hearing "Rhapsody in Blue" in its entirety. My dad was a frustrated musician. He made the sensible choice to pursue Economics rather than music at some point and was left with this drive to master enough pieces to at least feel like a musician...
Continue reading "Rhapsody Blues" »
April 25, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 25, 2007 at 05:45 PM
Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, two outstanding concerts from Vancouver.
Sangha is a quartet that combines tabla, tar, oud and sambak. As its instrumentation suggests, Sangha mixes a number of improvisational traditions - predominantly Arabic, Persian and Indian. In this concert, Sangha adds special guest clarinetist Francois Houle to the mix.
Later…Jason Vieaux from Ohio. He's a classical guitarist with an impressive performance, recording and touring resumé. He's got a broad repertoire and great sense of adventure on the guitar. His latest recording is a tribute to one of his own heroes, Pat Matheny, and apparently the feeling is mutual. Jason was in Vancouver as part of the "Music In the Morning" concert series.
April 24, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 24, 2007 at 05:45 PM
Celso Machado is certainly a middle-aged man but he has the look of a little kid, in some ways, when he plays. There's this sort of earnest concentration broken up with mischievous smiles. His hands cradle a guitar like nobody's business - snaking around those nylon strings doing things you didn't even know were possible.
Then, sometimes while still playing, he reaches down into a little bag of tricks - literally - at his feet. It's a satchel that contains all manner of tiny blown, struck and shaken instruments - toy and otherwise. And it all becomes part of his personal symphony. Make sure you make time at some point to see him perform.
Until then, you can hear him tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway. In this great performance he's joined by a hand-picked band, including his brother Carlinhos, who flew in from Sao Paolo for the occasion. Later, internationally-acclaimed Canadian soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian wows a hometown crowd with a program of Cuban, Spanish, Catalan and Armenian songs.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 24, 2007 at 12:58 PM
The country-wide Canada Live / Concerts On Demand crew is back in action this week with virtual tape rolling at some great events.
Michael Occhipinti, whom I saw just last week at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, surfaces in Halifax with his Sicilian jazz project. Hilario Duran is getting picked up at the Courthouse in Toronto and, of course, last night was the 13th Annual Canadian Opera Company gala. That will go to air on June 3rd.
Be sure to keep your eyes on the Concerts On Demand panel for new and archived stuff.
Coming up this week:
"A Radical Remembered - A Tribute to John Weinzweig", The Art of Time Schubert concert with Danny Michel et al is also on deck.
Later in the week, the ESO concert with James Cambpell and there’s a Gavin Bryar’s concert for On Stage this weekend which should be up by the end of the week.
April 23, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 23, 2007 at 05:40 PM
Canada Live with Matt Galloway comes to you from Ottawa this evening.
Baritone Gerald Finley joins the National Arts Centre Orchestra in arias from his most famous Mozart roles. Also, Flute Extravaganza: Quebecer Robert Langevin, principal flute with the New York Philharmonic, returns home to join with Joanna G'froerer, principal flute with the NAC Orchestra, and Camille Churchfield, former principal with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.
And singer-songwriter/pedal-magician Danny Michel returns to play in front of a loyal and lively crowd at one of the finest clubs in the country, the Black Sheep Inn in Wakefield, Quebec - a short drive from Ottawa to a whole world of music.
April 22, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 22, 2007 at 05:45 PM
Catch the infectious energy of Les Charbonniers de l'enfer in concert with La Nef, Les Voix Humaines, fiddler Laura Risk and soprano Meredith Hall. They'll team up to play a program of folk songs from Quebec, Newfoundland and the Maritimes. It's one of two sensational concerts tonight on Canada Live with Patti Schmidt.
You'll also hear Ensemble Montréal Tango, playing traditional tango music along with new compositions by the leader of the group.
April 20, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 20, 2007 at 05:37 PM
Tonight, Canada Live presents three concerts from Winnipeg that reflect that city's stature as a meeting-place of musical worlds.
Novillero, recorded at the West End Cultural Centre, paid tribute to the great soul music of the Sixties and Seventies with just a hint of the Eighties thrown in.
Next, Shabach Gospel Sound, also simply called Shabach, is composed of eight African refugees - seven from the Democratic Republic of Congo, one from Sudan - who now call Winnipeg their home. Their music intertwines irresistible African rhythms to create original songs of peace, hope and understanding.
And finally, House of Doc, all of whose members have a Mennonite background, recorded at last year's Winnipeg Folk Festival at a stage aptly titled "Mennofest".
April 19, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 19, 2007 at 05:45 PM
There's a trio of concerts from Halifax tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway.
First, Symphony Nova Scotia plays Malcolm Forsyth's "Trumpet Concerto". This is the trumpet in all its wonderful, colourful subtlety - muted, reverberated, cool.
Next, jazz bassist Chris Tarry teams up with Halifax's local sax genius Danny Oore, who wrote a new piece for this event.
And finally, the Halifax Jazz Orchestra - a collection of Halifax's best jazz musicians - in a big band concert full of new compositions, recorded last summer at the Dunn Theatre.
April 18, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 18, 2007 at 05:51 PM
There's a pair of very interesting concerts from Toronto tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway.
First, a concert in which the Art of Time ensemble asked singer-songwriters Sarah Slean, Andy Maize (of the Skydiggers), Martin Tielli (of the late Rheostatics), Danny Michel and John Southworth to bring their own styles and their own unique voices to their choice of music from Franz Schubert's iconic "E flat Piano Trio".
Later, Sir Andrew Davis leads the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in his own arrangements of Bach's Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 18, 2007 at 10:11 AM
Corb Lund was born and raised in rural southern Alberta and comes from four generations of Canadian ranchers and cowboys. He grew up riding horseback, chasing cattle and rodeoing on the prairies and in the foothills of the Rockies. Then he spent ten years driving across Canada, the States, Australia and Europe in an old van with his indie rock band called ‘the smalls’, playing every funky dive along the way. His writing and singing reflects the marriage of these experiences.
This sold-out concert, performed for an energetic crowd, includes songs from Corb Lund’s two most recent albums, ‘Five Dollar Bill’ and ‘Hair In My Eyes…’, both of which went gold the same week.
Corb Lund and The Hurtin’ Albertans at Concerts on Demand
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April 17, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 17, 2007 at 06:29 PM
Two concerts from Vancouver tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway - the first featuring the unpretentious but virtuosic bluegrass of John Reischman & the Jaybirds.
Later, the remarkable piano talent of Sara Davis Buechner. She arrived in British Columbia two years ago to take up a position at the University of British Columbia. Canada Live's recording team met up with her on the idyllic Sunshine Coast for a recital featuring the music of Friml and Gershwin.
April 16, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 16, 2007 at 05:55 PM
Tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, concerts that explore some of the myriad possibilities of the keyboard.
Tom Beghin plays music by Joseph Haydn on the fortepiano, the harpsichord and the clavichord, in a concert recorded at McGill University in Montreal.
Later, pianist Brigitte Poulin and violinist Silvia Mandolini perform the Canadian premiere of a new work by Montreal-born composer François Rose.
And finally, two great Canadian jazz pianists - John Stetch and Jan Jarczyk - meet onstage at McGill University's Pollack Hall for an evening of amazing jazz piano duets.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 16, 2007 at 09:05 AM
Technical rehearsals get underway today in Ottawa with Pinchas Zukerman and the National Arts Centre Orchestra for a programme of music by Strauss and Schoenberg.
Canada Live starts recording tomorrow for future broadcast.
April 15, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 15, 2007 at 06:27 PM
Christos Hatzis’s ‘Mystical Visitations’ - four songs for Arabic singer, world band and electro-acoustic audio - had it’s world premiere at the Isabel Bader Theatre in Toronto. In ‘Mystical Visitations’, Hatzis explores the inner world of a woman visited by the divine.
The concert begins with Maryem Tollar performing songs from her CD ‘Book of Life’. In both sets Tollar is joined by an all-star cast of world music performers.
You can hear "Mystical Visitations" this evening on your radio on Canada Live, timeshifted online using the Listen Live panel to the right, or - if you just can't wait or you would rather wait until tomorrow, the whole concert is just a click away on the Concerts On Demand panel.
April 14, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 14, 2007 at 05:59 PM
Well, to start off with tonight on Canada Live with Patti Schmidt, country/roots star Corb Lund and his band The Hurtin' Albertans showcase songs from Lund's two most recent albums, "Five Dollar Bill' and 'Hair In My Eyes...', both of which went gold the same week.
Later, Leonard Cohen Night, sponsored by the Cohennights Art Society, a non-profit organization supporting community-based cultural arts initiatives influenced by poet and songwriter Leonard Cohenwith Musical Director Jason Cody hosting John Gorham, Ann Vriend and Jared Sowan.
And finally, a concert of music commissioned in conjunction with Canada Reads. Juno nominee Maria Dunn, up-and-coming Colleen Brown and veteran Bill Bourne sing songs inspired by Canadian literature.
April 13, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 13, 2007 at 05:40 PM
A few years ago, I was in St. John's to participate in the CBC reading of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol". The reading was at the Gower St. United Church, which holds about 500. It was a sold out event.
That same night, two musicals were opening - both sold out, Great Big Sea was playing at Mile One Stadium - sold out, a jazz show at Gräfenberg's was sold out and the Ship Inn and the George St. bars were all packed (as I discovered after the reading - ahem!). And this is in a city of just over 100,000 on a slushy December night!
You'll get just a hint of the extraordinary level of musical activity in St. John's tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway.
First, that trio of sirens, Shaye, showcase their new CD "Lake of Fire" in front of a packed house. Later, A Crowd of Bold Sharemen entertain a thousand lively fans at the St. John's Arts and Culture centre. They're a five-piece band, a mix of generations, influences and voices, delivering traditional songs and tunes with spirit and virtuosity. And finally, traditional music from Eastern Europe rubs shoulders with the folk songs of Newfoundland & Labrador as Balkan choir Sveti Ivan (based in St. John's) teams up with Newfoundland singer-songwriter Pamela Morgan and Greek performer George Miminis.
April 12, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 12, 2007 at 06:56 PM
Tonight on Canada Live, Soprano Measha Brueggergosman joins harpist Rita Costanzi and the CBC Radio Orchestra from Vancouver in a concert called "Tour de France". It's a journey through the sound worlds of some of France's greatest composers, including Ravel, Debussy and Duparc.
Later…after 17 years and 600 concerts leading the Quebec metal band Anonymous, Marco Calliari decided to unplug the amps and settle into a more acoustic musical groove. This is not to say he has lost any of his prodigious on-stage energy. In fact, Marco and his Quebecois party band got several hundred rain-soaked revelers jumping and shouting under the tents at Festival du Bois, the "wet" coast's annual nose-thumbing to March.
April 11, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 11, 2007 at 06:24 PM
An old girlfriend of mine who was a musician confessed to me at the beginning of the relationship that she had trouble playing Scrabble. It seemed like an odd confession - partly because we were talking about music, we weren't talking about word games at the time and it seemed an odd moment to admit to dyslexia or something.
Quite a bit later, I found out that what she actually said was that - as a pianist - she had trouble playing Scriabin. I got her a Scrabble board AND a Scriabin CD a few weeks later just to make sure.
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra has no trouble with Scriabin as they perform several works by the quasi-mystic composer tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway. Also on the show, Andrew Burashko leads his Art of Time Ensemble in a programme titled "A Song and a Prayer", featuring traditional folk songs, contemporary classical pieces and Klezmer - in short, Jewish music for everyone.
April 10, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 10, 2007 at 06:31 PM
Tonight, Canada Live with Matt Galloway is home to three concerts from Montreal, the first featuring Cape Breton Gaelic singer Mary Jane Lamond, recorded at CBC's special celebration of the 30th anniversary of International Women's Day.
Next, Suzie LeBlanc teams up with Ensemble Joli Bois in a concert titled "Tout Passe," an exploration of traditional Acadian repertoire with a Baroque approach.
And finally, La Fiorenza, the winning ensemble of the 2006 Montreal Baroque Festival Galaxie-CBC Rising Star Competition performs early Italian music as part of the CBC-McGill concert series.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 10, 2007 at 09:54 AM
So "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" will be re-made on 4-track tape. Lovely, appropriate and certainly a challenge.
Having said that, considerably more multi-channeled digital CBC recording mobiles are out and about again this week across the country. Among the shows on the docket:
- Today's "Combo to Go" at the Epcor Centre in Calgary with Lullaby Baxter and the Lily String Quartet.
- Cape Breton sensation Gillian Boucher (presumably with hubby Andrew White in the band) is in session at Studio H in Halifax.
- The Toronto crew records Jesse Cook at the Mississauga Living Arts Centre on Friday night
- while Ottawa picks up a performance by Mighty Popo.
- Saturday, Toronto records Great Lakes Swimmers at the Church of the Redeemer,
- Ottawa captures Jim Bryson performing his brilliant new album at the Black Swan in Wakefield PQ,
- and Halifax nabs the Dave Myles/Charlie A'Court concert at the Astor Theatre.
Watch for all of these to show up on Canada Live and the Concerts On Demand panel here on this site.
April 09, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 9, 2007 at 06:44 PM
Are you familiar with the House Concert phenomenon?
It's well established in some communities across the country and only just catching on in others. Basically, the idea is that a touring artist might have a couple of free nights between official tour dates and someone offers up their home for a venue for the ultimate intimate music experience.
I know lots of artists who participate in this but hadn't been to one myself until my friends David & Sarah hosted a concert with the wonderful Quebec folk group, Genticorum. It was a tremendously snowy night but even still, about 30 people came - some bringing wine or beer. David and Sarah had cleared out the dining room of furniture, installed a little stage area under the chandelier in the breakfast nook and rented a bunch of folding chairs. They even laid out a few dips and snacks
With the snow falling outside and the warmth of the feeling in the room, it was easily one of my favourite concerts ever. It's just so rare that you get to experience music in close quarters like that any more.
The whole country will get a chance tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway. CBC rolled tape as 46 people crammed into a living room in Stettler, Alberta for a an intimate house concert featuring singer/songwriter Maria Dunn with Shannon Johnson from the McDades.
If you'd like to find out more about hosting your own House Concert, there are several resources online, including this website with a great how-to from Canadian folk veteran Bob Bossin.
Also on Canada Live tonight, the repeat of a concert that's already been the subject of a couple of posts here: The Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra with the Edmonton bluegrass band Jerusalem Ridge. (The CPO also puts in an appearance later tonight on The Signal!).
April 08, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 8, 2007 at 06:20 PM
I know I mentioned this a week or so ago, but here's another opportunity to hear something truly remarkable tonight on Canada Live with Patti Schmidt.
A few years ago violinist Oliver Schroer walked the Camino de Santiago though France and Spain, a thousand kilometers on foot, retracing the route taken by ancient pilgrims. He took along an audio recorder and his violin. And anywhere he could, he recorded the sounds of village life as well as his impromptu violin performances. Back in December, CBC Radio recorded Oliver Schroer's "Camino" project in Vancouver. It was an evening of magical solo violin works intermingled with the sounds and stories captured during his trek.
Also, "The Labyrinth of Transformation" - music by BC composer John Burke designed for the spiritual experience of walking a labyrinth, performed by eight of Vancouver's top chamber musicians and recorded during a real labyrinth walking event in CBC Vancouver's Studio One.
April 07, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 7, 2007 at 06:47 PM
I still remember their first photocopied posters plastered on telephone poles on Queen St. in downtown Toronto. Just as the Toronto punk scene was imploding, a group of guys from the then-borough of Etobicoke arrived to remind us that Canada had something different to offer. They were called the Rheostatics and for the next 27 years they would come to epitomize the Canadian experience of the music biz.
Everything about them, from their subject matter, to their fondness for key and time signature changes, to their deep influence on other bands, to their connection to Canadian iconography, to their failure to click commercially outside of our borders, make them almost quintessentially Canadian.
They called it quits on March 30th with a show at Massey Hall and CBC was there with the mobile studio. The concert is sublime and it's been up on the Concerts On Demand panel for a few days now. Tonight, it gets its broadcast debut on Canada Live with Patti Schmidt.
April 05, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 5, 2007 at 06:13 PM
Well, first of all - thanks to so many of you who've written very kind things about my show Global-Village, which ran for over 10 years on Radio One and here on Radio Two (not to mention RCI and Sirius 137). It wouldn't be right to post those comments here but I do appreciate them.
It was a great run. When we started, our aims were to bring more music from around the world to the airwaves without emphasizing "exoticism"; to demonstrate the social, political and cultural context of music in relationship to the news of the day all over the planet; to bring to the air a variety of voices to convey those stories authentically - sometimes as journalists, sometimes as travellers, sometimes as enthusiasts and sometimes as regular people caught in the middle of a story; and finally to foster the burgeoning "world music" scene in Canada.
We succeeded on all fronts. So much so that many of the people involved in the show over the years and many of the perspectives and techniques we championed have become part of the CBC Radio vision across the spectrum.
In celebration of our on-air tenure AND in celebration of just one of the new shows that would pick up the Global-Village torch, we held a little party at the Lula Lounge in Toronto a few weeks ago, featuring some of our many musical friends: Kiran Ahluwalia, Madagascar Slim & Donne Roberts, Amanda Martinez and Mr. Something Something. "Little party"... who am I kidding? The place was packed and there was a line-up out the door all night!
The results of our recording of that show have been up on the Concerts On Demand panel for the last little while but tonight the show gets its prime-time broadcast debut on Canada Live with Matt Galloway. Garvia Bailey and I host from the stage.
Please tune in for both the "goodbye" aspect and the "hello".
April 04, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 4, 2007 at 06:40 PM
My second favourite Ludwig Van symphony, the 3rd the "Eroica", gets the treatment tonight on Canada Live from Alexander Mickelthwate leading the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. Also on the program, The Chairman Dances by American composer John Adams, a work inspired by Nixon's historic trip to Beijing to visit Chairman Mao. And later, an intimate jazz concert from Winnipeg's Park Theatre featuring the Roy Kirby Lowe trio.
April 03, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 3, 2007 at 05:30 PM
Halifax has gone through so many identifiable eras in its musical life - from the national fame of Anne Murray and the late John Allen Cameron to the '70's rock of April Wine to the Rankin revivalist tradition to the ascendancy of Sloan, the Heavy Blinkers and Superfriendz to the wry beats of Buck 65. Whew! And that's just scratching the surface.
But a growing and changing Halifax is scratching several itches at once with a budding world music scene added to the electronic and jazz scenes.
Many of Halifax' musical identities come together in three concerts tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway.
The East Coast World Music Summit features 13 musicians from very diverse backgrounds brought together by CBC in the Maritimes, in a live-to-air special during the East Coast Music Awards last February. Next, from the Boxwood Flute Festival in Lunenburg, Dutch virtuoso Marten Root and Chris Norman, known as a virtuoso on the wooden flute, with David Greenberg and his string group Tempest, And finally, jazz from Nova Scotia's own Mike Murley at Staynor’s Wharf in Halifax.
April 02, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 2, 2007 at 06:45 PM
The York County Court House, located at 57 Adelaide Street East in Toronto, was designed by Cumberland and Ridout and built in 1851-52. Cumberland and Ridout were also the architects responsible for the nearby St. James' Cathedral, built in 1853. While it hasn't been a courthouse for some time, it has a brand new identity that kicks off another busy recording week for the Canada Live/Concerts On Demand team across the country.
The building is now known as the Courthouse Market Grille and Live@Courthouse is the 5 times weekly jazz series headed by musician and former Downtown Jazz Festival founder Pat Taylor. The place has been open for just over a week but tonight will be the first time tape rolls there for CBC. The featured artist is improvisational pianist and band leader Glenn Buhr.
Meanwhile, tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway, you can hear the fruits of previous labour from Ottawa with the broadcast of Pinchas Zukerman & Friends. You can also stream it from the Concerts On Demand panel if you like.
April 01, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on April 1, 2007 at 06:14 PM
Steve Dawson is up for a Juno tonight in the Roots and Traditional Solo Album category for "We Belong to the Gold Coast". So his fingers may be crossed that he edges out Stephen Fearing, Lennie Gallant, Loreena McKennit and Fred J. Eaglesmith for the award but they'll be decidedly UNcrossed for his performance with his usual musical partner Jesse Zubot for a concert recorded in Vancouver for Canada Live.
Once that's done, he can cross his fingers again.
And after that, host Patti Schmidt brings you another stringed-instrument summit called "The Glory of the Violin" featuring some top players from the worlds of classical and jazz.
March 31, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on March 31, 2007 at 07:40 PM
Stopped in at Mitzi's Sister, my favourite local, last night on my way home and who should be sitting at the bar doing homework other than Treasa Levasseur!
I passed on to her some of the great comments that came into the blog following the Canada Live broadcast of the Sarah Harmer/Serena Ryder/Treasa triple bill (which you can hear parts of from the Concerts On Demand panel). She told me her whole family across the country tuned in to hear it and that from her perspective it was a perfect show. She said:
"You know when you're just sitting there listening to something you've done and you're waiting for that inevitable embarrassing moment, the inopportune flub to come along? Well, it didn't! I loved it!"
That, and we heard from Joel Plaskett's folks in Nova Scotia that the Canada Live broadcast and the Concerts On Demand feature brought out not only Joel's considerable fan-base but a whole new crop of fans to hear his show with Symphony Nova Scotia. They were thrilled with the results and so are we!
Posted by Jowi Taylor on March 31, 2007 at 06:42 PM
Join hosts Jian Ghomeshi and Holger Peterson tonight for four - count 'em, FOUR! - hours of great music from the Juno Awards in Saskatoon. You'll hear lots of June nominees caught live in concert - Ron Sexsmith, Molly Johnson, Hilario Duran, Joel Fafard and members of the African Guitar Summit, to name just a few.
Jian hosts the first two hours, and Holger does the next two.
March 30, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on March 30, 2007 at 06:23 PM
As part of our Juno-related programming on Radio Two, Canada Live tonight features two more nominees in the line-up:
From Calgary, Chantal Kreviazuk playing a sold-out show in Calgary at the Jubilee Auditorium on Valentine's Day - with her own sweetheart, Raine Maida of Our Lady Peace, joining her on stage. Chantal's song "All I Can Do" has been nominated for the Juno for Single of the Year, and her album "Ghost Stories" is nominated for Pop Album of the Year.
Later, the McDades, a family band from Edmonton. According to one reviewer, they "find their groove somewhere between a down-home kitchen party, a jazzy after-hours club, and a folk festival." They're up for a Juno in the Roots & Traditional Group category. They'll be joined by a large group of backup singers - Pro Coro Canada, a 24-voice professional chamber choir.
For more on the Junos, click the Juno Fever icon at the top of the page.
March 29, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on March 29, 2007 at 06:36 PM
I think I've got most of it figured out. I might even publish my predictions tomorrow after my appearance on Music & Company but I'll keep a lid on it for now.
Tonight on Canada Live, Matt Galloway will be featuring several of this year's nominees.
First, it's the Metropolitan Orchestra of Greater Montreal, playing Pierre Mercure's Kaleidoscope and Debussy's La Mer. They're nominated in the Classical Album of the Year category. Later, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen and her band pay tribute to Miles Davis (Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year nominee). And last but not least, Monica Freire sings her own brand of Brazilian songs, recorded at the International Women's Day event in Montreal (nominee for World Music Album of the Year)
March 28, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on March 28, 2007 at 06:56 PM
Sarah Harmer has the strength of conviction in her craft. Serena Ryder as a kind of raw power that can be awesome and Treasa Levasseur leans on a rock of tradition. You can here all three tonight on Canada Live with Matt Galloway.
Harmer is nominated for the Juno for Songwriter of the Year and her album "I'm a Mountain" is also nominated for Best Album. Ryder's performance at Hugh's Room in Toronto was recorded just before her trip to the South By Southwest conference in Austin and Levasseur, whose debut CD "Not a Straight Line" has been getting hot reviews all over North America, is capable of gentle bluegrass and belting R&B.;
March 27, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on March 27, 2007 at 05:16 PM
I'm very much looking forward to tonight's double-header from Vancouver on Canada Live. First, it's Spirit of the West - veterans of the Canadian music scene - in concert. Later, the CBC Radio Orchestra welcomes Safa, an eclectic world music ensemble featuring Persian lute (tar) virtuoso Amir Koushkani, percussion polymath Salvador Ferreras and clarinetist Francois Houle.
March 26, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on March 26, 2007 at 06:47 PM
The accent is on vocal music, as Canada Live brings you an evening of concert performances from Montreal - from swing to Francophone singer songwriters, intimate and unplugged. First up, the Susie Arioli Swing Band, featuring Jordan Officer and special guest Michael Jerome Browne. Later, A Propos' Songwriters' Sessions, with Louis-Jean Cormier (lead singer of the band Karkwa), Antoine Gratton, Vincent Vallières and Sylvie Paquette.
Posted by Jowi Taylor on March 26, 2007 at 07:17 AM
And not just for you!
Recording kits are being packed and mobile studio vans gassed up for another week of recording across the county for Canada Live, On Stage and the Concerts On Demand feature.
Tonight at University Theatre, CBC Calgary will be recording Guido Basso and Verismo.
Tomorrow night, Ancient Cultures / New Sounds takes the stage at the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto.
And Friday will be a doozy, with recordings scheduled of the Kitchen Waterloo Symphony, The York Choir and the Rheostatics at Massey Hall.
If you see that familar logo on the trucks and vans as you drive by, give them a friendly honk (oh, wait a minute, they're recording - maybe you'd better just wave).
March 25, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on March 25, 2007 at 04:45 PM
Every Sunday we used to go to my grandparents' house in Whitby. And pretty much every Sunday, grandma would make meatloaf ices with mashed potatoes and served with overboiled green beans, salad and creamy coleslaw.
While the adults convened in the dining room, my sister and I were set up with TV tables in the back room to watch "The Wonderful World of Disney" while we ate. Once we were sure the adults were settled, my sister and I would look at each other and say: "Let's eat like dogs!". The knives and forks were used to mush everything together on the plate and then abandoned.
A more civilized Sunday ritual is what I'm recommending to you:
An aperatif of Tonic with Tim Tamashiro and a full course of Canada Live with host Patti Schmidt.
Tonight on Canada Live: three concerts, each featuring an outstanding pianist who brings additional musical gifts to the stage. David Virelles is a young Cuban jazz pianist, brought to Canada by bandleader Jane Bunnett. Hear him stepping out as a composer and bandleader. Also, Stewart Goodyear, a young classical pianist who demonstrates his remarkable talent for improvisation. And Don Thompson, playing piano, vibes and string bass. It seems there's no one he hasn't played with, and nothing he can't play. Toronto's jazz community is only too aware of what a gem Don Thomson is, so the community came together to play with him, and pay tribute to him.
March 22, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on March 22, 2007 at 07:18 PM
Just listening to Canada Live on the Atlantic Stream so lots of time for the rest of the country to tune in live when it gets to your timezone or launch the Listen Live options at the right side of this page.
It's a fascinating musical journey with Michael Occhipinti as he explores his southern Italian roots in a mix of traditional tunes and rhythms, jazz and even a little electronica-sounding stuff with some serious pedal and electric violin work going on. It's called "The Sicilian Jazz Project"
The band is awesome, brother Robert Occhipinti on bass, Ernie Tollar on winds, Kevin Turcotte on horn, Barry Romberg on drums (the full list is on the Playlist feature at the left) but the really exciting addition to the mix is Calabrian-born Alessandra Belloni. She's a student of traditional Italian healing arts, a composer, dancer and performer-in-residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York. She is composer and arranger on several of the selections.
To find out about the relationship between the dance known as the tarantella and the tarantula spider from which it gets its name, click here.
March 20, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on March 20, 2007 at 05:30 PM
I had a pretty big Globe and Mail paper route when I was a kid. My parents also, unfathomably, gave me a pretty decent allowance. Every penny from those two sources, plus birthday cards from grandma, odd jobs, you name it, was spent in a weekly ritual that started on the subway and ended up here at the CBC. Let me explain...
Continue reading "From R.O.W. to Canada Live" »
Posted by Jowi Taylor on March 20, 2007 at 05:29 PM
I am no longer embarrassed.
It used to be that when you went online to find out what exactly what piece of music you were listening to at a particular time, it showed up in a web form bravely cobbled together by some hardworking web-types around here who were given several proverbial sow's ears and told to make a designer collection of silk purses. I apologized then for what listeners might have to sift through to get the info they were after but no longer!
Look at the column on the left side of this page and you'll see a heading PLAYLISTS. Click there.
It will launch a selection page that lets you choose the show and the date you're interested in. If you just click the show directly it'll give you the latest info.... which is how I know that the pieces in the Steve Reich portion of tonight's edition of Canada Live with Matt Galloway will be "Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices and Organ", "Electric Counterpoint" (an awesome piece and source for the Orb's "Little Fluffy Clouds") and "Sextet".
Cool.
In so many ways.
March 19, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on March 19, 2007 at 07:05 PM
This, to me, is really exciting.
Some of the great moments in the history of CBC have been in the recording of Canadian talent,
Did you know that Gordon Lightfoot's "Canadian Railroad Trilogy", Sarah McLachlan's "Possession" and Crash Test Dummies' "Superman" were commissioned by CBC Radio?
Canada Live represents a whole new era of command performances from right across the country and right across the musical spectrum. Tonight's debut is a perfect example...
Continue reading "Stand and Deliver: Canada Live" »
March 15, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on March 15, 2007 at 09:44 AM
...a strange time to be thinking of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons but such is the mystery of a mind full of music.
The point is that last night at the Lula Lounge in Toronto was a brilliant send off to my long-running show Global-Village and an even more brilliant welcome to the brand new show Canada Live.
There was a line up to get in and lots of people peering through the glass of the front room from the street for a glimpse of the stage at the far end of the packed house.
Madagascar Slim and Donne Roberts stepped off the African Guitar Summit for a lovely, lilting (and occasionally lightning-like) set of duelling Godin guitars (though Slim picked up the Taylor for a tune as well). In spite of the two being members of the Summit and both at one time together in Ndidi Onukwulu's band, seeing them perform as a duo is a bit of a rarity. Personally, I think they should take the act on tour. Gorgeous!
Continue reading "Oh What a Night! (mid-March, 2007)" »
March 08, 2007
Posted by Jowi Taylor on March 8, 2007 at 09:10 AM
Production units across the country have been busy as beavers this past week - making sure the radio cup will runeth over with great performances recorded live.
This past Tuesday at the Glenn Gould a new performance of Gavin Bryars' settings of 14th century Laude and the premiere of Nine Irish Madrigals, based on Petrarch sonnets with Anna Maria Friman, soprano.; John Potter, tenor; Douglas Perry, viola; Max Christie, bass clarinet; Gavin Bryars, double bass.
And tomorrow night, the Canada Live recording mobile will drive into the thick of Canadian Music Week for a sold out performance at the Mod Club by rising star Serena Ryder and new traditionalist Treasa Levasseur.
Check the Canada Live schedule elsewhere on this page for broadcast details.
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