Measha Brueggergosman in Fredericton.. ho-hum. Even though she's a big-time opera star, plays the great halls all over the world, was nominated for a Grammy Award last year, won a Juno, is a media darling, let's face it, Measha sightings in her hometown are pretty common. She gets back to see friends and family on a constant basis. I know, because everytime she's in town, she has to stop by here at the CBC to do some interview or another with our colleagues in Toronto, desperate to get her that very day. You walk by, say "Hi Measha, congratulations on the new album/award/haircut", just a normal day.

Even Measha concerts here are fairly common, as she always makes sure to take part in charity events when she can, and there have been some memorable ones over the years. She often uses those to stretch her repertoire into other areas, and we've had the chance to see her do popular and modern music, gospel and blues, cabaret and Kurt Weill. Yet, these coming shows, in Fredericton, well, you could tell there was going to be something special about them as soon as they were announced.

If you didn't hear, Brueggergosman is playing two shows in Fredericton, Friday and Saturday, at perhaps the most intimate venue she'll ever play now. It's the Cedar Tree Cafe, a restaurant, coffee and music place in the city's downtown. It's a good size for a restaurant, for sure, but the place holds less than a hundred people. Owner Lisa Wilby explains that Measha "came in for coffee over the Christmas break. She's been in before, and likes the vibe here. And she just asked if we could do it." I would imagine the "you bet" answer came out awfully fast. Now, the Cedar Tree hosts music all the time, and it's going really well for them, with everything from jazz to alternative bands routinely filling the place, and they did a sell-out show last weekend as part of the Shivering Songs festival. But as Wilby points out, "This is on a bigger scale. Before she approached us, I didn't think we could have something like this, but now I know we can."

Measha is indeed stretching out from her opera career, as she always has done, but I'd say she's looking at making her jazz and cabaret side a bigger part of her career. This is part of a series of shows, including a run of three happening this week at the famous Seahorse Tavern in Halifax, the least-likely place for an opera star. The shows feature Measha with a small combo of some of the country's best jazz players, and the repertoire is unique to her tastes and talents. She's doing songs from popular writers such as Ron Sexsmith, Feist and Joni Mitchell. She's dipping into her gospel songbook, going back to Gershwin, and even including an Acadian folk song. Another exciting element is that all these shows in Halifax and Fredericton are being recorded for an upcoming live album. It's going to be called "I've Got A Crush On You", and it's release date has been set for April 17th.

As you can imagine, things are buzzing at the Cedar Tree. They have to get staging, lights, tables and everything else in order, and have managed to find a way to fit 99 customers in for each night. And yes, all those 198 tickets are sold out, sorry to say. Lisa Wilby says she's "superexccited, I think every time I talked about it for the first week, I cried." Even blase Fredericton, so used to seeing Measha all the time, is superexcited too.