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November 30, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-30-07 at 07:30 PM
Pat continues his exploration of 2007’s top musical trends tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.). I was wondering when he'd get to this one...the harp. (Can you say, Joanna Newsom?) And I know this made the rounds a while ago, but it is a propos, at least, if you're of a certain snarky frame of mind -- a "letter" from Newsom's harp to Idolator. OK, Newsom fans, take a deep breath...
Also on the show, music from Vancouver -- with an overview of the work by iconoclast singer songwriter Veda Hille. And new music from P:ano, Francois Houle, and Prairie Cat, and a concert performance of Elizabeth Knudson's Yarilo. Knudson, btw, has been composing since "at least the age of two." Hmm, so was I, come to think of it, if random humming and burbling can be considered composition. Something tells me she might mean something a little more specific though...
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-30-07 at 02:05 PM
Over on Beware of the Blog, The Field Guide to Staying Inside continues with a post on modified guitars.
"We're not talking about prepared guitars this week," the Field Guide says. "No, sir. This installment of TFGTSI focuses on folks who've put their money where their plectrums are and fundamentally altering their instruments. More strings. More things. Axes that would dissolve in the rain."
If you're interested in all things guitar, this post is for you, complete with photos and audio.
Makes me wonder -- do you think by the time they get to Guitar Hero 500 or something they'll issue an Extreme Guitar Hero edition? Here's hoping.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-30-07 at 12:00 PM
Just a quick note to say that Studio Sparks (12 p.m.) has this year's Giller award winner, Elizabeth Hay, (author of Late Nights On Air, which is set, in part, at a CBC station) as "houseguest" in the 2nd hour of the show. She joins Eric to talk about music in her life and in her writing.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-30-07 at 08:00 AM
In honour of the Patron Saint of Scotland, Here's To You listeners have asked for music to mark the occasion. Kenneth McKellar sings some of the Songs of the Hebrides, James Ehnes and the Montreal Symphony perform Bruch's Scottish Fantasy, and someone even requested tunes from Lerner and Loewe's Brigadoon. (Or maybe I shouldn't say "even," after all, as The Waterboys sang, I saw the rain-dirt valley...you saw Brigadoon.) P.S. Don't forget today's the deadline to vote for the Concert By Request!
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-30-07 at 12:02 AM
A world premiere of a new Canadian opera on SAATO (1:30 Saturday) this weekend: Transit of Venus. Based on the acclaimed play of the same title by Manitoba-based author Maureen Hunter, Transit of Venus is a three-act opera with full orchestra, composed by Winnipeg's Victor Davies, to a libretto by the playwright. It's the first opera commissioned for main-stage production in the history of the Manitoba Opera, which is currently celebrating its 35th season.
And here's the story:
Continue reading "The Distance Between Earth And Sun" »
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-30-07 at 12:01 AM
Sunday Afternoon In Concert has, as usual, an abundance of musical riches, including some music by Spanish composers. The CBC Radio Orchestra with guitarist Alvaro Pierri (and music director Alain Trudel) perform Rodrigo's sumptuous Concierto de Aranjuez. (It really is sumptuous, even in Miles Davis' dry ice version...)
Also on the Iberian front, contralto Claire Gignac brings some vocal pyrotechnics to music by Manuel da Falla. And some music that's been described as the nearest thing to literally experiencing "the warm breezes of the Costa Brava," a new work commissioned by the CBC from the brilliant Montreal composer Robert M. Lepage.
Celebrations of Gould at 75 continue on Sunday Aft too, and here's the backstory: Glenn Gould performed in Calgary only twice in his career: his debut, on November 7, 1951, and in a Jubilee Auditorium recital almost a decade later.
As a tribute, Honens Concerts invited Angela Cheng, Katherine Chi and Jane Coop to revisit these concerts, in a program that draws on music of Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Byrd, and Hindemith -- which you can hear on Sunday afternoon.
And a final highlight of note: the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music at the Snare Drum Olympics, organized by percussion instructor Russell Hartenberger (currently also Dean of the Faculty).
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-30-07 at 12:00 AM
A few years ago when the Canadian Folk Music Awards started up there was much exuberance in the folk/roots/singer-songwriter world -- at last some recognition for music that's very active in this country, but sometimes flies under the radar, at least, in terms of mainstream recognition.
This year it's the third annual, and the ceremony happens on Saturday, 1 December in Gatineau, Quebec, with Ms. Shelagh Rogers co-hosting with musician/step-dancer Benoit Bourque.
Friday night get a bit of a preview on Canada Live (8 p.m.) from nominees who've been recorded by CBC in the past year - highlights include concerts by nominees The Duhks, Jeremy Fisher, Harry Manx and Kevin Breit, and Mighty Popo.
November 29, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-29-07 at 05:45 PM
The other day I mentioned that the Marcel Khalife concert was now available as a Concert on Demand, since I knew that some listeners were hoping that the music, recorded in Edmonton by R2's Canada Live, would be available online. But I kind of got ahead of myself, as the official listing (avec photo) wasn't available. As it is now, I'm happy to send you there again!
But a little b.g. first. In 1972 Marcel Khalife founded the Al Mayadine ensemble in his home village to preserve the Arabic musical heritage with the oud. They became a huge success in Lebanon and its reputation soon spread around the world.
Khalife is also a composer, much of his music inspired by major contemporary Arab poets. So he's both at the vanguard of innovative Middle Eastern music, and something of a cultural ambassador -- in June of 2005 he was named UNESCO Artist for Peace.
Marcel Khalife at Concerts on Demand.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-29-07 at 03:01 PM
This evening on Tonic, Katie Malloch is playing some great guitar music from Ed Bickert and Peter Leitch, two Canadian jazz heroes. I don't think "hero" is overstating it -- Bickert even has a fan appreciation site, as well as that myspace site previously linked to -- and created by a fan...
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-29-07 at 03:00 PM
DiscDrive highlights for Thursday and Friday provide the perfect excuse to feature Jurgen Goethe's visage on this post:
And here are those highlights:
Thursday:
-The second movement of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Sheherezade
- An excerpt from the Yellow River Piano Concerto
Friday:
- Eugen Cicero offers up his unique jazz treatment of Couperin
- The Emerson Quartet’s rendition of Hugo Wolf’s perenial favourite, the Italian Serenade
-And The Chuckerbutty Ocarina Quartet (really!) dishes up some Schubert (Bad, bad pun, but of course "The Trout”)
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-29-07 at 12:00 PM
It's that time of year. No, not the moment to start raging against The Little Drummer Boy (although that may also be the case). I mean the time of year when it's beginning to look a lot like "best-ofs." Just some hints and rumours so far, but I sense it will soon be upon us in full force. Yes, Virginia, there is an obsession with year-end list-making.
This is good news for those of us who enjoy it as a kind of spectator sport. Which artists/albums will come out on top, and how passionate/snarky will the list-makers get in defence of same?
Paste Magazine has stepped into the arena already, by leaping over any paltry top tens, with a Top 100 Albums -- with Arcade Fire in the #2 spot.
And though Idolator at least hasn't posted a list yet, if you write about music and want to vote in their Pop Critics Poll, they're now accepting ballots. I like what one comment to the site said: "Are we still eligible even if there isn't one, single, solitary album that came out in 2007 that we can say we thought was actually 'good?'"
That certainly simplifies things.
And here's something of List of Lists -- a frighteningly extensive round up of lists-to-come, on the music blog, largehearted boy.
Let the bickering begin...
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-29-07 at 10:00 AM
Elgar's Serenade for Strings is featured on Studio Sparks today, in a new recording from musicians said to be "steeped in Elgar," the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Andrew Davis. And of course being steeped in Elgar is a good thing to be this year, the 150th anniversary of his birth.
Others are steeped as well, for instance the writer at A Stratford Diary, who lovingly details the eighteen-ish months Elgar lived at Tiddington House, in Warwickshire.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-29-07 at 09:07 AM
There's something about that phrase, isn't there? It immediately conjures mystery, exploration, and inspiration. At least this is true for Laurie Brown on The Signal. And Wednesday night this comes true musically, with a performance of Montreal composer Michael Oesterle's The Agate Rosary, by pianist Jean Saulnier and cellist Yegor Dyachkov.
The Agate Rosary is based on the story of Galileo Galilei and his daughter, Sister Maria Celeste, who refused his gift of an agate rosary because of her vow of poverty. Her gift to Galileo was to share her ideas of the wonders of the universe from her cloistered world.
Note: this special broadcast is in hour two of the program, along with music from Gavin Bryars and Vincent Ho.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-29-07 at 12:00 AM
The Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards are coming up this weekend, held at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, which should give you some idea of the scale of the event. (Given that the last major event there was the Grey Cup on Sunday!)
It's far more than just an awards ceremony, there's a Pow Wow, there's a conference, a Lacrosse competition, lots of performances etc. etc.
Anyway, to get an aural leg up, so to speak, tune into Canada Live (8 p.m.) on Thursday night when some of the nominees will be showcased, including Digging Roots, Shane Yellowbird, and Clyde Roulette, in concerts recorded earlier this year.
November 28, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-28-07 at 05:05 PM
When I first started listening to Brazilian music, way back when, (it was that legendary Milton Nascimento/Wayne Shorter Native Dancer LP that first led me in), I thought if ever there was music not from North America that should be heard everywhere -- in the bars, the hockey rinks, whatever -- it was Brazilian music. Obviously this hasn't totally happened (though actually, how do I know, maybe they play samba as they fire pucks at the net as a warmup or something), but there sure is a lot more Brazilian music around, even on the airwaves.
On Tonic, for example, they regularly play Brazilian cuts (yayyyy, Tonic!), and tonight is no exception, with Brazilian-inspired music from singer Coral Egan and the ensemble Kalalou.
btw, you can also hear the up 'n' coming Coral Egan on a Concert on Demand, Coral Egan In Montreal.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-28-07 at 03:00 PM
...from your first cigarette to your last dying day...Funny how the mere mention of West Side Story has this affect, making one burst into song. Or is it just me? (Come on, admit it, bet you just started humming Maria, I just met a... ) Anyway, seems proof of the enduring strength of those songs. I'm happy to report that some of those songs are being played today on DiscDrive.
Speaking of West Side Story, you may have heard that the National Ballet of Canada recently did a production of some of the music -- with dancers singing! (You can hear/see some of that at that Nat. Ballet link.) Among the many reasons they chose to do this was to draw in new audiences for ballet, and, funnily enough, it seems to have worked, at least if this blogger, Tapeworthy is typical. Some great pix on Tapeworthy of the production, btw. Sadly it's over now, but perhaps they will reprise at some point, given the positive feedback.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-28-07 at 01:27 PM
If you missed the concert broadcast of Mariza on Monday, here it is as a Concert on Demand. She truly is the face of contemporary Portuguese fado, with her breathtaking voice and charismatic stage presence. This concert was performed in front of an enthralled audience (really, they were, I was there and saw nothing but thrall) as part of the Small World Festival.
Mariza at Concerts on Demand.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-28-07 at 11:31 AM
Mahler Wednesdays continue on Studio Sparks with excerpts from his Symphony No. 6, played the the Concertgebouw Orchesra conducted by Riccardo Chailly.
And of course, what you've all been waiting for, the Mahler Trivia of the Day. I turn this week to Soho the Dog, and his Mahler T-shirts. Not what you're likely imagining, unless, of course, you follow Soho the Dog.
Hmm, that last link is fine, but here's a better image of Mahler (and Strauss) on their hogs.
btw, normally I would not link to something where $$ are involved -- but were you to purchase, the proceeds go to a good cause. And who wouldn't want to sport Strauss and Mahler in Easy Rider mode?
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-28-07 at 12:01 AM
Apparently the Pantages Playhouse in Wpg. is one of Holly Cole's favourite theatres in Canada, and last fall she was recorded in concert at the historic venue -- broadcast Wednesday night on Canada Live (8 p.m.) Just think, treading the boards where once Charlie Chaplin and the Marx Brothers appeared. Wonder if she was tempted to walk funny, or peer out into the audience and say something like "I never forget a face, but in your case I'll be glad to make an exception." Probably not.
But aside from whatever elements of humour may or may not be present in the show, we do know for a fact that Holly performed with a six piece band, including longtime pianist Aaron Davis, bassist Marc Rogers and saxophonists Johnny Johnson and Perry White.
And a second concert on the broadcast from Manitoba -- from the Harvest Moon Festival. What, you may ask, is the Harvest Moon Festival? It's a festival held in the small town of Clearwater, Manitoba, where the farmers in the area and residents of Clearwater have joined forces to raise awareness about local foods, their growth, distribution etc.
And they're doing that in part through this annual concert, recorded by Canada Live. Tonight you can hear three acts, first, the Prairie Polka Playboys who play polka as well as C&W from the 1940's, (and chose the perfect name as a result) and singer-songwriters Romi Mayes, and Greg MacPherson.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-28-07 at 12:00 AM
The Signal (10 p.m.) broadcasts music Wednesday night from the 2007 X Avant Festival at the Music Gallery in Toronto. It's cross-border improvisation, with New York saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa and Toronto bassist Rich Brown.
Rudresh incorporates the musical culture of his Indian ancestry (among myriad influences) into his music, and has so many musical ideas that he leads or co-leads seven, count 'em seven groups. He's been getting quite a bit of attention "stateside," as they used to say -- he was named "Rising Star" on alto by the Downbeat International Critics Poll for the past four years.
And Rich, well, if you follow the Canadian music scene you'll know his playing -- he plays with Autorickshaw, has worked with artists from (formely) Jane Siberry to Steve Coleman -- he's a great bass player. Here's a nice line from Rich: "I wanted to sing like Stevie, play like Miles, and phrase like Scofield and do it all on the same instrument."
November 27, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-27-07 at 07:30 PM
A concert featuring erhu virtuoso George Gao and his ensemble - plus special guests -- is up first on Canada Live (8 p.m.) tonight, followed by World On A String, recorded at the Stockey Centre in Parry Sound during this summer’s Festival of the Sound.
The Canadian Guitar Quartet plays some Latin music, marimba virtuoso Beverley Johnston performs Arctic Dreams, and there’s some new music from Quebec composer Patrick Roux, and New Yorker Benjamin Verdery.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-27-07 at 04:00 PM
In case you missed this earlier, some Canadian music news, from the awards & accolades beat -- country music star Paul Brandt receives the Juno's Humanitarian award next spring when Calgary hosts the annual music awards. You can read about that at CBC | Arts News.
Also, Alanis Morissette is the latest Canadian musician slated to be honoured by the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame. CBC | Arts News has details on that story as well.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-27-07 at 02:00 PM
Gregory Charles, host of In The Key Of Charles, had his solo Paris debut yesterday. I wonder if he was nervous? I hope today he was able to relax and enjoy a croissant and café creme, perhaps at Café Flore, or whatever his (possibly less touristy) perfect Paris morning consists of...
As for the music, here's what two papers had to say:
Gregory Charles s'offre un showcase à Paris, from La Presse.
Gregory Charles fait une démonstration de force au cabaret Bobin'o exclaims Le Devoir.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-27-07 at 12:10 PM
After the broadcast of oud player/composer/Unesco Artist for Peace Marcel Khalife's concert on Canada Live, a number of people asked if it would be available as a Concert On Demand.
Just wanted to make sure ya'll know that it is -- titled Marcel Khalife In Edmonton. He's a wonderful musician -- a virtuoso, an innovator, but also the composer of some beautiful tunes set to poetry, music that has huge resonance with his audience. This concert features music from both aspects of his repertoire.
Bonus -- a few photos of the concert on Flickr.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-27-07 at 09:00 AM
Here's To You invites you to cast your ballot to choose which music the CBC Radio Orch. will play in a "Concert By Request." There are four categories: Bach, Handel, Vivaldi and other Baroque composers, and HTY would be delighted to hear why you cast your ballot for one or the other. Entering also puts you in the running for a trip to Vancouver, hotel accommodation and tickets to the concert. (The deadline is November 30th, so get clicking!)
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-27-07 at 06:25 AM
This week Music & Co.'s Cage Match is: Russia vs the USSR. The Russian National Orchestra and the Leningrad Philharmonic face off over Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony. (Tuesday 7:30, Wednesday 6:40, with results announced on Friday morning.) And of course you can cast your vote at the Cage Match.
For some reason, writing that last sentence, I suddenly started hearing At The Cage Match to the tune of Copacabana. You know, "At the Cage Match, they fell in loveeeee...."
But back to Russia vs. USSR. Not, perhaps, as contentious as CFL vs. NFL., but not everything can be that significant, one supposes.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-27-07 at 12:01 AM
I suspect it's probably time to stop identifying Emily Haines via her Metric and Broken Social Scene cred, strikes me these days that she's just as known for her own solo work. Case in point, the concert being broadcast Tuesday night on The Signal (10 p.m.) which wowed 'em at the 2007 Hillside Folk Fest.
OK, so next time, no BSS/Metric references, promise.
Meantime, I like what Robert Wyatt (Soft Machine/writer/activist) had to say in the liner notes for her solo recording that got such a (deservedly) positive response, Knives Don't Have Your Back. In fact I like it enough that here it is, verbatim:
"Haines doesn't take a predictable route to the inside of your head. No grandstanding. She's a true daughter of the revolution, and has inherited wisdom beyond her years. So how does she reach us? By quietly closing the stage door behind her, dodging the limelight glare for now. She slips around the edge of the stage, almost disappears, keeps to the shadows like her parents taught her, then is suddenly positioned right beside your ear. She's speaking your language but don't be so sure you know what she's thinking - this might be all in code. She's drawn in breath and drawn you in, too. You're hooked but it's not her fault; maybe she was just saying 'Hello.'"
-Robert Wyatt
And not, of course, to steer you away from the radio broadcast, but in case you can't tune in (maybe you're sleeping or comparison shopping for snow shovels or something, whatever, people's lives have their own rhythms), I did want to point out that this performance is also available as a Concert On Demand.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-27-07 at 12:00 AM
Tuesday night on Tonic (6 p.m.) host Katie Malloch plays her usual melange of jazz and R&B and Latin music -- with one highlight being some trumpet tracks from both Miles Davis and Chase Sanborn.
Recently I read an Macleans magazine interview with Wynton Marsalis (forgive me, that's what I like to euphemistically call the "lateral thinking" kicking in, rather than just some sort of far more trivial word association joint in my mind) that was quite revealing, about both interviewee and interviewer, none other than Kenneth Whyte. Anyway, somehow I'd missed that Marsalis had had an operation on his lip in the last year or so -- which was quite a terrifying thing for a trumpet player, understandably. As it was he was fortunate, even though he says he felt it was almost like starting from scratch after the surgery, in terms of his embouchure.
And then, in a completely weird coincidence, just before sitting down to blog a little blog, I happened to read in Rifftides about a TV special back in the mid-1970s starring Dizzy Gillespie -- called Dizzy's Bebop Reunion. Predates my jazz days, so I don't remember. But apparently Dizzy had terrible lip problem one night of the taping.
That really was quite a slim pretext to lead you to both the Macleans magazine interview, and to Rifftides, and to this video of Dizzy Gillespie with Al Haig and others, from the aforementioned TV show.
November 26, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-26-07 at 07:20 PM
...continue on The Signal (10 p.m.) with brand new recordings from Akron/Family, 230 Divisadero. The latter is one of those bands whose website features a (non-music related) trend I'm all in favour of -- that I'm just calling The Photo Of The Forest. (I'll have to start keeping a list and pass it over to Pat on the weekends for his next "trends roundup.")
But back to music. Also on tonight's show, a group of people who had an idea for a movie score for a movie that already existed -- and so they went ahead and created their own. They're known as The Valerie Project, and they created an alternate score to an avant-garde Czech film: Jaromil Jires' Valerie and Her Week of Wonders.
One other highlight to mention, flutist Catherine Potter leading the Duniya Project with a live recording of the group, her original fusion of North Indian classical music with jazz/contemporary composition.
Say, why exactly have bands/ensembles/groups become "projects," anyway? Is the term more open, more all-inclusive? I'm open...to explanations...
And I recall the last time the Duniya Project was broadcast on CBC R2, the response was very positive, so if you get a chance, do tune in.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-26-07 at 02:00 PM
DiscDrive and Tonic are what are called in the biz, "disc shows," which always seems to me to somehow seem dismissive, oh, "just discs," is that all? But of course the truth is discs are the backbone, as it were, of music programming on radio the world over. (Whatever the literal format.) And here are a few highlights of today's very fine disc shows:
Continue reading "AfternoonDiscs" »
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-26-07 at 12:10 PM
One apartment, six drummers -- and a quite amazing performance with "found" objects including things like cat food bowls, from a group of very inventive Swedish percussionists. (Simply called Music for One Apartment and Six Drummers.) This is no YouTube cheapie, it's a true art/music film, posted at Atom Films, who have been around for about a decade pioneering online indie video, and are the company behind the amazing short film Creature Comforts. (Not a music video, but just as a point of reference.)
The One Apartment/Six Drummers video has been online for a little while, but somehow I missed it, seeing it for the first time this weekend, when I first mentioned it on Ye Olde Blogge. However, in case it got lost in between the chili prep. and the donning of blue or green face paint, I thought I'd point to it again. Again.
Speaking of blue vs. green though, don't know about you, but I'm starting to get a little tired of the expression "not a classic game." Looked OK to me -- guys throwing the ball, guys in a big pile, guys dancing around in shiny pants. Anyway, I have a feeling no one in Saskatchewan really cares about its "classicality" rating.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-26-07 at 11:00 AM
Bernard Labadie leads Les Violons du Roy (he's also the founder of the professional choir La Chapelle de Québec) and he's known as one of Quebec's most active musicians. According to Mr. Labadie's bio, music critic William Littler once called him "King of the Classical," presumably because of his versatility! Today Mr. Labadie joins Eric Friesen on Studio Sparks, from Montreal to talk about Les Violins du Roy, and their new recording of Handel's Water Music.
And in case you've ever wondered about the name, Les Violins du Roy, (as have I), according to the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada, it comes from "the court orchestra of the Bourbon kings of France in the 17th and 18th centuries." (They also draw this interesting conclusion about the ensemble, based on the fact that most of its personnel is from Montreal and Quebec City -- that it has a "home-grown aspect that has clearly worked in its favour.")
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-26-07 at 07:15 AM
The Amazing Mr. Allen is joined all this week on Music and Company by "lapsed academic" Caroline Harvey, for a series called The Amazing Mr. Mendelssohn, to talk about the fascinating and unusual life of, you guessed it, Felix Mendelssohn. That's every day this week, at 08:30. (8:30 a.m. for you civilians.)
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-26-07 at 12:00 AM
Diva is an overworked word, and one I tend to avoid. But both performers on Monday night's Canada Live are diva-worthy -- if you take the word to mean someone who has a goddess-like stature in her chosen field.
The first concert comes from Massey Hall, and features the fado singer Mariza. I had the good fortune to be at that concert, and it was pretty wonderful, even though at times she seemed a little tired -- no wonder, with the amount of touring she does. But she truly gave her all; she's such a charismatic performer -- and she just seems to live through the drama of fado. (And if ever there was a dramatic music, fado is it. Well, maybe alongside flamenco. And opera.)
But Mariza is also charmingly down to earth -- in between songs, she talked about her about her childhood (born in Mozambique, but raised in Mouraria, a traditional Lisbon neighbourhood) and growing up with fado -- she sang in her parents taverna from the age of five.
OK, now onto the second diva. Isabel Bayrakdarian is a Canadian singer of Armenian descent, and this concert features the soprano performing Spanish and Armenian songs. Also, there's a Canadian premiere, of Serouj Kradjian's Seven Armenian Folk Songs.
I remember seeing a documentary not too long ago about her journey back to Armenia, what she called her "spiritual homeland." The doc is called A Long Journey Home, and it features her performing sacred and secular Armenian music in churches and ruins -- the music is really so beautiful. As is she. And Mariza. What can I say, if you're going to use the word diva, might as well use it when it comes to performers like these two.
November 25, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-25-07 at 09:10 PM
Actually, more of a Signal bulletin, just to alert you to the fact that the show celebrates the music of Bali tonight. Or at least, music inspired by Bali to be more accurate, with music composed by Colin McPhee, Alexina Louie, Marcel Bergman and others.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-25-07 at 04:00 PM
There's a bit of an Aretha fest on Tonic (6 p.m.) tonight, with music from Rare & Unreleased Aretha Franklin, and Mary J Blige doing an Aretha cover. Can't have too much Aretha in the world, I always say.
Not coincidentally, the other day on a show over on Radio 1, Canada Writes, I heard Dione Taylor (who was a judge in this writing contest) doing a magnificent in-studio version of You Make Me Feel (Like A Natural Woman). Then I noticed (late, too late!) she actually did a tribute show of her own to Aretha on Friday, called A Little Respect, at the Glenn Gould here at CBC Toronto. Well, I bet she'll reprise it since it was sold out. And I'll have to see snoop around to see if there's any chance of broadcast for that show...
And while we're on the topic, you might want to check out Joe Queenan's take on why the song Respect oughta get more...in a piece he wrote called Put A Sock In It. Let's just say if he's at your karaoke night and you sing it, he will not be coming to your next soiree.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-25-07 at 03:11 PM
Even in pre-historic times when the only musical instruments around were rocks, people always longed to play the guitar.
Now this is patent silliness, and it doesn't even originate with moi, queen of silliness, but with the folks at Skylarking. But maybe they're right, maybe people felt that voice and drums were not enough, and someone heard the wind in the reeds or felt the bow string vibrate in a musical way and thought, "What the world needs is a Gibson, but we just don't know how to make one, yet." We'll never know.
Aside from dedicating today's Skylarking show to the guitar though, it's also co-hosted by producer of The Signal, former host of the jazz show After Hours, and guitarist, the multi-talented Andy Sheppard.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-25-07 at 11:01 AM
In his last at bat ever for the Boston Red Sox, the great Ted Williams hit a home run. In his last piano concerto, Ludwig van Beethoven did the same. Ted probably would have been happy with the outcome of the fall classic this year, though disappointed with the general state of the game -- not much real fun, given the implosion of the Rockies. As for Beethoven's feelings on the 2007 World Series, we can only guess. But I digress.
The reason for this home run analogy is because today on The Concerto According to Manny, (broadcast on Inside the Music) you can hear Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto. Then start making the chili, you know, for that other game.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-25-07 at 12:01 AM
Today on In the Key of Charles, Monsieur Charles plays music related to dreams, fantasies, wishes. What a great theme -- and so much material to choose from. Off the top of my head, first two songs to jump to mind: When You Wish Upon A Star and Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair. Come to think of it, two songs that seem unlikely to ever be played in the same set, but never say never. At least, not when it comes to the realm of wishin' and hopin,' and wishin' and hopin'. (And actually if I was going to hear them in the same set, it wouldn't surprise me if it happened on In the Key of Charles.)
But while I haven't seen the playlist for today's show, I do know that you can hear some of Gregory's favourite singers, including Jack Johnson, Patsy Cline, Tuck & Patti, Joni Mitchell and Eva Cassidy, and music from Les Baxter, as well as music for concert band by Canadian composer Howard Cable, and an operatic setting of Edgar Allen Poe by Claude Debussy.
As always, Gregory will be at home, on the bench, and will sing a few songs himself. Apparently he also ponders the musical link between the Superman soundtrack and Death and Transfiguration by Richard Strauss. Hmmm, flying, leaving the earth, transfiguration? I'll leave that to Gregory.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-25-07 at 12:00 AM
Today on Sunday Afternoon in Concert, Bill Richardson hosts a live broadcast from Roy Thompson Hall’s 2008 International Vocal Recitals series. Canadian soprano Measha Brueggergosman is accompanied by English pianist Roger Vignoles, and her repertoire includes songs by Britten, Poulenc and Satie, and coincides with the release of her new CD, Surprise.
Prior to Measha's recital Bill has a round-up of recent performances with leading Canadian orchestras, soloists and guests. Violinist Mark Fewer returns home to St. John's, Newfoundland to play a Violin Concerto by Edgar Meyer. You may know Meyer as the bass soloist for the popular Appalachian Waltz album with fiddler Mark O'Connor and cellist Yo Yo Ma, but he's also an accomplished composer.
And yet more highlights to mention: pianist Hélène Grimaud (she of the wolves fame, as I mentioned in a previous post, A Passion For Wolves) joins the Toronto Symphony Orchestra for a piano concerto by Johannes Brahms, and the Calgary based piano duo of Elizabeth and Marcel Bergmann perform music of William Bolcom.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-25-07 at 12:00 AM
Guitarist Joel Fafard cites among his influences: Bruce Cockburn, Hank Williams and Led Zepplin. You can hear how those influences pan out Sunday night on Canada Live (8 p.m.), in a concert he played at the CBC Regina Galleria. He's joined by fiddler Shannon Johnson (of The McDades) and bassist Curtis Scheschuk to perform Fafard originals, as well as some traditional tunes. If it's much like the acoustic stuff on Joel's MySpace site, it's very nice, fingerpicky and slidey.
And there's a second concert from the prairie provinces (go, Bombers, go! sorry, Saskatchewan, but as a former Wpger I feel I must) on the show, from versatile Saskatoon musician Kim de Laforest and her band, performing mostly Celtic tunes. (As opposed to her work on viola with the Saskatoon Symphony -- Kim is quite eclectic!)
November 24, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-24-07 at 09:00 PM
I think the Winnipeg Signal team sometimes has a quite endearing if odd sense of humour. (Or maybe they are being deadly serious and I fail to recognize that, given I'm prone to seek a cheap laugh, as regular blog readers will know. Now please be kind...) Anyway, this weekend the missive from The Signal suggests that we "get out our full-length mirrors for a new-music air guitar extravaganza when Pat presents Fred Frith in concert from Halifax."
New music air guitar in front of the mirror, quite challenging, I should think. Fred Frith air guitar, on the other hand, now that is something I well believe takes place, all around the world. And probably that is what they meant...
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-24-07 at 04:19 PM
It’s time for taking care of business on Tonic, (6p.m.) with Dizzy's Business played by Cannonball Adderley, and Nina Simone singing Take Care of Business. For some reason Take Care of Business isn't a song I know well, so I decided to see if I could find some audio on line, and lo and behold, found this small tribute to Ms. Simone, singing that very song.
P.S. The other day I was bemoaning the loss of yet another Canadian jazz club, The Courthouse in Toronto, so am pleased to say that tonight Tonic celebrates some of the clubs that are still extant, (or at least bars that regularly feature jazz), from Stayner's Wharf in Halifax to The Cellar in Vancouver.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-24-07 at 01:00 PM
It's always nice to find great new sources for music info, and for some reason though I'd heard of SoundRoots I hadn't looked at it until recently. Glad I did.
A recent post slated Global Sounds, Global Visions is a nice round up of world music/international videos, including one called Music for One Apartment and Six Drummers, which is pretty amazing. Be patient, wait until they get inside the apartment, it's worth it! (How did they mic the cat bowls though? And why do they have to throw the books?)
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-24-07 at 12:00 PM
Just a quick note to alert you (not you regulars, since you will automatically tune in, of course) that this week on Sound Advice Rick Phillips has two new recordings of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto. He’ll sample and compare these two versions with each other, and also against older recordings.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-24-07 at 09:00 AM
...is probably never such a good idea, but that's what happens on the Vinyl Cafe today, when Morley find out that her son Sam only has one pair of underwear that fits, so she takes him on a shopping trip that’s destined for failure.
And music from a fav. band of mine today on the show (which comes to you from Gananoque, Ontario), the Great Lake Swimmers.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-24-07 at 12:00 AM
Antibalas is one of the, if not the main band on the contemporary Afrobeat scene. With "props" (come on, let's face it, I can't be taken seriously saying "props" so I had to put it in quotes) to Canada's Mr. Something Something.
Antibalas, if you don't know the band, are about a dozen musicians, based in Brooklyn, and they use Afrobeat as the blueprint, but it's a design that has lots of unexpected rooms, for instance the jazz room, the funk room, the... OK, even I am quickly tiring of the metaphor, but all that to say they're an eclectic and inventive Afrobeat band. Saturday night's concert on Canada Live comes from last summer's Montreal International Jazz Festival
Two other concerts will follow:
The multi-instrumentalist and multi-genre'd André Leroux Quartet, also from the Montreal Jazz fest, and The Attar Project, featuring Parmela Attariwala (violin) and Shawn Mativetsky (tabla), performing a mix of contemporary composition with improvisation, some of which is based on traditional Indian rhythms.
November 23, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-23-07 at 07:30 PM
The weekend Signal has been exploring musical trends of 2007, you know, clapping and the like. Tonight it's SHOUTING! (Remember how when email was in its infancy people would warn you off using CAPS because they said it was like being "shouted at?" Well, I'm not a fan of it in correspondence, music or real life -- though I'm curious as to which musical examples Pat will play tonight.)
But of course the entire show will not be devoted to music with SHOUTING, there's also a special guest appearance by Christine Fellows, whose new recording, Nevertheless, came out earlier this month. I believe it features that great song of hers that rhymes "renaissance collage" with something about a lobster and a homage. Homage and collage, I mean. Anyway, Christine drops by The Signal's Wpg. studios to chat and play D.J.
And one last feature to mention -- a look at the music of Toronto’s Sandro Perri, a.k.a. Polmo Polpo.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-23-07 at 05:29 PM
B.C. born but now Toronto-based, Ndidi Onukwulu sings bluesy original music -- she's got quite a set of pipes, and an enchanting stage presence. As for more formal accolades, she recently won the award for “New Artist Of The Year” at the Maple Blues Awards.
And now you can hear her performing in Banff as part of the Alberta Showcase, as a Concert On Demand.
Ndidi Onukwulu at Concerts on Demand.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-23-07 at 03:00 PM
Did you notice that the moon is very close to being full? Are people acting more snakey than usual? Or no, maybe that isn't because of the moon, that might just be football fans distressed because a few centimeters of snow sent all the parties indoors.
I have to say, even though in my life the Grey Cup mostly means too much chili and a great deal of intensity on behalf of certain family members, even I think of it as an outdoor sort of thing. Surely people should be outside, clutching their thermoses and howling Arrrr-goooos (well, the appropriate equivalent) and otherwise ignoring cross-border shopping opportunities.
But musically speaking the moon, full and otherwise, is always a source of inspiration -- particularly in jazz, what with That Old Devil, and How High, and Destination Moon, performed on Tonic this evening by vocalist Deborah Cox. You might know her best from her work in R&B, but she also sings jazz, and Destination Moon (also the name of her most recent album) is a tribute to Dinah Washington.
But before I take my leave of this post, another Tonic note: Katie will be playing some of what has been described as "a very elegant concert," held in November 1974 at Avery Fisher Hall in New York City, featuring the Modern Jazz Quartet.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-23-07 at 12:00 PM
Some notes from above-ground, on this snowy Friday. (Well, if alternative media is the underground, what can newspapers like The Star, The Guardian etc. be?)
1. Are Grey Cup musical festivities, gasp, "uncool?", making the CFL less sophisticated than the NFL? Ben Raynor at The Star claimed, earlier this week, that this was so.
"Yet while Sunday's American (for shame!) halftime-show star Lenny Kravitz could be considered sexy in some books – it could be worse, folks; Vancouver got the dreaded Black Eyed Peas in 2005 – and a hottie-packed Maxim party atop the CN Tower most certainly is, at least the music programming has largely stuck to the CFL's uncool ethos."
2. Is Krautrock more influential than some of us realized? John Harris, writing in The Guardian, says yes, this is so.
"Each time you hear either parping analogue electronica or the propulsive rhythm known by the term 'motorik,'" he says "it is this music you have to thank - so when you next listen to Radiohead, those US avant gardists TV On the Radio, LCD Soundsystem, Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, or (by accident) Stereophonics' crassly motorik 2005 single Dakota, you should coolly nod and say: 'Yeah - pretty Krauty.'"
3. Did a Connecticut nursing home use their profits to launch a Nashville record label? Travis Tritt is concerned it may be true -- according to the Boston Globe. (No good quotes from Tritt available though, just details of this bizarre allegation...)
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-23-07 at 10:33 AM
Canadian pianist Valerie Tryon has just issued a wide-ranging compilation of the music of Chopin, and Studio Sparks presents selections, including the Andante Spianato et Grande Polonaise Brillante, the Andante Spianato et Grande Polonaise Brillante.
No, that wasn't a typo, it's just such a marvelous title that I had to write it twice. (Say it out loud in your best Italian and you'll see what I mean.) Oh, and there's also the Nocturne in B flat major. Ho hum. Well, maybe musically it's pretty brillante too.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-23-07 at 12:00 AM
A nice double bill on Canada Live Friday night, (8 p.m.), starting with Wendy McNeill, originally from Edmonton, now based in Stockhom (because she couldn't take the Edmonton winters, I guess). But seriously, folks, Ms. McNeill has been doing very nicely as part of the happenin' Six Shooter Records "stable." (Whenever that term is used in reference to musicians I always picture a line of singers hanging their heads over their stalls, hoping for good reviews.)
Anyway, tonight's concert is a solo performance, ( the hometown release concert for her latest, The Wonder Show), featuring her quite distinctive voice, and her guitar and accordion playing.
And as to that second concert, it's from a CBC fav., Tri-Continental, who are Bill Bourne, Lester Quitzau, and Madagascar Slim. They mix up blues, folk and Malagasy music, and it's sweet. Not as in sugary, as in mighty fine.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-23-07 at 12:00 AM
La Juive ("The Jewess") was once a very popular opera, but it's faded from the repertoire of most opera companies.
Some La Juive trivia: It was the last role sung by legendary tenor Enrico Caruso at New York's famed Metropolitan Opera, on Christmas Eve, 1920.
But back to broadcast this weekend on Saturday Afternoon at the Opera, from the Opéra Bastille in Paris. Opera enthusiast Carl Morey attended the production and shares his views with host Bill Richardson prior to the performance. And of course Stuart Hamilton will be along with the Opera Quiz. The cast includes:
Soprano Anna Caterina Antonacci as Rachel
Soprano Annick Massis as Princess Eudoxie
In the role of Eléazar, the American tenor Nel Shicoff
Cardinal Brogni is sung by bass Ferrucio Furlanetto
Tenor Colin Lee sings the part of Prince Leopold
The Paris Opera Orchestra and Chorus is directed by Daniel Oren.
If you're not familiar with this opera, here is some more "b.g.," as we say in the biz, provided by the estimable SAATO team:
Continue reading "La Juive" »
November 22, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-22-07 at 08:00 PM
Maybe the Upstream Music Association was named for the effort and energy required to swim against the current of everyday music-making. No question that for many music organizations this is the reality...
But that tenacity and dedication pays off, as you can hear tonight on The Signal, when Artistic Director Paul Cram leads the Upstream Orchestra in a concert at the aptly named Sonic Courage Festival in Halifax. (btw, there's a nice piece on the 2006 version of the fest at Halifax writer/musican's Stephen Patrick Clare's Notes from the Underground.)
A highlight: the live recording of the world premiere of Without Roots conducted by composer Harris Eisenstadt.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-22-07 at 06:00 PM
Just blogged about Ms. Egan the other day, in a post called, cornily, Coral Egan Magnifies, about a concert featuring music from her new, third album entitled Magnify.
And lo and behold, my colleague Peter Cook, a.k.a. the Blog's Best Friend, has posted it as a Concert On Demand. The concert features Egan's blend of soul, folk and jazz, and has been described as "personal, luminous and groovy."
Carol Egan at Concerts on Demand.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-22-07 at 04:00 PM
Jazz drummer Kenny Washington has been quoted as saying that "Donald Byrd is practically a household name." Even with all his work in jazz and funk and soul and R&B, that still seems to be wishful thinking, but it's also an indication of Mr. Washington's huge admiration for the trumpet player. (That quote continues thusly: "He possesses a big tone and plays from the heart. He is an Afro-American history scholar and connoisseur of African Art. He's truly an amazing man.")
Tonight Tonic (6 p.m.) plays some music from the soulful sixties era of Donald Byrd, and if you want a preview of slightly later Byrd, here's Street Lady. (Interesting approach to posting music on a video site too...)
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-22-07 at 12:00 PM
No coincidence that yesterday was declared No Music Day, as I mentioned earlier in a post called, shockingly enough, No Music Day. Organizer Bill Drummond intended it to be a sort of lead up to St. Cecilia's Day -- which is today -- as Cecilia was the patron saint of music.
If you read through the comments on the No Music Day website, you'll see a full range of reasons people embrace the idea -- and many of these people are devoted to music. A blog called A Different Strip points out the popularity of books like A Time To Keep Silence might be an indication of a need that reaches beyond the issue of ubiquitous music though.
But there is a quiet to be found in music too, of course, an inner quiet -- one that comes with hearing music that you choose to hear. Or maybe an inner noisiness -- but again, one of your own choosing. So in honour of St. Cecilia's day I thought I'd excerpt an apt comment from someone who observed No Music Day to appreciate both silence, and music.
"My husband and I are singers and our whole family loves and thrives on music. Enjoyment of and expression through music are part of being human. But, I'm sure we do take it for granted. We even have to learn to ignore it because of the way the media permeate our lives. Our first child is named Cecilia, and I think this is a great way to draw more attention to the feast day of the patron saint of music. It's like a fast before a holiday."
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-22-07 at 10:30 AM
I was kind of bummed when I heard that I missed a version of Ding Dong the Witch is Dead on Studio Sparks yesterday.
What, you may ask, does this have to do with Beethoven's 4th Piano Concerto? Absolutely nothing. Though it's true that this work will be broadcast on Ssparks today, from a new live recording by pianist Mikhail Pletnev and the Russian National Orchestra, conducted by Christian Gansch.
But back to Ding Dong. The reason they were playing it was because the Munchkins finally, finally got a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. Seven of the nine surviving actors were there to participate in the ceremony.
(Interesting to note that in many reports they are referred to as "surviving Munchkins," as though Munchkins once roamed the planet, along with the race known as Wicked Witches.)
So in a belated nod to the Munchkins' big day, here's the original Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead for your procrastinatory pleasure.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-22-07 at 07:00 AM
Move over Maple, make way for particlebard? Don't think it's quite that bad, but modern composites are being used in violin-making. As to how they compare in terms of sound to the traditional woods used, today on Music & Co., Mr. Equipment drops by to answer a listener's query on that very subject.
Funny, I'm just reading Vikram Seth's An Equal Music (about a violinist, hopeless love, and the machinations of string quartet players) and am at the point where the main character thinks he is going to have to give back the centuries old violin he has had on loan for all his professional life. He imagines having a new violin built based on his Tononi -- he's anguished and disgusted at the thought.
But don't tell me how it turns out, haven't finished yet. (I'm pretty sure I can guess how the fraught romance turns out -- badly...)
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-22-07 at 12:00 AM
Thirty-one years, on American Thanksgiving, The Band said goodbye to fans with a concert that became what many still say is the best concert film ever, The Last Waltz. I'm not such a devotee of the form that I'd want to say sure, that's absolutely true, but of the concert films I've seen, it's right up there. (Along with Stop Making Sense.)
The Band being partly Canadian, and some of the guest stars of that concert being Canadian, (Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Ronnie Hawkins) last year on the 30th anniversary CBC had a live tribute to the music of The Band.
And Thursday night you can hear that concert on Canada Live. The small "b" band playing The Band are are Blackie and The Rodeo Kings, led by three great guitarists/singer/songwriters: Colin Linden, Tom Wilson and Stephen Fearing. Headliners include Kathleen Edwards, Jason Collett, Oh Susanna, Tony Dekker, Dione Taylor, Luke Doucet and Paul Reddick.
November 21, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-21-07 at 07:00 PM
For four decades jazz legend Carla Bley has been an iconoclast, refusing to be typecast. In this concert from Toronto’s Distillery District, Bley heads the Art of Jazz Orchestra, together with special guests, legendary jazz bassist and composer Steve Swallow and multi-instrumentalist Howard Johnson.
Carla Bley and the Art Of Jazz Big Band at Concerts on Demand.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-21-07 at 04:00 PM
Vanessa Rodrigues is a Canadian jazz and funk Hammond B-3 organist. And let's face it, there aren't a ton of women who can claim that. (For that matter, it's not like male Hammond B-3 players are a dime a dozen either.)
Anyway, Rodrigues, who you can hear on Tonic today, got serious about the organ at quite a young age, (she still looks like she's about 15 in some pictures) studying with jazz organist Dr. Lonnie Smith, and going on to perform at the Montreal International Jazz Festival, among other prestigious gigs.
You really should take a look at Lonnie Smith's site, btw, the home page features the turbaned "Doctor" playing some very funky stuff, and scatting, after a fashion.
But back to his student, Ms. Rodrigues. Tonight you can hear a recording she did with saxophonist Chris Gale, recorded live at The Rex Jazz & Blues Bar in Toronto. And heaven knows in the wake of the closure of Toronto's short-lived venue, The Courthouse, we need to talk up the Rex -- one of the few remaining steadfast jazz venues in the country.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-21-07 at 03:06 PM
The scoop from DiscDrive -- programming highlights for the rest of the week include:
Continue reading "Wednesday To Friday On DiscDrive " »
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-21-07 at 12:02 PM
Today, you probably haven't noticed, is No Music Day. If you observe the day, you will listen to no music, play no music, hear no music. The last is pretty difficult, given the ubiquity of music in public places. But that's part of the point -- the guy who started No Music Day, KLF co-founder Bill Drummond -- objects to the overload of music in modern society. As well, the masses of music being produced -- his argument seems to be that so little of it is really good, or doing anything new, that really, in the end music is being devalued by the glut.
But like I say, you probably haven't noticed No Music Day here in Canada -- R2 is still broadcasting merrily away, and while I am not there to corroborate, likely the guy who plays bagpipes at King and Bay is still piping, and whatever music your local busker plays is still being busked.
But over in Scotland it's a different story. BBC Scotland is not programming music, nor are they playing stings (the little bits of music in between talk), and they've closed the "music portal" on their website. According to a spokesperson speaking to the NYT, though there is an aspect of fun to it, it's not a stunt:"We want to challenge them [audience members] to consider how they might become more informed in their choices. These are important things."
Next year Drummond hopes to get iTunes to close for 24 hours. Good luck to him...but you know that saying about when hell freezes over?
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-21-07 at 10:06 AM
If it's Wednesday...well you know what it must be, if you listen to Studio Sparks or scrutinize any blogobits about the show --yes, it must be Mahler. Mahler Wednesdays continue with The Adagietto from Mahler's Fifth Symphony. The Sparks folks are putting their money down by saying it's "the best known music by Mahler existing." Agree? Disagree?
btw, you do know that Mahler the racehorse did NOT win the Melbourne Cup the other week? Bad news for Mahler fans everywhere, and for Aussie Prime Minister John Howard, who backed him to win.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-21-07 at 12:01 AM
Consider yourself warned! Tune in and turn up, to hear Vancouver's 4-piece instrumental jazz/post-rock group The Inhabitants the way they were meant to be heard, loud. The performance, braodcast Wednesday night on The Signal at 10 p.m., is from a live concert recorded at the 2007 Guelph Jazz Festival, replete with snarling guitars, rumbling bass, and distorted trumpet.
Now to some singing of their praises:
The Georgia Straight called them “nothing short of spectacular,” and the 2006 Moers Festival in Germany described the quartet as “the most exciting new band in Canada.”
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-21-07 at 12:00 AM
Coral Egan is a Montreal based singer songwriter. Yes, she also happens to be the daughter of the (perhaps under-acknowledged) Canadian jazz singer, Karen Young, but Egan is her own musician, of course. As All About Jazz puts it: "Coral’s is a unique, hybrid style, accented by bittersweet melodies and a certain solemnity, but lifted by a healthy dose of humour and observation."
She's also just released her third album, (on Justin Time) called Magnify. Canada Live recorded her first concert with the new material, and you can hear that concert on Wednesday night at 8 p.m.
Bonus -- the double bill also includes a performance by a group called BACKStrings, performing at the Festival du Monde Arabe. Appropriately enough, given that context, they play music inspired by traditions from Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Egypt, Spain and Tunisia.
November 20, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-20-07 at 07:05 PM
Tonight The Signal (10 p.m.) broadcasts part three of a live recording of the legendary Anthony Braxton performing with the Association of Improvising Musicians Toronto (AIMToronto), from the 2007 Guelph Jazz Festival.
Blog reader Mike Lewis wrote in not long ago, saying he'd heard Braxton speak at Guelph, and I'd just like to excerpt what he had to say about that:
"He's intensely analytical and his playing can seem cerebral and abstract, but he's one of the warmest people I've ever encountered. He made a great point with something along the lines of, 'I used to think I knew it all and now I realize how much I don't know. So I'm just a student like all of you.'"
Seems an attitude that would benefit many to adopt...
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-20-07 at 04:00 PM
Soho The Dog is an unabashed "promulgator of crackpot theories," which keeps many of us gratefully amused.
And this one's really good. Here goes, taken right from the Dog's mouth, as it were, as he asks: Was Beethoven A Steroid Abuser?
"Wouldn't that explain an awful lot?" writes Soho. "The notoriously difficult personality? The megalomanaical fury of the middle period? The wild mood swings of the late period? The rather remarkable growth of his head? Dude's head went from normal to huge. Not to put too fine a point on it:"
Barry Bonds in 1986; Barry Bonds in 2007.
Beethoven in 1801; Beethoven in 1818.
Now, there is more evidence than this that Soho The Dog presents, but for that you will have to go directly to his blog, since such a crackpot theory deserves close scrutiny at source.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-20-07 at 12:00 PM
I think more songwriters should write lyrics including Canadian place names. It can do a lot to raise the profile of a town or even a province. Look at The Hip's Bobcaygeon, for example. Who can drive past it without thinking "hey, that's where the constellations came out, one star at a time?" Not I.
Or when thinking of Manitoba, is it not natural to also think "moody?" Or for some of us malcontents who grew up and left, what do we associate with our hometown but the words "I Hate," as cemented in our minds by The Weakerthans? Just kidding, really, many fond memories of the place. Besides, according to author James Sherrett, it is not an anti-Winnipeg song at all. (Mind you, Sherrett has written a novel called Up In Ontario.)
This one is new to me though -- a song about Winkler, Manitoba, by Bob King. Other than large farm equipment, I admit that I don't have a specific association with Winkler. But maybe The Winkler Song, played on DiscDrive today,will change all that? I'm telling you, songs are a way of getting your city, town, crossroads, footpath, whatever...on the map.
I also should point out that Bob is a very Canadian-place-oriented songwriter -- his recording How The West Was Fun, includes such titles as Take Me Back To Boissevain. If you're not familiar with Bob, he's the guy who wrote the classic Sandwiches Are Beautiful, a song that anyone who has ever had anything to do with children and music will know well. (Associations there too, of school busses on dusty prairie roads and children shrieking, in my case.)
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-20-07 at 11:05 AM
Today Studio Sparks (12:00 pm, 12:30 NT) broadcasts Danish composer Carl Nielsen's Symphony n. 4, "The Inextinguishable," in a performance by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, conducting.
Apparently Neilson called his work The Inextinguishable based on this apophthegm: “Music is life, and inextinguishable like it.”
Which seems to be true of Gershwin's Rhapsody In Blue, which continues to be performed -- case in point today on SSParks when Montreal pianist Matt Herskowitz performs a solo piano version of the piece.
And if you haven't heard Gershwin himself playing it solo, you can now!
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-20-07 at 07:00 AM
There are some issues upon which I cannot even pretend to have an opinion. A prime example: which is better, the CFL or the NFL? In my house, the key to the entire mystery of football's appeal seems to rest on the shoulders of one Green Bay Packer, Brett Favre. (Whose name, oddly enough, is pronounced Farve, but then again, Winnipeg has Portage-rhymes-with-porridge-Ave.) This leads me to assume that at least in the eyes my nearest and dearest and not very nationalistic, the NFL is obviously "better."
Well, Music & Co. bravely takes on the question today in a Cage Match, in the second hour of the programme, results announced on Friday.
But isn't the Grey Cup coming up next weekend? Won't better adjusted Canadians than I be sitting on tailgates freezing their butts (or I suppose in keeping with the Canadian-ness of the event that should be "bums") off and eating chile or some such? So surely the CFL, even in some musical guise will win? Only Music & Co. fans can decide.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-20-07 at 12:00 AM
There are no shortage of love songs in the jazz standards repertoire, many about the failure to find it. Just a few examples: Lover Man ("oh where can you be"), But Not For Me ("They're writing songs of love, but not..."). Or they're about being crushed by it -- "just who can solve its mystery, why should it make a fool of me?" and so on. (The last from This Thing Called Love, of course.)
But tonight when Tonic plays "music for lovers," they include some rare, happy lyrics too, like the Rogers & Hammerstein classic People Will Say We're in Love, sung in this instance by Canada's Sophie Milman. Even then the song is all about how to avoid having people recognize one's state of being in love though. Guess it's true there really isn't much mileage in writing about happiness.
Of course, one way around all of this, jazz-wise that is, is just to listen to instrumental versions. And one really weird way to do that, in the case of the above song, is off a jukebox...sort of.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-20-07 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 Nov-19-07 at 07:09 PM
Take baroque harpsichord, add some laptop-generated loops and rhythms, what do you have? A collaboration between Canada's John Kameel Farah (said by the The Toronto Star, to be "redefining electronica") and Germany’s Volker Bertelmann, a.k.a. Hauschka (the prepared piano guy). It's part of The Signal's broadcast (10 p.m.) of highlights from a concert recorded at the Music Gallery in Toronto.
Speaking of pianos, and their occasional evolution, did you see the picture of the black & white, 16-foot grand designed by architect Daniel Libeskind for the Royal Ontario Museum's "Crystal" space? Here's the Globe and Mail piece about it, In the Key of Libsekind, and Blog TO's entry - a better image. Pretty wild. In my opinion almost anything would make the controversial Crystal more interesting -- were I of the beat generation, upon entering for the first time after hearing all the hype, my response would have been, "Dullsville." So I look forward to the piano, though thousands do not.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-19-07 at 04:00 PM
Lydecker: “Would you mind turning that off?”
McPherson: “Why, don’t you like it?”
Carpenter: “It was one of Laura’s favorites, not exactly classical, but sweet.”
Love it when characters in a movie refer to music that is actually the signature tune in the movie's soundtrack...but I don't know if I'd call Laura "sweet." Though maybe that's just because I so associate it with the movie -- and how could you not, it's pretty much all-Laura-all-the-time. That's OK, it's a good tune, and one that you can hear tonight on Tonic, performed by the Jazz at the Movies Band.
Speaking of things noir and jazz, re-watched Ascenseur pour l'échafaud (Elevator to the Gallows) on the weekend. Don't know if you've ever seen it, but if you have you'll know that it features a very insistent kind of soundtrack by Miles Davis. Anyway, got me thinking how well suited jazz is to noir, at least that kind of highly stylized 1950s take on the genre.
Legend has it that Miles recorded the music overnight, sipping champagne with (spectacularly beautiful) star, Jeanne Moreau, and director Louis Malle. I hope legend has it right.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-19-07 at 03:00 PM
Have you ever been uncertain as to how to pronounce Bruch, as in composer Max Bruch? Here's your guide, according to the fine folks at DiscDrive.
"Bruch – rhymes with Brook, but with an aspirated ‘h’ in place of the 'ch.'" Of course Jurgen doesn't likely need that helpful hint, but others of us might. (You can double check his pronunciation if you like though, as he plays some of Bruch's music on today's show.)
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-19-07 at 02:00 PM
Russell Braun (baritone) and Monica Whicher (soprano) star in a programme of music about peace.
Recorded during this year’s Festival of the Sound in Parry Sound, Ontario, the concert presents sequences of songs by Barber, Mahler, Britten, Morawetz, Pete Seeger, Jacques Brel and Sting.
Of War and Peace at Concerts on Demand.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-19-07 at 12:00 PM
If you are a fan of British mystery drama you'll know Midsomer Murders. It's no Inspector Morse, but entertaining in its own way. (Although I know some who are perpetually confused by the plots, not to mention by how one bucolic location can still have any residents remaining, given the number of murders that take place there.)
Anyway, the Brit press is having some fun with the fact that Ricky Wilson, frontman for rock band, the Kaiser Chiefs has professed to be a big fan. He told the Guardian that he loves the show -- "It totally relaxes me for two hours. I imagine it's much like heroin."
They didn't believe him. But now it seems they do, (It Was Ricky Wilson in the Conservatory With a Candlestick) or are toying with the idea of taking the notion seriously, as Wilson is also reported as saying he'd like to mount an exhibition of paintings he's done of lead actor, John Nettles (better known as Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby).
Ah, what odd fun they sometimes have on the other side of the (not "pond," an expression I've always found cloying) ocean. But personally, I find Midsomer M.'s more like a little too much wine after a large meal, pleasing but potentially soporific. (Maybe that's why the plots seem hard to follow?)
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-19-07 at 10:10 AM
Improvising-classical pianist Gabriela Montero played live on Studio Sparks last week, and it was a great session - she took requests from the audience and from host Eric Friesen, and one young Venezuelan-Canadian woman became very emotional requesting a Venezuelan folksong, which Montero was happy to play, improvising on it as well.
A Montero fan wrote in to ask if this session would be available on line, and I wanted to let you know that yes, it is indeed available -- on the Studio Sparks website, under Features.
As for today's show, one of the features is Canadian violinist James Ehnes talking about Elgar's monumental violin concerto. (Legend has it that Fritz Kreisler was white as a sheet the first time he played it!) Ehnes describes his own emotions on "confronting" this piece, and you can hear his new recording of it, with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Andrew Davis.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-19-07 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 Nov-18-07 at 08:03 PM
A rather international lineup tonight on The Signal, with music from the quartet Amiina, plus some (yup, you guessed it), music from Bjork.
Back in Canada, music from Montreal’s Bell Orchestre, and a concert by the University Voices from Montreal, including performances of James Rolfe's When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd and John Estacio's Eulogies.
And leaping back to the other side, some music from the Latvian Radio Chamber Singers, performing Andris Dzenitis' Les livres de ton silence: Unfinished Symphony.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-18-07 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.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-18-07 at 04:05 PM
Andre Alexis is doing double host duty today and tomorrow, today hosting his weekly Skylarking, Monday morning you can hear him in the Here's To You chair. But as it is Sunday, what you want to know about is what's on this evening's show.
And I will tell you, verbatim from the horse's (producer's) mouth: "Get set for a bucolic Sunday - from heaps of sheep to Beethoven's pastoral, Andre Alexis covers everything that the countryside has to offer, musically that is."
Heaps of sheep indeed. Almost as good as one of my all time favourite rhymes, found in the following lyric (think Peggy Lee, Julie London, Barbra Streisand): "You told me love was too plebeian. Told me you were through with me and..."
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-18-07 at 02:00 PM
Pinchas Zukerman leads the National Arts Centre Orchestra in a program spanning four centuries - from Haydn to Canadian composer Alexina Louie, with this concert that is now available as a Concert On Demand.
It opens with a NAC commission from Alexina Louie, called Infinite Sky with Birds.
And the 20-year-old Chinese pianist Yuja Wang returns to NACO, following a spectacular debut three years earlier, to perform Grieg’s Piano Concerto. Haydn’s Symphony No. 49, La Passione and Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet: Fantasy Overture complete the programme.
NACO perform Louie, Grieg at Concerts on Demand.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-18-07 at 11:00 AM
Inside The Music broadcasts part three of The Concerto According to Manny this morning, with Studio Sparks host Eric Friesen talking with pianist Emanuel Ax, a.k.a. "Manny," about Beethoven's Piano Concerto in G Major Opus 58 .
The history of this concerto, in a nutshell, (and let's be honest, what other kind of history do you want on a blog?) is that Beethoven composed it in 1805-1806, performed it in a private concert at Prince Lobkowitz's residence in Vienna, before giving the public premiere at the Theater an der Wien on December 22, 1808.
Notable for many reasons, not the least of which is the fact that no concerto before, by Beethoven or anyone else, began as the G major does, with the solo instrument playing unaccompanied in this particular manner. (You'll just have to tune in to hear the particular manner of which I speak!)
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-18-07 at 07:00 AM
Today on Choral Concert, the Saint Cecelia celebration with the Bavarian Radio Chorus, and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra performing Gounod's Messe Solenelle de Sainte Cecile.
St. Cecilia Triva Note: Technically St. Cecilia's day is November 22nd (that's Thursday, but a weekly radio show must do what a weekly radio show must do). And of course, being the Patron Saint of Music, she inspired any number of other compositions too -- including Purcell's Hail, Bright Cecilia and Handel's Ode on St. Cecilia Day.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-18-07 at 12:00 AM
To the shock horror of some trad jazz fans, and the delight of those of us who like both tradition and creative departure from tradition, the lines between pop and jazz have blurred more and more in the past years. (Possibly harkening back to Miles' (in)famous cover of Time After Time, although some might say jazz doing pop is really how jazz began -- think of Minstrelsy, think of Tin Pan Alley, think of Broadway show tunes...) Anyway, on Tonic tonight they celebrate the jazzification of songs from the other side, with covers of songs by Dylan, Radiohead and Rufus Wainwright.
November 17, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-17-07 at 08:10 PM
Tonight on The Signal, at 10 p.m., a broadcast of the collaboration between Sarah Sleane and the Art of Time Ensemble, performing music composed by some of Canada’s most eloquent men – like Leonard Cohen and Ron Sexsmith. btw, not to make you steer away from your radio --never! -- but this concert is also available online as a Concert On Demand.
Also, while we're on the subject of Concerts On Demand, or "CoD's" as we affectionately call them in blogland, there are a bunch of new shows that have recently been added, including one from singer-songwriter/jazz chanteuse, Lori Cullen, performing with a biggish band including members of True North Brass.
OK, now I'm feeling that I'm neglecting The Signal though, not my intention.So I should say, aside from The Sleane/Art of Time concert, Pat is also playing a bunch of new discs, from artists like Kristin Hersh, Sandro Perri, Prefuse 73 and Japancakes.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-17-07 at 03:49 PM
I'm hot and cold on Nellie McKay -- the jazz oriented, very clever, sometimes strident singer-songwriter. She's created music I think is brilliant, (for instance some of the songs on Get Away From Me, released not long after Norah Jones' recording Come Away With Me). Other stuff she's done really misses the mark. But she's extremely talented, and most of all, very, very original.
Anyway, as a post-script to something I posted a few days ago, about Sufijan Stevens' Christmas Song Exchange, I offer you this -- Nellie McKay's very aptly named, A Christmas Dirge, a new song she's offering fans for free.
Beautifully sung, very lugubrious, pretty depressing. But to some, in a very black-humour kind of way, funny. To others, probably just sad. Either way, somehow I don't think anyone's going to be rushing out to play this, except maybe at anti-Christmas rallies. Still, for McKay fans, and I know you are many, you'll want to check it out...
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-17-07 at 12:00 PM
Ah, the Bohemian life, hanging out in a garret overlooking the skyline of Paris; starved for food but rich in love…Bet you're thinking Puccini’s La Boheme but no -- today's opera broadcast on SAATO is another late 19th century portrait of the artists’ life – Louise – by Gustave Charpentier.
Host Bill Richardson (along with Opera Quiz Master Stuart Hamilton) introduces a production of Charpentier's four-act hit, presented by the Opéra National de Paris.
Now here's the backstory. Louise calls The City of Light her home, and we will not resent her for that. Tensions arise between Louise's responsibility to her traditional working class parents, and her opportunity to break free with the bohemian artist, Julien.
And here are the cast details: Lading French soprano Mireille Delunsch in the title-role, American tenor Paul Groves as her lover, Julien Jane Henschel as Maman and the great Belgian bass-baritone Jose van Dam as Louise's father. The conductor is Sylvain Cambreling.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-17-07 at 11:00 AM
Speaking of dozens of chamber ensembles, as I was much earlier today, Rick Phillips will have not dozens, but all kinds of new recordings of chamber music – duos, quintets, octets and more.
And Sound Advice regulars take note -- today is the last installment of the series on the music of Sir Edward Elgar -- Rick will play the “unfinished” symphony, Symphony Number Three.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-17-07 at 08:16 AM
Today the Vinyl Café goes home-made, no vinyl, just old particleboard. This is how it worked.
Because host Stuart Mclean loves homemade music so much, he asked a handful of Canadian musicians to record their songs and send them in. Some used their computers (hey, isn't that cheating?) while others worked with tape machines, and one person even recorded his song onto a phone answering machine. (Better, but I was hoping for wax cylinders, though admittedly they are cumbersome to send by Canada Post.)
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-17-07 at 12:01 AM
CBC Radio 2's flagship live classical music performance show is Sunday Afternoon In Concert. Funny, every time the expression "flagship" pops up in this context I picture some massive ocean going vessel transporting whole orchestras, choirs, maybe a dozen chamber ensembles. But that's beside the point, really.
What is the point is what they are broadcasting this Sunday, and it looks like a nice lineup. From the Scotia Festival of Music, Anonymous 4, four women who perform chants and songs from a rare illuminated manuscript that was recently rediscovered -- choral music has not been performed in over four hundred and fifty years. Musicologist Jennifer Bain transcribed the music for the performance, and the manuscript itself is undergoing conservation work in Ottawa. Host Bill Richardson finds out about the history of the score -- and how it came to Halifax.
Then, from the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, a performance of Igor Stravinsky’s ballet The Firebird, among other selections.
And a visit from the indefatigable Alex Ross, music critic for New Yorker magazine, whose recently published book The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century seems to be knocking everyone's socks off.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-17-07 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 Nov-16-07 at 07:00 PM
Mark Mothersbaugh has had a pretty fascinating musical career to date -- known for the "anti-music" of his band Devo, the music of Pee Wee's Playhouse, and of course the film scores for the terminally "wacky" and "quirky" director Wes Anderson. (Sorry, just not a huge fan. Some of my friends are though, but all of them are home watching their Wes Anderson DVDs for the millionth time right now, so think I'm safe.) Anyway, that's no slight against Mothersbaugh's music, and tonight you can hear some of it on The Signal. (10 p.m.)
Also, the show continues its ongoing look at top indie/arty trends of 2007. So far they've done clapping and whistling and another one I'm forgetting (the glockenspiel?), this week, it's CHOIRS!
So they're playing new releases from Vancouver's The Choir Practice, Winnipeg's Christine Fellows and New York's Golden Ghost.
And one final highlight on The Signal tonight I wanted to point out -- a concert recording of Toronto's Art of Time Ensemble performing a signature piece from Christos Hatzis, Old Photographs.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-16-07 at 03:00 PM
Kind of amazing when a mere phrase can make you immediately conjure up an entire universe, in this case one where Julie Andrews endlessly twirls while wearing some odd pinafore, in an impossibly perfect alpine meadow.
But it's also the anniversary of the Broadway premiere of The Sound of Music today, wayyyy back on November 16th, 1959. Today it's honoured, musically, on Tonic at 6 p.m..
There are any number of reasons I sometimes wish I could live in the U.K., but among them is How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria, where people competed to be the best Maria. Now that was reality TV, never mind this gospel idol stuff.
And of course, how can I even mention the Sound of Music without sending you to Gwen Stefani doing Wind It Up, which samples The Lonely Goatherd. Really.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-16-07 at 12:00 PM
The other day I was musing about what the next successful reality TV show involving music might be. Ukulele Idol? Air-Voice Idol? But no, these guesses seem not to be correct.
More likely it's Gospel Idol -- if a show that's become one of the highest rated shows on BET is any indication. It's called Sunday Best. I like the question that a piece on NPR, slugged Idol Meets Gospel, raises about it: "How is it possible to judge a performance that's part of someone's spiritual journey?" Guess that's something only "certified gospel royalty" judge, Bebe Winans, can decide.
But it does remind me of something I read a while ago about "sacred steel" guitar players and gospel vocalists who were excommunicated from their churches for performing the popular version of the music in secular spaces. (Found that piece, from the NYT last summer, called Singers Grounded by Sacred Roots.) You have to wonder, is nothing sacred? No, more seriously, you have to wonder, what's the reaction to this show in the gospel singing community? Will have to poke around the blogosphere and report back...
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-16-07 at 10:00 AM
Yannick Nezet-Seguin, who has been described as Canada's "fastest rising conductor," has begun his prestigious directorship of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. (So far, so good, with publications like the UK's International Record Review saying things like, "On the evidence of this moving live performance of Bruckner’s Seventh, Rotterdam has made an inspired choice.")
Anyway, his opening opening concert took place this past weekend, and today Studio Sparks presents one of the concert highlights: Beethoven's Symphony n.3, the Eroica.
The concert was reportedly a smashing success, according to Arthur Kaptainis, writing in the Gazette. Here's the thoroughly enjoyable opening of that piece (in case you just don't feel like all that clicking and mousing).
"Call it Dutch delirium. Or maybe polite applause.
Continue reading "Dutch Delirium" »
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-16-07 at 08:00 AM
Just a note to say that Andre Alexis, host of Skylarking, is the guest host this morning and Monday on Here's To You. Tune in to hear excerpts from Mendelssohn's Excerpts from Octet in E flat, Op 20, Schubert's Symphony N2 in B flat major Vivaldi's Violin Concerto in B flat, Sibelius' Six Humoresques and a whole whack of other pieces requested by you. (Maybe not you, literally, but "you" in the collective audience sense. Sort of the Time Magazine sense of "you," if you catch my drift.)
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-16-07 at 12:01 AM
The other night, having dinner with a friend, we spent a good part of the evening talking about the nature of friendship. Ours, her relationship with another friend, the friendship one has with a mate, and how that differs from platonic friendships, how men and women seem to view friendships differently, etc. etc. Endlessly fascinating.
But for some reason I don't think of friendship as a well-mined topic for songs. Well, this Sunday (Nov. 18th) on In The Key Of Charles, it seems Gregory will disprove this theory, as he explores the idea of friendship, musically.
Music on the show is performed by Ella Fitzgerald, Etta Jones, Chet Baker, (I'm betting Gregory plays My Buddy), Jacques Brel, James Taylor and Ruthie Foster, as well as Canadian recording artists Holly Cole, Jann Arden and Ann Murray. You'll also hear some classical music by Robert and Clara Schumann and Felix Mendelssohn, and of course some music from Gregory himself, at his piano.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-16-07 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 Nov-15-07 at 08:30 PM
Pioneering guitarist Fred Frith is on The Signal tonight,(10 p.m.) from a concert recorded at the Music Gallery. He's playing with two hometown musicians, cellist Anne Bourne and saxophonist John Oswald. And if you can't make a date with your radio, this concert is also available as a Concert On Demand.
Posted by Ian Cauthery on Nov-15-07 at 05:00 PM
Tonic suggests that we "take a trip back to the Café Montmartre in Copenhagen for a March, 1991 concert date with saxophonist Stan Getz and pianist Kenny Barron."
Hey, I don't have a problem with that. I could be at the Café Montmartre, enjoying Barron and Getz playing standards like Cole Porter's Night and Day. Particularly since I can now easily write the word café, having finally figured out how to make my computer speak with accents in the correct places.
This may be second nature for you, but it's the sort of computer thing I am lazy about figuring out. Which is better than the sort of computer thing that makes all of us crazy -- when things don't work. In fact, I am in the throes of such computer thing right now, which is why I currently am posting on the blog as Ian. (Just in case you had eagle eyes and noticed that oddity.)
Li
p.s. "é"
Posted by Ian Cauthery on Nov-15-07 at 02:00 PM
The late Doug Riley was a musician whose influence on Canadian popular music after 1970 "was enormous," as that entry from the Canadian Encyclopedia of Music rightly points out.
This Sunday he's being honoured with a tribute concert, at Convocation Hall in Toronto. Jazz Elements has the details. And this afternoon DiscDrive celebrates "Dr. Music" on their show as well.
(Posted by Li, masquerading as Ian.)
Posted by Ian Cauthery on Nov-15-07 at 12:30 PM
Music Director Peter Oundjian leads the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in a concert devoted to music inspired by planets.
The concert begins with the world première of a new, planet-related piece, Abigail Richardson’s Eris, named after the recently-discovered planet. Following the world première is Gustav Holst’s orchestral extravaganza, The Planets.
(No Pluto though. While Pluto was discovered not long before Holst's death, I guess he decided not to revise. And now, given the sad reality of Pluto's demotion, it's probably just as well.)
Planets: Toronto Symphony at Concerts on Demand.
(Posted by Li, masquerading as Ian.)
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-15-07 at 12:01 AM
Studio Sparks are (correction: IS!) very excited (I believe "thrilled" was the exact word) to present this live broadcast, in front of their Studio 40-on-the-Sparks-Street-Mall audience, by Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero.
She's a classical pianist who also likes to improvise, harkening back to practices largely discarded now by classical players (it's true, the jazzers didn't get there first). Apparently her latest recording, Baroque, includes some of that improvisatory spirit, with interpretations of music including Vivaldi's Four Seasons and Handel's Hallelujah Chorus. (Hey, I once sung in a choir that felt like it was improvising every time we sang the Messiah, but that's another story, and not worthy of radio broadcast, as is the work of Ms. Montero.)
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-15-07 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 Nov-14-07 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.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-14-07 at 12:30 PM
I mentioned earlier in the week having gone to hear Caetano Veloso's Toronto debut -- incredible that the 65-year-old Veloso should not have played the city before now, given he, along with Gilberto Gil, are arguably the most famous Brazilian musicians in the world. (Maybe Milton Nascimento and all the Gilbertos should be added to that shortlist.)
Veloso, if you aren't familiar with his significance in Brazilian music, was one of the leaders of tropicalismo, which merged rock with modernist art, theatre, and Brazilian music styles, forever changing not only Brazilian music, but a lot of North American music as well -- influencing people like David Byrne, for example. And Veloso and Gil were perceived as such symbols (and threats) that they were jailed and sent into exile -- this was in the late 1960s.
Continue reading "What Caetano Veloso Listens To" »
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-14-07 at 11:15 AM
Studio Sparks' Mahler Wednesdays continue today, with excerpts from Mahler's Symphony N.4, from the new budget-priced re-issued set featuring the Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Chailly.
And since it is Mahler Wednesday, I feel compelled to share some Mahler Trivia. No, not that his wife, pianist and composer Alma later married famous architect Walter Gropius, although I believe that to be true, but that there is, in this world of portmanteaux of Web and Log, a delightfully named music blog called Mahler Owes Me Ten Bucks. (Even more delightfully subtitled: "But It's OK, He Doesn't Have To Pay Me Back.")
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-14-07 at 12:02 AM
I make it a practice, here on the R2 blog, of never linking to Wikipedia. (There's your exception to everything.) This is not because I think Wiki is inherently evil and the enemy of researchers everywhere. In fact I recall reading not long ago about a study that showed the inaccuracy rate of Wiki did not exceed the inaccuracy rate of the more traditional, supposedly reputable sources to the degree one might imagine. But Wiki is in constant flux, which does, to my mind, make it less reliable.
I like certain things about Wiki though, for instance the unexpected ways in which they sometimes define or describe things. Case in point: "A blog," they say, " is "a portmanteau." Of course it is. When I think "blog" the first thing to come to mind is some nanny in an early 20th century British children's novel struggling to pack one, whilst the children are off riding ponies and yelling "yoiks!"
But no, of course Wiki intends us to think of the Lewis Carroll sense of the word. As in slithy, which is "two meanings packed into one word" (formerly lithe and slimy). Or, to cite the by now obvious example this is leading up to, blog, from web and log.
Anyway, if you are still reading this, and believe me, I am chuffed if that is the case, now I come to the real point. Blogging is an entirely inelegant sounding term for what I am happy to spend some of my time doing, here on CBC's Radio Two's website. And the other day I realized that I have been writing upon this blog ("this portmanteau of web and log") for almost six months.
I hope that you find it helpful or informative, or at the very least useful as a habitual form of procrastination. As in, "I know, I won't start sorting my tax receipts, I'll see what's doing on that CBC R2 blog." So in honor of the six months-ish mark, a virtual toast to the portmanteau!
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-14-07 at 12:01 AM
Wednesday night's edition of The Signal includes some new music from from Buck 65, The Inhabitants, Efterklang, and Fond of Tigers. Now, Vancouver's Fond Of Tigers, who call their music Experimental/Jazz/Progressive (and have a hilarious picture of the band on their MySpace site -- the last link) seem to elicit strong love/hate type reactions, sometimes even in the same magazine, this case, two reviews, mere months apart, in The Nerve Magazine. (Not, obviously, the same writer...)
Continue reading "Fond Or Not Of Tigers" »
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-14-07 at 12:00 AM
Tonight on Tonic Katie Malloch spins a new disc called Two Caballeros (Shouldn't that be Dos Caballeros? Or maybe not, could be a bilingual band) from trumpeter Kevin Dean and guitarist Heiner Franz. It's described by the folks at Tonic as "jazz with a south-western cowboy vibe."
Of course notions of combining country music with jazz has a venerable history through western swing, going back to bands like The Light Crust Doughboys, of which Bob Wills was a member. And western swing is still on the front burner for some, like the purveyors of the Western Swing Journal, who claim to be the "only publication in the world that covers western swing in depth," and I have no reason to disbelieve them.
I wish I could tell you more about the Kevin Dean/Heiner Franz collaboration though, but cannot find more info -- if you happen to know more about the music, please let me know...
November 13, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-13-07 at 09:00 PM
There is more to union music than Union Maid, as proved tonight on The Signal, with Louis Andriessen's piece Worker's Union - a symphonic movement for "any loud sounding group of instruments." That gives performers a lot of leeway. (In this incarnation it's performed by the McGill Percussion Ensemble, but just think, presumably it could be for anything, bucket drummers, tubas, ukulele orch., anything)
Anyway, Andriessen says of the piece, "Only in the case that every player plays with such an intention that his part is an essential one, the work will succeed; just as in the political work." (Perhaps this explains why so frequently political work fails?)
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-13-07 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.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-13-07 at 04:40 PM
I just saw this sad news, that pianist John Arpin, who I gather had been ill for some time, has died. John Arpin was such a fixture on the Canadian jazz scene, and although multi-talented, he was perhaps best known for his work as a ragtime preservationist. (In 1998 he won the Scott Joplin Award from a Missouri ragtime foundation.)
CBC | Arts News has more.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-13-07 at 02:04 PM
A quick note about highlights today on DiscDrive and later, at 6 p.m. on Tonic. The former has new recordings from Les Ventes du Nord, Vancouver based Viveza, and violinist Sarah Chang from her recent CD featuring works of Vivaldi.
The latter features highlights from the new CBC Records release Jazz Legends, recorded live in Montreal and Vancouver -- with music from five of Canada's jazz veterans: saxophonist PJ Perry, trombonist Ian McDougall, pianist Oliver Jones, bassist Michel Donato and drummer Terry Clarke. Tonight's show also feates tunes from Maceo Parker, Diana Krall and the Blind Boys of Alabama. (Not all at the same time though, mores the pity.)
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-13-07 at 12:00 PM
The pumpkins have been hauled to the compost, the last strands of that weird cottony stuff have fallen from the tree branches and hopefully not caused any environmental damage, the dental appointments have been made.
Yes, Christmas is coming. And in that post-Halloween moment singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens has announced his Christmas song contest, the Great Sufjan Stevens Song Exchange.
You write an original Christmas song, and send it into his label, Asthmatic Kitty. They pick a winner, and get rights to it -- but in exchange, you get rights to a new song by Sufjan.
The label says that "you can hoard it for yourself, sell it to a major soft drink corporation, use it in your daughter's first Christmas video, or share it for free on your website."
So really, it's not exactly a straight ahead Secret Santa style gift exchange -- it comes with moral responsibility. After all, no one really cares whether or not you decide to re-gift the scented soaps, or hoard the box of little booze-filled chocolates. But a new song by Mr. Stevens? That's another story.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-13-07 at 10:45 AM
I confess I've already forgotten which show was playing Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring the other day, but as I mentioned it in that previous post, it served to recall the legendary initial reaction to the piece. "They ran screaming" seems to be the most typical summation, however accurate or inaccurate that may actually be. And part of the reason it inspired such initial shock-horror, was not just because of the music, but because of Vaslav Nijinsky's choreography, which was considered by some to be too salacious, sexual, or otherwise objectionable in the eyes of some 1913 theatre goers.
Anyway, then a day or so after writing that quick write about Rite (oh sorry, that is too terrible and yet still I gave in) I happened to read an article (Rite of Spring as Rite of Passage) about a really lovely event called the Rite of Spring Project involving public school students aged 7-17. They dance to Stravinsky and to music inspired by Stravinsky, but choreographed and written by other students. This is really great -- how better to inspire kids and teach them something of the history of 20th century classical music and dance?
Now Studio Sparks is not playing Stravinsky or The Rite of Spring today, but they are playing music that will be a real treat for lovers of dance music: a new recording of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, with Valery Gergiev leading the St. Petersburg Orchestra.
I know, I know, nothing to do with The Rite of Spring, nothing to do with Stravinsky. File under Extreme Lateral Thinking.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-13-07 at 07:27 AM
This week Music & Company features another inter-city rivalry Cage Match. We all know that Montreal beat Toronto, how could it be otherwise? Toronto could not win a match against any city in the country, that would be heinous. (And I say this as a Torontonian.)
But Winnipeg vs. Regina? That's a tough one. (And I say that as a former Winnipeger.) Tune in Tuesday in the second hour of the show, Wednesday in the first hour, and find out who wins on Friday!
Bonus: Musical Spies Music &Co.'s ongoing series of musical spies features the one and only Casanova...how did he find the time for espionage? (Perhaps he multi-tasked -- you know, rounding up the less than usual suspects?)
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-13-07 at 12:00 AM
CBC's history with jazz goes back a long way. Some of that history is available online, at CBC Archives -- for example this multi-media timeline of Oscar Peterson.
But it's a living history too, as Tuesday night's broadcast of Tonic shows -- when they feature highlights from the new CBC Records release Live Jazz Legends, which was recorded (live, no surprise) in Montreal and Vancouver. The CD features great music from five of Canada's jazz veterans: saxophonist PJ Perry, trombonist Ian McDougall, pianist Oliver Jones, bassist Michel Donato and drummer Terry Clarke.
November 12, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-12-07 at 08:31 PM
One more consideration of the theme of war in music tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown. In this case, music on the theme of remembrance from jazz pianist Vijay Iyer and musings on the nature of war and peace by Ryuichi Sakamoto.
The show also plays three pieces commissioned by the CBC about a very different kind of remembering, in this case the musical and philosophical contributions of the great Glenn Gould. Canadian composers Louis Dufort, Chantale Laplante, and Martin Tetreault speak about the influence Gould has had on their music.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-12-07 at 06:00 PM
The Tonic menu tonight includes some solo piano from Hank Jones, Latin jazz from Eddie Palmieri, a cover version of the Rolling Stones' Miss You from Musiq, and some nu-soul from DJ Spinna, plus music from Sarah Vaughan, Zap Mama, Bebel Gilberto and Richard Whiteman.
I share this more extensive menu with you because I admit sometimes I'm guilty of merely mentioning one selection on Tonic, and then meandering sideways into some other aspect of jazz. So once in a while, as on a rainy Monday afternoon when all anyone wants to do is stay inside with the radio on, you get more of the menu, not just an appetizer. Enjoy!
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-12-07 at 04:00 PM
An odd coincidence, after attending Caetano Veloso's one Canadian concert last night on his current tour, to see today that Gilberto Gil, his compatriot and co-consiprator in Brazil's famous Tropicalia movement of the late 1960s, is reportedly resigning from his post as culture minister of Brazil, because of a polyp on his vocal chord, which he is said to consider "career threatening."
Interesting that despite his high profile role in politics, when it comes down to it's his "career" in music he is protecting. Having had the good fortune to interview him before his own tour last year, I recall that when we talked about his life in both politics/music, he rejected the suggestion that music might be more significant or meaningful to him. But although he spoke passionately about both, it was the way he talked about music that has stayed with me. "Music," he said, “ is part of my body, part of my soul.”
I very much hope that Mr. Gil's medical condition turns out not to be career threatening at all. He is one of the world's great voices.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-12-07 at 12:00 PM
Sometimes it takes a while to catch up with the important things in life. Like having a long bath with the New York Times book review section. Finally managed this yesterday -- not quite up to this week's edition, but the previous, November 4th's, which was their music issue.
And it is a good harvest of new music books. There's Alex Ross' The Rest Is Noise (which they drooled over), Oliver Sach's Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain (pretty much ditto). There's Pattie Boyd's Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me (Salon writer Stephanie Zacahrek does a great job of putting it in perspective) and Eric Clapton's Clapton: The Autobiography, which sounds a bit of a snore. (Though the review is a lot of fun -- written by Stephen King, no less.)
Also Can't Buy Me Love: The Beatles, Britain and America, because we really need another 500 some page Beatles book (though the reviewer graces it with the description, "a grand sifting,") and NYT writer Ben Ratliff's Coltrane: The Story of a Sound, which gets an excellent review.
And finally, a Gram Parsons bio, Twenty Thousand Roads: The Ballad of Gram Parsons and His Cosmic American Music, plus Lost Genius: The Curious and Tragic Story of an Extraordinary Musical Prodigy, (by Kevin Bazzana, well known for his Gould book, this one tells the bizarre life-story of pianist Ervin Nyiregyhazi). Both of these books, aside from vying for longest title for a new music book, got mixed reviews, but sound like interesting reads nonetheless.
Whoops, not quite finally, there's also a section of mini-reviews of other new music books, and of those, Emma Brockes "How Musicals Changed My Life" sounds, as befits a book on this subject, absolutely fabulous!
(Note: all of these links point to the reviews, and if for some reason you get a friendly NYT page saying you have to be a member to read -- fear not, it's free!)
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-12-07 at 10:30 AM
French pianist Helene Grimaud has a passion for wolves. I can understand how this might happen -- there is something truly awesome about the sight of a wolf, loping across a snowy field, or the sound of wolves howling in the night. (Particularly when you are awake in a tent and listening to them, wondering exactly how far away they are!) Both of these kinds of encounters with wolves (note no stretch to work in "dances" here) have stayed with me.
But Helene has taken her wolf interest beyond hoping that the next time she goes camping there might be a re-enactment -- she helped create a wolf conservation centre.
And today she is on Studio Sparks, reading passages from her book, Wild Harmonies: A Life of Music and Wolves, and you can also hear several of her performances, including her recording of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No.5, the Emperor.
P.S. You may also be interested in this NYTimes article about the wolf conservation place, "A Pianist Harmonizes With Wolves".
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-12-07 at 08:00 AM
It's Monday morning. Some will be sighing, dragging their sorry selves out of bed reluctantly, others greet the dawn of a new week with a song in their heart. I'm somewhere in between. Grumpy but still capable of appreciating song, you might say. This is why radio is so essential to Mondays.
And there is indeed some vocal music (if not precisely songs) on Here's To You this morning, when violinist Marie Berard with the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra perform Massenet’s Meditation from Thaisand the Prop Arte Singers perform William Byrd’s Mass for Three Voices.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-12-07 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 Nov-11-07 at 08:13 PM
Jazz fans might want to check out this recent piece on Sonny Rollins in the Times -- Rollins, in his late seventies, continues to perform, and was heading into the Barbican for a performance, inspiring this feature interview.
And in light of it being Remembrance Day, and much talk on this website about art and war, I thought I'd quote something Sonny Rollins says about the role of the artist. Not specifically in terms of war, but in terms of the connection between art and social commentary, really, which clearly encompasses war...
"W. E. B. DuBois remarked that it was the duty of the musician or artist to express social commentary in their work, that you can use it to change and achieve better conditions. I agree with him..."
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-11-07 at 05:00 PM
On weekends Tonic comes from Calgary, whereas Gregory Charles' show, In The Key Of Charles comes from Montreal. (Don't worry, there will be a point here, eventually.) So last week, out east, Gregory Charles languished in the sun, which inspired Tonic, out west, to turn to moon music this week. (Admittedly a long haul to get to the joke in the title of this post, but there you be.)
The Tonicians did not tell me what tunes they'll be playing, but I'm going to go out on a limb and bet that there will be versions of How High The Moon and That Old Devil Moon, two supurb moon-related jazz songs. But who knows what else they may come up with, guided by the light of the moon...
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-11-07 at 03:00 PM
Marc-André Hamelin’s recital was the final concert in the Variations on Gould series, and it was recently made available as a Concert On Demand.
Hamelin focuses on First and Second Viennese Schools, music closely associated with Gould. Hadyn, Beethoven, Mozart, Berg, Hétu . . . and some unexpected encores.
Marc-André Hamelin at Concerts on Demand.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-11-07 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.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-11-07 at 11:00 AM
The Concerto According To Manny continues today on Inside The Music. Yes, that Manny, Emmanuel Ax, virtuoso pianist, sits down with Eric Friesen, host of R2's Studio Sparks, to talk concertos in this fine ten-part series.
Today in part two, it's Mozart's D Minor Concerto, the one Mozart concerto that Beethoven played and wrote cadenzas for (as did Brahms). It was the one the romantics loved the most: the gloom, the struggle and passion, the tragic mist! It all appealed to 19th century sensibilities. (Oddly enough to some 21st century sensibilities as well.) And of all the late concertos, this is one that Emanuel Ax has chosen to illustrate Mozart’s genius in the piano concerto.
The thumbnail history of this concerto is as follows: It was debuted in Vienna on February 11, 1785 only a day after it was completed. (Talk about writing to deadline.) Mozart’s father noted in a letter to his daughter that the copyist had not completed the score when they arrived and that “the rondo of which your brother hadn't time to play because he had to revise copies [of the orchestral parts]."
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-11-07 at 12:00 AM
&How do you think about war on Remembrance Day? Gregory Charles thinks about war in musical terms.
Today on In The Key Of Charles he’ll play music by French Renaissance composer, Clément Janequin, twentieth century English composer, Gustav Holst, and Franz Liszt.
But never one to stick to a single genre, Gregory will also play some contemporary choral music and pop songs of different eras -- the latter including Edith Piaf, Harry Nilsson and Sting.
November 10, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-10-07 at 08:58 PM
Not a menu fixe, no, tonight The Signal is a la carte, with selections from all over their musical menu. There's the Art of Time Ensemble in concert with Sarah Slean, Andy Maize, Martin Tielli, and John Southworth.
There's a world premiere of The Woodhands Dancer remix. And host Pat Carrabré also plays new music from Radiohead, PJ Harvey and Christine Fellows.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-10-07 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.)
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-10-07 at 04:04 PM
It’s Count Basie times three tonight on Tonic, (6 p.m.) with Tim playing Basie with Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Charles, and Oscar Peterson.
And speaking of O.P., and the Count -- here they are, at the pianos, with Slowwwwwwwwwwww Blues....it's pretty delicious!
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-10-07 at 12:00 PM
The other day I mentioned that the second season of the Met's wildly popular opera simulcasts in movie theatres was going to expand it's reach - tripling the number of theatres -- since then I've received the complete "sked," as we say in radio land.
So while of course you will want to know about SAATO's broadcast of Katerina Ismailova today (1:00pm, 2:00AT, 2:30NT), if you're an opera-fan, you will want to check this out as well.
The whole thing kicks off worldwide on Saturday, December 15 with the first of the Met’s eight live opera transmissions:
Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, starring Anna Netrebko and Roberto Alagna, conducted by Plácido Domingo. Ticket sales to the general public begin in Canada on Friday, November 9.
For complete information on locations and tickets, go to the Met's Opera In High Def site. (I have to say, the prices are pretty great -- and you can even get season tickets for all eight performances for under 150 bucks -- single tickets are under 20).
But this is the info you really want -- the aforementioned Sked:
New Years Day, Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, starring Christine Schäfer and Alice Coote in a new English-language production by Richard Jones, conducted by Vladimir Jurowski.
Met Music Director James Levine conducts three of the operas in the series: Verdi’s Macbeth starring Maria Guleghina in a new production directed by Adrian Noble (January 12); Puccini’s Manon Lescaut, starring Karita Mattila and Marcello Giordani (February 16); and Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, starring Deborah Voigt and Ben Heppner (March 22).
The series also includes new Met productions of Britten’s Peter Grimes, starring Anthony Dean Griffey and Patricia Racette, directed by John Doyle and conducted by Donald Runnicles (March 15), and Donizetti’s La Fille du Régiment, starring Natalie Dessay and Juan Diego Flórez in a new production directed by Laurent Pelly and conducted by Marco Armiliato (April 26).
Angela Gheorghiu and Ramón Vargas star in Franco Zeffirelli’s iconic production of Puccini’s La Bohème, conducted by Nicola Luisotti (April 5).
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-10-07 at 07:36 AM
All weekend long on CBC R2 you can hear programming connected to Remembrance Day, most of it tomorrow, of course, it being the 11th, but here are a couple of notes about today:
Vinyl Cafe host Stuart McLean has two terrific musical guests, Martha Wainwright and John McDermott, and he also 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.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov-10-07 at 12:00 AM
This week's episode of Sunday Afternoon in Concert features Canadian composers from the turn of the (last) century, the TSO with Stravinsky's Rite Of Spring, and a premiere of Bramwell Tovey's Fugitive Voices. (I almost said "Pieces," interesting how deeply a well chosen name can sink into one's subconscious.) And here are the details on all the above:
First, those turn-of-the-century composers. Conductor Alain Trudel and the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra unearth several art songs by four Canadian composers. (Well, not literally, I don't think. The 20th century hasn't quite gone to ground, yet.) Anyway, the featured soloists are bass Robert Pomakov and mezzo soprano Patricia Green, performing songs by Guillaume Couture, Charles Harriss, Gena Branscombe and Ernest Lavigne. Both vocalists are also heard in music by Shostakovich, from his Symphony No. 14, a song cycle that draws on different poets' views of death.
Then the Toronto Symphony Orchestra performs Igor Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, the work that sent them screaming from the hall in Paris, back in 1913, with its startling choreography and what at the time were considered brutally primitive rhythms. Seems funny to view it in that context today, nearly a century later, when it is such a standard part of the repertoire. Perhaps this gives current, daring composers hope?
And finally, from the Sweetwater Music Weekend, which sounds like it should be held somewhere in the deep south, but is held in Owen Sound, Ontario, the premiere of Bramwell Tovey's Fugitive Voices. And in fact Owen Sound very much figures into this work -- it was inspired by the town's role as the northern-most terminus on the Underground Railroad.
All in an afternoon, Sunday afternoon.
November 09, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov- 9-07 at 05:00 PM
Tonic has some bossa with Brazilian vocalist Flora Purim tonight, and this made me think about how Brazilian music has become so much more present in North American culture in the past couple of decades, which is a very satisfying thing.
Continue reading "Flora Purim, Order Of Rio Branco" »
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov- 9-07 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 Nov- 9-07 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.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov- 9-07 at 12:00 AM
This week on Saturday Afernoon At The Opera, the opera that put Dmitri Shostakovich's life and career in peril!
Katerina Ismailova tells the story of a lonely woman in 19th century Russia who falls in love with one of her husband's workers and is driven to murder. Love has a way of doing that. In opera and on Coronation Street, anyway.
But I digress. First produced in 1934, the opera had a very successul run under the title Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District. ("District" was not in the title when I saw the COC's performance last year, guess that was dropped at some point.) Anyway, when Joseph Stalin attended a performance in 1936, he walked out of the production half way through, and the opera was publicly condemned -- banned in the Soviet Union for almost thirty years. Ten years after Stalin's death, Shostakovich mounted a revised version, under the title Katerina Ismailova.
Through the courtesy of the European Broadcasting Union, today's production comes to us from the Theatre du Chatelet, in Paris.
The Cast includes:
Soprano Solveig Kringelborn, as Katerina Ismailova.
Tenor Alexander Akimov, as Zinovy, Katerina's husband.
Baritone Alexei Tanovitsky, as Boris, her domineering father in law.
Tenor Vladimir Grishko, as her lover, Sergei.
Soprano Larissa Dudinova, as Aksin'ya, a servant.
And the Conductor is Tugan Sokhiev.
November 08, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov- 8-07 at 05:00 PM
The Tonicians tell me that they're "indulging their weakness for the songs of Burt Bacharach" tonight on Tonic.
I must protest, this is no indulgence, this is necessary! So many great songs. Plus he's an honourary Canadian, even. Why? 'Cause he went to McGill, and because of this terrific performance with Rufus Wainwright, performing Kentucky Bluebird (Send A Message To Martha). (So it's a stretch, but a fun one.)
And on Tonic (6pm) you can hear a reggae version of an all-time Bacharach fav. Walk On By.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov- 8-07 at 02:09 PM
Fans of DiscDrive, take note! New recordings & new artists featured today include soprano Danielle deNiese, from a new CD, Handel Arias, guitarist Les Finnigan from his CD Things My Guitar Said and a Canadian vocal duo that’s causing a stir, RyanDan from their debut CD. (No, not a typo, it's kind of like DiscDrive, in this case the band name of identical twins, Ryan and Dan...)
Continue reading "DiscDrive Highlights" »
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov- 8-07 at 11:30 AM
A few newsy bits to share on the classical front:
Bit #1: According to the Toronto Star, The T.S.O. and NAC (that's Toronto Symphony Orchestra and National Arts Centre for those not down with the acronyms) are creating a new classical music festival in Niagara, Ontario, that's being compared to Tanglewood -- the prestigious, long running outdoor festival held each year in Massachusetts.
Bit #2: The extremely savvy move on behalf of The Met to simulcast operas in movie theatres met with such success that they're tripling the number of venues -- and one upcoming performance will include Ben Heppner with Deboarah Voigt, in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde. For more details go to cbc.ca arts.
Bit #3: Ever wondered about the classical music scene in Indonesia -- the western classical music scene I mean? If so, a new blog called Classicalive reports from Bangkok.
Bit #4 Over on Slate the New York Time's Ben Ratliff and The Rest Is Noise omnipresent author Alex Ross (hear him on CBC R2's own Sunday Afternoon In Concert!) "converse for a day or two across walls of specialized tastes." In other words, they "talk" by email about differences and similarities in various aspects of/and trends in classical music and jazz.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov- 8-07 at 08:45 AM
Kudos to Holger Peterson for winning a "Keeping the Blues Alive Award," given out by the Memphis-based The Blues Foundation. Holger of course is CBC Radio 1's long-running host of Saturday Night Blues (and I do mean long-running -- he's been doing the show for 21 years!).
The award is in the Public Radio category, and according to the Foundation's website they're given out to "recognize the significant contributions to blues music made by the people behind the scenes."
I guess after his win Holger won't be able to make that old blues claim: "If I didn't have bad luck I wouldn't have any luck at all." Congratulations, Holger.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov- 8-07 at 07:00 AM
One of Music & Co.'s new features is Thursday's Rogues And Scoundrels, something you wouldn't expect a gentleman like Tom Allen to know a thing about, but in the name of his work he steps into the gutters of music history on your behalf.
Today Tom shines the spotlight on Johann Mattheson, a shameless self-promoter who publically brawled with Handel. (Funny how often the word "shameless" is followed by self-promoter. Or hussy.)
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov- 8-07 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.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov- 8-07 at 12:00 AM
Thursday night on The Signal (10pm) you can hear the the 25th anniversary concert performed by the Esprit Orchestra, the only orchestra in Canada exclusively devoted to commissioning, performing and promoting new orchestral music.
Two works were performed at the gala event: Alexina Louie's Shattered Night, Shivering Stars, and Portals Of Intent, composed by the Esprit Orchestra's conductor and music director Alex Pauk.
Showtime Mag's blog, reviewing the gala said: "These performances demonstrate once again, that there is no limit to the load Alex Pauk will shoulder in order to bring music he considers worthwhile in full scale display to his public."
November 07, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov- 7-07 at 08:09 PM
That's just one of the categories of the 2007 Bucky Awards for indie music, over on Radio 3. Make sure your voice is heard! Nominations are open until the end of November.
And more serious categories include such things as "Song Most Likely To Become A Future Classic," "Best Lyric," "Most Unpronouncable Name," and so on. OK, so most unpronouncable name maybe not "more serious," but fun, as are the Buckies. Vote now! Vote often! (Once a day, anyway.)
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov- 7-07 at 04:00 PM
Tonic is playing some duets on the show tonight -- singer Carol Sloane and singer/trumpeter Clark Terry team up for the classic Stompin' at the Savoy. Cole Porter's Night and Day is played by pianist Joe Sealy and bassist Paul Novotny. And in honour of Joni Mitchell’s birthday, pianist Monty Alexander and steel pan player Otherllo Molineaus perform Big Yellow Taxi.
Speaking of Joni, earlier today in a post called The Folk Revival I talked about an Annie Liebovitz photo essay focused on "folk" luminaries, some young, and some less than young. Joni is among the latter, (cigarette in hand, naturally), and in case you missed the link -- there is a "behind-the-scenes" video that has a few shots of her. Oddly dull, dare I say insipid music accompanies that video, considering the subject matter, but there you are.
Also, you'll have to get past Devendra Banhart nearly naked, in a shaky "tree" pose. Your call.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov- 7-07 at 12:00 PM
Did you know that there was a folk music revival going on? According to Vanity Fair, this is so. Their current issue has an Annie Leibovitz photo spread, featuring shots of Joan Baez in a tree, (with a guitar), Peter, Paul and Mary playing chess (well, Mary seems to be just looking on, maybe giving Peter tips about where to move his remaining pawns), the entire Guthrie clan looking rural, and so on. (That link will take you to a behind-the-scenes video of the shoot, btw.)
There are also a few young things, including Feist, somewhat mysteriously, given I don't think anyone really considers her music part of (what is admittedly a pretty loose term) folk, but still.
Anyway, I know that last year when Springsteen released We Shall Overcome there was talk of a folk revival, and then a few years before that when Devendra Banhart (also in the Vanity Fair feature) et al sprang forth, and then a few years before that when Billy Bragg teamed up with Wilco to explore Woody Guthrie's songs, and then a few years before that...well, you get the picture.
Can something that's never really gone away be said to have a revival?
P.S. Credit where credit is due - that Vanity Fair article pointed me to Roger McGuinn (ex-Byrd's) excellent blog which acts as a kind of modern, internet version of a song-collector, Folk Den.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov- 7-07 at 11:30 AM
You may have heard that the Beatles movie, Help! has been released as a DVD; now there's going to be a one-day only movie screening across the country. Happens on November 26th at 32 theatres, tickets go on sale Nov. 9 at Cineplex. The film is restored and remixed and in High-Def. All v. exciting for hardcore fans who long for those giddy strange days, once again.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov- 7-07 at 10:30 AM
Quick Studio Sparksplug: Andrew Craig, host of Triple Sensation, musician, York U music grad (there are a lot of us) is guest hosting the show today, and he features Les Violons Du Roi the much-talked about chamber orchestra from Quebec, who have brand new recording of Handel’s Water Music. (Whoops, just noticed that was the French link, here's the English.) That's today on Sparks -- noon, noon-thirty on the rock.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov- 7-07 at 05:00 AM
It's the stormy weather edition of the Music & Company cage match this week, as Beethoven and Rossini duke it out to see who can come up with the wildest storm music...today in the first hour of the show. (That's early, yes, 6-7am, but you're up and reading this, right?) Results will be annnounced Friday in the second hour of the show. (So you can sleep in a bit.)
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov- 7-07 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.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov- 7-07 at 12:00 AM
I've written about the Guelph Jazz Fest before, and recall that at least one person commented on that post, saying it would be nice to hear some of the music I was talking about on CBC R2. Of course you can, from time to time on shows like Canada Live and The Signal.
And on Wednesday night it's the second instalment from an evening of free improvisation at the 2007 Guelph fest., with the legendary sax man Anthony Braxton, leading the Association of Improvising Musicians Toronto (AIMToronto), in what The Signal folks call "a tour de force of spontaneous creation."
For a wonderful, thorough description of the event, go to Devin Hurd's blog, Hurd Audio.
November 06, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov- 6-07 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.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov- 6-07 at 04:30 PM
Scrambled is the name of a tune you can hear Tuesday night on Tonic, played by the Oliver Jones Trio. (It's also something of a reflection of my own state, having been battling with computer technology for a solid three days now -- tell me, is there anything more frustrating? If so I hope never to encounter it.)
But I digress.
Pianist Oliver Theophilus Jones is more than just a great jazz musician. He's also a been something of a philanthropist, as I've mentioned in the past, but who knows if you saw that, so here's the nutshell:
He was very involved with a benefit concert that was largely responsible for funding a business plan to re-open a boarded up community centre (once called "The Negro Community Centre") in Montreal's Little Burgundy neighborhood.
Little Burgundy was home to the majority of the city's black community, beginning in the late 19th century. Jones, Oscar Peterson and others grew up in Little Burgundy. Now the community centre is scheduled to re-open sometime next year. Yay, Oliver!
Oliver Theophilus Jones, pianist, philanthropist...
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov- 6-07 at 01:30 PM
I remember when the Bruce Cockburn concert went up as a Concert On Demand. People loved it. So I'm going to take the opportunity of some Bruce news to let others know -- if you click on that link, you can hear Bruce live from Banff. And now, to the news:
Twenty years after his first visit to Nepal, he's returning to the place he calls “hands down the most beautiful place on earth that I’ve seen.”
Cockburn returns to the country, which has of course been fraught with civil strife in the years in between, with Susan Walsh, the Exec. Director of the Unitarian Service Committee of Canada, USC. She was with him on that trip back in '87. Together they'll travel by foot, staying in the villages in the northwest, the pretty remote Himalayan region close to the Tibet border.
Cockburn, as you likely know, has done much humanitarian work to date. Of this trip he says:
“One of the things that characterizes people living in difficult conditions is a very well-developed sense of how dependent we humans are on each other. There’s a sense of community that is beyond anything that one encounters in the developed world...
It will also be interesting to see what the impact of the war has been on that sense of community because that often has a part to play, and that means things could go either way.”
Village committees in the area are apparently actively running small-scale irrigation, organic agriculture, community health and education programs with minimal outside support.
If you want more info, check out Cockburn's Nepal blog to see journal entries, video clips and images.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov- 6-07 at 11:12 AM
Happy tenth anniverary to Montreal-based, all-female string ensemble La Pietà, a group created by violinist Angèle Dubeau. In honour of that decade, they've just released a brand new CD. And today on Studio Sparks, Angèle drops by to talk about ten years of playing together, the new recording, and their current tour.
And if you're feeling really celebratory, why you can dowload a La Pietà ringtone -- choices include Brhams Lullaby and Paganini's Caprice No. 24. (As long as you promise not to have the volume up if you ride on public transit!)
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov- 6-07 at 10:05 AM
The 2007 Weblog Awards have announced their nominations for Best Music Blog. (The awards say they are "the world's largest blog competition, with over 525,000 votes cast in the 2006 edition for finalists in 45 categories")
And the nominees are:
Kevipod Music
Pretty Much Amazing
HM
I Guess I'm Floating
Fluxblog
Stereogum
My Old Kentucky Blog
Chris Picks
Live Music Blog
Overall, disappointing, not a terribly diverse list. I'm a Stereogum fan myself, but sadly some of the blogs I think are the most daring and/or thought-provoking (eg. Soho The Dog, Darcy James Argue's Secret Society, The Rest Is Noise, Zoilus) are not on the list. Partly it's a question of the kinds of music they write about, of course, and no doubt the nomination process.
But hows about you, any music blog gems to share that are not on this list?
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov- 6-07 at 12:00 AM
The Duniya Project is a Montreal based group that blends North Indian classical music, jazz and "contemporary sounds." (That gives them a lot of leeway...)
It's led by the flutist, Catherine Potter, a disciple of Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, a very respected musician from India, who calls the flute, "the symbol of the spiritual call," as I've mentioned before. (As a former flute player I find that an intriguing idea...though I'm pretty certain my flute playing was not in that sphere.)
But back to the Duniya Project, along with Catherine, the ensemble is made up of tabla-player Subir Dev, guitarist Joy Anandasivam, double-bassist Nicolas Caloia, and drummer Thom Gossage.
This concert, being broadcast on The Signal on Tuesday night was recorded live in concert at the 2007 Guelph Jazz Festival. What I've heard on CD is quite lovely, atmospheric but still sometimes at times dramatic -- I expect this concert reflects that sensibility too, though I've not yet heard. Let me know what you think, if you're able to tune in.
November 05, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov- 5-07 at 09:00 PM
As well as the Canada Live broadcast earlier, featuring some of Canadian composer Gary Kulesha's work, tonight on The Signal you can hear his piece inspired by filmmaker Peter Greenaway's speculation on the kinds of books that Prospero might have taken with him when he was exiled in Shakespeare's play, The Tempest.
Kulesha's work is called The Book Of Mirrors, and is performed by Toca Loca, who claim to be "saving the world one 14/37 measure at a time." Well, someone has to, right?
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov- 5-07 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 Li Robbins on Nov- 5-07 at 05:00 PM
This evening Tonic is playing Ella Fitzgerald singing Drop Me Off In Harlem.
It's just one of the many songs from way back when to reference Harlem, presumably because at one point, back in the 20's and 30s, that's where the jazz clubs were. Songs like Harlem Air Shaft, Harlem Nocturne, or even references to Harlem in songs like Take The A Train all seem from a time long past.
Since that era I think people tend not to think of Harlem as the place to go, but I like what this site, bigapplejazz, has to say about the neighborhood. (Also they include details of current jazz clubs there, as well as some of the historic landmarks): "A note about Harlem: If you're not hesitant regarding New York City in general, you need not be hesitant about Harlem."
And since I'm rambling about things jazz and Harlem -- if you are going to NYC, and are interested in the history of jazz, you may want to check out the National Jazz Museum In Harlem.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov- 5-07 at 02:00 PM
Baseball lover (he's still in recovery from the tragedy of The Rockies) and originally a small town Nova Scotian, this performer has become known for his unique sound, what some call "post-hip hop." (I prefer "post-hop," so tidy.)
Anyway, I'm talking about Buck 65, and to hear what I'm talking about, check out this Concert On Demand, recorded in Halifax (just down the road from his home town of Mount Uniacke) at an outdoor party following the opening night gala of The Atlantic Film Festival.
You’ll hear live performances of material from his just-released album Situation, as well as older favourites.
Buck 65 at Concerts on Demand.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov- 5-07 at 11:00 AM
Studio Sparks meets The Signal today, as Laurie Brown drops in on Eric during a trip to Ottawa, bearing music from The Signal's vast library. Actually, I don't know that they have a vast library, having only been on the air for a relatively brief period of time, but they certainly have an eclectic one. I look forward to hearing what Laurie brings in for S'Sparks listeners to enjoy...
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov- 5-07 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 Li Robbins on Nov- 4-07 at 08:34 PM
Au revoir, Montreal! Tonight The Signal concludes its first in a series exploring Canada's cities, musically, with some music from performance artist D. Kimm, and music from musicians Tim Hecker, Matt Haimovitz, Veronika Krausas and Denis Gougeon.
Now, that Montreal is a musical town is not news. In fact, it became such a suchness in reportage south of the border, (most famously the 2005 New York Times piece, which got everyone in quite a lather) waxing enthusiastic about the scene, that for a while there was almost a backlash, people refuting the notion it was all one big happy musical family, any more than any other town with plenty of talent.
But that's the thing, there is plenty yof talent, and there are plently of people blogging about that talent, and/or life in the city of Montreal. Fer' instance:
Rightround
Midnight Poutine
Music And Notes: : Notes And Music
Goldkicks
I'm sure there are others -- feel free to inform/update via comments...
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov- 4-07 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...
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov- 4-07 at 05:00 PM
Some new releases on Tonic (heard at 6pm today), from Share, Ron Davis, and Mr. Something Something. I've heard the new Mr. Something Something, and it's really a showcase for the massively deep-voiced poet, Ikwunga.
If you don't know the Somethings, they're a Canadian Afrobeat band, in the tradition of the great Nigerian musician, Fela Kuti, but with lots of their own original style. Ikwunga is sometimes called "the first Afrobeat poet," and his voice is really quite compelling. The songs are v. political, but not earnest, thankfully, nor do they browbeat. But they also don't pussyfoot around -- it's strong stuff.
Here's a little video teaser for the new CD, Deep Sleep, but you may also want to check out this video version of Ikwunga performing Di Bombs, a hard hitting piece that also appears on Deep Sleep.
Posted by Li Robbins on Nov- 4-07 at 04:00 PM
One day, on a hill overlooking Peterborough, Andre Alexis wondered where he could find a good burger and listen to local music. This day, on Skylarking, he brings you the music he found. (And perhaps reviews the burger, that I can't say.)
I know that I once had one of the oddest salads I've ever had in Peterborough, but then again, I've also heard some great Peterborough-based music, (Rick Fines, as just one example that comes to mind), so perhaps it all evens out.
And just in case you want to know what's doin' in P'borough, aside from what Andre tells you about, here are a couple of starting points, Peterboroughjams and Thousand Pounds Of Sound.
Posted by on Nov- 4-07 at 09:00 AM
In case you missed my earlier post on this week's In The Key Of Charles, here's the nutshell:
Continue reading "Sun, Sun, Sun, Here It Comes" »
Posted by on Nov- 4-07 at 07:00 AM
Choral Concert Note: In honour of Holocaust Memorial week:
Continue reading "In Honour Of Holocaust Memorial Week" »
Posted by on Nov- 4-07 at 12:00 AM
Much music on Sunday Afternoon In Concert today, including the delightfully named Let's Hear It For Haydn, a celebratory concert of (quelle suprise!) music by Haydn, conducted by Alain Trudel leading the CBC Radio Orchestra.
The line up: two of the 104 symphonies that Haydn composed in his lifetime, plus music inspired by Haydn, from the pens of Johannes Brahms and Alfred Schnittke.
There's also a performance from the Sweetwater Music Weekend in Owen Sound, Ontario featuring one of the instruments that Haydn particularly loved -- the Baryton. Don't know the Baryton? Don't feel bad, it hasn't been in vogue since the 18th century.
Of the existing repertoire for the Baryton, the best known works are the 175 compositions written by Joseph Haydn for his patron, Prince Nikolaus Esterházy, who enjoyed playing this instrument. (Seems the perfect instrument for a patron to play, somehow.)
And finally... Sunday Aft. host Bill Richardson meets the fully grown children of "father of the Twelve-Tone Row," Arnold Schoenberg.
November 03, 2007
Posted by on Nov- 3-07 at 09:00 PM
The Signal's Montreal city profile continues Saturday night, the thought of which gives me an instant craving for a bagel and lox. (Not such a fan of smoked meat, myself, though I know some who say that a cherry coke and a smoked meat sandwich are as close to heaven as one can get. Perhaps followed by poutine?)
Anyway, moving away from the undeniably appealing food specialties of the city, there is much to whet the musical appetites too, as you can hear tonight, with brand new music from Plants and Animals, Orillia Opry, Jean Derome and a Signal fave, National Parcs.
Also, a reprise of a concert with Parmela Attariwala's Attar Project, recorded in Montreal.
Even that lox cream cheese would do, it doesn't have to be actual lox. Sigh. Why can't people make Montreal bagels, everywhere?
Posted by on Nov- 3-07 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.
Posted by on Nov- 3-07 at 05:00 PM
Tonic takes some time out for Joni today, understandably, as she's not only the amazing songwriter she is, she's also been much in the news this fall with both her release, Shine, and the Herbie Hancock tribute, River: The Joni Letters, which she also sings on.
Today you can hear remixes of Joni tunes, from Ian Shaw, K.D. Lang and the aforementioned Herbie Hancock.
btw, there is another tribute CD in the works, from a Canadian, singer Leora Cashe, called Another Side Now, which will apparently focus on Joni's early work in the late 60s early 70s.
Posted by on Nov- 3-07 at 02:40 PM
Tenors don’t come better than Ben Heppner. And now you can hear him with rising Canadian star, soprano Erin Wall, performing at the annual National Arts Centre Orchstra Gala, as a Concert On Demand. Pinchas Zukerman conducts; music is by Mozart, Massenet, Verdi, Giordano and R. Strauss.
Ben Heppner, Erin Wall, Pinchas Zukerman and NACO at Concerts on Demand.
Posted by on Nov- 3-07 at 09:00 AM
The Vinyl Cafe comes from Belleville Ontario this morning, with special musical guests, indie-popster Harmony Trowbridge and guitarist Joe Grass.
Stuart will also tell the story of Dave’s daughter's stuffed bunny rabbit, which Dave develops an attachment to once she heads off to university. Perfectly understandable, who doesn't like a stuffed bunny, particularly when it reminds you of a loved one.
Posted by on Nov- 3-07 at 12:00 AM
The Girl Of The Golden West didn't become a smash hit, as it were, in the way another David Belasco work-turned-Puccini opera did (Madama Butterfly), but is still very well known and influential. (In fact some think that Andrew Lloyd Webber was very influenced by it in Phantom Of The Opera, for example, but that's a story for another day.)
This Saturday on SAATO, from the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Edo de Waart leads a performance of Giacomo Puccini's La Fanciulla del West (which premiered in 1910 in a production at New York's Metropolitan Opera, directed by Arturo Toscanini and starring Enrico Caruso as the bandit in disguise, Dick Johnson).
So here's the story, and it's a good one. Set in the days of the California gold rush, Sheriff Jack Rance is in hot pursuit of the bandit Ramerrez - as is the saloon keeper Minnie who has fallen for Dick Johnson. Will Dick's love of gold outweigh his own love for the poker-playing Minnie? Only Puccini knows, (knew). and those of you who've heard the opera many times.
The cast for this production includes:
Eva-Maria Westbroek, soprano..... Minnie, the saloon keeper; Stephen Kechulius, baritone......Sheriff Jack Rance; High Smith, tenor.....Dick Johnson / Ramerrez; Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra Netherlands Radio Choir
And a SAATO Bonus! Part two of the show (beginning at 5:00 PM, 6:00 AT 6:30 NT) is a broadcast of Dame Kiri Te Kanawa's farewell tour performance from the Chan Centre at UBC,for the Vancouver Recital Society.
(Note: The Kiri Te concert was scheduled for the last couple of weeks on Sunday Afternoon In Concert, but due to matters I know of not, it had to be postponed until this slot on Saturday Afternoon at the Opera. Apologies for that, but do enjoy!)
November 02, 2007
Posted by on Nov- 2-07 at 08:00 PM
The Signal (10pm) has a new series that begins tonight, a profile of cities, starting with Montreal. Montreal songwriter & ukuleleist Krista Muir (who used to go by the delightful stage name of Lederhosen Lucil) calls in to chat with Pat about the scene, and there's new music from Snailhouse, Sunset Rubdown, Robert Normandeau and SoCalled.
Plus, Pat takes a look at another one of the Top Ten Trends -- last week it was clapping, this week, whistling. Funny, I don't feel I've heard that much whistling, at least, not compared to all the peppy clapping that goes in in indie music...but maybe I've just been too busy clapping to notice. Anyway, Pat will dissect the trend tonight.
Yeah yeah yeah, I hear you say, but what about the free stuff?
OK, so here's the deal. The Signal's very first give away is tonight, but that's really all I can tell you about it. You'll just have to tune in to find out what you can get, and how. Who knows, maybe you have to whistle. You know how to whistle, don't you? You just put your lips together -- and blow.
Posted by on Nov- 2-07 at 03:34 PM
San Fransisco's Los Mocosos are a kind of fun party band, but they draw on a pretty big range of music -- Latin styles, of course, but also reggae, ska, funk, rock...and they don't take themselves too seriously. People do, you know, whether they're musicians or not, and how irritating it can be. But none of that here. Los Mocosos, (loosely "the mischievous kids," though I think there is also some other, more salacious translation) are pretty much about good times, in a melting pot-American kind of way.
Let's see, what else can I tell you about them. They've toured with Los Lobos, played Washingon's Kennedy Center and New York's Central Park. They won a San Francisco Wammy Award (for Best International Band, despite the fact that they're American) a California Music Award (for Outstanding Latin Album), and they've also toured with Santana.
And you can hear them tonight on Tonic, with a track called Mi Barrio Loco (There Goes the Neighbourhood).
Posted by on Nov- 2-07 at 01:00 PM
If you follow the Canadian Chamber music scene you will know that there was something of a hubbub about the sudden departure of its founding Artistic Director about eight months ago -- now the Ottawa Chamber Music Society has named a new executive director.
You can read the whole story at CBC | Arts News.
Posted by on Nov- 2-07 at 11:00 AM
I'm hoping that I've got this right. Earlier in the week I saw that Pekka Kuusisto, the first Finnish violinist to win the Sibelius Violin Competition in Helsinki, was going to be on Studio Sparks on Thursday.
I was particularly interested because not only is he one of these uber talented (sorry, I'm getting the computer to speak French a bit more often, but the umlaut is beyond me) musicians, he also plays a wide range of music, classical, folk, rock and jazz. How does he do this, and do it so well? I'd like to know.
But then -- and anyone who has ever stood, sweaty and annoyed in an airless airport lounge will find their heart going out to him -- it turned out his plane was overbooked and he couldn't get on the flight.
So the last info I have is that he was going to make it by Friday morning. Today. I hope he does make it, in fact I Über hope he does. (Cheated, copied that one from Wiki-pee.)
Posted by on Nov- 2-07 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.
Posted by on Nov- 2-07 at 08:00 AM
My Music & Company egg-timer arrived in the mail yesterday, in the cutest lil Music & Co. box.
It's all part of the Music & Co. Swag Exchange, something I talked about at length a couple days ago, in a post called Tom Allen, Swagmeister.
But I never dreamed I'd benefit with some graft I mean swag myself. Nor did I ever dream that an egg-timer would turn out not to be some kind of very basic stopwatch devise in the shape of an egg, as I had imagined, but instead something you actually put in the water to tell you when your eggs are cooked to just the right degree. I don't know how I could have lived without one all these years.
To see my eggtimer, and the eggtimer that could be yours if you donate the appropriate Swag to the show, go to the Music & Company Flickr page -- you won't regret it. Beets!
Posted by on Nov- 2-07 at 12:00 AM
Actually, we can't really say that where I live -- it's been the most protracted, sunny, summer-like autumn ever. But finally the temperatures are dropping for real, we "fall back" on Sunday, and there's no denying -- dark winter is nigh.
Perhaps this is why Gregory Charles decided to salute the sun this weekend on In The Key Of Charles. Not literally, I don't think, it's difficult to move into lunges and downward dog while at the piano.
But his musical salute to the star at the center of the solar system comes in the form of choral works by Francis Poulenc, William Walton and Sofia Gubaidulina, jazz with Jimmy Smith, John Pizzarelli and Jane Bunnett, and a few of his favourite vocalists including Frank Sinatra, Holly Cole and Stevie Wonder.
So go ahead, direct your feet, to the side of the street that's sunny. Or at least, tune into In The Key Of Charles on Sunday morning.
November 01, 2007
Posted by on Nov- 1-07 at 09:00 PM
A quick reminder that the world premiere of Canadian composer Christos Hatzis's composition, Tongues Of Fire, will be broadcast tonight on The Signal. It's a concerto for percussion and orchestra based on the theme of the emotional and psychological states of Christ's disciples during the early days of the church.
Musically it sounds typically Hatzis -- that is to say it's informed by a unique combination of diverse styles, in this case including 1960s rock and pop, and traditional songs of the American south.
Hatzis has said that among other things, the composition is "a reflection on the turbulent times that we live in presently and our desperate search for some semblance of structure in the midst of ever growing discontinuity and fragmentation."
Posted by on Nov- 1-07 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.
Posted by on Nov- 1-07 at 04:15 PM
That's because most people are too busy with their own "issues." (When did problems become "issues," anyway? What's wrong with good old fashioned problems?) Anyway, music can acknowledge the common problems of life, in a reassuring, "you're not alone in your misery" way, and this is the focus of Tonic this evening.
Trombonist William Carn performs Time Flies, Jon Hendricks sings Good Ol' Lady, Too Young to Go Steady is sung by Karrin Allyson, An Older Man Is Like An Elegant Wine by Nancy Wilson. By titles alone you might not recognize what laments lie within, but Katie explains all...
Posted by on Nov- 1-07 at 01:30 PM
Tonight the Canadian Opera Company celebrates the life of of Richard Bradsahw, the late general director of the COC, with a tribute concert -- I understand that all tickets are long gone. But I was interested to come across this roundup of tributes to Mr. Bradshaw in August, some of which I'd not seen at the time, on the Collaborative Piano Blog.
Perhaps they will have a follow up to tonight's tribute -- and if not, it is still well worth reading some of the articles and appreciations here, including personal ones like this one at A Piece Of My Mind, penned by a writer/filmaker and usher at the former O'Keefe Centre, the COC's onetime home.
Posted by on Nov- 1-07 at 11:00 AM
Sultans Of String describe themselves thusly:
"Atomic world-jazz-flamenco combining the sounds of Chris McKhool's lush, lyrical Gypsy-jazz violin with Kevin Laliberte's rhythm-fueled flamenco-inspired guitar playing for a wild improvised musical journey. Bassist Drew Birston energizes the groove with adventurous Latin, jazz and folk rhythms."
There you have it. And you can hear it, them, on Studio Sparks today, as they drop by to play a few tunes and talk with Eric about their musical vision, which led to atomic world-jazz-etc.-etc. Lots of fun.
Posted by on Nov- 1-07 at 08:00 AM
Talented and harried people put on radio shows every day at CBC, but here I'd like to focus on the talented part. One fine example (and actually he looks fairly unflappable whenever I've encountered him the hallowed halls) is Jurgen Petrenko, Music & Co. boss, and a musician in his own right.
Today on Here's To You you can hear him playing organ with the Elora Festival Singers, performing Arvo Part’s Cantate Domino. (Did a listener specifically request Jurgen? I hope so. Talented and harried (and even unflappable) radio producers need to step out from behind the computer/stacks of CDs from time to time.)
Posted by on Nov- 1-07 at 12:00 AM
This is what Canadian composer Christos Hatzis says he is trying to accomplish with his music:
"I am trying to force a tiny opening in the clouds that will allow His Light to shine through. At best, I am a follower, not a master, and my MASTER holds the patterns and patents of my being and work."
This perspective on music, on life, is reflected Thursday night on The Signal, with a concert from the Scotia Festival of Music in Halifax. It's the world premiere of Hatzis' Tongues Of Fire - a concerto for percussion and orchestra based on the theme of the emotional and psychological states of Christ's disciples during the early days of the church.
This isn't to say the music will sound like most ideas of traditional church music -- this work was influenced by diverse styles, including 1960s rock and pop, and traditional songs of the American south.
Hatzis says that among other things, the composition is "a reflection on the turbulent times that we live in presently and our desperate search for some semblance of structure in the midst of ever growing discontinuity and fragmentation."
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