NOTE: This page is no longer being updated, but is available for reference purposes. To see the new Radio 2 blog program highlights, visit the Radio 2 home page.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-30-08 at 08:42 PM
Edgar Meyer is an immensely talented bassist and a versatile composer who works the ground between classical music and American folk. When the Tennessee-based composer decides to write a violin concerto, there are bound to be shades of bluegrass and country fiddling in it.
Tonight on The Signal, hear violinist Mark Fewer team up with the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra to play Edgar Meyer's Violin Concerto in Two Movements.
NOTE:: The Signal with Laurie Brown will be heard tonight at10:30 (11 NT), right after the Choral Competition special on CBC Radio Two.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-30-08 at 05:20 PM
Tonight, Canada Live brings us part 2 of a special 2-night live-to-air broadcast from the finalists in this year's National Radio Competition for Amateur Choirs, a.k.a. Choral 2008.
This is your chance to hear what thousands of hours of dedication, hard work and love for singing - on the part of choristers, directors and yes, parents - sounds like. The featured ensembles will be performing live in halls from coast-to-coast, and the program will be simulcast both on Radio 2 and on Espace Musique. Over the course of two evenings you'll have had a chance to hear a total of 32 performances from 30 different choral ensembles, all hosted by CBC's Gregory Charles.
Finalists in Choral 2008 are competing for a total of $79,000 in prizes. In addition, for the first time ever, the winners will participate in a gala concert in Montreal (on May 16-18, 2008), sponsored by Mondial Choral and again presented on CBC Radio Two and Espace Musique.
NOTE: The broadcast begins at 7:00p.m. (7:30 NT).
On tonight's show, you'll hear a staggering 15 groups performing in 7 categories. Plus, we'll hear the announcement of the winners of the Galaxie Rising Star Prize.
The full line-up (with links to the ensembles, where available) is below.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-30-08 at 04:35 PM
Katie has music from the Modern Jazz Quartet, singer Bobby McFerrin and the vocal jazz ensemble Take Six this evening on Tonic.
If you only know Bobby McFerrin's work through his relentlessly cheerful reggae-lite pop hit "Don't Worry, Be Happy", you might be surprised by the depth and richness of his artistry. McFerrin can coax music out of every part of his body, and if you've ever seen him in concert, you'll know he can coax it out of the audience, as well. Yes, I was one of those people who jumped up on to the stage at Roy Thompson Hall for a little 3-part harmony improv years ago. How could I resist? The man is magnetic.
Here's a personal favourite of mine (notice the mic placement):
You'll also hear from vibraphonist Terry Gibbs, singer Emilie-Claire Barlow, and saxophonist Coleman Hawkins in this special one-hour edition of Tonic starting at 6:00 (6:30 in NL).
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-30-08 at 11:05 AM
The flying pig has been found.
In case the preceding statement makes no sense to you, let me back up a little.
The Coachella Festival - a massive outdoor rock fest - took place last weekend in Coachella, California. Dozens upon dozens of acts performed over the course of 3 days (including Prince, Tegan and Sarah, Kraftwerk, Fatboy Slim, Jack Johnson, Gogol Bordello and Portishead).
Former Pink Floyd front man, Roger Waters, closed the show on Sunday. He brought with him his signature inflatable pig - a concert favourite since the days of Floyd's "Pigs". The flying pig had already garnered plenty of attention in the news, because the bottom (the pork belly, as it were) had been spray painted with a pro-Obama message.
Then it broke from it's tether and was gone. Good news: it has been found - in a suburban driveway, miles from the concert scene.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-30-08 at 11:01 AM
The spotlight is on the young (and dare I say dreamy-eyed) Maxim Vengerov and his recent recording of Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante today on Studio Sparks. Before this recording was made, Vengerov took his young orchestra, which included players from all over the world, to a kibbutz in Israel, where they spent a summer working intensively on the repertoire.
In 1997 Vengerov was the first classical musician ever to be appointed Envoy for Music by UNICEF. In this role, Vengerov has met and performed for children in Uganda, Harlem, Thailand, and those on both sides of the Kosovan ethnic divide.
Recently, Vengerov rocked the music world by announcing that he is putting down his violin so that he may spend his time conducting, instead. This album is a chance to enjoy Vengerov at his best.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-30-08 at 09:05 AM
Here are 2 things you need to know for an optimal day of listening today:
1 - The two special edition Canada Live Podcasts recorded at the Junos and hosted by Jian Ghomeshi are only available for a limited time. If you'd like to give them a listen, you'd better download them soon: they'll only be available until the end of the day Friday May 2nd Monday 2 June. The shows feature music from Joel Plaskett, Jeremy Fisher, Serena Ryder, Alex Cuba, Tegan Quin, Jay Malinowski and Corb Lund.
2 - Our broadcast schedule will be adjusted again this evening for the special live-to-air edition of Canada Live from the Choral 2008 Finals. As a result, Tonic will run for one hour between 6:00 and 7:00 (you know the deal for NL). The Choral 2008 special begins at 7:00 (7:30 NL) and runs roughly 3 1/2 hours... which also means a late start for The Signal.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-30-08 at 05:49 AM
It's off to the knacker's yard for one piece of music on Music and Company this morning.
This week, Tom brings us another "Everything Must Go" Cage Match. This week's contenders? The finale of Borodin's 1st symphony, and Elmer Bernstein's Magnificent Seven. One selection will be led to greener pastures by Friday morning.
Tune in at 6:30 (7:00 in NL) to have a listen and cast your vote.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-29-08 at 08:46 PM
Dan Snaith (a.k.a. Caribou) began recording music in rural Dundas Ontario when he was only 14 years old, but it wasn’t until the release of his debut album Start Breaking My Heart – then under the artist name Manitoba - that anyone noticed.
His debut was praised worldwide as a uniquely organic-sounding electronic release, and subsequent albums continued to impress and confound. After a bizarre lawsuit over the rights to the name Manitoba, Snaith changed his stage name to Caribou.
His stage persona has changed too - he's moved from being primarily an electronic performer and DJ to performing swirling electro-acoustic psychedelic bubblegum pop with a four-piece band. The music ranges from crystalline sweetness to pure fuzzed-out rock barrages, and songs on the latest album, Andorra, have been compared to the compositions of Brian Wilson for the Beach Boys.
If that's not enough, Snaith also has his Ph.D. in mathematics.
Tonight's concert on The Signal was recorded at the cavernous and storied Lee's Palace in Toronto in March. Shortly after this show, the band lost the capable skills of drummer Brad Weber when he fell from a ladder and fractured his wrist in two places. We at CBC Radio 2 wish Brad a speedy recovery.
To set the tone: at live shows the audience is treated to the mesmerizing sound of Caribou and the images projected behind the band as they hammer away at Dan’s compositions. For photos (and to listen to this concert any time), the concert is also available as a Concert on Demand.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-29-08 at 04:50 PM
Tonight, Canada Live brings us part 1 of a special 2-night live-to-air broadcast. This evening and tomorrow evening we'll hear performances from the finalists in this year's National Radio Competition for Amateur Choirs, a.k.a. Choral 2008.
This is your chance to hear what thousands of hours of dedication, hard work and love for singing - on the part of choristers, directors and yes, parents - sounds like.
The featured ensembles will be performing live in halls from coast-to-coast, and the program will be simulcast both on Radio 2 and on Espace Musique. Over the course of two evenings you'll have a chance to hear a total of 32 performances from 27 different choral ensembles, all hosted by CBC's Gregory Charles.
Finalists in Choral 2008 are competing for a total of $79,000 in prizes. In addition, for the first time ever, the winners will participate in a gala concert in Montreal (on May 16-18, 2008), sponsored by Mondial Choral and again presented on CBC Radio Two and Espace Musique.
NOTE: The broadcasts tonight and tomorrow begin at 7:00p.m. (7:30 NT).
On tonight's show, you'll hear a staggering 15 groups perform 16 works in 8 categories. The full line-up (with links to the ensembles) is below.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-29-08 at 04:23 PM
It's a special abridged edition of Tonic tonight, heard from 6:00 to 7:00 (6:30 to 7:30 NT). Katie is volunteering her second hour this and tomorrow evening to the live-to-air broadcasts of Choral 2008.
To get the evening of song started, Katie's got lots of great singing including songs from Regina Belle, Dr. John, Boyz II Men and Stephanie Laliberte. There'll also be music from Nicola Conte, the Chris Gale/Vanessa Rodrigues Group and from Brazilian singer Vitor Ramil.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-29-08 at 01:47 PM
Don't tell the Wichita Lineman: following up on last Tuesday’s cut Debra the Flagman, today on DiscDrive the ChoirGirlz (pictured) give us Good Old Jim the Traffic Guy.
There’s also a new recording of the ever-popular Grieg Piano Concerto courtesy of Todd Yaniw and the Guelph Symphony Orchestra, banjoists Chris Quinn and Chris Coole deliver a cut from their Banjo Special disc, and an excerpt from the groundbreaking Winterreise recording of Christoph Prégardien with Joseph Petric and Pentaédre.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-29-08 at 11:03 AM
On Studio Sparks today, host Eric Friesen brings us the last of the performances from the semi-finalists in Choral 2008. In the last half hour of the show today we'll hear from University Choirs and Church Choirs.
Stay tuned to CBC Radio 2 for the live-to-air broadcast of the finalists tonight on Canada Live at 7:00p.m. (7:30 NT).
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-29-08 at 07:55 AM
The waterways of Europe loom large on this morning's Here's to You.
Antonia sent a postcard from Croatia, where she saw the river Vltava (Moldau) on its course through the city. She had Karajan's version of that work running through her head the whole time, and asks to hear it this morning.
Kenneth reminisces about the town of King's Lynn in Norfolk. While there, he came across a plaque identifying the birthplace of George Vancouver, not realizing at the time that when his papers finally came through he would end up living in Vancouver...British Columbia. His musical request is English and is inspired by the sea.
Plus, four new releases of works for the piano! There's music by Haydn, Mozart, Chopin and Shostakovich, featuring established artists Anton Kuerti and Maurizio Pollini, as well as younger generation artists Ingrid Fliter and David Jalbert.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-29-08 at 05:16 AM
It's another "Everything Must Go" Cage Match this week on Music and Company. This week, Tom is leading two favourite pieces of "cowboy" music to the auction block: the finale of Borodin's 1st symphony, and Elmer Bernstein's Magnificent Seven.
Which one will stay in the corral and which will gallop off into the big pasture in the sky? You be the judge!
Tune in at 7:30 (8:00 in NL), have a listen and cast your vote. Yeehaw!
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-28-08 at 08:34 PM
According to Canadian composer Christos Hatzis, at any rate.
Tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown, you'll hear Odd World, the third movement of his magnificent Juno Award-winning theatrical masterpiece Constantinople. Odd World gets its name from both its eclectic musical content - including nods to Celtic fiddling, the music of Igor Stravinsky and more - and its peculiar rhythmic structure, which keeps you counting.
For a preview, here's a trailer.
Innovation and novelty (dare I say oddness) continues late into the night with the strange sounds of creative jazz group Heernt, plus mouth music from vocalist Theo Bleckmann and guitarist Ben Monder, as they approximate the sounds of all sorts of flying insects in a piece called Swarm.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-28-08 at 06:37 PM
How to begin describing tonight's Canada Live show? Well, if I might beg your indulgence, let me tell you a little bit about myself (don't worry, we'll get to tonight's show - I promise).
I grew up bathed in music, the daughter of jazz musicians in rural Southern Ontario. There was always recorded music in the house, and sometimes live music with visiting musicians coming and going. When my high-school friends were going off to see stadium rock shows by Aerosmith or Supertramp or E.L.O., I was going to jazz festivals to see Ella Fitzgerald, or nightclubs to hear Lennie Breau, or the concert hall for the TSO.
There was lots of music in my home - Gershwin and gospel, Mingus and Monk, be-bop and bossa nova. But there wasn't much folk music. Folk music was heard in the punch line to numerous jokes. And so folk music - of all kinds - was something I came to of my own accord when I grew up and left my wonderful, musical family home.
Back when I was a teen I thought there were only 2 kinds of Celtic music. There was the "velvet cape" kind, best represented by the swirling emotive balladry of Loreena McKennitt, or the "green beer" kind, typified by the novelty songs of The Irish Rovers. Oh, and of course there was The Pogues, but that's about all I could name. Little did I know of the true depth and richness of Celtic musical culture.
One night, on a whim, I decided to go see a Scottish group that I'd heard was pretty good. That group was Battlefield Band, and some 20 years later (and truth be told it was probably more) I still remember that night as a highlight of my long and varied concert going life.
Battlefield Band simply blew me away. Here were seriously skilled (and no doubt Conservatory trained) musicians with jazz-like improvisational and soloing chops who applied their many skills to - gasp - Scottish folk songs. Drinking songs, songs about rogues and outlaws, lords and soldiers, dying brides and broken hearts... All of life's up and downs were played out that night over the course of several hours, and there wasn't a fog-machine or "deedle-dee-dee" to be found. I was gob-smacked, and wanted more.
All these years later (16 of those as host of a world music show), I have Battlefield Band to thank for inadvertently directing me not just to Scottish and Irish Celtic music but also their Scandinavian and Quebecois and Cape Breton and Galician kin.
The line-up of the band has changed a little over the 30 years it has been together, but the newer BB players still bring the same spirit and energy and joy and skill to the music they play as the band I heard 20 years ago. For tonight's concert, Battlefield Band was in rare form as the Commodore Ballroom hosted CelticFest Vancouver's “World's Greatest Céilídh.”
Here's a video of the band from a concert in the Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh, in Scotland early in 2006:
Oh, and if that's not enough, we've got another show on tap, as well: Kelly Brock is a singer and songwriter who has gone from her from roots-rock past to a confident mixture of country and pop-rock. Last year, Kelly was nominated for four BC Country Music Awards. Her songs are fun, melodically rapturous and they have an amazing cross-over appeal. Normally at home in a chicken-wired, bottle-tossing country music bar, for this concert Kelly Brock sang with an acoustic guitar and piano to an intimate, attentive crowd at Vancouver's The Cellar Jazz.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-28-08 at 04:19 PM
Katie has a little musical inspiration from golden-voiced Sam Cooke tonight on Tonic. It's for all those students studying for exams right now (and I bet you can guess what song it's likely to be).
You'll also hear Latin jazz from Mongo Santamaria, soulful tunes from Jacksoul and Robin Thicke, and great classic jazz from Billie Holiday, John Coltrane and more.
Plus there's a set of tunes from guitarist Oliver Gannon and his quartet, recorded live at The Cellar in Vancouver.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-28-08 at 10:48 AM
Eric Friesen brings us more from Choral 2008 today in the last half-hour of Studio Sparks. Choral 2008 is Canada's longest-running national competition for amateur choirs and is a biennial celebration of the best massed voices in the land. Today, you'll hear the semi-finals in the Female Youth Choir, Male Youth Choir, Mixed Youth Choir and Barbershop categories.
Be sure to join Canada Live on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings starting at the special time of 7:00p.m. (7:30 in NL) for the cross-country live-to-air finale of the Choral 2008 competition, hosted by Gregory Charles.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-28-08 at 10:24 AM
The New York Times reports that Pamela Rosenberg plans to leave her job with the Berlin Philharmonic when her contract expires in 2010. Rosenberg is the first woman and the first American to become the administrative director of the esteemed orchestra.
Before joining the Berlin Philharmonic in 2006, the 63-year old, Los Angeles-born Ms. Rosenberg was the general director of the San Francisco Opera. Rosenberg has announced that she plans to spend more time on smaller projects outside of major institutions.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-28-08 at 09:57 AM
Preternaturally talented singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright has been honoured with the Stephen F. Kolzak Award. It was awarded by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) for his role in fighting homophobia in the entertainment industry. Previous winners of this award include Ellen DeGeneres, Todd Haynes and Melissa Etheridge.
This is the second time Rufus has been honoured by GLAAD.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-28-08 at 08:08 AM
This morning on Here's to You Catherine plays Vivaldi's Flute Concerto in G Major, nicknamed "The Goldfinch". It's for an Albertan flattened - no doubt only temporarily - by winter's last nasty swipe at his region.
If you've ever seen a goldfinch sitting out a blast of winter, clinging to the spidery stalk of the previous year's Queen Anne's lace as the snow flies and the wind blows, you'll understand why the cheerful little bird deserves to be celebrated. By the way, the goldfinch Vivaldi would have known is a different bird from the yellow, gray and black seed-eater we know in North America - the European Goldfinch has a handsome band of crimson red on it's face, as well.
Also, an Ottawa alumnus of the McGill Choral Society sings the praises of amateur choirs and sends Vivaldi's Gloria out to his former choir-mates, and a Vancouver man who met violinist Anne Robert at the Courtenay Youth Music Centre back in the Seventies asks for something played by her, in her role as violinist with Trio Hochelaga.
UPDATE: Ah, the irony is rich. Within minutes of posting this entry earlier this morning, the rain falling outside my home in Grey County, Ontario suddenly changed to snow. Remind me - what is that old adage about April, again?
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-27-08 at 08:51 PM
Tonight on The Signal Pat Carrabre brings us the third concert of Esprit Orchestra's 2007-2008 season featuring the World Premiere of Douglas Schmidt's A-Fair.
Creative Sparks is the sub-title of this concert and refers to a new program of exchange between the Esprit Orchestra and the Royal Academy of Music in London. English composer Philip Cashian, head of composition at that school, was at the concert to hear the Canadian premiere of his work Tableuax.
Later, Pat will share a few prime cuts from the International Rostrum of Composers; this week from Austria, Germany and Italy. Also on the bill of fare, fireworks from Veda Hille, Andrew Bird and Son Lux.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-27-08 at 06:39 PM
We channel the soul of jazz tonight on Canada Live with a pair of concerts from artists who shine in genres "gone by".
concert 1 : Michael Kaeshammer
Michael Kaeshammer was a teen prodigy on jazz piano in the 90's - a musical "old soul" in a young body.
He's become one of the most exciting young jazz pianists in the country today, with boundless energy, an astonishingly broad repertoire, and dazzling technique. Boogie woogie, ragtime, stride, and even more contemporary grooves are what he's best at. He's a soulful singer, to boot. This evening you'll hear Kaeshammer in trio format at the Palais Montcalm in Quebec City.
concert 2 : Madeleine Peyroux
Yes, another "old soul"... French-American singer Madeleine Peyroux performs old style jazz tunes as well as chanson française with a jazzy twist. She has been compared to Billie Holliday in the way the young k.d. lang was compared to Patsy Cline. It seems at times that Peyroux "channels" her luxurious husky voice from singers past. She's also a marvelous interpreter of Leonard Cohen.
Since the release of her third album Half the Perfect World, she has been touring all over the world. Canada Live recorded her when she came to perform for her fans in Montreal.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-27-08 at 08:34 AM
Great pianism is celebrated today on Sunday Afternoon in Concert.
Long considered one of the greatest pianists of his generation, Louis Lortie is now among the finest conductors on the international scene. Experience his phenomenal artistry in this all-Mozart programme with Louis leading the CBC Radio Orchestra. On today's programme:
Mozart: Overture to Don Giovanni
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor K. 466
Mozart: Symphony No. 39
“We are the music makers. We are the dreamers of dreams.” The opening line of Arthur William Edgar O'Shaughnessy's famous Ode certainly applies to the members of the Beaux Arts Trio. For over fifty years the ensemble has represented the epitome of the refinement, beauty, grace and drama found in the chamber music genre.
Founding pianist Menachem Pressler has announced that the current concert season will be the final one for the fabled Trio. The ensemble made its public debut on July 13, 1955 at the Berkshire (now Tanglewood) Music Festival. “The time has come to let my devoted and beloved colleagues, Daniel Hope and Antonio Meneses, go out on their own. They have given me and the world of chamber music such enormous commitment over these past years. I, of course, will not stop, but will look to new ventures.”
Vancouver's Friends of Chamber Music welcomes the Trio back to the Playhouse for a final performance, which includes Schubert's Trio in B flat, D898, Opus 99, and the Trio in E flat, D929, Opus 100. And host Bill Richardson catches up with Menahem Pressler in a wide-ranging interview.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-27-08 at 08:31 AM
Gregory Charles stands on guard for freedom, and proves it this week with 2 hours of music connected to freedom. You'll hear music by everyone from Queen to Marjan Mozetich to Patrick Watson and BTO.
We all have different ideas of what constitutes a freedom song. What comes to mind instantly for me is Follow the Drinking Gourd, a song sung by escaped American slaves as they made their way north on the Underground Railroad. The drinking gourd refers to the Big Dipper, which points to the north star - Polaris - a celestial compass leading north to freedom.
Of course there's Le Marseillaise, which was used as a rallying song during the French Revolution and is now the country's national anthem. Then there's the "dot-dot-dot-dash" motif from Beethoven's 5th, which corresponds to the letter "V" in Morse code. The da-da-da-duh was broadcast across Europe during the second world war as a symbol of hope and freedom to those in occupied territories. A freedom song? You bet.
So many great freedom songs to choose from and only 2 hours in which to do it... I'm sure Gregory will rise to the task and today's show will be a spirited musical ride.
In a somewhat related story, rock guitar superstar Tom Morello (of Rage Against the Machine and yes, Guitar Hero 3 fame) recently announced what he considers to be the best contemporary protest song. Surprise! It's a song by Montreal's Arcade Fire.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-27-08 at 08:03 AM
Choral Concert's Howard Dyck offers you "Regal Moments" this Sunday morning. Christopher Jackson leads Montreal's Studio de Musique Ancienne in a tribute to Purcell - the quintessence of Baroque England.
Did you know that the word "baroque" was originally used to describe lumpy, uneven, imperfect pearls? It was not considered a flattering term when it was first applied the art movement of the early 17th Century, but somehow it stuck and the meaning slowly evolved to mean "opulent" rather than... well, lumpy.
There's a little something to think about while enjoying Purcell's elegant lines and tuneful melodies this morning on Choral Concert.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-26-08 at 07:01 PM
Fabulous fusions abound on tonight's Canada Live, featuring 3 rollicking shows from Ottawa.
Concert 1: East Village Opera Company
You've heard opera, and you've heard rock - and maybe you've even heard a few rock operas - but you've never heard anything like the East Village Opera Company (pictured). The East Village Opera Company is a five-piece band (sometimes with strings) fronted by Ottawa musicians singer Tyley Ross and arranger and multi-intrumentalist Peter Kiesewalter.
The two endevour to bring "the towering emotion and timeless musicality of opera into the 21st century" with inventive, hard-hitting arrangements of opera's greatest hits. Imagine a mash-up of Art of Noise with Malcolm McLaren's famous album "Fans", and you'll get an idea of the sound.
Some of the selections you'll hear include "La donna è mobile" from Rigoletto, "Habanera" from Carmen, and "Nessun dorma" from Turandot - all performed at full length and in the original languages... but with a rock band.
Concert 2: Grand Analogue meets Dr. Draw
Grand Analog is a band of hip-hop soulsters, led by an MC from Guyana. Dr Draw is a duo of intense classical violin and techno beats, led by a violinist from Russia. Together, Grand Analog and Dr Draw find the thread that binds reggae grooves, concerto notes, and a lot of rhythmic soul. (This concert comes from a Fuse taping in Studio 40 of Ottawa's Broadcast Centre.)
Concert 3: Jupiter Ray Project
Jupiter Ray Project (pictured, right) is a country-infused group that adds a psychedelic touch to their folky pop sound. This Wakefield band takes to the intimate space at the National Art Centre's 4th Stage.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-26-08 at 12:22 PM
But make sure you've got your radio on.
Tim Tamashiro invites you to hit the road with him this Saturday evening on Tonic. He'll have great travel tunes from Dianne Reeves and the Steve Koven Trio.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-26-08 at 10:58 AM
It's always a delightful journey when tenor Juan Diego Florez and soprano Natalie Dessay sail over the High C's in La Fille du Régiment.
This week, Donizetti’s sprightly comedic opera will be heard on Saturday Afternoon at the Opera with Bill Richardson over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network. Coloratura soprano Natalie Dessay is Marie, the naïve “daughter of the regiment” whose life is transformed when she falls in love with the peasant boy Tonio, performed by international sensation Juan Diego Flórez.
Tonio’s aria “Ah! Mes amis!” contains nine high C’s and is commonly called the Mount Everest of bel canto tenor singing. It was this aria that launched Pavarotti to international success on February 17, 1972 at The Metropolitan Opera. His effortless high C’s earned him 17 curtain calls that night. In 2007, Juan Diego Flórez brought the house down with the same aria at La Scala. He was given the first encore at La Scala in 74 years.
On this past Monday evening, Florez's performance had The Met buzzing with excitement, and included the very rare appearance of mid-show standing ovation and an encore during the production - which made for 18 high Cs in all!
However, the show is called La FILLE du Régiment for a reason - the story is about the young and spirited Marie. Marie's role is just as demanding as Tonio's, making the opera a feast for anyone who loves brilliant singing. Their respective high notes translate to the upper stratosphere for most singers.
This performance will also be relayed live in high definition to movie theaters around the world, the eighth in the Met’s series of eight HD transmissions. (NOTE: the HD simulcast program has been such a success that The Met announced plans to expand it next season.)
Intermission content will include live backstage interviews with the artists, including stars Natalie Dessay and Juan Diego Flórez, hosted by renowned soprano Renée Fleming.
Following the broadcast from The Met, Bill Richardson has a performance by the Barrett Brothers - Peter Barrett, baritone and Michael Barrett, tenor - from their recent Debut Atlantic tour, which concluded in their hometown of St. John's Newfoundland. Accompanied by Peter Tiefenbach, they perform lieder, songs and arias by Schuman, Novello, Korngold and more.
As an aside, earlier this week Ideas featured a documentary by Anne Mullens entitled "Where Have All the Tenors Gone?". It examined the deepening of the human voice over the past few centuries. Mullens argues that with the increase in human height that has taken place steadily over the past several decades vocal chords have lengthened, voices have deepened, and the classic tenor of centuries past has become a rare voice indeed. It was a terrifically interesting hour and is available on CD from the show.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-26-08 at 10:00 AM
There's more of The Concerto According to Pinchas this week on Saturday's Inside the Music. The internationally-acclaimed violinist and conductor looks at the great violin concertos from a performer's perspective, in conversations with Eric Friesen, host of Studio Sparks.
This week, a concerto that isn't one of the best known. But according to Pinchas, Bela Bartok's Violin Concerto No.2 contains the greatest melody ever written. The GREATEST melody EVER? My curiosity is piqued!
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-26-08 at 08:52 AM
In a concert recorded in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Stuart McLean welcomes musical guests Rita Chiarelli, Rodney Brown and the Kam Valley Fiddlers to the Vinyl Cafe this weekend.
Stuart has the story of how Sam's friend Murphy finds his father's old chemistry set in the basement. When Sam and Murphy start to experiment with it, things go with a bang - a very loud bang.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-25-08 at 07:46 PM
Tonight's Canada Live features 2 great musical events from points east.
Concert 1: ECMA Songwriters Circle
The 2008 East Coast Music Awards were handed out in Fredericton, New Brunswick this year. At these industry events it's the Songwriters' Circles that reveal what is really at the heart of the biz: great songs.
This year's performers include hometown boy Thom Swift (pictured), known for his work with the group "Hot Toddy". With the release of his first solo CD "Into The Dirt" he earned 3 big honours: the ECMA Blues Artist of The Year, The Maple Blues "New Artist of The Year" and the CBC / Galaxie Rising Star Award.
Then there's Newfoundland's versatile Damhnait Doyle. Dav's latest release "Lights Down Low" is a collection of cover tunes produced by Danny Michel that marks a departure from her recent work with Kim Stockwood and their pop group Shaye.
The Acadian community is represented by a powerful young performer, Jean-Francois Breau. Well known throughout the international Francophone community, Jean-François has toured the world in his starring role in "Don Juan - The Musical."
The special SOCAN guest is the "Barenaked" Steven Page, and hosting the circle is Fredericton Singer-Songwriter David Myles. In 2006 David won The International Songwriting Competition, then released the CD "Things Have Changed" which features his hit "When It Comes My Turn".
Concert 2: The Newfoundland Songbook: Volume 1 - The Early Days
Lords and ladies, pirates and sailors, villains and cruel parents -- the Newfoundland Songbook has it all!
In part one of this two-part concert series Pamela Morgan, Anita Best and an all-star cast of Newfoundland's traditional music makers (Kelly Russell, Sandy Morris, Graham Wells, George Morgan and Billy Sutton) explore the songs of their ancestors.
The show presents material from the British, French, Irish and Scottish cultures - the foundation of the Newfoundland oral tradition since the earliest days. These classic ballads, ditties and tunes comprise the heart of the cannon that is the Newfoundland Songbook. Love, betrayal, murder, revenge, trickery - the themes are universal, but they come alive within narratives that tie the songs into local history.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-25-08 at 04:34 PM
The accent's on soul this evening on Tonic -- or perhaps I should say soul food.
Why? Because Katie will have a tune from the great Booker T and the MGs (one of my all-time faves). Have you ever noticed how many of Booker's tunes are named for foods? There's his massive hit "Green Onions" from 1962, of course, but there are many, many more food tunes including: "Mo' Onions", Jellybread", "Plum Nellie", "My Sweet Potato", "One Mint Julep" and "Soul Jam". And those are just from his first 4 LPs!
The way to Booker T's heart is obviously through his stomach, but he can always reach my heart through my ears. That Hammond B3 - oh my! What a sound.
If you love the B3, you might want to have a look at this video I discovered following the unexpected death of the great Doug "Dr. Music" Riley last August. It features 3 of the world's best B3 jazz players on the stage at the same time: Doug Riley, Joey DeFrancesco, and Dr. Lonnie Smith with (an overly-ebullient) host Paul Shaffer. Admittedly, Shaffer was being inducted in Canada's Walk of Fame that evening, so I can see why he was excited.
If the late Jimmy Smith had been there it would have been sheer B3 heaven -- although you have to admit this confluence of B3 greats gets pretty darned close.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-25-08 at 11:42 AM
This afternoon, Eric Friesen welcomes three of Canada's finest cellists for a live studio session on Studio Sparks. Amanda Forsyth, Paul Marleyn,and Shauna Rolston, along with pianist Jean Desmarais, pay tribute to the great cellist and humanitarian Mstislav Rostropovich on the first anniversary of his death.
In case you're wondering about the remaining performances in Choral 2008, the semi-final broadcasts continue on Monday April 28 and Tuesday April 29.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-25-08 at 11:14 AM
It seems that Paul McCartney isn't one to let his recent and very public divorce from Heather Mills get him down. In fact, the former Beatle has just announced that he'll perform - free - for a massive audience in Kyiv, Ukraine this summer.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-25-08 at 09:21 AM
There's a lot that goes on behind the scenes here at the R2 blog. In some ways, the page you're reading now is just the tip of an information iceberg.
Many questions get asked, and I endeavor to answer them as best I can via emails to listeners. Sometimes show producers help me out, and sometimes listeners come through with answers to questions posed on air or as comments on this blog. For your edification, here are a couple of answers to recent questions.
Question 1 comes from a recent listener comment to this blog: "Can anyone tell me the full name of the theme song to the intro music to The Signal?"
Answer: The music is in fact a collage, made up of excerpts from a number of pieces. In the words of CBC Music Producer Sarah Michaelson "I suppose you could call it a 'mash up' of sorts... it consists of Bjork, Morgan Doctor, Lemon Jelly, Kronos Quartet, Psapp...these songs have been combined to represent the range of music listeners hear on the program."
Question 2 was raised by Gregory Charles, who wondered aloud on air (on In the Key of Charles, natch) where a person might find a recording of 'Lavender's Blue'.
Answer (from many listeners): Lavender's Blue has been recorded numerous times, perhaps most famously by Burl Ives. Here's Burl singing the song in his melodious and playful baritone.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-25-08 at 05:50 AM
Tune in to Music and Company at 7:30 this morning (8:00 in NL) for the thrilling conclusion to this week's hotly contested Liquidation Cage Match. I bet you can't wait to find out who's gone for good!
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-24-08 at 08:44 PM
On the final night of Schafer Week on The Signal, you'll hear a concert performance of R. Murray Schafer's Scorpius by the Esprit Orchestra, recorded live at the Jane Mallett Theatre in Toronto.
In part four of Eitan Cornfield's documentary, Schafer discusses the challenge of creating large scale works that blur the lines between theatre, music, and the traditional separation of audience and musicians.
You'll also hear several selections from his immense and ambitious Patria cycle, including 'Ra', 'And Wolf Shall Inherit The Moon' and 'The Crown of Ariadne'. What a grand finale indeed for a monumental week of music.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-24-08 at 03:11 PM
I'm sitting on the banks of the Saugeen River as I write this post. OK, to be honest, if you are reading this it means I had to have gone back inside to actually post this entry to the server, but for a moment, indulge me - let's not break the spell.
Back to the riverbank. I've decided I like this job a lot and I just might not give it back to Li when she returns on Monday, May 5th. Not without a good arm-wrestle, anyway. You see (in case you missed it the first time), I'm sitting on a riverbank thinking about music. It doesn't get much better than this.
There's a lot of thinking about music going on in the halls of CBC Radio 2 and in schools across the land right now in advance of Music Monday, which takes place on May 5th, as well. You'll be hearing a lot more about Music Monday over the next week and a half -- allow me to be among the first to tell you about it.
Music Monday is an initiative that encourages and celebrates music education in Canada. For the first time this year, CBC is an active participant in the day. Starting on Sunday, May 4th and carrying on through the entire day on Monday, May 5th, CBC Radio 2 will have special programs celebrating music education and educators in Canada.
Watch this blog for a special Music Monday event page (coming soon) featuring a comprehensive listing of the guests, themes and shows involved in this celebration. In the meantime, have a peek at the other events the parent organization, the Coalition for Music Education in Canada, has planned for the day.
I'm sure it's not too late to find a way to join in.
Ooh! Gotta go - the merganser is back... I don't want all my "tap-tapping" at the keys to scare her off.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-24-08 at 11:01 AM
This evening on Canada Live, a performance by the electrifying poet and "conscious rapper" K'naan. Also known as The Dusty Foot Philosopher, K'Naan Warsame was born in war-torn Somalia and grew up in Toronto.
Although he's not yet thirty, he has already worked with the likes of Nelly Furtado, Mos Def, The Roots and Senegalese superstar Youssou N'Dour, and he's toured the world with Damian Marley. K'Naan's CD, The Dusty Foot Philosopher, won a Juno and the BBC Radio 3 World Music award in 2007 and was also nominated for the inaugural Polaris Music Prize.
K'naan is a unique voice in hip-hop. In North America, it's a genre too often pre-occupied with gangsta stance and bling. But in much of the rest of the world -- in Africa, South America and Asia, and in First Nations communities worldwide, rap is used as a tool for progressive social change. That is where K'naan's music finds it's kin. His engaging rap songs are a call for tolerance and unity.
You may remember K'naan from his performance at the Live 8 Concert in 2005. In my humble opinion, he was the star of the Canadian Live 8 show (although Neil Young warmed my heart, as well). I have been fortunate to see K'naan perform live. Although he is diminutive in stature and soft-spoken by nature, the moment the lights go up and the mic goes on, K'naan has complete command of his audience. This summer he's scheduled to appear at the massive outdoor rock festivals Bonaroo and Lollapalooza.
This concert, recorded at The Phoenix in Toronto, showcases his trademark rap/hip hop sound created almost entirely on acoustic instruments.
Also on the show tonight, music from First Nations "old school rebel" roots duo Digging Roots and Toronto's Cuban-born band-leader Roberto Linares Brown.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-24-08 at 10:42 AM
In the last half hour of Studio Sparks today (2:30, 3:p.m. NT), Eric Friesen presents more from the semi-final rounds of Choral 2008, the Canadian competition for amateur choirs.
The categories featured today will be Contemporary Music and Chamber Choirs. "Contemporary Chamber", hmmm, kind of sounds like a high-end interior design magazine, doesn't it? But I digress....
For more information about the singing (not interior design), visit Studio Sparks and Choral 2008.
The current Met HD broadcast season will conclude with Saturday's simulcast of the company's new production of Donizetti's La Fille du Régiment, the featured performance on this weekend's Saturday Afternoon at the Opera.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-24-08 at 08:05 AM
This morning, André Alexis guest hosts Here's to You.
Among other things, he'll read a letter from a listener in Paris, France who asks for a song by Edith Piaf. He and his wife will hear it as they share a glass of wine before heading out to celebrate their wedding anniversary today.
Ah, April in Paris and wine and love. You can't get much better than that...except maybe to add André's voice telling us about it.
Frankly, I'd be content to listen to André use his whispery burr to read from the phone book, but if I know anything about the Here's to You audience, I know he'll have plenty of other erudite letters to choose from instead.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-24-08 at 05:51 AM
Violinists rave about the classic instruments - Amati, Guarnieri - but the name that even non-musicians recognize is Stradivarius.
What is it about the violins made by Antonio Stradivari back in the 17th century that makes them so special? Mr. Equipment drops by Music & Company this morning to explain why violinists treasure them so much.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-23-08 at 09:17 PM
Yesterday on this blog, I mentioned R. Murray Schafer's monumental work, Patria. To say that tonight's featured work is "big" is an understatement, of, well, Patria proportions.
Tonight, The Signal continues to celebrate the music of R. Murray Schafer by unleashing the power of 500 voices in a recording of the Credo from Schafer's massive work Apocalypsis.
You'll hear Robert Sund conducting and ensemble of twelve (yes, twelve!) choirs in a live performance, recorded at Massey Hall in Toronto. You'll also hear part three of Eitan Cornfield's documentary, where Schafer explains the beauty of communal ritual and the experience of music in the natural environment.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-23-08 at 06:58 PM
Tonight on Canada Live, two great shows from Winnipeg.
The first features two Francophone artists who grew up outside Quebec, but now call Montreal home. Benoit Morier is originally from Winnipeg and Damien Roitaille is from Northern Ontario. This is the first time the two of them have performed as feature performers on the same bill. Their styles match perfectly, creating a program of quirky, melodic, and fun music in French and English.
Then, Inti Illimani. Inti Illimani (pronounced in-TEE EEYa-man-ee or thereabouts) is an eight piece group based in Santiago, Chile with a massive fan base around the world. They've been together for 40 years and boast 43 albums to their credit. In fact, the band has several members who weren't even born when the group first started making music!
The group has a storied history, which includes 14 years lived in exile in Italy. The group was on tour when Chilean president Salvador Allende was deposed in 1973, and found themselves without valid return papers. Even in exile, the group continued to create music that spoke to the soul of Chile, to much of South America, and indeed to exiles everywhere. They returned home for a tour in 1988 and re-grouped in Chile in 1990, where they have remained ever since.
Inti Illimani performed on a Friday night in Winnipeg to a crowd of about 700 people who were for the most part Spanish speakers at the Pantages Playhouse. Many of the pieces they played were instantly recognizable to the audience who lavished their appreciation on the group. The music is multi-layered with extensive arrangements featuring traditional South-American instruments as well as the regular guitar, saxophone, electric bass and drums.
Here's some video of a 2007 concert performance by Inti Illimani that gives you a great idea of the group's sound and spirit.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-23-08 at 05:04 PM
This evening on Tonic you'll hear Latin sounds from the Caribbean Jazz Project. The group was created by vibraphonist and marimba-player Dave Samuels in 1993 and has since carved a niche for itself as a premiere pan-Caribbean ensemble. With stellar turns from pioneering jazz pan-steel drummer Andy Narell and Cuban-born saxophonist Paquito d'Rivera, the band creates cool new sounds inspired by hot climes.
Also on Tonic tonight, some nu-soul from Omar and a jazz treatment of a theme by Rachmaninov from the Classical Jazz Quartet. There'll be music from Ray Charles and the Count Basie Orchestra, plus a couple of tunes from the Paul Desmond Quartet recorded live at the 1976 Edmonton Jazz Festival.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-23-08 at 01:58 PM
Ladysmith Black Mambazo exhorts you to Raise Your Spirit Higher today on DiscDrive. It's certainly difficult not to feel your spirits lift when you listen to the ensemble's thrilling harmonies.
Here's something you may not know - Ladysmith Black Mambazo are hard at work raising the spirits of children in South Africa. Here's how they explain it on their website:
The Mambazo Foundation for South African Music & Culture was founded by group leader Joseph Shabalala to promote fundraising efforts to devise a proper academic syllabus to teach South African students about their indigenous culture.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo has danced and sung their realization of South African culture around the globe on countless tours. Delighted and appreciative audiences can help assure the young people of South Africa that their culture will continue to enrich a very youthful and hopeful nation from within. We need your donations of money, computer equipment, corporate support and academic consultation to make this dream a reality.
Perhaps it might raise your spirits to participate in this initiative.
Today on DiscDrive with host Jurgen Gothe you'll also hear a Beethoven Symphony courtesy of the Berlin Philharmonic; Jean-Yves Thibaudet conquering the Grieg Piano Concerto; and Nancy King singing a chestnut from the Great American Songbook. Spirit rousing music all-round!
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-23-08 at 11:51 AM
The Choral Competition semi-final broadcasts continue this afternoon on Studio Sparks.
Today we hear the finalists in the Men's and Women's Equal voice choir categories, plus four choirs in the Pan Cultural Traditions category. You'll those performances in the last half hour of Studio Sparks.
Here's something new and exciting for the Choral Competition this year: all first place choirs will meet in Laval, QC, to perform before the Choral 2008 jury for the Canada Council for the Arts Healey Willan Grand Prize and Cantabile Prize (awarded by the artistic committee of the Mondial Choral Loto-Québec). This event is scheduled for May 16-18, 2008 and will be broadcast on CBC Radio Two and Espace Musique.
And for balance, here's something old: a photo collage of some past Choral Competition contest winners.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-23-08 at 10:47 AM
Just a little reminder: it's R. Murray Schafer week on CBC Radio 2's The Signal, and to help celebrate we've compiled a list of Schafer pieces available at Concerts on Demand. If (like me) you're not a "night person", this is a great way to catch all the concerts that are being aired on The Signal between 11p.m. and 1a.m. (11:30 and 1:30 NL) all week long.
To celebrate the Patron Saint of England, Here's to You will have plenty of English music. You'll hear the overture to Gilbert & Sullivan's "The Sorcerer," music from the BBC series "Brideshead Revisited", trumpet music by Purcell and a Pomp and Circumstance march by Elgar.
In case you're curious about how a Turkish-born soldier became a venerated Christian saint, and then how he became known as the dragon slayer, and finally the patron saint of England, you may want to visit this article by the Royal Society of St. George.
P.S. - enjoy your day off, Newfoundland and Labrador.
It's a battle to the death for two oft-played favourites: Fritz Wunderlich's "Granada" and Susan Graham's "C'est ca la vie". These two selections have been so frequently played, in fact, that Tom and company have decried "enough already, one of these must go!". Which one will be given the bum's rush? Will you cast a strategic vote to save your favourite from an undignified end?
Tune in this morning at 6:40 a.m., listen carefully and choose wisely. Tune in again Friday morning to hear the loser revealed.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-22-08 at 09:45 PM
It's Earth Day on The Signal (and everywhere else). How better to celebrate than with the music of R. Murray Schafer, the composer who created his monumental work Patria specifically to be performed in situ in a Canadian forest?
In part two of Eitan Cornfield's documentary, R. Murray Schafer discusses the challenges of how music was taught when he was a student, and how he developed his approach to teaching what he calls "creative hearing." You'll hear his famous piece 'Epitaph for Moonlight' and explore his involvement with other composers such as Barry Truax in the World Soundscape Project. The concert feature is a performance of Schafer's 'String Quartet #3', recorded live by the Quatuor Molinari in Montreal as part of their 'Shafer @ 75' concert.
What's more, there will be music from other environmentally "tuned" composers including Hildegard Westerkamp, Vitamins For you, Fred Frith, and John Cage.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-22-08 at 07:39 PM
Tonight on Canada Live, Global Divas.
Global Divas is an annual concert that brings together some of Canada's top vocalists from different global traditions in one terrific concert.
This year's line-up included Juno-nominated Punjabi folk songstress Kiran Ahluwalia, Turkish folk singer Brenna MacCrimmon, Brazilian jazz and bossa nova star Maria Farinha and Zimbabwean vocalist and Soul Influence member Uitsile Ndlovu. And if that wasn't enough, the back-up band was internationally-acclaimed jazz virtuoso Jane Bunnett and her band, The Spirits of Havana.
Also on the program, saxophonist Dave Liebman, who has played with Miles Davis and Chick Corea, in concert with fellow sax star Mike Murley and friends.
This week, Donizetti’s delightful comedic opera "La Fille du Régiment" will be heard live from the Met, featuring the spectacular tenor Juan Diego Florez and soprano Natalie Dessay.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-22-08 at 05:30 PM
Tune in to TONIC this evening for great jazz from the Ignasi Terraza Trio, pianists Oliver Jones and Michael Kaeshammer, and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis.
There'll be latin jazz from Poncho Sanchez and guitarist Irio de Paula as well as soul music from DB Clifford, Lucy Pearl and the fabulous Ms. Jully (that's pronouced "Joo-lee") Black.
Ms. Black was recently blogged about by Hollywood gossip-monger, Perez Hilton. Hilton ranks Ms. Black's talents above those of the newest soul sensation from the UK, wannabe Amy Winehouse usurper, Duffy.
While you're poking around online, be sure to visit Jully's site, too. Every time I check in, Jully has something fun to report about hanging out with her mom or watching a movie with her nieces and nephews in between network TV appearances and magazine cover shoots. Jully signs off most of her blog posts with "big smooches". How can a person resist?
Hollywood may love Jully Black as a superstar (as well they should), but Jully's got her head on straight and her priorities right, as far as this music-loving Canadian mom is concerned.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-22-08 at 02:08 PM
Soon after DiscDrive starts this afternoon, you'll hear Alison Brown and her banjo floating a Red Balloon.
If you were born between the late 1950's and the early 1970's, the phrase "Red Balloon" likely has very specific connotations. I remember the day my teacher wheeled the projector into the classroom and showed us the iconic silent film called The Red Balloon (originally Le Ballon Rouge) by French director Albert Lamorisse. The film was released in France in 1956 and became an instant classic around the world. I watched it again recently (some 30 years later) with my own children and was excited to discover that the magic still lives.
The Red Balloon was restored and re-released last year for North American distribution, along with another Lamorisse classic, White Mane. If you don't know these films, be sure to watch this trailer:
Also on DiscDrive today, Jurgen plays us a West Coast Mennonite version of Amazing Grace and takes us on a trip down the Silk Road courtesy of cellist Yo-Yo Ma.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-22-08 at 11:04 AM
Studio Sparks will be broadcasting the semi-finalists in the 2008 Choral Competition (a.k.a. National Radio Competition for Amateur Choirs) beginning this afternoon.
I have loved to sing ever since I can remember. Before I can remember, in fact: my parents have photos of me at age 4 wearing a gigantic pair of headphones and belting it out along with Aretha Franklin to Chain of Fools. My first choral competition took place in a church basement in Newmarket, Ontario when I was in Grade 3. I don't think our group did very well, but I was ecstatic, and that thrill has never abated. I have been singing in choral groups - from trios up to full choirs - on and off ever since.
There is nothing quite like the thrill of singing choral music. If you're a singer, you'll know what I mean. All that deep breathing can make a person feel energized, and the sound that is created by many voices - especially all those marvelous overtones - seems to massage a person from the inside out. Choral singing is a balm for the body and soul, and listening to choral music is a thrill in and of itself (especially if you sing along at home).
Today on Studio Sparks you'll have a chance to hear some of the best amateur choral groups this country has to offer, starting with the finalists in the Children's and Mixed Voices categories. Broadcasts can be heard in the final half-hour of the show (approximately 2:30 p.m., 3:00 p.m. NT). The Choral Competition concerts will continue until next Tuesday, April 29th on Studio Sparks.
For a full schedule of events, you may visit the Studio Sparks site, and for more information about the competition itself, I encourage you to visit the dedicated Choral Competition site.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-22-08 at 07:45 AM
For me, one of the true signs of spring (in addition to the return of the swallows, the sound of spring peepers and the smell of Balm of Gilead poplars) is the day I get to hang laundry on the line for the first time. That day came about 3 weeks ago where I live in Grey County, Ontario. In fact, the laundry you see there is mine. It's the dark load, obviously.
I can sense some of you asking: what on earth does Philly's laundry have to do with Here's to You?
Well, let me tell you. Matthew is home-schooled in Ogdensburg, NY. He observes in his letter to Catherine that the sun is getting strong and lasting longer these days and he says his mother is enjoying being able to hang the laundry out to dry now. Matthew asks for a selection of music to celebrate the return of laundry-drying weather. Glen Buhr's "Akasha" (Sky) came to mind for this request, so you'll have a chance to hear it played by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra conducted by Bramwell Tovey.
Tuesday is also New Releases Day on Here's to You, and Catherine will be featuring the new Montreal Symphony recording with Kent Nagano conducting; a disc of arrangements for Horn Quintet with the Vienna Horns; and a recording of Violin Concertos by Brahms and Joachim, featuring violinist Christian Tetzlaff.
Can't you just hear all that line-dried freshness?
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-22-08 at 05:53 AM
This week, Music and Company is calling it "The Liquidation Cage Match", because everything must go! Well, OK, not exactly everything. But something must go.
Starting this morning, Tom squares off two perennial favourites that seem to get plenty of play: Fritz Wunderlich's Granada vs. Susan Graham's C'est ca la vie. Tune in at 7:30 (8:00 in NL) to give them another listen.
You'll want to listen carefully and choose wisely, because this week's Cage Match has a lasting effect: as of results day on Friday April 25 (at 7:30 a.m., to be precise) one piece of music will be eliminated from the Music & Co. playlist - forever!
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-21-08 at 08:45 PM
All this week, The Signal is celebrating renowned Canadian composer, writer, educator and musical philosopher R. Murray Schafer. You'll hear plenty of Schafer's music tonight, including highlights from concerts across the country given in honour of Schafer's 75th birthday.
Tonight on The Signal with Laurie Brown, part one of Eitan Cornfield's documentary from the Canadian Composers Portraits Series on the life and career of R. Murray Schafer. You'll hear Schafer discussing the nature of "authentic" artistic experience and the creative process in all its forms.
Tonight's Signal will also present several of Schafer's works, including the early works In Memoriam Alberto Guerrero and his Concerto for harpsichord and winds. Just a thought: I've learned Schafer's expansive wit looms large in his compositions, and something he calls a "concerto" may be something quite different, indeed, from what you'd expect.
Finally, to round things out, the concert feature is a recording of Schafer's 'Cortege' as performed by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra at the 2008 Winnipeg New Music Festival.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-21-08 at 06:52 PM
Tonight's Canada Live concert has got my name written all over it. Well, not exactly, but I like to think it does. You see, I own an accordion. That's how my father (a talented jazz pianist) likes to put it in his most diplomatic phrasing. And in his defence, to say that I actually play the accordion would be a gross over-statement. I own one - and it does look pretty great on my lap, don't you think?
Ah yes, about tonight's concert... Montreal's Printemps de Bretelles is a festival designed to warm the hearts of folks who love the accordion. It features just about every conceivable genre of music for the "stomach Steinway" (or as I like to call it, the "belly Bosendorfer"), from classical to Cajun and more.
You can hear six virtuoso players strut their stuff tonight in concert performances from the festival on Canada Live.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-21-08 at 04:53 PM
Did you know that New York City designated last week (April 14-20) as "Tito Puente Week"? To honour what would have been the gifted percussionist's 85th birthday, one of his long-time collaborators, singer Yolanda Duke, prepared an entire week of musical celebrations. Then she went to her local Congressmen, Senators and Councillors and encouraged them to make the celebrations official.
I'm sure it didn't require a lot of arm-twisting. The entertaining and talented mambo-king and big band leader was a cornerstone in New York's music scene for 5 decades, and his legacy lives on to this day in NYC's thriving Latin-jazz and salsa communities (not to mention in endless re-runs of The Simpsons, on which he was a musical guest.)
I like to think that Tito Puente Week is a fitting "Nu-Yor-Rican" response to the Jazz Appreciation Month celebrations taking place throughout April at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C..
Tonight on Tonic, Katie Malloch will bring us some of Tito's music, and a whole lot more including David "Fathead" Newman, recorded live at the Village Vanguard in New York City nearly twenty years ago.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-21-08 at 02:30 PM
Among other things today on DiscDrive, Alfred Brendel interprets Mozart, Rob McConnell "Remembers" and the Vancouver Chamber Choir brings you Simple Gifts.
Speaking of gifts, Jurgen also has a track from the moving album Poor Boy: Songs of Nick Drake, by Veda Hille, Robin Holcombe and Francois Houle. It's a project that grew out of a magical four-and-a-half hour tribute concert recorded by CBC Vancouver in 1999. The event so moved the participants that the assembled artists dediced to go into studio to record an album of thier favourite Nick Drake songs in 2001. If that song catches your fancy, you may want to keep an ear out for Veda's most recent album, This Riot Life, released just last month.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-21-08 at 11:13 AM
This afternoon, Studio Sparks features the music of Spain and Portugal.
For me, Iberian music has come to epitomize the height of musical passion: the music of Portugal through the bluesy torch song tradition known as fado, and Spanish music through the incendiary guitars and voices of flamenco. The Spanish have a word for this musical passion, "duende". The word embodies the fiery state longing, but it also means "the real thing", or "soul".
Also on Studio Sparks today, an iconic performance with duende to spare: Bach's Suite #1 for unaccompanied cello, recorded by the great Pablo Casals in 1938. Rich, sparkling and passionate, this performance still has the power to bring tears to my eyes (as it did recently when my colleague Jowi Taylor added it to our Nightstream playlist and I stumbled across it unexpectedly).
Here's a story about Pablo Casals relayed to me by singer-songwriter Bob Bossin. Late in his life, Casals was offered a prime-time network TV appearance. His rather excited agent told him that in that one performance, Casals would be heard by more people than he had played for the whole of his career. "Yes", Casals said, "but they will forget me the next day."
Listening back to the magic Casals created some 70 years ago, I can't imagine his music will be forgotten any time soon, let alone overnight.
By the way, you can see a 1954 performance by Casals of the Bach Suite #1 filmed in France at the Abbaye Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa here.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-21-08 at 08:01 AM
This morning Catherine plays a very soothing Bach motet on Here’s to You. It’s for a Winnipeg woman who is about to become an ER physician, and probably appreciates the opportunity for a calm respite more than most.
Also, a little "Rock"-maninov for a farm worker in Newfoundland who says the great Russian’s music converted him from heavy metal to classical piano. Coincidentally, this is the same effect it had on my own 9-year old son when he first saw and heard Rachmaninov's music in concert. That's him in the photo, leaving the recital.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Apr-21-08 at 06:19 AM
Thanks, Li, for the warm welcome. Here's hoping you have a marvelous two weeks away from the computer. As a frequent reader of this blog, I'm looking forward to taking up the post and getting to know the "regulars".
So, away we go!
To start the morning, Tom Allen has some music from the brilliant Paraguayan composer for the guitar, Augustin Barrios-Mangore (known simply as Barrios) played by a respected master of his works, John Williams.
Then for another take on virtuousic performances, Tom will bring us the muscular 3rd movement of Rachmaninoff's Concerto #1 performed by pianist Arthur Ozolins. It was 40 years ago this year that Ozolins claimed first prize at the CBC National Radio Competition for Young Performers (known as the CBC Talent Festival at the time).
It's early Monday morning, very early Monday morning, and I'm packing up for a two-week vacation, sans computer. Or even, incredibly enough, ready access to a computer. But I'm happy to say that while I am not tap-tap-tapping away, Ms. Philly Markowitz will be, in my stead.
Philly is host of the weekend edition of Nightstream, she's a long-time CBC Radio personality and a lover of good music -- and she'll be blogging up a storm while I'm away.
Have fun Philly, and may the Virtual Personal Network be with you. (Anyone who has ever worked in a virtual office will empathize with that!)
Stay tuned for Philly's posts on music and on what's ahead in the broadcast day...
All this week on The Signal (10 p.m.), the work of R. Murray Schafer, the renowned Canadian composer, writer, educator, and musical philosopher.
His work has been praised by many, including Yehudi Menuhin, who once said that Schafer's "strong, benevolent, and highly original imagination and intellect" was "a dynamic power whose manifold personal expressions and aspirations are in total accord with the urgent needs and dreams of humanity today."
Tonight Pat begins the Schafer special with a concert performance of the mischievously named composition, No Longer Than Ten Minutes. (There's an entertaining post about this work at Soho The Dog that you might want to read -- it includes some of Mr. Schafer's own words about the composition.)
Throughout the course of the week you’ll hear a documentary profile of Mr. Schafer, plus concert recordings of his works and excerpts from interviews.
Please continue reading for details of all of the broadcasts.
A real treat for jazz fans tonight on Canada Live (8 p.m.), when trumpet player Randy Brecker, saxophonist Pat Labarbera and his drummer brother Joe Labarbara, team up for a performance that was recorded during this year's International Association For Jazz Education conference. (The conference was held in Canada this year, and has borne some very nice musical fruit for Canada Live.) The other two band members in this show are also Canadian heavyweights -- pianist Brian Dickinson and bassist Neil Swainson, and the Canada Live team describes it as a "fiery performance."
On the IAJE front, I was sorry to read the news, late Friday afternoon, that the 2009 conference is being canceled -- according to the Seattle Times (the event was to be held in Seattle next year), due to "a 'perfect storm' of bad luck, unchecked growth, fundraising and management failures." Let's hope this is a temporary setback, although this article certainly doesn't make things look too promising.
But getting back to Canada Live -- the first concert on the programme is from a band that's also known for some of their own incendiary playing, though in a rather different style of music, the band Tasa. Tasa is led by tabla player and composer Ravi Naimpally, and they play original repertoire inspired by the traditions of India -- but very much contemporary music, and very much Canadian.
Michael Schade and Russell Braun are without question two of Canada's biggest singing stars, and you can hear them together today on Sunday Afternoon In Concert. Not to imply that they are only known in Canada, of course -- Schade is the Mozart tenor of choice throughout Europe and North America, and Russell Braun is a favourite baritone the world over in the title roles of Figaro, Onegin and Pelleas. (Next month he leads the cast in the Canadian Opera Company's production of Debussy's Pelleas et Melissande.)
So you can imagine with careers as busy as theirs it's no small feat to get them on the same stage at the same time -- but the recital you'll hear today is just that, Schade and Braun together. It combines solo songs and duets, by Schumann, Schubert, Mendelssohn and others. Pianist Carolyn Maule (also Russell Braun's wife) accompanies them in a performance that was recorded as part of the International Vocal Series At Roy Thomson Hall.
If you thought last Sunday's epic broadcast of nine Beethoven Symphonies (9 In 9) was something, well, Lang Lang went one more recently, when he played ten piano concertos to mark the 10th anniversary of the Beijing International Festival, and the 20th anniversary of his first stage appearance.
As the story goes, Lang Lang was two years old when he saw The Cat Concerto on TV, and he was smitten. From there it was a hop skip and a prodigy-only leap to becoming one of the world's best known pianists. Today you'll hear him (from the Vancouver Beethoven fest) performing Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1, C Major, Op. 15 .
Lang Lang was still in short pants when Anne-Sophie Mutter became one of the greatest violin virtuosos of our time -- and she still is, as you can hear in today's broadcast of an outstanding performance of Beethoven's Violin Concerto In D Major, Op. 61.
And just because I know at least one person is scratching their head and thinking, "The Cat Concerto?" "The CAT Concerto?" here you go...
The Sunday edition of Inside The Music continues today with The Jazz Portraits -- a series of profiles of some of Canada's finest jazz musicians, presented by someone who is one herself, pianist Renee Rosnes.
Today Ms. Rosnes speaks with flugelhorn/trumpet player/composer Guido Basso.
If you listen to In The Key Of Charles you know that Gregory's parents were extremely important in his early musical development. So I think it will be a real treat for fans to hear from Gregory's father directly -- because today he drops by Gregory's place to hang out by the piano, play music and tell stories from his life.
Gregory's dad grew up in Trinidad and arrived in Canada in the 1960s to marry the love of his life, Gregory's mom, Pierrette. And then along came the musical kid, Gregory, and the rest is history, still being made.
Father and son will be playing some classic recordings by Johnny Mathis, Mahalia Jackson and Oscar Peterson, there'll be some impromptu family music-making at the piano, and a little steel pan music, too. Consider it a kind of early celebration of Father's Day, and of the musical traditions passed down from parent to child.
Your Choral Concert Bulletin: It's around the world in any number of nations this morning on Choral Concert -- with a programme called One Earth, Many Voices, featuring Edmonton's Pro Coro Canada under the direction of Richard Sparks, performing vocal music from Latin America, the British Isles, America, Asia, Australia and Canada.
Tonight's Canada Live (8 p.m.) opens with a concert from one of the country's main men of blues, Morgan Davis, who's been playing them for about four decades. In that time he's opened up for the likes of Willie Dixon, John Lee Hooker, Albert King, John Hammond, Albert Collins, and Eric Bibb, and has a loyal following here at home. Can. Live recorded him with full band at the Commons Room in Halifax - where he has made his home since 2001.
The middle of the concert sandwich tonight is the country band The Divorcees -- if you follow country you'll have heard the single Red Haired, Red-Blooded Women, from their nicely named debut You Ain't Gettin' My Country. (If you haven't -- check it out on The Divorcee's MySpace Site. It kicks! No doubt a contributing factor in their Country Recording Of The Year ECMA win this year.)
Closing time (for Canada Live that is, The Signal is still to come) is from one of the many fine French Acadian bluegrass players, Ray Legere, who you may know from the international act Bowfire. Legere appears with his band Acoustic Horizon -- pictured here. You can also catch this show online, at Concerts On Demand: Acoustic Horizon.
Jazz musicians don't seem to have done the job the way the poets have when it comes to April. Yes, it's both National Poetry Month and Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM). And while I have heard some publicity for the former, I'm afraid the latter is all but invisible. Although to be fair, that may be because "JAM" is an initiative of the Smithsonian in the U.S., and just hasn't spread to Canada yet.
Yes, they're busy south of the border with all kinds of jazz-awareness-raising initiatives, including issuing a free poster of Ella Fitzgerald. But thanks to Tonic (6 p.m.), JAM is getting some airplay, as it were, in Canada too. The weekend Tonicians celebrate Ms. Fitzgerald, leading lady of the JAM campaign, by featuring her music this evening, as well as the music of other great jazz artists.
Today is International Record Store Day and despite the rather disheartening map in the New York Times the other day, dubbed Going Going But Not Gone Yet (since 2003 80 stores have closed in Manhattan and Brooklyn; the map shows the 70 that remain) I think there is still a sense that those who truly appreciate the experience of going to a record store will not let them die out altogether. (Or fade away.)
Sometimes I think that people who forecast doom and gloom for the small record store are the same crowd that claim one day we won't read actual books, we'll only read via electronic devices. Call me old fashioned (go ahead, I hear you now) but I doubt it. Some people will still crave the social and aesthetic pleasures of the record store, just as many will always prefer to open an actual book.
Over on CBC Radio 3 they've been celebrating the record store for the past few weeks with a contest where R3 listeners voted for their own favourite record store to be named #1 in Canada.
The top 5 were: Back Alley Music - Charlottetown, PEI, Backstreet Records - Saint John, NB, Sound Connection - Edmonton, AB, Taz Records - Halifax, NS and the winner, announced yesterday, -- Meow Records of Prince George, BC.
At some point R3 will broadcast from Meow Records, to celebrate -- and it sure sounds like a store worth celebrating -- as described on R3's blog: "Against stacked odds, Bryndis opened Meow Records in a basement location in downtown Prince George just 16 months ago. Since then, the store has survived a flood, formed an all-girl rollerderby team, counts Chad VanGaalen amongst its die-hard fans, and has quickly become an intregal and active cultural hub in the community."
Meantime, today at record stores across the country you can celebrate the day with live music, special sales, cheap snacks, maybe a few tears, some giddy laughter, who knows -- you'll have to visit your local emporium to find out.
Today on Inside The Music it's part three of the Concerto According To Pinchas, featuring the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, as seen/heard through the eyes/ears of Pinchas Zukerman, music director of the National Arts Centre Orchestra, in conversation with Studio Sparks (12 p.m.) host Eric Friesen.
And a little b.g. on this concerto -- it was composed in 1878, roughly the same time he also wrote Onegin and the Fourth Symphony. It was written with violinist Yosif Kotek in mind -- in less than a month -- and dedicated to the Hungarian violinist Leopold Auer, though apparently Auer declared the concerto unplayable at first. But that was temporary, later he championed the work. (Still, couldn't have been so nice for Tchaikovsky at first blush...)
And before I forget...a number of people have asked if it's possible to purchase this ten-part series, and indeed it is, at the CBC shop.
One final note -- don't forget that the Saturday edition of Inside The Music is on the air at noon in Ontario, Quebec, Central, Mountain and Pacific; 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the Maritimes and 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in Nfld.
Satyagraha is Philip Glass's 1980 opera about Mahatma Gandhi's formative experiences in South Africa. This month it was performed for the first time at the Metropolitan Opera, and today it's broadcast on CBC's Saturday Afternoon At The Opera. (Very exciting for Philip Glass fans -- and for those curious about his work as an opera composer.)
Satyagraha is part of a trilogy Glass (pictured here) wrote based on visionary historical figures (along with his works Einstein On The Beach and Akhnaten).
The production stars tenor Richard Croft, and is conducted by Dante Anzolini -- it's an English National Opera/Met co-production.
The word "Satyagraha" is Sanskrit for the endeavor or struggle for truth, and the opera is in fact sung in Sanskrit, the text from the Bhagavad Gita.
Cast & character details, plot synopsis and info. on Philip Glass to follow, courtesy of The Met.
Stuart remembers two late, great Canadian musicians on the Vinyl Café today -- Jeff Healey and Willie P. Bennett. As you may know, there are also two upcoming public tributes to Jeff Healey, which you can get more information about here.
The whole show is about music this week, as Stuart plays a recording of a brand new Danny Michel song: it was recorded on tour and it is one of the first times Danny ever played the song. He talks about Danny's new album, why he loves it, and why everyone should carry a mechanical monkey with them at all times. (And there I thought it was a rubber chicken...)
Here's what's up Saturday night on The Signal (10 p.m.) --- Pat spins the new Woodhands recording, and then offers up some copies of the CD as part of the weekly Loot-Bag giveaway.
I'm glad it's a good prize. Just the other week I bought some cracker jack (I was taking myself out to the ball-game), first time in years (the cracker jack, that is, go to ball-games all the time). Much to my dismay, not only were there hardly any peanuts, the prize was an incredibly lame joke on a sticker that had no adhesive! Another tradition dishonoured. But not on The Signal, Pat only gives away good stuff.
And when he's not giving away good stuff, he's playing it -- tune in for a concert as well tonight with Vancouver’s Fond Of Tigers, (pictured here) and some sounds from Montreal’s Inuit spoken-word artist Taqralik Partridge.
You can hear the premier of a new piece performed by pianist Marilyn Lerner in concert with Halifax’s Upstream Ensemble this evening on The Signal (10 p.m.).
Also, Pat explores the musical career one of the most eclectic (and written about) composers today - Osvaldo Golijov.
Fans of the weekend Signal and of Pat Carrabré will also be interested to know, if you don't already, that Pat has both a Signal Blog and his own Myspace site, T Patrick Carrabré -- at the latter you can hear some of his music.
But the weekend edition of the show has a MySpace site too -- The Signal With Pat Carrabré Myspace. So go forth and enjoy all things weekend Signal...but don't forget about the radio broadcast -- particularly with both the Lerner premiere and the Golijov feature tonight...
There are three concerts on tonight's Canada Live (8 p.m.), and they all come from Edmonton, where you can "live all year!" At least, according to Edmonton.com Tourism. And I'm glad to hear it, because I imagine Edmontonians would be very put out if they had to vacate the city for certain seasons.
First is a concert from the founding member of Edmonton alt-country group Old Reliable, Shuyler Jansen. Jansen's latest solo recording is called Today's Remains. I like what I've heard of it, and so do a couple of reviewers -- Saved By Vinyl calls it "an auspicious follow-up to Shuyler’s country-electro-folk Hobotron (2004) and Old Reliable’s rocker The Burning Truth (2005)," and Exclaim says "Jansen’s astute and seasoned sound props up the entire album, specifically through the wall-of-sound effect that’s created by repetitive harmonies and proud instrumentals."
And then there's the other songwriter from Old Reliable, Mark Davis -- you can hear an intimate concert from Davis, recorded at The Blue Chair Cafe, where he was joined by drummer Michael Silverman and guitarist Robin Hunter.
And Robin Hunter provides the next link in the chain, since the final concert features his current project. He's long been a part of the Edmonton scene with The Imagineers, but these days he works as Robin Hunter And The Six Foot Bullies, and you can hear them tonight on Can. Live.
This evening's Tonic highlights include vintage soul from The O'Jays, latin rhythms from Poncho Sanchez, vocals from Canadians Michael Kaeshammer, Dione Taylor and Melody Diachun, and jazz from drummer Jimmy Cobb.
And as per usual there is a live set, tonight featuring the latin jazz ensemble Saudade, with the Quebec Jazz Orchestra, an ensemble directed by trombonist Jacques Bourget. It's taken from an "archival" show, recorded live in Montreal in October, 1998.
Did you know that the theme for this year's Eurovision is "the confluence of sound?” And there you thought it was about spectacle and, ahem, a little cheese, shame on you. Anyway, things are starting to really heat up as we move closer to the semi-finals on May 20 and 22, the finals in Belgrade on May 24th.
Naturally this means contoversy is needed, because what is Eurovision without a little pre-game conflict? This week it was provided in the form of French singer Sebastien Tellier, whose song Divine is sung in English. Is this an insult to French culture, the world's media asks?
"Singing in English doesn't mean that 'the baguette won't taste as good,'" says Tellier, defending himself.
But here's something that the press seems to be overlooking, something that's tearing me apart. How is it that my own favourite contenders, the Euroband, were chosen to represent Iceland singing an English language version of This Is My Life? Why are the keepers of Icelandic culture accepting this travesty, particularly when the original is so much better?
I give you back to back audio and visual proof.
The brilliant original, in Icelandic, Fullkomið líf:
Here's a heads up about some special programming coming up, beginning Sunday on Radio 2's The Signal (10 p.m.). It's a week-long celebration of the work of renowned Canadian composer, writer, educator, and musical philosopher, R. Murray Schafer.
A large portion of each night's program will be dedicated to Schafer's music, including highlights from concerts across the country performed in honour of Schafer's 75th birthday. You'll also hear interview clips with the composer, as well as Eitan Cornfield's complete documentary from the Canadian Composers Portraits Series, and music from other artists who have been influenced by Schafer's work.
The opening of Schumann's A Minor Piano Concerto is a barn burner. One writer says, " the curtain does not rise, it is torn open. The piano veritably pounces on the listener."
You can hear for yourself if this is an apt description when Studio Sparks (12 p.m.) features the entire work on today's show. Just to whet your appetite, here is an excerpt, beautiful to both hear and watch, performed by Annie Fischer.
It wasn't entirely a cheap ploy though, since the music of Willie Nelson will indeed be played tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.), but re-imagined by what the Signalites describe as the "creatively inebriated sound of Canadian band The Reveries."
Tonight you can also hear a concert that featured the world premiere performance of The Seven Last Words by composer Paul Frehner. It's based on the seven last phrases uttered by Jesus Christ before his death, exploring themes like forgiveness, love, suffering and humanity. (Not unlike, come to think of it, some of the songs of Willie Nelson.) Frehner's work features singer Michael Maniaci with the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir, conducted by Ivars Taurins.
And because you're probably still curious, here's more info on The Revieries-Willie Nelson connection, at Rat Drifting.
"Kenny Burrell, that's the sound I'm looking for." This quote has been attributed to Jimi Hendrix, and I have no reason to dispute it. And interesting to consider, for Hendrix fans.
Anyway, Kenny Burrell is a monster guitar player, although as far as I know, also a nice man. (Just so you don't take monster the wrong way.) And tonight on Tonic (6 p.m.) you can hear a live set from the 75th birthday bash held for Burrell, recorded live at Yoshi's in Oakland, California two years ago.
Right here you can hear him with Bill Evans and a pretty zippy little version of Take The A Train.
"Catholics don't argue about abortion or the death penalty nearly as much as they argue about what music is sung (or not sung, or used to be sung) at their local Sunday Mass."
So begins an article in the Washington Post timed to coincide with the current visit by the Pope to the U.S. and the mass this morning at Washington's Nationals Park. It's a window into some of the musical infighting that has gone on for years in the Catholic Church -- pithily described as "a sort of Stones-vs.-Beatles debate about what the classics really are," quoting books like Why Catholics Can't Sing.
During the recent Beethoven festival you may have listened to some of the CBC host anecdotes about their own connections to Beethoven. But one anecdote, by Paul Kennedy, host of Ideas, also includes a musical performance, a jazz interpretation of the slow movement from Beethoven's 7th.
The other day one of my colleagues mentioned that this had gone up on the website towards the end of the festival, so you might not have had a chance to hear the arrangement, by Del Dako.
Del Dako is a Canadian jazz musician of longstanding, you may know him as a sax player, but following a terrible accident that made it difficult for him to play sax he took up the vibes, which you can hear in this recording.
So do have a listen. It's quite charming, and Paul Kennedy does a nice set up, as you would expect him to do! You'll find the music and the story at the top of the Beethoven Anecdotes page.
Trumpeter Chris Botti is a pops concert favourite, and with his latest recording, Italia, (he's American but spent a few childhood years in Italy) he says he's working in an area of music he calls "the other kind of jazz."
By that he means conceptual recordings a la Miles Davis' Sketches Of Spain (not setting the bar too high or anything!) and a musical approach that draws on classical and jazz. And you can hear him talking about his music today, when he joins Eric Friesen on Studio Sparks (12:00).
For over twenty years (!) the Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band (now usually just called The Flying Bulgars) have been pushing the boundaries of klezmer music, and as a result is right up there with the shortlist of the world's innovative klezmer based bands. Or as they put it, they've "worked consistently to develop a musical language that is specific to its place and time, rooted squarely in a folk tradition while embracing the possibilities of the present."
Thursday night on Canada Live (8 p.m.) you can hear the Flying Bulgars with a special guest -- Sal Ferreras, well-known percussionist (as well as music educator) based on the west coast.
And the second concert of the show this evening is from Dhafer Youssef, Tunisian-born, Vienna-based singer and oud player. The music is rooted in the mystical Sufi tradition but draws from different influences including jazz, electronica, and rock. In other words -- this is not traditional oud music. A recent concert review in Straight No Chaser described a Dhafter Youssef concert as "the kind of gig you watched and prayed would never end, charged with such magic that you knew you would be telling people about it for years to come."
Can't get much higher commendation for a live show than that! The concert you'll hear on Can. Live was recorded with a quartet called the Divine Shadows Strings, recorded at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival.
That's apparently what Andrés Segovia once said -- and certainly in his hands it was. It's a concept of the instrument that I suspect some of the performers on Wednesday evening's Canada Live (8 p.m.) aspire to, in a concert that is billed as a "celebration of the guitar," coming to you from Saskatoon.
Bob Evans hosts the evening, bringing together Regina jazzman Kris Craig, Saskatoon Latin guitarist Rodolfo Pino-Robles and young Blues/R & B guitarist Tim Vaughn, as well as a non-Saskatchewaner, Vancouver's Don Alder, the 2007 International Fingerstyle Champion.
Now Bob Evans is no slouch in that department himself, in 2003, Bob won the prestigious National Fingerpicking Champion title in Winfield, Kansas, becoming the second Canadian to have won the title in the 25 years of the competition, the other being the great Don Ross. So it's guys and their guitars tonight -- in the best possible sense.
Don't know what it is? You can find out today on Tonic (6 p.m.), when Katie plays some, from the Budos Band. But not just retro-funk, she also plays New Orleans gris-gris music, courtesy of Dr. John. (I wonder if anyone has tried a hybrid, retro-funk gris gris?)
And speaking of Dr. John, who is always a marvel to behold and hear, here he is. As one person commented after listening to this: "Dr John truly knows how to lay down that good gris gris chatter ... barks with the best of 'em."
I remember once, years ago, after a fruitless shopping trip in one of those department store bargain basements, walking out in a daze of sensory overload. About half an hour later I realized I'd left a fairly valuable flute sitting in one of those bins, nestled down in piles of cheap socks.
Short of putting the treadmill up to the highest speed there are few faster ways to accelerate your heart-rate than leaving your most valued possession in a public place. The good news ending is that after racing back -- there it was, right by the toe socks. (I told you it was years ago.)
So I felt for the TSO violinist who lost his violin the other week, in a much publicized incident involving a dog walker seeing the violin case in the stacks of goods being wheeled around by a street person.
But then this week a man in England leaves a violin on a commuter train -- a violin that's worth 180,000 pounds! What's going on, is everyone recovering from going shopping? If you happen to find it you should know there's a 10,000 pound reward going. And in this case it is to be hoped that not only is it found, there are no ethical questions regarding the distribution of the reward.
If you missed that part of the lost Canadian violin story, here is the nutshell. The woman on the street was convinced to part with the violin for a sum of $35 and a ring, though the reward being offered was much larger. It's sparked quite an ongoing debate -- the latest an interesting column by Joe Fiorito in today's Toronto Star: Word On The Street Split Over Reward For Lost Violin.
"May you always do for others, and let others do for you, may you build a ladder to the stars, and climb on every rung."
Does this sound like the stuff of a book aimed at kids to you? Or did you instantly think, ah yes, Dylan's Forever Young. Both would be right. Yep, Bob Dylan is coming out with a kids' book next fall, or, more accurately, an illustrated book using the song Forever Young as its premise. You can read the full story at The Guardian.
(And yes, that's Dylan in Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid...short of an image of him singing to a rapt circle of small children it was the best I could come up with...)
Still time to weigh in as Music & Company (6 a.m.) continues this week's Cage Match, with Tom pitting piano for the left hand by Saint-Saens up against music for the right by Alkan.
You can vote at the Cage, or here -- and should you be so moved, comment on why you prefer one or the other.
Yesterday Mike in Calgary said: "I prefer the left hand...At first I thought it might be because of the possibility that the right brain is more intuitive. However, when I finished listening to the right hand piece I saw that the right hand was just as intuitive in its interpretation of the piece. I have just come to the conclusion that I prefer the left hand piece as music."
So if it's not a question of which is more intuitive -- left handed piano music or right hand -- which is it? Maybe Tom has some theories...
Back to back Signal posts, for you night owls. Wednesday night on The Signal (10 p.m.) a feature piece from Jean Derome and Les Dangereux Zhomes + 7, recorded at La Sala Rossa in Montreal.
It's music that has aspects of rock, jazz, funk (I almost wrote "fun," not funk, and that too is true) folk and a whole swathe of other sounds -- Derome is famed for, as his own website accurately puts it, "mixing together a vast range of elements and re-expressing them in an eclectic language that is completely contemporary."
The concert includes Traquenards, a world premiere piece to mark the 25th anniversary of the concert’s organizer, Traquen’Art. The work was, in Derome’s own words, “a kind of check-up on the state of things in today’s creative musics.”
Spring Heel Jack shows up in literature, in songs, sometimes as a bad guy, sometimes as a kind of superhero. It's believed (by some, anyway) that he was based on a real life character in Victorian England, a guy who jumped over walls and onto rooftops, generally while laughing in the faces of those in pursuit.
What, you may be asking, has this to do with music? Spring Heel Jack is also the name of Ashley Wales and John Coxton's band, who play jazz/ambient/electronica. Consequently their music has been covered by sources as diverse as All About Jazz and Pitchfork. And you can hear them tonight when Laurie plays some music from their new recording on The Signal (10 p.m.).
The second part of the show is devoted to more new music premieres recorded live at Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto on Friday. You'll hear the Canadian premiere of works by Juan Trigos and So Jeong Ahn, performed by the New Music Concerts Ensemble under the direction of Robert Aitken. And yes, So Jeong Ahn's piece is the very one previously blogged about in Sounds Of The (Sub)way.
Fredric Gary Comeau (not to be confused with zydeco musician Gary Comeau) is an Acadian poet and songwriter who was born in a coastal village on Nepisiguit Bay. Now he lives in Montreal, but seems to spend a lot of time travelling, if songs on his recording Hungry Ghosts are any indication -- they're kind of travelogues, stories from the road, the hotel room, from Mexico to Turkey to Texas.
Tonight on Canada Live (8 p.m.) you can hear him with the last show on a recent tour with full band, from at the Studio-Theatre at Place des Arts, and this concert is also available online, at Concerts On Demand: Fredric Gary Comeau.
After that the show continues to broadcast music CBC R2 recorded in Montreal, with saxophonist Yannick Rieu. Rieu, since we're talking about performer's origins, grew up in the Gaspé and Saguenay regions of Quebec, and like Comeau he's a traveller. He studied at Le Conservatoire de Rennes (France), and since becoming an established jazz musician has toured all over Europe.
Tonight's show is called Spectrum, a programme featuring some great Quebec players including Michel Donato (bass), Toni Albino (drums) and Daniel Thouin (keyboards). It's a show that was conceived for the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal, which is where it was recorded --they describe it as a "musical prism" into Rieu's work.
Tonic (6 p.m.) salutes the unforgettable Billie Holiday this evening, with covers done by DK Ibomeka and Ranee Lee, and we salute her here on the blog as well.
Did you know that April, as well as being the cruelest month and National Poetry month, is also Jazz Appreciation month in the U.S.? (Designated as such by the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, apparently in part because many significant jazz musicians were born in April. Count back nine months, summertime, and the living is easy.)
Anyway, NPR has a nice set of small tributes to jazz musicians as a result, including one to Billie Holiday called A Lady Day Primer.
And here she is with an amazing lineup including Roy Eldridge, Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster and many others, with Fine And Mellow, from 1957.
Jeff Healey's final blues/rock album is released posthumously today, in both Canada and the U.S., on the Canadian label Stony Plain records. It's called Mess Of Blues, and it was recorded late last year, with the musicians who regularly accompanied him at Jeff Healey’s Roadhouse in Toronto. (Some of it was actually recorded at the club.)
Healey, who once called his group as “the best damned bar band in Canada,” said that the tunes on this recording were for the most part tunes that "got the best response" when they played them live.
The recording precedes two tributes that will be held for the late Mr. Healey, on May 3 and 4th -- performers include Randy Bachman, Colin James, David Wilcox and Alannah Myles -- for more details, go to CBC News.
Maybe it's a case of the right hand knows what the left hand is doing but doesn't really care...since one-handed piano music is quite sufficient on its own, thank you very much.
Today on Music & Company (6 a.m.) in the Cage Match, Tom sets piano for the left hand by Saint-Saens up against music for the right by Alkan.
As per usual, Tom will play examples today and tomorrow on the show, with results of your vote announced on Friday. You can vote at the Cage, or here -- and should you be so moved, comment on why you prefer one or the other. (I know why I prefer right hand, but sadly that has more to do with my almost non-existent keyboard skills than the work of either composer.)
All three are very creative musicians, who, coincidentally, I've been listening to as of late -- heard Michael Kaeshammer being interviewed on one of our local shows on the weekend playing live, he was excellent. I think at one point on the blog I suggested his new vocal direction was along the crooner line, but I'd like to retract -- just good singing. So I give MK's photo top billing today as a minor making of amends. (Not that there is anything wrong with being a crooner per se, but you know, there could have been a certain pejorative tone that crept in...)
Also from the Amazing Coincidences On The Podcast department -- this year's National Jazz Awards were co-hosted by Kaeshammer and Evans. What can it mean? Don't answer that question.
From the Glenn Gould Studio on The Signal (10 p.m.) tonight -- Postludio a rovescio, the work by Chris Paul Harman that won this year’s Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music. Also, new works from Alice Ho and Rodney Sharman. They’re performed by New Music Concerts, the long running new music organization (founded in 1971 by flutist and composer Robert Aitken and composer Norma Beecroft).
This concert took place on Friday, and also features the work by So Jeong Ahn that I wrote about last week in a post called Sounds Of The (Sub)way, a piece that got quite a bit of media attention in my hometown, called Sub, using samples from the Toronto underground. That piece can also be heard on The Signal this week -- it's scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday now, not Thursday as previously advertised.
Note: Also on tonight's programme: music from the Canadian duo Ghost Bees, from their brand new CD Tasseomancy. You know, tasseomancy, originating in the Middle Ages and stemming from ceroscopy and molybdomancy? No? See if your local library has The Encyclopedia of Occultism & Parapsychology, Fifth Edition, Vol. 2 edited by J. Gordon Melton, for more info.
Tiller's Folly is an acoustic roots band that likes to take incidents in and characters from Canadian history as inspiration for their songs -- from battles and bootleggers to fur traders and the Gold Rush. (Also matters like unrequited love, which perhaps comes from a more contemporary perspective.) You can hear them tonight on Canada Live (8 p.m.), from a recording CBC R2 did of their performance at Vancouver CelticFest 2008.
Then it's Fera, twin sisters Courtney and Stephanie Fera, (bit of a Canadian twin thing, don't you think? Tegan and Sara, Courtney and Stephanie...), who are emerging as one of Vancouver's leading alt country rock bands. This concert comes to you from a club date the sisters did in Vancouver.
Katie has jazz from pianist Gene Harris, saxophonist Scott Hamilton and drummer Carl Allen tonight on Tonic (6 p.m.), plus what has been described as "a vintage set from 1999 from saxophonist Mike Murley." Seems funny to think of 1999 as vintage, but given how active Murley continues to be on the scene it's not a bad way to describe it!
Some of the other highlights on this evening's show include music from the Bernard Primeau Jazz Ensemble, Alberta’s Tanga, and Canadian vocalist Melissa Stylianou.
Canadian, yes, but making a name for herself Stateside, as they used to say. Here she is in performance at the club, Jazz Standard, in New York City.
Ah, you knew it was just a matter of time. Everyone wants to be a conductor, after all. Or if not everyone, enough of us that Swiss banking giant UBS is backing a "guitar hero" sort of game, "Virtual Maestro."
You too can lead a virtual incarnation of an orchestra, ( the UBS Verbier Festival Chamber Orch) wielding the Wii like a baton, and have them take the tempos you've secretly (or not so secretly) always felt were "correct." At least, with the designated pieces -- among them Rossini's William Tell Overture, (which you will naturally slow down to a crawl, who couldn't resist that temptation) and parts of Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique.
So far the game is played in concert hall lobbies using a 42 inch plasma screen -- no home version -- but that's probably only a matter of time as well.
Back in 1982 Trevor Pinnock released an acclaimed recording of the Brandenburg Concertos, what some feel is the definitive version. In 2007, at the age of 60, he did it again, and today you can hear some of the new recording on Studio Sparks (12 p.m.).
It must be said (well not must , but it could be said) that the newer recording received mixed reviews. Here's one interesting one from Ionarts, a blog about "something other than politics in Washington D.C." Of course, if you know the earlier recording, you can decide for yourself.
P.S. If you are squinting at that picture and wondering why Mr. Pinnock is holding what appears to be a suit of armour, that's because the shot was taken after a dress rehearsal of Handel's Rinaldo, at the Sydney Opera House a few years back.
P.P.S. Note the self restraint involved in not calling this post "Trevor Pinnock, Bach Again."
Funny how Beethoven turns up everywhere -- all day long on Radio 2 yesterday, and then in the Jays vs. Texas Rangers game as well (the Rangers like to use the 5th to try and scare their opposition -- didn't work, we swept them) and again in an old biopic I happened to watch last night about George Gershwin (pictured here), Rhapsody In Blue.
During scenes featuring Gershwin's early dilemmas about which compositional direction he was going to take (jazz or classical) bits of Beethoven were right in there in the soundtrack, symbolizing Gershwin's desire to write in the classical tradition (and the desire of some of his advisors). Well, we all know how that turned out.
Tonight is the final night of The Signal’s East Coast weekend. They'll be broadcasting a concert with the eclectic violinist Mark Fewer and the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, performing Edgar Meyer’s Violin Concerto. Also, some skronk from the Benghazi Saxophone Quartet (plus brand new music from Live Animal).
It is possible you are scratching your head and saying skronk? Say what? If so, fear not, you are in plenty of equally unsure company. In terms of music it's a not widely used way of describing a sound that's well, skronky. It's a term some attribute to music critic Robert Christgau.
Of course it means other things as well, as Skronker will tell you.
Routes Montreal is a live CBC music series promoting local and national song-writing talent -- based, not surprisingly, in Montreal. Tonight on Canada Live (8 p.m.) you can hear three concerts from the series, starting with three singer-songwriters, Rob Lutes, Annabelle Chvostek and Michael Jerome Browne.
A wee Tonic (6 p.m.) bulletin -- tonight on the show you can hear music by Ella Fitzgerald, Randy Napoleon and Sillan & Young. Plus some Cuban-influenced music from Hilario Duran and Alexis Baro, and music from Juno award winning bass player, Brandi Disterheft.
Speaking of, in the wake of both Junos and National Jazz Awards, some are suggesting that the west has the jazz scene won. For example this article in the Vancouver Sun, B.C. Jazz Hits The Right Note says:
"Even the winners of this year's jazz Junos (Chris Tarry, in New York, and Brandi Disterheft, in New York and Toronto) are transplanted Vancouverites. But the National Jazz Awards, presented Tuesday, suggest B.C. is becoming a hotbed of cool."
Sometimes we need a full-on plunge into whatever we crave, and today, for lovers of Beethoven's symphonies, is one such occasion.
Starting at 9 a.m. (9:30 N.T.) you can hear all nine symphonies presented over nine glorious hours, played by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, with commentary by Bramwell Tovey, conductor of the VSO, in conversation with CBC R2 host Bill Richardson. It's soul-stirring music (for hours and blissful hours).
There's a special day of programming ahead on Radio 2 today, with the Beethoven 9 In 9, Beethoven's 9 symphonies presented in order, starting at 9 a.m. Because of that the following shows will be pre-empted today: In The Key Of Charles, Inside The Music, Sunday Afternoon In Concert and Skylarking.
However, listeners looking for In The Key Of Charles please take note -- you can hear the show on Radio 1, where it's broadcast Sundays at 9 p.m. (10 p.m. AT; 10:30 p.m. NT) Today Gregory digs through the loose change for some unique musical coins, with music about money from The Four Aces, Radiohead, Susie Arioli, Zero Mostel, Macy Gray, Offenbach, Karen Young, Shirley Bassey, Emilie-Claire Barlow, Pink Floyd and others.
There is also a Radio 1 broadcast of Inside The Music -- at 8 p.m. you can hear Bill Richardson in conversation with Alex Ross, New Yorker critic and author of The Rest is Noise -- selected by the New York Times as one of the 10 best books of 2007. (So maybe Ross isn't tossing around the cash with quite the abandon of the person in the photo, but the book has certainly had huge impact on the music-book reading public.)
Today is the culmination of the Beethoven Festival, presented by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in conjunction with CBC Radio 2, Beethoven 9 In 9 -- all nine symphonies, starting at 9 a.m. But before that at 8 o'clock, Choral Concert provides a lovely start to the day with a Beethoven Choralfest this Sunday morning.
Howard Dyck explores Beethoven's choral legacy, from his early Mass In C Major and other occasional works for chorus, to the towering Missa Solemnis and Choral Fantasy that led the way to the monumental Choral Symphony.
The Signal (10 p.m.) is featuring music from the east coast this weekend, with a recording of Buck 65 performing live, 24 frames a second, at the Atlantic Film Festival. Also, the weekend Signal Loot Bag tradition continues with an "East Coast gift bag" give-away. I hear it has lobster paté and scenic drives. You have to play to win though, and you have to listen to play. (Boy, did that ever sound like a cheesy slogan, but hopefully you know what I mean.)
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 (8 p.m.) tonight.
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."
Tonic (6 p.m.) is brought to you by the letter 'Q' (I wonder if Jian Ghomeshi knows this?) today, with music by Quincy Jones, Queen Latifah and Ike Quebec. Also, Poncho Sanchez plays Bodacious Q from his Ultimate Dance Party recording.
But then it's an ABC -- as Tim puts the spotlight on CBC Galaxie Rising Star Award winner Chris Andrew and some great B3 organ. (Get it? Andrew, B3, Chris? What, you think that's a stretch?) Anyway, Chris Andrew is an Edmonton-based pianist, composer and arranger, and if you'd like more info on his Galaxie honour, go to Chronograph Records.
Yes, it's difficult for some of us not to start channeling Kenny Rogers when the words "The Gambler" are mentioned. But today it's The Gambler, Prokofiev style, from The Met, conducted by Valery Gergiev, starring Olga Guryakova as Polina, and Vladimir Galouzine as Alexei, broadcast, of course on SATO.
Gambling is as common as dirt in operas (sorry, the country influence still at work) with many scenes involving cards games, or lives forever changed at the gaming table. Examples include Puccini's La Fanciulla del West, Verdi's La Traviata, Massenet's Manon and The Queen Of Spades by Tchaikovsky.
And in related trivia, according to the New Grove Dictionary of Opera, gambling was a major component of funding for opera productions throughout the 18th and early 19th centuries.
Prokofiev's opera is an adaptation of a novella by Fyodor Dostoevsky, who you may know was a chronic gambler himself. And The Gambler is something of a morality tale, so it could be viewed as a warning -- turn off the Poker Network, and turn on SATO!
For more info on the characters, cast and the plot synopsis thoughtfully provided by The Met, please keep on reading.
That's it, I'm out. (After all, you got to know when to fold 'em.)
The series features conversations between Pinchas Zukerman, internationally-acclaimed violinist and music director of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, and Eric Friesen, host of Studio Sparks.
And according to Pinchas, there is just one god of violin playing and his name is Jascha Heifetz. Today you can hear Zukerman explain how Heifetz made two works by Bruch (the Scottish Fantasy and Concerto No. 1) - his own.
The Vinyl Cafe comes from Winkler, Manitoba this morning, with musical guests Dala and Bob King.
And Stuart tells the story of how Stephanie’s boyfriend Tommy and his family become obsessed with an old lottery ticket Tommy’s grandfather left behind – unscratched – when he died.
The question they ask is should they scratch it and perhaps win, thus getting to hold up the giant cheque with stunned glassy eyes and fixed smiles, or leave it unscratched, forever a focus for hopes and dreams? Talk about potential pleasure deferred, not to mention self-discipline! Of course, I haven't heard how it turns out yet.
Tim Ries might be known to the wider public because of a couple of tours he's done with the Rolling Stones, (he's also collaborated with people like Donald Fagen, Paul Simon, Sheryl Crow, Lyle Lovett, Stevie Wonder...) but he's first and foremost a jazz player.
He spent a year in Canada as Visiting Professor with the University of Toronto Jazz Programme, and during the IAJE conference he played The Rex with some excellent Canadian jazz musicians, including pianist David Virelles, as well as some of his students from U of T. What I've heard online at Tim Ries Project feels very live, high energy, and Ries (and Vireilles) are hot! You can hear this concert tonight on Canada Live (8 p.m.).
But first on the show, the Latin music of singer-songwriter Eliana Cuevas (pictured here) which was a CD release party at the Glenn Gould Studio featuring music from her latest, Vidas. The concert features Eliana's quintet joined by a string quintet -- and is also online at Concerts On Demand: Eliane Cuevas. Venezuelan-Canadian Cuevas is an up and comer who will be touring Canada in 2008, so keep your eyes and ears out for her.
Who doesn't need it? We need it, Soul Power, we need some, come on and get some...
Ah, the marvels of James Brown, you can probably hear him in your head just reading the above paraphrase of the lyrics, if you know the song, Soul Power. And if not, one window into the Godfather of Soul is presented this eve on Tonic (6 p.m.), with a "Jungle Funk Remix" of the song.
I'm telling you, ya gotta get down down down.
OK, no longer channeling Soul Power, and moving on to some other highlights on the show: you can also hear music from the trio of pianist Lorraine Desmarais and from the quintet of guitarist Jeremy Hepner, as well as a set of tunes from platinum-selling and Grammy Award-winning Jill Scott, recorded live in Paris.
Many of us are tuned in to the sound of our city or town or bucolic setting -- the rhythms and melodies you hear in nature and in things man made. That's part of why I find the Sea Organ (an organ using the action of sea waves to create sound) so appealing, and also why I'd like to mention a new composition that's premiering tonight at the Glenn Gould Studio called Sub, as part of a concert featuring a number of Canadian composers, presented by New Music Concerts.
It's by So Jeong Ahn, and while it isn't environmental art, the way the Sea Organ is, it is another variant on the theme. In this case it's music inspired by the sounds of the subway -- and includes samples of things like the squeak of escalator, subway door chimes, the wind around the station door, as well as more conventional instrumentation.
The composer told cbc.ca news that to her the subway is "a kind of jewelry box that contains a variety of sounds." She also describes her piece as "the music of communications between the Toronto subway and my own musical language." Love it. (Timely too, given the possibilities of a transit strike in Toronto, but that is mere coincidence). You can hear this composition yourself next week on The Signal (10 p.m.) -- it's scheduled for broadcast on Thursday.
If you're wondering what's happening on The Signal (10 p.m.) a little sooner though, tonight there is a concert broadcast with Halifax singer Jill Barber and Symphony Nova Scotia.
"Are you a genuine sensation? Can you command a standing ovation? Have you ever wanted to try?"
So reads the lead in to a cattle call for open auditions for North America’s Largest "Seniors’ Entertainment Showcase." These auditions will decide who will perform in the 20th Anniversary of the massively popular Seniors Jubilee, which takes place at Roy Thomson Hall in August. The parameters of what is "senior" are more flexible than most -- you just have to be over fifty. (As Larry Leblanc says in The Leblanc Newsletter, "Say, isn't Tom Cochrane 55 on May 14th?)
But what is interesting about this (other than the fact that it just shows to go that it isn't just young things who hunger for an Idol-type moment) is that this annual event is so popular that it prompted the creation of an organization, The Canadian Organization Of Senior Artists And Performers, who have the snappy slogan, "talent is ageless."
Absolutely. And this provides the perfect reason to post the following video by The Zimmers, which "went viral" when it first came out -- performing My Generation.
The Zimmers, who take their name from a brand of walkers, were first featured in a BBC documentary about the isolation faced by many older people. But though The Zimmers doing The Who's anthem might have been intended to make a statement both poignant and funny, it also is oddly inspirational.
Much high-wattage star power today on Studio Sparks (12 p.m.), as they finish two weeks of impressive broadcasting of the Beethoven Festival.
Don't forget though that on Sunday on Radio 2 you can hear the nine Beethoven symphonies, back to back to back. Kind of like coast to coast to coast, (times three), and thus very Canadian.
But to the task at hand, which is no chore, no it's a pleasure to write that today you can hear pianist Lang Lang with the VSO under conductor Bramwell Tovey, with Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1.
And you can also hear violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter as both soloist with (what some consider her signature piece) Beethoven's Violin Concerto, and as Eric's guest on the show, talking about her long association with this music.
If you want to listen to the Beethoven concerts online you can do that at Concerts On Demand (where you can also explore other concerts in many genres of music), or corralled in one spot at Beethoven Concerts.
In case you are wondering, Maestro Tovey is holding a score embossed with the word --can you guess?!? -- Beethoven.
Quatuor Molinari (who say that their mandate is to "perform works from the 20th and 21st centuries repertoire for string quartet, to commission new works and to initiate discussions between musicians, artists and the public") can be heard this evening on The Signal (10 p.m.), playing the music of the great Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu.
Laurie will also present a performance of Alfred Schnittke'sString Quartet Number 2 this evening, a work that's based on an ancient Russian sacred song -- this performance was recorded at McGill University in Montreal.
Your double bill on Canada Live (8 p.m.) tonight features a concert that took place during the Festival Du Voyageur in Winnipeg, with Lucie Idlout, Florent Vollant, and drummer Dean Smith. The idea behind this concert was to pair visiting Quebecois musicians with Manitoban, and the concerts, organized by CBC, took place in Winnipeg's studio 41 in front of a live audience. (Not exactly sure how Idlout figures into the premise, as she is based in Nunavut I believe, but she's a very interesting performer, so shan't quibble.)
The second concert is a popular one -- the Thunder Bay Symphony with Rita Chiarelli (pictured here). When it's been broadcast in the past the audience response has been great -- as one listener/blog commenter known as "Jives" said:
"I was at this show in Thunder Bay and, although hearing it again on the airwaves is amazing, you can't imagine the power and energy that was making the hall sizzle for the entire evening...My palms are rubbed smooth as an apple in anticipation! I strongly urge everyone to listen to this broadcast!!!!!"
And I didn't add a single exclamation point myself, not one.
Tonight the live set on Tonic (6 p.m.) is from the Keith Jarrett Trio, performing in Juan-les-Pins, France in July, 2002. Jarrett, (who appears not to have an official website, btw) is notoriously particular about how audiences and stage crew should themselves perform (or not) during his concerts, over matters including photos, sound, stage lights etc. etc. It's an attitude which was recently written about following a concert in San Francisco, by reviewer Jim Harrington.
"The three musicians then came into view and kicked things off with, not a song, but a complaint. It seemed that the stage lights were too bright for the band leader. Then the lights were too dim. That led to a fairly lengthy monologue about one memorable concert where the stage lighting was really bad. (I'll spare you the details since the rant was exactly as interesting as it sounds.)"
Some view him as unnecessarily obsessive, others as a perfectionist, still others as simply knowing what he needs to play music well. Regardless, some of Jarrett's best performances are live, as anyone who has ever listened to the Köln concerts knows. And in fact the above review, which featured the trio, went on to say:
"I had a hard time recalling any instance when I'd seen three players perform so naturally together. Their playing is so exceptionally intuitive, even by jazz standards , to the point where one might charge them with being telepathic."
p.s. Guess the audience for the concert Jarrett played in Venice a couple of years ago was on best behavior, since clearly Jarrett is showing his appreciation of his fans in this photo!
...just happens to be the name of this year's Pop Conference in Seattle, an event that is increasingly important to those who like to consider and debate how we view popular music.
It begins today, and among the journo/blogger types attending who will write about it on their blogs are Howard Mandel at Jazz Beyond Jazz,, Carl Wilson at Zoilus, Adam at Random Thoughts Escaping and no doubt many others.
The annual Pop Conference is an offshoot of the Experience Music Project, dedicated to "the exploration of creativity and innovation in popular music," and the EMP looks like one great reason to visit Seattle, aside from the coffee. In many ways it is about music education at all levels, and that reminds me to remind you that Music Monday is right around the corner (May 5th) -- not adults debating matters like how music resists, negates and struggles and so forth -- but children across Canada concertizing, to draw attention to the need for music education.
Yes, today is the big one, Studio Sparks (12 p.m.) broadcasts Beethoven's Symphony No 9 from the ongoing Beethoven Festival. Bramwell Tovey leads the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver Bach Choir, and soloists are Sharla Nafziger, soprano, Renée Lapointe Mezzo-Soprano, Gordon Gietz Tenor, and Nathan Berg Baritone.
Forget not that you can also listen to Podcasts for all nine symphonies, featuring Bramwell Tovey and CBC's Bill Richardson behind the microphones -- they talk about each work, and the conversation is aurally illustrated by Maestro Tovey at the piano.
Today marks Jurgen Petrenko's 400th episode of Organ Thursday on Here's To You (9 a.m.), and this morning in an extended segment he’ll have a piece of music that’s his favourite, and he'll bring in Siegfried Karg-Elert'sPassacaglia And Fugue On B.A.C.H., with Christopher Herrick, organist. (400! That's a lot of organ lore.)
On an admittedly tangential but nonetheless interesting note, I came across something called the "Sea Organ," via the blog shape + colour. Now this is not composed music for the organ, nor has it the kind of magnificence of much of the music Jurgen brings in to play on the radio. But it has its own kind of beauty, and it's also a marvelously inventive use of coastline to create sound -- "landscape architecture sonic sculpture" is what shape + colour calls it.
The "Sea Organ" is a series of steel tubes built inside marble steps that descend from shoreline into the sea (shape + colour has some nice photographs of this) along a stretch of coastline in Zadar, Croatia. And here is a brief example of what it sounds like.
For more information on the "Sea Organ" go to Odd Music -- they claim it is "the world’s first musical pipe organ that is played by the sea." And as always, to view any of the videos that have been posted on the blog, please go to Radio2Tube.
Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) Laurie Brown has highlights from a Montreal concert that featured works by Canadian composer Claude Vivier. Vivier’s works explore everything from the expanse of the cosmos to personal mysticism and the ritual of the Catholic mass. As you may know, his life ended in a most shocking way, back in 1983 -- he was murdered, and the circumstances of his death were mirrored in a composition he was working on at the time.
But the tragic end of his life aside, it is his music that is remembered to this day. It's present enough in people's minds that recently R2 presented a documentary about Vivier, called In Search Of Claude Vivier, and just back in March a concert devoted to Vivier was presented online -- by the contemporary music group, Psappha. If you are interested in Vivier's work, you may want to read this article in The Guardian about the "pioneering online concert" of Viver's work -- Soul's Rebirth. You can also view the performance at Lancaster International Concerts.
Ottawa folk singer and playwright Ian Tamblyn is a veteran of the scene, and his intimate songs often have a close relationship with the Canadian landscape.
Tonight on Canada Live (8 p.m.) you can hear a concert Mr. Tamblyn performed in November, at the brand new theatre of the Great Canadian Theatre Company. He and his band played some old favs, as well as newer songs connected to his experiences of Lake Superior and Northwest Ontario. On Tamblyn's website he writes extensively about his thoughts about this part of the world -- here's just one excerpt I'd like to share:
"I chose to begin with Superior because, in many ways that where my creative and musical journey began and the reference point for all subsequent journeys. I grew up in Fort William and camped on the shores of Thunder Bay and had a relationship with the lake but I rediscovered its power, its vastness, beauty and spirit when I began canoeing the north shore in the early 1970’s . It was also the time when my musical journey began."
Are you gearing up for International Record Store Day? Well, probably not quite yet, it's not until April 19th. But it struck me as worth drawing attention to now, rather than waiting until then, a spring Saturday when I suspect many will be contemplating their gardens or where to go for beers on a patio, rather than mulling over the plight of record stores, and our relationships to them.
Carrie Brownstein, on her NPR blog "Monitor Mix" has a post called A Cure For The Shut-Ins Among Us which touches on a couple of good reasons to laud the existence of those stores that still remain:
"I love record stores because they are tactile, for the process of discovery they provide, for the fun of seeing what other people are looking at, and for all the unwrapping I get to do when I get home. The instant gratification of downloading an MP3 is fantastic but so is getting out of the house."
A point of view that those of us who are freelancers working from home offices know well. But there are of course other reasons to support record stores, some of them eloquently pointed out by artists from Nellie McKay to William Bolcom to David Amram, right here.
I wonder how many Canadians still actively shop at record stores? (And how odd we still call them "record" stores, though no odder than calling recording devices "tape recorders," I suppose.) The internet shopping convenience is seductive, which is why sometimes I'm glad that some of the music I'm interested is rarely available online, since it means I once again experience the pleasurable time spent in a record store -- it's reminiscent of the quiet joys of the library, though with a cash register at the other end.
In a related note, weirdly I had a dream last night that I inadvertently threw out some old vinyl -- the cardboard jackets gray and fraying at their ends, but the actual records still intact. There was a terrible sense of loss -- it was one of those dreams where you wake up and are relieved it's not true. Could it be some kind of subliminal longing for "International Vinyl Day?"
But back to Record Store Day. Radio 3 has been running a related contest, The Best Record Store In Canada and they'll announce their listeners' top pick shortly -- and they also plan to broadcast from the store in the #1 spot.
Today on Studio Sparks (12 p.m.) it's Beethoven's Symphony No. 8, as the Beethoven Festival marches to its inexorable conclusion on Sunday (with all nine symphonies presented that day). Meanwhile CBC R2 presents plenty of Beethoven listening in various ways -- first, with today's SSparks broadcast.
And not only can you hear the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra with "8," later in the show you can also hear VSO Concertmaster Mark Fewer in a violin concerto Beethoven began as a teenager -- and another musician finished after the great composer’s death. Mark Fewer will talk to Eric about why he wanted to perform this work.
As well, most of the Beethoven Podcasts are now up.
I like the way we think of things being put "up" on websites, as though people stand below some giant net, lobbing shots. (Either that or making pancakes, as in I'll put the pancakes up now, honey.) Anyway, in this case the up is on(line) now, for your listening pleasure.
Congratulations Katie! Tonic host Katie Malloch won "best broadcaster" at last night's National Jazz Awards.
Congratulations also to the jazzers who were chosen (by the public) as winners in last night's awards. Pianist Hilario Duran and bassist Jodi Proznick (pictured here) were the big winners -- both picking up three awards.
There was also a posthumous acknowledgment of three Canadian musicians who died last year -- still hard to believe that we lost each of these great musicians in such a short period of time: Doug Riley (who was awarded the honorific of Jazz Pioneer), Oscar Peterson (Musician of the Year), and Jeff Healey (Artist of Distinction).
Everyone has favourite ways to procrastinate. For me, as well as moodily standing in front of the cookie cupboard wondering why it's so difficult to get really good chocolate-covered digestive biscuits, there's reading certain music blogs, there's reading certain non-music blogs, and then there's reading the life/style/lightweight section of any newspaper at hand, generally while enjoying whatever second-rate cookies are available.
The other day, indulging in the latter pastime with the Globe's Life section, I flipped the page to one of my favourite non-essential columns, where some well-known Canadian talks about their exercise regime, and then a sports expert proceeds to tell them why they need more carbs, or warns them that their knees are going to give out if they keep on like that.
This week's column had a photo featuring a herd of marathon runners, and right in the centre of the pack was a familiar face -- Laurie Brown, host of The Signal (10 p.m.)!
Yes, Laurie Brown is out of the closet as being one of JeansMarines! I'm impressed.
Tonight, (in between rock climbing and downward dogs), Laurie will present a concert from new music trio Toca Loca. They asked composers to create new works incorporating contemporary culture, and the results are Nicole Lizee's piece Promises, Promises, which was inspired by the styles of synth-punk, post-punk, and new wave music. There's also Andrew Staniland's musical commentary on overseas manufacturing, Made In China, and Quinsin Nachoff's pop and jazz-influenced dedication to the group, aptly titled Toca Loca.
Two concerts featuring some excellent Montreal-based artists on Canada Live (8 p.m.) tonight -- first from La Gran Orquesta Cubana de Montreal. Who, shockingly, do not seem to have a website -- if you know otherwise, please let me know! Here's the story with La Gran though. Originally from Cuba, in 2003 they were invited to the Montreal Jazz Festival, and eventually some members made their home in the city, forming La Gran Orquesta Cubana de Montreal. The repertoire of this nine piece band includes originals and Cuban standards, from many different genres such as cha cha cha, mambo, son, guajira, timba oh let's just say it -- they're a great band to dance to. (Need proof? You can view some of their videos right here.)
The second concert on the show is from the fine Canadian jazz pianist Lorraine Desmarais, in this case working with trumpeter Tiger Okoshi, in a tribute to Miles Davis. You can hear Desmarais versions/arrangements of Davis compositions like Solar and Walkin', from a concert recorded at the Ampitheatre of La Maison de la Culture in Montreal.
This video is not from this concert, but I thought you might enjoy it regardless -- Ms. Desmarais in a performance of the powerful (and demanding) Gershwin epic, Rhapsody In Blue, recorded at the Festival de Lanaudiere.
Just a quick note, apropos of jazz, (see last post), this evening on Tonic (6 p.m.) you can hear music tonight from the Modern Jazz Quartet, the Geoff Lapp Trio, saxophonist Mike Murley, James Brown, Roy Hargrove's RH Factor and Stevie Wonder. What a nice mix...Isn't Katie lovely...
The 2008 National Jazz Awards take place tonight -- look for results posted here tomorrow.
Their theme is an interesting one -- "A Tribute to the Next Generation," which is why performers include (recent Juno winner) Brandi Disterheft, Nikki Yanofsky, Elizabeth Shepherd, Kelly Lee Evans (pictured here) --and some slightly less newcomer guys, including Richard Underhill and Michael Kaeshammer. It's a real indication of new growth on the jazz vine, as it were -- particularly since some of these performers are exploring how jazz can combine and expand with other forms of contemporary music, and via new approaches. Which is not to say someone doing a standard really well, in a traditional setting, should ever be dismissed...just that it's also good to hear some fresh jazz territory.
Of course the idea of jazz as evolving and challenging preconceptions of what the music is has long been the attitude of (some) jazz musicians throughout the history of the music -- for instance Billie Holiday, who once said (and thanks to Rifftides for drawing attention to the quote, on the anniversary of Holiday's birth, yesterday):
"You can't copy anybody and end with anything. If you copy, it means you're working without any real feeling. I hate straight singing. I have to change a tune to my own way of doing it. That's all I know."
--Billie Holiday
Another day, another Beethoven symphony. (Beats another dollar, by far.) Today, on Studio Sparks (12 p.m.), you can hear the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra with Beethoven's Symphony No. 7, which Richard Wagner called "the apotheosis of the dance." As always, during the Beethoven Festival, don't forget that there are the Beethoven Podcasts, wherein Maestro Bramwell Tovey and CBC R2 host Bill Richardson talk about each symphony. As well, the concerts are available online (not all just yet, but most are up), as Concerts On Demand. You'll find them directly by going to Beethoven Concerts.
And before leaving all things Beethoven for the moment, here is one of your Beethoven Anecdotes, as sent in to Eric on Studio Sparks (12 p.m.). It's from Margaret in B.C., and it tells the tale of how an all-Beethoven festival in Mumbai, India, nearly led to her firstborn being named...Ludwig.
This week's Canada Live podcast, available at Radio 2 Podcasts, features music from the Juno Songwriters Circle, guest-hosted by Jian Ghomeshi, including performances by Joel Plaskett, Jeremy Fisher, Serena Ryder, Alex Cuba (pictured here), Tegan Quin, Jay Malinowski, and Corb Lund. (By the way, this particular podcast is being serialized in two parts, Part 1 will be available mid-morning Tuesday, Part 2 on Wednesday.)
If you're curious about some of the thinking behind the idea of a Songwriters Circle, or how the musicians feel about this popular part of Junofest, you might want to read this piece from Sunday's Calgary Herald, Songs Take Stage In Circle, and this one from yesterday, In Celebration Of Song.
And here's more info about the performers, courtesy of CARAS and the Junos:
Jean Derome'sSeven Dances for Nine Musicians is one of the featured pieces tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.). It has everything from march music to references to the Peter Gunn theme, to quotes from the jazz standard Round Midnight.
As well as music from Montrealer Derome, you can also hear virtuoso guitar tapping from Montrealer Erik Mongrain. Yes, guitar tapping. It involves "left-hand rhythm patterns with percussive harmonic parts played with the right hand," as Mongrain says on his website -- where you can also get tutorials on the technique -- and videos, which he doesn't want to see on YouTube, so out of respect for that I'm not even going to look to see if they are there. However, I urge you to go to Airtap to watch him using this technique -- it's quite captivating.
Your comments about Oliver and his music are very welcome there.
Oliver Schroer is one of (if not the) most adventurous of folk-based violinists in Canada. You might know him from his much played (on CBC) recording Camino, a record of his thousand kilometer walk along the Camino de Santiago, or from any number of his earlier recordings and collaborations. I recall when music from Camino was played on one CBC show (along with a small piece I had the pleasure of recording with Mr. Schroer) it got an amazing response -- people are intrigued and captivated by his music and stories.
Oliver Schroer is currently battling leukemia, and recently musicians from across the country came together to put on not one, but two benefit/tribute concerts in his honour. Among the almost 40 musicians who made the trip was a group called the Twisted String Project, kids aged 9 through 18, led by two of Schroer's students. They raised the money themselves to get to Toronto to play in the tribute.
The concerts featured Schroer's music played in many different configurations, by artists such as The Stewed Tomatoes (Anne Lindsay, David Woodhead, David Travers-Smith, Ben Grossman, Colleen Allen), James Keelaghan, Jaime RT, Michelle George, Two Left (Tosh and Kit Weyman) and Bill Brennan.
You can hear some of this music tonight on Canada Live (8 p.m.). If you miss the broadcast you can also hear the concert at Concerts On Demand.
And here's what Oliver Schroer wrote (in a mail-out to those who are following all of his journeys) about his experience of being at these concerts held in his honour:
South Pacific opened on Broadway on this day in 1949 -- the Rogers & Hammerstein musical included such unforgettable tunes as Some Enchanted Evening and the washing men out of hair song.
Tonight on Tonic (6 p.m.) you can hear music in honour of the anniversary, with tunes from the musical performed by vocalist Nancy Wilson, pianists Oscar Peterson and Miles Black, bassist Dave Young, saxophonist Cannonball Adderley and vibraphonist Milt Jackson. Speaking of Nancy Wilson, I do hope that she is OK, reports last week were that she had been taken to hospital -- and I've seen no updates as to the state of her health.
As for South Pacific, if you are a Sunday New York Times reader (and there are few greater pleasures, of a Sunday) you'll know that the new star of the much-buzzed-about revival of the musical is Brazilian Paulo Szot. (Yesterday's article, with a great opening by Jesse Green, is called You May See A Stranger.) Szot is an opera singer, and many who are fans of Broadway know not of him, and so I humbly submit a video, below, showcasing his considerable talents. (Not with material from South Pacific, but I'll keep my eye out for that too...)
Also on the South Pacific front -- Will Friewald, writing in the NYSun has a small but interesting piece on the vast catalogue of jazz interpretations of the music of South P., an article headlined South Pacific Lives On In Jazz.
Eric is back in Ottawa but the Beethoven Festival continues today on Studio Sparks (12 p.m.), with the VSO's performance of Beethoven's Sixth, The Pastoral, with Bramwell Tovey conducting.
Beethoven Podcast #6 will be online today too -- wherein Maestro Tovey reveals Beethoven's prescience of jazz chords. As Randy Jackson would say, were he here, "check it out!" -- Beethoven Podcasts.
As for Beethoven and his reverence for nature, an influence on this work, he once wrote the following (though I should acknowledge that the exact wording varies depending on your source):
"How delighted I shall be to ramble for a while through bushes, woods, under trees, through grass and around rocks. For the woods, the trees and the rocks give man the resonance he needs."
1, 2, 3, 4, 5...it's the joke that's already getting tired, but had to be made. After being shut out at the Grammys, Feist took home five Junos last night, and also turned out what was easily the best performance of the evening, with Sea Lion Woman. (Although Ann Murray was good too, notwithstanding slightly odd vocal blend with Jann Arden and Sarah Brightman.) Russell Simmons Peters (Ben Mulroney red carpet goof, see Joshua Ostroff's Liveblogging Feist Night for the red carpet blow by blow) was...OK...but all in all the whole televised affair never rose above ordinary, not that ordinary is a terrible thing.
But I have a suggestion for organizers for next year. (Actually for organizers of any music awards ceremony.) If you want to do something fresh and interesting, why not tell award winners they can't thank anyone. Not anyone. Instead, when they receive their award they have to say something about the music. Think it'll fly?
On another Junos note, James Ehnes, Bramwell Tovey, and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra's CBC/Universal recording Korngold, Barber & Walton Violin Concertos won a Juno (for their Grammy award winner!) in the Classical Album of the Year: Large Ensemble Or Soloist(s) with Large Ensemble Accompaniment category. Congratulations!
For more details on last night's award ceremony, go to CBC.ca news.
Brem is palm or rice brandy in Balinese. Should you have some in your collection of indigenous alcohols from around the world (I know some people are fond of collecting bottles as they travel the way others collect international stamps), you may want to dust it off and pour yourself a glass to accompany tonight's concert on The Signal (10 p.m.). Of course if you are a connoisseur there will be no dusting involved.
Regardless, the concert includes music by Colin McPhee, Alexina Louie, Marcel Bergman and others, music inspired by the distinctive musical traditions of Bali, gamelan and more. Very nice on a Sunday evening. Or any evening, for that matter. And you can hear it any evening, for that matter, (at least with some of this music), at Concerts On Demand: Ancient Cultures -- New Sounds.
BACKString are eight musicians from different backgrounds who came together in Montreal to create their own versions of traditional pieces from their countries of origin, as well as sharing original pieces.
The name comes from the first letter of the name of each stringed instrument they play. So you get Bass, Aoud (Lute), Cello, and Kanoun, the core (or more accurately, the BACK) of the the group. They're inspired by the musical traditions of Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Egypt, Spain and Tunisia, and by jazz fusion.
Second up, the Simon Legault Quartet. Guitarist Legault took first prize in the 2007 Jazz en Rafale competition. (A competition that's in its third year -- it spotlights up-and-coming Québec jazz artists, ages 18 to 30.) And he is an up-and-comer, he launched his first CD on Effendi Records a couple months ago. Canada Live recorded him at the 2008 Jazz on Rafale Festival, playing music from that new CD, Misrememberings.
Beginning at 4:00 PM (4:30 NT), from the Epcor Centre's Jack Singer Concert Hall, the Juno Songwriter's Circle. (Pre-empting the final hour of Sunday Afternoon In Concert and Skylarking.) It's based, more or less, on the tried and true jam session/folk fest workshop concept -- where musicians swap songs and stories and (as in the workshop setting) talk a little about the creative process.
Today you'll hear JUNO Award nominees AlexCuba, Bedouin Soundclash's Jay Malinowski, Corb Lund, Jeremy Fisher, Serena Ryder, Tegan Quin of Tegan and Sara, and host of Songwriters’ Circle, Joel Plaskett.
If you want to hear the Songwriter's Circle but can't catch the broadcast, fear not, you'll be able to hear it on a Canada Live Podcast, available Tuesday, April 8th.
For more info about the performers, courtesy of CARAS and the Junos, read on, MacDuff.
As anyone who has ever emigrated from one country to another knows, one of the things you do in your new country is try and figure out the culture through its passions and pastimes. Even if only to understand what people mean when they say "double double," or "icing," (not the cake) or Rex Murphy (not the parrot).
MSO conductor Kent Nagano did this musically by commissioning a work from composer François Dompierre and writer Georges-Hébert Germain called Les Glorieux. In it, the composer conjures up an organist at the Montreal Forum who advises a young NHL hopeful, basking in the fabled history of Les Canadiens. You can hear this work, among others, today on SAIC.
And filling out the roster of this sports-oriented concert programme is A Hero's Life (Ein Heldenleben) by Richard Strauss, and Erik Satie's Sports et divertissements. The concert and even the dress rehearsal was sold out, but you can take in tall of the action on this afternoon's show.
Also today, from The GRAND in Calgary, Honens Concerts and CBC Radio 2 present some of Canada’s best classical recording artists at this first-ever Junos classical music celebration. This took place yesterday as part of Junofest, and was recorded by CBC R2 for broadcast this afternoon.
Katherine Duncan anchors the star-studded affair, featuring some of the 2008 Classical JUNO nominees, including composer Brian Current with The Kensington Sinfonia; violinist James Ehnes; cellist Matt Haimovitz with narrator David Francey; and five-time nominee, The Gryphon Trio, via video appearance. (Note, the last hour of the programme is pre-empted by the Juno Songwriters Circle.) As for the classical nominees showcase, here's what you'll hear:
Today pianist Renee Rosnes begins her six-part series, The Jazz Portraits. She herself is an excellent jazz musician, so it will be interesting to hear what she has to say in conversation with some of the countries finest -- elder statesmen if like, musicians who built the foundations of Canada’s jazz scene. In Part One she visits the home of pianist, composer and arranger, Joe Sealy.
The entire series is broadcast on the Sunday edition of Inside The Music, and some of the other musicians you can look forward to hearing Ms. Rosness chat with are Guido Basso, Don Thompson, Paul Bley and Terry Clarke.
Which street, Sesame Street? Coronation Street? Rick James' Street (Songs)? Or maybe it's a street where a man covers his head with half a sousaphone, as pictured here. But likely not.
All will be revealed today when Gregory Charles frappé(s) la rue on In The Key Of Charles, playing street songs. You can hear music from The Hannaford Street Silver Band, The Doobie Brothers, Diana Krall, U2, Trentemøller, Sarah Slean and others. All of it broadcast on the street where he lives, from the piano bench in Gregory's living room. File that under ain't technology grand.
Art of Time Ensemble, led by pianist Andrew Burashko, takes an adventurous approach to classical music. Burashko is unabashed in saying that collaborating with musicians better known outside the classical world is one of the ways classical music can refresh itself, stay relevant and draw in new and younger audiences. In other words, all of the things that most classical music organizations are eager to do.
Tonight you can hear one outcome of this attitude as The Signal (10 p.m.) presents the Art of Time performing mostly Canadian songs, with new arrangements by the likes of Aaron Davis, Phil Dwyer, Roberto Occhipinti and Gavin Bryars. Sarah Slean does the singing, and songs are by by Mary-Margaret O'Hara, Ron Sexsmith, Hawksley Workman, Feist, Leonard Cohen and others.
There's quite a show coming up tonight on Canada Live (8 p.m.), the Aboriginal Music Celebration, featuring 2008 Aboriginal nominees and Albertan Aboriginal artists performing together. It's all part of Juno Fest, which culminates with the gala tomorrow night -- but this showcase and the Songwriter's Circle, broadcast live Sunday on Radio2 at 4:00 p.m., may interest some of you as much or more than the red carpet-athon.
So...tonight you can hear Calgary's Dave Pierce leading an ensemble cast featuring Juno nominees Derek Miller, Fara Palmer, Donny Parenteau, Little Hawk, Shane Yellowbird and Sandy Scofield. And special guests include Asani, Calvin Vollrath, Leela Gilday and Tanya Tagaq.
All of this is hosted by the popular Wab Kinew, and it was recorded last night at The Grand in Calgary, so it's fresh off the press, as it were. For info on the artists, provided by the hard working Canada Live team, please keep reading!
Just a quick note to let you know that Tonic (6 p.m.) celebrates the Junos this evening. Tim will be playing tunes from this year’s nominees, including opera star Measha Brueggergosman singing with the Jive Kings, plus great vocal jazz from Michael Kaeshammer, Emilie-Claire Barlow and Deborah Cox.
As promised, another one of your Beethoven anecdotes, read by Eric Friesen on Studio Sparks earlier this week. You can still send your story about the impact of Beethoven in your life, right here, for the duration of the Beethoven Festival which concludes with April 13th's Nine In Nine, (all nine symphonies in order, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.)
This is a lovely reminiscence from a gentleman named Geoff Radnor.
"As a young man living in London UK I was able to get to hear many great orchestras play at the Festival Hall. In those days it was possible to buy a ticket for standing room only for very little, maybe five shillings (about 50 cents) , then you could sit on the floor at the back. Just like the current Vancouver Beethoven Festival, there was a chance to hear all nine symphonies and who was the conductor? None other than the wonderful Otto Klemperer.
He was getting pretty old by then and had had a stroke that had forced him to conduct sitting down at times. He would walk on stage using his walking stick. Some ask ''did he conduct or did he just sit there and glower at the musicians?'
Well he seemed to be able to get the Philharmonia Orchestra to play wonderfully. He then used a minimal amount of movement of his arms with a few raised eye brows and a flickering of his fingers. The 9th was magnificent. During one symphony, and I can't remember which, but at one particular orchestral climax he rose up from his sitting position on his bench and stood with one arm raised in triumph.
He produced wonderful sounds from that orchestra. Only Beethoven could have done this with his great music. After 50 years this moment stays in my memory.
There was also a series of the five piano concertos with Claudio Arrau and at one time Arrau was going full blast in one of the cadenzas and Klemperer turned around to look at him and made a face almost to say 'he's going crazy!' I hope your Vancouver Festival has such memorable Beethoven moments."
Having recently spent a fair bit of time wandering the streets of Paris makes everything from Moulin Rouge (the movie) to La Bohème all the more compelling. When in almost-but-not-quite-truly-spring Canada, where better to mentally transport oneself to than to Paris? Today you can do that courtesy of Puccini's great opera.
And here's what you need to know about the production:
International singing sensation Angela Gheorghiu and renowned tenor Ramón Vargas (that's them in the photo) star in Franco Zeffirelli’s beloved production of Puccini’s La Bohème. Over the course of the last 27 years the hyper-realistic sets and colorful crowd scenes have been seen in more 350 times at the Met. Yes, 350 times! And here's another La Bohème factoid - it is the only Puccini opera to have featured the same conductor at both its premiere (1896) and in its first recording (1946) - that conductor was Arturo Toscanini.
Leading the performance is the Italian conductor Nicola Luisotti, who will become music director of the San Francisco Opera in 2009. The performance will also be relayed live in high definition to movie theaters around the world, the seventh in the Met’s series of eight transmissions.
During intermission you can hear backstage interviews with the artists, hosted by soprano Renée Fleming. And legendary bass Justino Diaz hosts the opera quiz.
Did I mention that all of this is on CBC R2 today on SATO? It is. Please keep on reading for full cast details and the plot synopsis...
The Pinchas in question is of course violinist/NAC directort Pinchas Zukerman, and in this series he and Studio Sparks host Eric Friesen explore the great violin concertos. The series begins with a look at the first concertos, music by Vivaldi, Bach and Mozart. Appropriately enough, part one is called The Building Blocks To Greatness.
The Saturday broadcast of Inside the Music can be heard after the noon o'clock news in most time zones and 1 AT, 1:30 NT on CBC Radio 2.
Just so you know, the broadcast of Inside The Music on Sundays will not be the same programming -- this Sunday you can hear a new six-part series called Jazz Portraits, hosted by the great jazz pianist, Renee Rosnes.
Stuart McLean is back at the Vinyl Café after a five-week tour of the Prairies.
Today on the show he talks about some of the unique prairie encounters he had, from experiencing the most popular water in the west, to his newfound knowledge about why it’s a good idea to wear body armour if you’re planning to enter a hardware store in northern Saskatchewan.
Let's see...hardware-stores doubling as venues for musical theatre? Defense against killer mosquitoes? Or maybe proprietors who play darts when business is slow.
I really can't imagine. But Stuart can, he's been. And today he'll tell all.
The Kronos Quartet have made something of a one-band industry of interesting collaborations, including one of my favs, with Asha Bhosle, who is performing in Canada tonight. (OK, casting modesty aside here's my article on Asha in yesterday's Globe, 13,000 Songs And Still Going Strong.) But tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) you can hear Pat thoroughly explore Kronos' many collaborations, in the regular Vertical Tasting series.
Also on tonight's show, Buck 65’s soundtrack work for a trucker documentary, music from Halifax drummer Jerry Granelli, Chicago’s Sea and Cake, Iceland’s Amina and Montreal’s Vitamins for You.
The folks at Tonic (6 p.m.) are promising vintage Philly soul from The O'Jays to get your weekend off to a good start tonight. (Think Love Train. I don' t know if that's what they're playing, but it sure would fit the bill of good weekend-jump start music.)
Also on the show today, a live set from John Legend recorded at S.O.B.'s in New York City. Legend, as you probably know is a pianist/R&B singer who is very successful -- five Grammys to his name, among other accolades. I've heard some pretty fine music from that S.O.B.'s recording, btw.
And a few more musicians you may want to catch: jazz guitar from Jason Crawford, and classic vocals from Mel Torme. Not to forget excellent Canadian musicians though -- you can hear Toronto drummer Barry Elmes, and music from singer/songwriter Shirley Eickhard's latest CD too.
Some of us probably find it difficult to conceive of travel without music. Listening as the scenery flashes by through a train window, helping get through the difficult or exhilarating (depending on your fly-ability) take off and landing, making that long drive on the 401 less abysmal.
But one travel blogger, Vagabonding, suggests five reasons to leave your MP3 player at home when you travel, and I have to admit, they aren't bad. Here's an abbreviated version of what Rolf Potts, who writes Vagabonding, says are the reasons to forget the tunes when you travel:
1. Start Conversations. When people in, say, Nepal see you listening to an iPod, here's what they might actually see: A person who really doesn't want to talk to them.
2. If you don't bring it, it can't get stolen.
3. Do more reading. If I'm carrying both an iPod and a book, and I'm stuck on a long bus ride, chances are I'll usually reach for the iPod.
4. Bridge the gap. What might seem to the traveler to be an innocent hour listening to music might appear to someone else like an ostentatious display of wealth.
5. Most places already have a built-in soundtrack. Bangkok isn't Bangkok without its distinct sounds.
Too bad there aren't disposable MP3 players then, just for take off and landing...
I've heard that Eric and the gang are having a great time in Vancouver (wilting tulips and all) during the Beethoven festival, but today is their last day before returning to Ottawa for Monday's show. The festival itself continues to April 13th though, with the conclusion, Nine In Nine, running that day, all nine symphonies back to back. (All Beethoven, All The Time, as it were.)
But today it's Vancouver, and it's the Fifth, possibly the most widely known of the symphonies, in part to that extraordinary disco rendition, A Fifth Of Beethoven. (Extraordinary in the sense of not being ordinary, at least.) I'm pretty sure you won't hear it on Studio Sparks though. No, it'll be played by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.
But curiosity won out, and I went looking...lo and behold, there is a pretty great rendition of the 5th (we're talking the disco fifth now). Not the original -- by Walter Murphy and the Big Apple Band. Here it's played by a band called Umprhey's McGee, a kind of prog rock band, and they breathe new life into something you might think might not need resuscitating. True, gets a little wanky towards the end, but parts of it are (the guitar harmony lines) surprisingly appealing. I guess I just have to put my A Fifth Of Beethoven prejudices aside from now on.
For those interested in a more traditional approach to Beethoven's Fifth, tune into Studio Sparks (12 p.m.) of course. Also, the Fifth Podcast is now available.
Here's a bit of Junos trivia for you: Way back in the era of bellbottoms and velour track suits, in other words the 1970s, the annual Juno music awards were called "The Gold Leaf Awards," and they were mostly an industry event. Now it's a weekend long event with the gala awards ceremonies televised to a couple million viewers. People do have their issues with the awards (the frustration of musicians in the "smaller" categories not getting to perform on the broadcast etc.) but I don't think anyone would deny they do a lot to draw attention to Canadian music as a vital force.
On R2 on Sunday at 4 p.m. you can hear a live-to-air Juno-related event, the Juno Songwriters Circle. Some of the artists you can hear are Joel Plaskett, AlexCuba, Jeremy Fisher, Serena Ryder and the duo of Tegan and Sara. What's the songwriters circle, you may ask? It's songs and stories and conversation about the creative process of song-writing.
But before we get to that there are three Juno related concerts Friday night on Canada Live (8 p.m.). It starts with Paul Brandt, (pictured here) who receives the first ever Alan Waters Humanitarian Award for his charity work, and his recording, Risk, is also nominated for Country Recording of the Year.
Next it's Compadres, Oscar Lopez and James Keelaghan mixing up Celtic, Latin and folk. Their recording Buddy Where Ya Been is nominated in the Roots & Tradional music category.
And concert #3 is Tegan & Sara, the sisters who have quite an international career these days. Their 5th recording,The Con, is nominated for Alternative Album of the Year.
The Signal cognoscenti describe some of the music you'll hear tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.) as "new and perplexing music," and it comes from Montreal guitarist and creative composer Bernard Falaise. Here's what they mean by "perplexing."
"Falaise blends elements of jazz, chamber music, noise, and free improvisation into something unlike anything you've heard before."
And if you want it from another source, here's an excerpt from a review by David Dacks, writing for Exclaim:
"Falaise name checks Anthony Braxton, Captain Beefheart, Igor Stravinsky and Robert Wyatt as influences, so you know there’s never a straight path between two points. Sometimes the writing is a little tight assed, with strangled, carnival-esque riffing from the horns and trombone redeemed only by drummer Jean Martin’s powerful groove in Tricheur. There’s a Zappa influence at work as well, with a knack for snaky, highly orchestrated melodies and sudden shifts into loopy solos evident especially in Falaise’s guitar work."
Perplexing, you might say. On the other hand, also intriguing.
Another great Juno triple-header tonight on Canada Live (8 p.m.) featuring concerts by award nominees. First, Harry Manx, famed for blending blues with Indian ragas. His latest CD, a collaboration with multi-instrumentalist Kevin Breit, is up for Roots and Traditional Album of the Year.
Then singer/ songwriter Jeremy Fisher, (you may recall his musical tour across Canada by bicycle!) -- he's a double nominee, up for New Artist of the Year and Adult Alternative Album of the Year.
Last but (yes I know, clichéd...but true!) not least, Alex Cuba. Cuban-Canadian Alexis Puentes, (pictured here), is nominated in the World Music Album of the Year category for his latest CD, Agua Del Pozo. I listened to him online the other day, at Concerts On Demand: Alex Cuba, and it's a real nice show.
A quick note about some of the music you can hear tonight on Tonic (6 p.m.) -- Katie will be playing Dinah Washington, guitarists Mark Whitfield and Ronny Jordan and drummer Jay Boehmer. Also, some soul from Stevie Wonder, Remy Shand, and the British duo Rae & Christian.
The live set is from the John Pizzarelli Trio, recorded live at Birdland in New York City in September, 2002. I hope Katie plays him doing Frim Fram Sauce, which I believe he recorded at Birdland. Love that song. And what's not to love with lyrics like these?
"I don't want fish cakes and rye bread,
you heard what I said.
Waiter, please serve mine fried.
I want the frim-fram sauce with the ausen fay.
With chafafah on the side."
This music news story caught my eye the other day and I didn't have time to share it until now. Admittedly it's not so much a story as it is an another all-important chapter in the saga of Baseball Music, a pet subject of the blogger, but it's accompanied by a great song that I hope you'll find as funny and sweet as I do. Just press play on the video below.
It's a folk ballad by the late Steve Goodman (who wrote City Of New Orleans, made famous by Arlo Guthrie), called A Dying Cubs Fan's Last Request. Apparently Goodman was actually dying when he wrote it, and as Dan Pashman wrote in his NPR piece, A Cub Fan's Dying Wish the song is "a musical will of sorts....a song that truly typifies the Cubs fan's ability to laugh through the pain."
Steve Goodman died of leukemia in 1984. And some of his ashes were scattered on Wrigley field.
Here's a music news story about something that on the face of it seems highly unlikely -- a collaboration between Elton John and Elvis Costello with a Canadian TV show called Spectacle: Elvis Costello With…. John will be the "Exec. Prod.," as we say in the biz, and Costello will host.
I like both musicians (and have been to concerts of both) but if there is any hint that Elton will make a guest appearance to sing a duet of the Diana/Marilyn Munroe song, there will be distress. Otherwise, I'm looking forward to seeing the show, (broadcast dates TBA) said to include "unique collaborations, acoustic and impromptu 'illustrative' demonstrations of the creative process, and some original interpretations of others’ songs by Costello."
It’s Day Four of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s Beethoven Festival, in collaboration with CBC R2. Logically enough that means that today Studio Sparks (12 p.m.) presents Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony. Eric has also been reading Beethoven anecdotes from some of you who have contributed -- and please, do feel free to click on this link to contribute your Beethoven anecdote while the festival is ongoing. And feel free to post them here as well, via comments.
Here are a couple Eric's received so far (one has already been read on air).
From Swany in Banff, who I believe has commented on the blog before too:
My interest in classical music pretty much started at a viewing of Stanley Kubrick's "Clockwork Orange" in 1971, when I was 23. The movie starts with the introduction to the Ninth Symphony, which seemed to me to be a swirl of disorganized sounds that suddenly came together into the some of the most interesting and beautiful music I had ever heard. There are many more references to "Ludwig van" throughout the movie. (This move also changed the way I thought about Singing in the Rain.)
-I know what Swany means about Singing In The Rain -- actually kind of resented Kubrick for doing that, although a few viewings of Fred Astaire chased it away...
From K.L., on the Beethoven "sweat and spit" beat:
Maestro Anton Kuerti conducted the Toronto Symphony at Massey Hall playing Beethoven. From the third row I witnessed sweat and/or spit flung from his face in his prodigeous evocations. Bramwell Toby said conducting Beethoven was terrifying. I saw that first hand. Empirically, I believe there SHOULD be sweat and spit in live performances of Beethoven, though my Papa's big linen handkerchief would have made a welcome barrier at close range. Kleenex is fine for Mozart and Mahler.
I'll post more of your anecdotes soon, they are delightful.
Meanwhile, don't forget that you can hear the Beethoven Symphonies at Concerts On Demand -- through the sweat (though likely not spit, he's too polite) of Peter Cook, who has been manfully dealing with challenging technical issues to get the concerts up on the website.
And finally, there are also the Beethoven Podcasts for your enjoyment. It's really interesting hearing Maestro Tovey's take on each one -- he and Bill Richardson clearly have fun talking Beethoven.
When a concert for Nowruz (Persian New Year) was broadcast a few weeks ago, a number of listeners wrote in to ask if it would be available online -- and I'm happy to say it now is, at Concerts On Demand: Winter Nowruz.
I haven't had a chance to listen yet but I will -- it got a great response. Here's what one listener said after hearing it on the radio:
The Persian musicians were absolutely magical. They brought back so many wonderful memories of my home country, Persia. Nowrouz pirouz! -Kiana Mohseni
And another:
"This music of Persia is new to me and it has make my time in my kitchen a little miracle in itself." -Andree Charron Dalaporta
Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.), proper acknowledgment of things small. (Coming from a long line of short people, this has special resonance.) This celebration of it's a small small world includes music from the Swedish alternative group The Tiny, a selection of Little Things from Norway's Hanne Hukkelberg, and some Micro Melodies from California's The Album Leaf, among other music.
The Junos (Canada's Music Awards) and accompanying festivities take place this weekend, with Sunday being the gala event. Starting tonight Canada Live (8 p.m.) broadcasts concerts showcasing Juno nominees. And I have to say it's a heckuva triple bill, Blue Rodeo, Michael Kaeshammer and Autorickshaw.
What makes a memorable lyric? As a writer for The Times put it in a recent feature (connected to the Sky Channel debut in the UK of the game show, Don't Forget The Lyrics) "First of all, a memorable lyric is not the same thing as a great lyric."
Absolutely true. It goes on to say "If you want to write a memorable lyric, it helps to have something to say that resonates with the human experience," using U2's I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For as an example. The only quibble I'd have with this idea is that without a distinctive melody, or rhythm, or voice, it's difficult to believe that any lyric would have that initial impact, no matter how universal the theme. (Would that U2 song be as memorable if it weren't for Bono's voice?)
And according to those About.com lists, one of the top most memorable lyrics of a couple of years ago was the Pussycat Dolls Don't Cha. (That link will take you to the Sims version, rather prefer it to the real Dolls myself.) Admittedly Don't Cha sticks in the mind like a tick to a dog's ear. But hardly a universal sentiment, I shouldn't think, wishing one's girlfriend was hot like her.
Then, in a hop, skip and rather large leap, there is the matter of misheard lyrics, providing hours of fun online. Here's someone having a go at translating Orff's Carmina Burana. If this interpretation is correct, it has memorable lyrics whether or not you understand them.
For more fun and games with music videos (and some good music too), go to Radio2Tube for all the videos posted on the blog to date.
The history of CBC's involvement with jazz goes way back -- and a few choice bits of that history are available online, through CBC Archives -- for example this multi-media timeline of Oscar Peterson, or this clip with Dave Brubeck.
But it's a living history too, as you can hear on Tonic (6 p.m.) tonight, when Katie features highlights from the 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.
The Beethoven Festival continues today on Studio Sparks, with Symphony No. 3, the Eroica, played by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Bramwell Tovey.
And don't forget the Beethoven Podcasts -- two are up so far, available to download to your device. Don't have a device? Not to worry, you can also listen on your computer. (And if you don't have a computer you likely aren't reading this, so I'll stop here.)
But do check the podcasts out -- I'm listening to the first one as I write, and it's great, Maestro Bramwell Tovey at the piano and Radio 2's Bill Richardson at the mic, talking about how each work fit into the context in Beethoven's life, and about the music itself -- with "illustrations" of what's being discussed. Most interesting.
Again, you'll find those Beethoven Podcasts right here.
It would be a sad joke to say that Dave Bidini is guest hosting The Signal (10 p.m.) tonight, as was announced and anticipated, since unfortunately Dave is under the weather and can't make it this week after all. (I'm sure there will be a rain-check.)
Besides, I've always hated April Fool's jokes, they're kind of the verbal equivalent of pulling a chair out from beneath someone who is just about to sit down. Ha ha. So funny.
So tonight it's an "encore performance" of The Signal (10 p.m.), as Laurie is busy hosting Radio 1's Q this week. It's a holiday-appropriate "encore" though, since you can hear Laurie pondering an old April Fool's Day edict, apparently created by disgruntled school teachers, prohibiting pranks after twelve noon. (I vaguely remember this from school days, the relief when it was officially over, the dismay when people ignored the edict and pulled chairs out anyway.) Don't know what Laurie's take on the whole thing is though, but you can tune in and find out.
Musically speaking there will be some "night-themed music" from Japancakes and Jillian Lebeck, and creative jazz pianist Vijay Iyer teams up with spoken word artist Mike Ladd to examine the world of 24-hour news channels with the album Still Life With Commentator.
Put like that it sounds simple. And it is, pretty much, though from what I've heard of Bonneville's music I think there will be a goodly helping of country and acoustic rootsy songs with those blues. You can hear for yourself tonight, when Ray Bonneville, recorded live at Montreal's Sala Rossa, is showcased on Canada Live (8 p.m.). Hearing him live is what he'd wish, I'm sure, given his attitude towards playing to an audience:
"I'm deeply in love with playing live music. It's 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 tonight's double bill comes from Marie-Jo Thério recorded live at the Montreal Spectrum. She's an Acadian singer-songwriter, and among her other distinctions, she was the first-ever recipient of the Félix-Leclerc Award in 1996 and the first Canadian signed by the French record label Naïve.
The first symphonies from the Beethoven Festival, currently being broadcast each day on Studio Sparks (12 p.m.), in a collaboration between CBC R2 and the VSO, are now online as CODs. You can hear the first one at Concerts On Demand: Beethoven Symphony 1.
And the rest will be added as the festival continues. The culmination is on Sunday April 13th, also known as "9 In 9," when VSO conductor Bramwell Tovey and R2 host Bill Richardson present the symphonies in order.
All of baseball (it's like an international race of the similarly obsessed) wilted yesterday when what was to be the final opening day at the-soon-to-be-defunct Yankee stadium was rained out. Particularly those of us who are Jays fans, as they were facing the evil Yankees.
Rain-outs are worst for the fans physically in the park, of course. I remember a couple of years ago being in the friendly confines of Wrigley Field in Chicago, and practically getting blown off of the bleachers with the torrential downpour and winds. After something like ninety minutes of hurricane force blasts they finally called the game. I could have wept, but instead I bought really expensive tickets for the next day's game.
But there was something that almost redeemed the terrible blow of the rain-out, and that was the organ player, who tried to distract the crowd by playing things like Raindrops Keep Falling On Your Head. Most amusing.
If you've read this far in this post that's probably because you're either a baseball fan, a music fan, or (the ideal combination!) both. In which case you might be interested to know about The Baseball Music Project. They are dedicated to "fostering greater awareness of the cultural lineage and historical significance of music written about baseball, through concerts, recordings, and related outreach events and projects."
I applaud them in this effort! There is more to baseball music than Take Me Out to the Ballgame, after all. (Although it is one of the finest moments in any game, far more meaningful than the silly 7th inning stretch which accompanies it.) I'm thinking about tunes like the one Eleanor Gehrig (Lou's wife) wrote, I Cant Get to First Base Without You, or Dave Frishberg's Van Lingle Mungo.
And so, in honour of the new "opening day" today, and of all things baseball and music, here's Peggy Mann with Joltin' Joe Dimaggio.
Studio Sparks (12 p.m.) presents more from the CBC Radio 2/Vancouver Symphony Orchestra collaboration on the VSO's Beethoven Festival. Today, the overture, Creatures Of Prometheus, and Beethoven's Symphony No. 2.
Also, Eric hopes listeners will email their memorable experiences encountering Beethoven's music -- and you can do that online at Beethoven Anecdotes. So if you have a story about how Beethoven's work has touched your life, do send it into Eric -- he'll be reading anecdotes on the air. The air is coming from Vancouver this week, so email soon, often, and early.
Even though Beethoven would probably roll over, or at least roll his eyes (see image) at the notion of email.
This week's Canada Live Podcast features Juno nominees, country music star Shane Yellowbird, Indo-jazz-funk-pop fusion group Autorickshaw, and alt-country songstress Oh Susanna (pictured here).
And here are three things you might not know about these performers. (And if you already do know, maybe just skip ahead to the link at the end of this post for the podcast):
Shane Yellowbird was born with a severe stuttering problem, a speech therapist suggested he sing to help him speak clearly. (And the rest is country music history!)
Autorickshaw's song Heavy Traffic (from their Juno nominated album, So The Journey Goes), won the Grand Prize in the 2007 John Lennon Songwriting Contest, in the World Music category.
Oh Susanna grew up a Canadian with an American passport, "staring at the ocean, mountains and railroad tracks through sheets of rain." (No wonder she grew up to write those interesting and often introspective songs.)
If you listen to 
Jazz musicians don't seem to have done the job the way the poets have when it comes to April. Yes, it's both 
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Satyagraha is 
Bet that got your attention. 
Trumpeter 
That's apparently what 
Still time to weigh in as Music & Company (6 a.m.) continues this week's Cage Match, with Tom pitting piano for the left hand by Saint-Saens up against music for the right by Alkan. 
Back in 1982 
Funny how Beethoven turns up everywhere -- all day long on Radio 2 yesterday, and then in the Jays vs. Texas Rangers game as well (the Rangers like to use the 5th to try and scare their opposition -- didn't work, we swept them) and again in an old biopic I happened to watch last night about George Gershwin (pictured here), 
There's a special day of programming ahead on Radio 2 today, with the Beethoven 9 In 9, Beethoven's 9 symphonies presented in order, starting at 9 a.m. Because of that the following shows will be pre-empted today: In The Key Of Charles, Inside The Music, Sunday Afternoon In Concert and Skylarking. 
The 
Who doesn't need it? We need it, Soul Power, we need some, come on and get some...
Many of us are tuned in to the sound of our city or town or bucolic setting -- the rhythms and melodies you hear in nature and in things man made. That's part of why I find the 
Your double bill on Canada Live (8 p.m.) tonight features a concert that took place during the 
Tonight the live set on Tonic (6 p.m.) is from the Keith Jarrett Trio, performing in Juan-les-Pins, France in July, 2002. Jarrett, (who appears not to have an official website, btw) is notoriously particular about how audiences and stage crew should themselves perform (or not) during his concerts, over matters including photos, sound, stage lights etc. etc. It's an attitude which was 
Another day, another Beethoven symphony. (Beats another dollar, by far.) Today, on Studio Sparks (12 p.m.), you can hear the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra with Beethoven's Symphony No. 7, which Richard Wagner called "the apotheosis of the dance." As always, during the 
This week's Canada Live podcast, available at 
Eric is back in Ottawa but the Beethoven Festival continues today on Studio Sparks (12 p.m.), with the 
1, 2, 3, 4, 5...it's the joke that's already getting tired, but had to be made. After being shut out at the Grammys, Feist took home five 
Which street, Sesame Street? Coronation Street? Rick James' Street (Songs)? Or maybe it's a street where a man covers his head with half a sousaphone, as pictured here. But likely not. 
As promised, another one of your Beethoven anecdotes, read by Eric Friesen on Studio Sparks earlier this week. You can still send your story about the impact of Beethoven in your life, 
Having recently spent a fair bit of time wandering the streets of Paris makes everything from Moulin Rouge (the movie) to La Bohème all the more compelling. When in almost-but-not-quite-truly-spring Canada, where better to mentally transport oneself to than to Paris? Today you can do that courtesy of Puccini's great opera. 
Stuart McLean is back at the 
Here's a music news story about something that on the face of it seems highly unlikely -- a collaboration between Elton John and Elvis Costello with a Canadian TV show called 
Tonight on The Signal (10 p.m.), proper acknowledgment of things small. (Coming from a long line of short people, this has special resonance.) This celebration of it's a small small world includes music from the Swedish alternative group 
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The first symphonies from the Beethoven Festival, currently being broadcast each day on Studio Sparks (12 p.m.), in a collaboration between CBC R2 and the 
Studio Sparks (12 p.m.) presents more from the CBC Radio 2/Vancouver Symphony Orchestra collaboration on the 
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