Posted by Li Robbins on
Friday November 20, 2009 at 3:00 AM
Pretty much the perfect way to start a weekend -- it's cajun and zydeco music from the Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival in Fredericton, N.B.
Terrance Simien is just a terrific live performer -- he grew up listening to the music, bought an accordion, and totally embraced the music and food -- so much so he's actually been hired by Tourism Louisiana to represent the state.
He takes his role as cultural ambassador pretty seriously -- working with a programme called Creole For Kids, sharing the history of the music. (That last link takes you to a video about the project.)
But ultimately it comes down to the music, the atmosphere it creates. Have a look at this if you feel in the need of a little soulful zydeco. Live from Tipitina's in New Orleans, no less.
Feel free to respond the way they encourage folks to do in Louisiana -- dance your misery away!
Posted by Li Robbins on
Thursday November 19, 2009 at 3:00 AM
Somehow that sounds like SpongeBob might be involved, but no, the Great Big Sea party took place on St. Paddy's Day weekend in St. John's. So you can imagine -- home town crowd, St. Paddy's Day exuberance, and the rest is concert history, broadcast tonight on CL.
They're the band some have called "the answer to the musical question 'who wants some fun?'" or as one newspaper reporter put it: "They're a crack live band who can turn even the poshest venue into a downhome Newfoundland kitchen party."
Posted by Li Robbins on
Wednesday November 18, 2009 at 3:00 AM
Coming to you from the blues fest in Ottawa (the town where he made his Canadian debut), Steve Earle. Earle, great singer, great songwriter, has also famously had a few problems -- but they make for good stories, as you'll hear tonight. He sings his own songs, and songs by his good friend, the late Townes Van Zandt.
They were buddies ever since Townes Van Zandt heckled Earle at a concert back in 1972. Van Zandt wanted to hear Wabash Cannonball, and Earle admitted he didn't know it.
"Call yourself a folksinger and you don't know 'Wabash Cannonball?" said Van Zandt. But then Earle played one of Van Zandt's own songs. That seemed to smooth things over. They went on to years of close friendship -- Earle even named his kid after him (singer-songwriter Justin Townes Earle).
And last spring Earle paid tribute to his friend with a recording just called Townes.
So tune in for some good story telling and that wonderful raspy voice, singing to a Ottawa Blues fest crowd on what was reportedly a "spectacularly clear and beautiful night."
By the way, that Wabash Cannonball link takes you to a performance by Jerry Reed at the Grand Ole Opry.
Posted by Li Robbins on
Monday November 16, 2009 at 3:00 AM
Basia Bulat fans take note. The singer-songwriter, autoharpist and folk darling is in concert tonight on Canada Live. She also has a new recording coming out in January, called Heart Of My Own, on Rough Trade, no less. As I've mentioned before, she's been credited with making the autoharp cool. She sure is the fiercest autoharp player I've ever heard. Here's proof:
The beguiling Bulat! That's a stripped down version of Gold Rush, one of the songs on the upcoming recording.
Posted by Li Robbins on
Thursday November 12, 2009 at 3:00 AM
If any family band is most associated with Canada, a good bet would be The Rankins. Some twenty years ago five brothers and sisters from the village of Mabou on Cape Breton Island who loved to sing together recorded an album.
And in the rest-is-history department -- their pop/Celtic music blend became very popular -- as in pop chart popular. In the early '90s songs they recorded like Fare Thee Well Love and Rise Again were a big part of the whole Celtic renaissance (and led to 15 East Coast Music Awards and six Junos).
Posted by Li Robbins on
Wednesday November 11, 2009 at 3:00 AM
As Andrew mentioned in a post a few days ago, Canada Live celebrates family this week -- as in family who play music together. (And still talk to each other, too.)
Tonight it could be called "celebrating sibs," since two sisters are featured in Ohbijou, and two brothers in the other concert -- Jason and Sheldon Valleau of The Polyjesters.
Ohbijou's concert features music from their recording Beacons, music that came out of their residency at Banff. Ohbijou was one of the first bands to take part in the "Indie Band Residency."
Posted by Andrew Craig on
Monday November 9, 2009 at 3:00 AM
Happy Monday to you,
Hope your weekend was fab...
One thing we all have in common is family. Love 'em or leave 'em, our family members are invariably among our most important teachers in life, and our most important formative experiences (usually) come in the context of family.
This week's theme on Canada Live is "All The Family". We've got five nights of programming, in which each concert features ensemble whose members are related by marriage or blood. We'll focus a little bit on how those family connections inspire and/or influence the music.
We start off the proceedings tonight with concerts by Nathan and The Haints - two ensembles featuring husband-and-wife teams. Tuesday's show is a highlight for me: we start off with the Dukhs, and end with the Sicilian Jazz Project - a fantastic fusion of jazz with the folk music of Sicily. Ohbijou and Jason and Sheldon Valleau are in the middle of the week (Jason and Sheldon were a pleasant discovery for me - very clever fellows, those two). Thursday features a great concert by the Rankin Family, and Friday features four of Canada's great Bluesmen in a band called "Fathers and Sons".
In all, a week of programming that I think you'll enjoy. Please come along for the ride, and bring your family!
Posted by Andrew Craig on
Friday November 6, 2009 at 3:00 AM
Greetings all,
I've been off the blog for awhile, dealing with a multitude of performance engagements (a couple of my own showcases, a Stevie Wonder tribute show, and more - feel free to check my website for more deets: www.andrewcraig.me). But I'll be posting more frequently from this point forward...
Tonight on the show, we're featuring what I've described as "two sides of country music" - that is, country rock and country blues. But inherent in this statement is the basic problem with categorization. That is, why don't I say it's rock with a little bit of country in it, or countrified blues?
Categorization of music dominates our sensbilities now more than ever in the ITunes era. Thirty years ago, artists could put out records on which every tune was a different style. Nowadays that's suicidal, since retailers and consumers alike want and need to know into which category to put you, and just get confused if it's not clear.
No matter. Have a listen to tonight's show, and you be the judge. We're featuring the considerable talents of LIttle Miss Higgins - nominated for Juno and Maple Blues Awards. After that, we'll hear from a band on the rise: NQ Arbuckle. They were also Juno nominated this year.
Check them out tonight, and then you tell me how they should be categorized - or if, in the words of Duke Ellington, they are "beyond category".
Fittingly, the show was written about in Ontario Wine Review, and they capture the moment she comes onto the stage:
"Chantal K...took her seat at the piano, pulled the mike in close, and tinkled the first few bars of ‘Leaving on a Jet Plane’, which was greeted with an appreciative roar from the crowd; she began singing just as a single-engine jobbies flew over-head...Chantal called the Jackson-Triggs venue her favourite 'and I get to play Massey Hall,' she said. 'With the crowd, the wine, the beautiful Niagara location in the vineyard, what more could you ask for?'"
What more indeed. (Though we won't tell Massey.)
The concert features songs from her new recording, Plain Jane, and she's backed by Kevin Fox on cello & guitar and Karen Graves on violin.
Posted by Li Robbins on
Wednesday November 4, 2009 at 3:00 AM
Julian Fauth won the 2009 Juno for Blues Album of the Year. So there's your official endorsement to listen to the concert tonight -- a bar show from the popular (and small) Dakota Tavern in Toronto.
Fauth plays barrelhouse, boogie woogie piano -- one of the best sounds in the world if I do say so myself. This show also features him on vocals with his band, playing his own blues tunes.
Radio plays a part in why Fauth became a bluesman. When he was six, his father, a radio journalist, brought home discarded LPs. One of them was called The Golden Blues Hour, kind of a best-of featuring greats like Buddy Guy, Big Bill Broonzy, John Lee Hooker etc. And he listened to it again, and again and again. Funny how those early musical experiences can shape a whole life.
Have a listen to this for a nice taste of the Fauth approach to piano blues.
That video was produced by Talkin' Blues -- pretty neat visual stuff going on there with his hands -- a pleasure to watch.
Live performance featuring top Canadian roots, rock, indie, jazz and world musicians. Recorded at Canada's preeminent concert halls, music festivals and clubs, presented by musician and broadcaster Andrew Craig.
A real Winnipeg favourite, this quartet brought its urban-rootsy, homespun sound to the Park Theatre.
Their guitars, banjo, accordion, bass and drums are topped by the sweetest vocals and enhanced, strangely, by the theramin. Their sound captures the duality of the prairies in that it is at once contemporary and old-fashioned, dark and light, lonely yet cosy.
