CanadaIsAMusicMec.ca

Following their three-night engagement @ Montreal‘s Santa Cruz Church, The Dears have made their way to The Big Smoke. Read more…

After watching MuchMusic’s measly one-hour coverage of the performances, I realized that many of you couldn’t enjoy all of the featured music. I stripped away my original score, to uncover these rare bits of Canadian Music History. All in under fifteen minutes.

Questions? Comments? Let me have it in the Comments Box.

The 2010 Polaris Music Prize Gala – Highlights/Lowdown

tb3

tb3

Monday, September 20, 2010 was a night for the ages, when Canadas premier musical albums of the past year are pitted head-to-head, culminating in the award presentation to Montreal Alt Rockers Karkwa.

I followed the CBC Radio Blog, as well as Much Music’s on-line video stream, to cover the eventproperly, and was thrilled to see an amazing meeting between great artists, and their faithful fans.

CBC R3 Hosts Vish Khanna and Craig Norris outdid themselves in conveying the amazing vibe within the Masonic Temple.

Over on the stream, television’s most incredulous duo, CBC Radio 3 Host Grant Lawrence and Much Music’ Sarah Taylor were once again foisted upon each other for the cross-network pairing. Nonetheless, they struck up their arm’s-length camaraderie, and they made for an interesting pairing.

The raw video stream was quite fascinating, as it showed the tomfoolery of the audience, and many CBC Radio 3 bloggers in attendance could be spotted, and a good-looking bunch, they were! Read more…

Congratulations to this year’s Polaris Music Prize nominees. You have made Canada very proud! In what may be the most contentious competition in the world of music, you proved to us all that the honor lies in being counted among the best.

10 amazing performances occured Monday night at Toronto’s Masonic Temple, with more highlights, and profound moments of beauty, than I can faithfully describe in this Recap, so be sure to visit CIAMM soon, where we will feature each nominee’s Polaris Music Prize experience in depth. Stay tuned.

Special Thanks to tb3,  for his still photos from the event, some of which are featured in our Video Recap.

The Polaris Music Prize, yet another reason Canada Is A Musical Mecca.

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From the pamphlet – “Enjoy more than 100 events including winery tours and tastings, concerts, Niagara cuisine, wine seminars, live entertainment and one of Canada’s largest street parades during the 59th Niagara Wine Festival. The hub of the Niagara Wine Festival can be found in historic Montebello Park in downtown St. Catharines”. It runs until Sept. 26.

Friday night at Montebello Park was a homecoming of sorts, as Great Lake Swimmers (www.greatlakeswimmers.com) triumphantly returned to an adoring Niagara crowd. Tony Dekker, charismatic frontman, formed GLS in his hometown of rural Wainfleet,ON and earned his stripes as a professional musician right here in nearby St. Kitts, gigging all along the St. Paul St. strip. The other band members include Erik Arnesen(banjo, electric guitar), Greg Millson(drums), Miranda Mulholland(violin, vocals), and Bret Higgins(upright bass).

The audience in attendance included lots of Tony’s family who were obviously very proud of their Prodigal son’s great success. They partied happily among the Blackberry Crowd, who, in turn, were busy with their PDA’s and swilling wine.

The third contigent within the crowd were the faithful GLS fans, who generally danced,sang along with the evening’s many wonderful moments, including Dekker’s funny “Happy Birthday!” to his brother, Matt.

GLS’s setlist (handed to yours truly from the Montebello stage, thanks Erik!) featured prominently in the CIAMM video link above, drew equally from their catalog, and was lovingly compiled to ensure everyone heard their favorite GLS tunes, new ones, or otherwise.
GLS have a long history of environmental concern and activism.
‘Swim! Drink! Fish! Music!’ went the chant, mid-set, as Dekker entreated the crowd to investigate and join the cause to which GLS have pledged its support – Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, and its charity offshoot, The Swim Drink Fish Music Club.

http://www.swimdrinkfishmusic.com/about.php brings together artists, activists, and citizens just like you who care about clean water. By celebrating the Club’s exclusive and rare music, you are contributing to the fight for swimmable, drinkable, fishable water in your community.
See Great Lake Swimmers on stage this autumn!

Sept 24- Alix Goolden Hall in Victoria, BC as part of Rifflandia. All ages.
www.rifflandia.com

Oct 22- St. Matthew’s United Church in Halifax, NS as part of Halifax Pop Explosion.
www.halifaxpopexplosion.com

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Nuit Blanche at the Guelph Jazz Festival 2010 was staged Saturday Night to the delight of an eclectic audience.  Aging hipsters(such as myself) comingled happily with the University kids straight into the wee hours of morning, wet skies, be damned.

Guelph Jazz Festival 2010

The Wyndham Jazz Tent, covering a city block in the center of Guelph, served as the main staging area for the outdoor concerts.  This is where I enjoyed Huelepega Sound System (Sergio Elmir, David Dacks, Ernesto Ventura, and Amadeo Ventura).

HSS plays ‘doombia’, an electric extension of ‘cumbia’, the exciting style of Columbia via Mexico dance music.

I eventually made my way to Guelph’s River Run center, a beautiful, modern theater building, for one of the major events of the GJF – a Double Bill of Improvised Jazz Trios.  First up, Sangam (Charles LLoyd, Zakir Hussain, and Eric Harlan) blended saxophones, tabla, percussion, and voice to great effect. The audience was thrilled with the musicianship.

The Trio (Muhal Richard Abrams, Roscoe Mitchell, George Lewis) are veterans of the GJF, each member is an accomplished composer.  Their instruments of choice include; trombone, saxophone, and piano.  These boys played hardcore Jazz, with a Capital J., for an intense, frenetic performance.

Leaving the theater, my next venue was the beautiful Gothic architecture of St. George’s Anglican Church, and a chill set by the Chicago Underground Duo (Rob Mazurek, cornet, laptops and Chad Taylor, drums and vibraphone).  These guys make enormous music for a duo.

1:30 a.m. was the jumpoff for Kid Koala’s killer set, which played  past 3:00 a.m. Eric San has a gift, and that gift is kickassedness.  Not only is Kid Koala one of the world’s Premiere turntable artists, he is also a multi-disciplinary artist, blending his music with his own graphic arts and fiction.  No cut-up Tom Sawyer this time around, but the Kid did drop a spooky Moon River that has to be seen to be believed.

The Guelph Jazz Festival, running since 1994, is a jewel among Music festivals. Well run, clean, inclusive, entertaining, and memorable, to be sure. Nuit Blanche, the all-night event was an added bonus for jazz enthused insomniacs. See you next year, Guelph!

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