20
Carlton Street, Suite 1032, Toronto, ON
M5B 2H5
(416)
677-5883
langfieldent@rogers.com
www.langfieldentertainment.com
LE NEWSLETTER
May 31, 2007
The month of
May is behind us already and you know what that means? Yup - summer
is rolling itself out right before us! Man, Ottawa
Senators two games down in the series but just wait for the home
games! Keep those fingers crossed for Canada to take the Stanley Cup!
For the fans of Robin Thicke, as I
am, check out my recap of his concert at Koolhaus this past Sunday - and photos
in my PHOTO GALLERY.
June 6th is right around the corner and so is the CD release of Kayte Burgess' sophomore album, Checked
Baggage! The opening act of Voices Of The Underground featuring Wade
O. Brown, Ammoye, Henrii, Thomas Reynolds and Dane Hartsell performing their
original material as only they can, don’t miss it!
DK Ibomeka comes back to us strong
after his shows in Paris at Hugh's Room on Saturday, June 9th. And how
about a dose of the sounds of smooth jazz and steelband? Eddie Bullen,
Afropan, David Rudder and Demo Cates serve it up at Ivory
N' Steel on June 24th. Check all details below!
::HOT EVENTS::
Kayte Burgess CD Release Party – June 6,
2007
After lots of hard work, Kayte Burgess has finished her sophomore
album Checked Baggage. Working with various great producers like
Nu Vintage, Adrian Eccleston, 2 Rude, Buddah Brothers and Ali Shaheed Muhammad,
this album is a variety of sounds and textures to provide a little something
for everybody. Kayte Burgess is one of the hardest working
independent artists here in Toronto, and it shows in the new album, so don’t
miss the unveiling of this new album, a great live show and a chance to catch
Kayte before she heads south. Also be sure to catch the opening act of
Voices Of The Underground featuring Wade O. Brown, Ammoye, Henrii, Thomas
Reynolds and Dane Hartsell performing their original material as only they can,
don’t miss it!
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 6, 2007
KAYTE BURGESS CD RELEASE PARTY
Revival Bar
783 College St. (College and Shaw)
10:00 pm opening act - The voices of the underground
11:00 pm Kayte Burgess
$5 @ Door
$15 for admission and CD
Tel: 416-535-7888
www.revivalbar.com
DK Ibomeka Live At Hugh’s Room –
Saturday, June 9
Source: Wychwood Park Production
DK Ibomeka returns to Toronto for his first area show
since
his successful CD release concerts in Paris - where he was joined on stage by
jazz and soul legend Pee Wee Ellis (James Brown, Van Morrison) and
his European big band tour with the Diva Jazz Orchestra. DK
Ibomeka - nominated as Male Vocalist of the Year at both the 2007 National Jazz
Awards and the 2007 Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards - brings his passionate blend
of Jazz, Soul and Blues back to Hugh’s Room for the first time since June
2006.
DK will be accompanied by his quartet consisting of Michael Shand, Justin
Abedin, Russ Boswell and Roger Travossos. Don’t miss DK
Ibomeka at Hugh’s Room, Saturday, June 9 at 8:30 pm.
SATURDAY, JUNE 9, 2007
DK IBOMEKA LIVE AT HUGH’S ROOM
Hugh’s Room
2261 Dundas St. West (South of Bloor)
Tel: (416) 531-6604 - to reserve your ticket
8:30 PM
$15 advance / $17 at the door
www.dkibomeka.com
Ivory N’ Steel – Sunday, June 24, 2007
Source: www.eddiebullen.com
This exciting collaboration of Smooth Jazz
and Steelband music returns
to The Toronto Centre for the Arts this summer with another great line-up. Eddie Bullen & friends and the 25-member Afropan, present
an evening of hot jazz and soca entitled Ivory N’ Steel with special guests David Rudder and Demo
Cates in the George Weston Recital Hall at the Toronto
Centre for the Arts, one show only, Sunday June 24, 2007 at 3:00 PM.
Last year Ivory N’ Steel rocked the Toronto Centre For The Arts and had
hundreds of music lovers begging for more. This year’s show will be even
hotter, with David Rudder … “The Bob Marley of Soca”, and the seductive Demo
Cates, lending their power to the island sounds of Afropan and the titillating
tones of Eddie Bullen and his contemporary jazz flavoured with Caribbean and
Latin rhythms. Add to the mix surprise guests including young Quincy
Bullen – recently described by Pride Magazine as ‘a Quintessential star in the
making”, the best concert hall in Toronto, and this is one concert that you do
not want to miss!
Eddie Bullen: Performer, songwriter, arranger and producer Eddie
Bullen is, in every way, a standout amongst the latest generation of
multi-talented artists. Eddie's lengthy career has yielded an abundance of
awards and recognition for his outstanding talents. From his first album, 'Nocturnal
Affair' to his most recent 'Desert Rain', Eddie gives
his audience a taste of contemporary jazz, flavoured with Caribbean and Latin
rhythms." Eddie Bullen keeps audiences in Canada and throughout the
Caribbean on their feet and begging for more with his distinctive style. ‘His
compositions are audacious and sexy, titillating the senses’ ( New York
Daily News). Since his move to Toronto in 1980 from Grenada , Bullen
has worked with major Canadian artists like jazz singer Liberty Silver and pop
star Dan Hill. He also composes and arranges for City TV, YTV, CBC, and TMN*
the Movie Network. A three time nominee for Canadian Smooth Jazz awards, Eddie
creates is in constant demand. Visit Eddie at www.eddiebullen.com.
The Afropan Steelband (Afropan) is Toronto 's oldest community steelband
and by far the most successful. In 2003 they celebrated their 30th anniversary.
From 1973 to 2006 Afropan, under the leadership of Earl La Pierre Sr., has won
the best playing calypso competition at the Caribana Festival 26 out of the 34
occasions this competition has been held and has placed second on the
7other occasions. Afropan is a musical orchestra of which
the primary instrument is the steelpan. The steelpan (the pan) is a percussion
musical instrument made from a steel drum. The steelband is an ensemble of
steelpan instruments accompanied solely by an untuned percussion section. The
family of steelpan instruments can generally be divided into four sections;
soprano, alto, tenor and bass.
David Rudder: David was born in Belmont , Trinidad on May 6, 1953, and
began his musical career at age 11, when he joined a group called The
Solutions. In 1977, he joined the brass band Charlie's Roots.
Rudder has been musically influenced by the Shango and Pan yard that he grew up
in as a young boy, although his musical tastes have often leaned towards jazz,
and African drum beats. His first big break came when he was asked to fill in
for Christopher "Tambu" Herbert, lead singer with Charlie's Roots,
while on the band’s tour. Rudder stayed on as a co-lead singer, and built a
reputation for his scintillating performances. He established himself as
one of the few band singers who wrote all his own songs. David has been
featured in Rolling Stone Magazine, New York Times, The Village Voice, The LA
Times, Newsweek Magazine, Billboard, The London Observer, The Jamaica Gleaner ,
Now, and Miami Herald. He has won several awards for his popular and often
controversial songs, including Album of the Year at both the Caribbean Music
Awards, as well as the Nafeita Awards.
Demo Cates: Cates
has earned the respect of Jazz musicians at home and abroad with his visionary
method and superlative talents. Grown and developed in Detroit Michigan but
exposed and revered in Toronto , Cates is a mature Musician and Vocalist from
Detroit who in his words, 'plays on emotions and allows the sax to translate
inspiration in smooth and sensuous sounds.' The “7 Mile”, Latin and R&B
Music inspired Detroit native, credits the Motown era as his constant source of
motivation for his first band, The Fabulous Counts, a 4-piece band that opened
for greats like Al Green and Stevie Wonder.
SUNDAY, JUNE 24, 2007
IVORY N’ STEEL
Toronto Centre for the Arts - George
Weston Recital Hall
5040 Yonge Street
3:00 pm
Tickets: $40.00 and $35 orchestra and balcony; $30
To purchase tickets: call Ticketmaster at 416-872-1111
Visit www.ticketmaster.ca
(keyword IVORY N STEEL)
Or visit The Toronto Centre For the Arts Box Office, 5040 Yonge Street
::RECAP::
Robin Thicke - One Soulful, Cool, Blue-Eyed Boy
As I watched the fans file into the venue, I was struck by the vast diversity
of the audience, both in culture and age group along with singles and
couples. Only a unique artist can bring diversity like that – but they
all had one thing in common – the love of good music. That artist is Robin Thicke. [See photos in my PHOTO GALLERY.]
The night started by the usual warning that cameras were not allowed during the
performance, delivered by Toronto’s Scott Boogie. Just as Scott was about
to introduce the man of the hour, the road manager came out to say that Robin
never instructed that and that cameras were not only allowed but welcome.
A sign of a confident and low maintenance performing artist as Thicke brought
his soulful renditions to Koolhaus on Sunday night to a crowd of approx.
1,600.
The audience went from cooing to the romantic mood as they swayed to
their favourite track i.e. Lost Without You to doing the salsa to Everything
I Can't Have from The Evolution of Robin Thicke, Thicke’s third
offering. Robin also performed a few select tracks from is previous,
lesser-known CD entitled A Beautiful World, with his beautiful wife and
actress, Paula Patton (Idlewild, Déjà vu) gracing the cover.
But Thicke didn’t merely sing ballads and songs of angst from behind his
keyboard - he also jumped, rocked, grinded and conducted the audience through
their favourites including the tracks Cocaine and Complicated.
Of this album, Thicke confesses, "I think it's the result of the first few
years of my career as an artist, I was hiding, or not being confident in
myself, not thinking that I was enough, not thinking I was black enough for
black people or white enough for white people, or rock enough for rockers or
hip-hop enough for hip-hop and not being able to love myself just the way I
was, and think that I had something to offer. Then, after my first album fell
apart I realized that maybe the truth is the only thing that is going to work
with me."
The front row of fans were young women who never stopped screaming, singing and
straining to try to reach the stage in the hopes that Mr. Sexy would touch
their hands or look their way. Thicke’s band offered some hot licks and
sounded much larger than the four that accompanied him.
As some of you already know, Thicke was
born to Canadian entertainer Alan
Thicke (best known for his role on the sitcom Growing
Pains) and vocalist Gloria
Loring. Thicke also gave a special mention to
the fact that he is half Canadian and that some of his family were in the
room.
The message that Thicke kept coming back to was God and how powerful an
influence He has been in his life and ‘evolution’. A refreshing message
in today’s concerts, rather than saving the gratitude for some awards
show. It was truly a great night! Many thanks to Jill and Lynda
from House of Blues for facilitating me.
For more information, go to www.robinthicke.com.
::TOP STORIES::
Toronto's Sam The Record Man Closing
Excerpt from www.globeandmail.com -
Unnati Gandhi
(May 29, 2007) Toronto — Sam
the Record Man, a Yonge Street
staple since 1961 and once Canada's top music retailer, will be closing its
doors for good next month. Citing ubiquitous music downloads, Jason and Bobby
Sniderman, the sons of Sam Sniderman and present owners of the flagship Toronto
store, said rarely does a day go by without a story about declining CD sales.
“We are making a responsible decision in recognizing the status of the record
industry and the increasing impact of technology,” said Bobby Sniderman in a
press release. He would not elaborate when reached by telephone Tuesday.
The store will close June 30. Sam the Record Man has been the most prominent
victim of the ever-changing music industry in Canada. In 2001, the store
declared bankruptcy, liquidating most of its stock. It then reopened in 2002.
The business was squeezed by free music downloads on the Internet and rivals
such as Wal-Mart and HMV, often selling hit CDs at cut rates.
Among other things, Sam's had stood out from the competition for its
willingness to give Canadian records a chance. “You know, I've sort of
become an icon in my own time, the godfather of the recording-industry artists
and all that, and I love that part of it,” Sam Sniderman told The Globe and
Mail in 2001. “It's been my life.” His son, Bobby, agreed. “This is about more
than just bricks and mortar; Sam the Record Man is the most recognizable name
in the Canadian Music Industry, an iconic legacy that will forever endure and
perhaps, other opportunities will arise for us to develop the brand in the
expanding delivery of music,” he said in the release. Musician-actor Ronnie
Hawkins — who helped incubate such stars as The Band, including Robbie
Robertson and Levon Helm, and whose bands included David Foster, Domenic
Troiano, Amy Sky and Roy Buchanan — remembered Sam's being the only place he'd
go to get his music. "When I first came to Canada in 1958, he was the only
one on Yonge Street that I knew of. One of the first albums he'd ordered for us
was Muddy Waters." Mr. Hawkins, 72, called the closing "the end of an
era," adding that it was only a matter of time with "that new, fast
world we're in. There's no way to stop it unless you take the computers and
cell phones away from everybody, otherwise it's going to keep getting
faster."
The closing marks the end of an era for the Snidermans, who have been in the
record business since Mr. Sniderman began selling discs in the family's radio
store in 1937. He added an outlet in a furniture store in 1960, opened the
Yonge Street store the following year and began to create a chain through
franchising in the late 1960s. The two franchise stores in Belleville, Ont.,
and Sarnia, Ont., will remain open.
Multitalented Tonya Lee Williams Receives Prestigious African
Canadian Achievement Award
Source: Pennant Media Group
(May 26, 2007) On Saturday May 19, 2007, actor, director,
producer, writer and activist Tonya Lee Williams received the prestigious African
Canadian Achievement Award for her numerous contributions
to the North American arts community. The awards are one of the
most-anticipated premiere events for African Canadians, fostering a sense of
pride and a spirit of dignity within the community. “Based on her
sparkling credentials as a high-octane achiever who has risen to lofty heights
in the entertainment industry, Tonya Lee Williams is aptly qualified to receive
the African Canadian Achievement Awards’ Excellence in Arts/Entertainment
honour,” says Michael Van Cooten, the founder, chair and chief executive
officer of the ACAA. “Because of the many obstacles and challenges she has had
to overcome on her rise to stardom, Tonya clearly demonstrates that one’s
altitude in life is truly directly related to their attitude, and we are proud
to number her among our long and illustrious list of award recipients,” adds Van
Cooten. “In this entertainment icon, our youth certainly has a successful role
model worthy of emulation.” Williams is best known for her 15 years starring as
Dr. Olivia Winters on the daytime drama The Young and the Restless.
The role garnered her two NAACP Image Awards, two Daytime Emmy
nominations, a Harry Jerome Award, the 2005 ACTRA Award of Excellence and
others.
She is also the founder, president and executive director of ReelWorld Film Festival and ReelWorld Foundation, which
she started in 2001. ReelWorld is dedicated to promoting the excellence and
achievement of emerging diversity in film, video, and new media.
"I believe that all children are born for excellence" said Williams
in the opening remarks in her acceptance speech. "Our job is to remind
them that they are empowered beings with unlimited potential, able to create
their own destinies." Williams, still passionate about acting, recently
starred alongside Danny Glover in Clement Virgo’s film Poor Boy’s Game.
The film had its world premiere earlier this year at the Berlin International
Film Festival to rave reviews, and there are plans to release it to North
American audiences by Fall 2007. Williams is also the president and founder of
Toronto-based production company Wilbo Entertainment which has already produced
two television productions and is in development for its first feature film.
Splitting her time between Toronto, Los Angeles, New Mexico and Paris, Williams
explained that "as artists, we sometimes feel that we're working in a
vacuum and forget that there is even an audience who might be appreciating the
work - receiving this award reminds me who my work is really for."
For her diligence in creating more opportunities for emerging Canadian
talent in the entertainment industry, Toronto Mayor David Miller appointed
Williams to sit on the Toronto Film Board. Founded in 1985, the ACAA celebrates
the achievements, and pays tribute to the exemplary contributions of African
Canadians to their community, and the wider Canadian society. The ACAA also
acts as a catalyst, inspiring African Canadians of all ages and circumstances
to pursue and attain success and excellence in their lives. ACAA was
founded by its current Chief Executive Officer and Chairperson, Michael Van
Cooten, who is also the editor and publisher of Pride News Magazine. It
is organized and hosted annually by Pride News Magazine, under the stewardship
of Joan Pierre, the executive producer of the awards.
Working Toward Peace In The Middle East, One Joke At A Time
Excerpt from www.thestar.com - Bruce
Demara, Entertainment Reporter
(May 28, 2007) Three Israelis and a Palestinian walk into a
bar ... Now here's the punchline. Five months after an improbably successful
tour of Israel, including a stop in Arab-majority East Jerusalem, the same four
guys, representing both sides of the divide in one of the world's enduring
conflicts, are making their North American debut with The Israeli Palestinian Comedy Tour show at Roy Thomson Hall tomorrow . But can stand-up comedy play a
role in paving the way to Middle East peace? Hey, it couldn't hurt, so these
guys are giving it a shot and dishing out yuks along the way. "In America,
there are a lot of Arab-Jewish comedy teams. But there are no
Palestinian-Israeli comedy teams. That's the big thing we're doing. My question
is `why not?'" said Ray Hanania, a Palestinian-American Christian who got
the ball rolling. Hanania, a veteran award-winning journalist/columnist who
turned to stand-up comedy in the aftermath of 9/11, is acutely aware of how
incendiary the idea is. In 2002, veteran Jewish comic Jackie Mason refused to
appear onstage with him in Chicago after learning he was Palestinian.
Hanania first broached the idea of the joint show with fellow Chicago comic
Aaron Freeman, a black Jewish convert, and Charley Warady, a Jewish-American
who immigrated to Israel a decade ago. Rounding out the cast: Yisrael Campbell,
an Orthodox Jewish convert from Catholicism who also lives in Israel. Their
five-gig tour in January sparked a flurry of largely positive international
media coverage while generating hardly any dissent other than a token denunciation
from Palestinian leader Ismail Haniya. Howard Szigeti, creator of the acclaimed
Unique Lives and Experiences women's lecture series, decided bringing the
quartet to Toronto sounded "pretty cool." "Putting on my Ed
Sullivan hat for a moment, I thought `These guys are really, really funny and
they deserve to have an audience in North America,'" he said. He hopes to
book future North American dates. Author and civil rights activist Maya
Angelou, who had to cancel plans to introduce the event, said, "I think
that if these two (sides) can get together and make each other laugh, over the
miles of history ... I think that's worth encouraging, exhorting and
supporting." For his part, Szigeti is still amazed at the audacity
of the idea.
"There were no incidents, no protests, nothing. Everybody basically
rallied to the theme of the initiative: if we can laugh together, we can live
together," Szigeti said. For Hanania, the tour was not without personal
consequences. Upon returning to the U.S., several of his gigs before
Arab-American groups were suddenly cancelled. Still, Hanania said, the focus is
on comedy, not politics, in the upcoming Toronto show. "We don't have to
compromise our views to perform together.... I'm not trying to convince
Israelis that Palestinians are right and they're wrong ... and the Israeli
comedians aren't trying to convince audiences that Israelis are right and
Palestinians are wrong. "What we're doing is taking the things that people
accept, that drive their stereotypes, and we're ripping them apart."
Charles Nelson Reilly, Tony-Winning Comic Actor, Dead At 76
Source: Associated Press
(May 28, 2007) LOS ANGELES (AP) - Charles Nelson
Reilly, a Tony Award winner who later became known for his ribald
appearances on the "Tonight Show" and various game shows, has
died. He was 76. Reilly died Friday in Los Angeles of complications
from pneumonia, his partner, Patrick Hughes, told the New York Times
newspaper. Reilly began his career in New York City, taking acting
classes at a studio with Steve McQueen, Geraldine Page and Hal Holbrook. In
1962, he appeared on Broadway as Bud Frump in the original Broadway production
of "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying." The role won
Reilly a Tony Award. He was nominated for a Tony again for playing
Cornelius in "Hello, Dolly!" In 1997 he received another nomination
for directing Julie Harris and Charles Durning in a revival of "The Gin
Game." After moving to Hollywood in 1960s he appeared as the nervous
Claymore Gregg on TV's "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" and as a featured
guest on "The Dean Martin Show." He gained fame by becoming
what he described as a "game show fixture" in the 1970s and 80s. He
was a regular on programs like "Match Game" and "Hollywood
Squares," often wearing giant glasses and colourful suits with ascots.
His larger-than-life persona and affinity for double-entendres also landed him
on the "Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson more than 95 times.
Reilly ruefully admitted his wild game show appearances adversely affected his
acting career. "You can't do anything else once you do game
shows," he told the Advocate, a U.S. gay magazine, in 2001. "You
have no career." His final work was an autobiographical one-man
show, "Save It for the Stage: The Life of Reilly," about his family
life growing up in the Bronx. The title grew out of the fact that when he would
act out as a child, his mother would often admonish him to "save it for the
stage." The stage show was made into the 2006 feature film called
"The Life of Reilly." Reilly's openly gay television persona
was ahead of its time and sometimes stood in his way. He recalled a
network executive telling him "they don't let queers on
television." Hughes said Reilly had been ill for more than a year.
Barbados
On The Water Brings The Island Life To Harbourfront Centre
Source:
Barbados Tourism
(May
23, 2007) Harbourfront Centre, in partnership with the Barbados Tourism Authority and the
Consulate General of Barbados, are pleased to bring back for an 11th time
Barbados on the Water (June 15 To June 17), Canada's largest and most authentic
celebration of the stunning island nation and the unique beauty of
Barbadian culture. Barbados on the Water also coincides with the
40th Anniversary of the Independence of Barbados, all the more reason to
celebrate!
All
Barbados on the Water events are FREE admission unless otherwise
indicated. The soulful jazz of Marisa Lindsay, culinary
demonstrations from award-winning Barbadian chefs, free jewellery making
and floral arrangement workshops, a live Cricket Demonstration with legendary
pros Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes, plus plenty of activities for
the kids make Barbados on the Water an absolute must! The following
ticketed events present some of Barbadian culture’s top talents.
For tickets and for information on all Barbados on the Water events the
public can call 416-973-4000 or visit www.harbourfrontcentre.com
Ticketed Events
Friday,
June 15 and Saturday, June 16
7:00
p.m. Pampalam – Brigantine Room (both shows)
What
started 30 years ago at a little theatre in Bridgetown is now the longest
running stage show in Barbados. Their enduring comedy is a satirical
revue of Bajan life. Tickets: $15
Friday,
June 15
9:00
p.m. Rupee with opening act Neu Jenarashun – Harbourfront Centre Concert
Stage - Atlantic recording artist and soca music ambassador to Canada
performs his intoxicating melodies. Neu Jenarashun’s high energy soca
music opens. Tickets: $35
**On
Friday only: Buy Rupee and Monarchs show for $50!
Friday,
June 15 and Saturday, June 16
11:00
p.m. Monarchs with Boogie Knights Band - Brigantine Room (both
shows)
The
Boogie Knights Band will back up 6 of the outstanding Calypso Monarchs – The
Mighty Gabby, Serenader, T.C., Biggie Irie, Kid Site and Natalie. Led by
John Roett, this is immensely experienced and authentic Calypso. Tickets:
$30
**On
Friday only: Buy Rupee and Monarchs show for $50!
Friday,
June 15 and Saturday, June 16
9:00
p.m. The Bridgetown Festival Short Films – Studio Theatre
The
rich and colourful films of the Caribbean are the spotlight in this collection
from The Bridgetown Film Festival, presented by Festival
Director
Mahmood Patel. Tickets: $15
FREE Events
Visual
Arts (on display all weekend unless otherwise noted):
-Visual
Arts Exhibit Curated by Rodney Ifill (MBCS)
-Floral
Exhibit: Joan Linton and Shirley Anne Howell (MBCS)
-Heritage
Doll Collective Dr. Betty J. Cox and Valda Clarke (North
Breezeway)
-Michael
Naemsch Artworks (Sculpture Court) (Sat. and Sun. only)
-Barbadian
Inspired Caricatures by Alma Roussy (Sculpture Court) (Sat. and Sun. only)
-Andrea
Wells: Jewellery (Sculpture Court) (Sat. and Sun. only)
Friday,
June 15
Food:
6:00
p.m. to 1:00 a.m. – BOCC Fish Fry (Sculpture Court)
6:00
p.m. to 11:00 p.m. – BOCC (World Café)
6:00
p.m. to 11:00 p.m. – Pauline’s Bajan Cuisine (World Café)
6:00
p.m. to 11:00 p.m. – Bimshire Delectables (World Café) Music:
7:00
p.m. to 7:30 p.m. – Michael Forde (Toronto Star Stage)
8:00
p.m. to 8:30 p.m. – Voix Antillaises (Toronto Star Stage)
Saturday,
June 16
Food
(Saturday and Sunday):
12:00
p.m. to 1:00 a.m. – BOCC Fish Fry (Sculpture Court)
12:00
p.m. to 7:30 p.m. – Tropical Treets (Sculpture Court)
12:00
p.m. to 10:00 p.m. – BOCC (World Café)
12:00
p.m. to 10:00 p.m. – Pauline’s Bajan Cuisine (World Café)
12:00
p.m. to 10:00 p.m. – Bimshire Delectables (World Café)
3:00
p.m. to 5:00 p.m. – Mount Gay Rum Tasting (World Cafe)
1:00
p.m. to 2:00 p.m. – Food Demo with Angela Garraway-Holland
(Lakeside
Terrace)
4:00
p.m. to 5:00 p.m. – Food Demo with Chef Peter Edey (Lakeside
Terrace)
Literary:
12:00
p.m. to 7:30 p.m. – Different Booklist (Sculpture Court)
3:00
p.m. to 4:00 p.m. – Reading by Harold Hoyte author of “How to Be a Bajan” and
Alison Sealy-Smith tribute to Barbadian Storyteller the late Alfred Pragnell
with stories and verses by writer/director Jeannette Layne-Clark (Studio
Theatre)
Children
(Saturday and Sunday):
12:00
p.m. to 4:00 pm – Crop Over Mask-Making (Kids Zone Tent)
12:00
p.m. to 4:00 pm – Kids Face Painting (Tent 1)
1:00
p.m. to 1:30 p.m. – Gregory Fitt (Miss Lou’s Room)
2:30
p.m. to 3:00 p.m. – Maxine Cadogan (Miss Lou’s Room)
Workshop:
1:00
p.m. to 2:30 p.m. – Jewellery Making Workshop with Andrea Wells
(Lakeside
Terrace Tent)
Music:
2:00
p.m. to 3:30 p.m. – Marisa Lindsay and Eddie Bullen (Concert Stage)
5:00
p.m. to 6:00 p.m. – David “Ziggy” Walcott (Concert Stage)
1:00
p.m. to 2:00 p.m. – Michael Forde (Toronto Star Stage)
4:30
p.m. to 5:00 p.m. – Quintessential Boys (Toronto Star Stage)
Dance:
3:30
p.m. to 4:00 p.m. – Praise Academy of Dance (Toronto Star Stage)
Sunday,
June 17, 2007
Literary:
12:00
p.m. to 7:00 pm – Different Booklist (Sculpture Court)
Dance:
2:00
p.m. to 3:00 p.m. – Praise Academy of Dance (Concert Stage)
Music:
1:00
p.m. to 1:30 p.m. – Andy Earle (Toronto Star Stage)
2:00
p.m. to 2:30 p.m. – Michael Forde (Toronto Star Stage)
4:30
p.m. to 5:15 p.m. – Voix Antillaises (Toronto Star Stage)
3:30
p.m. to 4:30 p.m. – Tamara Marshall, Arturo Tappin & Boogie Knights Band
(Concert Stage)
5:30
p.m. to 6:30 p.m. – David “Ziggy” Walcott (Concert Stage)
Other:
12:00
p.m. to 4:00 pm – Sway Magazine Booth and Children’s Aid Society (Tent 2)
–Magazine giveaway and info on adopting through the Children’s Aid
3:00
p.m. to 3:30 p.m. - Cricket Demonstration with Gordon Greenidge and Desmond
Haynes
Barbados
on the Water at Harbourfront Centre, June 15 to June 17, 235 Queens Quay West,
Toronto. Information/tickets: 416-973-4000 or visit www.harbourfrontcentre.com
Performers And Presenters Announced For Second-Ever National DJ
Awards
TORONTO, May 30, 2007 – The Stylus Group , a
Canadian organization formed to recognize, develop and represent the urban DJs
of Canada, has announced that three-time Stylus nominee Jr. Flo; Canadian world-class Rapper
and nominee Belly ; and
emerging Canadian R&B singer/songwriter and nominee Addictiv will perform at the 2007 Rogers Stylus DJ Awards.
The awards, which will honour urban music’s top DJs, emcees, musicians and
record labels in 23 categories, is taking place on Monday, June 4th
in Toronto. Jr. Flo, who is nominated for Mixtape DJ of the Year,
Club DJ of the Year, and Toronto DJ of the Year , will kick-off
the evening with an exclusive performance including his band The Symphony. Belly, who is nominated
for Canadian Hip Hop Single of the Year , will bring-down-the-house with
American platinum-selling rapper Kurupt. Addictiv, nominated for Canadian R&B Single of the
Year , will represent for her hometown Montreal and perform her unique
fusion of today’s R&B and edgy Hip-Hop alongside a surprise international
guest. Also announced today were the star-studded presenters for the
2007 Stylus DJ Awards. Top notch artists set to present awards include
Canadian musical elite: Kardinal Offishall, Jully Black and Red 1, to name a few.
Vancouver DJ of the Year nominee DJ Rexx , one of
Vancouver’s most sought after DJs and nightclub promoter, and Edmonton DJ of
the Year nominee Harmon B , who can be heard live weekends on The
Bounce 91.7FM, will also present at the show. “The
outstanding Canadian talent that will be performing as well as presenting at
the Stylus DJ Awards will make for a unique and exciting show,” said Mike
Zafiris, creator of the Stylus DJ Awards, who added that this year’s ceremony
will debut four new categories and concludes a four-day Stylus weekend
jam-packed with DJ-driven events, a reflection of the Stylus Group’s commitment
to growth. (Please visit www.stylusgroup.ca for information on all Stylus
happenings.) The 2007 Rogers Stylus DJ Awards will be hosted by Club
MC of the Year nominees, RG and Trixx. DJ Starting
From Scratch , three-time winner from the 2006 awards, will be the official
DJ of the 2007 Stylus DJ Awards. The highlight of the
night’s special recognitions will be two Canadian Hall of Fame
inductions. Killowatt Productions , the youngest of the Toronto DJ
and Hip Hop-culture pioneers who emerged in the late 1970s and were the only
sound crew that had both a female DJ and female emcee, and Dr. Soul “Len P”
, who opened Club 747 in 1983 to introduce Funk, R&B Hip Hop and Soul to
the Ottawa-Hull region and started a weekly Sunday specifically for youth to DJ
and break dance in Confederation Park, will be the second-ever DJs admitted
into the Stylus DJ Awards Canadian Hall of Fame for their lifetime
contribution to the urban music industry.
The Stylus DJ Awards is Canada’s only national DJ awards show. The
awards were created in an effort to acknowledge the success of urban DJs,
emcees, musicians and record labels for their strong influence on Canada’s
music and entertainment industry, and for their contribution to pop
culture. It was the brainchild of Mike Zafiris, and the attention and
level of success the awards show received last year, prompted its return again
this year. The event is co-presented by Rogers
Music Store and the Nokia 5300 XpressMusic mobile phone. Generous
supporters also include: MuchVIBE, Flow 93.5FM, Sean John,
Yahoo Canada, Ortofon, American Audio, Pioneer, Capital Prophet, Universal
Music, Sony BMG, Warner Music, Koch Entertainment, myTego Inc.,
TheCyberkrib.com, and Dose.ca. The 2007 Rogers Stylus DJ
Awards will take place on Monday, June 4th in Toronto at the
Palais Royale Ballroom, 1601 Lakeshore Blvd. W. Doors will open at 7 p.m.
for nominees and performers to walk the Red Carpet and the Awards Show will
commence at 8 p.m. Tickets are still available for $25 through Ticket
Break and Play De Record in Toronto. For more information on the Stylus
DJ Awards, including a complete listing of nominees, please visit www.stylusgroup.ca
or email info@stylusgroup.ca.
::MUSIC NEWS::
Feist
Unspoiled By Her Success
Excerpt from www.thestar.com - Pop Music Critic
(May
26, 2007) Oh, dear, the Leslie
Feist crowd is starting to look a little
"bourgeois" these days. Not sure what it means for the Canadian indie
community now that one of its favourite daughters abroad has found great
international success with the Dockers-and-Burberry set. But whatever personal
crises of credibility might be forthcoming amongst her longtime fans,
justification for Feist's growing star power is always right there in her live
set. Although she did a hush-hush private gig at the Music Gallery during
Canadian Music Week, the former Toronto resident and sometime Broken Social
Scene-ster hasn't officially been to town since her third album, The
Reminder, became a No. 2 hit at home and a Top 20 hit south of the border
earlier this month. Her gig at Massey Hall last night – the first of two
consecutive sold-out shows at the venue – was, thus, the first opportunity for
local supporters to commune with the first glow of nascent pop success and confirm
that it hasn't, you know, spoiled everything. It hasn't, of
course. A major reason why Leslie Feist is doing so well is her live
show, always an exercise in effortless charm and the poised, perfectionist
musicianship of her artfully restrained five-piece band. The records can be a
little too precious and torchy for some tastes sometimes, but put that chick in
front of a microphone – two, generally; one for singing and one for looping,
distortion and choral effects – and let that voice go to work and pretty much
everyone's a fan for at least a song or two. On Feist's own terms, too.
Last night's set opened with an eerie version of the stark, skeletal lullaby
"Honey Honey" that instantly rendered the cavernous room pin-drop
silent, then switched gears entirely with the jubilant country-rocker
"Feel It All" before settling mostly into a stream of lovelorn,
late-night slow-burners that made the most of Feist's gossamer vocals and
minimalist, jazz- and bossa nova-inflected arrangements.
True, a bit more of this former punk rocker's rock 'n' roll side would be
welcome. Both the bounding "My Moon My Man" – which featured some
tongue-in-cheek choreography by Feist and the airline-crew dancers from the
video clip shot at Pearson – and the climactic stomp of "Sea Lion Woman"
released a lot of energy pent up in a slightly sleepy, if wholly enthralled
crowd, only to revert to quiet mode again. How can you complain about a
girl who coaxed 3,000 concertgoers to sing in perfect harmony and invited
couples up on stage to slow-dance for "Let It Die," though? You try
that. Doesn't work for everybody, and that's why Feist is a star.
Happy
50th Birthday Old CHUM
Excerpt from www.thestar.com - Entertainment Columnist
(May
26, 2007) Nostalgia ain't what it used to be. As Toronto's once-formidable
hit-making powerhouse, now the classic "oldies" Top 40 station, 1050 CHUM, gears up for its 50th anniversary bash today, a big
question hangs over this key event and, indeed, over the station's year-long
celebration of its humble beginnings on May 27, 1957. We'll get it out of
the way right off the top: Does boomer radio have a future, or is this its
ecstatic terminal rush? Common sense and radio ratings more or less prove that
with the decline of the massive demographic force exerted on global culture by
post-World War II children, now in their late 50s and early 60s and heading for
shelter, vintage rock and pop ceases to have much meaning for subsequent
generations of radio listeners. Nor do such endearing domestic trappings
as 1050 CHUM's culture-defining, high-rotation Top 40 playlist, its
once-omnipotent deejays, its career-making CHUM Chart, its traffic-stopping
stunts and contests (now the trademark property of MuchMusic and the video
age), and memories of the heady days of pre-FM rock beaming in on
transistor-powered portable wireless receivers. "There will always be an
oldies format, but it won't be music of the 1950s, '60s and '70s," veteran
music journalist, radio consultant and Canadian editor of the North American
music industry bible Billboard, Larry LeBlanc, told the Star.
"As listeners age, the more they want the music of their youth. As boomers
decline, we'll hear more and more 'oldies' from the 1980s and `90s."
And that will happen on the stereo FM band, not on mono AM, which has long
since ceased to be a factor in the marketing and dissemination of music, and,
except for some holdouts in Canada, has been handed over entirely to talk,
sports, news and to fringe religious and special interest operators, LeBlanc
added. In the Southern Ontario market several vintage music formats still
thrive on old AM frequencies – notably Hamilton's CKOC 1150 pop/rock station,
and CHAM 820 classic country music outfit, as well as Toronto's AM 740 pre-rock
pop music station. That so little music remains on AM is "lamentable,
because the music that was made for AM radio still sounds so good on the AM band,"
LeBlanc said. "And it's still viable territory. If radio hadn't been
so quick to abandon music on AM after the FM revolution in the 1970s, if it
hadn't got rid of its talent and burned out the repertoire by running the hits
into the ground, it would still be an entertaining medium with a potential
audience of eight to 10 million in this country. "It was absurd to
throw it away." In CHUM Radio's main studio in its iconic 1950s-style
building on Yonge St., the mood is understandably more optimistic, even as Bell
Globemedia Inc. prepares to assert its recently approved ownership of CHUMCity
Broadcasting. It was a radio and television empire that began with the
purchase by the late Allan Waters of a sunrise-to-sunset broadcast licence for
a few thousand dollars in 1957, and was sold last year for nearly $2 billion.
"I really hope the format has a future on AM," said Bob Laine, the
station's original overnight deejay and for 20 years one of the most powerful
and likeable radio personalities in Toronto. "The music will always appeal
to young listeners who are discovering pop and rock for the first time, and it
speaks to young listeners.
"It's simple, uncomplicated and timeless." For Duff Roman, who for
years was Laine's opposite number at the edgier CKEY before jumping to CHUM in
the late 1960s – the two men enjoyed a unique friendship, against the express
orders of their corporate bosses, often getting together at shift's end for a
coffee, or hanging out in each other's studios hidden behind baffles and blinds
– 1050 CHUM will always be "a Toronto icon, a statement of the city's
sensibility in the years it dominated the radio market. "I think that
sensibility survives, and I hope, so will 1050 CHUM," added Roman, who
brushed aside a reminder the station hasn't always been so sentimentally
attached to the golden-era format. For a brief period in 2001, CHUM cavalierly
dropped its long-established identity in favour of sports and talk, only to
rethink its options a couple of ratings books later. And while CHUM was indisputably
the engine that powered the Canadian music machine in its heyday, it didn't
always have its finger so tightly on the city's music pulse. It may have begun
airing the Beatles a full year in advance of U.S. stations, thereby vaulting to
the top of the Toronto radio pile, but its playlists, LeBlanc pointed out, were
remarkably devoid of blues, soul and R&B in the years when Toronto's more
adventurous teenagers were tuning in after dark to black music from Detroit,
Rochester, Buffalo and beyond. Even Elvis and the Rolling Stones had a
hard time breaking the CHUM family-music code, finding a Toronto home first on
CKEY.
And the famous CHUM Chart, entrée to which guaranteed huge sales dividends, was
compiled from information no more reliable than a handful of Toronto record
store sales estimates. A hundred thousand copies of each of the 900 weekly CHUM
Charts were printed between May 27, 1957, and April 26, 1975, and delivered,
mostly by CHUM deejays and staffers in the early years, to every record store in
the city, as well as convenience stores, concert venues, clubs and large public
events, such as the CNE, where CHUM had a presence in the form of a broadcast
trailer. "It wasn't exactly scientific, and it was vulnerable to
unscrupulous record companies with access to our key retailers," admitted
Roman, who enjoys the fabulous distinction of having produced The Band after
their split from Ronnie Hawkins and before they were taken under Bob Dylan's
wing. "There were scandals and bent noses ... but for more than 20
years, the CHUM Chart ruled. CHUM was an all-purpose radio station. There were
no genre distinctions for radio in those days. On a given chart you could have
artists as diverse as Marty Robbins, Hugo Winterhalter, the Everly Brothers and
Elvis. Back then a hit was a hit, and the CHUM Chart was untouchable." And
so are the memories that remain 1050 CHUM's exclusive territory, at least for
now. Many of them have been embellished and painstakingly resurrected over the
past three years by Laine and longtime CHUM producer Doug Thompson in the CHUM
Archives pages on the Rock Radio Scrapbook website (rockradioscrapbook.ca).
It includes detailed text as well as segments of actual broadcasts by former
CHUM personalities Al Boliska, Dave Johnson, Laine, John Spragge, Donny Burns,
Chuck McCoy, Tom Rivers, Scott Carpenter and "Jungle Jay" Nelson,
among others. The station's own website (www.1050chum.com),
also houses a Toronto-centric photo and text treasury of enormous size and
complexity. But for Laine and Roman, who will help launch and promote
other special events during the remainder of CHUM's 50th anniversary year,
nothing compares to the memory of feeling the hair on the back of their necks
rise when the Beatles played Maple Leaf Gardens in September 1964. They were
radio rivals and CHUM clearly owned this city. "None of us had ever seen
anything so exciting," said Roman, for whom Fats Domino once cooked a
steak on a hotplate in his Toronto hotel room, and to whom Louis Armstrong –
for reasons he never made clear – gave a New Orleans constipation remedy.
"The noise of the screaming women was overwhelming, disorienting.
Backstage, George Harrison was frightened. "When Elvis performed at the
Gardens in 1957, it was a polite, well-behaved country music concert. Something
had happened to Toronto in the years between, and CHUM was part of that
change. "For the first time, the people who played the music were the
same age as the people who made it. For the first time, Canadian musicians –
The Band, David Clayton-Thomas, Luke Gibson and the Apostles, Ian & Sylvia,
The Guess Who, Michel Pagliaro, Gordon Lightfoot – could hear their music on
the radio, on Top 40 radio, alongside the Beatles and the Stones and Elvis.
"It was a magic moment."
What
Makes The Cliks Noteworthy Is The Band’s Music
Excerpt
from www.thestar.com -
(May 24, 2007) There is, as some of you are
probably aware, what we in
the newspaper business call a "hook" to the story of the Cliks. I won't belabour it, because doing so might diminish
the Toronto quartet's real and very gritty rock 'n' roll chops and lend its
recent, cross-border breakout with the album Snakehouse the air of an
easy rise when it has been anything but I'm going to bring the hook up again,
though, for two reasons: One, because it is cool that a fine cat like Lucas
Silveira is on the verge of becoming the first transgendered pop heartthrob
ever to register on mainstream radar (take that, South Carolina!).
And, two, imagine how much it must suck to go through the year Silveira just
had, come out of it with an album that's earned fond critical comparisons to
peak-period Pretenders, the White Stripes and David Bowie, and then have to
deal with people who don't take his band seriously because whatever hells he's
gone through on the road to properly, contentedly becoming Lucas Silveira are
suddenly just a "gimmick" to sell records. That's
"hells," plural, by the way. When the wheels that got the Cliks where
they are today were first set in motion a few years ago, they really were – as
Rosie Lopez, the Tommy Boy Entertainment A&R guru who signed the group to
its U.S. deal with the queer-focused Silver Label recently remarked – "a
whole different band." For one thing, Silveira was a folkie recently
soured on the acoustic-troubadour scene and still going by the name of Lilia
when the formative Cliks recorded a self-titled indie debut three years ago.
But that original, all-grrrl trio was also long gone by the time the disc
started turning heads. "They were with me for probably about a year
and a half," recalls Silveira, born into a working-class family and
encouraged to take up guitar and "every other instrument I could get my
hands on" from the age of 11 by a trumpet-playing father who fancied
himself the Portuguese Elvis. "And then the album starting getting some
attention, just through the indie press and everything like that, and we did a
video, and the bass player decided she didn't want to be in the public
eye. "And then, about three weeks later, my drummer decided she
wanted to concentrate on her own material and she quit, too. "It sucked.
It was just really disappointing. But you know, it's like that old saying:
everything happens for a reason. It was kind of strange, too, because Morgan
Doctor, who's the drummer now, happened to be at the last show that I did with
the two of them." When it rains, of course, it pours. So at about the same
time, fate beset Silveira with as many concurrent life trials as possible to
impede the Cliks' future. This was all set against the backdrop of his decision
less than a year ago to realize his true identity through medical means, giving
birth to the nascent rock star we hear coming into his own and venting some
serious spleen on Snakehouse.
Safe to say, then, that the cliché about songwriting-as-catharsis actually
holds true in this case? "Yeah, kind of," says Silveira. "I went
through this really bad break-up – I was in a relationship for about 6 1/2
years and that ended and I started writing and, about two weeks later, my dad
had a stroke. Then another week later, I had a friend who was diagnosed with
cancer. Then my grandmother died. Then my band members quit, all around this
time. And then I was, like: `Oh, yeah. I'm trans. This is great.'
"So I just kinda lost it for awhile. But I started writing really intense
music and something good came out of it." While upheaval reigned at home,
a couple of chance air-travel encounters had landed the first Cliks album in
the hands of both Tommy Boy's Lopez and the manager of one Cyndi Lauper.
Neither bit at first, but when the Cliks were returned to their attention a
matter of months later with the superior Snakehouse in hand and the
managing might of Canadian Idol judge Jake Gold at their backs. A
recording contract with Silver Label to match the band's Canadian deal with
Warner Bros. followed and a choice spot alongside Debbie Harry, Rufus
Wainwright, Erasure and the Dresden Dolls on Lauper's forthcoming "True
Colors" summer tour (due at the Molson Amphitheatre on June 19) ensued.
Clearly, fine and lasting first impressions had been made. Silveira's
tough-as-nails rebound from a mid-set asthma attack onstage at Austin's
agenda-setting South by Southwest festival this past March only sweetened the
deal. Snakehouse bassist Jordan B. Wright has since departed the band,
but respected local drummer gadabout Doctor (she did four years with the
Toronto Tabla Ensemble) has stuck around with new bass player Jen Benton and
temp-turned-permanent second guitarist Nina Martinez ("She just rocked so
hard we had to keep her) to solidify the Cliks into the rock-solid unit
Silveira wanted from the beginning.
Which is for the best, given the summer of touring with the "True
Colors" horde and beyond that awaits. Endless airplay on MTV's Stateside
LOGO network, inclusion on The L Word soundtrack and endorsement from
Lauper and comic Margaret Cho – to say nothing of a seething re-version of
Justin Timberlake's Britney-break-up anthem "Cry Me a River" – have
already guaranteed the Cliks a readymade army of international supporters on
the queer side. Now, the challenge is to leverage that early exposure
into total world domination without letting championing by the
gay/lesbian/bi/trans community turn into the band's raison d'être.
"This is the thing. Silver Label in the States, their whole thing is not
about signing gay bands –they're about signing bands that are listened to by
the queer community, but crossing them over to the mainstream is their goal and
they thought they could do that with us," says Silveira. "I
think everybody wants a story and they want something to focus in on, and the
fact that I'm trans-gendered is a new thing, so they want to go that route.
"I'm not surprised. Not that we're getting attention, but that we're
getting attention over the fact that I'm trans. "It happened before
the album came out and I decided: `You know what? It's who I am, take it or
leave it.' I'm not gonna sit around and tell people something that I'm not.
"It doesn't bother me or anything. I'm really confident that the music is
there and if this is something that could be seen as gimmicky, I think as soon
as people listen to the music, it'll be certain that this is not what it's
about. It's just coincidental."
Who: The Cliks, with We Are the Take.
Where: Lee's Palace, 529 Bloor St.
When: Tonight, 9 p.m.
Tickets: $10 advance from Rotate This, Soundscapes, Horseshoe
Tavern and Ticketmaster.
Make
Way For Desi Day
Excerpt
from www.thestar.com - Staff Reporter
(May 24, 2007) As a teenager growing up in
Malvern, Sathish Bala listened to hip-hop, reggae, R&B,
house – anything but South Asian music. "I don't think I heard a single
Indian track until I went to university," says Bala, 32, who runs a
digital marketing company and is a deejay in his spare time. Now he hears South
Asian tunes everywhere – on mainstream radio and in local restaurants and
bookstores. "It's cool to play Punjabi music loud when you're driving.
We're not shy anymore. It's about renewed pride and identity," Bala says.
Adds his business partner Vijay Sappani, "With the explosion of South
Asian music internationally and the growth in population of desis (people from
the Indian subcontinent) here, it's hot." It's why the duo are launching desiFEST – billed as a non-stop 12-hour extravaganza of music –
from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. at Yonge-Dundas Square this Saturday. "There's a
lot of musical talent in our community and we want to showcase that. There were
so many artists we had to politely turn down because we just could not fit them
in," Bala says. The free event will feature more than 30 Canadian artists
of South Asian origin, as well as cooking demos, arts and crafts vendors and
dance workshops. The line-up is meant to mirror the range and evolution of
South Asian music in Canada, starting with the traditional classical tunes
brought over from the Indian subcontinent by immigrants decades ago to
modern-day jazz, rock and pop fusion numbers created by subsequent generations
of artists here.
Both Sappani and Bala are Tamils who immigrated to Toronto from Chennai – Bala
in 1989, while Sappani arrived a decade later. Renowned artists such as qawwali
singer Shahid Ali Khan (who performed with legendary Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan),
virtuoso drummer Trichy Sankaran on the mrdangam and kanjira, and Friends of
Raagas singing ghazals and bhajans will kick off the day. That first part of
the show "honours the traditional stuff, music that came to this country
with our parents and grandparents," says Sappani, 31, national manager for
a pharmaceutical company. A two-hour deejay competition from 4 to 7 p.m.
featuring spins by DJ Baba Kahn and others marks the transition between
old-world musical traditions and more modern fusion styles. The second half of
desiFEST is more "masala" (mix), Bala says. "Any time you bring
a bit of who you are from another country and you fuse it with a multicultural
environment like Canada, it's naturally going to mix. So what we're seeing
today is second- and third-generation South Asians who have found a way to
appreciate the old and create something that's new to us. It's a different
twist with the same roots." Headlining the evening are performances by
Montreal-based duo JoSH and The Bilz, best-known for their international hit
single "2Step Bhangra" Toronto rock band Zameer, Indo-jazz group
Tassa, a Bollywood fever segment featuring Sundar Viswanathan and Devika Mathur
as well as pop singer Priya and R&B sensation Deesha, fresh from her recent
Juno nod.
Age limits don't apply, Sappani says. "Younger kids are into classical
music and their parents can also rock. It's more of an attitude toward music.
It's how it makes you feel and that has no age boundaries." Of course, you
don't have to be desi or understand the language to enjoy the tunes, says Bala,
who speaks Tamil but, as a DJ on 88.1 FM, spins mostly Punjabi and Hindi
remixes. "I have no idea what they're saying, but music is a universal
language. You get the beats and guess what the meanings are." With
committed sponsorship from RBC, Bala and Sappani have ambitious plans to expand
the festival to two days next year and hold it simultaneously in Vancouver and
Toronto. For more info, see desifest.ca
With His Current Tour, Danny Michel
Gladly Puts Career In His Own Hands
Excerpt from www.thestar.com - Greg
Quill, Entertainment Columnist
(May 25, 2007) If the record business were not a
dysfunctional mess, Danny
Michel would be a star by now. He knows it, his
legions of fans across Canada know it, his musical peers know it and the dudes
who run his former label know it. You'd think 50,000 sales over six titles
would be enough to win the exceptionally gifted songwriter, singer, producer
and guitarist his bona fides, particularly in an age when CDs are disappearing
down a post-digital rabbit hole and major stars are retailing in the
single-digit thousands. But the record business is broken, and apparently
Michel's CDs have not stuck to the right walls in sufficient numbers over the
past 10 years to warrant continued corporate indulgence. So, with Danny
Michel Live, a concert DVD/unplugged CD package that wraps up its
protagonist in nifty, easy-to-digest bites, Michel, 37, is taking things into
his own hands, striking at the heart of the ailing empire with a cross-country
solo tour designed, financed, promoted and executed entirely by himself.
The show comes to Harbourfront's Enwave Theatre tonight. "I'm doing this
independently, managing myself, sitting on the phone from 9 to 5, playing solo
... and every penny I've put into this project is mine," Waterloo,
Ont.-based Michel said during a recent interview. "I'm doing my own
producing and manufacturing, and as an artist I'm making myself abundantly
clear to as many people as I can." The 17-song DVD features Michel
and his occasional band, The Black Tornados, in a 10-camera chronicle of
packed-house performances at Toronto's Mod Club last spring and fall. The
20-song CD, a retrospective of what Michel considers the best songs of his
career to date, was recorded live in Michel's living room "with just
guitar and voice and a couple of low-tech microphones," he said.
"This is all you need ... some moving images on one hand and an acoustic
record of the best songs, nothing fancy, and stripped down as far as they can
go. I figured the best place to start is with the songs in their barest form,
no solos, no embellishment ... no way to be misunderstood." Sales of the
$20 package at shows across Canada have been brisk, and Michel has already
recouped his investment. But what astonishes him is how rapidly copies of the
vinyl LP version of the acoustic album Welcome Home are being swept up
at a premium price. "The vinyl comes with a coupon that enables free
digital downloads of all the songs," he said. "It's my way of making
up for disappearing CD sales, and it's really working." He's a writer of
luminously clever, witty and intelligent lyrics whose unwitting mentors were
Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, David Bowie and the Clash, and a guitarist who grew
up under the influence of then progressive avant-gardists Robert Fripp and
Adrian Belew.
Michel has often confounded his admirers by slipping around established musical
niches and stereotypes, and shifting more or less on a whim from roots forms to
hard rock, from orchestral jazz rock to punk fury and commercial pop. He's also
a producer of note, with recordings by singer Damhnait Doyle, guitarist and
former Bowie sidekick Earl Slick, Saskatchewan's roots-pop band AA Sound System
and Vancouver songwriter Leeroy Stagger to his credit, and a hired sideman who
performs regularly as Sarah Harmer's guitarist, and with 1960s Canadian pop
legend Andy Kim and British electronica outfit Dragonette. "I love doing
all these very different things: producing, playing guitar, writing, running a
band," continued Michel. He recently recorded a pilot program for CBC
Radio – Under the Covers, a music show dedicated to the best and worst
cover versions of popular songs – with co-host, Toronto singer-songwriter Emm
Gryner. The pilot aired Monday. "I work really hard, from the second I
wake up in the morning till when I pass out at night. My goal was always to
have a life in music without getting a day job. I guess I've made it."
American Idol Winner Is Youngest Yet
Excerpt from www.globeandmail.com -
Associated Press
(May 23 2007) LOS ANGELES — Jordin Sparks, a teenager with a big
voice and big dreams, was crowned Wednesday as the newest and youngest American Idol. Sparks, 17, of Glendale, Ariz.,
prevailed over beatboxer Blake Lewis, 25, of Bothell, Wash., after a triumphant
performance Tuesday that wowed the show's judges and the viewers who gave her a
majority of the record 74 million votes cast. “Mom, Dad, I love you,” Sparks,
the daughter of retired NFL player Phillippi Sparks, said tearfully after a
bearhug from Lewis. The contest came down to either the stronger singer,
Sparks, or the better entertainer, Lewis. Sparks delivered her songs simply and
powerfully; Lewis' flourishes included his sound-effects beatboxing and sharp
dance moves. The finale pulled out the stops and the stars, with Gwen Stefani,
Smokey Robinson, Tony Bennett, Bette Midler, Green Day and more performing. The
two-hour show opened with Lewis and Sparks dueting on the Beatles I Saw Her
Standing There, followed quickly by a touring Stefani singing 4 in the
Morning via satellite from Massachusetts.
Midler took the stage as the show came toward its close, singing The Wind
Beneath My Wings. Past Idol winners and this season's contestants
got a hefty share of attention, starting with first-season winner Kelly
Clarkson. She performed her new single Never Again, with the gritty rock
song matched by her black dress and thigh-high boots. Carrie Underwood, the
fourth-season idol, sang I'll Stand by You and was honoured by legendary
music mogul Clive Davis for reaching six million in sales for her debut album, Some
Hearts. Taylor Hicks, last season's winner, also had his moment in the
finale sun, as did Ruben Studdard, the winner from year two. Robinson, a Motown
great, performed Being with You after the top six male contestants,
including fan fave Sanjaya Malakar, sang Ooh Baby Baby, a hit for
Robinson and his group the Miracles. Blake, whose beat-boxing scored with
viewers, performed with veteran rapper Doug E. Fresh on his old hit, The
Show. It was a signature moment for a contest that has introduced young
viewers to Gershwin and other standards. “True originals,” host Ryan Seacrest
said of the duo.
Gladys Knight took the stage with the six female finalists, belting out I
Feel a Song and Midnight Train to Georgia. Bennett performed a
mellow version of For Once in My Life that ended with a big finish. “A
true idol, Tony Bennett, ladies and gentlemen,” Seacrest gushed, with good
reason. Melinda Doolittle, arguably the best Idol contestant to miss out
on the finale, returned to impress the crowd again as she sang Hold Up the
Line with gospel stars BeBe and CeCe Winans. “She has proven in the last
few months to be spectacular,” BeBe Winans said backstage of Doolittle. The
show took a serious turn when Green Day performed A Working Class Hero is
Something to Be, a single from Instant Karma: The Campaign to Save
Darfur, a fundraising album for the embattled region. The finale also had
its share of filler, including bits such as the “Golden Idols,” an award
saluting the oddest of odd auditions, or the worst. The winners included
Margaret Fowler, who proudly accepted her trophy and recited poetry after
smooching Seacrest. Hundreds of American Idol fans lined Hollywood
Boulevard leading up to the theatre before the show. “I'm obsessed with the
show. I auditioned for it this past season. I'm just coming out to show my
love,” said Sarah Blackmon, 19, who drove more than two hours from San Diego
County to attend the finale. “I don't like picking favourites. They say it's a
music competition, so Jordin's going to win,” Blackmon said, but added, “I
think Blake's really hot.”
One of the series' executive producers, Cecile Frot-Coutaz of FremantleMedia
North America Inc., said Tuesday she'd be happy with either contestant as the
new idol. “These are some of the most commercial finalists we've had since
Carrie Underwood,” Frot-Coutaz said. “Either one will make a great winner for
the show and the brand. They both have the potential to sell many records.” For
their final performances, both contestants sang This Is My Now, the tune
picked by viewers in an online American Idol songwriting contest
introduced this season, along with two other songs of their choice. On Tuesday,
judges Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson made their choice clear. Diplomatic Paula
Abdul kept her counsel as usual, praising both singers. Although the judges
didn't have a say in the decision their opinions have the potential to sway
voters. “You were the best singer tonight. You deserve it all, baby!” Jackson
told Sparks. “You just wiped the floor with Blake,” added Cowell, who then told
Sparks he was wrong for initially thinking she wasn't good enough to win the
Fox talent show.
“I would say the best individual performance of the night was Blake on the
first song,” Cowell said. “But, based on overall singing — Jordin.” Lewis
opened the show Tuesday with a reprisal of his infectious interpretation of Bon
Jovi's You Give Love a Bad Name. The crowd was thrilled the judges were
less taken with Lewis' voice than his performance as a whole. “Blake, you're
not the best singer in this competition. But you're the best entertainer I
think we've had,” Cowell said. He later chose to sing the Maroon 5 hit She
Will Be Loved. Sparks crooned Christina Aguilera's “Fighter” and offered a
soulful take on Martina McBride's Broken Wing. Lewis stumbled over the
contest song, This is My Now, while Sparks soared on the ballad. Before
the finale, Cowell spoke warmly of Doolittle and what wasn't to be. “I'm
pleased for the two of them,” Cowell said of Sparks and Lewis. “They're nice
kids. But I would have liked to have seen one of them up against the big
singer.”
Life Of A Ladies' Man - Leonard Cohen
Excerpt from www.globeandmail.com
- Sarah Hampson
(May 25, 2007) Montreal — The park is like a poem: self-contained and
spare. Smokers sit on benches in the morning drizzle. Pigeons swoop over a
small gazebo, under the limbs of stately trees. There is a solemn-looking
house, three storeys high with a grey stone facade. It's the only one that
faces this park in the east end of Montreal, and it's his. There are two big
front doors, side by side. No numbers. No bell. No indication which one is
right. You just pick, and knock. There is more than one way into the world of Leonard Cohen, and on this day in late April, they are
all open. Cohen, now 72, novelist, poet and singer/songwriter, is a cornerstone
of Canadian culture, but he dances in our heads mostly unseen, like a beautiful
idea. It is rare that he makes himself available for scrutiny. Here he is,
though, a gentleman of hip in black jeans and an unironed dress shirt beneath a
pinstriped grey-flannel jacket. Atop his thick white hair, combed back off his
deeply lined face, a grey cap sits at a jaunty angle, and in the breast pocket
of his jacket, instead of a handkerchief, he keeps a pair of tinted granny
glasses. Standing in the cramped foyer to which both front doors open, sporting
a wry, knowing smile, he politely ushers you into the house (once partitioned
into two dwellings) that he has owned for over 30 years. Now is a new Cohen
moment, and while he acknowledges that his increased creative activity is
partly to compensate for the millions he lost in royalties at the hands of his
former manager, he seems to be enjoying the attention. Next week, as part of
Toronto's Luminato festival, his drawings get their first exhibition, at the
Drabinsky Gallery. There's a new concert work by Philip Glass, inspired by
Cohen's art and poetry from his 2006 Book of Longing, which was
published after a 13-year silence. In 2004, he released his 17th album, Dear
Heather.
Earlier this year, expanded editions of his first three albums hit the market,
as did the critically acclaimed CD, Blue Alert, that he worked on with
his lover, Hawaii-born songstress Anjani Thomas. There is nothing off limits in
a discussion with Cohen. Sit with him, and the candid revelations come in
conversation, in an exchange that is both as playful and solemn, as rich and
layered as his work. Over a bottle of Château Maucaillou, Greek bread, a
selection of Quebec cheeses and a fresh cherry pie, bought for the occasion
from the local St-Laurent Boulevard merchants, you learn that he prefers to
sleep alone; that he is no longer looking for another woman; the real reason he
secluded himself in a Buddhist monastery for almost five years; and that a small,
faded portrait of Saint Catherine Tekakwitha, the 17th-century native woman and
heroine of his novel Beautiful Losers, hangs on the wall in his kitchen,
above a table holding a fifties radio and a telephone with on oversize dial
pad. He will entrance you in the stillness of a moment that stretches to five
hours, and in the end, because you happened to ask, playfully, he will say
sure, come back any time for a soak in the claw-footed tub, one of several in
his house, that sits in a closet of a bathroom under the slope of the stairs.
“I think of it all as notes,” Cohen says in his rich, deep voice. Seated at a
long pine table in the dining room, which overlooks the park, he is talking
about his drawings in a casual, almost shy way. A collection of self-portraits,
landscapes, objects and portraits of women, sketched throughout his life – in
Greece, when he lived on the island of Hydra; on Mount Baldy, at the monastery
outside of Los Angeles where he was under the tutelage of Zen master Kyozan
Joshu Roshi; in Montreal; in L.A., where he has a second house; and during
travels in India – they will be sold in signed, limited-edition prints.
“There were years when I would do a self-portrait every morning. I have
hundreds of them. It was just a way to start the day with a kind of device to
wake up.”
“Like a cigarette?”
“Instead of a cigarette.”
He quit four years ago, on a doctor's advice.
“I do miss it,” Cohen says. “Much longing,” he adds, almost in a moan. (He once
wrote a poem about the “the promise, the beauty and the salvation of
cigarettes.”) “I said I'd start smoking again at 85.” He allows a pause. “If I
make it.”
He continues to flip through a copy of Book of Longing, which contains
many of the drawings, several that have been manipulated and coloured with
Photoshop on his laptop. “Here's a good one,” he points out, reading the words
beside a self-portrait of glum bewilderment, dated Nov. 18, 2003. “Back in
Montreal. As for the past, children, Roshi, songs, Greece, Los Angeles. What
was that all about?” His self-portraits never depict him as happy. “Well, who
is? Is this unique to me?” he asks with a soft chuckle. His friend and fellow
poet, the late Irving Layton, once described Cohen as “a narcissist who hates
himself.” “I was able to speak to myself in a very frank sort of way,” Cohen
continues. “I would do it while I brewed my coffee. I would set up this little
wood Wacom tablet, and a mirror, a little mirror, and I'd just do a very quick
sketch and then, what that sketch suggested, I would write something.” The
drawings are “transcendent decoration,” he says, touching one on the pages with
the tip of a forefinger. “If it has any value at all, it's because it's
harmless and doesn't invite any deep intellection.” He points to variou
