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NEWSLETTER
January 10, 2008
Can you feel the momentum for 2008 picking up? Yeah, me too.
I have yet another special CD giveaway for you to help kick off the year - it's
Universal's The Dream. If you can
tell me the name of his debut CD, then you could be a winner. Don't
forget to include your full name and mailing address or you can't
qualify. Look for the answer under SCOOP.
OK, so the information is all here for your reading pleasure. Have a look
and a scroll - and all feedback is welcome.
::TOP STORIES::
Milt Dunnell, 102: Sports Journalist
Excerpt from www.thestar.com
- Dave Perkins, Sports Reporter
(January 04, 2008) Three weeks ago, a few
days shy of his 102nd birthday, Milt Dunnell was playing
blackjack at one of his favourite casinos. This, by the way, is not saying much
because when it came to casinos, they were almost all his favourites.
But turning cards – doing what he loved –
at that age? Who among us would not sign that scorecard? The question arises
today because the scorecard is finally filled in for one of Canada's – make
that the world's – great sports journalists. The Toronto Star legend
passed away peacefully at 11:30 last night, aged 102 years and just over a
week. It was a phone call his many friends and admirers had been expecting
sooner or later, but with Milt it was always later.
He'd be rolling his eyes, at least, about
now. The last thing he cared for was any kind of attention. He had a pact with
the late Jim Coleman, another standout sports writer of a far greater time in
(and for) this business: If either heard of a testimonial dinner or similar
kind of social ambush being warmed up, they would quietly warn the intended
victim to make travel plans. It's no wonder Milt's services will be small and
private; he'd have voted for no services. The best way to remember Milt here
will be to go stand at a craps table and parlay the hard eight in his honour.
He didn't smoke, hardly ever cursed and,
somewhat amazingly from an era in a business that produced far too many stories
whose punch line involved extreme on-the-job drunkenness, he didn't drink.
Recreational gambling was his only vice and, like many of the great writers
from those days – including his contemporary Coleman and his disciple Jim
Proudfoot – he knew his way around the racetrack and knew the characters (and
those larcenous of heart) both on the backstretch and in the directors' lounge.
His horse racing stuff reads like literature and it's no surprise that after
several decades of writing sports, including regular columns for the Star
almost into his 90s, Dunnell always said watching and writing about Northern
Dancer was his No. 1 thrill.
That would be professional. Personally, he
loved to spot a sucker coming toward his desk. There was never a shortage.
The late Star publisher Beland Honderich,
whom Dunnell caused to be hired at the Star in 1942, was a favourite
wagering partner. He showed up every Monday morning to pay off, too, or
occasionally collect.
"He was always generous giving you
your choice of bet," Honderich once said. "But when it got to the
odds, he was sharper.
"But I can tell you one thing,"
Honderich said of attempts to get even. "He was a bum on the golf
course."
Not always, though, said his great pal
George Gamester, retired Star columnist. "One day Milt and I were
hacking it around Buttonville, his course. He would have been 80-ish. We're
just scraping it around and after about 12 holes I said, `Milt, why don't we
have a little wager? Maybe it will give us some incentive.'
"Well, I should have known by the
glint in his eye when he said, `That's okay by me.' From then on, he never
missed a fairway or a putt. I'll never forget him waving the $6, or whatever he
won," Gamester said.
Was Dunnell beloved? Now and then,
possibly more now than then.
He sometimes played the mean tough guy,
jabbing fingers and asking hard questions from under a stylish fedora on the
old Sports Hot Seat, a 1960s television staple. Once, he took on Gene
Kiniski – this was verbal, mind you; Milt was the kind of guy who had to run
around in the shower to get wet – and the champion wrestler's fans took offence
at some nugget of information or phraseology. A brick presently was hurled
through Dunnell's front window, at the North York home he lived in for several decades.
He responded by blowing the dust off an
old rifle – it might have been a muzzle-loader – and keeping it handy until
wife Dorothy (herself gone some 15 years) asked him what he was thinking about.
"You shoot that thing and it might kill both of us," she said.
Dunnell never suffered fools too gladly,
but most of his hard edges were only on the business side. He was both
approachable and helpful to fresh faces in the press box and as kind a guy,
even to competitors, as came along. If you wanted to know something from
Dunnell, all you needed to do was ask him.
Elsewhere in this paper today and in
others where the written word still is appreciated, they'll be telling Dunnell
stories, usually with an appreciative shake of the head and small smile.
Dunnell, born Dec. 24, 1905 – the same day
as Howard Hughes, if you're counting legends – didn't dwell on the fact that he
had pretty much seen it all before, whatever it is. He prided himself on his
work being, and staying, fresh. He could hang black crepe when necessary, but
he spent much of his work time looking forward.
There was a time, though, in the auxiliary
press box in the upper deck at the Metrodome in Minnesota, maybe 90 minutes
before the World Series began in 1987. A handful of baseball writers had
finished their plugger columns and were killing time with a little game: What
was your favourite memory from the first World Series you covered?
It went around the circle and the younger
guys talked about We-Are-Family in 1979, or Carlton Fisk's home run in '75. The
older guys mentioned Bob Gibson and Mickey Lolich from 20 years before.
Somebody saw Bill Mazeroski in 1960 and another old-timer spoke of the Brooklyn
Dodgers and '55. Dunnell said nothing until prodded, knowing he would win this
one by a landslide. He recounted how "Oom Paul" Derringer, a big
righthander for the Cincinnati Reds, pitched two complete games, including Game
7. The year had been 1940.
The other writers politely deferred. But
what else was new? When it came to Dunnell, we always did. We always will.
Album Sales Plunge
Excerpt from www.thestar.com
- Alex Veiga, The Associated Press
(January 03, 2008) LOS ANGELES–U.S. album sales plunged 9.5 per cent last year from 2006,
continuing a
downward trend for the recording
industry, despite a 45 per cent surge in the sale of digital tracks, according
to figures released Thursday.
A total of 500.5 million albums sold as
CDs, cassettes, LPs and other formats were purchased last year, down 15 per
cent from 2006's unit total, said Nielsen SoundScan, which tracks
point-of-purchase sales.
The shortfall in album sales drops to 9.5
per cent when sales of digital singles are counted as 10-track equivalent
albums. About 844.2 million digital tracks sold in 2007, compared to 588.2
million in 2006, and digital album sales accounting for 10 per cent of total
album purchases.
Last year, Apple Inc.'s iTunes Music Store
became the third-largest music retailer in the U.S.
Nielsen does not provide revenue figures.
Overall music purchases, including albums,
singles, digital tracks and music videos, rose to 1.35 billion units, up 14 per
cent from 2006.
The recording industry has seen CD album
sales decline for years, in part due to the rise of online file-sharing, but
also as consumers have spent more of their leisure dollars on other
entertainment purchases, such as DVDs and video games.
Warner Music Group Corp. artist Josh
Groban had the best-selling album with Noel. The album, a collection of
Christmas songs, sold around 3.7 million copies.
A soundtrack for The Walt Disney Co.'s
popular High School Musical franchise was second with around 2.9 million
units sold.
The Eagles' comeback album, Long Road Out
of Eden, scored the third spot, selling around 2.6 million copies, despite
being independently released and available for purchase only at Wal-Mart
stores.
Three out of the five top-selling albums
for the year were released late in the fourth quarter.
Among last year's other top selling albums
were a Hannah Montana soundtrack and offerings from Alicia Keys, Fergie
and American Idol alum Doughtry.
The major recording companies' album
market share remained ostensibly the same from 2006, with Vivendi SA's
Universal Music Group holding a 31.9 per cent share, up slightly from the
previous year.
Sony BMG Music Entertainment, a joint
venture of Sony Corp. and Bertelsmann AG, continued to rank second with 24.97
per cent, though it dropped 2.4 per cent from 2006.
Warner Music remained third-largest, with
a 20.2 per cent share, an increase of 2.1 per cent.
Britain's EMI Group PLC ranked fourth
among the majors, with a 9.3 per cent share, down nearly 1 per cent.
The decision by some major recording
artists to push back album releases initially anticipated for the fourth
quarter last year may have contributed to the decline in album sales.
One trend that should prove encouraging to
record labels: 50 million albums were downloaded last year, a 53 per cent
uptick.
"That says consumers are embracing
both the track format and the digital album format," said Rob Sisco,
president of Nielsen Music.
In all, 23 per cent of music sales were
derived from digital purchases, Sisco said.
A report released in November by Jupiter
Research LLC forecast digital music sales will continue to grow to $2.8 billion
(U.S.), comprising 34 per cent of U.S. consumer spending on music in 2012.
The recording industry continued to
benefit from mobile music, with mobile phone owners buying 220 million
ringtones, the firm said.
The holiday season brought an upswell of
music purchases, with music sales in the last week of the year totalling 58.4
million units, the biggest sales week ever recorded by Nielsen SoundScan.
David Pakman, chief executive of
eMusic.com Inc., attributed strong holiday sales at the online music retailer
in part to an apparent pick up in sales of low-cost digital music players.
"That's showing us that digital music
adoption is reaching into some price-sensitive areas," Pakman said.
EMusic subscribers downloaded nearly
500,000 tracks and audio books on Christmas Day alone. The company's paid
subscriber base exceeded 400,000 at the close of the year.
2008 Arts Preview
Excerpt from www.globeandmail.com
FILM
Scorsese, Mendes, Harold and Kumar
RICK GROEN
This, you may have noticed, is the time of year when rear-view mirrors compete
with crystal balls, when journos
proudly drape themselves in pundits' garb, looking back to assess the past and
peering ahead to predict the future. Happily, in an industry so rooted in tradition
(read: sequels, remakes and rusty formulas) as the movie biz, predicting is a
much easier game. There, the rear-view mirror is the crystal ball, and
what was is always a pretty good indicator of what will be. So, a squinting
Nostradamus, I am prepared to eyeball the coming months and offer these modest
but bet-the-house-on-it musings.
There will be, in 2008, movies with numbers after their titles, and most will
prove yet again that the bigger the number, the paler the imitation. The
exception? Bond 22, of course, only because Daniel Craig is an actor
with serious resurrecting powers, blessed with the brains and the brawn to put
the "Oh!" back in 007. Elsewhere on the franchise front, Harry
Potter will continue to potter away in the late fall, Narnia will
chronicle anew in the early spring, and neither will disappoint too much or
amaze in the slightest. Dearly hoping to amaze after his recent spate of
relative clunkers, Steven Spielberg will be remining that old motherlode, the Indiana
Jones saga, with Harrison Ford out to show that age cannot wither him, nor
custom stale his finite variety. We'll see about that.
There will be continued advances in the kind of CGI technology that allows
intrepid directors to make the puerile action of comic books look really,
really realistic. This will remind me of the continued advances in technology
that allow John to text-message Mary instantly from across vast distances, an
innovation that neatly sidesteps the niggling question: "Yeah, but does
John have anything to say to Mary?" Speaking of comic books and their
cinematic adornment, Hollywood talent scouts will do what they have long done
best: Spot a smart and visually gifted foreign director — in this case,
Guillermo del Toro of Pan's Labyrinth fame — and offer him big bucks to
fritter away his skills on the likes of the Hellboy series. Yep, watch
for Hellboy II on July 11 — that would be summer blockbuster season.
What else? There will be another Michael Moore doc, complete with more
accusatory wagging of his chubby middle finger. And there will be our very own
Mike Myers, attempting in The Love Guru to combine in a single movie his
twin passions in life: the sensible one for humour and that twisted, risible,
tragic one for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
I'm guessing, too, there will be plenty of romance comedies dotted with that
ubiquitous love-in-bloom montage, followed by the breaking-up-is-hard-to-do
montage, each scored with some sappy tune telling us what we already know. More
predictable still, there will be lots of celebrated thespians giving lots of
brief interviews to lots of attentive media, all confirming something else we
already know — that the famous have precious little to say, and the fawning
abundant time to listen.
Yet this also will come to pass: The movies, as they always do, will offer
pleasant, even joyous surprises. The surprise could be delightfully small —
just a fancy-tickling line of dialogue, or a lovely shot bursting out of an
otherwise mundane palette. Or it could be major, like the emergence of a talent
as vibrantly unique as Ellen Page, or of a film so gripping, and so rich in
emotional fallout, that you leave the theatre with your world view momentarily
changed — the same streets look different, the same heart beats faster. Here,
then, are five upcoming pictures that could alter your landscape and quicken
your pulse. No guarantees, but maybe, just maybe.
Shine a Light: Martin Scorsese, who has borrowed so liberally from the
Rolling Stones to score his own movies, now goes directly to the source. This
is a concert film, and, since the Stones can still put on a credible concert,
and Scorsese knows a thing or two about capturing rock on film, here's hoping.
(April 4)
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay: They were a hoot in White
Castle and, if terrorists and torture and wrongful detention can be made
the stuff of politically incorrect yuks, these two are just the boys for the
job. (April 25)
Revolutionary Road: Based on the once-neglected and now-revered Richard
Yates novel, this tale of suburban angst is directed by a veteran of the genre
— Sam Mendes, brandishing his American Beauty credentials. With Kate
Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio in the warring leads, Yates's dispatches from
domestic hell threaten to be searingly raw. (Slated for release on Dec. 19)
Where the Wild Things Are: Take Maurice Sendak's groundbreaking
children's book, then add to the mix director Spike Jonze who, in Adaptation
and Being John Malkovich, has been known to break a little ground
himself. It might be a sublime match. (No release date yet.)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Curious, indeed, given the mix of
talents here: Cate Blanchett, Brad Pitt and Tilda Swinton starring in a David
Fincher adaptation of an F. Scott Fitzgerald story, the one about a man who's
born old and ages backwards. Sounds like a fine idea in this youth-worshipping
culture, and, perhaps, if we just began the calendar in December and reversed
to January, we could all trick ourselves into doing the same. In which case,
Happy Old Year. (Nov. 26, on the current calendar)
THEATRE
The first look at Stratford's new gang of four
MICHAEL POSNER
If buzz is any criterion, it promises to be an exciting year for theatre in
Canada.
At Stratford, there's eager anticipation about what the new creative team of
four will achieve. Antony Cimolino, Marti Maraden, Des McAnuff and Don Shipley
— have replaced Richard Monette, festival artistic director for 14 years.
Befitting the recently renamed Stratford Shakespeare Festival, this season is
rich in the Bard — Romeo and Juliet (directed by McAnuff), Hamlet (Adrian
Noble), The Taming of the Shrew (Peter Hinton), All's Well That Ends
Well (Maraden) and Love's Labour's Lost (Michael Langham).
But there are several novel productions as well, including Fuente Ovejuna,
by Shakespeare's Spanish contemporary Lope de Vega, The Trojan Women by
Euripides, Caesar and Cleopatra, by George Bernard Shaw and the Canadian
premiere of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's Emilia Galotti, directed by
Germany's Michael Thalheimer.
A few hundred kilometres southeast, in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., Shaw Festival
artistic director Jackie Maxwell has assembled an appealing playbill that
features two Bernard Shaws ( Mrs. Warren's Profession and Getting
Married) and two musicals ( Wonderful Town and A Little Night
Music, Stephen Sondheim's musical adaptation of Ingmar Bergman's film Smiles
of a Summer Night, directed by Morris Panych).
Black Watch, an acclaimed production of the National Theatre of Scotland
arrives in Toronto as part of the city's Luminato festival in early June. Based
on interviews conducted by playwright Gregory Burke, the drama deals with the
lives of British soldiers who served in Iraq, focusing on the Scottish regiment.
Jointly with the CBC, the Mirvish organization is staging The Sound of Music
— the lead part of Maria to be cast during a six-week reality TV series called How
Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria.
Next month, the Mirvish organization is importing a much-celebrated production
of The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Part I and II, adapted
from the Dickens novel in a new version by David Edgar.
Meanwhile, impresario Aubrey Dan unveils the crown jewel in his inaugural
subscription season, Des McAnuff's Tony Award-winning production of Jersey
Boys, at Toronto's Centre for the Performing Arts Aug 21.
The smaller Toronto companies have yet to announce their 2008-09 programs, but
there are intriguing possibilities in what remains of the current seasons.
Factory Theatre has two short works by a much-talked-about young playwright,
Hannah Moscovitch, Russian Play and Essay, opening Jan. 19. The
Canadian Stage Company has assembled a formidable cast — Fiona Reid, Seana
McKenna and Joseph Ziegler — to mount Sarah Ruhl's comedy, The Clean House,
starting Feb. 11. And the Tarragon is offering Michael Frayn's acclaimed Democracy,
directed by Richard Rose, starting Feb. 26.
While Olympic hoopla is some way off, Vancouver's theatre community has claimed
2008 as its year for athletic achievement — and border crossings.
Clark and I somewhere in Connecticut is shaping up to be the
didja-see-it star of the always-stellar PuSh International Performing Arts
Festival (Jan. 16 to Feb. 3). When actor/writer James Long discovered a
suitcase full of photo albums, he and his buddies from the theatre underground
embarked on a quest to reconstruct the archivist's life — and turn her into a
play.
The Playhouse also has at least one new trick up its sleeve: Morris Panych will
direct his adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler's The Amorous Adventures of
Anatol, a story, laced with that classic Panych snarl (Feb. 16 to Mar. 8).
And Canada truly comes to town when The Magnetic North Theatre Festival
(June 4 to 14) corrals the finest English theatre in the country on Vancouver
stages. At the centre of the action is Hive 2, a bento box of small,
interactive dramas presented by 11 British Columbia companies.
With files from Michael Harris in Vancouver
MUSIC
The buzz is that The Fly is coming to the opera house
ROBERT EVERETT-GREEN
Given what we're doing to the planet these days, 2008 may find no better
musical outlet for the state of things we're in than the forthcoming opera
version of The Fly, David Cronenberg's 1983 film about a guy whose DNA
gets scrambled with that of a housefly when his teleporter device acquires one
bug too many. Howard Shore is writing the music, Dante Ferretti (who won an
Oscar for art direction on the film The Aviator) is doing the sets, and
the show will open at the Paris Opera on July 1 and at Los Angeles Opera on
Sept. 7. The L.A. premiere comes one day after former stand-up comedian Woody
Allen's debut as an opera director (talk about a freaky transformation) with
the same company in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi.
Also in 2008, Toronto's Royal Conservatory of Music will open its
much-anticipated expansion of its Victorian headquarters, including a new
recital hall. What I saw of the project during a hard-hat tour was very
impressive. Maybe we'll also hear some positive news of l'Orchestre symphonique
de Montréal's continuing efforts to build a concert hall, which has attracted
hefty government support but no private development partner as of yet.
Perhaps this year we'll move closer to some more rational, comprehensive model
for the distribution of digital music. Radiohead's experiment with a
hybrid system (pay-what-you-will for an MP3-quality download album and pay
regular price for a later hard-copy issue) may, when all the numbers are in,
turn out to be viable for many other musicians.
Maybe people will start to get fed up with the often tinny sound of ear-buds
attached to miniature music players, and we'll have a rebirth of interest in
what used to be called hi-fi. In my utopian 2008, Neil Young's three concerts
at Massey Hall in November could launch a related movement among performers to
rethink the merits of the one-night stadium show. A big-box experience
may be okay when you're buying a table-saw, but so many musicians end up subverting
their own music in these cavernous hockey barns. Recent experiments in
high-definition movie-house broadcasts by high-brow organizations like the
Metropolitan Opera may spark some similar activity among popular musicians. A
lot of people might actually prefer a broadcast of Led Zeppelin from a historic
London theatre to an evening spent squinting at them from the upper reaches of
Montreal's Bell Centre, assuming the band would even tour.
And I'm hoping for exciting if not life-changing recordings from quite a few
musicians next year, including kd lang, Hot Chip, Hayden, Cat
Power, Magnetic Fields, Kronos Quartet, Beck, Laurie
Anderson, Goldfrapp, Erykah Badu, Sam Phillips, Luke
Doucet and Shelby Lynne. And that's just in the first quarter.
Events high on my radar for the coming year include the Canadian Opera
Company's production of Janacek's final opera From the House of the Dead,
apparently the first full production in Canada (opening Feb. 2); Ben Heppner's
Metropolitan Opera HD broadcast of Tristan und Isolde (March 22); New
Music Concerts' Toronto celebration of the music of 20th-century pioneer Edgard
Varese (next Saturday and Sunday); new-music festival s from
orchestras in Winnipeg (Feb. 2-7), Toronto (April 9-17), Ottawa (March 26-29)
and Windsor (Jan 28-Feb. 3). I'm also looking forward to the next editions of
the Calgary Folk Music Festival, the Hillside Festival in Guelph,
Ont., the Osheaga Festival in Montreal, the Halifax Pop Explosion
and the Dawson City Music Festival.
PUBLISHING
Trade hopes buyers' focus turns to content, not price
JAMES ADAMS
After all of last year's fuss and fury, huffery and puffery, have Canadians had
enough of Conrad Black and Brian Mulroney?
Toronto-based McClelland & Stewart is betting the answer is no. The
long-established publishing house, which marks its 102nd birthday this year, is
planning to publish an exposition on corporate governance and legal persecution
by the convicted former media baron. Black reportedly began writing it early
last year after completing his 1,152-page Richard Nixon biography, The
Invincible Quest, which M & S published as a $45 hardcover last May.
Meanwhile, Mulroney is on tap to add an afterword to his 1,152-page tome, Memoirs
1939-1993, which M & S is issuing as a trade paperback in early
September. The former prime minister is expected to expound on the Karlheinz
Schreiber affair, which he only flicks at in the acknowledgments in the current
hardcover. It won't, however, be an exhaustive treatment; that's for another,
bigger book that M & S hopes will surface by the end of the decade.
More immediately, the Canadian publishing industry is going to be occupied for
the next several weeks with fallout from the 2007 autumn/Christmas season. How
many unsold copies of, say, Jean Chrétien's autobiography will be flooding back
to Knopf Canada from the Indigo chain, which, depending on whom you talk to,
accounts for 65 to 80 per cent of Canada's retail market? And what impact did
the various discounts that multinational publishers, distributors and
booksellers offered on U.S.-originated titles have on their bottom lines as the
industry tried to adjust to the rise of the Canadian dollar?
Just how volatile the swings in the exchange rate will be in 2008 is, of
course, anybody's guess right now. That said, expect to see fewer dual prices
on U.S.-originated titles for sale here — and if a book does carry both a U.S.
and Canadian suggested list price on its cover, there's probably going to be no
more than a 10 or 12 per cent discrepancy between the two. Simon & Schuster
Canada, for one, has indicated it's adopting a blend of the two regimes: It
plans to have a Canada-only price on about 150 U.S.-originated titles for sale
this spring, but that price will be slightly higher than the American price.
The hope here, of course, is that the price issue that dominated discussion and
generated so many headlines in the last four months of 2007 will recede, and
consumers will concentrate on content more than cost. Certainly the Canadian
lists for this year appear to offer an eclectic feast for the eye and mind.
Among the highlights: new fiction from A Complicated Kindness author
Miriam Toews (a novel called Who Do You Have?), Rawi Hage (a novel, C
ockroach), David Bergen (a novel, The Retreat), poet Patrick Lane (a
debut novel called Red Dog, Red Dog), Bill Gaston (a Champlain-themed
work of historical fiction called The Order of Good Cheer), Mavis
Gallant (a collection of little-known short fiction), Joseph Boyden (a novel
following on the success of Three Day Road), 1997 Giller Prize nominee
Shani Mootoo (a novel). Also on tap: an anthology of excerpts from the winners
of the Scotiabank Giller Prize.
Non-fiction authors with new titles that should spark interest include Gabor
Maté ( In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Encounters with Addiction), former
Globe and Mail science writer Alanna Mitchell ( The Deeps), Taras
Grescoe ( Bottomfeeder: A Seafood Lover's Journey to the End of the Food
Chain), John Ralston Saul ( A Fair Country) and Stewart Berman,
who's edited an oral biography of Broken Social Scene called This Book is
Broken.
Other things to keep an eye on:
Canada Reads: The contest begins its seventh annual instalment in
February on CBC Radio One. Along with the Scotiabank Giller Prize — which marks
its 15th anniversary in November — it's become the only guarantor of
bestsellerdom for a Canadian novel or collection of short stories in this
country. Look for a repeat of the phenomenon once the winner from this year's
short list of five is announced Feb. 29.
Indigo Books and Music: The retailer will continue as the dominant
player in the sector but you're going to see more indies and mini-chains
opening stores in niche locales in our larger cities carrying a carefully
edited selection of titles. TYPE Books in Toronto's Forest Hill Village, which
opened barely a month before Christmas last year, and Ben McNally Books in
Toronto's Bay Street hub — it opened last summer — are two examples of the
trend.
Canadian history: The genre has had a tough go sales-wise in the last
five years. But Penguin Group (Canada) is hoping it can buck the trend with its
Extraordinary Canadians series, which makes its debut in March. With John
Ralston Saul as general editor, the series pairs a well-known writer (and not
necessarily one associated with non-fiction) with a well-known deceased
subject. Among the combos: David Adams Richards and Lord Beaverbrook, M.G.
Vassanji and Mordecai Richler, Charlotte Gray and Nellie McClung, Wayne Johnston
and Joey Smallwood, Joseph Boyden and Louis Riel/Gabriel Dumont.
TV
Writers' strike may have a silver lining for Canadian TV
JOHN DOYLE
So, what next in the season of the Hollywood writers' strike?
As everyone involved in the TV industry steps into 2008, the atmosphere is
twitchy, the mood is acrimonious. Here in Canada, nervousness is pervasive.
The writers' strike in the United States has made the year 2008 the great
unknown. When will the strike end? Nobody knows. The pilot season — that time
when studios and broadcasters order scripts for upcoming shows to air in the
2008/09 season — would normally already be under way. Now, it's kaput.
This means that come fall, 2008, we might see a new TV season like none before
it — one that's hastily done, half-arranged and still very much in development
when it starts.
In Canada, January is the real start to the TV season, and CBC plans to
launch several major dramatic series in the next few weeks as well as a
high-profile reality series. The writers' strike may have a silver lining in
Canada — the lack of new episodes of hit series might draw bereft viewers to
Canadian content they wouldn't normally choose. On the other hand, all these
new Canadian series may fail to have an impact, and the U.S. channels might
ignore the Canadian content that's for sale. Hence, the nervousness.
The good news for viewers is that there will be some excellent TV in the first
few months of 2008. There are great cable shows coming. And some of those CBC
series are definitely worth your time.
First, the U.S. networks: They've got reality shows ready to roll, and the
great juggernaut of network TV, Fox's American Idol, returns on Jan. 15,
unaffected by the strike. And they've still got scripted series held in reserve
for the mid-season.
NBC's Law & Order has already returned (here on CTV) with new cast
members. Law & Order: Criminal Intent also comes back to NBC on
Wednesday. Fox's Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles — airing here
on CTV — starts on Sunday, Jan. 13, then moves into its regular Monday slot the
next day for the second part of a two-night premiere. A follow-up to the movie Terminator
2: Judgment Day, it chronicles what happens when Sarah (Lena Headey) goes
on the offensive against that pesky technological enemy bent on destroying her
life and perhaps the world. Her son, 15-year-old John Connor (Thomas Dekker),
knows that he may be the future saviour of mankind. Fox also has New
Amsterdam, a moody thriller about an immortal detective (Nikolaj
Coster-Waldau) in New York.
ABC has the Sex and the City-inspired Cashmere Mafia, starting
tomorrow, with Lucy Liu and Bonnie Somerville, about four women pals in New
York. In direct competition is NBC's Lipstick Jungle, starting Feb. 7.
Written by Sex and the City creator Candace Bushnell, it stars Brooke
Shields and Kim Raver ( 24) as successful women seeking love in New
York. Meanwhile, ABC also has Eli Stone, starting Jan. 31 (in Canada on
CTV), a drama starring Jonny Lee Miller as a hallucinating lawyer. The eight
completed episodes of Lost are expected to air on ABC and CTV at the end
of the month.
Whatever happens in the coming months, the key issue behind the strike by U.S.
TV writers — the streaming of TV shows on the Internet — is likely to dominate
the TV landscape for the year and beyond. The manner in which TV is delivered
to viewers is changing constantly. Fortunately, there is still a lot of quality
TV to be delivered and enjoyed.
Here are five to watch:
The Wire (HBO/TMN, Movie Central): The show, returning for its final
season tomorrow about cops and drug dealers in Baltimore is easily the most
ambitious, intricate and powerful U.S. TV drama ever made. And the new season
doesn't disappoint. Creator David Simon, an ex-newspaper man, uses The
Baltimore Sun paper as a backdrop to the continuing battle between forces that
are equally flawed and compelling.
In Treatment (HBO/TMN, Movie Central, starts Jan. 28): This production
stars Gabriel Byrne as Paul, a psychotherapist who seeks therapy for himself
because, under his calm demeanour, he's a total mess. A half-hour drama-comedy,
it will air Monday to Friday, with four episodes devoted to Paul seeing his
patients and the fifth episode covering Paul's session with his own shrink.
Would Be Kings (CTV, date to be announced): This two-part miniseries
loosely based on Henry IV Parts 1 and 2, is about two cousins, both
police officers, dealing with corruption on the force. Starring Ben Bass and
Natasha Henstridge, it's written by Esta Spalding and Tassie Cameron, two of
our best TV writers, and directed by David Wellington.
The Border (CBC, starts Monday): Worth your attention not because it's
brilliant — it isn't — but because it is anchored in highly charged,
headline-grabbing Canadian issues. Outrageously melodramatic at times, it deals
with big, big political and social matters in a big, broad manner.
MVP (CBC, starts Jan. 11)
CBC's new soap isn't so much about professional hockey as it is about the
bedrooms of the players and the boardrooms of the teams. Sexy, funny and fresh,
it's a gloriously entertaining series.
VISUAL ARTS
Toronto awaits the AGO reopening; Cuban art comes to Montreal
SARAH MILROY
In the visual arts, there will be three big stories unfolding in 2008: the
opening of the Art Gallery in Ontario in Toronto in the late fall, the future
direction of the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, and the yea or nay on
the Vancouver Art Gallery's bid to move to a city-owned site in Vancouver's
Downtown Eastside.
The closing of the Art Gallery of Ontario for the completion of renovations
back in the fall has deepened the stillness of the art scene in Toronto.
But preliminary omens (glimpses from advance tours of the building itself, plus
the news of acquisitions and commissions) are encouraging that the project will
be worth the wait. The recent appointment of Catherine de Zegher (formerly of
The Drawing Centre in New York) to head up programming also augurs well.
At the National Gallery of Canada, director Pierre Théberge, at the helm since
1998, will likely turn over the reins toward the end of next year, allowing for
the most significant viz-arts head-hunting expedition on Canadian soil. My wish
list for consideration includes Douglas Druick, chief curator at the Art
Institute of Chicago, Louis Grachos, director of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery
in Buffalo, and Willard Holmes, who recently resigned as director of the
Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Conn. (all three of them high-achieving expat
Canadians), as well as Marc Mayer, currently director of the Musée d'art
contemporain de Montréal, and possible dark-horse candidate Louise Déry at
Montreal's Galerie l'UQAM.
Lastly, the Vancouver Art Gallery is still in a holding pattern on its building
project, but it will be presenting to city council in the early spring and
hopes are high for a swift resolution. Meanwhile, the volume of visitors at the
VAG this year (more than 400,000) and the difficulty of installing contemporary
art in the converted-courthouse spaces has made clearer than ever the need for
action.
Canadians looking for a major international contemporary-art hit will have two
must-do trips this year south of the border: the Whitney Biennial in New
York (March 6 to June 1), and the Carnegie International in Pittsburgh
(May 3 to Jan. 11, 2009).
At home in Canada, a number of shows are also worth cashing in the air miles
for:
Simon Starling (at Toronto's The Power Plant, March 1 to May 11): Winner
of the Turner Prize in 2005, Starling is one of Britain's most interesting emerging
artists, making installation and sculptural works that take artistic process as
their implicit subject. For the Toronto show, Starling is making a work that
responds to the legacy of his historic fellow countryman Henry Moore. Starling
has suspended a replica of Moore's sculpture Warrior with Shield in Lake
Ontario, where it has served as host to a colony of zebra mussels. This
paradoxical object, which will be displayed in this exhibition, comments on the
issue of national autonomy and the colonizing force of invading cultural norms.
Joe Fafard (at Ottawa's National Gallery Feb. 1 to May 4): The
travelling survey exhibition of quintessential Saskatchewan artist Joe Fafard
includes his bronzed miscellany of cows, horses and prominent Canadians from
Margaret Atwood to John Diefenbaker. The show is followed by the gallery's
summer blockbuster, The 1930s: The Making of the New Man (June 5 to Sept. 7).
Under the artistic direction of Parisian curator Jean Clair, this compendious
show will describe the way in which new concepts of man altered by advances in
science find expression in art. It will include work by Giacometti, Arp,
Kandinsky, Ernst, Picasso and Dali.
KRAZY! The Delirious World of Anime + Comics + Video Games + Art (at the
Vancouver Art Gallery, May 17 to Sept. 7)
This exhibition will explore the interface between the world of fine art and
the burgeoning field of animation, and includes Art Spiegelman's graphic novels
animated cartoons by Tim Johnson and anime/manga images by Toshiya Ueno and
Kiyoshi Kusumi. Krazy! is followed on Oct. 4 at VAG by WACK! Art and
Feminist Revolution, the landmark touring show from the Los Angeles Museum
of Contemporary Art that aims to chart comprehensively the rise of the women's
movement in art from 1965 to 1980.
Cuba! Art and History from 1868 to Today (at the Montreal Museum of Fine
Arts, Jan. 31 to June 8): A massive exhibition will take us through Cuba's
history as a Spanish colony, a playground for U.S. capital and, most recently,
a communist state, all the more timely now with the recent mention of a formal
withdrawal from political life by the ailing Fidel Castro.
Geoffrey Farmer (at Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, Feb. 8 to April
20): A career retrospective of this Vancouver artist, who has developed a
strong following over the past 10 years for his photographs, videos, drawings,
sculptures and installations.
DANCE: An embarrassment of riches on the horizon
PAULA CITRON
Looking ahead to dance in 2008, it is a very rich landscape indeed in terms of
international companies.
Ottawa dance fans continue to be the luckiest in the country, with the
motherlode presented by the National Arts Centre. Between January and June, a
starry array of eight big names from abroad will appear at the NAC
(www.nac-cna.ca). To a lesser extent, Montreal is also blessed as several
companies going to Ottawa pass by that city as well. Perhaps the most notable
ensemble appearing in both is Belgium's Rosas (Montreal/Usine C/Jan. 29-Feb. 1;
Ottawa/NAC/Feb. 5). Revered artistic director Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker,
herself a genius of contemporary dance, has taken on as her muse another
genius, minimalist American composer Steve Reich, with Fase. Montreal does
have a plum of its own with Danse Danse presenting Nacho Duato's always
exciting Compania Nacional de Danza from Spain (Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier/March
6-8).
Thanks to both World Stage and Luminato Festival, Toronto is also picking up
big names. The former is presenting Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company from
the United States (Enwave Theatre/April 16-19), a company that has transformed
socio-political statements into high art. Also of interest is New Zealand's
all-male, testosterone-driven Black Grace (Premiere Dance Theatre/April
30-May 3) that is also appearing in Ottawa (NAC/April 15).
Luminato (June 6-15) is bringing in the iconoclast American Mark Morris Dance
Group and Frankfurt, Germany-based ballet bad boy William Forsythe and his The
Forsythe Company (dates/venues to be announced/www.luminato.com). On the
Luminato national front, Alberta Ballet is sharing the stage with the National
Ballet of Canada (Four Seasons Centre/June 13- 22). AB is remounting its huge
hit The Fiddle and The Drum choreographed by Jean Grand-Maître to the
songs of Joni Mitchell. The National performs Harald Lander's ultra-classical Etudes
and Forsythe's cheeky The Second Detail.
Vancouver will be getting its own big-ticket series next season, but until
then, the city is being well-served in a more modest way by Kokoro Dance and
its Vancouver International Dance Festival. During the month of March, the
festival is featuring an impressive list of 14 companies from Spain, France,
Japan, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver (www.vidf.ca).
Home seasons by Canadian companies are also noteworthy. Brett Lott, artistic
director of Winnipeg's Contemporary Dancers, is creating his much-anticipated
first full-length work (WCD Studio/March 6-8), while Halifax's Mocean Dance has
had a great idea for The Reaction Project (Sir James Dunn Theatre/May
22-24). In the latter, four choreographers (Carolle Crooks, Sara Harrigan,
Lesandra Dodson and Lisa Phinney) have created works from the same seed of
inspiration.
Veteran choreographer/dancers are touring the country. Margie Gillis is
celebrating her 35th anniversary as a performer with M.Body.7, a lavish
premiere featuring nine female dancers ranging in age from 10 to 72. Gillis
appears in Montreal (Théâtre Maisonneuve/Feb. 29 and March 1) and Vancouver
(Centennial Theatre/March 14 and 15). Peggy Baker is taking her own
choreography and a new duet by James Kudelka to Calgary (University
Theatre/Jan. 23 and 24), Montreal (Cinquième Salle/Feb. 20-23) and Toronto
(Betty Oliphant Theatre/March 6-9). Gioconda Barbuto and Emily Molnar have
created a multimedia show with photographer/video artist Michael Slobodian that
opens in Montreal (L'Agora de la danse/Jan. 16-19) before touring to Vancouver
(Scotiabank Dance Centre/Feb. 7-9).
The 2008 season is also seeing new work from ballet artistic directors.
Ballet British Columbia's John Alleyne is creating his rite of passage The
Four Seasons (Queen Elizabeth Theatre/Feb. 14-16), his first new work in
two years. There are a lot of very good extant ballets to Vivaldi's popular
score so the benchmark for Alleyne is high. Alberta Ballet's Jean Grand-Maître
is taking on a massive project in Mozart's Requiem (Calgary/South
Jubilee Auditorium/March 27-29; Edmonton/North Jubilee Auditorium/April 4-5).
This homage to lost soldiers features an 100-voice choir in both cities. On a
smaller scale, Ballet Victoria's new chief Paul Destrooper is creating Amsterdam
to the songs of Jacques Brel (McPherson Theatre/Feb. 8).
It is a very difficult to list the top five upcoming dance events of 2008. The
following choices, in alphabetical order, reflect my personal taste.
[bjm_danse]/Aszure Barton (Ottawa/Canada Dance Festival/June 7-14/Date
TBA): The NAC and CDF have commissioned a new work from Alberta-born Barton for
the company formerly known as Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal. The brilliant New
York-based Barton produces delectable works that are quirky, deep, cheeky and
poignant. Her quicksilver, unpredictable movement always astonishes the eye.
The Chimera Project/Malgorzata Nowacka (Toronto/Harbourfront Next
Steps/Enwave Theatre/April 3-5): From the very blast of her very first piece,
Nowacka shook the audience with her ability to capture the disaffected Queen
Street East, mean streets punk culture. Muscular and fierce, her movement is an
avalanche of energy. Her new work, The Hidden Spot, is her spin on faith
and secularism.
Les Grands Ballets Canadiens/Ohad Naharin (Montreal/Théâtre
Maisonneuve/April 3-5, 10 and 12; Ottawa/NAC/April 8): The Montreal troupe is a
master at executing the highly charged, spirited and provocatively hip dances
of the acclaimed, avant-garde Israeli choreographer. The program Ode to Ohad
features his first original work for Les Grands and his first ever
ballet-sur-pointes.
Mark Morris Dance Group (Toronto/Luminato Festival/MacMillan Theatre
/June 6-15/Date to be announced): This is Morris's first visit to Canada in 10
years and he's coming in a big way with three different programs. For someone
who broke all the rules of contemporary dance when he formed his company in
1980, the always passionate and droll choreographer is still reinventing
himself with each new innovative work.
Martin Bélanger (Toronto/Dancemakers Presents/Dancemakers Centre for
Creation/Feb. 14-16; Vancouver International Dance Festival/Roundhouse
Theatre/March 21-22): The dance essay Spoken word/body by the
sensational Montreal choreographer/writer is a cunning fusion of language and
physicality — or what he calls a "body-consciousness relationship."
His personal concerns range from science fiction to the influence of fear, and
everything in between. This clever 2003 work made Bélanger's formidable
reputation overnight.
Barack Obama Wins In Iowa
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
(January 04, 2008) Could Barack Obama actually become the first black
president? If what happened
Thursday night in Iowa is any indication, he could very well be on his way to
fulfilling that goal.
The Illinois senator captured the first
Democratic prize on the road to the White House with a comeback win over former
North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, who edged out one-time front-runner Clinton
for second.
"We are choosing hope over fear, we
are choosing unity over division and sending a powerful message that change is
coming to America," Obama, 46, told thousands of cheering, chanting and
foot-stamping supporters.
The third-place finish was a huge
blow for Clinton, 60, the former first lady who a few months ago was considered
in some quarters the almost certain Democratic nominee. She now faces immense
pressure to turn around her campaign in New Hampshire over the next five days.
"Today we are sending a clear
message that we are going to have change, and that change will be a Democratic
president in the White House," Clinton, with husband and former President
Bill Clinton at her shoulder, said in Des Moines.
Obama's win effectively makes him
the candidate to beat among Democrats, and a win next week in New Hampshire
could put him in prime position to capture the nomination. After Nevada on
January 19, the next big contest would be in South Carolina, where more than half
of the voters in the Democratic primary are likely to be black.
Obama finished with 38 percent of
the vote, easily beating Edwards at 30 percent and Clinton at 29 percent. New
Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson finished fourth at 2 percent.
Huckabee finished with 34 percent of
the vote, ahead of Romney's 26 percent. Arizona Sen. John McCain and former
Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson were tied at 13 percent, with Texas Rep. Ron Paul
at 10 percent.
Entrance polls showed Obama won big
among young voters and even beat Clinton among women voters as his message of
change resonated with voters.
Meanwhile on the Republican side ...
Mike Huckabee capped a stunning
political rise to beat rival Mitt Romney in Iowa, despite being dramatically
outspent by the wealthy former Massachusetts governor and venture capitalist.
Both Obama and Huckabee, 52, a
former Arkansas governor and ordained Baptist minister, once trailed
better-known rivals Clinton and Romney in their race to be on the November
election ballot.
But they rode a wave of grass-roots
enthusiasm to victories by touting an outsider's message of change in
Washington.
"Tonight what we have seen is a
new day in American politics," Huckabee, with actor and supporter Chuck
Norris nearby, told cheering backers in Des Moines. "Tonight we proved
that American politics is still in the hands of people like you."
The 2008 campaign is the most open
presidential race in more than 50 years, with no sitting president or vice
president seeking their party's nomination, and the Iowa contest was the most
hotly contested in the state's history.
Turnout among Democrats topped
220,000, smashing the previous record of 124,000 in 2004 -- testament to the
high enthusiasm among Democrats heading into November's election.
For the winner in Iowa, the prize is
valuable momentum and at least a temporary claim to the front-runner's slot in
the battle to win the party's presidential nomination in the November election.
All eyes now turn to New Hampshire,
which holds the next contest on Tuesday and where Romney and Clinton will face
high-pressure bids to revive their candidacies.
.jpg){kind=link}
::SCOOP::
The-Dream
Source: Universal Music
The only positive by-product of an industry asleep at the wheel is a dream.
With
over a decade of hit-making experience and a certified smash in Rihanna's #1
single, "Umbrella" Terius
"The-Dream" Nash is stepping from
behind the scenes with a wake-up call.
"Music is uninspiring right now" says the confident
Atlanta native. "The bar needs to be raised; a creative standard should be
set in music. I'm hoping that the real quality in these songs shines through,
and leaves a sounding impact on the listeners."
His debut CD, Love Hate, is a sonic gauntlet thrown down against complacent, cookie
cutter music. Propelled by the first single "Shawty is a Ten," the
mastermind behind the explosive J. Holiday single "Bed" will do
nothing short of redefine R&B for 2007 and beyond.
Born in North Carolina, Terius Nash was raised in the Bankhead section of
Atlanta, Georgia. Before he found his calling in music, the industrious young
man made ends meet doing everything from working at Checkers to becoming a
collections agent.
After graduating from H.S., Dream joined a singing group, Guess Who, signed by
local rapper Raheem. They sang the hook to "Most Beautiful Girl,"
which became moderately “It did pretty good, got a lot of spins," says
Nash.
A few years later, The-Dream began writings songs for up-and-coming rappers and
hooks for his peers. He got his first publishing deal in 2003, when he signed
to Peer Music after writing B2K's single, "Everything." The song, off
B2K's platinum sophomore album, Pandemonium, truly put The-Dream on the map.
"My grand daddy told me I would never make any money in this business.
Music just wasn't a reality for him. I never knew until I was 21 or 22 that I
could actually be successful in the music business."
With one success under his belt, Terius began to build momentum and soon found
himself associating with the upper echelons of pop stardom.
"A year after B2K I did the Britney Spears and Madonna record," he
begins. "I recorded vocals and wrote to that record after Tricky, the guy
I did 'Umbrella' with, decided he didn't want the track anymore. I was the new
guy in the building so I stayed overnight running in and out the booth
recording myself in Pro Tools. Tricky and a writer before me, Penelope, went up
to N.Y. [to meet] Britney. They played a lot of songs and Britney was like, I
dunno. Then they got to "Me Against the Music" and she was like,
"Oh, I'm digging that. I love that hook!"
Unfortunately, that song didn't push The-Dream to the level he wanted to reach.
He spent two years working on other projects including Nivea's second album,
which he executive produced. "Trick and I just started making records. By
the time we got to Umbrella we were like 'ok, we got it.'" Dream insisted
that L.A Reid hear the song and the rest is history.
Now The-Dream is finally in the building, combining all of his hit-making
talents for his debut, Love Me All Summer, Hate Me All Winter. Throughout his
career, Dream has seen people change like the weather, but in the coming months
he is forecasting a 100% chance of reign.
"It's more of what I'm giving other people. It's like the 80s; it's
musical. I'm doing the 'Umbrella' routine to this whole album. All of my
records are singles. The album is really visual as well. It appeals to all your
senses, similar to 'Thriller'."
Songs like the soulful "She Needs My Love" and "Falsetto"
solidify Terius' status as a triple threat, singer, writer and producer.
"Artists are gonna have to do some homework to find out who they
are."
::MUSIC NEWS::
A Giant Milestone For A Big-Band Man
Excerpt from www.globeandmail.com -
Marsha Lederman
(December 31, 2007) VANCOUVER — In Vancouver, a city so young that people often
lament its lack of history,
an exception comes in the form of a swinging old world bandleader. Dal Richards is a Vancouver institution: about to host
his 73rd straight New Year's Eve concert tonight, followed days later by a pair
of shows to mark his 90th birthday.
He has been playing music in Vancouver, where he grew up, since the 1930s –
most notably at the swanky Panorama Roof atop the Hotel Vancouver, where he and
his orchestra performed for 25 years. At the other end of the venue spectrum,
Richards has played for 68 straight years at the Pacific National Exhibition,
running a talent show that helped discover one of the biggest names in music
today, fellow British Columbian Michael Bublé. (Boogie-woogie and jazz pianist
Michael Kaeshammer was also a PNE talent-show discovery.)
Richards has hosted national and local radio shows, he has been named to the
Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia, he holds the Queen's Jubilee
Medal, and the City of Vancouver once declared a Dal Richards Day. In
Vancouver, he is a household name synonymous with big band, New Year's Eve, and
good guys making it big.
Like many storied careers, it might not have happened, save for a fateful event
which at the time seemed like a disaster. At the age of 9, while running with a
slingshot, Richards tripped, fell and gouged out his left eye. The doctor
instructed Richards's mother to keep him in a darkened room for two to three
months, to adjust to life with only one eye. “I grew very despondent,” Richards
said earlier this month, sitting by the fireplace in his downtown Vancouver
loft. “The doctor finally said, ‘We've got to find a solution for this.' ”
He suggested music might cheer the boy up, noting that Richards's mother played
the piano. “ ‘Your son might have some musical ability,' ” he told her. As it
turns out, he did.
Richards joined the Kitsilano Boys Band, learning clarinet and the saxophone.
When he graduated from high school at 17, he was offered a job with the band at
the Palomar Ballroom. After two years as a sideman, there was a falling out
between the Palomar's manager and the bandleader. Richards was asked to take
over and lead the orchestra.
“I didn't know what I was doing,” he says, “but that was good.”
There was a lot of that in Richards's early career. Around the same time, he
proposed a two-show Sunday afternoon concert series at Stanley Park's Malkin Bowl.
To his surprise, the park's board accepted his proposal.
That meant on two occasions Richards had to conduct a 30-piece orchestra –
something he had almost no idea how to do. For advice, Richards sought out the
conductor Gregori Garbovitzky. “I went to him, I explained my predicament, and
he laughed. He said ‘How long do we have?' I said ‘Three weeks.' He threw up
his hands [and said] ‘no, no, no.' ”
But they mapped out a plan. For three weeks, Garbovitzky, cigarette hanging
from his mouth, ash dropping down to the floor, sat in front of Richards and
played his violin, while Richards conducted him through selections.
In the end, the concerts went smoothly. “It came out fine,” Richards says.
“That's been my life story – came out fine.”
In 1940, when Richards was 22, he was asked to fill in as bandleader at the
Hotel Vancouver. It was to be a six-week stint that wound up lasting 25 years.
“I just stayed on and on and on,” Richards says. There was a weekly live,
national CBC Radio broadcast from The Roof, and an annual New Year's Eve
broadcast.
But by the mid-sixties, big band music had fallen out of fashion, the Beatles
and the Rolling Stones were at the top of the charts, and the Hotel Vancouver
decided it was time to move on.
For a year after losing that job, Richards tried to remain a full-time
musician. But he only managed to pick up the odd gig here and there. The
breaking point came the night he was playing the Boilermakers Union Hall. “I
was climbing up the back stairs – I couldn't even afford a band boy – carrying
… my P.A., my music, my horns, and sat down halfway and thought this is not the
answer.”
Having spent so many years in a hotel, Richards figured he might try working in
the hospitality industry. He enrolled in a course at the British Columbia
Institute of Technology. He was 48. “I hadn't been to school for 30 years,” he
says. “[I felt] a great deal of trepidation.”
Math, in particular, was a problem. As his Christmas midterms approached, he
worried he might fail. “I'd never written an exam; I didn't know how to go
about it, even.”
Richards had also found a gig playing the Holiday Inn six nights a week. A BCIT
math teacher named Frank Greuen, sensing Richards's panic, travelled to the
hotel each night, and tutored him during intermission.
“At one point I said ‘Frank, what are you doing this for? You've got a family.'
It was the week before Christmas. I remember to this day, he took my tuxedo
lapels and said ‘Richards, you're the oldest guy on the campus. If I have to
drag you by the ass, I'm going to get you through those Christmas exams.' ”
He passed his exams, ultimately graduating with honours and an award for high
marks. “Probably the proudest award I'd ever received,” he says, holding up the
statuette that still lives in his living room.
Richards worked as a manager in the hospitality industry for a few years, but
when swing music came back into style, he jumped at the chance to work as a
full-time musician again, which he has now been doing since the early 1980s.
Today, approaching 90, Richards has a twice-weekly radio show called Dal's
Place, and he played more than 200 dates last year.
How does he manage it? “I like what I do,” he says, adding “I've got a young
wife; that helps.” Richards's wife, Muriel, is 59. They've been together 10
years. His first wife, Lorraine, to whom he was married 35 years, died in 1984.
They had a daughter, Dallas, who is a real estate agent in Victoria.
He keeps in shape with weekly visits from a personal trainer, and daily
sessions on the stationary bike and with an exercise ball. He quit drinking and
smoking 35 years ago. “I'm probably in better shape than I ever was at 60, 50,”
he says. Richards had both knees replaced this year and in January, he'll have
cataract surgery. “It's supposed to be a simple thing, I'm sure it is, but
you're kind of nervous when you only have one [eye].”
Richards turns 90 on Jan. 5, but there are no plans to stop working. He says he
has no idea what he would do if he retired. He also hopes to play at the 2010
Winter Olympics. He'll be 92.
“When I was 50 years old, I thought my next gig would be my last. Really. I
started thinking that in a few years, I'd be 60 [and I thought] ‘I can't be
doing this at 60.'”
Now at 90, he says he's busier than he's ever been. “It's incredible. It's just
been a bunch of horseshoes all my life … I've been one lucky cat. No question.”
Dal Richards Orchestra plays River Rock Casino in Richmond, B.C., on New
Year's Eve; Dal's 90th Birthday Celebration on Jan. 5 at the Hotel Vancouver at
6 p.m. (fundraiser); and Dal's 90th Birthday Concert, Jan. 6 at the Orpheum at
2 p.m.
Tweet Sends Her 'Love'
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
- By Kenya M Yarbrough
(January 04, 2008) "I didn’t want
anything to do with music. I would rarely put on the radio. I was totally hurt.
It was.jpg)
like a bad relationship gone wrong. You
go through that where [you're] hurt and shut off all the lights and sit in the
dark."
*R&B songstress Tweet came on the music scene almost five years
ago; introduced to the masses thanks to superstar Missy Elliott.