20 Carlton Street, Suite 1032, Toronto, ON M5B 2H5
(416) 677-5883
langfieldent@rogers.com
www.langfieldentertainment.com

LE NEWSLETTER

May 8, 2008

It's May in Toronto, which means I'm off to California for some R&R but you can still expect your newsletter next week. 

One of our own homegrown talents - Jennie Laws - releases her much-anticipated debut, Introducing Jennie Laws with all details below!

This week also gives the scoop of the new artist busting out of Britain - Estelle.  Check out all the information below.

AND check out the HOT details of a celebrity party where YOU could get on TV!  Look for the details under EVENTS for the Oasis brought to you by Kriss-O!

Scroll down and find out what interests you - take your time and take a walk into your weekly entertainment news!

::HOT EVENTS::

Celebrity Oasis at Fluid – May 14, 2008

Source: Celebrity Oasis, SEI Records

(April 26, 2008) In the midst of the desert, there is an oasis. It is cool and tranquil, and at night all of the brightest stars come out to shine. On Wednesday, May 14, 2008, The Kriss-O Show will be filming Fluid's famous faces at the first ever Celebrity Oasis at Fluid Lounge in downtown Toronto.

With a guest-list including musicians, actors, models, recording executives and many more, it will truly be a night like no other. Celebrity Oasis is scheduled to start at 10PM, when it becomes just dark enough to see the stars.

Tickets are available now, but are expected to sell out fast. Purchase tickets at: http://www.clubzone.com/events/event89600.html
April- May 06 $20 general admission $100 VIP
May 07-May 14 $100 general admission $500 VIP

Kriss-O (www.kriss-o.com) is one of those rare people who can do it all. She sings, dances, acts and even writes in a variety of mediums. She is currently starring in her own reality show, "The Kriss-O Show" (www.thekriss-oshow.com), which just debuted online at the beginning of April. After conquering the clubs, and the hearts of millions of her fans, The Kriss-O Show is set to take over television and the web in 2008.

Since 1995 Fluid Lounge (www.fluidlounge.ca) has been providing the ultimate in Toronto's nightclub experience. With regular guests such as Bruce Willis, 50 Cent, Nicole Ritchie, Mark Wahlberg, Nelly Furtado, Samuel L. Jackson, Boy George, Pharrell, Wayne Brady, Snoop Dogg, Robin Williams, and many more.

Celebrity Oasis is certain to be this year's hottest party, and will be the talk of the entertainment industry for years to come. Be sure not to miss this once in a life-time event!

For more information on Celebrity Oasis, SEI Records, Kriss-O or "The Kriss-O Show", or to book an interview with Kriss-O please contact Mark Bernhardt at mark.b@seirecords.ca.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 2008
THE KRISS-O SHOW’S CELEBRITY OASIS
Fluid Lounge
217 Richmond St. W.
10:00 pm
Tickets at: http://www.clubzone.com/events/event89600.html
April- May 06 $20 general admission $100 VIP
May 07-May 14 $100 general admission $500 VIP

::SCOOP::

Estelle Lights It Up With “Shine”

Source: Warner Music Canada

(April 29, 2008) Home school and Atlantic Records have announced the upcoming release of “SHINE,” the hugely anticipated US debut album from British hip-hop/soul sensation, Estelle. The album – which features the current UK #1 single, “American Boy (Feat. Kanye West)” – lands in stores across North America on April 29th.

“SHINE” marks the premiere release from John Legend’s new Home school Records label, in partnership with Atlantic Records. “Her sound is a unique blend of hip-hop, pop, reggae and soul,” explains the Grammy Award-winning Legend. “She has a special voice, unlike any other voice out there in mainstream music, and she can really write. I’m excited and honoured to have Estelle as the first artist on my label. I believe the world is going to fall in love with her album, as I already have. Estelle is an amazing talent, and she’s going to do big things.”

Legend – who executive produced “SHINE” alongside Atlantic Records Chairman/CEO Craig Kallman – is hosting a number of dates on Estelle’s current US club tour. The shows continue through a May 1st performance at Los Angeles’ Temple Bar (see attached itinerary).  “American Boy (Feat. Kanye West)” continues to dominate the UK singles chart, standing tall at #1 for its fourth consecutive week. Last month, the track made history as the third-ever #1 UK single based on digital sales alone, following in the international smash footsteps of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” and Rihanna’s “Umbrella.” Here in the US, “American Boy” has just impacted at multi-format radio outlets nationwide, including Urban, Rhythmic, and CHR/Top 40.

What’s more, the “American Boy” companion video is looking like an out-of-the-box breakthrough for Estelle. The clip – directed by Syndrome (Danity Kane, Day26, Lupe Fiasco) – has already been added at MTV, MTV Jams, MTV Hits, mtvU, and BET J. Estelle has also been tapped fort he prestigious BET “Rated Next” and Vh-1 Soul “You Oughta Know” programs.

On April 24th, Estelle made her network television debut on CBS’ Late Show with David Letterman. Additional television performances will include, the nationally syndicated Ellen DeGeneres Show, CBS’s Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson, and ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!

“SHINE” is now available for pre-order via the iTunes Store. An exclusive “Deluxe Edition” is also on offer, featuring bonus tracks such as “Life To Me,” Estelle’s 2007 collaboration with renowned hip-hop producer Hi-Tek, as well as the music videos for “American Boy” and “Wait a Minute (Just a Touch).”

Executive Produced by Home school Records founder John Legend and Atlantic Records Chairman/CEO Craig Kallman, “SHINE” is without question one of the year’s most anticipated releases. The album features production from an array of studio superstars, including Mark Ronson (Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen), Wyclef Jean (Mary J. Blige, Shakira), Swizz Beatz (T.I., Jay-Z, Beyoncé), will. i. am (Justin Timberlake, Diddy, Chris Brown), and Supa Dups (of the famed Black Chiney sound system). Joining Estelle behind the mic are such talented artists as John Legend, Kanye West, Cee-Lo, and acclaimed Canadian dancehall/hip-hop MC, Kardinal Offishall.

Even with the star-studded guest roster, it is Estelle who shines brightest throughout the collection. Her idiosyncratic vocals – sensual, swaggering, and always special – unite the album’s diverse spectrum of sonic styles, spanning funk, reggae, R&B, soul, hip-hop, and anything else which strikes the West London girl’s fancy. Tracks such as the dancehall party jam, “Magnificent,” or the brass-powered “Wait a Minute (Just a Touch)” display mature confidence, deep soulfulness, and a remarkable gift for no-holds-barred emotional expression.

With “SHINE,” Estelle more than fulfills the promise of her 2004 debut, “THE 18TH DAY.” That album earned her widespread acclaim, as well as a series of honours including a 2004 MOBO for “Best Newcomer” and three consecutive received “Best Female Artist” trophies from the UK Hip-Hop Awards.

“SHINE” has already received ecstatic critical hosannas in Estelle’s home country. “Equal parts reggae, pop and hip-hop, it's stuffed with potential singles,” declared the Guardian’s Caroline Sullivan in a four-out-of-five starred review. “There’s a nothing-to-lose confidence in these songs that defies resistance,” raved the Times’ Peter Paphides, hailing the album as “an almighty new beginning.”

Here in the US, Estelle has been acknowledged as one of the year’s most extraordinary new stars. She is among Rolling Stone’s “Ones to Watch in 2008,” Billboard’s “What Great in 2008,” the New York Post’s “New Faces of 2008,” and Paste’s “4 to Watch in 2008,” as well as one of Vibe’s “Next” artists.

Also offering proliferate praise are Estelle’s fellow artists. “I have never worked with a young artist that reminded me so much of Lauryn Hill,” offers Wyclef Jean. “Estelle is such a talented singer, rapper, vocal arranger, and songwriter,” says Mark Ronson. “I can’t think of anyone else who can do all those things as well as she can. Any time that we work together in the studio, she never comes up with an idea that’s uninspiring.”

“Estelle has a strong unique voice,” notes Cee-Lo, “reminiscent of old soul.   Her ability to think outside the box draws me to her, and this is what will draw others to her.” “I feel she will be the next big thing in the R&B/soul game,” adds Swizz Beatz. “She is a great person to work with and I feel her album is a new feel for ‘08.”

Jennie Laws –To Release Debut EP: “Introducing Jennie Laws”

Source:  Jennie Laws

(May 1, 2008) Cartouche Music has announced the release of Jennie Laws debut EP  -“Introducing Jennie Laws”.  The EP will be released on Tuesday, May 13,  2008 and is available on iTunes, Rhapsody, Napster, Amazon and other digital retail outlets, as well as her official website www.jennielaws.com and www.myspace.com/jennielaws.  The websites also offer Jennie Laws latest news, music, pictures, biography, and concert dates.

“Introducing Jennie Laws” represents a new stage of evolution for the talented singer and musician, who is comfortable playing the role of writer, arranger, and producer.  With distinctive and dynamic vocal artistry, unique and original songwriting skills and a wide range of influences and inspirations, Jennie Laws has emerged as a beautiful and brilliantly talented new arrival on the cutting edge of today’s music.

With the release of her first EP featuring such Laws' originals as "Heavenly,"  "I Just Want to Be Close To You,"  "So Deep" and  "My Soul," she mixes contemporary urban grooves with folk-flavoured nuances, bringing it all together in one accessible and appealing package.

“It took me a while to realize that the music going around in my head ever since I can remember was there for a reason,” says Jennie. “  As much as it is about entertaining people, it’s also about creating positive energy and spreading love. There’s a purpose to what I do and that’s the most important element of the songs I write and sing.” 

The result is Jennie Laws’ stunning debut EP.  Showcasing her evocative and emotionally resonant singing and songwriting, the collection also boasts an impressive roster of supporting talent, including engineering by, among others, Grammy-winner Ari Raskin, and Juno-winner L. Stu Young.

Through it all, Jennie Laws has maintained her belief that music can bring wholeness and healing to the world. “My goal is simple,” she concludes: “To make the best music I can.”   It’s a goal she’s reached and exceeds on her debut EP.

::TOP STORIES::

'I Don't Call Upon The Voice Until It's Needed'

Source: www.thestar.com - Ashante Infantry, Pop & Jazz Critic

(May 04, 2008) He may be a legend, but Gordon Lightfoot is still honing his craft like a newcomer.

"We're refining the presentation of the music," said the Orillia native of his weekly rehearsals with long-time accompanists at his Toronto home.

"We're working on intonation, tuning ... they play the music well and the better I play it, the better they play it. So I have to hold up my end and I keep practising and I keep working on it.

"I'm concentrating on my concert performances, because that's what I did for the first five years of my career before there were any recording contracts," Lightfoot said.

"I played bars, clubs and coffee houses. I learned how to perform at that time to the best of my ability and got my first recording contract in 1965. I remained under contract for 33 years to record companies. During that time I made 19 albums."

Holding court in a downtown hotel suite in advance of his four-night Massey Hall residency this week, the soft-spoken entertainer said the one thing he doesn't have to prepare is his trademark burr.

"I'm very lucky that way. I don't call upon the voice until it's needed. I keep the lungs and the voice working well with quite a severe physical exercise routine – weight training, stretches, fast walking – I incorporated into my life in 1980 at the same time I gave up alcohol.

"I've been able to summon adrenalin from this activity. I'll be 70 this year and I can get a lot of energy going onstage and people I think will be able to recognize that."

With no record company contract to satisfy, Lightfoot rarely turns out new lyrics these days.

"It could be described as a hobby. I enjoy more working on the instruments and working on the songs that we already have and trying to inject some of the older ones that we know they really want to hear like `If Children Had Wings,' which is one they'd been yelling out, wanting us to play. We play it this year. We've got some great older songs that are sitting on the back burner."

But one track that he'll never again perform in concert, or otherwise, is "For Loving Me."

"Oh, that's a terrible song," said Lightfoot of the kiss-off song, with its line "I got a hundred more like you.

"That's a song that I wrote before I understood what the word chauvinist meant. I stopped singing that one many, many years ago. That's probably the one that I hate the most. The reason it did well with Peter, Paul & Mary is because Peter Yarrow is a very gifted orchestrator, and basically the leader of that group took the song and made an arrangement of it that made the lyric work so that it didn't sound so chauvinistic any more.

"The song really did well on the charts: at one point it was up to No. 5 on Billboard. The incurably romantic side of my character was brought forth in that song, but it certainly is not one of my favourites."

Of those there are several — "Sundown," ``Cotton Jenny," "If You Could Read My Mind" and of course, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald."

"It's a wonderful song," said the author. "I love to listen to it. It takes a lot of time and its got wonderful guitar solos in it and great music."

A Black Tie Event With Levy-Ty

Source: www.thestar.com - Martin Knelman, Columnist

(May 05, 2008) NOTE: Governor General Michaëlle Jean, joined Gregory Charles, the host for the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards gala, for an onstage piano duet, not one of the winners, pianist Anton Kuerti, as stated near the bottom of this article.

OTTAWA–Saturday was the best of nights for Canadian culture; it was the worst of nights for Canadian culture.

The Governor General's Performing Arts Awards gala, formerly an autumnal event, was reborn after an 18-month hiatus, with a glitzy black-tie affair at the National Arts Centre celebrating some of Canada's most talented people.

Heritage Minister Josée Verner was conspicuously absent (along with other senior members of the Stephen Harper government) but more than 2,000 arts boosters turned out for a sometimes dazzling, sometimes baffling show that was both sparkly and excessively long.

Missing in action was the CBC, which apparently decided that after 15 years of telecasting a delayed, edited version of this event, enough was enough. So much for any notion that it's the role of the public broadcaster to showcase the country's greatest artists.

Veteran comedian Martin Short, who was not one of the honourees, nearly stole the show with his hilarious tribute/roast to Eugene Levy, an old SCTV pal, who was one of the honourees.

"It's a thrill to be here," Short deadpanned before adding, "and an obligation."

When they met 38 years ago at McMaster University in Hamilton, Short recalled, Levy had an air of cool superiority. "It was unearned," he added.

Levy himself provided a satiric gem of a performance in a mock-doc made for the occasion where he insists, despite the doubts of the interviewer, that this is the third time he has received a Lifetime Achievement award from the Governor General, even claiming that Adrienne Clarkson took a taxi to his house to present one of the previous awards.

Among the seven other honourees were two who provided some of the greatest moments in the history of this country's English-language theatre.

Brian Macdonald, almost 80, had a long career as a dancer and innovative choreographer before he became, in the 1980s, the hugely successful director of Stratford Festival musicals, especially The Mikado, which went on to delight audiences at the Old Vic in London and the Kennedy Center in Washington.

Playwright, arts administrator and theatrical mentor John Murrell moved to Western Canada from Texas and wrote such stage classics as Waiting for the Parade and Farther West – the latter a tale of frontier prostitutes.

In a break with tradition, a number of recipients turned up on stage as performers, rather than just sitting in the front row of the mezzanine acknowledging tributes – which is the way it is always done at the Kennedy Center Awards, from which the GG Performing Arts Gala was cloned.

In this case, there were two rousing explosions of rock 'n' roll. The first was from veteran singer/composer Michel Pagliaro, who has been a huge star in Quebec for decades but is not nearly as well known in English Canada, although his song "Rainshowers" has been heard everywhere.

And after a numbing 3 1/2 hours, just when some of us needed a nap, the Tragically Hip – that band from Kingston that sprang out of nowhere in the 1980s – bounded onstage to close the show and rouse us from our stupor.

Even Governor General Michaëlle Jean, who normally acts regal while graciously saluting the artists, got into the act, joining one of the winners, the great pianist Anton Kuerti, for an onstage duet.

When they were joined by a group of four opera singers, the act came perilously close to becoming as funny as one of those Shmenge Brother routines Levy used to do on SCTV with John Candy.

Levy, accompanied by his wife Deborah Divine and their two grown children, gets special points for being one of the few SCTV comedy stars who did not move to Los Angeles.

In fact, the Levy family still lives in the Rosedale house they've had for 25 years, and the kids did all their schooling in Toronto.

But as Levy confessed in a chat with the Star, he has a second house in the Pacific Palisades area of L.A., where he and his wife will likely spend winter months in future.

Other recipients: native filmmaker, educator and storyteller Alanis Obomsawin and volunteer B.C. fundraiser Eric Chapman.

It's a pity the CBC opted out, because the event was full of great moments that could be vastly more effective if they had the benefit of pacing, shaping, and most of all, judicious editing. And the winners deserve a much bigger audience.

Martin Knelman is an entertainment columnist. He can be reached at mknelman@thestar.ca.

Moses Znaimer Kicks Off Film Festival Dedicated To Creativity In Aging

Source: www.thestar.com - Susan Walker, Entertainment Reporter

(May 02, 2008) Moses Znaimer – soon to be a dictionary entry – can take credit for a word that is fast replacing terms no baby boomer would answer to. The Peter Pan generation (the post-war one), otherwise known as the play generation, is never going to wear the label of "senior," "oldster," "retiree" or, God forbid, "old age pensioner."

But they (we) seem to appreciate zoomer. Not Znaimer Boomers, but "boomers with zip," as he so presciently and publicly put it last February when he took over as executive director of the Canadian Association of Retired Persons and announced plans to re-situate and revamp CARP magazine as – what else? – Zoomer.

Znaimer, 65, founder of Citytv and its many spinoffs, never had a good idea he didn't act on. Today at 1 p.m. the "Über Zoomer" will give the keynote address at the Silver Screens Arts Festival, running until May 16 at Ryerson University. The theme of the two-week event is "Aging Creatively and Creativity in Aging."

Expect the president of MZTV and the executive producer of IdeaCity to have some positive things to say about the A-word. He's out to destroy stereotypes and defeat expectations of decline, such as women over 50 who feel invisible, undesired; or, worse, ladies of a certain age subjected to ridicule if they dress and behave in a youthful way.

"It wasn't that long ago when there was a certain orderliness to life," Znaimer says. He's casual but cool, going from video production to a magazine editorial meeting to pause for a brief interview in the bustling offices on Queen St. E. that house his new mini-empire. It started with purchase of The New Classical 96.3 FM; next on the acquisition list is AM740.

"The stages were quite predictable and there were behaviours attendant upon those stages. Now it's totally fluid and I think exciting.

"This word (zoomer) acknowledges one's age but defines it as something active, vigorous, optimistic and `I ain't goin' nowhere.'"

If there's a plaque on the wall in his personal suite it no doubt reads NOT THROUGH YET.

The audience for Znaimer's video presentation and Q&A will get some interesting stats on how important the zoomer generation is, for its numbers alone. And they will get a reminder that the stars of the silver screen – icons such as Sean Connery, Harrison Ford and Meryl Streep – are zoomers and still considered box-office gold.

The festival's movies accentuate the positive (for the most part) aspects of growing, um, older. Here are a few to catch:

A TIFF '07 film, Empties, from Jan Sverak (Kolya), directing his father Zdenek, is a bittersweet tale of a retired teacher who chooses supermarket menial duty over sitting at home in a cramped apartment.

A documentary that grabbed the spotlight at last year's Hot Docs, The Bodybuilder and I, tells a revealing tale of 59-year-old bodybuilder Bill Friedman through the lens of his filmmaker son.

The inspiration of the Stephen Lewis Foundation, Gogo Granny support groups link Canadian and African older women in the struggle against the devastation of HIV/AIDS. They are the subject of three films: the New Zealand-made A Grandmother's Tribe; Robert and Brenda Rooney's The Great Granny Revolution; and Liz Marshall's Grandmothers: The Unsung Heroes of Africa. Broadway star Frank Langella delivers one of his best screen roles in Starting Out in the Evening, a 2007 film based on a novel about an aging and mostly forgotten New York literary titan.

For a complete schedule, ticket prices and locations for the Silver Screens Arts Festival, zoom over to ryerson.ca/ce/silverscreens.

Phil Stone, 94: Brought Rock 'N' Roll To Toronto

Source: www.thestar.com - Linda Barnard, Toronto Star

(May 06, 2008) On May 27, 1957, at 4:23 p.m. in Toronto, CHUM broadcaster Phil Stone changed Canadian radio forever.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new sound for you and I hope you like it," he told his listeners.

"It goes like this ..."

He played "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley and His Comets, the first rock 'n' roll piece ever played on radio in Canada.

Stone, who died last week aged 94, was a pioneer in many ways, his son Glen said in a telephone interview.

"The rock 'n' roll thing turned out to be a good idea," Glen Stone said.

Rites for the veteran of Canadian radio, public relations and print journalism, and supporter of numerous charities, were held on Friday. He leaves Mildred, to whom he was married for 65 years, and two other sons, Jay and Doug, as well as four grandchildren.

Glen Stone said his father had been part of CHUM radio since the late 1940s and was there when it became a 24-hour Top 40 station.

Before that, Glasgow-born Stone had a long history in broadcast and print journalism, including becoming a self-taught writer whose laurels included simultaneous columns in the Toronto Star and Toronto Telegram.

He also wrote sports for the Star and he founded his own sports magazine, Sports Digest, in 1947, after serving as an army public relations officer during World War II.

"The magazine did quite well," his son said."Then it was knocked out by a new magazine published in the States called Sports Illustrated."

Stone's successes in journalism were made more remarkable because he had been forced to drop out of school at age 14 to help support his widowed mother Leah and his younger sister Anne.

His father died in a flu pandemic that struck Glasgow in 1919, when Stone was 6, and the family experienced "real poverty," eking out a living in Glasgow, and in the northern England towns of Leeds and Sheffield.

They moved to Toronto, into the then traditionally Jewish area of Toronto along Spadina Ave.

In his first Toronto neighbourhood, Stone struck up a friendship with a young neighbour named Ed Mirvish, who became Toronto's famous Honest Ed and a lifelong friend.

When Stone was interred at Pardes Shalom Cemetery in Vaughan, he was laid to rest one row over from his old friend Mirvish, his son said.

In Toronto, after working in a variety of menial jobs, Stone taught himself to type, and started submitting articles to newspapers and magazines. He was also doing publicity for the new radio station, CHUM, and eventually got a sports slot on weekends, his son said.

He then got a daily show as a disc jockey on CHUM, and from there came the events of 1957 that brought rock 'n' roll to Canada's airwaves.

Until the early 1960s, Stone remained as a rock jock at CHUM, then became the vice-president of the station, responsible for promotions and charitable work.

By the time he left the station in 1964, he was on the board of 45 different charities. He then founded his own public relations firm and, in 1972, started the radio program at Humber College. He also taught at York University and Conestoga College.

At age 73, he went back to school and got his bachelor of arts in English at York University.

"How he would like to be remembered is for helping people," his son said. "He loved to help young people. There are thousands who benefited from his advice."

Badu Mixes The New With The Old-School

Source: www.globeandmail.com - Joshua Ostroff

ERYKAH BADU
At Massey Hall in Toronto on Monday

(May 07, 2008) When Erykah Badu first ascended in 1997 with her Grammy-winning debut Baduizm, her neo-soul sound established ties between postwar jazz, 1970s R&B and contemporary hip-hop. More than a decade later, the scene is dominated by Timbaland's future-funk and Amy Winehouse's retro-soul. But as Badu's bewitching Toronto performance attested, the self-declared analog girl in a digital world continues connecting dots between genres and eras.

While her sprawling, soul revue-style band - including four backup singers, two drummers, a small horn section, flutist and DJ - locked into an old-school groove, Badu emerged in a ruffled black flapper dress and feathered bowler, a sly shout-out to her towering turbans of yore. She immediately launched into Amerykahn Promise, the kickoff song on the recently released New Amerykah Part One (4th World War), her first full-length album in almost eight years.

The up-tempo funk track was fuelled by her soulful wail, a far cry from the cooing common to Janet Jackson or the excessive melisma of Mariah Carey. Badu likes to belt it out - the band often dropped off so she could hammer a note home unimpeded - but also enjoys vamping and voguing, drumming on a bongo or fiddling with a laptop and synthesizer.

She continued mining the new disc with languid underground fave The Healer - prompting cheers for the line "hip hop, it's bigger than the government" - and the deeply personal Me, on which she sings about her children, her advancing age (36) and the fact that "[her] ass and legs have gotten big" - cue more cheers - over a deep, pounding beat.

After the political call-to-arms of Twinkle and lover's lament My People, she moved into some older songs with her Billie Holiday-esque breakthrough On and On and ghetto tale Other Side Of The Game.

In the encore to the nearly two-hour show, Badu performed two songs from her 2000 album Mama's Gun, beginning with the 10-minute Broadway-esque epic Green Eyes, which ranged from rollicking piano funk to heart-wrenching ballad as she sat on the floor, childlike, or tried out interpretive dance moves with giant red exercise balls. Badu then moved down into the sold-out audience for crowd-favourite Bag Lady, a singalong that turned Massey Hall into a gospel revival meeting - she even cracked a joke about using her hat as a collection plate.

Throughout the night, Badu refused to adhere to labels, get sequestered by time periods or even be beholden to singles. For instance, fans screamed for, but did not receive, a rendition of her recent hit Honey.

She remains a singular performer, proudly claiming "my shit ain't based on notes - it's primal wails and tribal moans." She is as prone to scatting like a jazz singer as crooning about drug dealers and "Venus bitches," all while gleefully pinwheeling from adorable to regal, goofy to sultry.

At one point, she noted that drums were the past, present and future of music. But after such a temporally unfixed performance, Badu may as well have been describing herself.

Special to The Globe and Mail

::TRAVEL NEWS::

Jamaica: Montego Bay

BY Melanie Reffes

(May 4, 2008) Try it on for size, I'm instructed by the affable vendor at the Fort Street Craft Market near Montego Bay's Hip Strip. With a vibe more like a gracious granny than a savvy entrepreneur, her pitch continues. ''Green is your color,'' she says, holding up a batik shirt she notices matches my eyes.

I wouldn't call it a hard-sell but I would call it a convincing one. No sooner did she spy the smile on my pal Wayne's face than the shirt was folded and placed neatly in a bag. We started the bargaining at $15, and in less time than it took her to fold the shirt that matched my eyes, we settled on $12.

No doubt about it: Felicia knew how to clinch a deal. All in a day's work at the market, which sits on the site of a 17th century fort and is one of many reasons to leave the beach chair or cruise ship -- at least for an afternoon.

Montego Bay is Jamaica's most-visited city but on a recent trip, I discovered it's a lot more than the capital of the all-inclusive resort and swim-up bar.

The second largest city after Kingston (100,000 people live in Mobay, as the locals call it), it brims with gourmet eateries, swank bars, swishy spas, the greenest golf courses in Jamaica, shopping galore, nightlife that sizzles till the wee hours, footprint-in-the-sand beaches and vistas of the Caribbean Sea that put postcards to shame.

With a room total to reach 9,000 by the end of the year and accommodations among the finest on the planet, it's no wonder the government takes the north coast seriously with the refurbishment of the main highway and the Gloucester Avenue Resort Upgrading Project that is revitalizing the main drag -- known as the Hip Strip.

Steeped In History

Less than a mile from the Hip Strip, Old Town is a treasure trove of West Indian history. We start our walking tour at the St. James Parish Church, with its 18th century marble monuments and stained glass windows.

Meandering along King Street to the Burchell Baptist Church, we learn it was a haven for freed slaves. Here, Sam Sharpe, one of seven national heroes, instigated the rebellion that led to the 1834 Abolition Bill.

Two blocks west to the cobbled Sam Sharpe Square we see the locals taking five -- or lyming -- and the vendors hawking kids' clothes and ladies shoes under the shady fig trees.

''Try my peanut cake,'' beckons an elderly gentleman who politely introduces himself as Mr. Art from Gordon Town. At 40 cents a slice (we didn't bother to barter), we bought two and joined the regulars on the bench for some lyming of our own.

It was here, Wayne tells me, that 312 slaves, including Sam Sharpe, were hanged at the gallows.

''This feels like a million miles from the swim-up bar,'' he adds pointing to the Cage. Once a jail for runaway slaves, it now sells T-shirts and phone cards although the old-timers sitting nearby know exactly what it once meant.

The Great Outdoors

''Hold this vial of sugar water in your hand, raise your arm slowly and the birds will come to you.'' With that directive, Fritz Beckford welcomed a gaggle of nature buffs who awoke with the sun to see Jamaica's national bird in the wild. Twenty minutes from the beach, the Rockland Bird Sanctuary in the sleepy town of Anchovy is the most un-touristy tourist attraction we'd ever seen -- no snack bar, no gift shop, not even a website.

Ruling the roost for two decades, Fritz entertains us with trivia about the Doctor bird -- like how its black crest and tail resemble the top hat and long coats doctors wore in the old days.

How many times have you given this lecture, I ask him. ''Maybe 3,000, maybe more'' he says as the hummingbirds with the long tails and iridescent feathers swoop down from the trees as if they recognize his voice.

His words morph into bird calls and in less than a minute, a feeding frenzy erupts as dozens of the diminutive birds zoom in for their breakfast. It looks like a scene from Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds as we furiously snap photos of the critters flitting about our heads, arms and even our hair.

On the way out, Fritz hands us brochures and tells us his birds will be waiting the next time we visit.

Get Your Groove On

Stepping into Wine With Me, we could have easily been in Miami, New York or any hip city in Europe. Lorded over by MoBay's Queen Social Butterfly, Cecile Levee, we feel like family stopping by for a nightcap.

''Take a seat anywhere'' she tells us as we look around the cozy bar with an impressive 100-bottle wine list. We settle on a Riesling and a plate of perfectly grilled peppered shrimp in a mango and jerk rum sauce. After kicking back a few, we feel right at home.

With a flight the next morning, planning our next trip comes up for discussion.

''Come back for Reggae Sumfest,'' Cecile suggests as a Marley tune plays in the background. Ya mon, we tell her with the flair of Montegonians. ``I'll keep your seats warm and the wine chilled.''

Going To Montego Bay

• Best for: Montego Bay is ideal for families, couples, singles and seniors seeking a leisurely couple of days under the Caribbean sun.

• Getting there: American flies nonstop to Montego Bay from Miami; Spirit and Air Jamaica fly nonstop from Fort Lauderdale. Several airlines make the trip in four to six hours with one stop or a change of planes.

• Cost of a weekend getaway: Roundtrip airfare in early June starts at $322 from Fort Lauderdale and $378 from Miami; cheaper fares available on one-stop flights. Online travel agencies were offering three-night air/hotel packages starting around $425 per person double occupancy. For deals, check www.caribbeantravel.com and www.cheapcaribbean.com.

• Staying safe: Unlike Kingston, which reports incidents of mayhem, Montego Bay is a safe city. Crimes against tourists are virtually non-existent; the resorts have security around the clock and police patrol with mobile monitors and closed circuit cameras. A polite ''No, thank you'' is all that's necessary to those who offer to braid your hair or sell you T-shirts. Leave airline tickets and passports in the hotel safe, hire only JUTA-operated taxis (Jamaica Union of Travelers Association) and contrary to urban legend, ganja is illegal for use or export.

Where To Stay

• The gold standard for luxury, the AAA Five Diamond Ritz-Carlton at Rose Hall (800-826-9430 or 876-953-2800, www.rosehall.com) is offering a Reconnect package -- $299 per room, per night (plus 13 percent resort fee), includes accommodations, breakfast for two and a $100 daily food credit, a round of golf at the White Witch course or a massage -- try the Jamaican Coffee Scrub that refreshes and renews but won't keep you up at night.

• The palatial villas (2-8 bedrooms) at the Tryall Club (800-238- 5290, www.tryallclub.com) come with a chef and Swimming Nanny for the younger set. From $400 for a two-bedroom villa in summer to $2,410 for seven bedrooms at Christmas, per night.

• Sandals Inn (800-SANDALS, www.sandals.com) is all about location, location, location. On the Hip Strip, the 52 room all-inclusive is cozier than its two sister properties, Royal Caribbean and Sandals Montego Bay yet with the same high standards -- and you can have privileges at the others, with shuttle provided. Daily all-inclusive rate in May, $346.

• Also with instant access to the Hip Strip, the all-inclusive SuperClub Breezes Montego Bay (800-GO-SUPER, www.superclubs.com) fronts Doctor's Cave Beach, famous for the healing powers of its mineral-rich translucent water. Stand-outs include the rooftop Jacuzzi, Cook and Talk Jamaica classes and a staff that feels like family. From $250 per night in May.

• There at least a dozen budget hotels on the Hip Strip. Our choice is the Altamont West (33 Gloucester Ave., 876-979-9378, www.altamontwesthotel.com) The 31-room hotel has free Wi-fi, cable TV and a wine bar. Rooms from $90.

Where To Eat

• The Boonoonoonoos (patois for ''plentiful'') platter at The Native (29 Gloucester Ave, 876-979-2769) is chock full of curried goat, lip-searing jerk chicken, ackee with salt fish and plantains. Open to the breeze on a veranda overlooking the Hip Strip, it raises lyming with the locals to a fine art. Dinner entrees, $9-$34.

• Close to the airport, Scotchies (Coral Gardens Main Highway, 876-953-8041) is a no-frills bonanza of roasted breadfruit, frosty Red Stripe beer and chicken, fish and pork blackened to perfection in a marinade of scotch bonnet peppers. $6.50 for a half-pound of jerk pork

• The views are ridiculously fabulous at the Montego Bay Yacht Club (1133 Sunset Dr., 876-979-8038, http://montegobayyachtclub.com) and the lamb chops with mint pesto are to-die-for.

• Try the spicy jerk burger ($8.95) at the Jamaican Bobsled Café (69 Gloucester Ave, 876-940-7009), which stays open until 2 a.m. and delivers to the resorts.

What To Do

• Built in the 1770's with limestone brought from England, Rose Hall Great House (876-953-2323, www.rosehall.com) was the home of the wicked Annie Palmer, aka White Witch of Rose Hall, who murdered her three husbands and remains one of Montego Bay's favorite ghosts. 45-minute tours, $20 adults, $10 kids.

• Starting from Doctor's Cave Beach, Chukka Sea Trek is Jamaica's only underwater tour. Designed for seafarers and land lubbers, a space age helmet rests on your shoulders while a continuous flow of air allows you to breathe. Your hair doesn't get wet and you can wear glasses while viewing the marine life and spectacular coral. 876-953-5619, www.chukkacaribbean.com; 30-minute ride, $69 per person.

• At the end of the Hip Strip next to the Jamaica Tourist Board, the Jewish Cemetery is the oldest on the island. Managed by the St. James Parish Council, the gates are locked; however, the JTB can arrange entry (876-922-5931 or 876-922-1287).

• Rockland Bird Sanctuary, 876-952-2009; $15 adult admission, $5 children.

• Wine With Me, 33 Gloucester Ave.; 876-371- 4804; www.altamontwesthotel.com. Wine cellar and food. Closed Mondays.

• Reggae Sumfest (July 13-19; 876-953-2933, www.reggaesumfest.com) is the largest reggae festival in the world attracting hard-core fans and a stellar line-up of acts. Book hotel rooms early -- they fill up fast. Event tickets, $12-$160.

Information

• Jamaica Tourist Board, 305-665-0557 or 800-233- 4582; www.visitjamaica.com.

::MUSIC NEWS::

Bryan Adams Asks Fans To Listen Up

Source: www.globeandmail.com - Simon Houpt

(May 01, 2008) In his 1984 arena shaking B-side Kids Wanna Rock, Bryan Adams exhorted his fans to "Turn it Up! Turn it up!" But now, faced with a measure of hearing loss from decades of playing at eardrum-piercing decibel levels, the British Columbia-born rocker is the public face of a global campaign suggesting that listeners might want to turn the music down a tad.

Tonight, Adams will unveil an exhibition of his photographs at a gallery space in New York's meatpacking district that include shots of Mick Jagger, Michael Bublé, Annie Lennox, Placido Domingo, Chad Kroeger, Amy Winehouse and Lindsay Lohan, each cupping a hand to an ear in a universal expression of listening. More than 20 recording artists posed for Adams's camera as part of the Hear the World initiative.

Sponsored by the hearing-aid company Phonak, the exhibition aims to increase awareness of the importance of good hearing. To that end, it will include a number of interactive displays, including hearing self-testing stations and sound-art installations.

The photos, on public view in New York until May 15 before travelling to Berlin and Zurich, will be auctioned at hear-the-world.com/exhibition to raise funds that will help those struggling with hearing impairment. Previous Phonak initiatives have helped hearing-impaired children in South Africa integrate into regular school classrooms.

Tonight's red carpet event at the unnamed space at 413-415 West 14th St., between Alexander McQueen's flagship store and the club Lotus, will include appearances by actors Franka Potente and Matthew Modine, a music set from the Virgins and a DJ set by the Roots's drummer, Questlove.

Adams himself is saving his energy for a 15-date solo tour kicking off tomorrow night in Philadelphia in support of his new album, 11. Most of the set will be acoustic - all the better for his hearing.

Latest Mash-Up: COC And Hip Hop

Source: www.globeandmail.com - Joshua Ostroff

(May 07, 2008) If you had to pick a pair of musical genres furthest apart from each other, opera and hip hop would be a fairly safe bet. One thing they do share is sizable purist fan bases, which, whether they use the phrase or not, prefer practitioners to keep it real. Nonetheless, these star-crossed genres are coming together in a performance called The Hip Hopera, a new collaboration by the Canadian Opera Company and the Royal Conservatory of Music.

"I don't really know how that's going to work out, but sure, I'd be willing to sit down," was DJ Lil Jaz's initial reaction to the proposed mash-up. "I wasn't sceptical so much as wondering what the hell would come out of it. What were we going to do?"

Jaz is a former world champion DJ who has worked with k-os and Nelly Furtado (with whom he has a daughter) and teaches turntable fundamentals at the Royal Conservatory alongside DJ T.R.A.C.K.S. The duo teamed up with COC soprano Teiya Kasahara and baritone Justin Welsh to bring their respective specialties together.

"To fuse hip hop and opera isn't exactly a new idea," Jaz acknowledges, "but I don't think it's been done to the degree that we did it." Indeed, the term hip hopera is usually used like rock opera - Beyoncé starred in MTV's Carmen but sang R&B while Prince Paul's classic rap album Prince Among Thieves was opera-like only in its narrative structure.

"With my bosses, maybe there was a little bit of trepidation because [hip hop] is more foreign to them," Kasahara says. "But with our generation, growing up with it in the house, it was familiar."

It's safe to say hip hop's familiarity is what sparked the fusion - and what better way to make a 16th-century art form relevant to a young 21st-century audience. Atlanta Ballet recently tried a similar, albeit more ambitious, collaboration with OutKast rapper Big Boi, though National Public Radio reported some ballet traditionalists were initially "freaked out."

For any similar doubters, Kasahara notes that opera and hip hop have more in common than many realize. "Years ago, opera was a way for composers and librettists to create political and social messages. They were criticized and censored, but it allowed them to express themselves and challenge government. Today, genres like hip hop [raise] social and political issues."

Kasahara acknowledges that younger audiences don't know much about opera and that hip hop is a whole new world for opera fans - a fact she hopes this production could help to change.

"We weren't thinking 'How can we make this for the traditional Toronto opera audience?' We didn't want to be inhibited by that. It's not opera and hip hop side by side - we're trying to create something new."

It is structured like a traditional opera, with a dramatic arc about defining identity in today's society, and there's no actual rapping. The hip-hop elements arrive through beats, classical samples and live turntable scratching.

"I think anyone could get with the program. We're not taking it to the grimiest areas of hip hop. It's understandable by anyone who listens to pop music today," Jaz says. "Over all, it is just two genres trying to transcend what they're traditionally classified as.

"It's time to evolve. To start mixing and matching."

Special to The Globe and Mail

The Hip Hopera is performed today at 5:30 p.m. at the Four Seasons Centre's Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, Toronto. Admission is free.

Common Teases New Album 'Invincible'

Source: www.eurweb.com

(May 02, 2008) *Common unveiled eight songs from his upcoming album "Invincible Summer" Tuesday night for Billboard magazine, which said the project is "shaping up to be an electro-tinged departure from the MC's previous lyric-driven albums."

"I created this music for the summer time, it's about feeling good," Common tells Billboard.com. "This is the type of music I felt was missing from my body of work."

The Chicago-born rapper has spent the last two months working on "Invincible Summer," which is tentatively due in mid-July led by the high-energy track "Universal Mind Control (U.M.C)."

The set was produced by The Neptunes and Outkast producer Mr. DJ. Kanye West, who helmed the production on Common's last LP, 2007's "Finding Forever," did not contribute any tracks this time around.

"Kanye was focusing on his 'Glow in the Dark' show, so he hasn't been able to make it to the studio to weigh in," Common says. "But it worked out well, organically. The Neptunes & Mr. DJ came up with a fresh sound for me."

Cee-Lo and The Neptunes' pop group, Chester French, guest on the album, but Common says singer-MC Santogold is "one of my favourite artists right now" and adds that he's awaiting a verse from her for the track "Runaway," which samples its guitar riff from Pat Benatar's 'Love Is A Battlefield."

"Invincible" also features spongy futuristic chords on "Make My Day" featuring Cee-Lo, and fuzzy kazoos on "Punch Love," reports Billboard.

Genticorum: Quebec Folk Trio With An Indie Spirit

Source: www.thestar.com - John Terauds, Entertainment Reporter

(May 01, 2008) In casual slouch, the three 30-something dudes that are Genticorum could be mistaken for indie rockers. But don't let the attitude fool you; they are folkies through and through.

Alexandre de Grosbois-Garand, Yann Falquet and Pascal Gemme all did time in jazz, pop and rock as they searched for musical identity in the 1990s. All three found home – and one another – in the music of their Québécois roots, founding Genticorum in 2000.

Eight years later, they have spread the gospel of Quebec folk around the world and are busily touring their recently released third album, La Bibournoise. Shuttling back and forth this spring between southwestern Ontario and Quebec, the hard-travelling trio performs in Toronto for the Flying Cloud Folk Club on Sunday.

This string of Canadian gigs is unusual. "Normally, 85 to 90 per cent of our gigs are outside Quebec," says de Grosbois-Garand in French over a roadside cellphone chat just outside the GTA last week.

"But we're taking advantage of the new album and having an international career to get some attention at home," he says.

Back from a month-long tour of Australia and with critical applause from major folk, Celtic and world-music festivals around the globe, Genticorum is yet another lesson in the generations-old Canadian tale of having to become famous beyond before being taken seriously at home.

"No one is a prophet in their own country," the group's front man says matter-of-factly.

Now, Genticorum is riding a wave of interest in folk traditions and music among young listeners. It could be that in a wired, globalized world, authentic local culture is taking on greater importance as a cultural anchor in our home communities.

"Since about '93 we've been seeing more and more young people in the audience for traditional music."

Genticorum offers the real thing, mixing vocals with fiddle, guitar, fretless bass and the ever-present tapping of seasoned leather soles on wood. Their repertoire mixes songs that go back several centuries with the group's own creations, which mimic traditional rhythms and melodies.

On disc as well as live, the trio mixes purely instrumental pieces with songs. All three can sing in polished, close harmony, when required. Their energy and enthusiasm are palpable.

"All three of us have a background in rock, so we also bring a particular kind of energy to a show that younger audiences appreciate," says de Grosbois-Garand. "But the purists are okay with us, too. We try to find a balance in what we do."

De Grosbois-Garand explains the band's popularity in the English-speaking world by pointing to a crossover in audiences between Celtic and Québécois music. Often one style leads to another.

"A lot of people have discovered us through more modern styles," de Grosbois-Garand says. "Even bands like Great Big Sea, on the Celtic side, have woken up the folk spirit in people."

Just the facts
WHAT: Genticorum
WHERE: The Tranzac, 292 Brunswick Ave.
WHEN: Sunday, 7:30 p.m. (doors at 7)
ADMISSION: $20 at the door (members: $18 at flyingcloudfolk.ca)

Brooklyn Rapper A Hot Lil Mama

Source: www.thestar.com - Melena Ryzik, New York Times

(May 03, 2008) NEW YORK–"I love you, oh my God, you my idol!" Ashley Smellie, a Long Island high school student, gushed as the young Brooklyn rapper Lil Mama emerged from a tour bus outside of a club in Queens recently. It was near midnight, and Lil Mama had been scheduled to perform for an audience of mostly teenage girls. They came to hear "Lip Gloss," last summer's hit novelty single, in which she brags about her makeup over a simplified beat:

"My lip gloss is poppin'
My lip gloss is cool
All the boys keep jockin'
They chase me after school."

Smellie, 16, added, "She's swaggerific."

That swagger was nearly not displayed: For murky reasons the show was cancelled at the last minute, leaving her fans milling about, and Lil Mama, who has a li'l temper, hiding out in the bus, upset. But eventually she rallied, 5-foot-3 in hot-pink patent leather Doc Martens, to arrange group photos on a deserted street corner. She led her fans in a chant, "4-29-08!" – the release date last Tuesday for her debut album, VYP: Voice of the Young People.

A long-delayed follow-up to "Lip Gloss,'' Voice of the Young People is a curious mix of schoolyard froth and adult advice. When "G-Slide (Tour Bus),'' released last fall, was met with indifference, her label held the album, repositioning the rapper as more of a multifaceted artist and pairing her with hit-makers like the producer Scott Storch, the singer-rapper T-Pain and the young R&B star Chris Brown. The collaborations resulted in the Top 10 single "Shawty Get Loose," which was also used on Randy Jackson Presents America's Best Dance Crew, the MTV show on which Lil Mama was a judge, dispensing mostly supportive, if occasionally nonsensical, commentary.

Now Lil Mama, 18, is in a rare position in hip hop: a female MC aiming to jump from dance-floor hotness to inspiration. "Growing up in a neighbourhood like mine, I always had to be a positive influence on the youth," she said. "I'm the outlet of the things that we want the world to know about us.''

Her determination to be viewed as more than a novelty act – as chronicled in the album's second track, "One Hit Wonder" – was bolstered by the death of her mother, Tara Kirkland, in December after a four-year battle with cancer. At an interview at a house her father owns in the Bushwick neighbourhood of Brooklyn, where she shared a cherry Popsicle with her 3-year-old sister, Jasmine, Lil Mama explained how Lil Mama grew up.

For starters, the name: Born Niatia Kirkland, the oldest girl of eight siblings, she was nicknamed Lil Mama early on by her mother and aunt.

"As the years went on, everybody said, `She lives up to her name, she's too grown,'" Lil Mama said. She and her brothers and sisters and various cousins bounced between living with her mother in Harlem and her father in and around East New York, Brooklyn.

"We grew up kind of poor, on welfare," she said. "It was a crazy lifestyle, moving around, from apartment to apartment, shelter to apartment.''

Lil Mama still lives with her family in Brooklyn; they appear on the album and in her videos. "I can't be on my own yet," she said, especially so soon after her mother's death.

"My mother taught me every-thing there is to know," she emphasized. "As I get older, I just learn how to put it into place better." Her album has a song called "College" in which she raps about visiting a campus with her mother.

She started dancing as a child; her father ran an independent record imprint, Familiar Faces, and released her songs on mix tapes. Through a management company, "Lip Gloss" was eventually propelled to radio.

And for contemporary hip hop, Lil Mama is especially radio-friendly. Though her mother, she said, "would curse, she was raw, her mouth was ridiculous," she doesn't use profanity. "That takes away from who you have potential to be," she said. "The best, the greatest, smart, innovative, creative. That's what I am.

"When was the last time a new female M.C. on the scene – from Harlem, from Brooklyn – put out an album that people actually care about?" she asked. "Lil' Kim? Foxy Brown? It's been years. Lil Mama's a big deal."

A Swedish Britney, Minus The Antics