Adam Kelly awaits the arrival of his breakfast at a cafe near his north end home. All around him, tables are occupied by groups of friends. Voices and laughter erupt often from one crowd, causing everyone else at the closely neighbouring tables to turn in curiosity, surprise or annoyance. It’s a common enough occurrence. But […]
Sean Flinn
Posted inArts + Music
Multiples of one
Max Tundra, Seahorse, 10:30pm Ben Jacobs (aka Max Tundra) energized the fairly packed Seahorse crowd with inventive music – turns, twists and shifts aplenty – but also with his dedicated dancing. A short man, his arms were surprisingly long and he flailed them tirelessly, like a multi-armed mythical creature. Multiplicity was the night’s theme. Tundra’s […]
Posted inArts + Music
Playing with paint
Shan Arsenault’s Great Guitars, Andy Cragg Nonet, 3pm/4pm at Main Stage Festival Tent I’m a little confused. On the Atlantic Jazz Festival web site, the Men With Gloves Trio was listed as being accompanied by painter Holly Carr. But when Shan Arsenault’s Great Guitars act was on stage, so was Carr. Though she was finishing […]
Posted inArts + Music
Fair warning
Through the ribbon of glass running along one wall in Halifax Regional Police chief Frank Beazley’s office, a rainbow flag is visible, draped on an apartment balcony. The icon sits perfectly off the shoulder of deputy chief Chris McNeil, who’s borrowing his boss’s office while he’s away. Dressed casually, a blue HRP pin on the […]
Posted inArts + Music
The art of musical language
Language Arts, Wednesday July 18, 8pmArgyle Fine Art Sound Gallery Series Vancouver-based Language Arts will hopefully return to Halifax soon, perhaps on a bill in a club, because they’re ready for it. They certainly attract a crowd, judging from the enthusiastic folks on the stairway and some seat-dancers down the middle. All got smiles from […]
Posted inArts + Music
Slavic Soul Party carries the evening
To best appreciate The Hylozoists, the eight-member Toronto-based ensemble led by Halifax native Paul Aucoin, you need to see the band in a smaller, enclosed space. That way the ample sound can surround you and the rest of the audience, hitting each body with some sonic force. (Anyone who saw the band’s show with Brent […]
Posted inArts + Music
Bliss on a sunny Saturday
Feral Bliss as part of free shows at the Main Stage Festival Tent – 2pm, Saturday July 14th, 2007 The city has just suffered through one of its long and dreary spells of fog, rain and grey. In the second straight clear day (!), the rays feel that much warmer, the breeze that much gentler […]
Posted inArts + Music
Big band
Jazz festivals are the summering grounds of the large ensemble. The big, beautiful beasts come from far and wide to frolic in the sun, their distinctive calls heard across the city. Among the pack, The Hylozoists migrate from Toronto, while Slavic Soul Party! come up from Brooklyn. To watch and listen to these two graceful […]
Posted inArts + Music
Chillin’
In conversation with Ben Jacobs, AKA Max Tundra, a number of paradoxes arise. He draws from pop music today and calls himself a pop musician, but what he makes doesn’t sound like pop. He doesn’t consider himself an electronic musician, but he uses electronics to make and perform his music. He believes radio in his […]
Posted inArts + Music
The world in between
Lucie Chan sits in the courtyard in front of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, the stones drying in the sun after days of rain. Inside, the artist’s latest exhibition, between, and in tears, is almost fully installed. The AGNS makes a third point in a triangle of locales for Chan, who regularly shuttles between […]
Posted inArts + Music
The short circuit
The current crop of celluloid storytellers in the Atlantic Filmmakers’ Co-Operative’s Film 5 mentorship program already know you don’t get anywhere without a solid story. The year-long gig starts with eight teams for phase one—development—but only four of them move to the production stage. This year, all four groups are applying to the Atlantic Film […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Building connections
Unlike doctors and nurses, lawyers or teachers, architects don’t often speak up about the work they do. While the media often makes “starchitects” of a handful in the profession, the majority of architects labour in silence and under the watch of an often vocally disapproving, fretful public. There are those who appreciate new and unconventional […]
