“What’s the topic of conversation/if I ain’t the topic of conversation?” asks MAJE in the opening minute of the 12-track Insert Flame Emojis Here, and it’s a fair question. In an album that begins with the refrain is “My whole team had hoop dreams,” it’s worth nothing he’s assembled a major collection of collaborators here, […]
halifax jazz festival
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A Canadian, through and through
Founded in 1967, the Halifax All-City Music program provides free music education for public school students throughout HRM. In addition to string, choral, and band instruction, the program boasts three jazz ensembles that challenge students to “learn the art of spontaneous creation,” the HACM website notes. So I was stunned to discover during a recent exchange […]
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Halifax Jazz Festival announces Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals and more
Multiple award winning, Grammy-nominated R&B/hip hop artist, drummer and producer Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals play the Halifax Jazz Festival Waterfront Main Stage Saturday, July 15, 2017. Festival passes are available for purchase beginning today, May 16. Tickets for individual shows go on sale this Thursday, May 18 at 10am AST. Shows at St. […]
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Heather Gibson lands new job at the National Arts Centre
Heather Gibson, executive director of Halifax Jazz Festival and founder and producer of folk fest In the Dead of Winter, has been appointed the new producer of NAC Presents, a concert series at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. The Halifax music industry giant will relocate to Ottawa soon, beginning her post at the NAC […]
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Hats off: a Jazz Fest fashion guide
The Pork Pie If jazz is your highway, the pork pie is your Cadillac. This eccentric lid belongs to a true jazz nerd, who’s happily holed up, syncopated snapping at the Village Vanguard, or ripping sax solos of their own in a hotel bar. Lester Young made this look legendarily cool, hence why this style […]
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Six degrees of Nile Rodgers
1. CHIC Nile Rodgers and and bassist Bernard Edwards co-founded the badass, funked up disco band in the mid-‘70s, giving music-lovers timeless dance hits like Grammy hall-of-famer “Le Freak” and the oft-sampled (see: “Rapper’s Delight”) “Good Times.” Chic remains a relevant fixture, releasing its latest in 2015, and has been heralded as one of the […]
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Thundercat’s bass progression
Stephen Bruner has had a love for the bass for as long as he can remember. He says that he always gravitated towards stringed instruments as a kid, and has countless family photos of himself as a young boy holding a bass to prove it. Bruner—who’s now 31 years old and better known as Thundercat—hasn’t […]
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It’s the summer of Reeny Smith
Reeny Smith has a secret and she doesn’t want to share. Chatting by phone one recent morning, she drops succulent clues and small details, but politely declines to say too much, no matter which way the question is rephrased. As the North Preston performer gracefully changes the topic to her recently hectic schedule, she seems […]
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Lauryn Hill goes electric
Tuesday night at the 30th Halifax Jazz Fest’s big opening show, a thunder and lightning storm erupted over Ms. Lauryn Hill and her band. As the musicians were ushered off the stage, the light show over the harbour kicked up in dreamy purples and hazy greys, then the skies opened up and rain fell like […]
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Adam Baldwin’s rock revelation
On a recent Thursday night at a sold-out Seahorse Tavern, Dartmouth native Adam Baldwin began an earnest serenade to the throng of fans before him. When the audience joined in the singing, lamenting what Baldwin describes as “the dangers of complacency,” the June 23 concert became something more than the official release party of his sophomore […]
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Halifax Jazz Festival 2016 lineup announced
The TD Halifax Jazz Festival dropped its 2016 (and 30th anniversary) lineup this morning and it’s a doozy. In addition to the already-announced City and Colour, Metric and–swoon–Ms. Lauryn Hill main stage shows, the festival promises acts for die-hard jazz fans and newbies alike. Visitings acts include Kendrick Lamar collaborator/ex-Suicidal Tendencies bassist Thundercat, Polaris Prize […]
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Toronto poppers Metric just announced to play Halifax Jazz Fest
The Halifax Jazz Festival, in partnership with Sonic Concerts, just announced the fourth headliner for its 30th anniversary celebration: Toronto pop-quartet Metric will play Halifax once again, like it’s 2006. Except it’ll be Wednesday, July 13, 2016. The band joins the legendary Ms. Lauryn Hill, the T.Dot singer Basia Bulat and Ontario rockers City and Colour as headliners. The poppers, fronted […]