Music Festivals

After a night that went better than any East Coast Music Awards party-goer could have expected, I had to reason that I was in for a bit of a letdown. Although there were a few hitches, Saturday night saw the most crowds, with almost every bar packed to the brim with music fans out to […]

After what was a low-key night for the ECMAs, I set out on Friday in an attempt to see as much as I could. I was not disappointed. Simply put, when you’re sipping a gin and tonic in the Scotia Square mall at 5:30 a.m., you know you’ve had a good time. The night started […]

Here we go. It’s the start of the 2007 ECMA Weekend and the city is abuzz with musicians, media, and industry folk, gearing up for another edition of the best sounds the Maritimes have to offer. My day starts with a visit to the ECMA media centre. Personally, I think the organizers of the weekend […]

Here we go. It’s the start of the East Coast Music Awards Weekend, in which the city will be beset by musician and general industry folk, all milling about

Thursday night, foremost T-dot bassist Roberto Occhipinti brought a quintet of fabulous players into the Commons Room to entertain a near capacity audience of (I would hazard to guess)university music students and upmarket middle-aged listeners. Occhipinti, Cuban piano god Hilario Duran, trumpeter Kevin Turcotte, alto-saxophonist Luis Denis and drum wunderkindDafnis Prieto, held court playing (with […]

I’ve had my share of man-crushes. Too many to list here. Normally they’re musicians, sometimes visual artists. I end up like George in that Seinfeld episode where he’s all agog over Tony, a mountain-climbing boyfriend of Elaine. I’ve never offered to make sandwiches though for my man-crushes, as George does. Or there’s Jerry’s crush on […]

A number of years ago, living in Toronto, I bought a ticket for a Miles Davis concert at Roy Thomson Hall. Miles’s career at that time had spanned more than three decades and the audience filing in the hall reflected that span. Old men leaning on their canes hoping to hear Miles from the big […]

Tuesday night I hopped over to the Dal Architecture Building to catch Sageev Oore improvising music to a showing of Charlie Chaplin movies. Figuring on a wait (I like to arrive at venues in plenty of time for a broad range of seating choice), I brought along with my notebook a copy of the current […]

After passing by the festival tent and strolling down a closed Spring Garden over the weekend, it was time for the first of many nights at the TD Canada Trust Atlantic Jazz Festival. Every year the festival deals Haligonians a wild card. Two years ago, it was the Stereolab meets My Bloody Valentine sounds from […]

Last night, I was a lab rat. The experiment: get all the people that can fit (maybe 45 or 50 tops?) into Sonic Temple Recording Studio on Hollis Street to sit in on a session, which will provide the basis for a forthcoming recording, by Jerry Granelli’s quartet, V16. This was the first of two […]

Sunday night. I could scarcely resist the come-on. “Hypnotic, ecstatic, and eminently danceable, Niyaz represents the best of both traditional world music and electronic music. Applying the jump-start to this vibrant evening will be Torotno’s award-winning Tasa in performance of an inspired repertoire based upon the traditons of Northern India. The effect can both haunt […]

Night two of the festival offered me a few first-time experiences, all linked by an exuberant energy. Top among those, AfroMusica. I’ve had ample opportunity to see this band that presents a joyful pan-African sound, but didn’t actually take the opportunity – for no real reason – until this year. I shouldn’t have procrastinated all […]