A 2018 Concert To Honour The 10th Anniversary of Elizabeth Shepherd's Parkdale and The Launch of Corby's Orbit

 

On July 13, 2008, Elizabeth Shepherd released her second album, Parkdale. After creating an international hipster smash in jazz and dance circles with her first album, Start To Move, the transplanted Montréaler settled into a basement apartment in Parkdale, and began work on a new LP, a musical love letter to the neighbourhood that provided her with a new set of responses to her humanistic musical aspirations.

Parkdale was a work that expanded the spectrum of Canadian jazz, by skewing towards a more breezy and cosmopolitan lyricism while embracing exotic time signatures, hip hop syncopation. To celebrate this pivotal conception at a distance of ten years, a concert featuring the music of Parkdale and the brightest talents of the community came together on Sunday, the 15th of July, 2018, at the ballroom in the Gladstone Hotel to re-sing, to re-imagine, to re-invent the most specifically Toronto music of Elizabeth Shepherd's career.

One of the performers, Denielle Bassels said: “Parkdale" is a beautiful homage to a part of town that I am so familiar with. Hearing Elizabeth Shepherd struck me in a whole new way. Never since Nina Simone have I seen a woman in Jazz so masterful in their compositions. Her rhythms and harmonies are complex without feeling contrived and her compositions are all at once intelligent, raw, and transparent. Her voice is ethereal yet approachable, she speaks to you. For me, I hear that it is alright to be vulnerable and masterful at once. She brings a whole new light to being a female in jazz today."

Performers:

Band:

Nick McLean - Keyboards, Musical Director

Brownman Ali - Trumpet

Scott Kemp - Original Parkdale bassist

Colin Kingsmore - Original Parkdale drummer

Singers:

Red Whyte & Tollar

Chloé Watkinson

The Memberz Reggae Band

Raha Javanfar

Collette Savard and The SavantEs

Valeria Matzner

Jessica Stuart

Denielle Bassels

Jocelyn Barth

Winterfolk Cascades Through The Downtown Danforth In Toronto

Alfie Smith's solid blue kickoff ignited Toronto's 13th annual Winterfolk frolic Friday at Danforth and Broadview

The Heavyweights Brass Band stirred up a profound crisis of stomp and holler and then marched away into the night.

 

West coast roots hero David Essig applied a deft slide to his 12-string guitar, which he calls "the steam locomotive of the blues", educating and rousing a rapt audience.

The Jessica Stuart Few unpacked their jazz / folk / manga repertoire at Terrio's with a tight and trippy performance.

Rae Billing and Lynn Miles shared wisdom, wit and harmony yodelling with an afternoon audience at The Black Swan and Linda McRae provided a country quilt of stories and songs, ending with a singalong on "Be Your Own Light".

Noah Zacharin's fingerstyle embroidery decorated the afternoon for an amiable crowd at Dora Keough.

Kristine Schmitt busted homestyle rambles at Dora's evening showcase as Hotcha's Beverley and Howard, and chantistas Isabel Fryszberg and Clela Errington gave full frontal support.

 The O`Pears enchanted a room that was just about ready to hoot with elaborate harmonic ideas and original melodies of persuasive distinction.

Whoa Nelly popped fuses with their highly charged country swing and ballads.

And The Wanted gave us a hot chance for a Saturday night wail-along with 

These Boots Are Made For Walkin`, amongst other classics.

Photos by Paul & Kim Corby

Parade Radio

I like the Africa of all this bold heat perfectly, so no sympathy, strap a freezie on and enjoy it or you'll miss the best part of the summer. Musical A.C. will be provided today by the fine musicians of the OUT OF THE BOX MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL which insinuates itself into the Great Hall and the Toronto Underground Cinema next weekend with fantastic 3D explorations featuring Loom, Jessica Stuart, Heartbeat Hotel  and on and on . This is the golden stuff so be there for the shine.

Soul appliques will be administered in a tribute to Jerry Ragovoy, who passed on in glory late last week. He figured positively in the radiance of 60's solar soul music as a songwriter of exquisite emotion: Wonderful Dream, Time Is On My Side, You Don't Know Nothing About Love, and Piece of My Heart.
Take it baby, and get it while you can. CKLN.FM online TODAY!!!!!11-2 p.m.
Be there or laissez-faire!