Playlist For Show Of August 14

Photo by Snapping Turtle / Algonquin Park Sky Last Saturday

Commissioner of Selection: Paul Corby

( Brought To You by Tory-ceratops, Trudeau-sauri and Mulcairodactyls )

Guests ~ Devon Sproule & Brother Neil

5-7 p.m. Fridays online http://www.radioregent.com/ and at tunein.com .  

Canadians in Asterisk’d RED.

5:00 The Thunder Years

* Buffy Ste-Marie ~ We Are Circling ~ Power In The Blood    Polaris Prize Nominee 2015

We Are Circling

We are circling
Circling together
We are singing
Singing our heartsong

This is family
This is unity
This is celebration
This is sacred

* Braids ~ Warm Like Summer ~ Deep In The Iris @ Lee's Palace Tuesday, 22 September Polaris Prize Nominee 2015

* Zaki Ibrahim ~ The Brave Ones ~ Every Opposite ~@ Yonge / Dundas Square tonight 8:30 Polaris Prize Nominee 2013

Aimee Mann ~ Wise Up ~ Magnolia Sdtrk ~ @ The Mod Club Saturday with The Both (Ted Leo) & Terra Lightfoot

 5:20 Omnivorous Omniverse

* Raylene Rankin ~ Blackbird ~ All The Diamonds 

* The Band ~  Daniel & The Sacred Harp (Alternate Take) ~ The Band: A Musical History ~ Sacred Harp Singalong @ Bloor St. United Church, Wednesday, 19 August

 * Brother Neil ~ Reap What You Sow / Interview / Evening (live) / Met Her In The West (live) ~ 


Bonfire Confessions NEW DISK CD Release Saturday @ 120 Diner 6-8 p.m.

* Jack Marks feat. Angie Gunn ~ Wallflower Waltz ~ Wicked Moon NEW DISK

Buddie Emmons (January 27, 1937 – July 21, 2015) ~ There Will Never Be Another You ~ Steel Guitar Jazz (Mercury 2003) 

6:00 Urban Sproule

* Devon Sproule ~ Nobody Tells Me A Thing / The Shallow End / Interview ~ Colours ~ @ The Burdock w. Bernice, Sunday 

6:15 Souls Out Performance

* Monsoon ~ Tiger's Eyes ~ Mandala ~ @ TORONTO Music Garden Sunday 4 p.m.

Jimmie Lunceford ~ Well Alright Then ~ Powerhouse Swing 

Percy Mayfield  (August 12, 1920 – August 11, 1984) ~ The Big Question ~ Specialty Profiles

* Patrick Lehman ~ Paper ~ Electric Soul Kitchen vol. 1 ~ @ The Rex Saturday

6:30 Glad Tambourines

* Mac DeMarco ~ The Way You`d Love Her ~ Another One EP  NEW DISK ~ Time Festival @ Fort York Garrison Commons tonight

* Terra Lightfoot ~ Moonlight ~ Every Time My Mind Runs Wild ~ @ The Mod Club Saturday

* Viet Cong ~ March Of Progress ~ Viet Cong ~ @ Lee's Palace December 4-5 Polaris Prize Nominee 2015

6:45 Reggae Your Composure

Luciano & Sizzla ~ Jah Blessing ~ Luci @ Redemption Reggae / Polson Pier Saturday 

Marcia Griffiths ~ Mark My Word ~ @ Redemption Reggae / Polson Pier Sunday

Dave Brubeck ~ St. Louis Blues ~ Live @ Carnegie Hall / Toronto Music Listings

The Rev. Max Woolaver Blesses Corby's Orbit

Max was on the show last May 

and said some kind things about the mission of the show 

and of Radio Regent....

Thanks for the encouragement.

Devon Sproule and Brother Neil Gathering Into The Orbit

Somehow, seventies folk singer Brother Neil was preserved into this century by rocket science, and he emerges from his  time capsule intact into the Orbital muso-sphere today at 5:15 to preview the songs of altruism, communal spirit and girlfriend troubles that he will be premiering at tomorrow's CD launch.

And at 6:00, Tin Angel recording artist and a true heroine of song, Devon Sproule , resident of Charlotteville, Virginia and Berlin, Germany and a Kingston, Ontario native, will be calling in to share the excitement of her impending One Garden Tour with co-billed cohort ensemble Bernice. She has rocked the city solo in past visits, but this Sunday night with big sound, she'll be reviewing her seven-record career and showing off new material at new local ear sanctuary The Burdock.


Live, The Whole Live, and Nothing But The Live Radio Experience, Fridays on http://tunein.com/

Farther Adventures With The Conundrum

Drum keeper David Hynes and I set up on the front porch of The Arlington in Maynooth last Saturday night.

As expected, The Conundrum blew minds and powered up the dormant batteries of a lot of tourists, campers, music fans and Hastings Highlands Hillbillies at the Jane Bunnett / Pan Am All-Stars gig.

Onstage, Jane shared the front line with her hubz Larry Kramer on trumpet and the impassioned Venezuelan vocalist Eliana Cuevas, while the inspired support of keyboardist Jeremy Ledbetter and an intense rhythm section of Magdelys Savigne, Amhed Mitchel and Juan Pablo Dominguez kept the fire crackling all night.

Sunday morning, acting on a tip, we headed west into the pristine primeval wilderness of Algonquin Park in search of a non-aligned All Nations Pow Wow. Following the instructions on a hand-drawn invitation with no map, we went "about 20 minutes down the road" five times, before we finally turned back. But there it was, sighted by chance - a small sign in the grass at a corner:
 Pow Wow This Way >>>>.

People along the roadway were still donning regalia and being blessed in clouds of sweet grass and rosemary when we drove up. We thought we had missed it, but 
The Grand Entry had been delayed, so we set up the drum right away at the far side of a tall gazebo, crowned with an evergreen sapling, known as The Arbour. 

As soon as The Conundrum was pushed into the sun, a young man in sunglasses and a cowboy hat approached, and touched it carefully.
 "Is this really a drum?" he asked. "Are you going to play it?" 
I said, "Well I could, but I think you should."

He began to hit a heartbeat rhythm. With every beat, another person arrived with a stick and joined in until all of the drummers and singers and women and children in the clearing had gathered around it. Someone suggested doing "the Leonard Peltier song."


The drummers began a beautiful and powerful chant as a group. It went around for nine or ten cycles. I have heard the drum go loud before, but never THAT loud. The singing was poignant and prayerful, opening the hearts of all the people in the area (and probably those of a few trees and clouds too). The drum was rocking and making the tobacco dance on all of the other drums. Feathers were spread to shadow the rawhide membrane. Children were holding the edges of the rawhide to feel the ticklish vibrations.



When the song was finished there were tears and hugs and handshakes all around the instrument.
It was extraordinary, for a Toronto resident, to see no cameras or phones during the performance. The event had set the pace and the Grand Entry began soon afterwards with jingle dresses, flags, feather fans, and furs...

 The drum was invited into the Arbour circle, but it was left just outside of the perimeter of the canvas. Over the afternoon, the skin became very hot, so that we needed to put iced towels on both ends to keep it from cracking.  I put the camera away then. 

Speeches by two of the MC's about the meaning of the Conundrum followed. The connection of the Cheemaun (canoe) with the Dewe'igan (drum) needed to be investigated through cross-references to legend and tradition. MC Stan Taylor said "I've been drumming for forty years and I'm still going to have to think about this one some more." A woman selected our drum to sing a song about angels' wings.

The circumstances of its surprise arrival and awesome sound gave everyone pause for consideration. "It has me amazed and honoured," said the other speaker. It was explicitly and carefully declared to be the product of a vision separate from the Algonquin community's. It was a warning not to be seduced by its power. The young men had responded instantly to its grand volume and artful appearance. An elder put his hand on it gently as we were leaving and addressed the drum directly: "I will remember your voice for a long time.``

The discussion continued long after we had gone, and is probably still going to last for quite a while.

Another canoe usage.

Playlist For Show Of 7 August

Commissioner of Selection: Paul Corby

Guest: Tracy McNeil

( Brought To You by  Stay-Free Guinea Pigs, Electoral Storms and Propoganadian Propositions )

5-7 p.m. Fridays online http://www.radioregent.com/ and at tunein.com .  

Canadians in Asterisk’d RED.

5:00 Upstream Allure                                                                                                                                    James Brown ~ Get On The Good Foot ~ James Brown's Funky Summer  (MOJO 2006) Maceo Parker @ The Phoenix Tuesday 11 August)

Afrolicious ~ A Dub For Mali ~ Saint - Germain - Des - Prés Café Vol. 15

* Alejandra Ribera ~ 500 Miles ~ La Boca ~@ Harbourfront Sunday

Fakear ~ Morning In Japan ~ Saint - Germain - Des - Prés Café Vol. 15

Tasha Page Lockhart ~ Here Right Now ~ WOW 2015

* Bobby Bazini ~ Cherish Our Love ~ Where I Belong ~@ Nathan Phillips Square Tuesday 11 August 8:15

Janelle Monae feat. Miguel ~ Primetime ~ Electric Lady ~ @ Nathan Phillips Square Sunday 9:30

5:30 Blush Life

The Coasters ~ Shopping For Clothes ~  The Best Of... (Rhino)

* Random Order ~ Pink Cloud ~ Black Lipstick Kiss ~ @ The Painted Lady Saturday, 22 August

Leroy ~ Good Times / Francis Dunnery ~ Good Life ~ Scrubs Sdtrk.

Alejandro Escovedo ~ Dear Head On The Wall ~ The Boxing Mirror ~ @ Nathan Phillips Square Monday, 10 August

5:45 Can't Help But Wonder

* Tracy McNeil ~ City Lights / Sleep In Your Eye / Interview / Wildcats ~ Nobody Ever Leaves ~ @ The Cameron Thursday, 13 August 8 p.m.

* The Memberz ~ King's Highway ~ Single Release

* Mike O'Neill ~ Mr. Carvery ~ The Owl ~ @ The Burdock Saturday, 15 August & on Corby's Orbit next Friday

* Devon Sproule ~ You Can't Help It ~ Colours ~ @ The Burdock Saturday 15 August & on Corby's Orbit next Friday, 14 August

Harlem Parlour Music Club ~ Thank You (fallettinmebemiceelfagin) ~ Salt Of The Earth

6:20 Majestic Trajectories

* Lenka Lichtenberg & Fray ~ Shnirele Perele ~ Embrace ~ @ Hugh's Room Saturday

* Kaia Kater ~ Salt River ~ Sorrow Bound ~ @ The Distillery District, Wednesday, 12 August

* Tanya Tagaq feat. Buck 65 ~ Want ~ Auk / Blood ~ @ Nathan Phillips Square Saturday 7:30

* Phillip Brown ~ Falling Down ~ Drive ~ @ The Free Times Cafe tonight

6:45 Neuro-Communal Rhapsodics

William Orbit ~ Samuel Barber's Adagio For Strings ~ Pieces In A Modern Style

* Phil Dwyer ~ Billie's Bounce ~ Sax Summit ~ Toronto Music Listings / Vancouver's Phil Dwyer @ The Rex Saturday 9:45

The Conundrum Proceeds Northerly

Jane Bunnett bringing jazz back to Maynooth

By Nate Smelle ~ Bancroft This Week

Jazz returns to Maynooth on Saturday, Aug. 8 as Jane Bunnett and the Pan-American All Stars come to town for a one night show at The Arlington. After performing together at the Pan Am games, Bunnett put together an ensemble of bandleaders and musicians to make up the Jazz supergroup. The Pan Am All Stars include: Eliana Cuevas from Venezuela, Magdely Savigne, Amhed Mitchel and Juan Pablo Dominguez from Cuba, Jeremy Ledbetter from the United States and Canadian jazzman Larry Cramer.

Adding depth to the collage of sound on this night will also be percussion artist David Hynes and his Conundrum. Hynes’s own invention, the Conundrum is basically a canoe that has been transformed into a drum. There are two Conundrums, one is in The Canadian Canoe Museum and the other will be at The Arlington on Aug. 8. It has been exhibited at private art galleries in Ottawa, Toronto and New York; and was at the Boreal Music Festival in Sudbury, Panamania at the Distillery District in Toronto, Figment Interactive Art Festval on the Toronto Island, Opened the Pan Am Torch ceremony in Peterborough, opened the Tourist Mediawriters of Canada Conference and it will be played at the Curve Lake Pow Wow in September.

Producing a one-of-a-kind sound, this handcrafted instrument is intended to be played by both musicians and the audience. Not sure whether or not they will be able to fit the Conundrum through the doors of The Arlington and on stage, Bunnett said she is looking forward to playing with Hynes even if it means they have to take their music outdoors. This wouldn’t be the first time for Bunnett has let her music flow out onto the streets of Maynooth. Musing about the time she and her husband Larry performed with the Heavyweights Brass Band at The Arlington back in August of 2013, she expressed her excitement to return to the stage, and maybe even the parking lot at the iconic local music venue.

“That was that definitely a magical night,” said Bunnett.

“There is always been something sort of magical that happens at The Arlington. That’s why we always like to play there because you never really know what is going to happen. No matter what we plan something that was not planned will happen just have to be there. The room naturally has very good sound; notes sound good in that room.”

Being aware of the acoustics of a room is very important when making music, especially during a live performance, according to Bunnett. In a way she says the room becomes an instrument itself. Such a heightened acoustic awareness of a performing space usually takes a long time to develop, however, some places, like The Arlington, just have their own special energy for the musicians and the audience to feed on.

“The best thing for we jazz musicians,” Bunnett said, “is when you walk into the club and you just feel an energy, you feel the anticipation of the audience, you feel a buzz from what’s about to happen, you pick up on that energy and that can be really inspiring for the musicians. Generally musicians are pretty sensitive people and they will pick up on the energy of the room. When you are on stage and everyone just hushes down it’s one of the greatest feelings.”

For Bunnett, making music is both a personal endeavour in creativity and a collective experience to be shared with the audience and the musicians she plays with. It’s not just about playing a great solo. She has noticed that the less she thinks about the music she is creating in the moment she is performing it, the better that music usually turns out to be.

“If you’re thinking all the time it’s very cerebral and it’s hard to let things happen,” she said.

“That’s the thing about jazz music, is that it is never ever the same; it’s always different. The conditions like the people you’re playing with, how you’re feeling that day there’s only components that come together when you are performing. Your ideas just come out; it’s kind of like speaking, trying to use your thoughts and your vocabulary to express yourself. It’s about creating a feeling for people from start to finish through sound.”

Doors open at 8 p.m. with the music beginning at 9 p.m. Tickets are available for $20 in advance at The Maynooth General Store and The Maynooth Farmers’ Market; or by calling 416.859.0463. Tickets will also be available at the door for a cost $25. To listen to, or purchase the music of Jane Bunnett visit www.janebunnett.com.

Sheezer La Weezer !!!

Photo by Emma Otis

Still making noise for one more night, Sheezer was giving off big joy to all the girls and boys of Generation Y at Mrs. Lee's Palace last night. They clutched at memory, sis-love, mob chant, lust and chill humour to reboot the pubescent thrill of true Weezer energy. 

Emerging from the 60-cycle hum, guitar band Bart, with a front line of a Stephen Harper clone, a Bro and a Foon, began the night (it will be Army Girls tonight) with complex prog rock and serrated harmonies.

Bart

Sheezer got down to business with Buddy Holly, My Name Is Jonas and Surf Wax America right up front. These ladies, Laura Barrett, Dana Snell, Alysha Haugen and Robin Hatch are friends and equals. That attractive fact makes us all friends and equals as their onstage empatico fractals through the affectionate dorkiness of Rivers Cuomo's lyrics. Sheer volume, courtesy of fearless Lee's soundman Ron Anicich, compounded the magic as every foot shook loose to jump and spring along with the singalongs. An audience group hug rendition of The Sweater Song and the emotional tsunami of Say It Ain't So just took the whole E = EMO C squared thing into a musical orgy of waving hands and hair. By night's end, the mic stand stage right was draped with liberated bras and an a capella rendition of Butterfly left everyone breathless and elated. As VICE declared, in a revolutionary revelation, Sheezer Is Better Than Weezer. 

 Soon, no more Sheezer.

And now I can never go home.