We voyage, we make long journeys, arriving prepared for the immediate thrill of sharing time in a like-minded crowd with exemplary musical crafters, uplifters of song, and spiritual miracle workers, and accruing the long term rewards of memory and meaning.
#1 Rosalia at Budweiser StageBlockbuster-style staging, an all-male dance team of co-ordinated muscle and grace, musicians off to the side of the stage, just so we could focus on the variegated and vivacious talents of arguably the most brilliant entertainer in the world right now.
She brought a barber's chair to center stage AND CUT HER HAIR FOR MAHSA AMINI!
#2 Kirk Franklin & Maverick City at Budweiser StageAn amazing crowd of joyous people with more positively focussed responsive power than I've seen since early shows by Springsteen and Marley. A commercial break in the middle for saving children, an intimate chapel segment, a crescendo of intensely devotional musical virtuosity, a churning backlit fifty-voice choir and an empty beer tent.
#3 Hiromi at Meridian Arts Center In a packed, awe-stricken house, after a three-year wait, we silently absorbed a master class in musical eloquence. Six songs, working through honky tonk, activist balladry (Blackbird), cinematic sound effects, and the most magnificent Gershwin ever played, I dare say.
#4 Dress Rehearsal for the Juno Awards at Budweiser StageSeeing all those major Canadian performers without the slickly tricky camera edits, in broad daylight, playing and dancing at their max best. Entertaining, engaging and in the long run, really touching. Avril's giant pink bus, Snotty Nose Rez Kids fronted by hoop dancers and backed by DJ Shub, and the POET, Regent Park's own Mustafa, singing his lyrics in a bullet-proof vest.
#5 Mariza at Koerner HallThe planet's most passionate voice, transforming all the pain of our hearts' depths into song. Guitar strings sparkling in a bronco dance with that aquatic voice bravely swimming through subterranean tides of tenderness and agony, while we all just held our breath for sheer joy. Dizzying.
#6 The Barra MacNeils at Orillia Opera HouseThe touring pride of Sydney Mines, the MacNeil family, brought the ancestral lights of a Nova Scotia Christmas to galvanize our hearts through their gifts of wit, warmth and soulful virtuosity. Harp and fiddle, modern harmonies and fancy footwork, and a rousing singalong of Rudolph over a streamlined solo electric bass accompaniment played by Santa himself. You could even say it glowed, "Like a lightbulb!"
#7 Divine Brown at Castro's, Easter Sunday afternoonHer name needs no disclaimer. All the stirring gospel emotion you ever needed, with keyboard accompaniment. While the Beaches Easter parade, with its real estate floats and marching bands was roaring by outside, Divine brought the quiescence of faith, simply and clearly expressed, into a small bar. His Eye Was On The Sparrow, and my local pub became a church, and, verily, the waitresses wept.
#8 Sarah Harmer Band at War Memorial Hall, GuelphAssured but complex harmony in the singing, unanimous but gentle commitment in the playing and the texture of the sound blend by Jeff Holdip powered an ascending, ecstatic response from a damp but devoted audience.
#9 Haviah Mighty at The Kitchener Public LibraryIn her first show since becoming the first woman to win a Rap Album of the Year award at the Junos, Haviah Mighty welcomed a crowd of long-standing fans and initiates into her rhythmic embrace with fun, fire and rage, and shared a few tunes trampolining around the stage with her sister and lifelong sparring partner, Omega Mighty.
#10 Brecker Brothers Band Reunion at Iridium NYCWith an all-star band, including bouncy bassist Will Lee, eloquent guitarist Barry Finnerty and Randy Brecker's wife Ada Rovatti excelling on tenor ("It's okay," he confided," I'm used to being up-staged by brilliant saxophone players."), and with their thirteen-year-old daughter Stella beaming at stageside, the music was expertly compressed into infinite facets of brilliance until spontaneous combustion manifested in ornately phrased improv and explosive ensemble work.
ALSO remarkably great:Jerry Leger & The Situation @ The Paradise
Divine Brown Sings Aretha's Gold @ Massey Hall
Joy Lapps and Larnell Lewis @ Beaches Jazz Festival
Jane Mathew & Genevieve Racette @ Dakota Tavern
Reggaddiction @ 3030 Dundas
Bruno Capinan @ BSMT 254
Exco Levi & Kairo MacLean @ Supermarket
SATE & DiJah SB @ El Mocambo
Ivan Lins @ Koerner Hall
Miss Emily @ Revival
La Chica @ Small World Music Festival
Aleksi Campagne @ Drom Taberna
Many of these experiences were facilitated and shared with my friends Dave and Tracy, to whom I owe much gratitude.
* Lucy MacNeil ~ Hope For One & All ~ 
6:00 Future Favours The Fortunate
