Corby's Orbit

Corby's Orbit
Listening in All the High Places illustration by John Kricfalusi

Tuesday, May 30, 2023

Celebrating 5 Years Online - Incidental Reportage Upon The Historic, Current and Projected Trajectory of Roots Music Canada

Resolute roots reportage has been the mandate for the Roots Music Canada website since its re-inception in April of 2018.

We will finally get a chance to celebrate, the best way we know how - with MUSIC!

This Sunday Toronto's Tranzac club, itself an outstanding long-term faciltator of Canadian Roots music, will host MOOSEFEST

Yes, there WILL be folk - and blues, and balladry, and barrelhouse, reggae, jazz ragas, bluegrass newgrass and tallgrass sets, spread over the course of four hours, starting at 7 p.m.

As a long-term contributor, I was asked for a sentence or two describing my RMC experience.

Here is my sentence (or two, as it turned out.)


It was all because Levon wasn’t feeling too well, so Colin came down to sound check At Massey Hall, and then the two of them got to talking, so Lucinda’s sound check got sort of delayed, so then during the show, David Newland got so impatient with Lucinda’s growly comportment that he put up a post complaining about Lucinda’s big book of lyrics being at center stage and yadda yadda, and Corby got ticked and wrote back something typically steely about how the TSO all had big books onstage, and that was so unprofessional and then when Steve Bell came to Hugh’s Room, Newland introduced him onstage, and Corby decided to take the edge off his comment by meeting up with Newland, whom he neither knew nor appreciated fully, and after that encounter Emma Jane told Corby that nobody wanted to write a review of Steve Bell because of his unstylishly ballsy Christian attitude, so Corby, who was deep into church at the time, did some typing and sent it along to Roots Music Canada, and Meghan toned down the steeliness so that when Steve Bell read it, he really liked it a lot and got his whole church to go online and like it too, and Roots Music Canada found out that their server had a peak “like” capacity of two hundred so Corby got to write more after that, about The Wheat Pool breaking up and Jerry Leger at a backyard party, and at that point, Newland got a new job, and his partner, Andy Frank, got sick, and then Gordy The Moose went underground strictly from hunger, so Corby just kept on writing on his blog, which apparently nobody read except Heather, who kept typing back, until one day in Ottawa the apparent became obvious, that RMC would be once again required to swerve upstream in pursuit of the sources and forces that affect roots culture in Canada, giving Heather the opportunity to revive Gordy and send Corby to Wimpy’s to have a burger with Suzie Vinnick and David James, who were just about to start shaking the love around themselves anyways, for an opening story posted five years ago this week, so that soon articles, news, pictures, links and general root-a-baggage were again being spread across the land in a timely and accurate manner, musing lovingly on the muscular recordings of dishy harmony trios, fiddle provocateurs, dubwise guerillas and blues grumblers, relaying reportage on activism and club life, and then, as opportunities for new missions began abounding at festivals and hootenannies, drawing in rootical investigative journalists like Bev and Elizabeth and Leonard and Ian and Jan and Flo, who all went mental into that good night, brandishing phones and cameras to take in the acoustic particulars of the many concert and campfire events that have traditionally carried the secret chord along, including blearily recalled weekends at the Canadian Folk Music Awards, Folk Music Ontario, Mariposas, powwows, Hillsides and kitchen parties, and a magical moosery tour of Folk Alliance in Montreal that brought Gordy into intimate proximity with…but let’s save that story for another post, and just for now wish many more candles to a gutsy little online publication that has kept a light on for all of us here in the musical struggle and illuminated our pathway through the ongoing thundersnow.

Congratulations Heather, and well done.

Saturday, May 27, 2023

Music is Soul


 

Playlist For Corby's Orbit Show of 26 May with Al Qahwa, Artie Roth and Zoe Ackah

 


Commissioner of Selection: Paul Corby 

( Brought to you by Edible Entertainment, Comestible Commentary, and
Potable Programming
)

* Canadian Artists in asterisked red

For Podcast Click HERE

Click on images to enlarge

5:00 Spirits In The Moments Of Time


* Tréson ~ Moments ~ @The Garrison tonight

Easy Star All-Stars feat. Carlton Livingstone ~ Star ~ Ziggy Stardub NEW RELEASE

Christine & The Queens ~ Tears Can Be So Soft ~ NEW RELEASE

* Michael Reinhart & The Singers Of Nunavut ~ Party ~ Quaraaluqtuq (2003)

Sampa The Great ~ Imposter Syndrome ~ As Above So Below~ @Axis Club 12 June ~  NEW RELEASE

* Sacha & Tyler Shaw ~ Confident ~ NEW RELEASE


5:20 Allah Ou Est Lui?

* Al Qahwa ~ Interview with Maryem & Ernie Tollar / Weyn Allah / The Sky Is Falling / Humanity / Bora ~ Weyn Allah ~ PRE RELEASE @ Lula Lounge May 31 for Ernie's Fundraiser and @ Tranzac June 18th for Weyn Allah release concert

5:45 Resonant Lengths 

*Artie Roth ~ Interview / Circle Maker / Sky Blues ~ Resonants NEW RELEASE

6:10 Coop De Grace

* Zoe Ackah ~ Interview / I Miss You (But My Aim Is Getting Better)/  Gotta Stop Loving You (But I Can't) / This Hen (Is Starting To Hate Men) / Cares And Woes ~ This Hen ~NEW RELEASE~ Launch @ The Cameron 331 May 6-8pm


6:40 Closed Circuit

* Lido Pimienta ~ Ein Sof Infinito ~ NEW RELEASE


Jess Klein ~ Never Gonna Break Me ~ NEW RELEASE

* Chris Velan ~ Love With A Capital L ~ Songs About Songs ~ NEW RELEASE

* Keys N Krates ~ Say You Love Me ~ NEW RELEASE

* Loryn Taggart ~ Scandal Monger ~ NEW RELEASE

* The Memberz ~ What Ah Joy ~ NEW RELEASE ~ @ The Garrison tonight and Sunday June 4 at Tranzac for MOOSEFEST






Tuesday, May 23, 2023

What ah joy - New Single By The Memberz In Orbit Friday


My nu-reggae band The Memberz (see above clockwise from top left, Corby, Charmazel, Carlton, Mavriq, Roscoe and M.I.A. Brophy) has exciting news! And buttons! 

Our first single in five years, and a harbinger of our soon-to-be-released album has been released and is available
for your listening and dancing pleasure.
Find out for yourself here:

If you tune in this Friday for Corby's Orbit at 
https://www.iheart.com/live/radio-regent-8119/

you can listen for it at the end of the show, and that will just give you enough time to get down to The Garrison in Toronto for the premiere of the accompanying video.



 

The Art of Artie Roth - Views on New Album Resonants



 

Saturday, May 20, 2023

Playlist For Corby's Orbit Show Of 19 May 2023

 


Commissioner of Selection: Paul Corby 


( Brought to you by Getting To Gather, Call To Warms and Anti-So-Called Behaviour)

* Canadian Artists in asterisked red

For Podcast Click HERE

Click on images to enlarge

5:00 Flavourite-ism


* Michael Jerome Browne ~ Coffee Blues ~ Gettin' Together ~ NEW RELEASE

* Rebecca Hennessy ~ You Make Our Dreams ~ Joy Will Find Us ~ PRE RELEASE DUE April 14

* Ian Chung ~ Little Bird ~  NEW RELEASE

Brendan Benson ~ I Missed The Plane ~ Low Key  NEW RELEASE

* Feist ~ Borrow Trouble ~ Multitudes ~  NEW RELEASE


* Kiran Ahluwalia ~ Tamana ~  Sanata: Stillness (2015)

Charlie XCX ~ Welcome To My Island ~ George Daniel Remix) NEW RELEASE

* The Vaudevillian ~ My Messy Gal Mix ~ Gamblin' Bar Room Blues

5:30 Musique Flambé

* N.Q. Arbuckle ~ No Hands Bicycle ~ Love Songs For The Long Game ~ NEW RELEASE

* Lex Leosis ~ Dangerous ~ NEW RELEASE

Bartees Strange ~ Daily News ~ Farm To Table ~ NEW RELEASE

NOIA ~ Verano Adentro (Summer Inside) ~ Gisela ~ NEW RELEASE

* Kristi Laine Sinclair ~ Heartbites ~ Super Blood Wolf Moon ~ NEW RELEASE


* Astrocolor ~ Nightflight ~ Moonlighting - Astrojazz Volume 1 ~ 
NEW RELEASE

George Benson ~ Giblet Gravy ~ Giblet Gravy ~ (Verve 1968)

Baaba Maal feat. The Very Best ~ Freakout ~ NEW RELEASE

6:10 Rivers Of Honey


* Natalie MacMaster & Donell Leahy ~ Canvas / Choo Choo ~ Canvas ~ NEW RELEASE

* Hot Mondy ~ We Go Back ~ NEW RELEASE

* The Hello Darlins feat. Dave Fenley ~ Better Days ~ In The Sundust EP ~ NEW RELEASE

* Steve Dawson ~ Polaroid ~ Eyes Closed, Dreaming ~ NEW RELEASE

* Lynn Miles ~ Gold In The Middle ~ Tumbleweedy World NEW RELEASE~ @ Tranzac tonight

* WHIPPED CREAM ~ Rewind (But I Love You) ~  NEW RELEASE

Emily Braden ~ Whitney Houston's How Will I Know ~ Cannon & Sparrow NEW RELEASE 

* Reid Jamieson feat. Carolyn Victoria Mill ~ Buffy Ste.-Marie's Love Charms ~ Songs Of Buffy Ste.-Marie PRE RELEASE

6:40 Transcendental Aviation


100 gecs feat. Laura Les ~ Dumbest Girl Alive ~ 10,000 gecs ~ 
NEW RELEASE

The Ostara Project ~ Lluviona ~ The Ostara Project

Tiwa Savage, Ayra Starr & Young Jonn ~ Stamina ~ NEW RELEASE

Steve Keene ~ Soon ~ Woke ~ NEW RELEASE

* Steve Paul Simms ~ Anytime ~ Ingrid & The Messenger Boy ~ Finishing an 8-year residency at the Tranzac, this Sunday, 26 March, 5-7pm with Bob Cohen and Ed Roth

Frankie Paul ~ Come Along ~ New Era Reggae

Saturday, May 13, 2023

Playlist For Corby's Orbit Show of 12 May 2023 with Marc Jordan

  
Commissioner of Selection: Paul Corby 

( Brought To You Indigenous Inches, Photon Feet, and Yard Sails )

* Canadian Artists in asterisked red

For Podcast Click Right Here

Click on images to enlarge


5:00 Building Tall Stories 

* Kit Johnson ~ Avian Intelligence ~ Ugly Truths ~ NEW RELEASE

* Ruby Waters ~ Flash Flood ~ NEW RELEASE

* Gord Bamford ~ Fire It Up ~ NEW RELEASE

* The Refugees ~ Sail On Sailor ~ California ~ NEW RELEASE

Guillem Ballaz ~ Agramunt ~ Substrat ~ NEW RELEASE

* Bodywash ~ Patina ~ I Held The Shape While I Could ~ NEW RELEASE

* Cody Lawless & Powfu ~ Friday Night With The Neighbours ~ NEW RELEASE

* The Artie Roth Quartet ~ Second Moment ~ Resonants ~ NEW RELEASE


5:35 Coming Across Jordan

* Marc Jordan ~ Interview / Jimmy Webb's The Moon's A Harsh Mistress / Rio Grande / Where Does It Hurt? ~ Waiting For The Sun To Rise ~ NEW RELEASE  ~ @ The Paradise Theater Saturday 13 May


6:00 The King Of Canadian Song ~ Gordon Lightfoot  (November 17, 1938 – May 1, 2023)


* Terry Tufts ~ For Lovin' Me / Alison Krauss & Tony Rice ~ Shadows / Sundar Viswanathan Quartet ~ The Way I Feel / Bob Dylan ~ Early Morning Rain / Blue Rodeo ~ Go Go Round / J.P. Cormier ~ Circle Of Steel / Aengus Finnan ~ Lightfoot 
Many of these tracks were taken from Beautiful: A Tribute To Gordon Lightfoot (Borealis 2003)

6:30 National Sparks


* Eagle & Hawk ~ Dance ~ Life Is A Circle (2005)

* Rise Ashen feat. John Wright & Ninjah Boy ~ And It All Settles Down Here ~ NEW RELEASE

Yusuf ~ King Of A Land ~ NEW RELEASE

* Big Little Lions ~ Nearly Human ~ NEW RELEASE

Buddy Guy ~ Well Enough Alone ~ The Blues Don't Lie (2022)

* Chin Injeti ~ Expensive ~ NEW RELEASE

* Close Kicks ~ Never Going To Give This Up ~ Colours NEW RELEASE


Friday, May 12, 2023

Marc Jordan In Orbit Today!

 


Marc Jordan has his 15th album out now, guided by the inspired production ears of Toronto's Lou Pomanti. They will be together on the stage of The Paradise Theater at 1006 Bloor St. W. this Saturday with soaring saxophonist Colleen Allen to cast the deep moods and epic romance of Waiting For The Sun To Rise into new dimensions in a live setting. We had lunch together and got into the processes and personalities that brought the project to life. Listen up Friday at 5 at https://www.iheart.com/live/radio-regent-8119/ for the conversation, as well as the best in new Canadian music, and a musical tribute to the king of Canadian song Gordon Lightfoot.

Sunday, May 7, 2023

Must Be Spring. Sweet Voices And Gogo Dancing At The Tranzac!

 




Some shiny songcraft artistry and prismic vocal shadings were in evidence at
Toronto's
Tranzac Club on the sunny first Saturday of May
with the
Clela Errington - Barbara Lynch RoundRobin SongCircle



overwhelming the crowd, and the introduction of special guest
Maggie Fraser into the mix just leveling up our enjoyment, until we were satiated by an eventual boogie down finale, courtesy of some barrelhouse insistence by Barbara Lynch.
Guitar slinger Mark Ripp and myself may have appeared discretely choky at various points in the proceedings. This show deserves a bigger stage.

Beaming The Best Of New Canadian Music Your Way This Friday



 

Saturday, May 6, 2023

Playlist For Corby's Orbit Show Of 5 May 2023 with Debbie Fleming, Jeremy Ledbetter & Mavriq From The Memberz


 Commissioner of Selection: Paul Corby 

( Brought To You By Asterisk Management, Parentheses Fire Agreements & Colon Gossipy)

* Canadian Artists in asterisked red

For Podcast Click HERE

Click on images to enlarge


5:00 Floral Transmissions 


* Nadjiwan ~ North Of Superior ~ The Great Sea ~ NEW RELEASE

* Braids ~ Apple ~ Euphoric Recall ~  NEW RELEASE

Bela Fleck / Zakir Hussain / Edgar Meyer / Rakesh Chaurasia ~ Motion ~ NEW RELEASE

* Ryan Wayne ~ O My Maria ~ Crow Amongst The Sparrows ~ PRE-RELEASE


* Matt Epp ~ Architect Eyes ~ Rolling Wave ~ 
NEW RELEASE

* Prince Enoki feat. Jocelyn Barth ~ The Language Of Flowers

Salami Rose Joe Lewis ~ Dimcola Reprise ~ Akoustimatikous ~ NEW RELEASE

*  The Goddamsels ~ Sorry ~ Wayward Daughter

5:30 Exclusive Memberz

* The Memberz ~ Interview with Mavriq / What Ah Joy PRE-RELEASE 22 May
 ~ @ Drom Taberna tonight & @ The Garrison Friday 26 May for High Priest Reggae Festival

5:40 Population Dance-City

* Mira Choquette ~ Jump In A Line ~ In Reel Time ~ NEW RELEASE

Harry Belafonte ( March 1, 1927 – April 25, 2023) ~ Trouble ~ Belafonte (1956)


* Donna Makeda ~ Vegan Dinna ~ 
NEW RELEASE

Tame Impala & Thundercat ~ No More Lies ~ NEW RELEASE

* Adrienne Nye ~ Stardust ~ In These Winter Skies ~ NEW RELEASE

SBTRKT feat, Sampha & George Riley ~ L.F.O. ~ NEW RELEASE

* Trent Severn ~ The Jack Pine ~ Portage (2017)

* Del Barber ~ Spade ~ Almanac ~ NEW RELEASE

6:15 Angel Falls Rising

* Jeremy Ledbetter ~ Interview / SerĂ© Libre ~ Eliana Cuevas' SerĂ© Libre PRE-RELEASE 12 May
@ Cineplex Yorkdale Thursday 11 May

6:30 Fleming Star


* Debbie Fleming ~ Interview / Alfie ~ Back To Bacharach 2016 / Long Gone - 1975 / A Choir Song (Tribute To The Late Doug  Riley - 2007)

6:50 We Go Around The Bend

* Anna Goldsmith ~ Go ~ NEW RELEASE

Rob Moose feat. Brittany Howard ~ I Bend But I'll Never Break ~ Inflourescence ~ NEW RELEASE