CaneFire promises to light up your night

The incendiary Caribbean jazz band, CaneFire is celebrating the release of their second album, “Pandemonium,” on Wednesday, May 19 in Toronto.

If their take on the bebop classic Donna Lee is any indication, intimate Glenn Gould Studio may never be the same after this evening of hard-driving Afro-Caribbean-Latin jazz. The group, led by Toronto pianist and composer Jeremy Ledbetter, showcases virtuoso steelpan playing, courtesy of Mark Mosca, and the hottest trumpet playing north of the 49th parallel from ex-pat Cuban Alexis Baró.

“We’ll be bringing the heat of the Caribbean to Glenn Gould Studio,” promised Jeremy Ledbetter. “The audience will get one of the most exciting, high-energy jazz shows they’ve ever seen – Calypso, Cuban music and jazz all stirred up in a big pot and served with lots of pepper sauce.”

All tickets are $20 and can be bought in advance or at the door. Show starts at 8 p.m. Bring your fire extinguisher.

Jazz in Toronto Gets New Support at the Old Mill Inn

There’s a new jazz room in town and it is a very welcome addition to what has become a somewhat meagre choice of jazz venues for a city the size and sophistication of Toronto. When I say “new” I hasten to add that there have been jazz concerts going on at The Old Mill Inn for some time now via the Home Smith Bar. As well, Jazz.FM91 has been running its Sound of Jazz concert series there for the last couple of years. But the Old Mill has also recently added regular jazz concerts in their main dining room via the Thursday Night Jazz Club. I was there this past Thursday for one of my favourite singers, Karrin Allyson.

Allyson and her trio appeared as part of the “TDJ Presents” series which will see international artists playing once a month, courtesy of the Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival. The first set starts at 7:30, making it possible for morning people to actually get out and see some live music, have a drink or a meal, and still make it home before their coach turns into a pumpkin. And seeing a singer of Allyson’s calibre in an intimate setting like the Old Mill was a total treat. Her appealing sandpaper-on-velvet voice sounded as good in person as it does on any of her 12 albums as she made her way through a range of styles like blues, swing and bossa nova. Always technically spot-on yet maintaining a relaxed, assured manner, she made that Brazilian tongue- and larynx-twister “O Pato” seem like a day at the beach. “Footprints,” the gorgeous Wayne Shorter cover from her 2006 album of the same name, was a case study in ballad singing.

The next in the “TDJ Presents” series is New York piano master Bill Mays, with Terry Clarke and Neil Swainson, on April 22. The Thursday Night Jazz Club will include regular big band nights, which is also a welcome addition since there are so few clubs that can comfortably handle bands of that size. The next one is the Bob DeAngelis Champagne Big Band on March 25.

While I’m on the topic of jazz venues, I want to mention Koerner Hall’s phenomenal programming. Since it opened in the fall of ’09, Koerner has showcased an outstanding line-up of local and international acts from a range of musical genres. So I was delighted to note that this year it will be a part of the TD Canada Trust Jazz Festival, hosting such greats as David Sanborn, Roy Hargrove and Dave Brubeck. The opening night act on June 25 is Nikki Yanofsky who is fresh off her massive success at the Vancouver Olympics. (She was the voice we all heard on that ear worm of an anthem “I Believe.”) Yanofsky will be a fun way to start the festival off and to potentially introduce a new audience to the acoustical delights of Koerner Hall.

The Canadian Opera Company Reaches Out

From: Musical Life – WholeNote Blog
Written by Cathy Riches
January 18, 2010

The word “privilege” kept going through my head as I stood in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre in Toronto listening to a jazz concert last Wednesday evening. The word can have negative connotations, since opera and other “high brow” artistic endeavours are often perceived as being accessible only to the educated and wealthy. Certainly the Canadian Opera Company (COC) and the Four Seasons Centre, where the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre is located, would be familiar with such accusations. But as I enjoyed a free concert, being played by two of the finest jazz musicians in this country, in one of the most breathtaking performance spaces I’ve ever been in, “privilege” took on a whole new meaning.

The COC has been running a free concert series since the Four Seasons Centre opened in 2006. The concerts run the gamut of musical genres, but fall into the broad categories of world, jazz, chamber and vocal music. The Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, where they are held, is essentially in the third floor lobby. But the space – indeed the whole centre – is so cleverly designed that a couple of hundred people can fit in the area, mostly seated and not overly crowded. The wide staircase that sweeps up to the fourth floor serves as bench-like seating for the concerts, and the fourth-floor lobby overlooks the amphitheatre to provide even more seating and standing room.

Although the majority of the concerts are held at lunchtime, the one I attended was at 5:30 in the evening – and this being January in Toronto, it was pitch black outside, which added to the magical atmosphere of the space. The vast west wall of the centre is made entirely of glass, allowing beautiful views of the city lights beyond, while the musicians stood in a pool of light holding the crowd in thrall.

In fact, it was one of the quietest, most reverent jazz audiences I’ve ever witnessed. Sure it was Don Thompson – who counts George Shearing and Paul Desmond among his colleagues – on piano and bass, and the equally adept Reg Schwager on guitar, but the audience was so quiet you could hear a pick drop! (Schwager dropped his guitar pick at one point and the sound echoed throughout the space.) Having an area made entirely of wood, glass and other hard surfaces and a wide open four-storey atrium accounts for the liveliness of the acoustics. The crowd barely breathed as the pair made their way though an hour of easy swinging standards. Perhaps they were feeling privileged, too.

The COC’s free concert series continues until June 2010.