Keeping Jazz Vibrant In Canada An Interview With Peter Shea: Artistic Director & Co-Creator Of The Festival Peter Shea, artistic director of the Third Annual TD Niagara Jazz Festival, had a chance to sit down with Spill Magazine to fill us in on what to expect this year [...]
Miles Davis & Robert Glasper Everything’s Beautiful Columbia/Legacy Being a fan of Miles Davis’ music, the period that I enjoyed the most was his classic period from the ‘50s to the ‘60s when he straddled Bebop, hard-Bop, Modal, Freebop and early Fusion. Miles was [...]
Brad Mehldau – Three Pieces Of Bach @ Koerner Hall, Toronto May 26, 2016 On a beautiful spring Thursday night, I caught a brilliant solo piano concert by one of the premier pianists of our time, Brad Mehldau. This particular solo piano concert is a special one since it [...]
Oscar At 90 Birthday Concert @Koerner Hall, Toronto December 11th, 2015 Friday December 11th, 2015 will go down as a very historic moment for Koerner Hall, where they put on a concert to cement the ever-present legacy of the great Canadian jazz legend Oscar Peterson. This [...]
Oscar Peterson – Music In The Key Of Oscar The Royal Conservatory Of Music/Koerner Hall | November 25, 2015 2015 has had it’s share of milestone birthdays. To name a few, Billie Holiday, Billy Strayhorn and Frank Sinatra would be 100 years old. One other huge [...]
The “Order Of Canada” Band @ Koerner Hall, Toronto October 23rd, 2015 It was a spirited night of all things Canadian when Koerner Hall hosted an all-star big band made up of Order of Canada recipients and seasoned Toronto jazz stars. Conceived by fellow Order of [...]
Diana Panton I Believe in Little Things eOne Music Juno Award-winning vocalist Diana Panton delivers again, bringing her childlike, sensitive voice to 15 classic songs geared toward bringing jazz to the whole family. Backed by her team of Canadian bass/piano/vibes legend Don [...]
George Clinton & Parliament/Funkadelic @ Nathan Phillips Square, Toronto June 19th, 2015 From 9:00 on the dot until just after 11:00, I probably witnessed and experienced one of the most electric, mind-blowing, and otherworldly concert experiences in the many years I have [...]
Ryan Truesdell’s Gil Evans Project @ Koerner Hall, Toronto March 28th, 2015 2012 marked the 100th birthday of Toronto-born jazz legend Gil Evans. The composer, arranger, and bandleader is best remembered for his collaborative works with Miles Davis on the classic [...]
The Alex Goodman Chamber Quintet @ Jazz Bistro, Toronto April 30th, 2015 On what would be the first of three nights at the Jazz Bistro, rising star jazz guitarist Alex Goodman brought in his newly formed chamber quintet to showcase its unique brand of classical-meets-jazz [...]
Mary Panacci’s “Her Perfume” CD Release @ Jazz Bistro, Toronto April 21st, 2015 On a beautiful spring Tuesday night, the Jazz Bistro was packed with friends, family and jazz fans alike to witness charming vocalist Mary Panacci’s CD release. From the looks of [...]
Gray Matter CD Release Party @ The Rex Hotel, Toronto March 20th, 2015 On what would be the last legs of a 10-day tour, a modern jazz quintet “Gray Matter” made a two-day stop in Toronto to perform their genre-bending, forward-thinking jazz for a very enthusiastic audience. [...]
Alex Conde Descarga For Monk Zoho Music Reinventing the classics: In Descarga for Monk, pianist Alex Conde and his band interpret nine of Legendary pianist and composer Thelonious Monk’s compositions through the lense of Conde’s Spanish upbringing. Monk produced a body of work [...]
Karl Latham, Ryan Carniaux & Mark Egan Constellations Double Moon Records Constellations, the jazz/funk interpretation of Björk’s 2007 Volta, goes beyond categorizations. Drummer Karl Latham, trumpeter Ryan Carniaux, bassist Mark Egan, and guest keyboardist Nick Rolfe [...]
The Louis Romanos Quartet Take Me There Independent Hailing from Athens, Georgia, drummer and composer Louis Romanos and his quartet perform 12 of Romanos’ compositions that focus on melody and group interplay more than instrumental prowess. There is a sense of rhythmic [...]
Sultans And Divas @ Koerner Hall, Toronto December 4th, 2014 Soaring performances, groovy sounds, and new explorations into music marked a warm musical trip to the Middle Eastern Kasbah on Dec. 4. There we were serenaded by music and performances of Arab Canadians and bands [...]
Mellowkotzen UnderWaterMelon Independent Straight out of Oshawa Ontario, the band “Mellowkotzen” presents 10 tracks in which could be classified as sophisticated, grown up Pop-Rock-Jazz with a slight edge. Through exotic instruments such as ukulele, saxophones, flutes, double [...]
Carol McCartney @ Jazz Bistro, Toronto October 24th, 2014 Canadian jazz chanteneuse Carol McCartney and her all-star band tore up the second of a three-night stand at the Jazz Bistro on Friday, October 24. The night, comprising a full mix of classic standards that swung, gave [...]
Elizabeth Shepherd Signal Indepenent/Linus Entertainment With The Signal, pianist and singer/songwriter Elizabeth Shepherd creates contemporary jazz that is high on both rhythmic sensibilities and lyrical content. She has a knack of making odd-time signatures groovy, toe [...]
Lenny Breau LA Bootleg 1984 Guitar Archives/Linus Entertainment Thirty years ago, in August of 1984, jazz guitar legend Lenny Breau was found dead – apparently murdered. The mystery remains unsolved. Two months earlier, executive producer Randy Bachman and the crew of [...]
