Members of Bowfire celebrate with Sir Sean Connery
On Friday evening ,August 20, Bowfire gave a unique performance. We were invited to play for Sir Sean Connery‘s 80th Birthday party in Nassau, The Bahamas. Bowfire is a favourite of Sir Sean’s, so his son Stephane flew the group down as a surprise birthday present for the superstar. The setting was an amazing mansion at Jungle Cove in Old Fort Bay, which was also the former residence of Irving Berlin and Cole Porter as well as the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.
A small audience of close friends and family were in attendance as Bowfire fiddled away…and Sir Sean joined in with a few steps of his own.
Seeing the former James Bond step dancing with Bowfire’s great step dancers was a fantastic sight. His family and friends were delighted to see how much he enjoyed the group. They all joined in and danced the night away. One of the great heroes of the movies demonstrated heartfelt appreciation, making a point of acknowledging Bowfire with kind words, handshakes and hugs. It was a highlight of Bowfire’s career and a great way to start our second decade of music-making.
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Bowfire,Holiday Heart Strings,Sean Connery,The Bahamas
ACCOLADES
The Toronto Arts Council has announced the finalists for this years Toronto Arts Foundation Awards. The recipients will be recognized at the Mayor’s Arts Award Luncheon on Friday October 8. One of the awards that are handed out (bi-annually) is the Roy Thomson Hall Award of Recognition, which honours outstanding achievement in the development of the Arts in our community. The finalists for this years award are:
Lydia Adams, Artistic Director of Amadeus Choir and Elmer Iseler Singers
Art of Time Ensemble
Jose Ortega, Artistic Director of Lula Music and Arts Centre
Congratulations on all of your hard work and contributions and best of luck in October!
JUST ANNOUNCED
Japanese metal band X Japan, have sold an astounding 30 million albums over their almost 30 year career. After recently performing at this years Lollapalooza in Chicago, the group has announced their first ever North American tour which will stop in at our very own Massey Hall on October 7 . Their single “I.V.” was a featured track from the film SAW IV, which we think is cool because we are featured in the upcoming, SAW 3D!
Toronto guitar fans will certainly be excited to hear that it was announced Friday Joe Satriani will perform at Massey Hall on December 8. He’ll be supporting his forthcoming album, Black Swan and the Wormhole Wizards. If you pre-order the album from his website, you’ll also receive an autographed copy, (presumably in the form of a CD in the mail – and not with the digital version of the album!) But still, a pretty cool incentive for fans to buy a hard copy of his anticipated Full Length.
WEB WATCH
Speaking of incentives to buy music, check out U2s manager, Paul McGuinness and his recent editorial in the UK edition of GQ, discussing the future of the music business. No doubt it’s interesting and exciting times as the business continues to CONTINUE READING >
Chilly Gonzales,iPad,Joe Satriani,Neil Young,Paul McGuinness,Roy Thomson Hall Award Of Recognition,Toronto Arts Council,X Japan
Now, without any further ado, my list of ten must-haves on a road-trip play list (current to this very moment in time at least):
1.) Nice Day – Salteens This one has always been a favourite of mine, especially for mix-tapes of all shapes and flavours. Although I loved it long before it was featured in the film One Week, its placement and Joshua Jackson’s ridiculous dancing add even more to my need to hear this song while on the road. Perfect for starting a road trip with a positive outlook.
2.) California – Joni Mitchell This one is perhaps a little obvious, but also a lot awesome. While the lyrics speak of a different time and yes, are in fact about going home and not leaving it, the emphasis put on the journey makes this a must-have for your in-car playlist.
3.) Fred – Skyscrapers This one is an icebreaker. Not sure about the people with whom you’re travelling? Perhaps you have a carload full of folks from the office as you travel to the faraway land where the annual sales conference is taking place? Those introverts won’t be able to stop themselves from bopping their heads to this infectious tune and with any luck will be dancing Muppets by the end of the track. Music heals the soul (and, with any luck, keeps the conversation of TPS reports to a minimum.)
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mix-tape
image credit UAW Daimler Chrysler
I’ll be taking a road trip next week and for me, a list-maker, music consideration generally comes before the creation of the what-to-pack list (we used to call it a ‘kit list’ for summer camp); the road trip mix-tape is more important than remembering my toothbrush. So, in preparation for my own road-trip, I’m going to be carefully considering what the must-haves are for my mix-tape.
With the ease of “song shuffle” and “Genius mixes” you forget how much preparation needs to go into such an undertaking of actually doing-it-yourself. There are so many factors with which to contend: Where does the road trip take you (Istanbul (not Constantinople) or Sweet Home Alabama)? With whom are you travelling (Bad Company or the Boss)? What do you anticipate the weather could be (Sunshine, Lollipops & Rainbows or a Hazy Shade of Winter)?
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mix-tape
You know when you just get caught off guard? You get sideswiped by a melody so infectious that you can’t help but pay attention? “Already Yours” off of Pink Strat, the debut record from Afie Jurvanen, the musician known simply as Bahamas, is one of those tracks. The brilliant thing, lyrically, about this particular composition is that the restrained storytelling perfectly and subtly reveal layer upon layer of complexity. It’s effective in its sparseness, conversational tone and echoing in contradiction of that feeling of closeness, yearning and persuasion.
Then you’re introduced to a single note kick drum beating, gradually progressing into what sounds like a heartbeat matching the music and melody to the personal tone of the story. As he begins to explain the intricacy:
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Already Yours,Bahamas,Pink Strat
JUST ANNOUNCED
Yesterday we announced our 2010-2011 Season. While, of course, everything that made it into this year’s Season Brochure is most awesome, I’m particularly excited about the concerts coming to the smaller spaces in which we’re presenting this year: Glenn Gould Studio and the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.
For me, Amelia Curran and Bahamas are among the Glenn Gould Studio highlights. While their sounds are totally different, they’ve been going head to head for accolades over the last year: both were nominated for the JUNO award for Roots and Traditional Album of the Year (solo) (and Amelia took the hardware home) and both were long-listed for the prestigious Polaris Music Prize. You might recognize Amelia Curran from her appearance on our Canadian Songbook event honouring Bruce Cockburn in June – enjoy a flashback here care of CBC Concerts on Demand.
Bahamas’ music includes original songs that are beautiful in their simplicity (try “Lonely Loves“ or “Till The Morning”) and I’m perfectly enchanted by his cover of “Whole Wide World.” Also, this guy keeps some fine company; he was a touring member of Jason Collett’s band and then Feist’s band and his album, Pink Strat includes guest appearances from members of Zeus and The Great Lake Swimmers.
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Amelia Curran,Bahamas,Emilie-Claire Barlow,Lyle Lovett,Royal Wood
In anticipation of our 2010|11 Season at Massey Hall and Roy Thomson Hall, we created a video (with the help of Stephen Chung of Still Moving Images and Brent Kitagawa) as an introduction to the year ahead at our Halls. We hope you enjoy and please feel free to share it!
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2010,2011,Glenn Gould Studio,Massey Hall,Measha Brueggergosman,Michael Kaeshammer,Queen Elizabeth Theatre,Roy Thomson Hall,Royal Wood,Season Launch
WEB WATCH
Sometimes, musical collaborations are obvious – while I’ll admit I didn’t think of it first (shocking I know,) the Ben Folds/Nick Hornby collab I mentioned last week is brilliant in its simplicity. This week, I report that former Secretary of State (and classically trained pianist) Condoleezza Rice and current (and everlasting) Queen of Soul recently performed together in Philadelphia in an effort to raise funds “for urban children and awareness for music and the arts.” You can check out some video here.
This week in Arcade Fire news, TODAY IS THE DAY!!! The Suburbs, Arcade Fire’s highly anticipated album, hits shelves in Canada and the US today for your listening pleasure. The word on the street (and by that, I mean, of course, the word on Twitter,) is that the album is pretty spectacular. Mind-blowing new album not enough? Stand by to check out Arcade Fire’s Madison Square Garden play live-streamed and directed by none other than Terry Gilliam (The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, Brazil, 12 Monkeys) this Thursday, August 5 at 10p.m. ET.
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Arcade Fire,Aretha Franklin,AT40,Condoleeza Rice,Hawksley Workman,TIFF
