1.) MASTERCLASS -- “Like Me”
From the category archives:
Listening Booth
Just after Canada Day, this week’s Listening Booth features a little something for our friends in the South. Even after his unfortunate passing this past Christmas, Vic Chesnutt is an American treasure. He has inspired hundreds of writers, musicians and artists with his sincere and passionate articulation of ordinary events, much like he does in this clip (with Guy Picciotto from Fugazi on guitar!) where he re-defines the term “Independence Day.”
“The impossibility of sainthood” is how Robbie Robertson once explained the meaning behind The Weight. In this classic track The Band immortalize a handful of people in their lives and created one of their best-known songs. In anticipation of tomorrow’s Ramble on the Road that stops at Massey Hall, today’s Listening Booth features this clip of Levon Helm’s Ramble with Mr. John Hiatt accompanying.
With this past week’s long list announcement for the 2010 Polaris Music Prize, we thought it would be a good idea to feature a recent Massey Hall headliner who was included in that lengthy list.
In January, two of the coolest women we know, Tegan and Sara, performed to a sold out and enthusiastic crowd. In this weeks Listening Booth check out this fan posted clip we found of them performing “Feel It In My Bones” acoustically, live at Massey Hall.
Rather than spell out all the many reasons we think Bruce Cockburn is an absolute treasure, I thought I’d just pass along a quote I read in yesterday’s Globe and Mail as a random example. The question to Mr. Cockburn was simply “What are your thoughts on Canada hosting the upcoming G8 and G20 conferences?”
He replies, “Meetings of nations are always better than not having meetings of nations. I think, however, they should have their meetings on that island of floating plastic (garbage) in the Pacific. They should sit there, and look at that and make their decisions.”
Great news this past week, Collective Concerts announced that Scottish outfit, Belle and Sebastian will bring what looks to be their only Canadian date this fall, to our very own Massey Hall. Needless to say, we’re looking forward to this one.
Though I’m tempted to feature some of my favourite B&S songs in this weeks Listening Booth (check out “Stars of Track and Field” for starters…) the announcement reminded me of one of their relatives. Isobel Campbell, who was a longtime member of the Glasgow-based Belle and Sebastian, and part of some of their finest and most popular work.
The collaborative effort of Campbell and Mark Lanegan from a few years ago brought us the album Ballad of the Broken Seas and the first track, Deus Ibi Est. Its one of those songs that gets its claws into you. It’s a moving track that seduces you and creeps by slowly verse-by-verse…
A friend of mine once told me that the song Pounding by UK group The Doves “makes you happy to be alive.” He was right and to this day I don’t hear that song without smiling simply because I am alive. It’s high praise and not to be handed out lightly. A few months back, when I first heard The Cave by Mumford & Sons, those words came back to me.
In this week’s Listening Booth we showcase Canadian soprano Measha Brueggergosman in a performance of “Ernest Chausson: Le temps des lilas” from her recently released recording Night and Dreams.
Brian Blade performs twice in the 2010-2011 Jazz @ Massey Hall series
Okay, so we know Brian Blade is one of the best drummers around. He’s played with Daniel Lanois, Joni Mitchell, Bill Frisell, Emmylou Harris, and Bob Dylan to name a handful. Most musicians would kill for a resume like that. So what to do once you’ve played on the records of and in concert with music royalty like this? Seems obvious, doesn’t it? Make your own singer-songwriter record. And what we didn’t really know was that this man who is so adept with a pair of sticks can sing like a bird! Listen in: CLICK HERE
