I’ve been a fan of Wilco‘s music since AM was released. I’ve probably seen them a dozen times in many incarnations. At The Horseshoe, in-store at HMV on Yonge, Molson Park, ACC among them. I even saw Wilco at The Bluebird in Denver while they toured that first album – playing Uncle Tupelo songs to fill out the set. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to this week’s pair of Massey Hall shows. Though they are fantastic in virtually any environment, to me, they are a band most suited to this kind of concert venue and there’s no doubt these shows will be a highlight of the concert season for many in attendance.
By now you’ve likely seen the video that has been circulating of Jeff Tweedy covering the Black Eyed Peas. Below, we’ve compiled our current 5 favourite YouTube clips of Tweedy/Wilco in anticipation of the bands arrival in our humble Hall.
The “funkiest saxophonist on the planet” returns to our world this Thursday with a show at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on the CNE grounds in Toronto. There is no question the man has earned his legendary status nor can you dispute the quality and diversity of his collaborations. Here, we’ve compiled a list of our favourite YouTube clips of Maceo Parker performing with some pretty epic performers and legends in their own right including James Brown, Dave Matthews Band, De La Soul, and Red Hot Chilli Peppers.
James Brown – Get it Together (live from the Apollo)
If you ever search “Jazz at Massey Hall” on Twitter, you’ll notice that multiple times a day, every day, people are listening to and praising that Greatest Jazz Concert Ever. “The Quintet” performed on May 15, 1953 – Dizzy, Mingus, Max Roach, Charlie Parker and Bud Powell all together on the same stage. This was the first and only time these jazz heavyweights ever performed publicly together and was said to be the last “recorded meeting” of Parker and Gillespie. The recording itself was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and is regularly referenced and name checked (such as it was on HBO this past season on an episode of Treme for example).
Even as recently as this season, during the first concert in our Jazz @ Massey Hall series (the Chick Corea Trio), bassist Christian McBride tweeted:
“An AWESOME night in Toronto last night. I love that town. It’s hard to play Massey Hall and not think of Bird, Dizzy, Bud, Mingus and Max. - 5:30 AM Oct 6th, 2010 via web”
Click on the above link to hear the latest Sound Advice on Soundboard podcast by Rick Phillips. This edition features the award winning Venice Baroque Orchestra and violinist Robert McDuffie. Together they perform in Toronto (on Tuesday, October 26, 2010) The Seasons Project – Vivaldi’s TheFour Seasons followed by Philip Glass’ The American Four Seasons.
About a decade ago I would sit in the window seat at a coffee shop called ‘Kalendar’ on College Street almost daily. Refill upon refill I’d down the spiced coffee while talking about life and music with other musician regulars. It became a sort of unspoken home away from home and a place of solitude and inspiration and represented the endless possibilities of our futures.
Much like the river in Bruce Springsteen’s accomplished work of the same name, it represents a centering point; and here, for his character (said to be originally written for his brother) a place that he could come back to throughout the many triumphs and challenges that come along in life. A place that symbolized hope and freedom and promise and passion even while staring in the face of personal and even economic hardships.
And though the character in his story realizes that “the river is dry” he is still lured to that place of his younger, optimistic self as a way of connecting with that hopeful spirit that keeps him going….
We all need that place. Even though I rarely find myself in that corner window seat any longer, I still use it as a landmark in my personal timeline, often remembering and learning from those conversations and individual moments so long ago now.
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:
“Long Way to Go” Liam Finn featuring Eliza-Jane Barnes:
Growing up in a musical family is sure to have a profound effect on a child. Being the son of Crowded House’s Neil Finn meant getting a taste of life on the road at an early age. But good genes alone do not a successful career make. A famous last name is no guarantee of greatness in this business.
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.
Soundboard is the official community of musicians, music fans, and friends of Massey Hall and Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, Canada. It’s your behind-the-scenes source for related music news, recommendations, and rewards.
