Michael Kaeshammer performs at Massey Hall on Saturday, April 30, 2011 with special guest, Jill Barber
From the category archives:
The Shows
Two musicians we are very proud to support, Michael Kaeshammer and Jill Barber, have been touring the country together. We can’t wait to welcome them to Massey Hall when we present them in Toronto on Saturday April 30, 2011 at 8PM.
Both artists are about to release new albums on April 5 and if you can tell us the title of either record in the comments section below, you’ll be entered into a draw to win a CD and a pair of tickets to the show. We have 5 prize packs available and we’ll award one pair to our readers each day all next week.
Good luck!
Oh! And here is a little something we found on a quick YouTube search…
The hilarious Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood are two of our favourite comedy improv pros! We’re rewarding 3 people who can display their improv prose in the comment section below!
Prize packs include a pair of tickets to An Evening with Colin Mochrie & Brad Sherwood at Roy Thomson Hall on March 11 and a copy of the duos newest DVD Two Man Group (courtesy of Entertainment One).
We’ll notify the winners via email by March 7 at noon. Good luck!
We are on tour in the US now before returning to Canada for a few shows. We started off in Stroudsburg, PA and then last night in Philadelphia, PA and tonight in Wilmington Delaware. We are so encouraged by the wonderful reactions from audiences (cheers and standing O’s every night!) Touring is a wonderful experience for us, especially as we are going over so well. I know that we’ll be firing on all guns for our much anticipated first time performance in my hometown of Toronto, next Friday!
Those of you who’ve seen BOWFIRE before know that we bring some of the best violinists and fiddlers in the world together from all musical genres… and our cast is all Canadian! We’ll be playing tunes from our just released CD Holiday Heart Strings – like the album, the show will be chock full of holiday nuggets that are a different take on well known Holiday material…we have created string arrangements of seasonal classics, old and new. There are even mashups, ranging from the classic favourites (Let it Snow / Ding Dong Merrily on High / Jingle Bells) to electric violin rock (Kashmir / Do You Hear what I Hear?).
As the Artistic Director, it’s my job to bring it all together. I wanted to get the whole flavour of the season, spiritual, secular and cultural, while showcasing the talents of my virtuoso cast. So we even have a sung “Feliz Navidad” bumping up against my own traditionally inspired “Dreydl Song Fantasy”. Overall, I am thrilled with this program and hope you are too!
Lenny Solomon is a musician and founding member of Bowfire – You can see them perform live Bowfire: Holiday Heart Strings at Roy Thomson Hall on December 17, 2010 CONTINUE READING >
One night, I laid out the four individual pictures of the lads that came with the ‘White Album.’ The four shots are so beautiful. And telling. A perfect visual match to the album. There’s something about the way they look at you in those shots. As if to say “You’re going to know this album and these pictures for the rest of your life.”
This is a unified album. There has been much talk and documentation to the contrary, but this is the sound of 4 young men coming into their own. Together. Asserting themselves. Clashing and collaborating. All in search of a great recording.
It’s not even called the ‘White Album.’ That’s just a name fans gave it. It’s official title is ‘The Beatles.’ But it’s the ‘White Album.’ Their best selling album. Their best album. Period.
Supposedly it was a miserable record for them to make. I’ve read about this. What freaked me out the most was that they didn’t have big lavish spreads of food and drink set out for them. They never did. They would argue over packages of chips or ‘crisps.’ Nip out for lunch. Come back and record. There was a work ethic in effect.
I always thought the rock star sense of entitlement spoiled the music. The Beatles never once fell victim to this. Even at times of great disagreement they would forge on, crafting songs and lending their support to each other. I can’t imagine that ever happening in this day and age. These days a minor disagreement turns into a break up and the next thing you know – everyone is calling their publicists. But not the Beatles. It all went into the music. They were beginning to get a true sense of how good they really were. The ‘White Album’ is the sound of them deconstructing their legacy and then putting it back together. Brilliant.
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!
Peter Frampton got me in trouble when I was a kid. My older brother’s record player was in his bedroom underneath the window. I would spend a lot of time secretly listening to his records while he was out of the house and I mean really listening to records (as loud as possible) for all the nuances and instrumentation. A turning point in listening to music came along for me when I first heard Frampton Comes Alive!. I couldn’t understand why I liked it so much; after all, it was a live record and sounded nothing like those studio recordings I was accustomed to. And I’d ask myself, “What is that weird talking guitar thingy on ‘Do You Feel like We Do’?” (At 3:41 is the Talk Box.) Even the sun coming through the window liked it, so much so, that it softened the large disc into an unplayable shape. I was going to be in unplayable shape if I didn’t find the money to replace it before he got home. I replaced it but didn’t escape my brother’s strength.
Each year it creeps up on me. I don’t do too much advanced planning, yet I end up being entertained every night. Just for Laughs hits Toronto with what I expect will be a fairly decent amount of jokes about the G20 and the heat wave. Using some of the cities great entertainment venues JFL not only exposes great comedic talent it also showcases that Torontonians have the ability to laugh at ourselves.
Massey Hall welcomes back Emmy winner Louis CK. I was first introduced to him through the Opie and Anthony Show on XM Radio about 3 years ago. He was talking about being a parent and how selfish his daughter is. I was howling! Did you see his set last year? The Sarah Silverman hosted Gala had Louis CK closing out the show. The only bad part of his set was it seemed to be too short. The cool part of the program was Silverman was on fire. I’m sure having CK host the late Gala Saturday night will provide plenty of Louis HAHAs. You might want to warm up for his Gala with a few Louis CK videos that you can find on YouTube. Here’s the clip that went viral last year. Just be cautious going there, the videos might trap you indoors on your computer for hours.
Everything’s Amazing & Nobody’s Happy
So – one of the first thing I noticed when I joined the Toronto Symphony is that orchestral musicians inner clocks are timed just like any band; for late night. Mornings are groggy but in the evening, musicians are buzzing. I’m actually a bit surprised that June 19 is the TSO’s first ever Late Night concert.
The Late Night concept came about after TSO Music Director Peter Oundjian conducted a similar concert at Tonhalle, Switzerland. He ran the idea by some of our tsoundcheckers at a post-concert party and well, here we go.
What can I tell you about Beethoven’s 9th…the “Choral,” his Ode to Joy? I can tell you it’s a masterpiece and has been since its premiere in 1824, written during Beethoven’s later period (when most of his contemporaries thought he was going crazy.) I can tell you that it proved his contemporaries wrong and that it was revolutionary, ushering in the romantic era and foreshadowing the massive symphonies of Mahler and Bruckner. I guarantee that you can hum the theme. We’ve all heard it many times; but hearing it live…with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, a stellar cast of soloists and the impressive Mendelssohn choir, you understand why it holds this place is music history. You’ll feel it in your gut, in the hairs on the back of your neck, in your twitching tear ducts (and yes, it will be the music, not the triple rye you brought into the hall.)
