I love that nobody knows what to call this album. Four? ZOSO? Stairway To Heaven? The album with the old man with a bunch of sticks on his back? Whatever you call it, it remains one of the all time greats. And it’s always been a part of my life.
The album was released in 1971. Its been blaring out of cars and bedrooms since then. Growing up, ‘Stairway To Heaven’ was the song that defined us. Appropriate because I’m not even sure what the lyrics mean. I mean – what the hell is a ‘bustle in a hedgerow?’ I heard ‘Stairway’ on Q10Zeppelin a couple months ago and it was like hearing the song for the first time. I couldn’t move. All I could envision was the performance at Massey Hall. Over the years I’ve seen countless bands ruin Zeppelin. We’re going to fix that. On April 16 you will see the album performed perfectly for the first time in history. That’s a bold statement but I’ve got the guys to do it.
So, I’m playing Massey Hall… I just like saying that.
Personally, I still can’t quite believe that it’s happening. Perhaps within the next few days someone will e-mail me with the news that there was some confusion with the booking and that my services are actually required backstage in the green room filling platters with Timbits and Peek Freans cookies – and of course, keeping up the ice levels in the beer tubs.
Seriously, as a musician, I started singing and playing guitar on Yonge St., Queen St. West and the Bathurst and Bloor Subway station beside an incredibly delicious smelling bakery. Playing Massey Hall was (and is) a dream that dared not to be dreamt. Artists I revere have trod upon these boards. Maybe I’ll play barefoot to feel the divine vibes. It’s either that or I’ll wear a pair of insanely high platform heels and run the risk of falling off the stage and crushing a good number of Burton Cummings fans in the first two rows. Either way, it will be an exceptionally exciting evening.
This coming Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Glenn Gould Studio welcomes the legendary Randy Bachman, for special two-hour live tapings of his award winning radio show “Vinyl Tap”.
His website promises the shows will showcase history unfolding and recreated “from Fender Telecaster, Gibson Les Paul to Gretsch…from echo, flanging, distortion to overdrive – to showcase effects heard on some of the greatest records in the world.”
Truly, a rock n’ roll lecture straight from the source!
All shows are completely sold out but you’re able to hear them on CBC radio one, Saturdays at 7pm (8pm AT, 8:30pm NT) and you can check out previous shows here.
Jann Arden is no stranger to funny. The woman who has built a career on baring her soul and wearing her heart on her sleeve is quite frankly, hilarious. I’ve known this about Jann for some time, as does anyone who has seen her being interviewed or has witnessed her unscripted stage banter during one of her concerts. But when she began following Massey Hall on Twitter, and vice versa, I finally caught a glimpse of what it’s like to live inside Jann Arden’s head.
Every day, me and the over 10,000 people following her updates, are kept abreast of Jann’s whereabouts, her ponderings, conversations with herself and the, ummm, habits of her dog Midi, a regular fixture on Jann’s Twitter updates. CONTINUE READING >
Brooklyn Rider and two members of Masters of Persian Music.
Ancient and refined, Persian classical music remains one of the hidden gems of world traditions – hidden until recently, that is. With beautiful poetry by Rumi and other Sufi poets, soaring vocals, exquisite melodies and powerful rhythms, this music is now winning an increasing number of listeners among classical and world music enthusiasts.
One of the key reasons for this growing audience? The Masters of Persian Music, an ensemble that has produced several sold-out North American tours and a Grammy award-winning CD. CONTINUE READING >
Portrait of Mozart painted posthumously by Barbara Kraft, 1819.
Five years ago, when Peter Oundjian was relatively new in his position as the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s Music Director, he announced the Mozart@249 festival at the TSO’s annual season media conference. He explained that he didn’t think we had to wait until the all important 250th birthday to have an excuse to have a Mozart festival so he was going to get a head start on everybody else. It was rather endearing, although we all knew it was really just clever marketing. But who cares? What’s not to love about Mozart, especially in the dark cold days of January?
Well here we are five years later and the annual January Mozart Festival is so popular that the TSO artistic team just keep programming it – hence Mozart@254. The festival opened last night and runs until January 24 at Roy Thomson Hall and CONTINUE READING >
The enforced frivolity drove me crazy and every emotion seemed fake. After midnight, when the horns had been blown and the noisemakers had been discharged, I would wander around the party muttering to anyone who would listen, “Well, do you feel any different? I sure don’t.”
I swear one of the reasons I got into show business was to have something I could stand to do on New Year’s Eve. Producing comedy shows at my comedy clubs gave me a context for my fun. Then, when Massey Hall approached me to produce a “comedy extravaganza” nine years ago, I leaped at the chance. Surely there was an audience who wanted to laugh – without being totally liquored up – in an august environment, a place that had been a venue for some of the greatest comedians of our time? CONTINUE READING >
Did you ever think it was possible to watch Mozart’s Papageno in the Magic Flute prance through the forest looking for his Papagena, and the very next minute become entranced by Calaf in Puccini’s Turandot performing Nessun Dorma? It didn’t even occur to me that I could until I found out about Bravissimo! Opera’s Greatest Hits. CONTINUE READING >
Ivars Taurins as Herr Handel. Photo by Johnnie Eisen and courtesy of Tafelmusik.
The first time I heard about Tafelmusik‘s Sing-Along Messiah was last year when I was on the subway and I noticed a poster. I thought “hmmm, sounds interesting,” but the holidays swept me up and I never made it to the concert.
The world is a funny place, and this year I found myself in the position where I was the one ordering those same posters for Tafelmusik, and negotiating the signage for the subway ad campaign as Tafelmusik’s Marketing Coordinator. From the day I started working here I’ve been Messiah crazed, in fact, coordinating the advertising campaign for a Toronto tradition that I have yet to see!
Tafelmusik’s Messiah concerts and Sing-Along Messiah are the heart of Tafelmusik’s Toronto performance season. We have an audience of dedicated Sing-Alongers who have been coming annually for as many as eighteen years. These dedicated followers stand in line outside Massey Hall in the cold, sometimes for hours, to ensure that they get the seats they want with their friends and family. We handed out flyers recently at Union Station, and had people thank us for reminding them to buy a ticket. That’s what really convinced me there has to be something magical about this – being thanked for a flyer! CONTINUE READING >
Photo courtesy of: John Beebe of John Beebe Photography
There’s definitely no place like home for holiday music. Home to Toronto are an array of Christmas concerts — some are new, but others, such as Nathaniel Dett Chorale’s “An Indigo Christmas…,” return every year.
As is tradition with this holiday concert, now in its 11th year, the chorale performs at the Glenn Gould Studio.
The 21-member chorale will perform a blend of contemporary and traditional compositions, featuring carols, spirituals and folk songs.
While the concert retains its main “An Indigo Christmas…” concept every year, its theme, repertoire and guest performers are different. For example, in 2008, the concert’s theme was ‘great joy.’
The founder and artistic director of the Nathaniel Dett Chorale, Brainerd Blyden-Taylor, founded the chorale in 1998, naming it after acclaimed African-Canadian composer R. Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943). CONTINUE READING >
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.
I love that nobody knows what to call this album. Four? ZOSO? Stairway To Heaven? The album with the old man with a bunch of sticks on his back? Whatever you call it, it remains one of the all time greats. And it’s always been a part of my life.
