Jamie Cullum
Welcome back! Did you have a nice winter break? We did, albeit a bit of a late one: as you may have noticed, our Soundboard was rather quiet last week. With shows celebrating both Christmas and New Year’s at our Halls, many of us were working through the holidays, and so our days off came a little while after yours. We’re back now though, refreshed and chock-full of enthusiasm for 2010.
JUST ANNOUNCED
Yesterday we announced that Jamie Cullum will be performing at Massey Hall on Tuesday, March 9. Tickets go to members of our FriendsFirst program on Wednesday, and to the general public on Friday. Can’t wait until then to get your Jamie Cullum fix? Head on over to his website to sample some tunes from his latest release The Pursuit.
AUDIO-FILE
We last mentioned CBC Concerts on Demand at the top of December, so the beginning of January seems a good time to shout from the rooftops (again) that their website is ridiculously awesome. Example: The Downchild Blues Band’s CONTINUE READING >
CBC,CBC Concerts On Demand,Christopher O’Riley,Downchild Blues Band,Jamie Cullum,LANG LANG
Charlie Cutts is the President and CEO of the Corporation of Roy Thomson Hall and Massey Hall. In our ongoing quest to highlight the year’s best shows and brightest artists, we thought we’d go straight to the top for our New Year’s Eve finale.
Gabriela Montero
Through the course of the year I see a lot of shows: many at our Halls, and many more at other venues. Rather than offer a standard list of the best performances of 2009, I though I’d venture a bit off the beaten path and give you my favourite shows with a twist – ones that brought a dash of the unexpected, that took me a bit by surprise.
- Gabriela Montero: a wonderfully interesting pianist from Venezuela, with a huge repertoire and incredible skill at improvisation. She has said, “When improvising, I connect with my audience in a completely unique way – and they connect with me.” Entirely true.
- Buddy Guy: Because he “brings it” every single night! (If you didn’t get a chance to see him in 2009 I recommend you come out to Massey Hall this April: the five-time Grammy winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee has a return engagement.
- Pink Martini: Whatever you are expecting, they deliver more. Thomas Lauderdale and China Forbes are incredibly interesting and personable, on stage and off.
- Canadian Songbook: Harry Manx gave an incredible interpretation of Neil Young’s “Down by the River” and Colin Linden stood out for his incredible guitar work.
- Lyle Lovett: I spoke to him backstage. I felt like I was the only person in the room with him – what a gentleman. What an incredible, witty sense of humour. What a delight!
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Buddy Guy,Canadian Songbook,Cecilia Bartoli,Downchild Blues Band,Gabriela Montero,Jeremy Hotz,Lyle Lovett,Molly Johnson,Moody Blues,Pink Martini,Three Girls And Their Buddy
Kailash Kher comes to Massey Hall on Thursday.
The lowdown on this week…
Bollywood sensation Kailash Kher’s Kailasa takes the stage at Massey Hall Thursday night – you can read all about it in the cross-post we featured from Mybindi.com yesterday. Meanwhile, Canadian blues sensation Downchild Blues Band celebrates its fortieth anniversary with a concert at Massey
Hall on Saturday featuring one of the original Blues Brothers himself, Dan Aykroyd. And next
Monday we have the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, with conductor Long Yu and piano soloist Yuja Wang, at Roy Thomson Hall.
Lyle Lovett – who is performing at Massey Hall on Friday – just released a new album at the end of last month called Natural Forces. The album includes a number of original tunes and some covers of numbers by the likes of Eric Taylor, Don Sanders, and Townes van Zandt. The BBC is
calling it the “most satisfying record he’s made in many a year” and “a treat from start to finish.” Lyle, we can’t wait to see you on stage crooning the artful sounds of Americana at its finest.
Speaking of stuff newly out, Jenn Grant (who plays at the Glenn Gould Studio at the end of this month) just released a video for her track “You’ll Go Far.” Jenn’s website explains that she travelled to northern Newfoundland to shoot these beautiful scenes. And while you’re on the Six Shooter YouTube channel, check out some live clips of Royal Wood – who plays the Gould in April – performing at Capital Music Hall here and here.
Stefania Paterak is the Programming Coordinator for Massey Hall and Roy Thomson Hall.
Dan Aykroyd,Downchild Blues Band,Jenn Grant,Kailash Kher,Lyle Lovett,Royal Wood,Shanghai Symphony Orchestra
Dan Aykroyd performs with the Downchild Blues Band
‘I just urge any young guitar player or drummer or bass player, or anyone out there that’s playing today or who plays Guitar Hero or plays in the basement or anyone who wants to hear fine musicianship – these are going to be the nights to see it.” Dan Aykroyd is not only on the phone, he is on. He’s talking – no, preaching – about Canada’s durable blues band, Downchild. The Toronto-based group is marking its 40 years of making robust, leaping Chicago electric blues with a national tour that includes shows in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal hosted by the 57-year-old entertainer and winemaker, who (with John Belushi) based his popular Blues Brothers act on Downchild’s co-founding siblings.
Downchild’s singer Richard (Hock) Walsh died in 1999, but the guitarist and harmonica-tooting Donnie Walsh is still at the helm. “These are going to be special nights,” enthuses the ghost-busting comedic legend. “We’ve got James Cotton, we’ve got Wayne Jackson of the Memphis Horns, we’ve got Colin Linden.”
And we’ve got a blues-ed up Dan Aykroyd. CONTINUE READING >
Dan Aykroyd,Downchild Blues Band,i Need A Hat,john Belushi,richard Hock Walsh
The 09 | 10 Season went on sale to the public yesterday, and our box offices have been hopping. As usual, there is something for everyone on this year’s roster, and while it’s hopeless to play favourites, here are some of our most exciting headliners…
Aretha Franklin is back! Yes indeed, you read correctly. The “Natural Woman” herself is back in town, and is sure to deliver the classic hits that made us love her — there is some serious excitement surrounding this show, both inside and outside our offices. (Not to toot our own horns, but the Globe and Mail calls this the “jewel” of our concert schedule.)
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Aretha Franklin,Art Of Time Ensemble,Dan Aykroyd,Downchild Blues Band,Elvis Costello,Kailash Kher,Sarah Slean,Steven Page
