Neil Young (Tonight (Tuesday) and Wednesday): Tonight’s the Night (and tomorrow)! It’s Neil Young week at Massey Hall. The legend himself performs tonight and tomorrow night in a solo show to be filmed by one Jonathan Demme. The concert recording is to be the third and final instalment in the trilogy of Neil Young films, the first two of which were Neil Young: Heart of Goldand Neil Young Trunk Show. To have Jonathan Demme helming the project is pretty amazing – this is the guy that won the Best Director Academy Award for The Silence of the Lambs among a slew of other awards and nominations.
AND! As if that’s not enough: this year marks the 20th anniversary of Neil Young’s epic Massey Hall concert in 1971 where he debuted songs that went on to make Harvest the canonized album that it is today. That concert was recorded (then bootlegged for years) and later officially released in 2007. Check out this footage of Young’s song “Ohio.” And if you have the time, check out the (39 min) film embedded above for Young’s latest award-winning album, Le Noise.
If your Neil Young cup has not yet overfloweth, stand by for when the MusiCares Tribute Concert to Neil Young is released. You may recall that last year, Mr. Young was the MusiCares Person of the Year (not to be confused with his receipt of the 2011 Allan Waters Humanitarian Award as part of the JUNO Awards this year). Lots of heavy hitters show up in the program including Norah Jones, Booker T. Jones, Ben Harper, and what promises to be an impressive take on “Helpless” performed by Elton John, Leon Russell, Neko Case, and Sheryl Crow. You can pre-order the concert film here.
Yesterday we announced our 2010-2011 Season. While, of course, everything that made it into this year’s Season Brochure is most awesome, I’m particularly excited about the concerts coming to the smaller spaces in which we’re presenting this year: Glenn Gould Studio and the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.
For me, Amelia Curran and Bahamas are among the Glenn Gould Studio highlights. While their sounds are totally different, they’ve been going head to head for accolades over the last year: both were nominated for the JUNO award for Roots and Traditional Album of the Year (solo) (and Amelia took the hardware home) and both were long-listed for the prestigious Polaris Music Prize. You might recognize Amelia Curran from her appearance on our Canadian Songbook event honouring Bruce Cockburn in June – enjoy a flashback here care of CBC Concerts on Demand.
Bahamas’ music includes original songs that are beautiful in their simplicity (try “Lonely Loves“ or “Till The Morning”) and I’m perfectly enchanted by his cover of “Whole Wide World.” Also, this guy keeps some fine company; he was a touring member of Jason Collett’s band and then Feist’s band and his album, Pink Strat includes guest appearances from members of Zeus and The Great Lake Swimmers.
Emilie-Claire Barlow (Thursday and Friday): The charming and talented Emilie-Claire Barlow returns to Glenn Gould Studio for two nights of delightful jazz vocals. To get to know Emilie-Claire a little bit better, check out her website and blog (and be sure to let her know if you know where to buy quince this time of year or are in the market for a grand piano.)
Classic Albums Live Performs Pink Floyd: The Wall (Saturday): The name says it all: these folks are brilliant at performing uncannily realistic recreations of albums (classic ones), live. Last fall, Classic Albums Live brought us Abbey Road on its 40th birthday and now you have a chance to hear Pink Floyd, “Note for note. Cut for Cut. Brick by brick.” Whether you need one or not, prepare yourself for An Education
Michael Kaeshammer performs at Glenn Gould Studio last year.
Just for fun, we’re trying something a little different with the Buzz this week: you’ll still get a weekly dose of all the good stuff, just packaged in a shiny new format. We’ve got show highlights and announcements, and we’ll also let you know about awards, news items, and other inside scoop details about the artists and presentations at the Halls. Let us know what you think!
**JUST ANNOUNCED**
C. R. Avery is coming to Glenn Gould Studio on Thursday, February 25. This guy is something else: his bio calls him a “one man hip hop beatbox blues harmonica americana iconoclast,” and when Tom Waits gave C.R. a listen he said “blowin’ my mind.” Avery impressed this year at the Hillside Festival in Guelph and a new album, The Great Canadian Novel, is due out in 2010.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.
