A few things... In the "just in time" model so favoured by hedge fund managers, we bring you the following news:

1. Tomorrow night (Monday April 28) at Mitzi's Sister (1554 Queen West) I'll be playing an acoustic set of about half an hour starting at about 10:45. (These are songwriters - you can add another "about" anywhere in the previous sentence.) My sound will be fleshed out (hand-drum joke) by the distinguished Loss Leader Dave MacDougall on conga.

2. Stephanie Martin, a great singer and songwriter (did I mention she sings on Late?), will be appearing with her band at the Rivoli (334 Queen Street West) on Tuesday at 6:00 pm sharp for a 45 minute showcase. All you hedge fund managers can stop off for your highballs there instead of your usual Bay Street watering holes.

3. We're repeating (only better) the Whiskey Jack / Gala String Quartet concert (so successfully floated last month) on June 13 at Eastminster United (310 Danforth Avenue - 8:00 pm). Whiskey Jack is a seasoned and talented folk / country / bluegrass band which will be strung out (!) by the Gala String Quartet led by Daniel Kushner. I'll also be playing a couple of tunes on guitar, unless they think better of it.

4. "Late" is now available on iTunes and Puretracks, so those of you who are technologically enabled can download some or all of it to your compatible device ("As I said to my compatible device yesterday morning during breakfast... etc.). Although, really, downloading only one track is like leaving someone a dollar in your will so they can't say that you forgot them.

5. Late is getting a fair amount of airplay on the CBC. All the shows both national and local have access to a copy so I'd be grateful if any of you who wouldn't regard it as just another knife in the corpse of classical music would email or call your favourite host and ask her or him to play a track or two.

And remember, Hillary's ahead in the popular vote if you count Florida and Michigan...  ¶ 8:45 AM 0 Comments

  Dylan fan becomes thoughtful... So I'm sitting in my office listening to an old jazz compilation CD (Ellington, Ella, etc.) and suddenly there's Bing singing "Where The Blue of The Night" and I think "I've heard this tune in a different context!"

Here, thanks to Google, is the awful truth:

http://dylanchords.info/45_modern/index.htm  ¶ 7:07 PM 0 Comments

  Duncan Fremlin of Whiskey Jack Kind words from Duncan Fremlin eminence not-quite-yet grise of Whiskey Jack:

Old Friends
There was a CD release celebration/concert at Hugh's Room last night. George Meanwell was showing off his new songs and treated the audience to a terrific show of clever, intelligent and entertaining songs. That in itself was a treat given the number of third rate songwriters out there(...) Not only were the songs terrific, the band was amazing and full of old friends that I hadn't seen in 23+ years. On bass was the generous soul who took Whiskey Jack under his wing 25+ years ago and produced our two most successful albums, One More Time and Whiskey Jack. His name is Chad Irschick. He owns and operates Inception Sound here in Toronto. He has since gone on to fame and fortune producing the Rankins, Joe Sealy, Susan Aglukark, the Barra MacNeils and the like. He's even won a couple of Junos I believe.

On piano was the fellow who performed on our third album and to this day, I enjoy putting his tracks on the turntable and listening to his magic. His name is Ray Parker and last night, he was a joy to listen to. He had his Hammond B-3 and of course, that stole the show.

Such class. Such talent.

Follow the link above to the original March 26 post. Small world!

  ¶ 4:26 PM 0 Comments

  Tomorrow Night - Ensemble Polaris So I lucked into playing once again (they don't learn) with this mildly (!) eccentric group Ensemble Polaris that specializes in Northern folk music (Scandinavian, Canadian, etc). A tabla player (Debashis Sinha), a hurdy gurdy player (Ben Grossman), a guitarist (Terry McKenna), a cellist (usually Margaret Gay, but tomorrow, me) a soprano / fiddle- and now nyckelharpe player (Katherine Hill), a recorder- traverso- and sljefloyte- player (Alison Melville) , a clarinet-, recorder- and bass clarinet-player (Colin Savage), and the amazing Kirk Elliott, formerly (with me) of Short Turn and now Swedish bagpiper, Irish bagpiper, fiddle-, harmonica-, mandolin-, and accordion-player to the stars.
A show not to be missed: tomorrow night in Mississauga at First United Church 151 Lakeshore Rd. West Mississauga 8:00 pm.  ¶ 7:28 PM 0 Comments