Arcade Fire @ Massey Hall

...was awesome. I just wish I could have actually seen them from my crappy seat in the left gallery.

More importantly, though, on this date in 1953, Charles Mingus, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, and Bud Powell gave what is considered one of the greatest jazz concerts ever at Massey Hall. I'm not sure if they'd be proud, but they certainly shouldn't be turning in their graves.

May seems to be the month for concerts - much to my dismay, as I'm off on vacation soon. Laura Veirs plays the El Mo this Saturday, but sadly I've already made plans. (Why can't she be playing her native Seattle when I'm actually there?) The Slip - one of those bands I keep meaning to check out - plays the Mod Club on May 18, but I'll be out of town. Coco Rosie this Monday seems to be cancelled, and I would go see Pony Up at the Silver Dollar instead but I'm seeing the Arcade Fire the next night on the 15th.

I keep seeing banner ads for the Cliks everywhere and their natty attire and punk scowls almost make me want to check them out on the 24th, but I've just bought tickets to see Mother Mother at the Drake on the 25th. And it's a good thing I've already seen the Golden Dogs live or else I would have had a hard time choosing between them; they also play the 25th, at Lee's. Not to mention it's a really good thing that I bought tickets to Joel Plaskett's show on the 26th instead of the 25th, or else I would have really been disappointed about missing Mother Mother yet again. Oh yeah, and if I were a rabid Feist fan it would have really exacerbated the situation; like Joel, she's also booked in Toronto on the 25th and 26th.

The Bravery come to town on the 28th, and I would probably go see them if I weren't already inundated with choices. Aussie blues-folk-rockers the John Butler Trio play the Phoenix on the 30th, and I feel obliged to see them in order to compare notes with a friend.

Then we spill into June, and the Pipettes play Lee's on the 1st. CSS plays the Horseshoe on the 4th, and I'm tempted to see them again in such a small, divey, sweaty venue.

And I thought it was going to be a slow year for concerts.

Sonny Rollins @ Massey Hall

A brief hiatus due to a vacation, a hectic work schedule, and just plain laziness. But with the number of big concerts past and ones forthcoming, it was time to start blogging again before the backlog became overwhelming.

I don't know what's happened to jazz. I would have happily stood up from my seat in Massey Hall last night and danced madly during Sonny Rollins's entire concert (like I suspect I'll be doing next week when the Arcade Fire roll into the same venue). But I'm sure someone would have told me to sit down, especially since we were in the third row from the front. I wonder sometimes if jazz greats miss the days when they weren't famous enough to play huge sit-down concert halls to middle-aged upper middle class folk.

I didn't know anything about Sonny Rollins, although I knew the name, and knew that I must have a few of his recordings on various jazz compilation albums. The friend who'd bought the tickets knew even less, but buys so many show tickets from Massey Hall and Roy Thompson Hall that we got into a "Preferred Members" pre-show event in the lounge where music professor/writer/critic Rob Bowman waxed ecstatic about Rollins for an hour. Unfortunately we missed the beginning, but it was pretty awesome, and not just because of the refreshments. It was great to hear someone talk excitedly about Rollins, because it got us excited about the show.

The comment that piqued my interest the most was that Rollins still swings, and has a great sense of humour and joy despite his cerebral technique and spiritual goals. And he did. The lights dimmed, and this little old gentleman wearing sunglasses and a long coat shuffled on stage. According to his bio, he's 77 (!), but when he played, the years vanished. I was amazed that he could be both atonal and remarkably lyrical. Not at the same time, mind you -- it amazed me that he was comfortable with both styles.

Highlights: the percussionist who specialized in traditional African instruments; the drummer who played with his mouth hanging happily open like a puppy, even during the slower-paced songs; the music nerds (myself included) who clustered around the stage during intermission, gawking at the instruments; and my inability to sit still during the entire show.

Lowlight: the couple who showed up at our row, confused by the people sitting in their seats. An usher took a closer look at their tickets and said, "Oh, those are for yesterday's show." Which was Ron Sexsmith with Amy Millan. I bet someone slept on the sofa last night.

Sonny Rollins website
Sonny Rollins on Wikipedia

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Coming soon: Coco Rosie, the Arcade Fire, the Joel Plaskett Emergency, and a sojourn in Seattle during which I hope to catch some live music. And that's only in the next two weeks!

Jazz Lives 2007

This is third year that Jazz FM has put on their fundraising concert at Convocation Hall, and this is the third time I've attended. So far it has yet to disappoint; there are always acts I've always wanted to see (Emilie-Claire Barlow, Kurt Elling), acts I've never heard of that blow me away (Kenny Rankin, Adam Makowicz), acts I have heard of that blow me away (Pat LaBarbera, Michael Ruby, Amanda Martinez, Kevin Clark, Colleen Allen) and those returning that I'm happy to see (Jeff Healey, Sophie Milman). No Peter Appleyard this year, though.

There was even a Surprise Guest in the programme (my favourite act after TBA), who turned out to be Randy Bachman. He played a couple of songs that made me realize that he's an amazing guitar player as well as a songwriter, and then he and Sophie Milman performed "She's Come Undone".

Some time in the past few years, when I wasn't looking, Emilie-Claire Barlow dyed and cut her hair, glammed herself up, and learned how to hold back. I used to listen to her a lot until I tired of her lack of nuance; although remarkably skilled for someone so young, her singing was like a machine gun going off in all directions. I was pleased that her voice has matured and grown some affectations, and that she still makes it sound so easy.

The other performer I'd been looking forward to was Kurt Elling. I didn't know anything of him other than his distinctive voice and ability to wring meaning out of a lyric without going over the top. Whenever I hear him on Jazz FM, I have to stop what I'm doing and listen.

I was thus surprised to see what he actually looks like -- in my head, I had always pictured a Denzal Sinclaire-like groovy black dude at a piano with dreads and cool glasses. Instead, this guy in a natty brown pinstripe vintage suit and slicked-back hair came out. He looked like an old school Italian-American mobster, and had a bit of a lounge lizard vibe when he spoke. He didn't even play piano. But his voice and interpretation were still grand, and the interplay between his singing and his pianist was tight. That's probably why I'd always assumed he accompanied himself on piano.

The biggest surprise of the night (besides Ralph Benmurgui's dark hair when I could've sworn I saw him on King Street last week fully grey) was Kenny Rankin. I knew nothing about him, had never heard his name before. We speculated that perhaps he was connected to the Rankin Family but he turned out to be an American singer-songwriter in the tradition of Gordon Lightfoot and James Taylor. Despite his age (at least in his fifties), he still had an amazing, pure, young voice that sounded as if it had come straight out of the 1970s. He brought the house down with his rendition of "Blackbird".

30 jazz giants, one stage, one night only. That pretty much sums it up, and I look forward to next year's show.