Live! MUSICA Stories
Steven Taetz Expands His, And Our, Jazz-Pop Horizons
Steven Taetz is wandering through the streets of Toronto while we talk, going from one place to another as songwriters are inclined to do anyway: moving from one inspirational situation to another to meet the needs of their musical craft. In Steven’s case, having done time in the electronic dance and country/roots genres, we ask him what he would call the music he’s bringing to …
Harpdog Brown: Real Name, Real Life, Real Blues
When Harpdog Brown answers his phone in Vancouver, a month before he arrives on tour here at Calgary’s Ironwood Stage and Grill, he declares, “You’re a minute early!” And then laughs when I offer to call back 60 seconds later. So begins the storied conversation with this 35 year veteran of Canada’s blues scene. …
Roberto López’s Afro-Colombian Guitar: ‘It is all about the groove….’
Born and raised in Colombia, living in Montreal, his website describes his music style as modern Latin music with hip arrangements. Under Colombian grooves he unabashedly adds jazz, funk and electronic music to the mix.
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Mariel Buckley is Driving in the Dark: Her Country Family Helps her Steer
Some accidents are not only happy, they are positively confounding. Witness MUSICAlive! popping down to a Stampede breakfast to Hear a Calgary country favourite of ours, Tim Buckley, play on the mall, and meeting the similarly talented Mariel Buckley (his sister), also singing and playing some sweet alt-country guitar. …
500 and Counting: The adventures of Damon and his ProArts Society
Well, now we know why Damon Johnston of the ProArts Society resonates so much with the work MUSICAlive! does: he’s been involved in many of the projects that have helped form the Calgary arts scene in the last 30 years. He’s part of our musical DNA, from Decidedly Jazz Danceworks, Dancers’ Studio West, the seminal 10 Foot Henry’s nightclub (from which today’s …
The Once Play With Your Musical Expectations: Is it Folk, or Pop, or Indie or . . .
It occurs to MUSICAlive! afterwards that we never asked Geraldine Hollet, lead singer for The Once, the significance of the band’s name. Sure, “once” is an adverb meaning “on one occasion”, or “for one time only”; but as a noun it becomes capitalized as their bandname and means “a Newfoundland-based folk-pop trio who have been combining 3-part harmonies and acoustic guitar and keyboards to confound …
Mick Flannery’s Ambition: Blues Folk Diversity
Mick Flannery’s Facebook page says that he bridges the gap between folk and blues rock. Well, he doesn’t fit in a box, that’s for sure. Still working as a stone mason, he’s touring all over the world as an artist: Canada this summer; Ireland in September; New Zealand and Australia later this year. …
Joshua Jones meets The Esther Honens: The Percussionist and the Pianos
The Honens International Piano Competition rolls into town as August ends, presenting world-class piano newbies to battle it out in the rodeo that Ms. Honens initiated in 1992. But it’s not all newcomers, and it’s not all pianos! …
Newfoundland has a Sound Symposium: A Place to Play with Sound
“I am the Artistic Co-director of the Sound Symposium. I’m also the host: I will be hosting most, if not all, of the evening concerts, and some of the earlier concerts; I may be introducing some of the workshops; I will be performing with 2 bands that I play with. And I might even be singing with my …