Monday Roundup #233

Concert announcements:

Brodie West Double Basses Quintet [Brodie West/Rob Clutton/Josh Cole/Nick Fraser wsg Chris Pruden] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-07-09 (Wednesday – early)

The Cluttertones [Memory of Light live concert recording] / Array Space 2025-07-12 (Saturday, two performances at 8:00 and 9:10 p.m.). $20 or pwyc. [FB event]

More Noise Please! & Coward Patrol Present: A Night of Ritualistic Performance & Frightening Frequencies (feat. Compactor / Mr Clarinet / Hysteria [Xicada x Xodkaar] / Splinter Hex / Woujoud) / St Stephens-In-The-Fields (Back Hall) 2025-07-12 (Saturday). $15, all ages. [FB event]

Uma Nota Culture presents: Mixto Festival (feat. Bia Ferreira x Brasa / Empanadas Ilegales / Inkloosiv Voices / Moneka and Friends / Orbital Ensemble) / Trillium Park 2025-07-12&13 (Saturday & Sunday). $free, outdoors, family + pet friendly. [FB event]

Linda Catlin Smith Jukebox Fundraiser and Vinyl Release Party [featuring a jukebox-style performance of Linda’s exquisite solo and small chamber works by TENMC musicians, first access to Dark Flower on vinyl, delicious spread, cash bar, and an enticing silent auction] (feat. members of Thin Edge New Music Collective) / Array Space 2025-07-31 (Thursday). $free, advance tickets by donation. [FB event]

Stars / CNE Bandshell 2025-08-17 (Sunday). $free with admission to The Ex, outdoors, all ages. [more info]

Jay Douglas / CNE Bandshell 2025-08-21 (Thursday). $free with admission to The Ex, outdoors, all ages. [more info]

The Rural Alberta Advantage / CNE Bandshell 2025-08-28 (Thursday). $free with admission to The Ex, outdoors, all ages. [more info]

Is your show missing from this list? Submit it via this form!

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Shows this week:

Brittany Pitt's Reverie [Brittany Pitt/Dan Pitt/Caleb Klager/Stephen Hegerat] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-06-30 (Monday). $15/pwyc. [more info]

Track Could Bend #106 (feat. Cudmore/Perera Duo / Ariadna Ortega / Grace Scheele) / Wenona Craft Beer Lodge 2025-07-01 (Tuesday). $pwyc. [FB event]

What's Left: No Canada Day Solidarity Fundraiser (feat. Truth of All Death / Kleener / Levithan / Maebh/Dame Cook) / Houndstooth 2025-07-01 (Tuesday). $pwyc. [more info]

Holy Oak Family Singers Presents (feat. Alex Lukashevsky / Ben Rositsan) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-07-02 (Wednesday – early)

Peripheral Vision (Titanium Riot) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-07-02 (Wednesday) [more info]

Lorde Awesome (Vörtlimpa / Sasquatch Picnic / Jon Dough) / The Tranzac (Main Hall) 2025-07-04 (Friday). $10/pwyc. [FB event]

H.E.A.D. Opening Weekend (feat. Colin Fisher/Patrick O'Reilly / Dame Cook) / H.E.A.D. 2025-07-04 (Friday). $pwyc. [more info]

Prince Nifty & Colin Fisher / Le Monde 2025-07-05 (Saturday). $20/pwyw. [more info]

H.E.A.D. Opening Weekend (feat. Duo Cichorium / Karen Ng/Colin Cudmore) / H.E.A.D. 2025-07-05 (Saturday). $pwyc. [more info]

Friendship (2nd Grade / Eliza Niemi) / Array Space 2025-07-05 (Saturday). $26.43, 19+. [FB event]

Sonomadic Improv (feat. UBERSUCK [Germaine Liu & Kayla Milmine] / Ariadna Ortega & Colin Cudmore / Jonathan Kay/Patrick O’Reilly/Bodhisattwa Ghosh) / Annette Studios 2025-07-06 (Sunday). $pwyc

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It happened this week...

• ...on June 30, 2011 at The Garrison.

SIANspheric - Jahm

• ...on July 6, 2011 at Lee's Palace.

Omar Souleyman - Leh Jani

[Do remember that you can click on the tags below to go back and find the original posts (and often, more stuff) from these artists.]

Recording: Aliyah Aziz

Artist: Aliyah Aziz

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #105), June 3, 2025.

Aliyah Aziz - [excerpt]

Aliyah Aziz's science fair musical project saw her equipped with an old tube TV and a table full of adaptors — as well as a pair of custom DIY gloves equipped with electromagnetic field readers. That gave the performance a tactile and highly interactive quality, with her hands floating trhough the invisible fields, coaxing out secret sonifications like a medium, different combinations of objects feeding into and cancelling each other out in strangely-shifting ways.

You can check out some more from this set over on youtube:

[Track Could Bend is back at Weonona on Tuesday (July 1st) with sets from Cudmore/Perera Duo, Ariadna Ortega, and Grace Scheele.]

Recording: Determinist?

Artist: Determinist?

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #105), June 3, 2025.

Determinist? - [excerpt]

A last-minute schedule adjustment brought about this reunion show from a duo of radical theoreticians. In a "pride month" special, found recordings channeled some queer rage, even if the guitar squall from Phil Hamilton and Ian McPhedran was a bit more internalized than in the past. McPhedran, in particular, brought some of his more recent explorations with prepared guitar sounds to the table here while Hamilton's contact mics on metal sheets kept things abrasive.

You can check out some more from this set over on youtube:

[Track Could Bend is back at Weonona on Tuesday (July 1st) with sets from Cudmore/Perera Duo, Ariadna Ortega, and Grace Scheele.]

Recording: John Wiese

Artist: John Wiese

Song: [last section]

Recorded at 918 Bathurst (Prepare the Ground Festival – Day 3), June 1, 2025.

John Wiese - [last section]

Prepare the Ground closed out its stay at 918 Bathurst by presenting a full-on noise show on Sunday, culminating in some abrasive sounds from harsh noise walls architect The Rita. Along the way came this abrasive modular set from L.A.'s John Wiese. Very spiky sonics predominated, quiet slurps punctuated by stereophonic percussion bursts. At one level, that gave this the aura of a sort of malicious cartoon foley, but closer attention showed there were some interesting formal choices being made — mostly in constraining the set of source-sounds to create some hypnotically-pulverizing nonlinear repetitions.

Recording: Ora Cogan & Ester Thunander

Artist: Ora Cogan & Ester Thunander

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at 918 Bathurst (Prepare the Ground Festival – Day 2), May 31, 2025.

Ora Cogan & Ester Thunander - unknown

Under its "heavy" rubric, the Prepare the Ground Festival managed to find some space for some sidebar genres, such as bringing some doom-folk sounds into the reverberant churchy sanctuary at 918 Bathurst. A cue for where this set would be heading was the opening invitation for the audience to lie down on the floor — an invitation partially accepted as most of the thin crowd were soon at least sitting in the area in front of the stage. Ora Cogan and Ester Thunander were seated on the stage floor themselves, mics tilted down and violins and guitars near at hand. I was a bit familiar with Cogan, having seen her perform a good while back, but it was quite satisfying to see her here unencumbered from rhythm or songshape to lean entirely into some beautiful atmospherics. Sweden's Ester Thunander was an apt partner here, expanding the ghostly space with voice and fiddle.

^* Does anyone know the title to this one? Please leave a comment!

Recording: Jaye Jayle

Artist: Jaye Jayle

Song: Cemetery Rain

Recorded at 918 Bathurst (Prepare the Ground Festival – Day 2), May 31, 2025.

Jaye Jayle - Cemetery Rain

Evan Patterson was in town for the Prepare the Ground Festival as part of Young Widows, but he also found time to play a surprise set in a solo incarnation of his Jaye Jayle project. Sitting down to deliver songs with just guitar and voice, the churchy reverb of the space served his swampy, folky tunes well.

Recording: Heraclitus Akimbo

Artist: Heraclitus Akimbo

Songs: In the Style of 2015 [excerpt] + In the Style of 2025 [edited excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Compilation Release & Ten-Year Celebration Concert), May 18, 2025.

Heraclitus Akimbo - In the Style of 2015 [excerpt]

Heraclitus Akimbo - In the Style of 2025 [edited excerpt]

Heraclitus Akimbo (the musical project) has a very specific (and personally-meaningful) point of origin, so I'd been keeping an eye on the calendar for a good spell ruminating on that launching point's tenth anniversary — enough so that I had the time to carefully construct a reflection/refraction of the decade passed. Both the compilation and the anniversary itself suggested that some sort of event would be appropriate, leading to this timely concert with a warm room full of friends and well-wishers. Two separate sets (and two gear setups) allowed for a zoom from the sounds I was making when I started to the (not altogether different) ones I'm producing today.

None of this would have happened if it weren't for the assistance and encouragement of a lot of folks along the way, a first-person observation that has probably enhanced my opinion that music is rarely authored by a specific person, so much as it emerges from one set of hands situated in a social milieu.

You can check out some the full sets over on youtube:

photo by Tina

Recording: Ben Mike & The Beatles

Artist: Ben Mike & The Beatles

Song: [excerpt]^*

Recorded at The Tranzac (Main Hall), May 25, 2025.

Ben Mike & The Beatles - [excerpt]

So, to get the obvious out of the way: no, they are not those Beatles. And while such a cheeky moniker (and the clear vibes that this was definitely a group of friends having a great time hanging out together) might connote an unseriousness of purpose, there was definitely something interesting going on here. (Also interesting was the fact that a large improvising ensemble playing mostly-drifty music filled up the Tranzac's Main Hall on a Sunday night!)

Perhaps more telling was that for the purposes of this show, the band was billed with "(Orchestra)" tagged to its name, and while Ben Mike, on keyb at the centre of everything, was mostly hidden behind pages of scores, only the other keyboardists were similarly encumbered and there was no obvious direction/conduction going on — though for all that, there was a definite sense of organization at hand, especially in the sense of restraint that was evident for most of the set (although there was some build-up bombast — in a Cage-ean minimalmist sense — as well).

Obviously these folks were familiar with each other as players — there was, for example, a heavy overlap with a different large improvising ensemble I had seen not long before this. And while this brought to mind some attempts to bring compositional order to rock'n'roll chaos I've seen from some similar local friend-orchestras in the past, it was really satisfying to see the physical and conceptual sprawl here (with hints of psych rock, spiritual jazz, and "Thursday Afternoon"-style Eno) expand at the seams yet remain able to contain itself. If you're not going out to the shows where the younger cadres are, you're missing out on something very cool emerging in our midst.

The full ensemble for this show was:

• Ray Goudy, Josh Sparks, Dylan Burrett (Guitars)
• Maxwell Stover, Ben Rositsan, Zack Goldstein (Reeds and Woodwinds)
• Lauren Dillen (Vocals)
• Steven Noronha, Ben Mike, Will Hunt (Keyboards)
• Sara May (Violin)
• Aidan McConnell (Percussion)

^* Does anyone know the title to this piece as a whole? Please leave a comment!

Recording: Carolina Lopez

Artist: Carolina Lopez

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at The Tranzac (Main Hall), May 25, 2025.

Carolina Lopez - unknown

This opening set from Carolina Lopez put her songs and her voice at the centre of things, presented with atmospheric (but uncluttered) arrangements courtesy of a band with definite ties to the widescreen improvisation collective that would be following them. Samuel Laramee, who I've previously seen in action as a synth wiz, impressed on guitar here, adding both drift and frisson to the anchoring forces of Ambrose Veno (drums) and Bjorn Kriel (bass). There's an EP of tunes available on bandcamp, and, we were told, more (like this one) in the can.

^* Does anyone know the title to this one? Please leave a comment!

Monday Roundup #232

Concert announcements:

Brittany Pitt's Reverie [Brittany Pitt/Dan Pitt/Caleb Klager/Stephen Hegerat] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-06-30 (Monday). $15/pwyc. [more info]

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Shows this week:

Colin Fisher/George Koller/Jeff Luciani/Diane Roblin / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-06-23 (Monday) [FB event]

Toronto Jazz Fest (feat. Tania Gill and Friends) / The Rock in Village of Yorkville Park 2025-06-24 (Tuesday – 5:45 p.m. + 7:45 p.m.). $free, outdoors. [more info]

Solitary Shrew (feat. improvise a dream / Jen Lo & Ben Dwyer) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-06-24 (Tuesday – early). [more info]

Fig Trio with Ben Rositsan [Maxwell Stover/Ian Afif/Keith Barstow] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-06-24 (Tuesday). $pwyc. [more info]

CCMC / Array Space 2025-06-26 (Thursday). $pwyc, livestream available. [more info]

Bonnie Trash [album release] (HRT / UUGGHH) / The Garrison 2025-06-26 (Thursday). $24.98, 19+. [FB event]

Karen Ng presents (feat. Philippe Melanson & Matthew Pencer / Karen Ng/Aidan McConnell/Adrian Russouw) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-06-26 (Thursday) [more info]

Toronto Jazz Fest (feat. Tania Gill and Friends) / The Rock in Village of Yorkville Park 2025-06-27 (Friday – 5:45 p.m. + 7:45 p.m.). $free, outdoors. [more info]

All-Set! Presents (feat. Molehill) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-06-27 (Friday – early). $pwyc. [more info]

Exit Points #61 (feat. Liz Hyzen/Jinu Isac/Xavier Lucente/Judy Zhu/Sarah Belle Reid / Pavan Ubhi/Ryan Gaston/Pablo Leñero/Ariadna Ortega/Jamie Thompson/Michael Palumbo / Switchemups) / Array Space 2025-06-27 (Friday). $15 (early bird)/$20 (adv)/$25 (door). [FB event]

The Ryan Driver Quintet / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-06-27 (Friday) [FB event]

Freesound Presents: Violin // Trumpet // Melodica [featuring new work by Martin Arnold] (feat. Aysel Taghi-Zada/Émilie Fortin/Martin Arnold) / Array Space 2025-06-28&29 (Saturday & Sunday). $22.63. [FB event]

Cosmic Homeostasis XXVIII / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-06-29 (Sunday – 2 p.m.) [FB event]

Carlton Park Concerts (feat. Karen Ng / Shabason & Krgovich [full band] / Arma Agharta / Sparkling Water) / Carlton Park ["by the wading pool"] 2025-06-29 (Sunday – 4 p.m.). $pwyc, outdoors, "very kid friendly". [more info]

Wolf Eyes / The Baby G 2025-06-29 (Sunday). $29.10, 19+. [FB event]

to gather string ["an evening of contemporary music for strings and electric guitar, featuring new music for solo instruments, string quartet, as well as electric guitar + string quartet, and including works by the performers, Gavin Bryars, Steven Webb and more"] (Andrew Noseworthy) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-06-29 (Sunday) [FB event]

Recording: Eric Chenaux Trio

Artist: Eric Chenaux Trio

Song: Hello Eyes

Recorded at The Tranzac's Main Hall (TONE Presents), May 23, 2025.

Eric Chenaux Trio - Hello Eyes

Although not resident here for a good few years now, Eric Chenaux feels very much like a Toronto artist — part of the creative ferment that he was a part of in this city for so long. That made his joining with Ryan Driver and Phil Melanson on last year's Delights Of My Life feel like a fully natural move, and this show demonstrated how deeply in sync the trio has become. Chenaux's deeply unique widdly-wah guitar style was in excellent company with Driver's keybs and Melanson's electronic percussion, the latter of which was uncannily precise in how it fit with the music's wobbling rhythmic sensibility. Dawdling through the masterful "This Ain't Life" before steering into Chenaux's strangely soulful and abstractly funky terrain, it wouldn't do to say that these three were surprisingly vibrant — 'cause that's how they roll — but one can still be taken aback a bit by seeing the magic in action.

Recording: Cici Arthur

Artist: Cici Arthur

Song: Felt in an Instant

Recorded at The Tranzac's Main Hall (TONE Presents), May 23, 2025.

Cici Arthur - Felt in an Instant

Chris Cummings is not Marker Starling — and now, he is not Cici Arthur either. The former, his longtime "solo" vehicle has now been joined by the new "group" endeavour — an effort spearheaded by Joseph Shabason and Thom Gill (who was absent for this show) to provide some lush and smooth sonic settings for Cummings' songs. Nimble and soulful, this is a formidable soft-rock powerhouse that has lead to the very tasty Way Through album, as well as a star-studded band (with Mara Nesrallah, Dorothea Paas, Phil Melanson, and Bram Gielen) bringing the songs to life.

Monday Roundup #231

Concert announcements:

Colin Fisher/George Koller/Jeff Luciani/Diane Roblin / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-06-23 (Monday) [FB event]

Exit Points #61 (feat. Liz Hyzen/Jinu Isac/Xavier Lucente/Judy Zhu/Sarah Belle Reid / Pavan Ubhi/Ryan Gaston/Pablo Leñero/Ariadna Ortega/Jamie Thompson/Michael Palumbo / Switchemups) / Array Space 2025-06-27 (Friday). $15 (early bird)/$20 (adv)/$25 (door). [FB event]

The Ryan Driver Quintet / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-06-27 (Friday) [FB event]

Cosmic Homeostasis XXVIII / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-06-29 (Sunday – 2 p.m.) [FB event]

Carlton Park Concerts (feat. Karen Ng / Shabason & Krgovich [full band] / Arma Agharta / Sparkling Water) / Carlton Park ["by the wading pool"] 2025-06-29 (Sunday – 4 p.m.). $pwyc, outdoors, "very kid friendly". [more info]

Wolf Eyes / The Baby G 2025-06-29 (Sunday). $29.10, 19+. [FB event]

to gather string ["an evening of contemporary music for strings and electric guitar, featuring new music for solo instruments, string quartet, as well as electric guitar + string quartet, and including works by the performers, Gavin Bryars, Steven Webb and more"] (Andrew Noseworthy) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-06-29 (Sunday) [FB event]

Track Could Bend #106 (feat. Cudmore/Perera Duo / Ariadna Ortega / Grace Scheele) / Wenona Craft Beer Lodge 2025-07-01 (Tuesday). $pwyc. [FB event]

Summer Music in the Garden: Songs of Birds and Love (feat. The Musicians of the Egg) ["a delightful program of music from the English and French Renaissance."] / Toronto Music Garden 2025-07-10 (Thursday). $free, outdoors. [more info]

Ayal Senior and Friends ["Ayal's on tour" edition with guest host Joe Strutt] (feat. anthéne / {AN} EeL / Nick Flanagan) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-07-13 (Sunday – 2:30 p.m.). $pwyc. [FB event]

Summer Music in the Garden presents Labyrinth Ontario: Wild Strings and Tuning Things (feat. Roa Lee/Aysel Taghi-Zada/Sasan Salaseli) / Toronto Music Garden 2025-07-13 (Sunday – 4 p.m.). $free, outdoors. [FB event]

Josh Cole presents (feat. Dun-Dun Band) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-07-15 (Tuesday)

Summer Music in the Garden: Baroque-Middle-Eastern-Cyberpunk (feat. John Kameel Farah) / Toronto Music Garden 2025-07-24 (Thursday). $free, outdoors. [more info]

Summer Music in the Garden: Voice is the Original Instrument (feat. The Local Singers [Jill Harris/Robin Dann/Felicity Williams/Mara Nesrallah/Dorothea Paas/Alex Samaras]) / Toronto Music Garden 2025-07-31 (Thursday). $free, outdoors. [FB event]

Burn Down The Capital presents (feat. Nadja [20th anniversary celebration] / Völur [Breathless Spirit album release]) / The Tranzac (Main Hall) 2025-08-08 (Friday). $28.27 (advance)/$30 (door). [FB event]

Summer Music in the Garden: What Is Time For? (feat. Tara Kannangara & Chris Pruden) / Toronto Music Garden 2025-08-17 (Sunday – 4 p.m.). $free, outdoors. [FB event]

Is your show missing from this list? Submit it via this form!

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Shows this week:

Cassiar Records presents (feat. BLOOP / Josh Cole [solo double bass]) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-06-17 (Tuesday). $15/notaflof. [FB event]

Music Hosted by Karen Ng (feat. Arie Verheul van de Ven / Double Teams [Tania Gill/Karen Ng/Colin Cudmore/Aidan McConnell]) / Wenona Lodge 2025-06-17 (Tuesday) [more info]

Sarah Greene Trio [Sarah Greene/Paul Kolinski/Michael Herring] / The Local 2025-06-17 (Tuesday). $pwyc. [FB event]

Jessica Ackerley / Sellers & Newel 2025-06-18 (Wednesday). $20. [FB event]

Open Thread [Peggy Lee/Julien Wilson/Theo Carbo/Dylan van der Schyff] / Sellers & Newel 2025-06-19 (Thursday). $20. [FB event]

Music of Ornette Coleman and Charlie Haden (feat. Lina Allemano/Ben Boye/Nate McBride/Karen Ng/Frank Rosaly/Nick Fraser) / The Emmet Ray 2024-06-19 (Thursday). $15. [more info]

Labyrinth Ontario's Makam Nights (feat. Mehrdad Jafari Raad) / The Tranzac (Living Room) 2025-06-19 (Thursday). $pwyc. [FB event]

Earth Ball (Thresher / Brian Ruryk / Dixie Cups) / The Doc Ellis (No-No Room) 2025-06-19 (Thursday). $12 [more info]

TONE & Uma Nota present (feat. Mestizx [Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti & Frank Rosaly] / Mas Aya / Artu) / The Tranzac (Main Hall) 2025-06-20 (Friday). $22.89 (advance)/$25 door, all ages. FB event]

C'est la fête / Le Monde 2025-06-20 (Friday). $20/pwyc. [more info]

TONE presents (feat. Farida Amadou with Karen Ng / chik white / Naomi McCarroll-Butler) / Collective Arts 2025-06-21 (Saturday). $22.89 advance/$25 door, all ages. [FB event]

Last Sundays Residency (The Sympathetic String Band / Robert Planet & Farm Implement) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-06-22 (Sunday – early). [FB event]

Triio (Folding Trio [Aidan McConnell/Steven Noronah/Keon Narinesingh]) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-06-22 (Sunday) [more info]

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It happened this week...

• ...on June 19, 2015 at 159 Manning (M For Manning).

Vallens - Karen

• ...on June 17, 2015 at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge).

Ken Aldcroft/Scott Thomson/Germaine Liu/John Oswald - [excerpt from quartet improvisation]

• ...on June 18, 2015 at The Great Hall.

Lloyd Cole - Impossible Girl + Lost Weekend

[Do remember that you can click on the tags below to go back and find the original posts (and often, more stuff) from these artists.]

Recording: Ng/Ting/Liu

Artist: Karen Ng/Leslie Ting/Germaine Liu

Song: [1st piece, excerpt]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Music Hosted by Karen Ng), May 20, 2025.

Karen Ng/Leslie Ting/Germaine Liu - [1st piece, excerpt]

Bringing together some longtime friends who were playing together as a trio for the first time, this grouping found the beauty in some satisfying sputters, skrunks and scrapes and managed to move in sync to satisfying conclusions on both the pieces they essayed.

You can check out some more from this set over on youtube:

[Karen Ng will be hosting a trio alongside Aidan McConnell & Adrian Russouw at Wenona on Tuesday (June 17th), with an opening solo set from Arie Verheul van de Ven.]

Recording: Brodie West

Artist: Brodie West

Song: [last section]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Music Hosted by Karen Ng), May 20, 2025.

Brodie West - [last section]

A rare solo outing from Brodie West, and in a set that started with a chat-with-the-crowd/Q&A sort of segment, the actual sax playing had a similar chatty quality — gabbing excitedly, testing statements, looping back to fill in ideas, and so on.

You can check out some more from this set over on youtube:

Recording: an action committee

Artist: an action committee

Songs: Organ [in two versions] [composer: Max Stover]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), May 18, 2025.

an action committee - Organ [version 1]

an action committee - Organ [version 2]

I feel like it's a very Toronto thing to gather large groups together and have everyone play at once. ("Everyone playing loudly and at once," is, in fact, how I've heard the "Toronto style" of improvisation described by some of its detractors.) Whether it's a consequence of the social situations performers in Toronto's creative music scenes find themselves in or some sort of atavistic impulse towards maximalism, it warms the ol' heart to see the younger cadres rediscovering these sonic scenarios.

How large groups find ways to work together and navigate structure and freedom is, of course, a key question — and Maxwell Stover's new-ish Tranzac residency is an attempt to negotiate some of these queries. For this instalment, with a dozen musicians on stage, that was achieved through Stover's conduction and distribution of some fragments of material for the musicians to share space in. That this was a relatively unprecise approach could be seen from how the same three pieces were essayed twice with rather different results — quietly and spaciously in the first set, and with shades, feedback and fuzz pedals in the second.

The musicians for this performance were:

• guitars: Bjorn Kriel, Ben Rositsan, Josh Sparks, Jesse White
• keys: Max Donaldson, Will Hunt, Ben Mike, Steven Noronha
• bass: Adrian Russouw
• drums: Keith Barstow, Colin Cudmore, Mateos Labbe-Phelan
• conduction + compositions: Maxwell Stover

Apologies for the fact that this whole ensemble was too large to fit in its entirety in the frame, but you can check out the evening's full performance over on youtube:

[an action committee take on a different form of musical organization — three trios — at its next performance on Sunday (June 15th), with performances from Steven Noronha/Keon Narinesingh/Harry Vetro, Ben Rositsan/Adrian Russouw/Cal James Adam, and Jesse White/Maxwell Stover/Keith Barstow.]

Monday Roundup #230

Concert announcements:

The New Symphony Orchestra: Cease and Desist ["for this performance, the orchestra will use excerpts from iconic works in the classical canon as the inspiration for free-improvised pieces, this time accompanied by live collage from artists Madi Cassidy and Zoe Abbott"] (feat. Zack Goldstein/Sara Constant/Sara May/Arie Verheul van de Ven/Adrian Russouw/Connor Crone/Ben Mike/Ryan Kinney/Owen Kurtz) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-06-16 (Monday). $pwyc/$15 recommended. [more info]

Cassiar Records presents (feat. BLOOP / Josh Cole [solo double bass]) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-06-17 (Tuesday). $15/notaflof. [FB event]

Music Hosted by Karen Ng (feat. Arie Verheul van de Ven / Aidan McConnell/Karen Ng/Adrian Russouw) / Wenona Lodge 2025-06-17 (Tuesday) [more info]

The Two Deaths of Ophelia [works by Linda Catlin Smith, Shawn Jaeger, Ann Southam, Wolfgang Rihm, Oliver Knussen, Charles Wuorinen, Thomas Adès, Luis Ramirez, Ryan Chase, Krzysztof Penderecki, Claude Vivier] (feat. The Happenstancers [Simon Rivard/Reilly Nelson/Danika Lorè/Jesse Blumberg/Dion Mazerolle/Luri Lee/Sienna Cho/Hee-Soo Yoon/Hezekiah Leung/Peter Eom/Travis Harrison/Lenny Ranallo/Joonghun Cho/Wesley Shen/Chris James/Aleh Remezau/Brad Cherwin/Nicolas Richard/Ryan Garbett/Declan Scott/Nikki Huang/Thomas Li]) / 918 Bathurst 2025-06-19 (Thursday). $33.28 (general admission), $free (students). [tickets & more info]

Music of Ornette Coleman and Charlie Haden (feat. Lina Allemano/Ben Boye/Nate McBride/Karen Ng/Frank Rosaly/Nick Fraser) / The Emmet Ray 2024-06-19 (Thursday). $15. [more info]

Rock Plaza Central / The Baby G 2025-07-03 (Thursday). $22, 19+. [FB event]

Is your show missing from this list? Submit it via this form!

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Shows this week:

Toronto Electronic Music Open Mic (feat. Caustic Clouds / Garden of Magic / Hozerz / Eye-Duh Kho / Hexwave / Little Vanity/illicit Pulse / Lance Oullette / avisupchurch / dreamSTATE / Alissa Vox Raw / tomorrow tomorrow / BlackSmyth / Broken Pink Umbrella / Gruve Collective / Stefan Powell and Rob Cruikshank) / Handlebar 2025-06-09 (Monday). $11.30, all-ages. [more info]

Nick Adema [presenting his solo trombone album Buiksloterkerk] (Max Donaldson) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-06-09 (Monday). [more info]

Wesley Shen [works for solo piano by Anna Höstman and Emilie LeBel] / Array Space 2025-06-10 (Tuesday). $pwyc. [FB event]

Olivia Boring / Adam Waito / James Irwin / The Tranzac (Living Room) 2025-06-10 (Tuesday). $pwyc. [FB event]

A Failed Entertainment (feat. Anh Phung/Tara Kannangara/Leland Whitty/Luan Phung/Chris Pruden/Julian Anderson-Bowes/Mack Longpré) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-06-10 (Tuesday). [more info]

Selkie Sessions [Isla Craig/Sean Donald/Ivy Mairi/Andrew Patten] / Island Cafe 2025-06-11 (Wednesday) [more info]

Brodie West's Double Basses Quintet -1 [Brodie West / Josh Cole / Rob Clutton / Patrick O'Reilly] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-06-11 (Wednesday – early)

Never Was [Brandon Davis/Bea Labikova//Patrick O'Reilly/Adrian Russouw/Joe Sorbara] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-06-11 (Wednesday) [more info]

Isla Craig & the Sorry Brothers [Isla Craig/Kurt Newman/Karsten Stryker] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-06-12 (Thursday). $pwyc.

Audiopollination [please come out to help celebrate Mike Lynn, on his last night hosting the series after thirteen years of crucial community-building!] (feat. David Sait/Marilyn Yogarajah/Magick / cheryl o/Neil Wiernik / Heraclitus Akimbo/Laura Swankey/Judy Zhu / Mickle32 & Rod Campbell) / Array Space 2025-06-13 (Friday) [FB event]

Second Fridays (feat. Lithophonica [Gayle Young/James Harley] / Matt Brubeck & Caylie Staples / Korba Sun Collective [Georgia Korba/Yuzi Sun/Matt Aasen/Dylan Pilcher]) / Canadian Music Centre 2025-06-13 (Friday). $22.63 general admission, $17.31 student. [more info]

Not Dead Yet presents (feat. Kara-Lis Coverdale [record release] / Joseph Shabason) / 918 Bathurst 2025-06-13 (Friday). $31.56, 19+. [more info]

Hooveriii (The John Denver Airport Conspiracy) / Blood Brothers Brewing 2025-06-13 (Friday). $24.98, 19+. [FB event]

Musica Universalis (feat. William Hunt & Colin Fisher) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-06-13 (Friday) [more info]

The Marker Starling Band (Derrick Anthony Vella) / BSMT 254 2025-06-14 (Saturday – early). $20, 19+. [FB event]

New Chance [A Rock Unsteady record release] (Bile Sister) / The Tranzac (Main Hall) 2025-06-14 (Saturday). $28.27. [more info/tickets]

Batuki Music Society presents (feat. Coup de Coeur [Sadio Sissokho/Assane Seck/Seydina Ndiaye/ILAM/Pape Ndiaye/Carlo Birri]) / Hugh’s Room Live 2025-06-14 (Saturday). $36.63 (general admission)/$24.42 (students/arts worker/underemployed). [more info]

Art of Improv (feat. Germaine Liu & Mark Zurawinski / future proof [Bea Labikova & Raphael Roter] / Germaine Liu/Mark Zurawinski/Bill Gilliam/Eugene Martynec/Bill McBirnie) / Annette Studios 2025-06-15 (Sunday). $20/pwyc. [FB event]

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It happened this week...

• ...on June 13, 2016 at Ratio (Burn Down The Capital Presents).

Cory Latkovich & Robert Grieve - [excerpt 1]

• ...on June 15, 2016 at Monarch Tavern.

The Burning Hell - Men Without Hats

[Do remember that you can click on the tags below to go back and find the original posts (and often, more stuff) from these artists.]

Recording: Not The Wind, Not The Flag

Artist: Not The Wind, Not The Flag

Song: [guitar excerpt]

Recorded at Le Monde, May 17, 2025.

Not The Wind, Not The Flag - [guitar excerpt]

Friendships, when measured over decades, rarely can be represented as a continuous or straight line. But that means time adds its own wrinkles and peculiarities that make it unique. So, too, for bands that exist over decades — and Not The Wind, Not the Flag are surely both. Brandon Valdivia and Colin Fisher don't get as many chances to perform together as they used to, but their deep sonic connection is definitely intact. Playing outside of the limits of a bar/gig-type set allowed that to really shine, as the pair had time to let several zones unfold — including an extended percussion duo to start things off. From there, Fisher moved between saxophones and guitar while Valdivia had a lot of kit on hand to thunder along or provide quiet sympathetic textures as required. Word on the street is that the duo have plans to make a long-awaited new studio recording this year, so keep an ear out for further appearances.

You can check out the full set over on youtube:

Monday Roundup #229

Concert announcements:

Nick Adema [presenting his solo trombone album Buiksloterkerk] (Max Donaldson) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-06-09 (Monday). [more info]

Olivia Boring / Adam Waito / James Irwin / The Tranzac (Living Room) 2025-06-10 (Tuesday). $pwyc. [FB event]

A Failed Entertainment (feat. Anh Phung/Tara Kannangara/Leland Whitty/Luan Phung/Chris Pruden/Julian Anderson-Bowes/Mack Longpré) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-06-10 (Tuesday). [more info]

Batuki Music Society presents (feat. Coup de Coeur [Sadio Sissokho/Assane Seck/Seydina Ndiaye/ILAM/Pape Ndiaye/Carlo Birri]) / Hugh’s Room Live 2025-06-14 (Saturday). $36.63 (general admission)/$24.42 (students/arts worker/underemployed). [more info]

Art of Improv (feat. Germaine Liu & Mark Zurawinski / future proof [Bea Labikova & Raphael Roter] / Germaine Liu/Mark Zurawinski/Bill Gilliam/Eugene Martynec/Bill McBirnie) / Annette Studios 2025-06-15 (Sunday). $20/pwyc. [more info]

Earth Ball (Thresher / Brian Ruryk / Dixie Cups) / The Doc Ellis (No-No Room) 2025-06-19 (Thursday). $12 [more info]

TONE & Uma Nota present (feat. Mestizx [Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti & Frank Rosaly] / Mas Aya / Artu) / The Tranzac (Main Hall) 2025-06-20 (Friday). $22.89 (advance)/$25 door, all ages. FB event]

TONE presents (feat. Farida Amadou with Karen Ng / chik white / Naomi McCarroll-Butler) / Collective Arts 2025-06-21 (Saturday). $22.89 advance/$25 door, all ages. [FB event]

Toronto Jazz Fest (feat. Tania Gill and Friends) / The Rock in Village of Yorkville Park 2025-06-24 (Tuesday – 5:45 p.m. + 7:45 p.m.). $free, outdoors. [more info]

Bonnie Trash [album release] (HRT / UUGGHH) / The Garrison 2025-06-26 (Thursday). $24.98, 19+. [FB event]

Toronto Jazz Fest (feat. Tania Gill and Friends) / The Rock in Village of Yorkville Park 2025-06-27 (Friday – 5:45 p.m. + 7:45 p.m.). $free, outdoors. [more info]

Lorde Awesome (Vörtlimpa / Sasquatch Picnic / Jon Dough) / The Tranzac (Main Hall) 2025-07-04 (Friday). $10/pwyc

Is your show missing from this list? Submit it via this form!

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Shows this week:

Agave (feat. Little Window / Blue Monday) / Burdock Music Hall 2025-06-02 (Monday). $11.30, all-ages. [tickets + more info]

Chris Banks presents (feat. Joe Sorbara & Norm Adams / Chris Banks & Karen Ng / Joe Sorbara/Norm Adams/Chris Banks/Karen Ng) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-06-02 (Monday) [more info]

Justin Orok [California Shutters album release] (POTIONS) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-06-03 (Tuesday – early) [more info]

Track Could Bend #105 (feat. Determinist? / Aliyah Aziz) / Wenona Lodge 2025-06-03 (Tuesday). $pwyc. [FB event]

Peripheral Vision (C'est la Fête) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-06-03 (Tuesday) [more info]

Holy Oak Family Singers present: Bad Songs Done Well (feat. Thom Gill/Robin Dann/Bram Gielen/Bells Larsen/Charlotte Cornfield/Carlyn Bezic/Stefana Fratila/Dorothea Paas/Luka Kuplowsky/Fan Wu/Maggie Keogh/Ivi Mairi/Ben Gunning/Joseph Shabason) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-06-04 (Wednesday – early) [more info]

Equinox and Solstice Residency (feat. Ghostlight) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-06-04 (Wednesday) [FB event]

NO HAY BANDA [performing Sarah Davachi’s "Three Unisons for Four Voices"] (HxH) / The Music Gallery 2025-06-05 (Thursday). $10 (MG Members), $15-$25 (PWYCA). [more info]

Transposition: Duo for Oud and Cello (feat. Abdul-Wahab Kayyali & Naseem AlAtrash) / University of Toronto – Walter Hall 2025-06-05 (Thursday). $40. [FB event]

Alamedas Del Mundo: Transnational Algorithmic Music Concert (feat. Alex Raja Ven / Endemics / Sarah Imrisek / Michael Palumbo / Pirarán) / Array Space 2025-06-05 (Thursday). $20, NOTAFLOF. [FB event]

Do West Fest (feat. ZONES / Noble Rot / Edmund Stay / Art D’ecco) / Transmit Stage 2025-06-06 (Friday). $free, outdoors, family-friendly. [more info]

More Noise Please! Presents: An Evening of Noise (feat. Pet Retina & Colin Fisher / Owen Kurtz / NIMAAH / Stefan Powell) / Burdock Music Hall 2025-06-06 (Friday). $16.95, all ages. [FB event]

Do West Fest (feat. Macaroni Birthday / Heaven For Real / Tijuana Bibles / Jay Feelbender / Orbital Ensemble / The Royal Family / Sam Jr. / Shiv & The Carvers / Prostitute / Fucked Up) / Transmit Stage 2025-06-07 (Saturday). $free, outdoors, family-friendly. [more info]

Toronto Improvisers Orchestra / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-06-08 (Sunday – noon)

Ayal Senior & Friends (feat. Ayal Senior & Kurt Newman / Drew Smith / Jaz Tsui / Nick Flanagan) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2025-06-08 (Sunday – 2:30 p.m.) [FB event]

Do West Fest (feat. Huxlii / Twist / Dumb Crush / Fanclubwallet / cootie catcher / PONY) / Transmit Stage 2025-06-08 (Sunday). $free, outdoors, family-friendly. [more info]

Araz Salek [Peripheries of Nahavand album launch and birthday celebration] / The Tranzac (Main Hall) 2025-06-08 (Sunday – 6 p.m.) [FB event]

Ministry of Phonic Services presents [pre-tour send-off show!] (feat. Wilderness Adventure Ride) / Oculus Pavilion 2025-06-08 (Sunday). outdoors. [more info]

The Lori Freedman Trio [Lori Freedman/Adrianne Munden-Dixon/Allison Cameron] / Sellers and Newel 2024-06-08 (Sunday). $20 minimum donation. [more info]

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In memoriam: Paul Dutton

• Toronto lost a one-of-a-kind original last week with the passing of Paul Dutton. A moaner, howler and shouter on stage (or, more succinctly, a sound-poet), he was also a lively presence in all environments, whether telling a ghost story or waving from his bike while sailing through a quiet intersection in the middle of the night. I discovered him as a part of CCMC (where he'd generally be in front of a pair of microphones, as if giving a press conference) but was lucky enough to be able to hear him perform in a number of other contexts. Digging through the archives, here's some documentation from a handful of fondly-remembered nights.

Recorded at Elizabeth Beeton Auditorium, Toronto Reference Library (New Music 101 – Volume 1), April 8, 2013.

Arraymusic + Paul Dutton - Snare, Kick, Rack and Floor

Recorded at Array Space (Audiopollination #29.3), April 19, 2015.

Michael Snow/Paul Dutton/Glen Hall/Mani Mazinani - [first piece]

Recorded at Yonge-Dundas Square (Intersection 2015), September 5, 2015.

The Element Choir with Paul Dutton - [excerpt]

Recorded at The Great Hall (Long Winter 4.5 – Night 2), March 19, 2016.

CCMC - [excerpt from first piece]

Recorded at Ratio (Burn Down The Capital Presents), June 13, 2016.

CCMC - [excerpt from first piece]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Main Hall (Somewhere There Creative Music Festival – Show 3: Circuits Bending Frames), February 24, 2018.

Paul Dutton/Tiina Kiik/Wes Neal - [improvisation]