Recording: Ronley Teper & The Lipliners

Artist: Ronley Teper & The Lipliners

Song: Just Show Up

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), December 30, 2025.

Ronley Teper & The Lipliners - Just Show Up

It had been too long since I had seen The Lipliners in action, and a delight to see the band out in full force — nine deep behind the wonderful and ebullient Ronley Teper leading a night of her joyful chaos music. If one were going to make a movie or comic book about this crew, they might be portrayed as a band of easygoing cut-throat pirates, eager to see what fuss is going to happen next after signing up to sail with a Captain who's intent on leading them into unknown waters. Blasting through some classics and a few new ones, the tunes merged together, somewhere between a suite and an elegant mess, with moments of invention on the fly as everyone pedaled faster to keep the wobbling to a minimum.

Speaking of new tunes, the song in question here hit me right where I live. People conversing with me about my propensity of going to gigs might have heard me say that showing up is the most important thing anyone can do — and this one, still feeling like a newborn calf finding its wobbly stride — has harnessed the same feeling. Whether for our musical community, for friends, love, family or whatever you want to be present to, in a time where screens and streams and feeds give us a easy-but-alienating sense of pseudo-interaction, being out there, just showing up, makes so many things plausible. If I ever get hit by a comet or suffer some similar unfortunate demise, please get Ronley to come and sing this one at the party for me at The Tranzac.

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

[Ronley Teper & The Lipliners are back at The Tranzac on Tuesday (January 27th).]

Recording: Doug Tielli + Friends

Artist: Doug Tielli + Friends

Songs: With Body and Soul [Bill Monroe cover] + Hello Stranger [Carter Family cover]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Cosmic Country for Communists), February 9, 2023.

Doug Tielli + Friends - With Body and Soul

Doug Tielli + Friends - Hello Stranger

It's not bluegrass, the experts remind us, if there's a drumkit on stage, so let's maybe call this Cosmic Country for Communists one-off grouping bluegrass-adjacent. Doug Tielli brought a list of favourite songs to sing, backed by an ace band put together by series host Kurt Newman (here on dobro) that included Harry Bartlett (guit), Chris Adriaanse (double bass), Blake Howard (drums), and some coaxed-from-the-audience contributions from Logan McNeil (mandolin). Tielli's list of tunes drew from the bluegrass/country axis, but also extended to include Townes Van Zandt and Mary Margaret O'Hara.

Recording: Janet MacPherson & Co.

Artist: Janet MacPherson & Co.

Song: Jock O'Hazeldean [traditional]

Recorded atThe Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Cosmic Country for Communists), September 8, 2022.

Janet MacPherson & Co. - Jock O'Hazeldean

While logistics make it difficult for Kurt Newman to pull together a Mermaids gig, he could certainly create the conditions for some Mermaids-adjacent music by pulling in vocalist Janet MacPherson (a truly under-appreciated gem) and her book of traditional British Isles tunes. Channeling some nimble-fingered folk-rock guitarists, Newman was joined by Chris Adriaanse on bass and Blacke Howard on percussion, with the group using the form of the songs as raw material to gently ramble through ad hoc arrangements.

Recording: Lîla Fragments

Artist: Lîla Fragments

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Audiopollination 70.3), April 30, 2019.

Lîla Fragments - [excerpt]

A fifth Tuesday of the month brought an extra slot for creative music in the basement at Wenona Lodge, with Audiopollination's Mike Lynn curating a night of exploratory sounds. I've heard plenty of amazing rampaging roars from this mind-meld trio of Bea Labikova (sax), Raphael Roter (percussion), and Chris Adriaanse (double bass), but this spare end-game to their set was perhaps even more overflowing with quietly-surging potential, especially with Roter adding some cicada-buzzes on a pair of slide whistles.

[There are a pair of equally intriguing and distinct Audiopollination events coming up: on Saturday (July 20th), Australian improvising vocalist Sonya Holowell pays a visit, where she'll play with s series of locals (including Tiina Kiik, Paul Newman, Laura Swankey, Alison Keery, Tomasz Krakowiak, Brian Abbott, Elizabeth Lima and Patrick O'Reilly) across four sets, while on Saturday, August 3rd, The Infinite Monotremes and special guests will be forming random small groups to play to short films by Curtis Whittaker.]

Recording: Doug Tielli

Artist: Doug Tielli

Songs: Highwayside Weeds + Strange Echo

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), March 16, 2019.

Doug Tielli - Highwayside Weeds

Doug Tielli - Strange Echo

A night with some heavy vibes and a sense of absence in the room was a chance for community members to gather together and feel the balm of Doug Tielli's songs. This turned out to be one of those CD release shows where the CD's hadn't arrived yet, though that didn't feel like too much of an obstacle — what's a few more days when these were mostly songs that were, as Tielli noted, recorded about four years ago? (And some of them were in his live repertoire for some time before that, even.)

Joined by his full band, with Heather Saumer on trombone, Bea Labikova on sax, Chris Adriaanse on bass and Raphael Roter on drums (plus Tania Gill on piano for part of the set) there was an opportunity to replicate the album's off-kilter lushness — and, even more importantly, its vocal harmonies. Truth and Elseness is filled with lovely sounds and wise observations, wrapped up in a bit more of country-ish package (fans of groups like Royal City will find a lot to like here) — and this was made even before Tielli decamped from the city, so who knows what quiet backroads his songs will head down next?

Recording: Lîla Fragments

Artist: Lîla Fragments

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Array Space (Women From Space Festival – Night 3), March 10, 2019.

Lîla Fragments - [excerpt]

The first Women From Space Festival saw four excellent concerts take place over the course of the International Women's Day weekend. Organized by Bea Labikova and Kayla Milmine, the festival felt like a really savvy gathering, always more than the sum of its parts and showcasing the depth of talent in the city's various creative music streams in a women-centred environment.

More telepathic interaction from this trio, "fragmented" from the larger ensemble that sometimes sees them performing with improvising dancers. There was lots of action here — by set's end, bits of Raphael Roter's drumstick were flying all over — but there were also some especially-satisfying quieter moments as well, like this balladic conversation between Roter and double bassist Chris Adriaanse that got teased into something quite compelling with the addition of Bea Labikova's running commentary on sax.

Recording: Lîla Trio

Artist: Lîla Trio

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Array Space (Audiopollination 68), February 3, 2019.

Lîla Trio - [excerpt]

This self-curated night at Audiopollination saw the usual mix of textures and musical practices, closing out with this set selected by host Mike Lynn. Bea Labikova (alto sax), Raphael Roter (percussion) and Chris Adriaanse (double bass) sometimes work in a larger format incorporating dance, but as a music-only trio are still extremely satisfying, finding surprising sounds in dense crests and spare quiet stretches.

Video for this full set can be viewed on Audiopollination's youtube channel:

[A special off-site and fully-curated Audiopollination will be taking place at Wenona Lodge on Tuesday, April 30th, with duo sets from Heraclitus Akimbo and mkl32 plus Brian Abbott and Leslie Ting, as well as the Lîla Trio.]

Recording: Lîla Ensemble

Artist: Lîla Ensemble

Songs: [two excerpts]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Main Hall (Somewhere There Creative Music Festival – Show 2), February 25, 2017.

Lîla Ensemble - [excerpt 1]

Lîla Ensemble - [excerpt 2]

The festival's first afternoon show was focused on improvisation in movement and its relationship to music. This set from the Lîla Ensemble was nestled between a solo dance from Amelia Ehrhardt and a panel discussion on the topic. Although co-inspired improvising collaborations between dance and music aren't uncommon, Lîla takes things further than most by dissolving the musician/dancer separation. With the exception of dancer Jessica Houghton, everyone else in the ensemble's participation moved back and forth between playing and moving, creating a fluid and shifting dynamic.

Recording: Billion-Year Contract

Artist: Billion-Year Contract

Song: [excerpt from first piece]

Recorded at at Dundas Video (Track Could Bend #20), November 1, 2016.

Billion-Year Contract - [excerpt from first piece]

I invited Andrew Furlong to bring whatever sort of project he wanted to TCB and was rather chuffed when he said he had put together a trio with two other double basses. Joined by Mike Lynn and Chris Adriaanse there was a bit of glorious impracticality in seeing the players grouped together in front of the stage. Moving from tasty pluck-twanging to triple-bow drones, there were some really fabulous textures here – sometimes utterly impractical experiments work out rather elegantly.

[Billion-Year Contract will be returning next Saturday (December 10th) as part of Audiopollination #49.1 at Array Space. The next Track Could Bend will be taking place on Tuesday, December 6th with sets from No Parking (members of Protruders), Heather Saumer, plus Del Stephen & The Bedroom Refuge Holiday.]

Recording: DUST

Artist: DUST

Songs: [two pieces]

Recorded at The Music Gallery, April 29, 2016.

DUST - [excerpt from first piece]

DUST - [third piece]

Moving from the Southern Cross' carpeted living-room zone to the more acoustically delicate sanctuary at the Music Gallery gave this the air of something of a special occasion for DUST. They were also a bit more of a "big band" than the last couple times I'd seen 'em, with eleven players on hand, all endeavouring to make as little sound as possible. The approach was a bit more "musical" than some of the rustlings I caught last time out, but there were still plenty of hushed abstractions here, including the return of Alex Lukashevsky's turntable. This set's MVP might have been Ryan Driver, who added not only some balloon membrane murmurings, but also brought a wooden spool that he rolled quietly along the wooden floor.

Recording: DUST

Artist: DUST

Song: [set 1, second piece excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), March 23, 2016.

DUST - [set 1, second piece excerpt]

This evening's manifestation of "the quietest big band in the known world" started off as a quartet, but had seven members by night's end, each endeavouring to make as little noise as possible with their instruments. Heather Saumer put in a valiant effort here, rarely playing her trombone, instead choosing to luxuriate in the ruffled sound its bell made when rubbed across the carpet, or listening to the inside of a cowbell as if it were a seashell. Pianist Avesta Nakhaei, often a maximalist by inclination, managed to pare things back to gently-played phrases that added just the faintest bit of melodic structure to the proceedings. Beyond that, you can try and extrapolate some quiet glass-clinks, subtle sax licks and a double bass string being flossed by a hair plucked from a bow just above the noise floor of this recording.

[DUST is definitely best appreciated live and in a quiet room, so their upcoming set at the Music Gallery, leading things off at St. Dirt Elementary School's 15th Anniversary celebration, should be about ideal. As the invite to the event cheekily comments, earplugs are entirely optional.]

Recording: Temporary Ensembles

Artist: Temporary Ensembles, composed of Chris Adriaanse, Rob Diack, Cory Latkovich, Jonathan Luke, Paul Newman, Daniel Pencer, Joe Sorbara, Laura Swankey, and Logan Mills.

Songs: [excerpts form various improvisations]

Recorded at Array Space (Somewhere There presents), March 13, 2016.

Jonathan Luke + Laura Swankey - [temporary ensemble #1]

Rob Diack + Paul Newman - [temporary ensemble #2]

Daniel Pencer + Chris Adriaanse - [temporary ensemble #4]

Logan Mills + Daniel Pencer + Chris Adriaanse + Joe Sorbara - [temporary ensemble #5]

Logan Mills + Jonathan Luke + Joe Sorbara - [temporary ensemble #8] [excerpt]

Laura Swankey + Chris Adriaanse + Rob Diack + Daniel Pencer - [temporary ensemble #9]

Cory Latkovich + Paul Newman - [temporary ensemble #10]

"Temporary Ensembles are born, live short and potentially magical musical lives, and then sublimate into thin air." As a prelude to a session learning the signals and cues for John Zorn's "game piece" Cobra, this night began with an exercise in pure improvisation with the assembled musicians literally throwing their hats in the ring for audience members to randomly select playing combos while convener Joe Sorbara rolled dice to see how many people would play together at a time. Extremely informal, the night felt more like a workshop than a gig, but those who wanted to just listen were welcome along for the ride.

Recording: N/A/D/S 4tet

Artist: N/A/D/S 4tet

Song: Untitled #1 [composer: Karen Ng]^*

Recorded at Array Space ("Somewhere There's Second Sundays"), November 8, 2015.

N/A/D/S 4tet - Untitled #1

Drawing its acronym from the last names of its four members, this new unit combining the talents of Karen Ng (alto sax), Chris Adriaanse (double bass), Emily Denison (trumpet), and Noah Sherman (drums) was making its debut. They played a selection of new pieces from the members, including tuneful new selections from Adriaanse and Denison as well as this one grittier one from Karen Ng.

^* The group played three pieces in a long suite, with Karen Ng's piece sandwiched between ones from Emily Denison and Chris Adriaanse. So I'm guessing here on where the piece starts and ends — hopefully I'm close!

Recording: Doug Tielli

Artist: Doug Tielli

Songs: Cow Worries + With You and Without You

Recorded at Holy Oak Café, January 22, 2014.

Doug Tielli - Cow Worries

Doug Tielli - With You and Without You

Full review to follow. Although you might not know it when they start playing ambient mariachi and abstracted country songs, Doug Tielli's backing band (Chris Adiraanse, Bea Labikova, Raphael Roter and Heather Segger) are all sterling improvisers in the city's creative music scene. That gives Tielli a lot of leeway to play fast and loose with song structure without fearing the band behind him will get thrown off. The wonderful version of "With You and Without You" here forgoes the album version's more austere reverb meditations to become a warm hug of a wobbly singalong.

Recording: Lîla Trio

Artist: Lîla Trio

Song: [excerpt from first piece]

Recorded at The Imperial Pub's back room, December 21, 2013.

Lîla Trio - [excerpt from first piece]

Full review to follow. The full Lîla Ensemble is an amalgam of music and dance, but even if this night saw the three musical members on their own, there was still a strong kinetic energy, especially in Bea Labikova's snaky alto lines.