Recording: GREX

Artist: GREX with Martha Farquhar-McDonnell + friends

Songs: Johnny's Gone to Hilo [traditional] + Holy Manna [composer: William Moore]

Recorded at Church of St. Andrew by-the-lake, June 5, 2016.

GREX with Martha Farquhar-McDonnell - Johnny's Gone to Hilo

GREX and friends - Holy Manna

Martha Farquhar-McDonnell's My Singing Bird has been issued by High Park Records, a new endeavour from Alex Samaras to spotlight recordings of unaccompanied vocal music. So on celebrating the album's release in the same Island church where it was recorded it was no surprise to see Samaras opening things up with his vocal ensemble GREX.

Performing as a trio, Samaras, Ghislain Aucoin and Ryan Brouwer tackled a couple church-appropriate numbers (including the glorious "Kviria") but the set was also structured to include not only Martha Farquhar-McDonnell (as heard on the sea-shanty "Johnny's Gone to Hilo", recorded by The McGarrigles as well as many others) but also her mother and sister and frequent singing partners Isla Craig and Robin Dann on an old shape-note number. Beautiful stuff and a totally joyful set.

Recording: The Thing Is + GREX

Artist: The Thing Is + GREX (feat. Jane Bunnett)

Song: Borders of One^*

Recorded at The Music Gallery, March 14, 2015.

The Thing Is + GREX - Borders of One

As the artist designation above implies, this performance was a collaborative affair, put together to present Tova Kardonne's "Lanka Suite", a set of compositions reflecting on her outsider's observations of a trip to Sri Lanka. The music has evolved for a while now (a streamlined version was workshopped a year ago), but this full-on presentation united two of Kardonne's projects, including The Thing is, her the large-format jazz ensemble as well as Alex Samaras' avant-vocal group GREX. The night also included some atmospheric, abstract visuals from Nilan Perera that evoked a sense of travel and elsewhereness. The net effect was to create a form of musical tourism that isn't reliant on mere appropriation — a reflection of Kardonne's experiences without a usurpation of Sri Lankan tropes.

^* Thanks to Ali for passing along the title to this one.

Recording: Our Founders

Artist: Our Founders

Song: White Beetle

Recorded at The Piston (Wavelength 576), October 3, 2013.

Our Founders - White Beetle

Full review to follow. Michael Olsen (who has played with The Hidden Cameras and many other notable local bands) celebrated the launch of The Nines, the debut album from his songwriting project Our Founders, playing guitar, keyb and even a bit of cello. Live, he was joined by a couple other flexible players with similarly busy collaborative backgrounds. Keyboard player Ghislain Aucoin is probably best known for his work in Triple Gangers, while drummer Spencer Cole can be found in Moves, Weaves, and several other projects. There were a couple spots where you could tell the trio were still finding their feet as a live unit but this was a fine introduction to the sophisticated pop that they've dubbed "outsider adult contemporary".