Recording: Homzy/Storring/Oswald/Kurtz/Cole

Artist: Aline Homzy/Nick Storring/John Oswald/Owen Kurtz/Josh Cole

Song: [1st set excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Josh Cole presents: new works for improvising musicians), March 14, 2026.

Aline Homzy/Nick Storring/John Oswald/Owen Kurtz/Josh Cole - [1st set excerpt]

The current cycle of Josh Cole's Tranzac residency is entitled "new works for improvising musicians", and this first outing was a variation on the "trio plus strings" format, keeping string players Nick Storring (cello) and Aline Homzy (violin) as well as saxophonist John Oswald, while adding Owen Kurtz's electronic manipulations in the wildcard slot. (He was definitely showing off his skills in using his Kaoss Pad as an instrument in this encounter.) With the strings sawing and tapping, the players have done this together enough to have a strong sense of when evryone else was about to flip from chaotic rambling to imploding drones, leading to some really satisfying dynamics.

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

[New works for improvising musicians is back at The Tranzac tomorrow (Monday, May 11th), presenting Nick Fraser’s Special Topics.]

Recording: Fraser/Cole/West

Artist: Nick Fraser/Josh Cole/Brodie West

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Nick Fraser presents), December 30, 2025.

Nick Fraser/Josh Cole/Brodie West - unknown

A trio appearance from these three frequent collaborators saw them digging into Nick Fraser's sketchbook in the first set, and then lean into some standards in the second. (That saw a characteristically-extended jaunt through "Donna Lee" as well as "Body and Soul".)

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

[Nick Fraser will be presenting his Special Topics band (alongside Kae Murphy, Max Stover, and Josh Cole) at The Tranzac tonight (January 27th), with Murphy opening things up with a solo set for trumpet and electronics.]

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

Recording: Clutton/Cole/O'Reilly/Howard

Artist: Rob Clutton/Josh Cole/Patrick O'Reilly/Blake Howard

Songs: [set 1 excerpt] + This is what happens inside a room [edited excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Brodie West presents), December 10, 2025.

Rob Clutton/Josh Cole/Patrick O'Reilly/Blake Howard - [set 1 excerpt]

Rob Clutton/Josh Cole/Patrick O'Reilly/Blake Howard - This is what happens inside a room [edited excerpt]

Slated as an evening with Brodie West's Double Basses Quintet, the last-minute absence of the host shifted the terrain somewhat. Without West's saxophone (and the compositions for the group he's been working up), this turned into a chance for the remaining musicians to expand their zones a bit and improvise. There were still two double basses, giving Rob Clutton and Josh Cole a chance to work off each other, and some extra space for Patrick O'Reilly to explore the textures generated by his guitar and pedals. There was also one other substitution, as Blake Howard was sitting in for Nick Fraser and adding his genial chaos to the proceedings. The longer excerpt here contains an impromptu monologue from Howard, giving a darkly-comedic franework for the musicians to work around. (Or it's possible that Howard has indeed been trapped in the Southern Cross for the past forty million years and needs our assistance.)

Recording: Nick Fraser's Special Topics

Artist: Nick Fraser's Special Topics

Song: Sketch #62

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Nick Fraser presents), March 25, 2025.

Nick Fraser's Special Topics - Sketch #62

This new-ish unit under the guidance of drummer Nick Fraser (presumably not brought together to disparage the regular topics of his other bands) sees him joined by frequent collaborator Josh Cole on double bass as well as a pair of younger horn players in Kae Murphy and Max Stover. Starting (as heard here) from the newest entry in his musical sketchbook and working through some other recent entries, there was lots of room for the performers to jab at the loose structures from different angles.

Recording: Josh Cole & Mira Martin-Gray

Artist: Josh Cole & Mira Martin-Gray

Song: [first piece]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #96), October 1, 2024.

Josh Cole & Mira Martin-Gray - [first piece]

A fabulous blend of techniques and technology, with Josh Cole's double bass operating in acoustic space and triggering samplesplosions from Mira Martin-Gray's reactive laptop manipulations, resulting in some truly futuristic jazz.

I managed not to get video for this track posted here, but you can check out some more from this set over on youtube:

[Track Could Bend is back at Wenona on Tuesday (November 5th) with solo sets from visitors Darren Williams and Rebecca Bruton and an introductory duo from Marilyn + Apple.]

Recording: Cole/Clutton/Oswald/West

Artist: Josh Cole/Rob Clutton/John Oswald/Brodie West

Song: [set 1 excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Josh Cole presents), September 10, 2024.

Josh Cole/Rob Clutton/John Oswald/Brodie West - [set 1 excerpt]

Reflecting on what they might or might have been doing forty years ago to the day, this gathering nudged toward the long-held platonic desire to establish a quartet composed of two saxophones and two double basses. (One can argue whether Brodie West's additional deployment of clarinet muddied that purity of intention, though the sonic results were hard to argue with.)

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

Recording: Sandro Perri

Artist: Sandro Perri

Songs: Black Bush [Aaron Freeman cover] + [instrumental #4]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), July 19, 2024.

Sandro Perri - Black Bush

Sandro Perri - [instrumental #4]

Part of an ongoing series of quarterly shows at The Tranzac, this night saw Sandro Perri backed by a full coterie of longtime collaborators, packing in the Southern Cross "stage" area as much as the rest of the room. That gave a chance to workshop some new material (such as the previously-discovered "Elegant Solution", as well as one called "Morning Shake") but also a chance to stretch out in some different directions, such as the cover heard here and a series of instrumental pieces.

Recording: Luka Kuplowsky & The Ryōkan Band

Artist: Luka Kuplowsky & The Ryōkan Band

Songs: How Can I Possibly Sleep When There is Music + I Knew it Would Be You! [from a poem by Ryōkan Taigu]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Main Hall), June 18, 2024.

Luka Kuplowsky & The Ryōkan Band - How Can I Possibly Sleep When There is Music

Luka Kuplowsky & The Ryōkan Band - I Knew it Would Be You!

Luke Kuplowsky has been developing his book of songs from and inspired by poets for a few years now, so it was a delight to see it come to a culmination with the release of the double album How Can I Possibly Sleep When There is Music. For the release celebration, the full band presented the album in order, accompanied by some gorgeous visuals, including on-screen footage of a dancer (Noriko Yamamato) who then appeared in the flesh onstage — a perfect encapsulation of these songs breathing life into centuries-old poems and making them viscerally present in the here-and-now.

Recording: Mas Aya

Artist: Mas Aya

Song: Tú y Yo

Recorded at The Tranzac's Main Hall (TONE Festival), June 16, 2024.

Mas Aya - Tú y Yo

This night out at the TONE Festival reached back for some strong Healing Power vibes: not only had that scene/label issued some essential music (together and individually) from the night's co-headliners, but it was also a treat to hear HP co-principal DJ SlightBreezy (aka Wolf Nessel) slingin' and manipulating tunes between sets.

And as with his co-headliner, Brandon Valdivia's "solo" spotlight was anything but, bringing in family and friends to celebrate the sounds of Coming And Going. Leaning less on popsong frameworks than vibe-heavy compositional savvy, Valdicia served as the director on stage, co-ordinating the sonic inputs from rhythm compadres Reimundo Sosa (percussion) and Josh Cole (double bass, electric bass, bass synth) plus rotating guests including Colin Fisher and Isla Craig. And most heartwarming was the family band angle that saw vocals from Lido Pimienta (highlighted on this track) as well as the pair's daughter Martina Valdivia, whose presence was a joyful highlight.

Recording: Kind Mind

Artist: Kind Mind

Song: The Bar

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Josh Cole Presents), May 14, 2024.

Kind Mind - The Bar

Interesting work here from Josh Cole's Kind Mind, this time with Ted Crosby holding down the sax chair. His effects rig added some additional textures to the proceeding, like the ones you can hear in the intro to this piece.

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

[Josh Cole will be back at The Tranzac on Tuesday (June 11th), presenting music from Josh Cole and Friends, including John Oswald.]

Recording: Sandro Perri

Artist: Sandro Perri

Song: Elegant Solution

Recorded at The Tranzac's Main Hall (Tranzac Fundraiser I), April 20, 2024.

Sandro Perri - Elegant Solution

As part of an effort to find and maintain a stable financial footing, The Tranzac has announced a series of quarterly fundraising concerts, drawing on the starpower of some its regular denizens to fill the Main Hall. Previewing some songs from his next album, Sandro Perri showed off further expansions in his mellow, gently-funky zone, with mildly-expansive songs such as this one (is an "Elegant Solution" the antipode of Ryan Driver's "Fruitless Endeavour"? In any case, this one contains a vocal bridge from Driver) as well as a major new exercise in "infinite songwriting", which like "In Another Life", stretched out for well over twenty minutes and required a trio of additional musicians.

[The second Tranzac fundraiser will be taking place on Friday, June 14th with sets from U.S. Girls, Eucalyptus, and Cots.]

Recording: Clutton/Cole/Fraser/Fisher

Artist: Rob Clutton/Josh Cole/Nick Fraser/Colin Fisher

Song: [improvisation]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Josh Cole presents), April 9, 2024.

Rob Clutton/Josh Cole/Nick Fraser/Colin Fisher - [improvisation]

With John Oswald needing to depart a little early after the main part of this set, the remaining musicians decided they had a little left in the tank and called up Colin Fisher (who had played in the earlier set) from the audience. Bringing his customary energy, it was intruiging to note how much different this sounded from what had become before in a delightful ten-minute rager.

You can check out footage of the full piece over on youtube:

[Josh Cole will be presenting his trio Kind Mind — this version with Ted Crosby on sax — in his residency slot next week (Tuesday, May 14th) in the Southern Cross.]

Recording: Clutton/Cole/Fraser/Oswald

Artist: Rob Clutton/Josh Cole/Nick Fraser/John Oswald

Song: [2nd piece]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Josh Cole presents), April 9, 2024.

Rob Clutton/Josh Cole/Nick Fraser/John Oswald - [2nd piece]

No string section this time for Josh Cole's double double bass band. Three pieces went to all the places you'd expect from this combo — offset bowing and plucking alongside Rob Clutton, squawktalking sax from John Oswald and rattleburst percussion from Nick Fraser (who got sputtery himself with some froglike vocal gargles).

You can check out the full set over on youtube:

[Josh Cole will be presenting his trio Kind Mind — this version with Ted Crosby on sax — in his residency slot next week (Tuesday, May 14th) in the Southern Cross.]

Recording: Dun-Dun Band

Artist: Dun-Dun Band

Song: Pandemo 3^*

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Dun-Dun Land: Slight Return), April 9, 2024.

Dun-Dun Band - unknown

Essentially a warm-up show for the forthcoming full-on album release celebration (see details below), this night saw most of the Dun-Dun Band gathered together (but with "only" two sax players). Digging into tracks from Pita Parka, Pt. I (as well as its in-the-can sequel) the players were in sync through Craig Dunsmuir's fragment-suites, moving from rollicking lockgroove tumbles to some considered stately rumbles.

[That release celebration will be happening in The Tranzac's Main Hall next week (Thursday, May 16th), with an opening set from Allison Cameron, Mira Martin-Gray and Josh Cole.]

^* Thanks to Josh for passing along the title to this one!

Monday Roundup #167

Community notes:

• Nicole Mitchell, renowned flutist, author, educator, composer, and this year's 2023-2024 John and Claudine Bailey Distinguished Visitor in Jazz, is presenting a masterclass Q&A with U of T Jazz students today (March 25th). This event is FREE and open to the general public. Space is limited and priority will be to currently enrolled Jazz students. The masterclass will take place at 4:00 pm in Upper Jazz at 90 Wellesley St. W.

• Join Spectrum Sound Bath to "bathe, rest, and play in sound" at a free event on Wednesday (March 27th) in the Sactuary at the Trinity-St Paul's Centre.

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Concert announcements:

Experimental Link (feat. Pouya Ehsaei Trio [Pouya Ehsaei/Sadio Sissokho/Peter Lutek]) / Small World Centre 2024-04-05 (Friday). $25.57. [FB event]

con:trust [contemporary music for two accordions, works by René Hirschfeld, Matt Simon, Joshua Nuñez, Jose Eduardo Muñoz, among others] / Array Space 2024-04-09 (Tuesday). $pwyc. [FB event]

Go: Organic Orchestra [Composed and Spontaneously Conducted by Adam Rudolph] (feat. Araz Salek/Aline Homzy/Jonathan Kay/Andrew Kay/Bea Labikova/Kayla Milmine/Majd Sukar/Heather Saumer/Patrick O'Reilly/Justin Gray/Derek Gray/Dhaivat Jani) / The Aga Khan Museum 2024-04-13 (Saturday). $40 (regular), $36 (friends), $30 (students and seniors), $20 (limited same-day rush seats). [more info]

Labyrinth Ontario's Annual Fundraiser (feat. Begüm Boyancı/Burak Ekmekçi/Selmanpak Ayduz / Naomi McCarroll-Butler & Sadaf Amini) / 918 Bathurst 2024-04-18 (Thursday) [FB event]

Tranzac Fundraiser I (feat. Sandro Perri & Friends / Masahiro Takahashi / Anne Bourne) / The Tranzac (Main Hall) 2024-04-20 (Saturday). $20 in advance, $25 at the door. [FB event]

catl. (The Kewpie Dolls) / The Dakota Tavern 2024-04-20 (Saturday). $19.56, 19+. [FB event]

BODEGA (Notaband / SAMWOY) / The Garrison 2024-04-21 (Sunday). $25.03, 19+. [FB event]

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

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Shows this week:

Colin Fisher/Jeff Luciani/Diane Roblin/George Koller / The Emmet Ray 2024-03-25 (Monday – 6 p.m.). $10

Lipliners 4th Wednesday of the month residency (feat. Ronley Teper & The Lipliners) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-03-27 (Wednesday) [FB event]

CCMC [John Oswald/Paul Dutton/Al Mattes/Casey Sokol] / Array Space 2024-03-28 (Thursday). $free, livestream available

Escote (Ex Corpse / Liz Lima / Brian Fog) / Bar Orwell 2024-03-28 (Thursday). $15 / pwyc / notaflof. [FB event]

Karen Ng presents (feat. Karen Ng/Ted Crosby/Ben Dwyer) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-03-28 (Thursday)

Today Versions presents: 'Music From Five Mountain Station: An Earth Dancing Body Refuge Trip' (feat. Del Stephen / Key Cut / Newold Group) / Bar Orwell 2024-03-29 (Friday). $10 or pwyc. [FB event]

Exit Points #47 (feat. Zoë Alexis-Abrams/Youssef Bassit/Onophris/Bobby Gadda/Jury Tosh Kobayashi-Mackay / Xéynamay/Racha/Erik Flow/Measure/Michael Palumbo / Switchemups!) / Array Space 2024-03-29 (Friday). $20 at the door. cash/card/mobile. [FB event]

Luge / Houndstooth 2024-03-29 (Friday). $no cover. [FB event]

Ryan Driver’s Big 5-0 (feat. The Ryan Driver Sextet) / The Tranzac (Main Hall) 2024-03-30 (Saturday). $20 or pwyc. [more info]

Away Forward (Fires of Cheektowaga / The Neverminds / Luster Dust) / The Baby G 2024-03-30 (Saturday). $16.42, 19+. [FB event]

Chris Pruden & Isaiah Farahbakhsh / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-03-30 (Saturday)

Cosmic Homeostasis XXIII / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-03-31 (Sunday – 5 p.m.). $pwyc. [FB event]

Joyshape (Molehill [Pete Johnston/Jake Oelrichs/Mike Smith] / Heraclius Akimbo with Gabe Girard) / Bar Orwell 2024-03-31 (Sunday). $pwyc, suggested $10

Orkestar Kriminal (Blisk) / The Tranzac (Main Hall) 2024-03-31 (Sunday). $25.50. [FB event]

The Nilan Perera Quartet [Nilan Perera/Adrian Russouw/Rick Sacks/Marilyn Yogarajah] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-03-31 (Sunday) [FB event]

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It happened this week...

• ...on March 26, 2014 at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge).

Josh Cole's Standards Quartet - Pithecanthropus Erectus

• ...on March 28, 2014 at The Silver Dollar Room.

Dilly Dally - Next Gold

[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: The Brodie West Sextet

Artist: The Brodie West Sextet

Song: Fortress [composer: Brodie West]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), August 9, 2023.

The Brodie West Sextet - Fortress

This one-off hybrid unit saw guest Chris Pruden sitting in on piano as well as Michael Davidson on vibes. Most of the two sets were given over to West's Quartet material, but there was also an epically-extended ramble through Charlie Parker's "Donna Lee" (which is the purview of The Donna Lee Quartet, one of West's other occasional units).

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

Recording: Cole/Clutton/Driver/Melanson

Artist: Josh Cole/Rob Clutton/Ryan Driver/Phil Melanson

Song: [2nd set, in two parts]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Josh Cole Presents), July 11, 2023.

Josh Cole/Rob Clutton/Ryan Driver/Phil Melanson - [2nd set, part 1]

Josh Cole/Rob Clutton/Ryan Driver/Phil Melanson - [2nd set, part 2]

Joined for the evening by Rob Clutton, Josh Cole has experimented with the double-double bass format before, though this outing saw the pair joined by some different collaborators, including Ryan Driver (on analog synth) and Phil Melanson (on percussion). Those two left plenty of room to hear the various ways that Cole and Clutton found to complement and contrast each other.

You can check out some sounds from the first set over on youtube:

Recording: A Josh Cole Trio + Strings feat. John Oswald

Artist: A Josh Cole Trio + Strings feat. John Oswald

Song: [set 2 excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), March 29, 2023.

A Josh Cole Trio + Strings feat. John Oswald - [set 2 excerpt]

Bassist Jash Cole has been experimenting lately with bringing in a miniature string section (here Nick Storring on cello and Aline Homzy on violin) to augment his ensembles. (The other components of the trio in this case were regular percussionist Blake Howard and special guest saxophonist John Oswald.) Moving from zones of quietude to shaking clatter, there were intruiging destabilizations all around here, held together as always with Cole in the calm centre.

Recording: West/Cole/Melanson/Zukerman

Artist: Brodie West/Josh Cole/Phil Melanson/Andrew Zukerman

Songs: [two excerpts]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), January 13, 2023.

Brodie West/Josh Cole/Phil Melanson/Andrew Zukerman - [set 1 excerpt, with baby]

Brodie West/Josh Cole/Phil Melanson/Andrew Zukerman - [set 2 excerpt]

A welcome return for this quintet, filling in in Colin Fisher's Musica Universalis timeslot. Josh Cole (double bass), Brodie West (saxophone/clarinet), Phil Melanson (percussion) and Andrew Zukerman (buchla easel/tapes) were joined for part of the first set by the youngest audience member, which fit right in with their own moody outbursts and cackles of delight.

Recording: The Ryan Driver Quintet

Artist: The Ryan Driver Quintet

Song: (How Little It Matters) How Little We Know [composers: Carolyn Leigh/Phillip Springer]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), December 30, 2022.

The Ryan Driver Quintet - (How Little It Matters) How Little We Know

A pretty good way to close out a year's show-going by spending an evening with one of the city's great bands — Ryan Driver's standards combo here in quintet mode, sans vibes for the night (and with Josh Cole effortlessly sitting in on bass). Featuring the customary languid drift and wobbly excursions across a couple sets, this covered a lot of the band's usual territory, ranging from "You'll Never Know" to "I Know Why".

You can check out a few more songs over on youtube:

[Tania Gill will be sitting int for Ryan Driver at the group's next appearance, Friday, January 27th at The Tranzac.]