Recording: C'est la fête Large Ensemble

Artist: C'est la fête Large Ensemble

Song: [set 1 excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Musica Universalis), May 6, 2026.

C'est la fête Large Ensemble - [set 1 excerpt]

Noting that their earliest phase was as a trio, one could note that C'est la fête has been slowly expanding, up to its current five-piece formation with the incorporation of saxophonists Maxwell Stover and Colin Fisher; this show pushed further in that direction by bringing in a pair of guests (Karen Ng and Mark Hundevad) familiar to all involved. That left opportunities for plenty of honkin', but some of the maximalist tendencies were reined in by Fisher's compositional fragments, and a willingness by the players to let things drop down to occasional duos and trios. All of that's in play in the piece excerpted here, which drifts along at the start while the players look in real time for directions to move together — and then gets real inneresting.

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

[Musica Universalis will be back in the Southern Cross with more music from Colin Fisher & friends on June 19th.]

Recording: Stover/Labbé-Phelan/Furlong/Ng

Artist: Max Stover/Mateos Labbé-Phelan/Andrew Furlong/Karen Ng

Song: [1st set, last section]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Music Hosted by Karen Ng), February 17, 2026.

Max Stover/Mateos Labbé-Phelan/Andrew Furlong/Karen Ng - [1st set, last section]

Excellent two-sax action here from Karen Ng and Max Stover, moving from a frenzied gallop to some quiet exchanges with Mateos Labbé-Phelan (drums) and Andrew Furlong (double bass) pushing/pulling along the way.

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

[Karen Ng will be hosting more music at Wenona on Tuesday (March 17th) where she'll be joined by visitor Bill Harris plus locals Colin Fisher and Raf Wilcot — plus an opening duo from fossa/Bibibi.]

Recording: qeTTe fossa

Artist: qeTTe fossa

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at The Jama (Ministry of Phonic Services presents), October 18, 2025.

qeTTe fossa - [excerpt]

Moving inside after their month-long outdoor "Back to School" festival, Ministry of Phonic Services pulled together this night of sound poetry (and other noises) mixing international guests and local talent at The Jama (a new operation taking over the former Smiling Buddha). qeTTe fossa, a recent nom de guerre from the mysterious/multitalented Lenny opened things up, here in duo formation with drummer Mateos Labbé-Phelan in support. Moving from rising drones to impassioned soul shouts (and moving from the stage into the crowd), this showed off more of Lenny's boundless ssense of unfettered invention.

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.]

Recording: C'est la fête with Mark Hundevad & Colin Fisher

Artist: C'est la fête with Mark Hundevad & Colin Fisher

Song: [set 2 excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Musica Universalis), August 11, 2023.

C'est la fête with Mark Hundevad & Colin Fisher - [set 2 excerpt]

Some excellent programming here from guitarist/saxophonist Colin Fisher, bringing himself and frequent sparring partner Mark Hundevad (vibes) together for two sets with C'est la fête, a trio of younger players Adrian Russouw (double bass), William Hunt (piano), and Mateos Labbe-Phelan (drumkit). The trio-plus-guests format meant there were opportunities for some big crescendos, but also chances to find space in dropping down to solos and duos. The younger players here also very much held their own, and this was, to use a technical term, some "high-level shit", suitable for the stage of any jazz festival you could name.

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

[C'est La Fête are playing (alongside cnrkrtz/%%30%30 and Owen Kurtz) at Parkdale Provincial Park on Friday (September 1st). Keep an eye out for more music presented by Colin Fisher at the next Musical Universalis on Friday, September 8th.]