Monday Roundup #213

Community notes:

• A special bit of self-promotion here to ensure everyone knows they're invited out to 918 Bathurst on Sunday (February 16th) to help celebrate Track Could Bend #100. It's been a wonderful surprise that the series would be going strong just shy of a decade along, so I've invited all the performers back to hang out. We'll draw some bands from a hat and gather friends and strangers to play together, plus hang out, nosh, work on a commemorative zine and more. Music from 5 to 7 and 8 to 11, do drop by for some chunk of that!

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Concert announcements:

Patrick O'Reilly presents: Carded! (feat. Patrick O'Reilly/Samuel Little/amiel ang/Samuel Laramee/Omar Yazaw/Leah Reavster/%%30%30/Annie Elgie) / Walter Hall 2025-02-24 (Monday). $free. [more info]

Exit Points #57 - 5th Anniversary Show! (feat. Xina Gilani/Ben McCarthy/Heather Saumer/Sara Constant /Jamie Eriksen / Pursuit Grooves/Anh Phung/Tara Kannangara/Martin Gomes/Michael Palumbo / switchemups) / Array Space 2025-02-28 (Friday). Tickets: $15 early bird, $20 adv, $25 door. [FB event]

Liquid Architecture presents "The Call of Cthulhu" [silent film with live musical accompaniment] (feat. ARRC [Ryan Kinney/Colin James Gibson/Rod Campbell/Ambrose Pottie) / Mischief Makers 2025-03-01 (Saturday). $10 advance, $12 at the door, 18+. [FB event]

Grocer (Luge / Least Weasel) / The Garrison 2025-03-05 (Wednesday). $21.53, 19+. [FB event]

Freesound presents [works by Georgina Bowden, Dylan Lardelli, Pauline Oliveros, Juliet Palmer, Gordon Williamson] (feat. Ensemble Musikfabrik) / Array Space 2024-03-06 (Thursday). $22.63. [FB event]

Enchanters (Pit Scum) / Houndstooth 2025-03-06 (Thursday). $pwyc. [FB event]

TONE presents (feat. Tara Clerkin Trio / Slow Attack Ensemble / Potions) / Collective Arts 2025-04-05 (Saturday). $22.89, 19+. [FB event]

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

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Shows this week:

Sam Newsome's Straight Horn Magick Tour! (feat. Sam Newsome/Nick Fraser/Marilyn Lerner/Jonathan Kay/Kayla Milmine) / The Rex 2025-02-09–10 (Sunday–Monday). [FB event]

Brodie West's New Double Bass Quintet [Brodie West/Patrick O'Reilly/Josh Cole/Rob Clutton/Nick Fraser] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-02-12 (Wednesday – early). $pwyc. [more info]

Slipstreams (feat. Grace Scheele and Arie Verhuel v.d. Ven / hakosalo_tuohino / Kate Taylor [live art]) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2024-02-12 (Wednesday) [more info]

FORMING [Signals debut EP release!] (Moonbean [single release!] / Escote) / Ted's Collision 2025-02-13 (Thursday). $free/pwyc. [FB event]

Away Forward (Loi Do / Little Vanity) / Sneaky Dee's 2025-02-14 (Friday – 7 p.m.). $16.48, 19+. [more info]

Audiopollination (feat. Phookie Nijjit/ sxrej / Sharp Stiki/max undefined/@whoischinavirus / Neil Wiernik/Matt Collins / The coin operated duo) / Array Space 2024-02-14 (Friday). livestream available. [FB event]

Blunt Object [Jay Hay/Ben Dietschi/Gordon Hyland/Jesse Malone/Teppei Kamei/Heather Saumer/Robin Jessome/Josh Bird/Tania Gill/Phil Albert/Nico Dann] / The Rex 2025-02-15 (Saturday – 2:00 p.m.). $10/$15. [FB event]

The Joe Sorbara Sextet [Ted Crosby/Tania Gill/Michael Herring/Rebecca Hennessy/Aline Homzy/Joe Sorbara] / Sellers and Newell 2025-02-15 (Saturday). $25 minimum donation. [more info]

Track Could Bend #100 [music plus potluck / community hangs / zine-making gathering] (feat. TCB alumni "Bands From a Hat" groupings) / 918 Bathurst 2025-02-16 (Sunday – music 5:00-7:00 and 8:00-11:00). $pwyc, all-ages, family-friendly. [FB event]

Babe Corner (Heaven For Real / D. Miami) / The Baby G 2025-02-16 (Sunday). $21.53, 19+. [FB event]

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It happened this week...

• ...on April 7, 2015 at Johnny Jackson (Track Could Bend #1).

Michael Keith/Michael Lynn/Bob Vespaziani - [second piece]

Allison Cameron - [excerpt from last section]

[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.]

Monday Roundup #104

Concert announcements:

Lula Music & Arts with Batuki Music Society present: Calefaction (feat. Butterfly Band / Lady Yetunde [album launch!]) / Lula Lounge 2023-01-18 (Wednesday). $free to $49.56 [FB event]

Drew Smith & Friends (Troglos) / The Dakota Tavern 2021-01-19 (Thursday) [FB event]

Daniel Barnes Quartet [Daniel Barnes/Brodie West/Stacy McGregor/Marc Zubek] / Hirut Café 2023-01-21 (Saturday). $15

Exit Points #34 (feat. Victor O/Jaz Tsui/Fuzzy/Colin Clark / Joyce To/Chibuzr/Raquel Skilich/Aidan McConnell/Michael Palumbo / “Switchemups”) / Array Space 2023-01-27 (Friday). $20. [FB event]

Burn Down The Capital & Nick Fraser Present (feat. Jessica Pavone & Tristan Kasten Krause / Lina Allemano Four / Jelly Ear) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2023-01-31 (Tuesday). $12 / pwyc. [FB event]

Batuki Music Society presents (feat. Naxx Bitota) / Alliance Française 2021-02-04 (Saturday). $20.11 / $17.99 (Students & Seniors). [FB event]

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Shows this week:

Machaut Ballads / (feat. Jelly Ear [Cory Harper-Latkovich/Allison Cameron/Sara Constant/Kurt Newman]) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2023-01-09 (Monday) [FB event]

Dun-Dun Land Night 3 (feat. Dun-Dun Man / Nick Flanagan / Catholic Wilt) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2023-01-10 (Tuesday – early!)

Donna Lee Quintet with Marilyn Lerner [Brodie West/Josh Cole/Nick Fraser/Evan Cartwright/Marilyn Lerner] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2023-01-11 (Wednesday – early!)

Cosmic Country for Communists (feat. The Hell Drivers [Kurt Newman/Andrew Furlong/Jake Oelrichs] / Nick Flanagan) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2023-01-12 (Thursday). $pwyc.

Audiopollination (feat. Mike Barber/Daisy Betlej/Tegan Dietsch Kousha Nakhaei/Owen Kurtz / Jamie Eriksen/Adrian Russouw/Bri Clarke / Kimberly Ivany/Katheryn Merriam) / Arraymusic 2023-01-13 (Friday). $10 or PWYC. [FB event]

Brodie West/Josh Cole/Phil Melanson/Andrew Zukerman / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2023-01-13 (Friday). $PWYC, suggested $10. [FB event]

Class of 2023 (feat. Cinder / Bonnie Trash / Not A Band / Motorists) / Monarch Tavern 2023-01-13 (Friday). $17.50, 19+. [FB event]

Thunder Glove (The Great Octopus / Banananananana / Esther Splett) / Handlebar 2023-01-14 (Saturday). $pwyc. [FB event]

AGUE [Michael Peter Olsen / Laura C. Bates / Julia Seager Scott / Charles Spearin] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2023-01-14 (Saturday). $pwyw.

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It happened this week...

• ...on January 10, 2014 at The Great Hall (Long Winter: Year 2, Volume 3).

Weaves - Take a Dip

• ...on January 14, 2014 at Array Space (Audiopollination #14.1).

Michael Keith and cheryl o - [excerpt from first piece]

[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: Keith/Rehlinger/Renaud

Artist: Michael Keith/Jakob Rehlinger/Craig Renaud

Songs: [two excerpts]

Recorded at Array Space (Track Could Bend #37), April 3, 2018.

Michael Keith/Jakob Rehlinger/Craig Renaud - [excerpt 1]

Michael Keith/Jakob Rehlinger/Craig Renaud - [excerpt 2]

Continuing a series tradition, Track Could Bend marked its third anniversary by inviting back all of the previous year's performers for a celebration. That's enough of a crowd to warrant a larger stage, so for one rainy night, the action shifted over to Array Space. There ended up being sixteen players, all of whom put their names in a hat to be drawn to create spontaneous ensembles for a series of quick sets. To close the night, the hat provided this trio, each member of which has been known to create some rigourous drones in their own ways. No surprise, then, that they fell right together into a deep drift zone; but the twist here came from Michael Keith, whose deadpan comedic sensibility provided a slightly-surreal narrative throughline.

[TCB will be having a special extra-early show at The Baby G on Tuesday, June 5th, with sets from Barry Prophet, Nicole Rampersaud and Lisbon's Sal Grosso.]

Recording: Kardonne/Estacio/Jensen/Nish-Lapidus

Artist: Tova Kardonne/Kat Estacio/Katie Jensen/Matt Nish-Lapidus

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Array Space (Track Could Bend #37), April 3, 2018.

Tova Kardonne/Kat Estacio/Katie Jensen/Matt Nish-Lapidus - [excerpt]

Continuing a series tradition, Track Could Bend marked its third anniversary by inviting back all of the previous year's performers for a celebration. That's enough of a crowd to warrant a larger stage, so for one rainy night, the action shifted over to Array Space. There ended up being sixteen players, all of whom put their names in a hat to be drawn to create spontaneous ensembles for a series of quick sets. With drifting/buzzing electronics and keyboards sharing space with voice and gongs, this quartet discovered a sort of nonlinear dream-drift, mapping topographical subconscious terrains — intriguing but not necessarily calm landscapes.

[TCB will be having a special extra-early show at The Baby G on Tuesday, June 5th, with sets from Barry Prophet, Nicole Rampersaud and Lisbon's Sal Grosso.]

Recording: Nur Michael Keith

Artist: Nur Michael Keith

Songs: [two excerpts from first piece]

Recorded at The Steady Café (Track Could Bend #31), October 3, 2017.

Nur Michael Keith - [first piece, excerpt 1]

Nur Michael Keith - [first piece, excerpt 2]

This was, as usual, a joyful night of acoustic and electronic sounds that was rendered a little bittersweet in retrospect with news of The Steady's closing. A close relative of local bluesman Michael Keith, Nur Michael Keith is continuing his spiritual exploration of simple string instruments. Streamlining things further from the three-stringed baritone ukulele journeys he's been making for the past couple years, he's now playing a custom two-stringed dotar, which allows a similar palette of drones and note-bursts as he unfurls ancient-sounding melodies in continuous explorations. A real gem of Toronto's creative music scene (there are some excellent recordings over on his bandcamp), this brought the intense stillness of focused listening to the room, and I was glad to have another set from someone who appeared all the way back at the very first TCB.

[You'll be able to find Track Could Bend at The Belljar Café on Tuesday, December the 5th.]

Recording: Michael Keith

Artist: Michael Keith

Song: [second set, third piece]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), April 12, 2017.

Michael Keith - [second set, third piece]

Guitarist Michael Keith continues to dig deeper in his spiritual explorations for three-stringed baritone ukulele. His improvisations are truly "folk" music, weaving in fragments from diverse traditions (occasionally from the British Isles, more often in these sets from Persia) into deep dives beyond technique (of which he has plenty) and into meditative/mystical truth-seeking. This extended set-closer covers a lot of ground, summing up the many stands that had been explored at this show.

[Micheal Keith has just released a new set of Meditations, Contemplations and Improvisations over on his bandcamp.]

Recording: Michael Keith + Pedram Khavarzamini

Artist: Michael Keith + Pedram Khavarzamini

Songs: [second piece, in two parts]

Recorded at Array Space (The Music Gallery's Departures Series), June 18, 2016.

Michael Keith + Pedram Khavarzamini - [second piece, part 1]

Michael Keith + Pedram Khavarzamini - [second piece, part 2]

This Music Gallery off-site show brought together three guitar heroes in quite different contexts. Leading off the night, and representing the local side, was Michael Keith with his three-stringed baritone ukulele. This was originally scheduled as a set with his occasional duo partner Saab Narayan, but unforeseen circumstances meant he wasn't available. The silver lining was that tombak master Pedram Khavarzamini was available to fill-in. The complete ease with which he added gloriously-subtle elaborations to Keith's Persian-inspired lines might have left the impression that this was a carefully-rehearsed performance — but it was, in fact, fully improvised by a pair of musicians who had never played together before. After two mid-length instrumental pieces, Keith closed out the set with an improvised "combination blues" song, combining his keen interests in two diverse traditions, and uniting them quite seamlessly.

Recording: Keith/Lynn/Vespaziani

Artist: Michael Keith/Michael Lynn/Bob Vespaziani

Song: [second piece]

Recorded at April 7, 2015 at Johnny Jackson (Track Could Bend #1).

Michael Keith/Michael Lynn/Bob Vespaziani - [second piece]

There's a nice expansion here from the recent solo work that Michael Keith has been doing on his three-string baritone ukulele, with Michael Lynn (on double bass) and Bob Vespaziani (on cajón and percussion) adding a bit more musical momentum. Lots of invention and interplay at work, but also the feel that Keith was tapping into something much older — this sounds like it could have been played at someone's wedding in Persia a couple hundred years ago.

[Track Could Bend continues at Little Italy's Johnny Jackson on the first Tuesday of every month, with shows starting & ending early. The next one will be Tuesday, May 5th.]

Recording: Michael Keith

Artist: Michael Keith

Song: [third improvisation]^*

Recorded at Ratio, December 16, 2014.

Michael Keith - [third improvisation]

Known as a nimble guitar player, Michael Keith has recently been performing solo sets with his three-stringed baritone ukulele. Ukulele is an instrument with a lot of baggage and a rep for being employed in trite, goofy ways, so it's refreshing to see that being pushed completely aside. Instead, Keith's blurred finger technique draws on his interests in the blues and Persian music to create something that's new — virtuosic but emotionally resonant.

Bonus! Here's a bit of video from the set:

^* So far as I know, this is a straight-up improvisation, but leave a comment if you know otherwise.

Recording: Michael Keith and friends

Artist: Michael Keith and Bob Vespaziani / cheryl o

Songs: [first piece with Bob Vespaziani, part 1] + [excerpt from first piece with cheryl o]

Recorded at Array Space (Audiopollination #14.1), January 14, 2014.

Michael Keith and Bob Vespaziani - [first piece, part 1]

Michael Keith and cheryl o - [excerpt from first piece]

Full review to follow. Though I had never caught him playing before, guitarist Michael Keith has a good name in Toronto's improvised music community. This edition of the Audiopollination series saw him and Bob Vespaziani as featured performers playing in duos, both together and with a couple guest artists. Keith had a couple tricks up his sleeve (including some prerecorded sounds courtesy of his phone and some nifty amp effects) but largely relied on savvy craftsmanship to being bring different textures to his set, from knotty note clusters to bluesy grooves. These selections see him paired with Bob Vespaziani on wavedrum and Cheryl Ockrant (who performs as cheryl o) on cello. As always, you can check out the whole carefully archived performance, and once again, I'll mention that if you want to hear some cool improvised music (with improvised live visuals!) in a casual setting, you really should really come check this monthly series out — next one up is February 11th.