Recording: Gill/Homzy/Ng/Pitt/Riselli

Artist: Tania Gill/Aline Homzy/Karen Ng/Brittany Pitt/Mira Riselli

Songs: Blue Nile [composer: Alice Coltraine] + Lament [composer: Mira Riselli]

Recorded at Sellers & Newel (International Women's Day), March 8, 2026.

Tania Gill/Aline Homzy/Karen Ng/Brittany Pitt/Mira Riselli - Blue Nile

Tania Gill/Aline Homzy/Karen Ng/Brittany Pitt/Mira Riselli - Lament

This special IWD quintet was convened, I am given to understand, by saxophonist Brittany Pitt and saw her joined by Tania Gill (piano), Aline Homzy (violin), Karen Ng (alto sax), and Mira Riselli (double bass). No mere blowing session, this was a chance to hear some ad hoc arrangements of pieces by all the players, as well as works by Alice Coletrane and Carla Bley.

[I, myself, have been remiss in not hitherto taking in any of the fine shows put on at Sellers & Newel. Many of the this blog's faves are doing cozy gigs in the space and you should attend some! Keep an eye on their list of shows, or sign up for their email list.]

Recording: The Ryan Driver Sextet

Artist: The Ryan Driver Sextet

Song: She Was Too Good to Me [composers: Richard Rodgers/Lorenz Hart]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), November 24, 2023.

The Ryan Driver Sextet - She Was Too Good to Me

This outing of the sextet saw keyboardist Tania Gill sitting in for absent guitarist Martin Arnold, and to some extent, she filled his frequent role of being a wibbly-wobbly disruption to the straight lines of the ballads the group was essaying. Her methods, however were more akin to her work (also alongside Ryan Driver) in The Titillators, where she'd occasionally pick a synth setting seemingly at random and lean into it with gusto — one track in this set received what sounded like a woozy pan pipe solo. It also allowed her to switch over to piano, allowing Driver to take the mic and go Full Crooner. "A mystifying experience," Gill was heard to comment to drummer Nick Fraser after the set — if listening to this band is such a singular thing, being in the middle of it all must be even moreso.

[The Ryan Driver Sextet, in one of its variations, will be back at The Tranzac on Friday, December 29th.]

Recording: Holger Schoorl Music

Artist: Holger Schoorl Music

Songs: two unknown songs^*

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), July 30, 2023.

Holger Schoorl Music - [track 5]

Holger Schoorl Music - [track 7]

An intriguing set of chamber works from Holger Schoorl, performed by an ensemble that saw his voice and guitar joined by Kayla Milmine (soprano saxophone), Scott Thomson (trombone), Tania Gill (piano) and Mark Zurawinski (percussion). A series of shorter pieces were played continuously as a suite, often with linking segues in solos or duos. Occasionally melancholy, and occasionally working like off-kilter beer-hall songs, this sounded suitable as soundtrack material for a black-and-white art film set in a mysterious European village.

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

[Holger Schoorl will be bringing some different music to Track Could Bend on September 5th, alongside Pete Johnston and Scott Thomson in the trio Ancient Egypt.]

^* Does anyone know the titles to these? Please leave a comment!

Recording: The Imaginary Brass Band

Artist: The Imaginary Brass Band

Songs: Let It Roll + Saunter One

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), November 29, 2022.

The Imaginary Brass Band - Let It Roll

The Imaginary Brass Band - Saunter One

Rat-drifting meets marching band — although nominally a trio (Doug Tielli, Heather Saumer, Nick Fraser) on their just-released album, in the flesh the group expanded with Tania Gill, Charles Spearin, Emily Farrell and Colin Couch (and with Tom Richards sitting in for the bulk of the first set, to boot). A couple of Nick Fraser's sketches were essayed, but most of the material here is from Doug Tielli, showing off the most recent evidence of the contrasts and continuities with his "songwriter" work. There was some of the expected brass band brio at hand, but also, as the second piece here indicates, a willingness to explore melancholy beauty as well.

Recording: Tania Gill & Victor Bateman

Artist: Tania Gill & Victor Bateman

Song: [end of 1st piece]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #71), September 6, 2022.

Tania Gill & Victor Bateman - [end of 1st piece]

Pianist Tania Gill and bassist Victor Bateman collaborate domestically but don't often play together in public, which made this duo set a special treat. Their long partnership was evident in the subliminal communication that saw them bouncing ideas off each other, moving from strimming, thumping abstractions and easing sideways towards songcraft as "I Can't Get Started" found its way into their conversation.

You can see some more of this set over in the TCB playlist on youtube:

[Track Could Bend will be back at Wenona next week (Tuesday, October 4th) with a special appearance from Denmark's Jonas Olesen as well as awesome locals Kayla Milmine & Mike Gennaro and Stranger Still.]

Recording: The Brodie West Quintet

Artist: The Brodie West Quintet

Song: Entrainment

Recorded at The Tranzac's Main Hall (TONE Festival), June 24, 2022.

The Brodie West Quintet - Entrainment

Another night at the TONE Festival mixing some of the best local acts with visiting headliners, hopefully once more blowing some minds amongst those who might not come out to see the locals so often when it's not an "event". This was also the first chance for a lot of folks to catch up with this unit since the release of Meadow of Dreams earlier this year, and the group drew from that for a good chunk of the set. Even with the stalwart Phil Melanson subbing in for Evan Cartwright on one of the drumkits, the intricate rhythmic division of labour with Nick Fraser was maintained as the group had a joyful time exploring meadows and bouncing through other landscapes.

Recording: Schmidt/Meger/Gill/Hall

Artist: Cole Schmidt/James Meger/Tania Gill/Samuel Hall

Song: [2nd section]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (TONE Festival), June 16, 2022.

Cole Schmidt/James Meger/Tania Gill/Samuel Hall - [2nd section]

This superb evening at the TONE Festival saw Vancouver's expanded Sick Boss joined by locals Tania Gill and SlowPitchSound as well as Berlin-based percussionist Samuel Hall. In lieu if an opening act, the latter were scattered amongst redistributed members of the band for two sets of improvised encounters. The first of these saw Sick Boss' Cole Schmidt (guitar) and James Meger (bass) alongside Gill (piano, melodica) and Hall, mutating from weird grooves to shimmering spatter.

Recording: Houle/Sorbara/Gill/McCarrol-Butler

Artist: François Houle/Joe Sorbara/Tania Gill/Naomi McCarrol-Butler

Song: [set 1 excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Most Popular Mic Touching Sounds), June 14, 2022.

François Houle/Joe Sorbara/Tania Gill/Naomi McCarrol-Butler - [set 1 excerpt]

Amongst the things that I didn't really notice I was missing was a night like this, where a visiting musician is given a chance to mix things up with some local faves. Unlike last time I saw him, Vancouverite clarinetist François Houle was playing without his cool effects rig, but there were still plenty of sounds to be wrung from his instrument as he was joined by Naomi McCarroll-Butler on sax, Tania Gill on piano and Joe Sorbara on percussion, stretching out through a spontaneous suite of ideas.

[François Houle will be playing a free and outdoor show with his quartet (including Gord Grdina, Mark Helias, and Gerry Hemingway) at the Jazz Festival, Sunday afternoon, July 3rd.]

Recording: Ronley Teper & The Lipliners

Artist: Ronley Teper & The Lipliners

Song: Women in Space

Recorded at The Tranzac's Main Hall (Women From Space Festival 2022 – Night 3), April 30, 2022.

Ronley Teper & The Lipliners - Women in Space

For the past three years, the Women From Space Festival has been an excellent encapsulation of its moment. Coming on the cusp of the First Big Lockdown, the 2020 Festival is remembered by many as the last event of the beforetimes, while last year's "hologram edition" was an elegant solution to the flatness of livestreams. And now, this year's Festival had to bear all the relief and angst of "returning to live" at this uncertain mid-point of the pandemic. Presented with joy and community spirit over four nights, the Festival was a chance to run into seldom-seen familiar faces and to hear a dizzying variety of sounds.

Ronley Teper brought a fabulous lineup of Lipliners (Tania Gill, keys; Sarah Shugarman, violin; Carlie Howell, bass; Nicole Rampersaud, trumpet; and Tim Posgate, banjo/guitar) to tackle a couple old faves, some arguments from last year's Everyone Loves A Good Story, and this improvised science fair project in the spirit of the Festival hosting the set.

Recording: Driver/Gill/Urquhart

Artist: Ryan Driver/Tania Gill/Ashley Urquhart

Song: Monk Musical Chairs [excerpt] [composer: Thelonious Monk]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (SynapticCircusSundays), January 12, 2020.

Ryan Driver/Tania Gill/Ashley Urquhart - Monk Musical Chairs [excerpt]

Another conceptual coup at Nilan Perera's SynapticCircusSundays residency saw three noteworthy local pianists taking turns on selections from the Monk songbook. The catch here was that the songs were presented continuously — one pianist would start a song, then slide over midway through as the next joined them for a four-handed middle section before the new pianist would complete the piece and begin another.

[SynapticCircusSundays will be back at The Tranzac on Sunday, March 8th.]

Recording: Barnyard Drama

Artist: Barnyard Drama

Song: Improvisation for Justin + We'll Be Okay

Recorded at The Tranzac's Main Hall (Service for Justin Haynes), April 19, 2019.

Barnyard Drama - Improvisation for Justin + We'll Be Okay [composer: Justin Haynes]

Some things are hard. In the aftermath of a sudden loss, family, friends and collaborators joined together to celebrate the life and music of Justin Haynes. Famously banned from The Tranzac, the sad smiles at the fact of his return were indicative of the vibe: shock and sadness with a grimly-funny streak. Hopefully being together helped some people move forward in processing this tragedy, and hopefully Justin's music and spirit will be remembered and celebrated. Over the course of the afternoon and evening, many of his fellow-travelers paid tribute by revisiting Justin's material or offering some new tributes. Here's a few of the sounds from the day.

Starting with Christine Duncan's voice and Jean Martin's percussion, this farewell grew to encompass most of the day's performers as it slowly transformed into Haynes' hymn to hard-won okayness, serving as a benediction to close out the event.

Recording: Nick Fraser & Tania Gill

Artist: Nick Fraser & Tania Gill

Song: Thank You and Goodnight [composer: Lina Allemano]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Main Hall (Service for Justin Haynes), April 19, 2019.

Nick Fraser & Tania Gill - Thank You and Goodnight

Some things are hard. In the aftermath of a sudden loss, family, friends and collaborators joined together to celebrate the life and music of Justin Haynes. Famously banned from The Tranzac, the sad smiles at the fact of his return were indicative of the vibe: shock and sadness with a grimly-funny streak. Hopefully being together helped some people move forward in processing this tragedy, and hopefully Justin's music and spirit will be remembered and celebrated. Over the course of the afternoon and evening, many of his fellow-travelers paid tribute by revisiting Justin's material or offering some new tributes. Here's a few of the sounds from the day.

Away on one her now-frequent working sojourns to Berlin, Lina Allemano was unable to be in Toronto to take part in this event, so instead she sent this spare and melancholic new piece to be played by two more of Haynes' close friends.

Recording: Tania Gill & Rebecca Hennessy

Artist: Tania Gill & Rebecca Hennessy

Song: [excerpt from 2nd piece]

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

Tania Gill & Rebecca Hennessy - [excerpt from 2nd piece]

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.

Trumpeter Rebecca Hennessy and pianist Tania Gill have played together in quite a few ensembles over the years, but by their own account this was their first time improvising together for an audience. No surprise that for a couple players whose works include a lot of song-based music, there was a lyrical quality to their interactions here, even as Gill explored some extended piano techniques and Hennessy played with the room's sonics by using the piano as a resonating chamber, playing into its raised lid.

[Tania Gill will be offering both music and some thoughts on her journey to climate activism at "Elephant In The Room", an event at the Burdock on Thursday, June 6th hosted by The Weather Station's Tamara Lindeman.]

Recording: Brodie West Quintet

Artist: Brodie West Quintet

Songs: Coda + Tumbling In

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), January 9, 2018.

Brodie West Quintet - Coda + Tumbling In

Despite some blizzard-y weather to slog through, there was a full complement of musicians on hand and a full Southern Cross out to hear some tunes (and also dig through the stack of used records for sale in a new twist on the band's "merch table"). As always, there were some amazing in-and-out-of-phase sounds from dual druimmers Evan Cartwright and Nick Fraser — you can hear some of that on "Coda" here where the tension built up on those just-out-of-sync cymbal taps is resolved with explosive joy as the group flips over into "Tumbling In" to close out the set.

Recording: The Titillators

Artist: The Titillators

Songs: Pennies From Heaven [composer: Arthur Johnston] + If I Were a Bell [composer: Frank Loesser]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), December 30, 2018.

The Titillators - Pennies From Heaven

The Titillators - If I Were a Bell

This holiday special from Ryan Driver's Titillators saw special guest Alex Samaras sitting in for Thom Gill as designated whistler — a task he pulled off with aplomb, buoyed by regulars Tania Gill (keyb) and percussionists Germaine Liu and D. Alex Meeks. It was to no-one's surprise that even in an all-whistling ensemble that the irrepressible Samaras could not be stopped from belting out a verse — especially when there were tunes from Guys and Dolls on offer!

Recording: Brodie West Quintet -1

Artist: Brodie West Quintet -1

Songs: C.T. [composer: Nick Fraser] + They Call This Everything [composer: Ryan Driver] + Possesional [composer: Rob Clutton]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), December 12, 2018.

Brodie West Quintet -1 - C.T.

Brodie West Quintet -1 - They Call This Everything

Brodie West Quintet -1 - Possesional

Playing as a quartet sans percussionist Evan Cartwright left Brodie West (alto), Tania Gill (piano), Josh Cole (double bass) and Nick Fraser (drums) a bit of space to play around in — and one leg of this group's rhythmical foundation removed. They did manage to tackle a few pieces from the group's current set ("Tumbling In" perhaps had more rolling than tumbling, but "Prel and Fug" bounced nicely) but for the bulk of the night the group instead reached beyond the regular repertoire to play some pieces from members and friends. Gill and Cole offered charts, but perhaps the most intriguing voyages were on a couple classic Drumheller¹ tunes, and there was also this beautifully-lyrical reading of a song from Ryan Driver's latest, tackled in the best jazz tradition of transforming pop tunes into standards.

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¹ This is as good a place as any to remind you that the four albums by Drumheller — all essential Toronto weird-jazz documents, besides just being groovy-good listens — are online at Nick Fraser's bandcamp.

Recording: The Titillators

Artist: The Titillators

Songs: Jitterbug Waltz [composer: Fats Waller] + Pithecanthropus Erectus [composer: Charles Mingus]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Music Hosted by Karen Ng), November 20, 2018.

The Titillators - Jitterbug Waltz

The Titillators - Pithecanthropus Erectus

The historic fourth performance of Ryan Driver's "radical new assemblage of Toronto's hottest jazz curiosities" celebrated the release of the ensemble's first cassette. Their un-standard approach to standards includes street-sweeper bristle bass, strange synths, stranger synths and a picnic blanket of miscellaneous percussive elements. Take away a song's centre and what's left? And what happens when you decentre that? And then what happens when you add warbling whistles? A suggestive peek at what's going on here was provided by the first original work that Driver has provided to the band's book: "It's Not About The Music".

Recording: The Brodie West Quintet

Artist: The Brodie West Quintet

Songs: First Wave + Prel and Fug

Recorded at The Music Gallery @ 918 Bathurst, September 21, 2018.

The Brodie West Quintet - First Wave

The Brodie West Quintet - Prel and Fug

An exciting night of celebration, marking the release of the Quintet's Clips album. Things weren't too different than a typical night for the group at the Tranzac — a nicer shirt here, a fancier piano there — but it's important every once in a while to bring things out of that laboratory to a bigger audience. In the spirit of the night the group basically played the album top to bottom, showing off the variety of smaller encounters (interlocking dual drummers, piano/sax mind-melds, etc.) within the pieces.

[Following up from a West Coast swing, The Brodie West Quintet will be in residence at The Rex, playing every Tuesday in November.]

Recording: The Titillators

Artist: The Titillators

Songs: Prelude to a Kiss [composer: Duke Ellington] + Cotton Tail [composer: Duke Ellington] + Midnight Sun [composers: Lionel Hampton and Sonny Burke]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), July 22, 2018.

The Titillators - Prelude to a Kiss

The Titillators - Cotton Tail

The Titillators - Midnight Sun

A historic occasion on the debut of this new combo convened by Ryan Driver, here on street sweeper bristle bass and flanked by Tania Gill (synth), Thom Gill (synth, whistling). The ensemble was completed by Germaine Liu and Phil Melanson, who were seated at a blanket full of miscellaneous percussive items (including happy apple, toy piano, wood block, bowl of water, metal bowls, rattles, miso soup, trowels, chopsticks and so forth), making it look like they were on an especially whimsical picnic. (D. Alex Meeks sat in for the second set, adding even more small taps and crunches.)

This was a sure antidote for anyone feeling like they arrived too late for first-hand witnessing of classic Rat-Drifting-style high-concept oddness, with the sound here being a sort of fractured take on novelty jazz, or a really "out" Spike Jones cover band. (In any case, the repertoire surveyed at this show included plenty Ellington and other standards.) If that sounds too high concept, just imagine these tunes serving as background fodder for the sort of Muppet Show sketch that would end with Crazy Happy pressing his plunger and blowing up the whole thing. That said, as off-kilter as the whole thing is, this is delicate and lovely music (that isn't superbly captured by my recordings) so you shouldn't miss an opportunity to get titillated.

[The Titillators' historic third performance is happening tonight (September 15th) at The Tranzac.]

Recording: The Brodie West Quintet

Artist: The Brodie West Quintet

Song: Tumbling In + Dirty Vampires^*

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), February 11, 2018.

The Brodie West Quintet - Tumbling In

The Brodie West Quintet - Dirty Vampires

On the cusp of heading into the studio to record the compositions he's been developing for this quintet, Brodie West and co. (which would be Tania Gill on piano and Josh Cole on double bass plus double percussionists Evan Cartwright and Nick Fraser) were in that sweet spot of being right in sync with each other but less than mechanically familiar with the material, leaving lots of room for moments of on-the-fly rearrangement and creative exploration.

^* Thanks to Brodie for confirming the titles to these.