Recording: Tap slap wind and light

Artist: Tap slap wind and light

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #114), March 3, 2026.

Tap slap wind and light - [excerpt]

When invited to breing something to TCB, Patrick Lefler invented this assemblage of all of the things in the band's moniker: tap dancing, "slapped" guitar, bass clarinet, vocals, balloons, and shadow puppetry. Add in plenty of space echo and set the whole thing off to drift and sprawl and stretch out its limbs a little.

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

[Track Could Bend is back at Wenona on Tuesday, May 5th with sets from the rest (Joe Sorbara & Jonathan Kay), Wobbly + John Oswald, and Red Trillium (Andrew Finlay Stewart, Matt Nguyen and Justin Caporuscio).]

Recording: Shoe Horn Ensemble

Artist: Shoe Horn Ensemble

Song: [first section]

Recorded at the Bata Shoe Museum (Track Could Bend @ X Avant XVIII – Neeeerrrrddddssss: shoe horn), October 12, 2023.

Shoe Horn Ensemble - [first section]

I'm still not entirely sure what I did to deserve such an honour, but somehow I ended up curating a night of this year's X Avant Festival. And not just any ol' night as we were invited to conspire a musical takeover of the Bata Shoe Museum. Thanks to the amazing powers and positive energy of Artistic Director Sanjeet Takhar, we were able to fill the building with creativity, bringing a grouping of nine musicians to first enfold some sounds in the museum's galleries, then gather them all together for a collaborative improvisation. Best of all, though it was on a grander scale than I'd usually allow myself to imagine, it really felt like it was all done in the spirit of Track Could Bend. And were there shoes? Oh yes, there were shoes.

After spreading the musicians out in the galleries, the conclusion gave everyone a chance to find ways to work together in a large ensemble. The featured performers here were electronic musicians Laura Dickens (a.k.a. Leucrocuta) & Hex-A-Deximal, who were processing incoming sounds from the mics and from Tegan Dietsch's tap board. Around that centre, horn players and percussionists had a chance to wander some more — one of the most delightful moments was when trumpeter Lina Allemano and trombonist Tom Richards headed up the stairs and out of sight, only to pop out of the elevator behind the audience a few minutes later! With everyone putting, ah, their best foot forward this was a satitisfying way to gather all the threads shoelaces together.

For the record, the full ensemble was:

• Tegan Dietsch (tap)
• Lina Allemano (trumpet)
• Tom Richards (trombone)
• Why Be Normal [%%30%30 & James Bailey] (found percussion)
• Annie Elgie (voice)
• Yang Chen (percussion/processing)
• LD & Hex-A-Deximal (electronics)

You can check out the full set over on youtube:

[The Bata's new exhibition Dressed to Impress: Footwear and Consumerism in the 1980's is now open. Track Could Bend will be back in its regular first-Tuesday-of-the-month incarnation at Wenona Lodge on December 5th, with sets from kat estacio and Alma.]

Recording: Michael Palumbo & Co.

Artist: Michael Palumbo/Marilyn Yogarajah/Tegan Dietsch/Sable/%%30%30

Song: [excerpt, in two parts]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), July 15, 2023.

Michael Palumbo & Co. - [1st set excerpt, part 1]

Michael Palumbo & Co. - [1st set excerpt, part 2]

An intruiging mix of improvisers in this pair of sets assembled by synthesist Michael Palumbo saw him joined by Marilyn Yogarajah (trumpet, piano), Tegan Dietsch (tap dance), Sable (guqin), and %%30%30 (percussion). That lead to a mix of percussive interactions (including contact mic'd sounds from Dietsch's tap board being fed into Palumbo's modular rig) with the textures of piano, trumpet and quqin.

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