Recording: Alex Raja Ven & Heart Map Ambient Ensemble

Artist: Alex Raja Ven & Heart Map Ambient Ensemble

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at Sankofa Square (Intersection 2025: Day 2: All Day Music Marathon, August 30, 2025.

Alex Raja Ven & Heart Map Ambient Ensemble - unknown^*

Back from a year's hiatus, the Intersection Festival was once again bringing some unconventional sounds to the unsuspecting public. The now formally-retitled Sankofa Square sports a decolonized name, but a slightly more carceral vibe — surrounded by metal fencing and closed off by gates right up 'til showtime, there was less of a random just-wander-through sense of invitation than there used to be.

There was also a slightly different curatorial vibe in effect. In the absence of Burn Down the Capital's Tad Michalak, Andrew Noseworthy stepped up as the main programmer, giving the day a flavour that'd be familiar to those following people | places | records, the "DIY genre-fluid 'zero profit' artists-first" label he is involved with.

Coming straight from the "heart" of the people | places sound, I had previously seen this modular ensemble in a more nascent formation — and though their numbers have grown, this was working in the same space of intracately-arranged compositions delicately swelling outwards and upwards.

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

^* I'm not sure if this piece is an arrangement of Eno's "Discreet Music", or whether it just has some of its DNA grafted to its core. Please leave a comment if you know!

Recording: Araz Salek & Friends

Artist: Araz Salek & Friends

Songs: Goshāyesh 11 & 15 + Chahārmezrāb

Recorded at The Tranzac (Main Hall), June 8, 2025.

Araz Salek & Friends - Goshāyesh 11 & 15

Araz Salek & Friends - Chahārmezrāb

This joyful party had a twofold purpose, not only celebrating a birthday for Araz Salek, but also serving to launch his new Peripheries of Nahavand album. To the latter end, an ensemble of friends from within and beyond the Labyrinth Ensemble played both pieces from the album as well as a couple tunes that helped inspire it. Lots of families and kids out enjoying the music and snackage, making for a charmingly casual time.

Recording: Labyrinth Ensemble with Âriâ Mohâfez

Artist: Labyrinth Ensemble with Âriâ Mohâfez

Song: Tasnif-e Parastu [composer: Habibollah Badiei]

Recorded at the Aga Khan Museum, May 3, 2025.

Labyrinth Ensemble with Âriâ Mohâfez - Tasnif-e Parastu

Another excellent night at the Aga Khan with the Labyrinth Ensemble, this time hosting Iranian santur player Âriâ Mohâfez. Although the concert followed the template that Labyrinth has been developing for the past couple years (an intensive rehearsal and teaching process leading up to the show, followed by a concert with suites of pieces punctuated by solo spots for the ensemble members) this had a different vibe than the previous shows — certainly a different sonic feel in how the strings related to the rest of the ensemble, but more strikingly, there was a shape to the presentation that saw the show's end eschew the "big finale" to instead close on a morally-resolute and solemn note with Mohâfez's pieces "Shokufan/Abloom" and "Nika", dedicated, respectively, to Iran's womens' movement and Nika Shakarami.

Recording: Labyrinth Ensemble with Maliheh Moradi

Artist: Labyrinth Ensemble with Maliheh Moradi

Song: Dar deyr-e moghan [composer: Arshad Tahmasebi]

Recorded at the Aga Khan Museum, November 2, 2024.

Labyrinth Ensemble with Maliheh Moradi - Dar deyr-e moghan

The latest in the Labyrinth Ensemble's series of group intensives/public concerts saw them working with Iranian vocalist Maliheh Moradi and exploring a mix of classic makam pieces and new sounds that emerged during the workshop process. And as usual, in between the graniose sweep of the full ensemble, some of the most striking moments came when that pulled back to duos and solos, showing off the diverse array of sounds that the ensemble contains.

[Labyrinth's Makam Nights series will not have a November edition, but will return on December 19th to the Tranzac's Living Room — and before that, some members of the ensemble (Roa Lee, Marta Solek and Sasan Salaseli) will be performing at Drom Taberna on Sunday, December 1st.]

Recording: Royal Jelly

Artist: Royal Jelly

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #95), September 3, 2024.

Royal Jelly - unknown

This expanded/all-star edition of cellist Cory Harper-Latkovich's Jelly Ear project saw him joined by Kurt Newman (guitar), Allison Cameron (banjolele, melodica, synth), Sara Constant (flutes) as well as Germaine Liu and Yang Chen (percussion). It was the latter pair, with rocks and other percussive implements spread around them on the floor (à la The Titillators) that gave this a slightly different cast to the medieval (and new-but-medieval-sounding) pieces the group played, adding scrapes and other gentle clatter to mildly decenter the stately proceedings. This night was a bit of a farewell party as well, with Harper-Latkovich heading off to delve deeper into compositional studies in early music, so new/old wrinkles are sure to arise next time an ensemble like this is assembled.

You can check out the full set over on youtube:

[Track Could Bend is back at Wenona next Tuesday (October 1st) with sets from Josh Cole + Mira Martin-Gray and Laura Swankey/Brittany Pitt/Dan Pitt.]

^* It's not impossible that this is the end of one piece going into another. Does anyone know the title(s)? Please leave a comment!

Recording: SOUP

Artist: SOUP

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #87), January 2, 2024.

SOUP - [excerpt]

On some other day of the year you might find Sara Constant (flutes, processing), Yang Chen (percussion), and Andrew Noseworthy (electric guitar) playing together — but they would not be SOUP. SOUP is a seasonally-specific supergroup dedicated to creating "soupy tunes" to celebrate the new year. And also to provide snacks! Sharing some homemade Japanese-Canadian treats, Sara Constant convened this trio to explore warm liquid textures and invoke some positive vibes for the year ahead.

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

[TCB is back at Wenona on Tuesday, February 6th with sets from Écureuil (Kayla Milmine & Liz Lima) and Garden of Magic.]

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: Yang Chen & co.

Artist: Yang Chen & co.

Song: [excerpt]

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

Yang Chen & co. - [excerpt]

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.

I've seen percussionist Yang Chen in a variety of settings and I knew they could provide some musical secret sauce in an adventure like this. Setting up shop in the upper part of the permanent collection (dedicated to giving a "Glimpse into Artefact Storage") they were at a crossroads for audience members and other wandering performers, generating a variety of close-mic'ed textures and subtle feedback (feet-back?) hums — plus, you can hear some sonic bleed from Why Be Normal on the lower level and some passing horns here.

You can check out some other zones from this set's conclusion 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: Exit Points Ensemble

Artist: Exit Points Ensemble

Song: [first section]

Recorded at Yonge-Dundas Square (Intersection – Day 2), September 2, 2023.

Exit Points Ensemble - [first section]

That particular Labour Day tradition returned once more this year — the Intersection Festival filling up the concrete plains of Yonge-Dundas Square with creative and adventurous music. As with last year's return from the pandemic pause, this was more stripped-back than in the "old days", with all of the music constrained to the big stage, which itself was a bit more cut off from the square by metal barricades. The square as a whole felt a little less, ah, pulsating than in the past — while there's still all sorts of random passers-by and carryings-on, the space felt a little more restrained overall. But on a mostly-beautiful day for standing around outside (with just one minor cloudburst to take the edge off the heat) the programming was mostly on-point, distracting a few people, chasing some away, and calling in a few in to take in the sounds.

The opening group was assembled by synthesist Michael Palumbo from the community he has gathered at his Exit Points monthly series — and if you were expecting an all-electronic jam then you might not have been following the series' evolutions, as here he was joined by Akim Angulo (shakuhachi flute), Joyce To (percussion), Behnoosh Behnamnia (kamancheh), and Yang Chen (percussion), allowing for a wide variety of textures and colours.

Recording: Jelly Ear

Artist: Jelly Ear

Song: two unknown songs^*

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), June 12, 2023.

Jelly Ear - unknown #1

Jelly Ear - unknown #2

Closing out a half-year's residency at The Tranzac, Jelly Ear brought out a large version of its rotating ensemble, with Cory Harper-Latkovich (rebec) joined by Allison Cameron (organ), Yang Chen (percussion), Sara Constant (flutes), Andrew Noseworthy (guitar) and Seb Shinwell (guitar). Working, as usual, from the songbooks of Machaut and similar medieval composers, the group navigated the pieces' drones, drifts, dips and turns without ever worring about RenFaire "authenticity". Hopefully there will be more to hear from this group — some proper recordings of their repertoire would be most welcome indeed.

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

^* Does anyone know the titles to either of these? Please leave a comment! My notes only tell me that the first one is about Theseus and the second about an angel with three wings.

Recording: Labyrinth Ensemble

Artist: Labyrinth Ensemble

Songs: Makam Ussak [excerpt]^* + Makam Toronto

Recorded at Aga Khan Museum, April 15, 2023.

Labyrinth Ensemble - Makam Ussak [excerpt]

Labyrinth Ensemble - Makam Toronto

It's always a delight to be able to catch the Labyrinth Ensemble in full flight. Once more, this concert was based on the principle of bringing in a world-class expert (in this case, Greek mandolinist Evgenios Voulgaris) to spend some intensive rehearsal time with the group before presenting what they've learned to the public. Voulgaris brought a selection of 17th-century works collected by Romanian prince Dimitrie Cantemir, showcasing the cultural connections being forged in the court of the Ottoman Empire. The show was presented as a pair of suites, each united by a particular makam, or mode, with the ensemble seguing from one piece to the next by honing in on individual members, giving everyone space in the foreground before showing how their sound is woven into the larger perspective. The first piece here highlights MFS fave Naomi McCarroll-Butler's saxophone work while the latter is a brand new piece (in the combiniation-of-things "Toronto mode") that Voulgaris wrote for the group while in the city.

The full ensemble for this show was: Evgenios Voulgaris – oud and yaylı tambur; Sadaf Amini – santur; Yang Chen – riqq, bendir; Burak Ekmekci – baglama; Michael K. Harrist – yayli tanbur; Pedram Khavarzamini – tombak; Roa Lee – gayageum; Naomi McCarroll-Butler – saxophone, clarinet, and bass clarinet; John McKinnon – electric bass; Scott Peterson – upright bass; Araz Salek – tar; Marta Solek – cello and greek lyra; Tev Stevig – tanbur and oud; Aysel Taghi-Zada – violin; Amely Zhou – erhu.

[Labyrinth Ontario will be hosting an instrument library at City Hall as part of Doors Open Toronto next weekend (May 27th + 28th). Visitors are welcome to come by all weekend and explore the space and hear demonstrations!]

^* As mentioned above, this is a segment of the set-long suite of ussak music. Please leave a comment in you know the name(s) of the partricular piece(s)!

Recording: Ambient Works

Artist: Ambient Works

Song: unknown^* [composed by Alex Ven, arranged by Andrew Noseworthy]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Track Could Bend #75), January 3, 2023.

Ambient Works - [first piece]

In these current times, it's unfortunately not a surprise that ocasionally a scheduled set has to be put off for healthier times. Luckily Andrew Noseworthy (who was slated to perform in a trio assembled by Sara Constant) was able to step up and present this project.

Based around some ambient pieces originally for electronic instruments by London's Alex Ven, the concept has been expanding (through Noseworthy's arrangements) to enable different musicians to find space in the pieces. The compositions are cellular and not for fixed instrumentation, allowing for experimentation with different timbres at every performance. This time out saw Ven on synths and Noseworthy on guitar joined by Yang Chen (percussion), Zain Solinski (keyboard and melodica) and Adrian Irvine (violin). They each found room to expand the soundfield, and over a continuously-played suite of several pieces this found some very nifty zones.

You can check out some footage from this set over on the TCB youtube playlist:

[Yang Chen and Andrew Noseworthy will be performing in a CMC Presents show at the Canadian Music Centre on Wednesday, February 1st. Track Could Bend is back at Wenona on Tuesday, February 7th, with sets from Xicada (Ilyse Krivel) and Adversarial Networks (Caleb Klager, Chris Pruden, Luan Phung, and David Lipson).]

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

Recording: Naomi McCarroll-Butler

Artist: Naomi McCarroll-Butler

Songs: Chrysalis [two sections]^*

Recorded at Toronto Jazz Festival, [corporate brand name] Main Stage – [corporate brand name] Grove, July 2, 2022.

Naomi McCarroll-Butler - Chrysalis [section 4]

Naomi McCarroll-Butler - Chrysalis [section 10]

The local jazz festival doesn't tend to get a tonne of favourable glances from this direction, but they should be praised when they do something cool and ambitious. Named as the inaugural "Jazz Festival Immersive Artist-in-Residence", Naomi McCarroll-Butler was given some resources to put together a programme of new work to present at the festival, which emerged as Chrysalis, "a project born out of my first years of transitioning: songs of hope for holding on, cries of joy and grief for the love of a suffering community, trance tapestries of woven sound accompanying the alignment of the physical body with the luminant body."

This live presentation (played in the pleasant Festival zone in the Victoria College quad) saw McCarroll-Butler backed by a dozen musicians, segueing from spiritual jazz blastoffs to modern compositional latticeworks — and including some sounds on DIY microtonal pipes along the way, as well as plenty individual spotlights for the members of the group. The band sounded lush and lively (despite playing with a fairly minimal soundcheck) and one can hope that this music gets a chance to live on beyond this performance.

The ensemble at this show was:

• Anh Phung: flutes
• Kae Murphy: trumpet, sousaphone
• Nebyu Yohannes: trombone
• Colin Fisher: tenor saxophone, drums
• Naomi McCarroll-Butler: alto saxophone, bass clarinet
• Aysel Taghi-Zada: violin
• Aline Homzy: violin
• Amahl Arulanandam: cello
• Adrian Russouw: double bass
• Roa Lee: gayageum
• Yang Chen: percussion, tubulum
• Racha Moukalled: piano
• Stefan Hegerat: drums, percussion

^* I'm not sure if the individual pieces within the suite have separate titles or noy; please leave a comment if you have info!

Recording: Furlong/Pruden/Chen

Artist: Andrew Furlong/Chris Pruden/Yang Chen

Songs: [two excerpts]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Music by Harry and Furlong), March 23, 2022.

Andrew Furlong/Chris Pruden/Yang Chen - [excerpt 1]

Andrew Furlong/Chris Pruden/Yang Chen - [excerpt 2]

The revival of this co-hosted series went ahead without Harry Vetro, but bassist Andrew Furlong admirably held down the fort in an exploratory trio alongside Chris Pruden (Prophet 6) and Yang Chen (percussion). The latter (spotted recently among some Labyrinth Ensembles) had a table of small percussive objects to tap and rattle, embroidering Pruden's synthsounds ranging from sci-fi soundscapes to the receding dreamzone that closes out the second selection here.

Recording: Labyrinth Ensemble with Lamia Yared

Artist: Labyrinth Ensemble with Lamia Yared

Song: Layali el wasl

Recorded at the Aga Kham Museum, November 13, 2021.

Labyrinth Ensemble with Lamia Yared - Layali el wasl

An auspicious beginning to this new phase from Labyrinth Ontario, debuting their full ensemble for the first time. This concert (and the ones slated to follow) expand on Labyrinth's mandate to foster cultural exchanges and musical education, bringing in an esteemed artist-in-residence — in this case vocalist/oudist Lamia Yared — for a period of extended rehearsals to give the musicians a chance to really dig into the material. The results were excellent across the board as the group stretched out in a series of traditional Turkish and Arabic musical styles, finding space to give each of the members a chance for their own instrument to stand out.

The full ensemble for this show was: Sadaf Amini (santur), Yang Chen (percussion/hand drums), Burak Ekmekci (baglama), Michael K. Harrist (yayli tanbur), Pedram Khavarzamini (tombak), Roa Lee (gayageum), Naomi McCarroll-Butler (saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet, sallow flute/konvovka), John McKinnon (bass), Scott Peterson (bass), Araz Salek (tar), Marta Solek (cello, Greek lyra, plock fiddle), Tev Stevig (tanbur, oud), Aysel Taghi-Zada (violin), and Amely Zhou (erhu).

If you have access to facebook you can (at this writing) still watch the excellent-sounding archived webstream.

screenshot from Aga Khan webstream.

Recording: Labyrinth Ensemble

Artist: Labyrinth Ensemble (II) [Araz Salek, Amely Zhou, Yang Chen]

Song: [edited excerpt]

Recorded at The Music Gallery (X Avant XVI – Night 3), October 16, 2021.

Labyrinth Ensemble (II) - [edited excerpt]

The Music Gallery's annual X Avant Festival felt like a return and a renewal in all the right ways. Although these weren't the first events presented by new-ish Artistic Director Sanjeet Takhar, they were the first ones in person, with performers and audience sharing space — a long-awaited return from all sides. Each of the nights played off the festival theme "You in Mind", looking for ways to amplify and support the overlapping communities being drawn together. Day Three ("Process") was "dedicated to the global thread of sustained tone as a healing modality" — by way of an eight-hour drone zone, letting the audience lay back on 918 Bathurst's sanctuary floor and watch projections planetarium-style on the high-arched ceiling.

The day was bookended by a pair of trios drawn from the larger Labyrinth Ensemble, joining musicians of different backgrounds together in deepening their understanding of modal traditions. This final grouping saw Labyrinth's Artistic Director Araz Salek (tar) joined by Amely Zhou (erhu) and Yang Chen (percussion). (The latter was a special delight, especially in the overlapping transition from the previous set that saw a two-note synth pattern matched by bowed vibraphone tones.) This was a quiet set to ease out the long day's droning (because of which my recording is accordingly a little lo-fi, by the way), and perhaps the most formally meticulous — exploring small incremental changes within a rigourous rhythmic framework. A reminder that "drone", so casually used as a catch-all musical category, has deep, deep roots in many musical traditions, based on centuries of joyful experimentation in how to keep humans entranced.