Recording: The "Ryan Driver" Sextet

Artist: The "Ryan Driver" Sextet

Songs: We Kiss in a Shadow [composers: Oscar Hammerstein II/Richard Rodgers] + Can’t Get Out of This Mood [Jimmy McHugh/Frank Loesser]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), July 31, 2026.

The "Ryan Driver" Sextet - We Kiss in a Shadow

The "Ryan Driver" Sextet - Can’t Get Out of This Mood

Perhaps because it is so longstanding and rock-solid at its core, the Ryan Driver Sextet is actually a fairly malliable concept — if a member can't make it out to the Tranzac on the last Friday of the month, the arrangements can tighten up a little or a sub can be called in. Less frequent (though not unheard of) is mainman Ryan Driver sitting one out, and on this night Thom Gill (who has also played with the group as a fill-in) took on the cap and the seat at the piano to lead the band through some languid standards. It would be overstating things to say that Gill was trying to playfully destabilize the proceedings, but he did out his own stamp on the set, bringing along a few standards that have been on his mind (including Abbey Lincoln's "They Call It Jazz", which he also esssayed recently with the trio Cows in Rain).

[The group will be back in action — in Quintet formation — tomorrow night (Friday, August 28th) with Michael Davidson absent and with Mateos Labbé-Phelan sitting in on drums.]

Monday Roundup #290

Community notes:

• Afrofest 2026 Cancelled. We are in the the midst of "interesting times" at the intersection of affordability, demographic pressure and popular spectacle. There has been an ongoing thread this summer after multiple street festivals implying that they are simply too popular and the costs of enduring safety for patrons has become unfeasible. Afrofest is the latest organization dealing with all these realities:

Music Africa of Canada Inc. announces that AFROFEST will not take place in 2026. This decision follows months of planning, extensive discussions with the City of Toronto, and a careful assessment of public safety considerations related to hosting the festival at Woodbine Park.

AFROFEST is one of Toronto’s most celebrated cultural festivals, shaped and sustained by the strength of its community. Earlier this year, Music Africa submitted its permit application and began working with Parks, Forestry & Recreation to clarify requirements for the 2026 event. However, final direction was not received until June, creating significant time constraints for an event of AFROFEST’s scale.

When the mayor's office became involved, communication improved, and dedicated city staff worked closely with Music Africa to explore solutions. Despite this collaboration, a critical challenge remained: the operational capacity of Woodbine Park for 2026. While the park’s longstanding safe capacity is approximately 17,000 people, the city advised that the site’s operational limit for this year would be 5,000 attendees.

AFROFEST regularly attracts up to 40,000 people in a single day. Even with our 2026 planned improved safety initiatives, including ticketing, fencing, controlled entry, and enhanced security measures, thousands more would still travel to the park expecting to attend. This presents a public safety risk outside the festival gates that cannot be responsibly managed.

You can read the full statement here. (And anyone seeking great African music should remember that the Habari Africa Festival is taking place at Harbourfront Centre this weekend, August 7th to 9th.)

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Concert announcements:

new works for improvising musicians (feat. Josh Cole/Lina Allemano/Jaron Freeman-Fox/Nick Storring/Owen Kurtz) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-08-10 (Monday). $10/notaflof

YEARN ["a powerful one-hour work for solo piano by Dutch composer Lieke van der Voort"] (feat. Cheryl Duvall) / Canadian Music Centre 2026-08-13 (Thursday). $20 General Admission, $15 Arts Workers

Shaaane (Battle Milk / Sound Effects / Dame Cook) / The Tranzac (Living Room) 2025-08-14 (Friday). $10, 19+. [more info]

Re:Stacks (feat. Stacks) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-08-15 (Saturday). [FB event]

4 Weeks for Sonny Rollins (feat. Mark Hundevad Quartet [Shawn Nykwist/Chris Pruden/James Thompson/Mark Hundevad]) / CONTXT by Trane 2026-08-22 (Saturday). $30.79 advance, $40 door. [FB event]

4 Weeks for Sonny Rollins (feat. The Bridge Quartet [Shawn Nykwist/Lee Wallace/Chris Banks/Mark Hundevad]) / CONTXT by Trane 2026-08-29 (Saturday). $30.79 advance, $40 door. [FB event]

Marker Starling (Tean Dream) / BSMT 254 2025-09-12 (Saturday). $22.84, 19+. [FB event]

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

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Shows this week:

Chris Banks presents (feat. Chris Banks/Mateos Labbé-Phelan/Dafydd Hughes/Maxwell Stover) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-08-03 (Monday). $pwyc

Justin Orok presents (feat. Simone Hope with Anna Atkinson/Tiffany Wu/Audrey Mae/Ryan Dugre/Justin Orok) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-08-04 (Tuesday – early). [more info]

Blank Hellscape (CUTE / not a band / Greydini) / Osler Records 2026-08-04 (Tuesday). $15.37, all ages. [tickets + more info]

Track Could Bend #119: An Evening of Graphic Scores co-presented with Public Library (feat. Public Library [Mira Riselli/Elisabeth Dorion/Liz Anthonisen/Pat O'Reilly/Jackson Welchner/Robert Diack] and very special guests) / Wenona Lodge 2026-08-04 (Tuesday). $pwyc. [FB event]

Peripheral Vision (The Adjacence [Karen Ng/Lina Allemano/Nick Fraser plus special guest Brodie West]) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-08-04 (Tuesday). [more info]

Holy Oak Family Singers present (feat. Madeleine Ertel/Michael Davidson/Thom Gill / Alex Samaras [solo] / Nate Renner [solo] / Fan Wu & Friends) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-08-05 (Wednesday – early). [more info]

Free Improvisation Thursdays (feat. Brent Tanemura/Max Stover/Andrew Frost/Nick Fraser) / Water to Wine 2026-08-06 (Thursday). $PWYC. [more info]

More Noise Please x Coward Patrol present: A Fundraiser for Severe Exposure (feat. Secrétaire Particulière / Fossils / Twin Mask / Iradiated Sac / Harmpit / Miracle Blade) / BSMT254 2026-08-06 (Thursday). $17.31. [tickets + more info]

Analogues of May (Westelaken / Moriah Bailey) / Dina's Tavern 2026-08-06 (Thursday). $15. [more info]

Batuki Music presents: Habari Africa Festival (feat. Sounds of the Maghreb [Maryem Tollar/Hassan El Hadi/Fethi Nadjem/Naghmeh Farahmand] / Lorraine Klaasen / Indanga Dance / Rhythm Section) / Harbourfront Centre 2026-08-07 (Friday). $free, outdoors, all ages + family-friendly. [more info]

Tania Gill presents (feat. Tania Gill/Victor Bateman/Lina Allemano) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-08-07 (Friday – early). [more info]

Humbucker Music Residency (feat. Humbucker Music [Nick Storring/Mira Martin-Gray/Colin Cudmore/Jason Doell] / Sandy Ewen) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-08-07 (Friday) [FB event]

Oval Window Records: Dual Album Release Celebration (feat. Steve Sladkowski & Joe Sorbara / NOPE [Richard Marsella & Joe Sorbara] / The Lollipop People) / The Rex 2026-08-07 (Friday – 11 p.m.)

Batuki Music presents: Habari Africa Festival (feat. Aron Nitunga / Girma Woldemichael feat. Melat Mengesha / Boblée Cirque Danse / Jonathan Nvita / ILAM / ZahraMoves / Keïla) / Harbourfront Centre 2026-08-08 (Saturday). $free, outdoors, all ages + family-friendly. [more info]

Link Music Lab: A/V Lab (feat. Dastgâmachine / Farbod Maeen / Ester Shiner / Sina Shoaie / Amir Parsa + Parallel / Ali Phi / Oyl) / 75 Pelham Av. 2025-08-08 (Saturday). $22.10/$27.65. [FB event]

Toronto Improvisers Orchestra / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-08-09 (Sunday – noon). [more info]

Ayal Senior & Friends (feat. Ayal Senior & Kurt Newman / Nick Flanagan / Del Stephen / Jessie Ecklerlin / Harold's Snack Shack) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-08-09 (Sunday – 2:30 p.m.). [FB event]

Batuki Music presents: Habari Africa Festival (feat. Toronto Burundi Drummers / Boblée Danse Cirque / Soul, Folk & Sun feat. Kunle, Ṣẹwà, Dipo / Zale Seck) / Harbourfront Centre 2026-08-09 (Sunday). $free, outdoors, all ages + family-friendly. [more info]

Summer Music in the Garden (feat. Tara Kannangara and Chris Pruden) / Toronto Music Garden 2025-08-09 (Sunday). $free, outdoors, all ages + family-friendly. [more info]

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Bandcamp corner:

• After a long gap, Bandcamp Friday returns this week (August 7th)! Here's a few things on my list that I've been waiting to grab:

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It happened this week...

• ...on August 8, 2017 at Matt Cohen Park.

Eric Landry - The Life I've Never Had

• ...on August 9, 2017 at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge).

Brodie West/Reg Schwager/Marilyn Lerner/Evan Cartwright - If I Should Lose You

[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: Bateman/West/Dann

Artist: Victor Bateman/Brodie West/Nico Dann (and Doug Tielli)

Songs: Rhythm-A-Ning [composer: Thelonious Monk] + I'm Getting Sentimental Over You [composers: Ned Washington/George Bassman]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Tania Gill presents), January 2, 2026.

Victor Bateman/Brodie West/Nico Dann - Rhythm-A-Ning

Victor Bateman/Brodie West/Nico Dann/Doug Tielli - I'm Getting Sentimental Over You

An evening with the Tania Gill Quartet became something more ad hoc with the leader feeling under the weather and wisely staying at home. That left Victor Bateman (electric 5-string bass), Brodie West (alto sax) and Nico Dann (drumkit) to wing it — no charts, no fakebooks, just combing through their mental databases for some tunes that everyone would be prepared to have a go with. It also gave the trio, and especially the rhythm section, some extra time to stretch out and dig into the pieces. In the second set, the band called up Doug Tielli (who was on hand for the later show) to join in on trombone for a couple tunes.

Recording: Fraser/Cole/West

Artist: Nick Fraser/Josh Cole/Brodie West

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Nick Fraser presents), December 30, 2025.

Nick Fraser/Josh Cole/Brodie West - unknown

A trio appearance from these three frequent collaborators saw them digging into Nick Fraser's sketchbook in the first set, and then lean into some standards in the second. (That saw a characteristically-extended jaunt through "Donna Lee" as well as "Body and Soul".)

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

[Nick Fraser will be presenting his Special Topics band (alongside Kae Murphy, Max Stover, and Josh Cole) at The Tranzac tonight (January 27th), with Murphy opening things up with a solo set for trumpet and electronics.]

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

Recording: Brodie West

Artist: Brodie West

Song: [last section]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Music Hosted by Karen Ng), May 20, 2025.

Brodie West - [last section]

A rare solo outing from Brodie West, and in a set that started with a chat-with-the-crowd/Q&A sort of segment, the actual sax playing had a similar chatty quality — gabbing excitedly, testing statements, looping back to fill in ideas, and so on.

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

Recording: Cole/Clutton/Oswald/West

Artist: Josh Cole/Rob Clutton/John Oswald/Brodie West

Song: [set 1 excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Josh Cole presents), September 10, 2024.

Josh Cole/Rob Clutton/John Oswald/Brodie West - [set 1 excerpt]

Reflecting on what they might or might have been doing forty years ago to the day, this gathering nudged toward the long-held platonic desire to establish a quartet composed of two saxophones and two double basses. (One can argue whether Brodie West's additional deployment of clarinet muddied that purity of intention, though the sonic results were hard to argue with.)

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

Recording: Eucalyptus

Artist: Eucalyptus

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at The Tranzac's Main Hall (Tranzac Fundraiser II), June 14, 2024.

Eucalyptus - unknown

This set brought a different "look" from Eucalyptus than had been seen in their previous appearance in the Tranzac's Main Hall. Part of that was down to the presence of a couple last-minute fill-ins (Chris Banks on bass and Robin Buckley on percussion), but the biggest shift was hearing Aline Homzy on violin up front, occupying the role of foil and counterpart to Brodie West that has traditionally been filled by Nicole Rampersaud. The difference in timbre was felt in an accentuation of glide over thrust, which especially added an extra sheen of subtle shimmy to the slower numbers like this one.

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

Recording: Eucalyptus

Artist: Eucalyptus

Song: UP Express

Recorded at The Tranzac's Main Hall (Joe's 50th Birthday), April 25, 2024.

Eucalyptus - UP Express

Sometimes, when a Big Event beckons, you just have to seize the initiative and throw the party that you want to be a part of. Hence this little shindig, with a pretty fabulous lineup of local luminaries and a room full of well-wishers — what more could you ask for?

With so many moving parts in this band, there's a bit of flexibility with who you might see surrounding Brodie West from show to show — but it was a real treat to see the band at full strength here, three drummers on stage and crowd favourite Nicole Rampersaud up front. There were some classics tackled that got the dancefloor bumpin' as well as some newer pieces, including this jammer from the group's next album (a future classic, whether you all it the "up" express or the "you-pee" express) as well as a scintillating preview of a new collaoration with Vic Cheong (a.k.a. New Chance) bringing a tune for West to arrange.

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

[Eucalytus will be back on the Main Hall stage at the Tranzac's next big fundraising spectacular event, playing alongside U.S. Girls and Cots on Friday, June 14th.]

Recording: Dun-Dun Band

Artist: Dun-Dun Band

Song: Pandemo 3^*

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Dun-Dun Land: Slight Return), April 9, 2024.

Dun-Dun Band - unknown

Essentially a warm-up show for the forthcoming full-on album release celebration (see details below), this night saw most of the Dun-Dun Band gathered together (but with "only" two sax players). Digging into tracks from Pita Parka, Pt. I (as well as its in-the-can sequel) the players were in sync through Craig Dunsmuir's fragment-suites, moving from rollicking lockgroove tumbles to some considered stately rumbles.

[That release celebration will be happening in The Tranzac's Main Hall next week (Thursday, May 16th), with an opening set from Allison Cameron, Mira Martin-Gray and Josh Cole.]

^* Thanks to Josh for passing along the title to this one!

Recording: The Ryan Driver Sextet

Artist: The Ryan Driver Sextet + friends

Songs: Stardust (feat. John Southworth) [composer: Hoagy Carmichael] / So it Goes (feat. Robin Dann) / It's Tulip Season (feat. Felicity Williams) / My Man (feat. Jennifer Castle) [composers: Maurice Yvain/Channing Pollock]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Main Hall (Ryan Driver’s Big 5-0), March 30, 2024.

The Ryan Driver Sextet feat. John Southworth - Stardust

The Ryan Driver Sextet feat. Robin Dann - So it Goes

The Ryan Driver Sextet feat. Felicity Williams - It's Tulip Season

The Ryan Driver Sextet feat. Jennifer Castle - My Man

This wonderful evening was intriguing on several levels, besides being a warm gathering of many familiar faces to celebrate a landmark birthday for Ryan Driver (as well as the 25th anniversary of the Sextet/Quintet/Quartet). It was also a somewhat-rare opportunity to hear the sextet outside their regular surroundings in the Southern Cross, and performing in the bigger room, with the band spread out and a bit more attention paid to micing and amplification gave some new shadings to the group's sound.

It also expanded the palette by bringing up a parade of guest vocalists for most of the songs — with the singers above being joined by Alex Samaras, Doug Tielli, Alex Lukashevsky, and Sandro Perri. Comcomitant with that, the repertoire expanded somewhat beyond the group's usual standards, brushing up against pop, as well as bringing in a couple of Driver's own tunes (including one originally written for The Titillators). For a group that can be astonishing in its regular way on any given month, it was a treat to see this special occasion widescreen version.

[The Ryan Driver Sextet will be back in the Southern Cross on their regular last-Friday-of-the-month timeslot on April 26th.]

Recording: Lima/West/Kay/Newman

Artist: Liz Lima/Brodie West/Andrew Kay/Paul Newman

Song: Job's Anguish [last section] [composer: Brian Abbott]

Recorded at Gerrard Art Space (Faster Presents: juice?$#%*), March 23, 2024.

Liz Lima/Brodie West/Andrew Kay/Paul Newman - Job's Anguish [last section]

This night of improvisations closed out with a clarinet quartet essaying this new composition ("a sort of collage piece," it was explained) from Brian Abbott, who also conducted.

You can check out the complete piece over on youtube:

[This is the sort of thing you might hear more of at gatherings of the Cowbell Composer Collective, who have just started a residency at The Tranzac on second Sundays of the month, so keep an eye for further announcments on that front.]

#mfs15 playlist: styrofoamNosebleedPrincess

MFS has turned fifteen! My introductory thoughts on this landmark can be found here, but long story short: I asked some folks from the MFS community to help me celebrate by picking some selections from the archives, and possibly sharing some thoughts or stories.

Today's list is from styrofoamNosebleedPrincess.

For the past decade and a half, one of Toronto’s most devoted music fans has been extremely busy organising and documenting more than a few metric fucktonnes of concerts. It is in this latter capacity that we now celebrate the hard work of the one and only Joe Strutt. It was after his recording a performance of Alison Cameron playing solo at a Quiet Bedrooms show that I first met Joe. Before long, I’d see him at many more concerts. From freak folk to modern composition to chimurenga, Joe’s taste in music is highly eclectic. Since I also enjoy a wide range of musical styles, Joe’s always been an interesting person to talk with about music, to attend concerts curated by, and to use as a yardstick. To wit, if you’re at a concert and you see him there, you know you’re in for a treat. Meeting people at a Joe-show is also often a good time in its own right. So here are five recordings from Mechanical Forest Sound which stand out to me. Keeping it down to so few was no simple challenge, with the abundant wealth of his collection.

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Spires That In The Sunset Rise - unknown

Recorded at The White House (Burn Down the Capital presents), April 25, 2013.

Craig Dunsmuir and Dun-Dun Band - Untitled (12→13→14→15→16→12→21)

Recorded at The Great Hall (Long Winter 4.4), February 19, 2016.

Thomas Mapfumo & The Blacks Unlimited - Nhamo

Recorded at Afrofest (Queen's Park), July 10, 2011.

Brodie West/Naomi McCarroll-Butler/Patrick O'Reilly - unknown

Recorded at Humber Loop (A More Beautiful Journey Launch Event), September 1, 2022.

Sarah Hennies & Germaine Liu - Sisters [excerpt]

Recorded at Sheppard West Station (Intersection Day 1: Music For Subways), August 29, 2019.

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You can always click on the tags below to look for more stuff from these artists. Has there been five or so songs posted here that made an impact on you? If you'd like to get in on the action and make a list, feel free to send me an email: mechanicalforestsound@gmail.com.

Recording: The Ryan Driver Quintet

Artist: The Ryan Driver Quintet

Song: I Didn't Know What Time It Was [composed by Richard Rodgers/Lorenz Hart]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), December 29, 2023.

The Ryan Driver Quintet - I Didn't Know What Time It Was

Another evening of ballads from Ryan Driver and company, this time in quintet mode, sans Michael Davidson's vibes. The remaining members found lots of space to explore the deserted dancefloors and broken hearts in Driver's binder of standards, ambling along as required and working upwards into a couple gently-chaotic crescendos.

You can check out some selections from the evening over on youtube:

[The quintet/sextet will be back in the Southern Cross on Friday, January 26th, and, coming up sooner than that, Ryan Driver will be leading The TitIllators this Saturday (January 6th) at The Tranzac.]

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: The Brodie West Sextet

Artist: The Brodie West Sextet

Song: Fortress [composer: Brodie West]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), August 9, 2023.

The Brodie West Sextet - Fortress

This one-off hybrid unit saw guest Chris Pruden sitting in on piano as well as Michael Davidson on vibes. Most of the two sets were given over to West's Quartet material, but there was also an epically-extended ramble through Charlie Parker's "Donna Lee" (which is the purview of The Donna Lee Quartet, one of West's other occasional units).

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

Recording: Ways

Artist: Ways

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at June 21, 2023 at The Tranzac's Main Hall (TONE Festival).

Ways - [excerpt]

Although on paper Brodie West and Evan Cartwright's duo for sax and percussion was cut from the same cloth as the evening's headliners, they were also the inversion of the headliners as well — for while Zoh Amba and Chris Corsano would start with an explosion of sound and pull back into quiet moments, Ways' ways are to start with the smallest, most fragile of gestures and build up from there.

Recording: Many People

Artist: Many People

Songs: [two excerpts]

Recorded at Wenona Lodge (Karen Ng's Monthly), April 18, 2023.

Many People - [excerpt 1]

Many People - [excerpt 2]

A return apearance from this... well, call it more of a "concept" than a "band", with Karen Ng gathering together as many horn players as can be wrangled. The twist here was some extra spacialization, with the crew (on this night: Ng plus Leland Whitty, Kae Murphy, Brodie West, Jay Hay and Ted Crosby) spreading along the length of the room, giving some incredible in-person surround-sound vibes. (The stereoification on the recording here can only give a taste of how lovely it was!)

You can also check out some footage of the (nearly) full set from Many Penguins People over on youtube (though do note it was impossible to get more than half the group in the frame at any given time!):

Recording: Ballyk/Ng/Stadhouders/West

Artist: Mark Ballyk/Karen Ng/Jasper Stadhouders/Brodie West

Songs: [set 1 excerpt, in two parts]

Recorded at February 21, 2023 at Wenona Lodge (Music hosted by Karen Ng).

Mark Ballyk/Karen Ng/Jasper Stadhouders/Brodie West - [set 1 excerpt, part 1]

Mark Ballyk/Karen Ng/Jasper Stadhouders/Brodie West - [set 1 excerpt, part 2]

It's a treat having Amsterdam's Jasper Stadhouders around about town, and on this night at Karen Ng's monthly show at Wenona (every third Tuesday of the month!) he brought out guitar and bass to work alongside sax and clarinets from both Ng and Brodie West. Mark Ballyk, meanwhile, held things together behind the kit — at one point taking the notion of drum sticks so literally he hauled out a couple tree branches.

You can hear/see the whole second set over on youtube:

Late Addendum! you can now hear/purchase this whole set in a fine multi-track recording made my Mark Ballyk over on Bandcamp!

[Stadhouders will be joined by Lori Freedman and Allison Cameron at Track Could Bend tonight (March 7th), and will be opening the Women From Space Festival tomorrow night (March 8th) in a much-anticipated duo set with Karen Ng.]

Recording: West/Cole/Melanson/Zukerman

Artist: Brodie West/Josh Cole/Phil Melanson/Andrew Zukerman

Songs: [two excerpts]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), January 13, 2023.

Brodie West/Josh Cole/Phil Melanson/Andrew Zukerman - [set 1 excerpt, with baby]

Brodie West/Josh Cole/Phil Melanson/Andrew Zukerman - [set 2 excerpt]

A welcome return for this quintet, filling in in Colin Fisher's Musica Universalis timeslot. Josh Cole (double bass), Brodie West (saxophone/clarinet), Phil Melanson (percussion) and Andrew Zukerman (buchla easel/tapes) were joined for part of the first set by the youngest audience member, which fit right in with their own moody outbursts and cackles of delight.

Recording: The Ryan Driver Quintet

Artist: The Ryan Driver Quintet

Song: (How Little It Matters) How Little We Know [composers: Carolyn Leigh/Phillip Springer]

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), December 30, 2022.

The Ryan Driver Quintet - (How Little It Matters) How Little We Know

A pretty good way to close out a year's show-going by spending an evening with one of the city's great bands — Ryan Driver's standards combo here in quintet mode, sans vibes for the night (and with Josh Cole effortlessly sitting in on bass). Featuring the customary languid drift and wobbly excursions across a couple sets, this covered a lot of the band's usual territory, ranging from "You'll Never Know" to "I Know Why".

You can check out a few more songs over on youtube:

[Tania Gill will be sitting int for Ryan Driver at the group's next appearance, Friday, January 27th at The Tranzac.]