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Volume 14 - Issue 9 - June 2009

Green Pages Summer Music

Green Pages Summer Music GuideLeading the parade (2): Montreal Baroque FestivalAll-Canadian Jazz FestivalSep 25 - 27Memorial Park, Port Hope, ONThe All-Canadian Jazz FestivalPort Hope presents a weekendof the country’s finest jazz, in afriendly small-town setting justone hour east of Toronto. Fridaynight’s free-admission openerfeatures the Danny Marks All-Star Blues Revue. The OliverJones Trio plays the SaturdayNight headline concert. Daytimeconcerts include Dixie Demons,June Garber, Mireille ProulxDuo. Time Warp (Barry Elmes,drums; Kevin Turcotte, trumpet;Kelly Jefferson, saxophone; andAl Henderson, bass) presents theEllingtonia Suite, the TD CanadaTrust Young Jazz Showcase,Robi Botos Trio’s Tribute to OscarPeterson, Diana Panton withGuido Basso, Don Thompson andReg Schwager, Carlos Del JuncoQuartet, and The AmbassadorsBig Band with special guest CarolMcCartney. In Memorial Park,downtown Port Hope; park islicensed and there are food vendorson site.905-885-1938www.allcanadianjazz.caBayfield Festival of SongJun 6, 7, 10, 12, 13Bayfield Town Hall, Bayfield, ONCelebrate the Art of Song! Sevenconcerts take place in the historicTown Hall on the Square in thisbeautiful village on Lake Huron,west of Stratford, renowned forits beaches, its sunsets and itsrestaurants. Celebrity recitalswill feature two of Canada’s finestsingers, Shannon Mercer andBrett Polegato. A Bayfield BoatSong and Voices on the Squarepresent four brilliant young singers,Eve-Lyn de la Haye, EricaIris Huang, Patrick Jang andPhilip Kalmanovitch. Schubert inthe Morning and À Quatre mainsinclude piano-duets from StephenRalls and Bruce Ubukata, pianistsin all concerts.416-735-7982www.aldeburghconnection.orgWe at The WholeNote are big fans of summer festivals – and we’reproud to welcome you to our fifth annual Green Pages guide tosummer festivals.This is the time of year when musicians play in parks,churches and even the streets. Summer festivals – whether takingplace in the countryside or in a big city – often provide experiencesthat can’t be had at any other time of the year. They allow performersto experiment with repertoire and ideas that might not be suitablein the “regular” season. And, for audience members, hearing musicBlue Bridge Festivalin new and different venues somehow makes it easier to listen withThe 3rd Annual Blue Bridge Festival:fresh ears. Perhaps this is why summer festival concerts are can be soa River of Music, Poetry and Song inmemorable.York RegionThe following pages contain a rich and varied assortment ofJun 5-7forty music festivals. You’ll find classical music festivals, large andYork Region, ONsmall – some offering a wide range of programming, others specializingin orchestral music, chamber repertoire, early music, or opera.Blue Bridge Festival begins withFriday, June 5th the 3rd AnnualAs well, there are festivals for jazz, blues, folk musics of all kinds. Art of Jazz Globala cabaret at The Briars, Sutton,Some are right here in the Toronto area, others are located in OntarioJazz Village 2009with hosts Ardeleana, rising-starand Quebec, and there are also a few festivals from the Maritimes.opera singers, jazz-folk musicians,new-music premieres, andSome are new, some are old – and some are celebrating anniversaries. 4th Annual Art of Jazz Global JazzThe Collingwood Music Festival turns ten years old this Village 2009 - Italian Styleaward-winning poets. Saturdaysummer: and for the last decade, the festival has presented a wide Jun 5-9flows to Jackson’s Point for anarray of musics and musicians. This summer, the line-up includes Distillery Historic District, outdoor concert, then historic St.the Elmer Iseler Singers, the Joe Lagan Jazz Quintet and the Nagata TorontoPaul’s Anglican Church, Newmarket,for the Gala Concert,Shachu Japanese drum ensemble. Westben Concerts has also beenThe 2009 festival honours Italianmaking music for a decade, in the festival’s famous Barn. This summer’shighlights include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Mozart’sjazz and culture. The Distillery featuring Haydn’s Mass in awill be transformed into the Time of War. Sunday the FestivalCosì fan tutte, performed by the University of British Columbia OperaEnsemble. Also ten years old is Toronto’s Muhtadi Internationalfestival nella distilleria where partners with Varley Gallery,24 artists will perform live jazz Unionville, for a matinee concertDrumming Festival, billed as the largest drum event in the country.on three stages. Featured artists and Carnival of the Arts, withIf a tenth anniversary marks a “coming of age” for a summerfestival, a 30th anniversary makes for a venerable institution.include: Romano Trio featuring strolling poets, mask-parade,Shelly Berger and Vito Rezza, music, and Canoe Ballet to embarkedOpera Singers’ Arias onThe Elora Festival was founded in 1979, and Noel Edison has beenwith special guest Jane Bunnett;the event’s chief driving force for its entire history. (He just receivedRoberta Gambarini together with TooGood Pond.the Order of Ontario for his efforts.) This summer they’re celebrating30 years with such festive fare as Orff’s Carmina Burana andNeil Swainson, and the Canadian289-470-1099debut of Anacaona. Free daytimewww.bluebridgefestival.comPurcell’s Fairy Queen. Also in 1979, the Festival of the Sound wasconcerts feature: Pat Martinofounded by pianist Anton Kuerti, although it’s been run for manyOrgan Trio with Tony Monaco,years by clarinetist James Campbell. Six years ago Parry Sound’sBoxwood Festival & WorkshopThe Sicilian Jazz Project, Ritafestival got its own hall, on the shores of Georgian Bay – and thisJul 19-26Chiarelli, Lisa Particelli’s Girlssummer the Charles W. Stockey Centre will resound with the CanadianBrass, the Elmer Iseler Singers and the piano duo of AnagnosonLunenburg, NSNight Out, Sienna Dahlen Quintetand more. AOJ continues traditionssuch as All Star Jam, Wom-traditions amid one of NorthDiscover musical & danceand Kinton, among others.You’ll find all of this and much more in The WholeNote’sen in Jazz and Jazz for Juniors. America’s most exquisite 18thGreen Pages – which are laid out in alphabetical order, with short416-840-7663 century seaside towns. Concerts,descriptions, phone numbers and websites, so you can begin to planwww.artofjazz.org dances, sessions, classes, lecturesyour summer musical adventures. We hope you have a musical summer!CONTINUES ON PAGE 4512 WWW.THEWHOLENOTE.COM JUNE 1 - JULY 7, 2009

eat by beat: jazzSummertimingBy Ori DaganLegendary Canadian jazz drummerNorman Marshall Villeneuvehas been in the musicbusiness for over 50 years. Theconsummate entertainer can befound playing all over our city.In addition to being the housedrummer for Lisa Particelli’sGirls Night Out vocalist-friendlyjazz jam (www.girlsnightoutjazz.com) on Wednesday nights atChalkers Pub, the veteran nowhosts a special jazz brunch onthe Chalkers patio every Sundayfrom 12-3pm featuring a differenttrio each week. “I only hire themif they can play,” he likes to say,Villeneuvealways followed by ringing laughter.Back in the mid-1990s, Villeneuve initiated a patio jazz musicpolicy at Whistler’s, located at 995 Broadview Avenue. It startedwith Sundays, then Thursdays were added, and by 2000 he was playingat the corner of Broadview and Mortimer three times a week.“I am always happy to be working, but to tell you the truth, workingon that corner was difficult. You’ve got the cars and the buses withtheir stinkin’ motors, somebody plays a nice bass solo and – ta-da! –here comes the fire truck! But I’m very excited about this new patiogig up at Chalkers Pub. We should be on the patio by the first weekof June.” The great news for NMV, his fellow musicians and thegeneral public is that at Chalkers Pub the music is moved inside incase of rain.Find Norman Marshall Villeneuve at Chalkers every Sunday 12-3pm and every Wednesday 8:30-midnight with Lisa Particelli’s GNO;special GNO showcases as part of Art of Jazz on June 6 and 7 from2:30-4pm.Three-time Juno award winningcomposer and multi-instrumentalistJane Bunnett is one of thecountry’s most revered jazz artists.This summer she’s also oneof the busiest, touring with 18musicians (“Madness!”) includingCuban vocal group Desandann,the core of last year’s triumphantEmbracing Voices. Bunnett isalso the artistic director of Artof Jazz (www.artofjazz.org), aninspired interdisciplinary festivalin its fourth year that takes overthe Distillery District June 5-7.Bunnett“Weather really does make allthe difference,” she says, reflecting on the perils of putting togethera predominantly outdoor festival. “It’s not fun as a performer toplay in crappy weather, and of course the audience don’t come outas much. Plus of course you have to deal with all the issues withsoundboards and so on. But when the weather is good, it just puts asmile on everybody’s face. So we pray for the good weather, that’sfor sure.”On playing on outdoor stages, she shares the following wisdom:“I think you have to change your material a little bit. When you’replaying to a really large audience, you’ve got to pick music thatmakes a strong statement – often an outdoor stage is going to entail anon-paying audience, so you’re going to get a lot of people that arenot totally familiar with the jazz idiom. There will be a lot of peoplethat might be new to the music. So you want to play music thatmakes bolder strokes than, say, something very intricate.”PHOTO:ORI DAGAN PHOTO:ORI DAGAN JUNE 1 - JULY 7, 2009 WWW.THEWHOLENOTE.COM 13

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