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Volume 17 Issue 1 - September 2011

  • Text
  • September
  • Jazz
  • Toronto
  • October
  • Concerts
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  • Gould
  • Arts
  • Musical

Zarzuela GoldThe

Zarzuela GoldThe GypsyPrincess Taptoo! The BedolfeFoundation HMS Pinafore gives us exciting newworks from the Composerand 24, at Theatre PasseMuraille. In November,it presents Pub Operasby Gareth Williams thatpremiered in Glasgow inJuly earlier this year. Thelibretto (by David Brock)is based on the stories ofthe patrons of Sloan’s Bar,Glasgow’s oldest pub, thathas played host to the citizens’betrothals, weddings,christenings and wakes.Then in June 2012, it willThe Enslavement and Liberation of OksanaG. by Aaron Gervais and Colleen Murphy,excerpts of which have been tantalizingaudiences for several seasons now. Seeawww.tapestrynewopera.com for more.Those with a taste for ground-breakingnew operas will have much to cheer them.On February 2, Soundstreams will presentSOUND JUDGEMENTWith the Toronto International FilmFestival coming up I thought itwould be good timing to have a lookIt would seem that even back in 1927there was some confusion about whatconstitutes jazz. Why else would they havecalled the movie The JazzSinger when its star, AlJolson — certainly a greatentertainer — was no morea jazz singer than W.C.Fields was a spokesman forthe temperance movement.But long before that, aless well-known fact is thatthe group known as TheOriginal Dixieland JazzBand showed up in a rareThe GoodFor Nothing. It was, ofcourse, a silent movie sothe ODJB could be seenbut not heard; but pianistEubie Blake and singerNoble Sissle made someexperimental short soundThe remarkable videocollection At The JazzBand Ball (Yazoo Video)Composer Kaija Saariaho.The Sealed Angel (1988) aliturgical work by Russiancomposer Rodion Shchedrinthat will be staged atKoerner Hall as choralopera with choreographyby the combined forces ofthe Elmer Iseler Singersand the Amadeus Choir.See www.soundstreams.cafor more.The 2011/12 seasonends with a bang withthe Canadian premiere ofPhilip Glass’s seminal 20thcenturyopera Einstein atthe Beachproduction of the work in 20 years, will befrom June 8 to 17. More information willbecome available. www.luminato.com.Christopher Hoile is a Toronto-basedwriter on opera and theatre. He can becontacted at opera@thewholenote.com.Lights, Camera, JazzJIM GALLOWAYAmerican jazz greatWarren Vaché.has some of the best clips of the 1925–1933of the period is Paul Whiteman’s The KingOf Jazz. There is a short sequence showingviolinist Joe Venuti and guitarist EddieAlso worth looking for is the pioneering1929 black movie Hallelujah which in one30 thewholenote.comSeptember 1–October 7, 2011MAARIT KYTÖHARJUCOURTESY OF WARREN VACHÉ

nightclub segment features Curtis Mosby’s Blue Blowers on hadpurchased a Panoram machine, a full 1,889 soundies were released.Add to this number the jukebox shorts made by the producers ofother presentation systems and the number of shorts is well over2,000. It is the most complete audiovisual picture available ofpopular music in the 1940s. Obviously a sound investment.jukebox device was developedGordon Keith Woodard andtaverns. In fact, over the nextfew years close to 30 projectionon the market.Along with television cameSnader telescriptions in 1950,music videos. They were aroundfor three or four years and all ofthe top jazz/pop/country starsmade these three and four minutemulti-cameras and live mics. Noplaybacks or lip-syncing!The Jazz Singer (1927).Moving into the 40s, Hollywood gave us Birth of the Blues (1941)which features the Jack Teagarden band; Cabin in the Sky (1943)Stormy WeatherBojangles, Cab Calloway, Fats Waller and the Nicholas Brothers.In the 50s along came the bio-pic: Young Man with a Horn (1950),loosely based on the life of Bix Beiderbecke; The Glenn Miller Story(1953); The “Benny Goodman Story (1955); The Five Pennies (1959),The Gene Krupa Story (1959).people to jazz.Somewhat closer to reality were The Gig (1985) with WarrenVaché, Round MidnightBird (1987).of this fascinating topic, but mention should be made of a few ofThe Last of the Blue Devils, afeature-length portrait of Kansas City’s old-time jazzmen made byBruce Ricker, who died in May of this year; and a couple by TorontoBIX (1981) and Time Is All You’veGot for Best Documentary. Nowadays, there is a vast amount of jazzavailable on the internet. All you need is time.Mention of The Gig and Warren Vaché gives me a natural lead-into the fact that Vaché and an all-star line-up of Canadian and USmusicians will be in Toronto for The Ken Page Memorial TrustGala on September 15. The KPMT supports Canadian jazz and jazzmusicians with an emphasis on education. It will be held again atof The WholeNote. Please check it out and I’ll hope to see you therefor this worthy cause.Jim Galloway is a saxophonist, band leader andformer artistic director of Toronto Downtown Jazz. Hecan be contacted at jazznotes@thewholenote.com.at St. Philip’s Anglican Church | EtobicokevespersA casual, relaxing hour of prayer andgreat music with the city’s finest musicians Sunday, September 11, 4:00 pmMariachi | Mexico Amigo Band Sunday, September 25, 4:00 pmKlezmer | the Yiddish Swingtet Sunday, October 2, 4:00 pmJazz | Lara Solnicki Quartet withPat LaBarbera, Reg Schwager,+ Neil Swainson Sunday, October 16, 4:00 pmJazz | Laura Fernandez Quartet Sunday, October 30, 4:00 pmJazz | Kate Schutt Sunday, November 13, 4:00 pmJazz | Jorge Lopez Trio Sunday, November 27, 4:00 pmJazz | Mike Murley Quartet Sunday, December 11, 4:00 pmJazz | Graham Howes QuartetSt. Philip’s Anglican Church | Etobicoke25 St. Phillips Road (near Royal York & Dixon)September 1–October 7, 2011 thewholenote.com 31

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