Volume 24 Issue 6 - March 2019

Aimée Butcher her 75th

Aimée Butcher her 75th birthday on November 7 of last year; to commemorate the event, Decca Records organized a tribute concert, with artists such as James Taylor, Diana Krall, and Rufus Wainwright performing songs from Mitchell’s catalogue at The Music Center in Los Angeles. The recordings from this event will be released on March 8 as Joni 75: A Birthday Celebration. Mitchell, of course, has had a profound influence on multiple generations of Canadian musicians, and it is no great surprise that March will see numerous Mitchell-themed concerts taking place at various venues in Toronto. At Hugh’s Room, singer Mia Sheard presents two consecutive nights (March 1and 2) of “Songs Are Like Tattoos,” a tribute to Mitchell, featuring bassist Chris Gartner, pianist Tania Gill, drummer Ryan Granville-Martin, saxophonist Ernie Tollar, guitarist Joel Schwartz, and guest vocalists David Sereda, Marla and David Celia, Lori Cullen and Jennifer Foster. (Sheard has been performing a version of this show since 2008, when she put on her first Mitchell Laura Swankey and Patrick O'Reilly tribute.) Also at Hugh’s Room, on March 25: “The Life and Music of Joni Mitchell,” a lecture and concert presented by musicologist Mike Daley, who will lead a discussion about Mitchell, as well as a performance with Jill Daley and Mia Sheard. Fittingly, given Mitchell’s contributions to jazz, and her collaborations with musicians such as Jaco Pastorius, Wayne Shorter and Pat Metheny, her work will also be represented at The Rex. On Wednesday March 20, jazz vocalist Aimée Butcher will lead “For the Roses III,”a tribute to Mitchell, accompanied by saxophonist Matt Woroshyl, guitarist Brandon Wall, keyboardist Joel Visentin, bassist Jeff Deegan, and drummer Robin Claxton. Women From Space Festival While the abundance of Joni Mitchell tributes speaks to the enduring power of a singular artist’s living legacy, the inaugural Women From Space Festival – taking place from March 8 to March 11, in celebration of International Women’s Day – seeks to provide a platform for exciting D. In the Clubs (Mostly Jazz) Jazz Bistro, The 251 Victoria St. 416-363-5299 jazzbistro.ca (full schedule) Mar 1, 2 9pm Paul Marinaro – Honouring Nat ‘King’ Cole. Mar 6 7pm Lisa Particelli’s GNO Jazz Jam. Mar 7, 8, 9 9pm Mark Eisenman Quartet. Mar 10 7pm Sasha Williamson. Mar 14 8:30pm Cornelia Luna w/ Bill King Trio. Mar 15, 16 9pm Steve Koven Trio. Mar 17 7:30pm Tracey Gallant – Tribute to Nancy Wilson. Mar 20 8pm Noam Lemish Trio feat. Mike Murley. Mar 21 8:30pm Colin Hunter and The Anthony Terpstra Seventet. Mar 22, 23 8:30pm Colin Hunter and The Joe Sealy Quartet. Mar 27 8pm Janet Whiteway and Friends. Mar 28 8pm Payadora. Mar 29 9pm Sean Harkness / Mike Herriot Quartet. Mar 30 9pm Ori Dagan Variety Show. Sunday, March 10 at 4:30pm Amanda Tosoff Quartet Christ Church Deer Park, 1570 Yonge St. (north of St. Clair at Heath St.) Admission is free; donations are welcome. Jazz Room, The Located in the Huether Hotel, 59 King St. N., Waterloo. 226-476-1565 kwjazzroom.com (full schedule) All shows: 8:30-11:30pm unless otherwise indicated. Attendees must be 19+. Cover charge varies (generally -) Mar 1, 2 Comedy Festival. Mar 2 Brownman Plays the Music of Miles Davis (in the Walper Hotel). Mar 3 Marie Goudy 12tet feat. Jocelyn Barth. Mar 8 Tim Moher Octet. Mar 9 David Occhipinti’s Camera Ensemble. Mar 15 Joni NehRita, Mary Catherine Pazzana, and Penderecki Quartet. Mar 16 Philippe Lemm Trio. Mar 22 The Mingus Appreciation Society. Mar 23 Laila Biali Quartet. Mar 29 Denise Pelley. Mar 30 Sean Harkness – Mike Herriot Quartet. Featuring some of Toronto’s best jazz musicians with a brief reflection by Jazz Vespers Clergy Sunday, March 31 at 4:30pm Tribute to Ben Webster Alex Dean, Neil Swainson, Mark Eisenman, Brian Barlow 416-920-5211 www.thereslifehere.org Lula Lounge 1585 Dundas St. W. 416-588-0307 lula.ca (full schedule) Every Fri 7:30pm Afterwork Global Party Series free before 8pm; Every Fri 8:30pm Havana Club Fridays ; Every Sat 10:30pm Salsa Saturdays . Mar 3 6pm SHINE Concert 2019. Mar 5 6:30pm Alex Pangman and her Alleycats, Red Hot Ramble. Mar 7 7pm IMPRINTS w/ Hannah Georgas and Special Guests. Mar 10 5:30pm Mandy Lagan with Origins. Mar 17 12pm Lula’s Drag Brunch Extravaganza. Mar 21 6:30pm The Best Of R&B Soul Vol. 3. Mar 24 4pm Projeto Forrobodó. Mar 26 5:30pm Speaker Slam: Love Lessons. Mar 31 9:45am (morning show) and 1:45pm (afternoon show) 12 th Annual MJMS Spring Recitals and Celebrations. Manhattans Pizza Bistro & Music Club 951 Gordon St., Guelph 519-767-2440 manhattans.ca (full schedule) All shows: PWYC. Every Tue Open Stage hosted by Paul and Jamie. Mây Cafe 876 Dundas St. W. 647-607-2032 maytoronto.com (full schedule) Mezzetta Restaurant 681 St. Clair Ave. W. 416-658-5687 mezzettarestaurant.com (full schedule) Every Wed 9 & 10:15pm Wednesday Concert Series. Mar 6 Bill McBirnie & Bernie Senensky. Mar 13 Mike Murley & Reg Schwager. Mar 20 Ted Quinlan & Mike Downes. Mar 27 Julia Pal & Eric St. Laurent. Monarch Tavern 12 Clinton St. 416-531-5833 themonarchtavern.com (full schedule) Mar 1 7:30pm The Good You’s w/ Guests. Mar 2 9pm Omhouse w/ Luge, Slurry. Mar 3 3pm Ragtime Orioles. Mar 5 8pm Belleville- Ville. Mar 7 8pm Bleary Eyed, Poor You, Baby- Band. Mar 8 9pm Mark T Band tribute to Jerry Garcia & The Grateful Dead. Mar 9 9pm The High Loves, Knifey, Pretty Matty, Jack The Lads. Mar 11 7:30pm Martin Loomer & His Orange Devils Orchestra. Mar 14 9pm The High Dials w/ B-17, Lacquer. Mar 15 9pm VERSA, Neon Bloom, Neon Wave, For Keeps. Mar 16 9pm Bamboo w/ Boonie, She Wears Black. Mar 21 9pm Psychic Void w/ Dark Trip, Good Grief. Mar 23 9pm Cherry Garcia Band. Mar 28 8:30pm Matt Maltese. Mar 29 9pm The Gooch Palms w/ The Effens, Pacer. N’awlins Jazz Bar & Dining 299 King St. W. 416-595-1958 nawlins.ca All shows: No cover/PWYC. Every Tue 6:30pm Stacie McGregor. Every Wed 7pm The Jim Heineman Trio. Every Thur 8pm Nothin’ But the Blues with Joe Bowden. Every Fri & Sat 8:30pm N’awlins All Star Band; Every Sun 7pm Brooke Blackburn. 58 | March 1 – April 7, 2019 thewholenote.com

newer musicians to showcase their craft and to develop their audience. One of the stated goals of the Women From Space Festival is to “celebrate women’s artistic voices and achievements and to draw attention to an underrepresentation of women in free improvisation and jazz.” Taking place at a different venue (Wenona Craft Beer Lodge, The Tranzac, Arraymusic, and Burdock Music Hall) for each day of its fourday run, the festival will include 16 separate acts, each of which will play a half-hour set. Organized by festival co-founders Bea Labikova and Kayla Milmine, both of whom will also be performing, the festival will feature a number of names that will be familiar to WholeNote readers, including Laura Swankey, whose EP Once More: for solo voice and electronics was covered in The WholeNote EP Review, Mingjia Chen, whose debut EP Feel Seen, featuring the Tortoise Orchestra, was also covered in The WholeNote EP Review, and Christine Duncan, who will be performing with Swankey and guitarist Patrick O’Reilly to close out the festival on March 11 at Burdock. Duncan is a prominent figure within the creative music community: she performs regularly, teaches in the jazz program at the University of Toronto, and conducts the Element Choir, a unique, improvising ensemble that has collaborated with artists such as Tanya Tagaq, that has been featured on the soundtrack to the major motion picture The Witch, and that has sung, in a variety of different incarnations, at major festivals throughout the country. Beyond these professional accomplishments, Duncan remains a leading vocalist in her own right, and her set with Swankey and O’Reilly (with whom she’s previously collaborated) is likely to be a festival highlight. On March 15, guitarist Nir Felder plays The Rex, joining the Montreal bassist Rémi-Jean LeBlanc’s band, which also features pianist Rafael Zaldivar and drummer Samuel Joly. Felder has made a name for himself over the past few years as an exciting new voice on the electric guitar, with credits on albums by artists such as David Weiss, Terri Lyne Carrington and Janek Gwizdala, as well as his own much-lauded album Golden Age, released in 2014. Felder’s performance with LeBlanc’s band represents an ongoing collaboration, which included performances at the Montreal International Jazz Festival in summer 2018, the TD Ottawa Winter Jazz Festival in February of this year, and in Guelph and Kingston on March 16 and 17, respectively, following the quartet’s performance at The Rex. While LeBlanc is a strong upright bassist, the focus of this ensemble is on the intersection of jazz, rock and funk, with strong electric bass grooves underpinning the group’s improvisational flourishes. MAINLY CLUBS, MOSTLY JAZZ QUICKPICKS !! MAR 1 AND 2, 8:30PM: Mia Sheard, Hugh’s Room. Singer Mia Sheard presents two nights of music in tribute to Joni Mitchell at Hugh’s Room, a show that Sheard has put on, in various iterations, since 2008. !! MAR 8 TO 11: Women From Space Festival, Various Venues. In celebration of International Women’s Day, the Women From Space Festival presents 16 acts over four venues, with an emphasis on improvised music. !! MAR 15, 9:45PM: Rémi-Jean LeBlanc and Nir Felder, The Rex. American jazz guitarist Nir Felder joins Montreal bassist Rémi-Jean LeBlanc’s quartet for an evening of rock- and funk-inflected jazz. !! MAR 20, 9:30PM: Aimée Butcher, The Rex. Jazz vocalist Aimée Butcher leads her band in tribute to Joni Mitchell, with an emphasis on the jazz side of Mitchell’s body of work. Colin Story is a jazz guitarist, writer and teacher based in Toronto. He can be reached at www. colinstory.com, on Instagram and on Twitter. Nir Felder D. In the Clubs (Mostly Jazz) Nice Bistro, The 117 Brock St. N., Whitby. 905-668-8839 nicebistro.com (full schedule) Live jazz and dinner, .00 per person. Dinner from 6pm and music from 7pm to 9pm. Mar 27 Paul Grecco and Laura Gauthier. Old Mill, The 21 Old Mill Rd. 416-236-2641 oldmilltoronto.com (full schedule) The Home Smith Bar: No reservations. No cover. food/drink minimum. All shows: 7:30-10:30pm unless otherwise listed. Mar 1 Canadian Jazz Quartet & Friends. Mar 2 June Garber Quartet. Mar 5 Gene DiNovi. Mar 6 Alexis Baro Quartet. Mar 7 Sam Broverman Trio. Mar 8 Roy Patterson / Brian Dickinson Duo. Mar 9 Brian Blain’s Blues Campfire Jam. Mar 13 John MacLeod + 3. Mar 14 LJ Folk Quartet. Mar 15 Steve D’Angelo Quartet. Mar 16 Nathalie Kraemer Trio. Mar 20 Jenna Marie Pinard. Mar 21 Bob DeAngelis and Friends. Mar 22 Patricia Murray Trio. Mar 23 Steven Cole Group. Mar 27 Russ Little Quartet. Mar 28 Adrean Farrugia’s Jazz Party. Mar 29 Jocelyn Barth Trio. Mar 30 Mike Murley Trio. Only Café, The 972 Danforth Ave. 416-463-7843 theonlycafe.com (full schedule) Pilot Tavern, The 22 Cumberland Ave. 416-923-5716 thepilot.ca All shows: 3pm. No cover. Mar 2 Steve Holt Quartet. Mar 9 Steve Koven Trio. Mar 16 Jeremy Price Quartet. Mar 23 Dan Faulk Quartet. Mar 30 Norbert Botos Quartet. Poetry Jazz Café 224 Augusta Ave. 416-599-5299 poetryjazzcafe.com (full schedule) Reposado Bar & Lounge 136 Ossington Ave. 416-532-6474 reposadobar.com (full schedule) Reservoir Lounge, The 52 Wellington St. E. 416-955-0887 reservoirlounge.com (full schedule). Every Tue & Sat, 8:45pm Tyler Yarema and his Rhythm. Every Wed 9pm The Digs. Every Thurs 9:45pm Stacey Kaniuk. Every Fri 9:45pm Dee Dee and the Dirty Martinis. Rex Hotel Jazz & Blues Bar, The 194 Queen St. W. 416-598-2475 therex.ca (full schedule) Call for cover charge info. Mar 1 4pm Hogtown Syncopators, 6:30pm Tetrahedron, 9:45pm Jake Chisholm. Mar 2 12pm The Sinners Choir, 3:30pm Swing Shift Big Band, 7:30pm Justin Bacchus, 9:45pm Kevin Breit’s FolkAlarm. Mar 3 12pm Excelsior Dixieland Jazz Band, 3:30pm Club Django, 7pm Wire Circus, 9:30pm Dave Young Quartet. Mar 4 6:30pm U of T Student Jazz Ensembles, 9:30pm Mike Malone & Writers Jazz Orchestra. Mar 5 6:30pm Sammy Jackson Duo, 9:30pm Classic Rex Jazz Jam. Mar 6 6:30pm Nathan Hiltz, 9:30pm Patrick Smith Quintet. Mar 7 6:30pm Kevin Quain, 9:30pm Tony Malaby w/ Nick Fraser Quartet. Mar 8 4pm Hogtown Syncopators, 6:30pm Tetrahedron, 9:45pm BMC Organ Trio. Mar 9 12pm The Sinners Choir, 3:30pm TJO Big Band, 7:30pm Justin Bacchus, 9:45pm Carn / Davidson Nine. Mar 10 12pm Excelsior Dixieland Jazz Band, 3:30pm Red Hot Ramble, 7pm Wire Circus, 9:45pm Carn / Davidson Nine. Mar 11 6:30pm U of T Student Jazz Ensembles, 9:30pm Sam Dickinson Quartet. Mar 12 6:30pm Sammy Jackson Duo, 9:30pm Michael Eckert’s Neon Eagle. Mar 13 6:30pm Nathan Hiltz, 9:30pm Jeremy Price Quintet. Mar 14 6:30pm Kevin Quain, 9:30pm Kelsley Grant & Brian O’Kane Quintet. Mar 15 4pm Hogtown Syncopators, 6:30pm Tetrahedron, 9:45pm Nir Felder w/ Remi-Jean LeBlanc. Mar 16 12pm The Sinners Choir, 3:30pm Jerome Godboo, 7:30pm Justin Bacchus, 9:45pm Turcotte & O’Kane. Mar 17 12pm Excelsior Dixieland Jazz Band, 3:30pm Beverly Taft Quart, 7pm Wire Circus, 9:30pm Philippe Lemm. Mar 18 6:30pm U of T Student Jazz Ensembles, 9:30pm Brigham Phillips Big Band. Mar 19 6:30pm Sammy Jackson Duo, 9:30pm Chris Wallace’s Many Names. Mar 20 6:30pm Nathan Hiltz, 9:30pm Aimee Butcher’s Joni Mitchell Tribute. Mar 21 6:30pm Kevin Quain, 9:30pm Paul DeLong’s One Word. Mar 22 4pm Hogtown Syncopators, 6:30pm Tetrahedron, 9:45pm Montuno Police. Mar 23 12pm The Sinners Choir, 3:30pm Laura Hubert Band, 7:30pm Justin Bacchus, 9:45pm Anti-Gravity Machine. Mar 24 12pm Hart House Jazz Ensemble, 3:30pm Dr. Nick & The Rollercoasters, 7pm Wire Circus, 9:45pm Terra Hazelton. Mar 25 6:30pm U of T Student Jazz Ensembles, 8:30pm John MacLeod’s Rex Hotel Orchestra. Mar 26 6:30pm Sammy Jackson Duo, 9:30pm Nick Teehan Group. Mar 27 6:30pm Nathan Hiltz, 9:30pm Nick Teehan Group. Mar 28 6:30pm Kevin Quain, 9:30pm Mark Eisenman Quintet. Mar 29 4pm Hogtown Syncopators, 6:30pm Tetrahedron, 9:30pm Mark Eisenman Quintet. Mar 30 12pm The Sinners Choir, 3:30pm Chris Hunt Tentet + 2, 7:30pm Justin Bacchus, 9:45pm Al Henderson Quintet. Mar 31 12pm Excelsior Dixieland Jazz Band, 3:30pm Woodshed Orchestra, 7pm Wire Circus, 9:30pm Sophia Perlman. Salty Dog Bar & Grill, The 1980 Queen St. E. 416-849-5064 thesaltydog.ca (full schedule) Every Tue 7-10pm Jazz Night. Every Thu 8:30pm Karaoke. Every Fri 9:30pm Blues Jam - house band with weekly featured guest. Every Sat 3pm Salty Dog Saturday Matinée. Sauce on Danforth 1376 Danforth Ave. 647-748-1376 sauceondanforth.com All shows: No cover. Every Mon 9pm Gareth Parry’s Book Club. Every Tue 6pm Julian Fauth. Every Wed Paul Reddick & Friends. Every Thu 8pm Steve thewholenote.com March 1 – April 7, 2019 | 59