FYI talent roundup of new albums, tours…

Some music is intended to paint a romantic scene – a candlelit dinner, a walk along a moonlit beach. Quiet Nights – Diana Krall’s twelfth album – ain’t about that. Using Brazil as a musical point of reference, the award-winning pianist and singer is not suggesting a night out; she means to stay in.

“It’s not coy. It’s not ‘peel me a grape,’ little girl stuff. I feel this album’s very womanly – like you’re lying next to your lover in bed whispering this in their ear.”

She’s not kidding. From Krall’s refreshing version of “Where or When,” to an utterly soul-stilling rendition of “You’re My Thrill,” the ten songs on Quiet Nights are disarming in their intimacy.

Even those already familiar with the breathy vocals and rhythmic lilt in her music – and now there are millions – will be taken aback by just how far the music pushes, unabashedly, into the realm of sweet surrender. “It’s a sensual, downright erotic record and it’s intended to be that way.”

Krall is the first to credit the musical team she assembled – her loyal quartet, ace producer Tommy LiPuma, engineer Al Schmitt plus legendary arranger Claus Ogerman – for much of the seductive power on Quiet Nights. But there’s a deeper, palpable sense of maturity that she brought to the recording as well. “Most of my singing and playing on the album is really just first or second takes. ‘You’re My Thrill,’ was a second take – “Too Marvelous,” first take.”

“She’s completely matured,” says Tommy LiPuma, who should know, having first worked with Krall in 1994. “Even in the past few years. She approaches her vocal phrasing muc h more like an instrumentalist than a straight singer. It’s in her reading of the lyrics, and the timbre of her voice, much more misty like Peggy Lee in her mature period.” (“I didn’t want to over sing — I was drawing also from Julie London very strongly on this album,” Krall confesses, noting that such influences are not always conscious on her part. “It just came out that way.”)

As such, the Brazilian focus of Krall’s new album could not have been a more natural next step. “She’s been very sympathetic to this music for a long time,” notes LiPuma. “When we did The Look of Love, we were very much leaning in the bossa nova direction. Quiet Nights is really a celebration of this music. Diana sings three Brazilian classics, she rhythmically turned four standards into that style, and three ballads. So really there are ten songs on the album of which seven are just straight up bossa novas.”

It makes sense that Quiet Nights (also the English name of the bossa nova classic “Corcovado” that is the title track) draws much of its musical spirit from the land that puts the “carnal” into its annual Carnaval celebration. “I was inspired to do this record because of my trip last year to Brazil,” says Krall, who returned to Rio de Janeiro to shoot a concert for a new DVD release. “Then I just kept going back and found that everywhere you go you still hear the sounds of Jobim and bossa nova.”

Krall – at the age of 43 – has experience in her favor. Born in Nanaimo, BC to a musical family – her father is a stride-style pianist and serious record collector — she grew up absorbing music that guided her future growth. She attended Berklee School of Music in the early ‘80s, then moved to Los Angeles where she continued her studies with bassists Ray Brown and John Clayton, drummer Jeff Hamilton and pianist Jimmy Rowles; Rowles convinced the young pianist to focus on her singing as well. By 1990, Krall relocated to New York City and began performing with a trio, and in 1993, she released her debut album on the Jim West Fusion 111 Canadian independent label.

Fifteen years later, she can look back over a stellar career path: in ’99, signed to Verve, her career exploded when When I Look in Your Eyes won a Grammy for best jazz vocal and became the first jazz disc to be nominated for Album of the Year in twenty-five years. In 2002, The Look of Love was a #1 bestseller in the US and a five-time platinum album in Canada. 2004’s The Girl in the Other Room, was her first to focus on her own songwriting (with six tunes co-written with husband Elvis Costello); 2005’s Christmas Songs proved one of the season’s best-sellers; and 2006’s From This Moment On was an upbeat, critical success that coincided with the birth of her twin sons – a life-affirming event that LiPuma feels enhanced Krall& rsquo;s continuing growth as a musician. “Motherhood definitely agrees with her—and marriage. I think she’s really come into her own.”

Months after the completion of her new Decca Universal album Easy Come, Easy Go, Marianne Faithfull still sounds amazed by the process and delighted with the results.

“We cut the album in eight days with just a few takes of each number. I know Miles Davis made Kind of Blue in two days but I think everyone was impressed by the pace we maintained and by our rate of success.

“We really worked on getting it done in one piece, and that was hard work, but the fact that we were all in the room together, the musicians and myself – that’s what gives this recording its urgency. What I liked and what I still enjoy hearing is the air blowing through the tracks: the space between the instruments, the space around my voice.”

The twenty-second album of her fabled career and her first for Universal Decca, Easy Come, Easy Go reunites Marianne Faithfull with producer Hal Willner in their first album-length collaboration since Strange Weather in 1987. (Hal also produced Marianne’s 1990 live set Blazing Away and three tracks on her 2005 release Before The Poison.) On the aural evidence, the passage of time has only strengthened Marianne’s abilities as a vocal interpreter and enhanced Hal’s formidable talents as a song selector and recording director.

“This album really was different to everything we’ve done before – in the method of recording, in the range of songs we chose,” says Marianne. “We have that history between us, and over that time Hal has become even more skilled at what he does. We were both in a very good place in our lives to do this album.”

Hal and Marianne ranged over nearly a century of pop music in choosing the songs for Easy Come, Easy Go. Billie Holiday’s brooding classic “ Solitude” (composed in 1934 by Duke Ellington) and Merle Haggard’s “Sing Me Back Home” (a Number One country hit in 1968) blend seamlessly with contemporary songs by Espers (“Children of Stone”), Morrissey (“Dear God Please Help Me”), and The Decembrists (“The Crane Wife 3”). In the assured treatments of Easy Come, Easy Go, this very diverse material sounds all of a piece, each composition adding new colors and images to the complete work.

The striking arrangement of Smokey Robinson’s “Ooh Baby Baby” features Antony (of Antony & the Johnsons) and Sean Lennon performs on two songs including “The Phoenix” and (with Chan Marshall a/k/a Cat Power) and the Neko Case composition “Hold On, Hold On.” Rufus Wainwright lends his vocals on “Children of Stone” while Teddy Thompson croons on “How Many Worlds.” Easy Come, Easy Go closes with the lat est chapter of a treasured friendship now in its fifth decade as the Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards joins Marianne for “Sing Me Back Home.”

Easy Come, Easy Go was recorded in December 2007 at Sear Sound – the oldest continuously operating studio in New York, founded in 1963. The core band assembled by Hal Willner included guitarists Marc Ribot and Barry Reynolds (the latter a crucial contributor to Marianne’s 1979 comeback Broken English), bassist Greg Cohen, keyboard players Rob Burger and Steve Weisberg, and drummer Jim White. Steven Bernstein, Greg Cohen, and Steve Weisberg are credited with arrangements on various tracks including the beautiful clarinet choir heard on “In Germany Before the War” (arr. Greg Cohen) and the New Orleans-style horn lines that illuminate the Bessie Smith title song “Easy Come, Easy Go” (arr. Steven Bernstein).

Following the celebration of her 62nd birthday with a tri p to India, Marianne Faithfull looks forward with great anticipation to her 2009 stage schedule beginning with an orchestral concert at St. Luke’s Church in London for filming by the BBC. “In the spring I’ll be doing a run of New York shows with the band that made the album. In June I’ll be singing Kurt Weill’s Seven Deadly Sins at the Salle Pleyel in Paris with Dennis Russell Davies conducting, and doing two more shows at the Cite de la Musique with the new songs and the musicians from Easy Come, Easy Go.”

“I’m so very proud of this recording and I can’t wait to sing these songs for an audience. I know there’s much to be fearful about in this world – there always is – but there are also as many reasons to be hopeful I think it’s going to be a fantastic year.”

Reprise Records will release Green Day’s eighth studio album, 21st Century Breakdown, on Friday, May 15. The album is the best-selling trio’s first studio output since ’04’s two-time Grammy Award-winning punk-rock opera American Idiot, which debuted at  #1 on the Billboard chart, spawned five hit singles, and went on to sell more than 12M copies worldwide.  21st Century Breakdown is divided into three acts: “Heroes and Cons,” “Charlatans and Saints,” and “Horseshoes and Handgrenades,” and follows a young couple, Christian and Gloria, through the mess and promise of the century so far. Songs include “Know Your Enemy”, “21 Guns”, “East Jesus Nowhere”, “Before the Lobotomy”, and “Restless Heart Syndrome.” In a recent feature, Rolling Stone called the album “even more ambitious than American Idiot” and “a record of die-hard punk ideals…tightly scripted, continually ascending classic-rock excitement.” The first single, “Know Your Enemy,” is due one month in front of the album release.

The Whisky Hymnal Tour: Four of Nova Scotia’s most accomplished young songwriters continue their “songwriters circle” tour throughout Nova Scotia this week. The Whisky Hymnal Tour, featuring Steven Bowers, Christina Martin, Norma MacDonald and Kev Corbett, will hit the stage at Glasgow Square Theatre, New Glasgow on Saturday, March 28th  and The Marigold Theatre in Truro on Sunday, March 29th . The foursome will entertain the hometown crowd at The Carleton in Halifax on April 1st, followed by concerts in Chester on Apr. 3, Liverpool – 4, Glace Bay – Apr.9, Amherst – 10) and Antigonish – 11). Songwriter/guitarist Thom Swift will take a seat in the circle for the Amherst show on April 10.

Global Country Canada is hosting a new talent development workshop to assist artists and musicians with the business side of their careers. The workshop titled Business & Music for Artists and Musicians will be held May 1-3 at the AB Coast Edmonton Plaza Hotel. For additional information contact: Maryanne Gibson 780-424-3300.

Argyle Fine Art in Halifax, NS is pleased to bring you the fifth concert from the ongoing music series Sight & Sound on April 2nd, an innovative presentation and collaboration of audiovisual improvisation, featuring composer Chuck Blazevic and media artist Joanne Kerrigan. The concept for the evening is rooted in the rich tradition of combining previously independent music and images but will be unique as both the music and the visuals will be rendered live by the artists, their ultimate forms created “on the fly”.  Hear a sample of his music here.

Composer Chuck Blazevic will be opening with selections from his ‘Dreamsploitation’ catalog. The feature half of the evening will showcase the premier of a multi-layered guitar composition. The latter is written for three guitars, which Chuck will perform in its entirety with the aid of live recording and playback. “Adriana had talked about a performance where the audience is in some way witness to the composition process,” said Chuck. “So, I wrote a guitar trio that I will be building from the ground up by recording each solo part and combining the subsequent layers with playback from the recorded sections. I am looking forward to exposing the individual layers of our work through this process-oriented approach.”

Joanne Kerrigan has assembled a collection of clips which she has extracted from a wide variety of sources including films, video art, promotional spots for television or musical artists, and her own footage from projects she’s created over the years. She will be presenting the clips in sequences and layers to create a visual tapestry that will complement Chuck’s performance.

“I don’t know exactly what will make it to the screen and what won’t, but I have tried to keep the clip bin manageable for this show,” she said. “Choosing what to exclude was so difficult, because I don’t have anything that I don’t love in some way. But I tried to stick with the clips I felt offered the most arresting imagery, the most astounding things to look at. And of course that work with, in my opinion, Chuck’s sounds.”

Blazevic’s Dreamsploitation debut, The Soft Focus Sound of Today, has received favorable reviews from select international publications, in addition to making the ‘Best Albums of 2008′ list at Textura.org. Blazevic’s past collaborations include live guitarist with The Heavy Blinkers, remix author on Ruth Minnikin’s forthcoming album Depend on This, and film composer for four films by director Michael Fox.  Kerrigan has been working in film and video in Halifax since 1999, creating award-winning works that have received international attention. She is currently preparing to shoot her eighth project, winner of the 2008 Joy Post award.

Glass Tiger return from their musical mission to Afghanistan
Glass Tiger recently returned home from one tour they will never forget. The Toronto- based band was invited to visit Afghanistan by the Canadian military as part of a ‘Team Canada’ program that sees Canadian entertainers and former NHL hockey players provide a positive morale boost to the soldiers serving there. “Our mission was to lift the soldiers’ spirits for even a few brief moments, to show them Canada still cares, and to learn firsthand about what they are trying to accomplish in Afghanistan,” says Glass Tiger keyboardist Sam Reid.

Prior to their departure from Ottawa, the members of Glass Tiger met with General Walt Natynczyk, Chief of Defense Staff, who then accompanied the band throughout the trip. After their military flight to Afghanistan, the band visited several camps, touring the facilities, meeting not just the soldiers, but local children, the police force and Afghan military. They performed impromptu for soldiers serving literally on the front lines as well as at the main base, and presented a signed guitar to Brigadier General Jon Vance for ‘Canada House,’ the social meeting place for the troops.

The visit of Glass Tiger and 13 NHL alumni coincided with the loss of three courageous Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan. After entertaining the troops with a set that fittingly included their international hit “Don’t Forget Me (When I’m Gone),” the band attended the ramp ceremony to farewell the three departed heroes. “It punctuates the reality of what they are dealing with here,” Glass Tiger keyboardist Sam Reid told Ottawa Sun reporter Chris Stevenson. Reid’s bandmate Alan Connelly notes that “we got to witness, first-hand, the emotional depth our Canadian forces in Afghanistan experience when seeing their fallen comrades off with a ramp ceremony at Kandahar Air Field,” adding that “I’ll never listen to the words of O Canada the same way again.”

To Reid, this visit “brought the realization that our soldiers are there to make improvements in the basic quality of life for these people. We were in a place where a handful of little girls who get a chance to go to school are routinely punished or tortured for learning. Canadians have a long history of helping humans around the world, and here they are again in Afghanistan.”

The Chief of Defense Staff praise Glass Tiger’s efforts, calling them “true ambassadors. They achieved their mission of boosting troop morale with their solid performance and genuine interaction with our soldiers. We are grateful to them for giving their time and joining this memorable Team Canada visit.”

Glass Tiger pledge to tell their story to Canadian fans attending the band’s just commenced spring/summer tour that will take them right across the country. The rejuvenated band is as relevant as ever, 25 years into a memorable career that has earned them five Juno Awards, a Grammy nomination, two huge hit singles in the U.S. (“Don’t Forget Me” and “Someday”), and three Canadian platinum-selling albums, The Thin Red Line, Diamond Sun, and Simple Mission. Their own recent mission to Afghanistan was not simple, but was indeed a meaningful and life-changing experience.

The Offspring, one of rock’s most exciting and enduring bands, have announced they will hit the road this May for their first full North American tour in nearly 4 years.  The announcement came via the band’s just unveiled “S*** Is F***ed Up” tour widget featuring a mock “presidential address” by Dexter Holland (vocals, guitar).  View the widget now on www.offspring.com.

Dexter along with Noodles (guitar), Greg K (bass) and Pete Parada (drums) will kick things off May 15 in Nashville, TN.  The tour will feature different openers on each leg and will be highlighted by a hometown show June 5 at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine, CA.

Following the success of  the single “Hammerhead” and its follow-up “You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid,” The Offspring remain a favorite on the airwaves with “Kristy, Are You Doing Okay?,” the band’s third radio hit from their latest Columbia Records release Rise And Fall, Rage And Grace.

Produced by the legendary Bob Rock [Metallica, The Cult], the new album has forged new territory while staying true to the Offspring’s vision.  Every song on their eighth studio release delivers, lengthening the list of accomplishments from a band that has performed over 1000 shows and has sold more than 34 million albums worldwide. Fifteen years after its release, their 1994 release Smash remains the highest-selling album of all time on an independent label.

Initial tour dates are listed below with the latest information continually updated online at www.offspring.com.

06/10/09  Vancouver, BC  UBC Thunderbird Arena
06/12/09  Calgary, AB  The Stampede Corral
06/13/09  Edmonton, AB  Northlands – Hall D
06/15/09  Saskatoon, SK  Prairieland Park
06/17/09  Winnipeg, MB  MTS Centre
07/02/09  Toronto, ON  The Molson Amphitheater
07/03/09  St-Ephrem de Tring, QC Woodstock en Beauce Festival

Canada’s international blues artist takes up Toronto club residency to create and rehearse new material

Who: SHAKURA S’AIDA, her band, and special guests
What: A weekly chance to rehearse and debut new songs
Why: Because sharing the blues lessens the load
When: Each Monday, 7.30 p.m. – 10.30 p.m. for the next five weeks (March 30, April 6, 13, 20, 27)
Where: Joe Mama’s, 327 King St. W. Toronto (west of John St.)
How much:  No cover: Dinner reservations recommended at (416) 340-6469

How much should an artist share with her fans? According to Toronto-based singer Shakura S’Aida, you can start with inviting them to share rehearsals, ask them to offer input into song choices and arrangements, and make sure they’re part of the process that results in performances around the world as well as a new recording.
That why the blues and jazz singer — set for a June appearance at the Tangiers Jazz Festival in Morocco — is inviting her fans, each Monday night for the next five weeks, to a small downtown Toronto restaurant. She also has a three-week European tour — Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy — set for July.
S’Aida and her band — Donna Grantis on guitar, Lance Anderson on Hammond B3, Howard Ayee on bass and Shamakah Ali on drums — plays two sets each Monday, with an early 7.30 p.m. start.
“It’s a show,” she says, “but it’s also a chance to try new songs, and build arrangements for the next recording. The audience definitely gives us the input we need to keep improving.”

Coco Love Alcorn: Acoustic, jazz, folk, R&B, groove, pop and extraordinary vocals to name a few, have often been used to describe Coco Love Alcorn’s incredible mix of musical talent. This Spring be prepared for some playful, soulful and compelling new music from Alcorn’s sixth album Joyful (Sound of Pop / Fontana North) April 21, 2009. She is currently on tour and will be visiting cities nationally in support of her new album.

Joyful features new fan favourites “Intellectual Boys”, “Revolution” and “I Got A Bicycle”, all of which resonate Alcorn’s ‘joyful soul’. “Writing this album was yet another evolution for me”, remarks Alcorn. “Inspiration was coming from everywhere as I traveled. I’ve finally stopped worrying about trying to fit my music into a neat and tidy genre box.”  Laced with themes of fun, love and social awareness, Joyful leaves the listener feeling happy and hopeful.

Alcorn has previously toured with an impressive roster of musicians including Ani DiFranco, Burton Cummings, 54.40, Chantal Kreviazuk, Steve Poltz, Matt Andersen and Jesse Cook.  Her current solo tour travels coast to coast where you will be able to purchase Alcorn’s new clothing line Simon +Coco which is made of up-cycle clothing with Coco-centric silkscreen designs.

Canadian Tour Dates:

March 27                     South River, ON                      Renee’s Cafe
March 29                     Sault Ste. Marie, ON                Shingwauk Theatre
March 30                     Thunder Bay, ON                     Black Pirates Pub
April 2                          Edmonton, AB                          Blue Chair
April 3                          Canmore, AB                            Communitea
April 4                          Nelson, BC                               North Shore Hall
April 5                          Winlaw, BC                               House Concert
April 8                          Nakusp, BC                              Bonnington Centre for the Arts
April 9                          Revelstoke, BC                         The Village Idiot
April 10                        Nelson, BC                               The Sugar Shack
April 11                        Kaslo, BC                                 Longham Theatre
April 17                        Vancouver, BC                          The Rio Theatre
April 18                        Pender Harbour, BC                   Pender Harbour Music Society
April 19                        Courtenay, BC                           Joe’s Garage
April 21                        Ucuelet, BC                               Wild Heather Books
April 22                        Duncan, BC                               Duncan Garage Showroom
April 23                        Bowen Island, BC                      Cates Hill Chapel
April 24                        Merritt, BC                                Capitol Soundstage
April 25                        Rossland, BC                            Old Fire Hall
April 27                        Lethbridge, AB                          The Slice
April 28                        Calgary, AB                              The Ironwood
May 1                          Saskatoon, SK                          Persephone Theatre Second Stage
May 2                          Souris, MB                                Forbidden Flavours
May 3                          Winnipeg, MB                           The Edge Gallery
May 4                          Thunder Bay, ON                      Black Pirates Pub
May 7 – 10                   Penticiton, BC                          Dream Café (with Matt Andersen)
May 20                         Montreal, QC                           St. Ambroise
May 23                         Charlottetown, PEI                   Haviland Club
May 29                         Antigonish, NS                         The Dragonfly
May 31                         Halifax, NS                              The Carleton
June 5                          Brookside, NS                          Moosehorn
June 6                          Margaretsville, NS                    The Evergreen
June 7                          Guysborought, NS                    Chedabucto Place
June 14                        Toronto, ON                             Hugh’s Room

Track List:

1.   Compassion

2.   I Got A Bicycle

3.   Stranger

4.   Revolution

5.   Super Glue

6.   Intellectual Boys

7.   Where Do The Robots Go When They Die

8.   Sleepless

9.   Props

10. Hope For The World

11.  Joyful

Weblinks

East Coast Countdown – March 22 – 28
The following is this week’s East Coast Countdown Top 10.

#10 Matt Mays and El Torpedo – “Stand and Deliver”
#9 Chris Colepaugh & the Cosmic Crew – “After the Gold Rush”
#8 Jay Smith – “Perfecting Wasting Time”
#7 Stereotype – “One Time”
#6 Mir – “What Goes Around Comes Around”
#5 Chad Tetford – “Kickin’ Tiny Stones”
#4 Gordie Sampson – “Flying So Low”
#3 Joel Plaskett – “Through & Through & Through”
#2 In Flight Safety – “Model Houses”
#1 The Trews – “Can’t Stop Laughing”

To listen to this week’s show go to eastcoastcountdown

Bravo!’s Top picks

SPECTACLE: ELVIS COSTELLO WITH… – BRAVO! SERIES PREMIERE
Saturday, Apr. 4 at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT
Music legend Elvis Costello strikes a chord when creative minds come together for intimate discussions and unparalleled musical performances on the critically-acclaimed series SPECTACLE: ELVIS COSTELLO WITH…. The hour-long series kicks off on a high note with guest Sir Elton John, as the two Rock and Roll Hall of Famers discuss each other’s work and give the viewer priceless insight into their collective creative genius. Upcoming episodes feature The Police, Tony Bennett, Rufus Wainwright, Diana Krall, Bill Clinton, Herbie Hancock, Smokey Robinson and more. Conceived and developed in Canada by Executive Producer Stephen Warden, the series explores the creative process, the power of music and the impact it has on creators and the world at large.

AN AUDIENCE WITH NEIL DIAMOND – NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
Monday, Apr. 20 at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT
Illustrious musician Neil Diamond takes centre stage in this 60-minute concert special to celebrate his remarkable show business career that spans almost five decades. The music sensation treats the audience to a selection of career-defining classics from Sweet Caroline to Cracklin’ Rosie and Love on the Rocks, along with material from his latest hit album, Home Before Dark. When questioned by the celebrity-packed audience, Diamond opens up about his exciting life and career.

LAST CALL AT THE GLADSTONE – BRAVO! PREMIERE
Thursday, Apr. 16 at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT
LAST CALL AT THE GLADSTONE captures the transformation of a crumbling downtown hotel to a hipster hotspot. This Gemini Award-winning documentary is a beautiful tribute to the historic Gladstone Hotel and the city of Toronto. Produced in association with Bravo!

MCLUHAN’S WAKE
Thursday, Apr. 23 at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT
The medium is the message. This documentary blends animation, vintage footage and computer effects to examine the life and philosophy of great Canadian scholar Marshall McLuhan. Produced in association with Bravo!

TALES OF THE RAT FINK
Thursday, Apr. 30 at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT
Ron Mann’s inventive documentary profiles Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, the instrumental animator of the hot rod movement. Roth’s most famous character, Rat Fink, created as an assault on Mickey Mouse, became a symbol for the culture. The film features the voices of John Goodman, Jay Leno, and Matt Groening. Produced in association with Bravo!