Charlotte Day Wilson Live!

Concert Review: Charlotte Day Wilson, Toronto, April 6 2018, Danforth Music Hall

Charlotte Day Wilson, Danforth Music Hall, April 6 2018

Charlotte Day Wilson performed most of last night’s sold out show in silhouette. Like the video for her title track from Stone Woman (Charlotte Day Wilson, 2018), the evening’s lighting design obscured the Toronto native in front of a tungsten backlight display. The effect created a mystique that befitted Wilson’s musical presence: soulful, strong, but also um, shy.

James Tillman

As an aside and pleasant surprise, I only learned when he took the stage that James Tillman was the opening act. I first heard him on Jason Palma’s excellent Higher Ground Radio show in 2014. He played some of my favourites, including Shangri La from his EP of the same name (James Tillman, 2014) and “Run of the Mill” from James Tillman on Audiotree Live – EP (Audiotree, 2015).

Wilson took the stage will little fanfare and opened with “Stone Woman,” a short piece, but one that demonstrates her strengths in production, vocal performance, and most of all, pure songwriting talent.

To the audience’s delight, she included her stunning collaboration with Badbadnotgood, “In Your Eyes,” from that group’s IV release (Badbadnotgood, 2016).

Another remarkable selection was “Funeral,” beginning with a solo on her childhood acoustic piano (which Wilson had hauled to the venue from her home), then morphing into a coda featuring Wilson on sax vamping to the groove from D’Angelo’s “Spanish Joint” (Virgin, 2000).

Wilson included two unreleased selections, one of them in her encore, dedicated to her grandparents. Finishing with Erykah Badu’s “Out My Mind, Just in Time” (Universal, 2010) was particularly fitting. Comparisons to Badu would not be misplaced. Like Badu, Wilson has created her own sound, technically and musically, and as a self published artist, has set her own terms for how she will move about the world.

Setlist

1. Stone Woman
2. Doubt
3. In Your Eyes (Badbadnotgood cover)
4. Falling Apart
5. Funeral (coda: Spanish Joint, D’Angelo cover)
6. Let You Down
7. Nothing New
8. Find You
9. (Unreleased)
10. Mine
11. Work

Encore:

1. (Unreleased)
2. Out My Mind, Just in Time (Erykah Badu cover)

The Players: Charlotte Day Wilson (vocals, guitar, piano, saxophone). Accompanied by unnamed players on bass guitar/guitar and keyboards. Also unnamed but likely on drums was Duncan Hood.

 

Further Listening:

A nice performance of “In Your Eyes” on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series starts in this clip around the 7 minute mark. Badbadnotgood’s Alex Sowinsky delivers a warm intro to Wilson at 6:40, revealing that her vocal talent was not known by her then schoolmates until later in their musical relationship.

Further Reading: NOW Magazine profile of Charlotte Day Wilson

Kamasi Washington: Live!

Concert Review: Kamasi Washington, Toronto, November 16 2017, Danforth Music Hall (Late Show)

Kamasi Washington delivered a solid performance last Thursday night in Toronto. “Solid” is apt in so many ways for this show. Washington and his sidemen are musicians’ musicians. The set was a packed 90 minutes. And the vibe was one of clenched-fist solid(arity).

Washington’s live sound is crisp but loose enough for the musicians to have some fun. All the soloists are virtuosos on their instruments. Vocalist Patrice Quinn was flawless, just as she is on Washington’s album, The Epic (Brainfeeder, 2015). The setlist featured selections from The Epic and the recently released Harmony of Difference (Young Turks, 2017). The great thing about Washington’s live show is that it can draw from a recorded body of work with great depth in each composition.

Perhaps the most distinctive element of the live show was Brandon Coleman’s keyboard sound choices –  quite different from the studio arrangements, adding a dose of funk to the night’s soundscape. In particular, the opening of “Truth” is changed up with a haunting organ sound. The staccato opening of “The Rhythm Changes,” delivered in duet by Washington and long-time collaborator Ryan Porter, was another departure that teased the audience before Quinn revealed the selection with her first verse.

Washington himself is a humble and utterly likeable persona on stage. For someone under 40 who has just recently been vaulted into a global spotlight, Washington presents a maturity both in his rapport with the audience and his mastery of jazz.

In many ways, Washington made Harmony of Difference come to life that night. Introducing “Truth,” he explained, the interplay of 5 melodies within the composition are a metaphor for how humanity’s differences are actually a unifying strength. Through his music, Washington makes his point brilliantly.

Setlist (setlist.fm)

1. Change of Guard
2. Leroy and Lanisha
3. Little Boy Blue (Ryan Porter)
4. Miss Understanding
5. Humility
6. Truth
7. The Rhythm Changes

The Players: Kamasi Washington, tenor sax; Ryan Porter, trombone; Rickey Washington, soprano sax & flute; Ronald Bruner Jr., drums; Patrice Quinn, vocals; Brandon Coleman keyboards; Joshua Crumbly, bass; unnamed, piano.

 

Toronto Retrograde: A ‘Geo-nostalgic’ playlist from the Music Video Era

Playlist: Toronto Retrograde

As Toronto hosts the 2015 Pan-Am Games, images of the city are appearing on TV regularly. It reminds me of how iconic our city has been over the years, especially in my youth when music videos drove pop culture, much of it bred by local talent.

And so, a playlist tribute to Toronto’s places and landmarks exposed by 80’s and 90’s pop culture .

1. Having an Average Weekend, Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet (Matador, 1996)

Bay & College: The long-since displaced Addison car dealership flashed on the screen during the iconic opening of a now classic sketch comedy TV series, The Kids in the Hall.

I’m an Adult Now, The Pursuit of Happiness (Capitol, 1988)

Queen & Soho: The empty lot on Queen street has gone through many incarnations but never gave way to new structures. It is a parking lot to this day, abeit surrounded by a much gentrified retail landscape compared to what’s depicted in this 1988 video.

 

Lovers in a Dangerous Time, Barenaked Ladies (Reprise Records, 1997)

Markham & Brimorton: This suburban neighbourhood is the likely location for this memorable video. The Real McCoy Hamburger & Pizza joint pictured is still there today (1033 Markham Road).

 

Photo: Rick McGinnis

Lakeside Park, Rush (Anthem, 1975)

CNE / Ontario Place: Although a fairground near drummer Neil Peart’s hometown of Port Dalhousie was the true inspiration to this song, it could easily have been about summer nights at the Canadian National Exhibition and Ontario Place. Those of us old enough to remember the original Ontario Place Forum fondly recall open air concerts by the lake from some of our favourite bands.

Romantic Traffic, The Spoons (Ready Records, 1984)

Yonge & Sheppard: Shot in Toronto’s subway system, it was one of the more ‘democratic’ music videos of the era as most everyone who heard this song had been to the same locations many times.

Photo: Enzo DiMatteo

Echo Beach, Martha and the Muffins (Virgin Records, 1980)

Sunnyside Beach: Echo Beach is an imaginary place but the song is said to have been inspired by this popular beach in Toronto’s west end.

 

 

Spadina Bus, The Shuffle Demons (Stubby Records, 1986)

Spadina & Dundas: Toronto’s native beatniks made Chinatown cool and introduced a form of jazz into 80’s popular music at a time when the synthesizer reigned. It was also a welcome dose of goofiness amidst the pulled-down goth hairdos of the time.

June 01,1964 file photo

Fifty-Mission Cap, The Tragically Hip (Universal Music, 1992)

Maple Leaf Gardens: A Toronto playlist would not be complete without mention of our long-suffering hockey team. The hockey card trivia cited in these lyrics bring back memories of hockey card collecting and trading.

 

Rise Up, The Parachute Club (RCA, 1983)

Roy Thomson Hall: Our distinctive volcano-shaped concert hall was in its inaugural year when the Parachute Club shot this feel-good summer video.

 

Photo: Jorge Zontal

Never Said I Love You, The Payolas feat. Carol Pope (A&M, 1983)

Queen Street West: Carol Pope is an icon of alternative Canadian music – a scene that flourished in the arts-infused western reaches of Queen Street between University Avenue and Dufferin Street.

 

 

Photo: spiritofradio.ca

Spirit of Radio, Rush (Anthem, 1980)

340 Main St. Brampton: The humble suburban address of one of the most influential radio stations in popular music. CFNY was incubated in this space and grew to become THE station for Southern Ontario’s youth through the 80’s. Rush wrote this song as a tribute to the station and a philosophy that put music first, challenging the commercial norms of the day.

 

Bearing Witness to the Wonder of Stevie

Concert Review: Stevie Wonder, Songs in the Key of Life: The Performance (Toronto, Air Canada Centre, November 25 2014)

Stevie Wonder is one of those musicians who is prone to being taken for granted. He has been around long enough to be a household name across three generations of music lovers and he is still performing.

Wonder’s concert on Tuesday night in Toronto was a stirring reminder that he and his body of work are so much more than a familiar background. It was especially fitting that he chose to perform his 1976 masterpiece, Songs in the Key of Life (Motown) for this 11 city tour. Songs is one of the most celebrated albums in pop music, voted to the top of numerous lists, including Grammy for album of the year in 1977 against now legendary competition like George Benson’s Breezin (Warner Bros., 1976), Bozz Scagg’s Silk Degrees (Columbia, 1976), and the rock classic Frampton Comes Alive! (A&M, 1976).

With this tour, Wonder brings this work to new life in the vibrancy of a live show. This is where Wonder’s currency hits home. He is, above all, a great songwriter and musician. This show proved it all over again.

Wonder performed the entirety of the album, mostly in order, including the four extra tracks on the special edition of the album. The concert’s run time was 3 hours including a short intermission and an encore.

Aside from the songs themselves, the performances of Wonder and his collaborators made this a simply excellent show. Wonder’s energy and power never waned, despite a slight hoarseness in his speaking voice when addressing the audience between songs. Original session musicians from Songs, Greg Phillinganes (keyboards) and Nathan Watts (bass guitar), were among the 30+ musicians sharing the stage, including an 8-piece string section sourced locally in Toronto, a 6 piece horn section, 6 back-up singers, 2 drummers, and 2 percussionists.

Wonder’s special guest for the tour is vocalist India.Arie, who complemented Wonder on several duets. More remarkable, however, was Keith John, one of the back-up singers who engaged in an impressive ad lib call-and-response with Wonder at the end of “Knocks Me Off My Feet.” John, who is 1950’s Motown singer Little Willie John’s son, has a voice like Wonder’s that offered a seamless boost to some of the most acrobatic vocal passages of the night, including the layered climax of “As.”

Other memorable moments of the night:

• Three of the back-up singers, including Aisha Morris (Wonder’s daughter and muse of “Isn’t She Lovely”) took turns belting out the hard hitting coda of “Ordinary Pain.”
• “Ngiculela-Es Una Historia-I Am Singing” featured a playful sing-a-long with the audience and a mezmorizing harpejji solo (zither-like instrument Wonder started playing 2-3 years ago) blended with a few phrases of Michael Jackson’s “The Way You Make Me Feel.”
• Wonder challenged members of the string section to an impromptu jam. He proceeded to play a few phrases and was responded to in kind by the first violinist who echoed them on his instrument.
• The encore was a medley of hits from other albums. Wonder chose to adopt a tongue-in-cheek hip-hop persona, dubbed DJ Tick Tick Boom, as the emcee of the proceedings. The segment was hammed up enough to distance itself from the solemnity of the Songs performance but done in a way that allowed the audience to hear some other favourites.

Like many others, I’ve always recognized Stevie Wonder as a “living legend.” But at some point during the show, ‘knowing’ this as a matter of common knowledge paled in comparison to bearing witness. Now I really get it.

SET LIST (from setlist.fm):

1. Love’s in Need of Love Today
2. Have a Talk With God
3. Village Ghetto Land
4. Contusion
5. Sir Duke
6. I Wish
7. Knocks Me Off My Feet w/Fever
8. Pastime Paradise
9. Summer Soft
10. Ordinary Pain
11. Saturn
12. Ebony Eyes
13. Isn’t She Lovely
14. Joy Inside My Tears
15. Black Man
16. All Day Sucker
17. Easy Goin’ Evening (My Mama’s Call)
18. Ngiculela – Es Una Historia – I Am Singing / The Way You Make Me Feel
19. If It’s Magic
20. As
21. Another Star

ENCORE: DJ Tick Tick Boom (AKA Wonder) plays recorded snippets of various hits

1. Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing
2. I Just Called To Say I Love You
3. Master Blaster (Jammin’)
4. Do I Do
5. For Once in My Life
6. Superstition

 

Spoons Arias & Symphonies 30th Anniversary: Imprinted and it shows

Concert Review: Spoons Arias & Symphonies 30th Anniversary, Toronto, Revival Bar, November 30, 2012

When the Spoons announced a show dedicated to their 1982 classic album, Arias & Symphonies (Ready Records, 1982), it immediately made sense to thousands of fans who still follow the band, myself included. You see, Arias & Symphonies is not just an album but it is also a milestone. For those of us who grew up in Southern Ontario in the early 1980’s, our musical awareness sprang from a number of influences, the deepest of which was this album by a band that was ‘of us’ and, at the same time, from the ‘otherworld’ of modern music. In a previous post, I even argue that Arias was the best album of the 80’s.

The Spoons delivered a solid show musically that Friday night in Toronto. Joined by original recording members, Rob Preuss and Derrick Ross for select cuts from the album, the band was tight and did their repertoire justice. Preuss was flawless on the intricate “Blow Away” and even used a vintage Roland 808 drum machine for the show. Gord Deppe and Sandy Horne interplayed as adeptly as ever, still masters of their voices and instruments. The current keyboardist and drummer, Casey MQ and Chris McNeill, were in their stride as well. McNeill in particular reminded us how vital a strong drummer is to the Spoons’ music and how a good drummer can complement, rather than compete, with the signature programmed beats in their music.

The most remarkable thing about that night however, was not the music, great as it was. It was the chemistry of the crowd, the band, and the event. Spoons fans are a loyal bunch. We are in our 40’s and 50’s now (although a younger set was on hand as well). We have “grown up,” leaving to nostalgia our youthful memories of early Spoons concerts in small spaces and summer nights in the Ontario Place Forum. Those “old emotions” well up pretty fast at a Spoons show. Suddenly, we are transported, not to our past per se but to a place where music is really really important and seeing it performed live is bliss. There is a unity of sorts when you’re among true fans who were imprinted, like you, when this music found them so many years ago.

This is not to say that the Spoons are purely about retro-music. Their latest release, Static in Transmission (Universal Canada/Fontana North, 2011) is a progressive album with a refreshed Spoons sound that makes it both contemporary and authentic. Read my short review of that release here.

Leaving the venue that night, I was utterly satisfied with the show. My favourite songs were played. The band had some fun with an alternate arrangement of “Tell No Lies” and entertaining tom-tom solos on “Walk the Plank.” Several fans even got to meet and greet the band before the show. But the most important part of why I was feeling good on that cold walk back to my car was the camaraderie I had felt with a roomful of strangers for two blissful hours.

Setlist

1. Trade Winds; 2. Arias & Symphonies; 3. Smiling in Winter; 4. One in Ten Words; 5. No Electrons; 6. Nova Heart; 7. Walk the Plank; 8. Blow Away; 9. You Light up; 10. Escape with You; 11. Old Emotions; 12. Tell No Lies; 13. End of Story; 14. Romantic Traffic; 15. Nova Heart (Singularity mix); 16. Rodeo; 17. The Rhythm; 18. Symmetry

Players

Gord Deppe, Guitars/Vocals; Sandy Horne, Bass Guitar/Vocals; Chris McNeill, Drums; Casey MQ, Keyboards; Rob Preuss (special guest), Keyboards; Derek Ross (special guest), Drums.