When percussionist Germaine Liu performs, there’s more to her approach than simply striking a snare drum with a wooden stick. Liu seeks a deeper intimacy with her instruments, exploring all the sounds they might produce by closely examining each part. This is the key to the Toronto composer’s music, and an approach she developed whileContinue reading “The Friendly Exchanges of Germaine Liu”
Author Archives: Musicworks
Joshua Abrams’ Natural Information Society
THERE’S AN ENGAGING CATCH-AS-CATCH-CAN LOOK to Joshua Abrams’ Natural Information Society, something that immediately conveys a certain spontaneity, yet disguises—slightly—the complexity of the music. During the band’s North American tour in May 2015, which included performances at Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville and Toronto’s Array Space, an unusual combination of instruments was putContinue reading “Joshua Abrams’ Natural Information Society”
Christine Sun Kim Explores the Politics of Sound
“Low frequencies just being abstract and shit — High frequencies be like anal and micromanaging for no good reason — Silence oblivious as ever” These words are handwritten in a drawing that was included in an exhibition of new works by Christine Sun Kim in the summer of 2015 at White Space Beijing, a contemporary artContinue reading “Christine Sun Kim Explores the Politics of Sound”
The Retro Aesthetic of Le Révélateur
THE OCEAN RECEDES INTO THE DISTANCE, awash in thick bands of golden-purple sunset hues. Its surface ripples in loose synchronization with a burbling synthesizer score. Suddenly, a shimmering plane materializes and obliquely bisects the scene; the plane spins and the textures of the two surfaces soak into one another. The projection of these abstract seascapesContinue reading “The Retro Aesthetic of Le Révélateur”
The Expanding Universe of Yamantaka // Sonic Titan
I HAD BEEN GRIPING TO ALASKA B, cofounder of the creative ensemble YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN, that Bloordale didn’t have any decent pizza. I’d recently transplanted myself to the Toronto neighbourhood, one of her stomping grounds, and found it discomfiting to not know where to find a sublime slice nearby. She suggested, of all places,Continue reading “The Expanding Universe of Yamantaka // Sonic Titan”
Friendly Exchanges: Musicworks Fall 2015
The title of this post is borrowed from Toronto percussionist Germaine Liu. You’ll have to read Mary Dickie’s lovely story in the Fall 2015 issue to see how Germaine uses the words. You’ll find an entirely different spin on the notion of friendly exchanges in Greg J. Smith’s Visions of Sound centrespread piece on Montreal’sContinue reading “Friendly Exchanges: Musicworks Fall 2015”
The Unsung Songbooks of Dave Burrell
TO SAY THAT PIANIST, COMPOSER, AND—AT THIS POINT—JAZZ ELDER DAVE BURRELL WAS NOT made for these times is a bit of a shortsighted claim. Burrell is a jazz classicist preceded by a reputation for free improvisation. He was present for the fabled Parisian Summer of 1969, when he and other players of free jazz found aContinue reading “The Unsung Songbooks of Dave Burrell”
Jay Crocker Navigates the Music of Obstacles
“THEY WERE EXPECTING TO HAVE A swinging kind of jazz party, but we were doing nothing of the sort that night.” Percussionist Chris Dadge is recalling a particularly memorable gig at the Beat Niq Jazz & Social Club—a trad jazz club in downtown Calgary—during which he, guitarist Jay Crocker, saxophonist Dan Michael, and pianist Mark LimacherContinue reading “Jay Crocker Navigates the Music of Obstacles”
The Avian is the Message
Songbirds have a secret language. This is something I did not fully appreciate until recently, when I became immersed in their world. What may be music to our ears is bird-speak—a mating call, an aural fence, or simple prattle to stay in touch. There are people who can understand bird speak, who can instantly discernContinue reading “The Avian is the Message”
Allison Cameron’s Rarefied Soundworld
“I NEVER THOUGHT I WAS DOING ANYTHING DIFFERENT THAN ANYBODY ELSE—I just thought, I’m doing what anybody else would write,” states Allison Cameron, matter-of-factly. Anyone familiar with her music—or her characteristic wry humour—could read this particular remark as either amusing or evasive, disarmingly so. But, as I gradually realize, it’s actually rather telling of herContinue reading “Allison Cameron’s Rarefied Soundworld”