In early June, sound artist and noted abstract turntablist Maria Chávez visited Montreal for the first time in a decade, and she seemed to be making up for lost time. Chávez performed at Suoni Per Il Popolo—the annual month-long festival of experimental, liberatory music in the city’s Mile End neighbourhood—and offered a workshop and aContinue reading “Maria Chávez is shattering old grooves to bring inclusivity to turntable art “
Author Archives: Musicworks
RapCity, Michele Geister, and the Rise of the Canadian Hip-Hop Nation
In February 2021, while I was conducting post-doctoral research on the history of anti-Black racism in the Canadian music industry, Jeff “J-Spade” Duke of the Toronto rap group Citizen Kane suggested I talk to Michele Geister, creator of MuchMusic’s ground-breaking Canadian television program, RapCity. Through the development, launch, and evolution of the long-running RapCity, GeisterContinue reading “RapCity, Michele Geister, and the Rise of the Canadian Hip-Hop Nation”
Julie Richard and the Reimagining of Shirley Graham Du Bois’ Tom-Tom
Julie Richard is a classically trained Haitian Canadian composer and instrumentalist (tuba and sousaphone) who performs across a range of styles and genres—jazz, Latin, klezmer, African, improvisation—and is active in several ensembles in Montreal, where she is based. But her passion project is uncovering and preserving the legacy of little-known Black composers, especially women, andContinue reading “Julie Richard and the Reimagining of Shirley Graham Du Bois’ Tom-Tom”
Trevor Grahl, Unusual Worlds in Familiar Frames
The work of Trevor Grahl is as colourful as it is diverse. Earlier this year, the Amsterdam-based Canadian composer was working on a recording of his 2018 composition Of Ancient Days in the Orgelpark, a former church that houses eight organs and a harmonium. Johan Luijmes, the artistic leader of the venue, commissioned Grahl toContinue reading “Trevor Grahl, Unusual Worlds in Familiar Frames”
Mustafa Rafiq’s Music of Self-Determination
The opening track of guitarist Mustafa Rafiq’s album If I Were a Dance, featuring music recorded in 2020, provides two points of entry. One is through words—visceral, personal poetry composed and recited by Edmonton-based poet Dwennimmen. The other is through the instrumental sounds that bloom behind the poems: sparse, crackling sonorities that gently swell andContinue reading “Mustafa Rafiq’s Music of Self-Determination “
Evan Dysart Designs Invisible Architecture
A musical project may have a clear beginning, but sometimes it’s difficult for an artist to know when it’s actually finished. For Evan Dysart’s latest album, Invisible Architecture, a tight deadline provided the push to the finish line that he needed. The album’s origins can be traced to the thesis project for Dysart’s master ofContinue reading “Evan Dysart Designs Invisible Architecture”
Lina Choi is Floating in Spaces
I’m sitting in Lina Choi’s sunlit studio on the edge of Montreal’s Parc Ex neighbourhood on a warm late-winter day. Water is dripping everywhere. Through the large industrial windows, under a brilliant afternoon sun, little rivulets can be seen pouring off a neighbouring roof into the parking lot below: Heaps of snow are dissolving, iciclesContinue reading “Lina Choi is Floating in Spaces”
A Eulogy for Café Resonance
Down here in the basement the air is sticky and humid, and the music is loud. I can feel the bass moving through my body. It’s in the floor, beneath me. Up on the top floors you can listen to music, too, but in the basement you can play it loud. The room is nestledContinue reading “A Eulogy for Café Resonance”
You Can Can’s Tonal Possibilities
In late March, Felicity Williams and Andrew Zukerman found themselves in a familiar place—the Main Hall of Toronto’s Tranzac Club—doing something they haven’t done before: performing live as the experimental electronic–folk act You Can Can. Zukerman is an audio and visual collage artist who releases music under the Fleshtone Aura moniker and collaborates with BadgeContinue reading “You Can Can’s Tonal Possibilities”
Wayne Lavallee’s Journey to Bones of Crows
Wayne Lavallee has taken an adventurous creative path to reach his latest milestone: writing music with fellow Vancouver musician Jesse Zubot for filmmaker Marie Clements’ Bones of Crows, one of the largest Indigenous-led production in Canadian screen history. Lavallee grew up in residential schools and foster care and left home to start working at ageContinue reading “Wayne Lavallee’s Journey to Bones of Crows”