The first intimation that Jenny Moore has arrived at the music room at The Victoria, a historic pub in East London, is when the crowd slowly starts to part. The six members of her ensemble Mystic Business are doing a slow stomp, each hitting a pair of Boomwhacker tubes against each other to produce pitched,Continue reading “Jenny Moore Tears Things Up”
Author Archives: Musicworks
Pierre Kwenders Dreams for the World
“I grew up surrounded by music lovers. There was always music playing and people dancing. There was always a reason for a family gathering, and I was one of those kids always ready to dance. Whenever there was a family gathering, there was an acoustic guitar around and my uncle would take the guitar andContinue reading “Pierre Kwenders Dreams for the World”
Yaz Lancaster’s Liberatory Modes
![[yaz lancaster] by connie li 10](https://musicworks.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/yaz-lancaster-by-connie-li-10.png)
There’s a rare kind of malleability to the music of transdisciplinary artist Yaz Lancaster. Best known as a composer, violinist, and poet, Lancaster holds degrees both in classical violin and in poetry from New York University (NYU), and has had compositions performed by ensembles such as JACK Quartet and the Boston chamber orchestra A FarContinue reading “Yaz Lancaster’s Liberatory Modes”
Gayle Young’s Gentle Interventions
In early October 2021 Gayle Young and I meet in Toronto before heading to her home in Ontario’s Niagara region. The drive is less than two hours, yet somehow, our destination is so much further away. The spaces between buildings grow wider as do those between the little squares of light in the darkness. IContinue reading “Gayle Young’s Gentle Interventions”
The Tao of Gayle
Last year in mid October, while scrolling down Facebook, I came across a densely expressive and evocatively written post from Montreal singer Sarah Albu, who was “surfacing momentarily,” she wrote, from a recording project “revisiting, revising, and recording” the complete vocal works of Gayle Young from 1976 to today. I was moved and intrigued byContinue reading “The Tao of Gayle”
What’s Inside Musicworks 142?
The authentic enthusiasm and curiosity of artists writing about artists for whom they feel an affinity propelled Musicworks in its early days. This dynamic is in the magazine’s DNA and continues to inform the storytelling in our pages, as you’ll discover in the Summer 2022 issue! ORDER YOUR PHYSICAL COPY OF MUSICWORKS 142 FROM OURContinue reading “What’s Inside Musicworks 142?”
Yves Charuest and The Existential Act of Improvisation
In the fall of 2016, I attended Montreal rehearsals and concerts and Toronto recording sessions ofRoscoe Mitchell and the Toronto-Montreal Art Orchestra for a feature article that was published in Musicworks 127. This complex, largely through-composed music—Mitchell’s orchestrations of previous improvisations—required the gradual, stop-start building of short segments. The alto saxophonist Yves Charuest was assignedContinue reading “Yves Charuest and The Existential Act of Improvisation”
Roxanne Nesbitt’s Sonic Investigations
People often describe sound as something that reverberates outward into space, but the music of interdisciplinary artist Roxanne Nesbitt seems to move inward; it has an audiovisual geometry that focuses the eye and the ear, pulling you closer to the source. To perform her 2010 composition Distaff, thin strings are threaded through the strings ofContinue reading “Roxanne Nesbitt’s Sonic Investigations”
Alanna Stuart Embraces the Bombast
Multidimensional artist and music producer Alanna Stuart is constantly evolving. She regards categories not as borders but as things to be transcended. In her acclaimed duo Bonjay, with Ian “Pho” Swain, as well as her collaborative projects and her solo songwriting, she is digging deep into her connections to Jamaica, exploring dancehall more fully, buildingContinue reading “Alanna Stuart Embraces the Bombast”
New Age Doom Steps Forward
The day of my interview with the Vancouver experimental-metal duo New Age Doom began with the heart-sinking news that legendary dub artist Lee “Scratch” Perry had passed away. After making my way through the winding side streets of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, I arrived at the unmarked door of the duo’s studio. Inside, I was greetedContinue reading “New Age Doom Steps Forward”