Jadea Kelly in Morrisburg 29 Jan 12

CFN – Jadea Kelly, an exciting new Canadian music talent is performing on the Vinyl Café at the Upper Canada Playhouse this weekend and I got a chance to interview her. Jadea is a lovely young lady as well as being very talented and just happens to be roommate with Melanie Brulee formerly from the Cornwall group Mel and the General Electryk.

I caught up with Jadea in the lobby of the Macintosh Inn in Morrisburg. She generously found some time to talk to me while waiting for her next performance at the Upper Canada Playhouse.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IraWuMmYh4A

For those of you who couldn’t get to see the Jadea perform at the Upper Canada Playhouse I am including one of her videos so you can see for yourself what a great talent she is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwOxZqujECk

You can listen to more of Jadea’s music at her myspace page but don’t forget to buy her CDs. Musicians need to make a living too.

http://www.myspace.com/jadeak

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CFN –  Gruesome weather couldn’t kill that Heavy Rock n Roll vibe in Cornwall Ontario as the Russ Dwarf and the Killer Dwarfs shook La Maison with people attending as far away as Ottawa.

Cornwall’s Promoter Supremo, Jeff Brunet of Alkaline, sent in the following:

I’d would like to thank you all for braving yesterdays storm to attend a killer show last night at La Maison. Sandor De Breton and Sudden Thunder rocked the House to. Please check out this original Ottawa band @ www.suddenthunder.net.

Russ Dwarf and the Killer Dwarfs had an energetic stellar show. They beltedout hit after hit and the crowd was not disappointed.

Tickets are now available for the Helix show on March 24th @ La Maison for $20 in advance and $25 at the door.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh9Oomm2SqA

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Don Ross

CFN – We had a real treat Saturday night when two fabulously talented musicians took the stage in Morrisburg. The stage was sold out again. Graham Greer, a well recognized local talent and new Communications Coordinator for the Aultsville Theatre, went on first and entertained the audience with his casual banter and flawless renditions of his songs past and new. We have come to expect a great performance from Graham and he always delivers.

 I Know a Pigeon Toed Girl:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rkAh1gQF2A

One good song deserves another.

 Take It All Back:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vH_BRhHAMK4

There were a lot of expectations for Don Ross’ performance last night and he did not fail to meet them. I first heard of Don from Chris Thompson when he performed on the stage last November. Don’s guitar playing artistry has reached legendary status and after watching him perform I now know why. I don’t have the vocabulary to describe what I witnessed Saturday night so I will let my videos speak for me.

Head and Heart:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXNAt3QvPl8

For more info about Don Ross you can go to his web page:

http://www.gobyfish.com/Home.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VvbMpwQPb8

Next month the St. Lawrence Acoutic Stage will present Lynn Miles, one of Canada’s most accomplished singer/songwriters. Mark your calendars for February 25^th and come out for a great night of entertainment.

httpv://www.st-lawrencestage.com/shows.html

Graham Greer

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CFN - It was a blast talking with long time radio voice in Montreal Terry DiMonte.  He’s back in Montreal after some years in Calgary,and back at his old stomping grounds at CHOM 97.7 FM in Montreal.

It’s refreshing and counters the trends of big  radio dumping older vets and replacing them with younger (and much cheaper voices) as corporate radio tries to homogenize the industry at a regional level.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKDwxaK6x-g

Terry started at CHOM in 1984, an ominous year.   We talked about some of the hits that year in the clip below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt7xPhJ7jrU

As I did some research and prep for the interview; not that much was needed as I listened to Terry for years when I lived in Montreal, it brought back a lot of memories.   Terry’s love for radio and music are strong and we chatted about some long and hopefully not forgotten names like George Balcan, Ted Blackman (who helped give my my start in sports), and Ralph Lockwood .

I even remembered that sister AM station show host Tommy Schnurmacher helped a 14 year old film wannabee get to chat with Ralph Bakshi!

Montreal English radio may have seen its best days before, but it’s interesting that at least at one major company; Astral, is starting to give a nod to how important the connection to specific communities are.   It sparks some hope which I’m sure listeners will respond to!

To check out Terry’s show on CHOM and the whole line up check visit their website by clicking HERE.

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CFN –  I was supposed to be at the Bell Centre Friday night to catch The National but time and lack of sleep wore me down!  Luckily some Cornwallites made the trip and raved about the group’s performance!   Special thanks to Jennifer MacDonald for the great photos!

Apparently Win Butler of Arcade Fire is  fan too; pictured above with Cornwall Music promoter Jeff Brunet of Alkaline Entertainment and below with local singer songwriter Tracy Lalonde.

And thanks to You Tube I found some clips of the evening!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytymGZ2TmE4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYX4_nIrxwM

Have you gone to any good shows of late?  Email your review, photo or video to info@cornwallfreenews.com!

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CFN - This past Saturday, Dec 3 2011, The St. Lawrence Acoustic Sound Stage hosted something a little different, a night of jazz. At least it was different from what I have encountered there. And I would have encountered it on Sturday if I wasn’t at the Ingleside Tree Lighting Ceremony. Unfortunately I couldn’t be in two places at once so I flipped a coin and Tree Lighting won over jazz. The good news though is that someone did record the evening for me and I have watched all the video. It’s not as good as being there in person but I’ll take what I can get. Thanks go to Sandra Whitworth for doing my job for me and recording the performance.

The Ben Henriques Jazz Quartet played the entire evening to the delight of all present (so I’m told). Ben Henriques originally from Vancouver, is the sax player and leader of the quartet. At least I think he is the leader, after all the band is named after him. Nicola Bédard, a native of Quebec, plays bass. Mark Nelson from Calgary on drums and David Ryshpan from Montreal on piano round out the quartet. All four members of the band have considerable experience which was outlined very eloquently in the program so I am just going to copy it all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXfIO4Wg2zI

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXfIO4Wg2zI

Ben Henriques (Saxophone): Originally a native of Vancouver, Ben Henriques made his way to Montreal in 2001 to study jazz saxophone at the Schulich School of Music where he earned his Bachelor’s in Jazz Performance. Since then he has made a name for himself on the Montreal Jazz scene as a musician, band-leader, and educator. He has shared the stage with many Jazz greats including Joe Lovano, John Taylor, Phil Dwyer, Ben Monder, Jim McNeely, Dave Liebman and many more. His first re-cord as a leader “The Responsibility Club” (Rare Bird Records 2009) rose to #1 on the airwaves in February 2009 and was also selected as #2 jazz album of 2009 by Radio Jazz Plus. Ben is cur-rently in rehearsals for his next album, “Childlike Things”, and is teaching jazz materials at the Schulich School of Music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izbnrukrxFQ

las Bédard (Bass): Nicolas, a native of Quebec, com-pleted a Bachelors degree at McGill iPerformance Jazz in 2009. At that time, his professional career was already off to a good start, par-ticularly with the Grooveattic funk group and the Chicago Goes West jazz trio. He has been involved with numerous musical pro-jects, including the Rafael Zaldivar Trio, Makaya and the Trio Bruxo. In addition to North America, he appeared in concerts in Europe, by way of Brazil, while playing electric base as often as double base. His career as a performer has now been complimented by his role as teacher at the Notre Dame de Foy College. His diverse work experience has allowed him to master a broad spectrum of styles, from jazz to rock, by way of funk and Latin music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjQH3rTDXZQ

Mark Nelson (Drums): Mark, a native of Calgary, was schooled in Montreal and New Zealand, and has been part of many cross Canada tours. On two occasions he received the Ted Frickleton Most Out-standing Drummer award at the Manawatu Jazz festival. With the ensemble Trio Bruxo, Mark traveled to Sao Paulo Brazil in the fall of 2010. Mark has participated in many tours and festivals in Europe and Que-bec with the artist Ian Kelly. Some of those specific events in 2010/11 included Les Francofolies de Spa Bel-gium, Reeperbahn in Germany and Osheaga in Montreal. Currently, Mark is involved in various music projects based out of Montreal, some of which include: Ian Kelly, Jon Day, Parc X Trio, Bean, Trio Bruxo, Cancion Mia, Marie-Fatima Rudolph Trio, Joel Kerr and Sylvain Ransy.

David Ryshpan (Piano): Pianist, composer and ar-ranger David Ryshpan is an active fixture on the Montreal scene. 2011 has seen him perform with guitarist Gary Schwartz’s LET-TINGO, a show nominated for the Opus prize for Best Concert of the Year, and saxophonist Matana Roberts, on whose recording Coin Coin: Gens de couleur libres he appears. David was also the musical director for Latin soul legend Joe Bataan’s debut performance at POP Montreal. His most recent project is Yo existo en tu si-lencio, an hour-long song cycle based on Mexican poetry for voice, piano, bass, percussion and string quartet, co-composed with vocalist Gitanjali Jain. David is a member of Kalmunity Vibe Collective, a frequent collaborator with multilingual hip-hop group Nomadic Mas-sive, and a contributor to CKUT 90.3 FM.

To see what is on the schedule at the St. Lawrence Acoustic Stage after New Years you can go their web site.

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Jason Collis, Eric Willison and Joel Labrosse of The Shiners

“We put a lot of ourselves into our music and we would love to be able to share that with people on a larger stage,” says Willison. “The Internet has helped indie acts get their music out, but it has also meant that the competition for the listener’s ear has never been more fierce.”

“Reaction so far has been very positive,” says Willison. “This is the first time we’ve released the album first on our own website, and we’re excited about the exposure that iTunes can give the recording.”

“The last time it was a lot like going through an orchard and picking the best fallen apples from different trees,” says Willison. “And even then, we were certainly very happy with the results.  This time, we collaborated and inspired each other, and we’re still picking fallen fruit, but from the same variety of tree.”

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Mélanie Brûlée

CFN - This past Saturday night the St. Lawrence Acoustic Stage in Morrisburg presented another fantastic evening of music on stage as well as a display of visual artists in the hallway. The performance on this night included 6 “emerging artists” who each performed 3 songs, starting with a CFN favourite, Mélanie Brûlée formerly of the General Electryk fame.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN51itToJxw

Mélanie was followed by Gene Ward who “is well kown in the Morrisburg area for his country-infused troubadour style and the engaging wit and storytelling of his songwriting”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOco0uvoY4U

Tracy Lalonde made her debut at the St. Lawrence Stage to the end the first set. Tracy’s musical offerings were very intense and dramatic and, to me at least, were reminiscent of the coffee house culture during the beat generation. I know, leave it to me to find a reference to coffee.  The audience was left breathless at the break.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEhgREkH7rc

The second set began with fingerstyle guitar player Chis Thompson. It was amazing to watch Chris’s fingers fly across the strings of his guitar and to hear the tunes that they produced.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wb2ik14pBqI

Kevin Head was up next. Originally from the Maritimes, he currently lives, teaches and performs in Kingston. I don’t think the term emerging artist really applies to Kevin. He has a relaxed entertaining style of a well seasoned professional. I guess it comes from performing on stage with the likes of Valdy, Charlie Major and the Rankins.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPi9oQQtwm0

The last performer of the evening was Samantha Martin. Being a proud daughter of a truck drive it seems only natural that she would be a country singer. As the program describes, ”Her whiskey-soaked voice has an intimate sound, yet it is powerfully strong at the same time. Few Artists can move the back wall of a club out a few feet like she can at full tilt – and soothe a full room with a quiet croon, all within the same song.” I could not have described it better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XhfyC_2N-c

There were five visual artists who had their works on display in the hall way. All the artists are great but I personally like Sandra Taylor Hedges of Studio One Cat Squared because she did this painting of me at the Cornwall Farmers Market during better times.

Coffey's Coffee at the Market

Sandra Taylor Hedges (Studio One Cat Squared)

MiSun Kim-Hunter

Anne Wylemans

Michelle C. Fecit

Bev Murphy, Glass Artist

The next show will be on December 3^rd and will feature Ben Henriques Jazz Quartet. You can see the rest of the schedule for the St. Lawrence Acoustic Stage at their web site.

I hope to see you there.

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CFN - George Bowser and Rick Blue, better known as Bowser and Blue were in Cornwall, Ontario yesterday evening.  This musical, comedic, Canadian dynamic duo from Quebec were invited guests for a fundraiser benefiting Crime Stoppers.  The image featured here pictures a Cornwall audience member who was invited on stage to demonstrate the game of “bum darts”.   

The “bum dart” song sure gave the audience’s laughing muscles a good stretch while describing how to play this silly game. Hold a coin in your bum cheeks then deposit it in a designated target, in this case a bowl on stage.   Couldn’t resist pulling out my point and shoot camera from my purse to catch this opportune shot. 

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Del Barber

CFN - This months performances at the St. Lawrence Acoustic Stage once again included some great Canadian talent in the form of Del Barber and Brea Lawrenson.

Brea and Sean Lawrenson

Brea Lawrenson is a 24 year old singer-songwriter who shows plenty of poise, determination and confidence on the stage. This is a return engagement for Brea and since her last visit she has signed with a Nashville recording group and is beginning to tour to promote her recently released album “Somewhere To Go”. She was joined by her brother Sean as she started the night with a combination of her own compositions and well known tunes that suited her vocal talents. I think the song which best demonstrated her strong vocals this evening was the Black Crows composition of “She Talks To Angels”. The song in the clip I included here is one of her own compositions entitled “Hold On”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dchJQYGuO0I

Del Barber is a Manitoba boy and shows his heritage proudly in his stories and his music. Once again I am going to plagiarize the excellently well written program from the St. Lawrence Stage.

“Del Barber has found a new home on stage, winning audiences across Canada and the United States with raw talent and ample doses of charm. With wide-eyed ambition and a work ethic second to none, in two short years, Barber has released tow full length records  and found the time to tour coast to coast twice, playing well over 300 dates everywhere from Halifax to Albuquerque.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u22CzrJTkf4

Del also has an impressive list of awards and nominations but I was most impressed by his live on stage performance. He has been compared to Townes Van Zandt, Greg Brown, Neil Young and John Prine but I would like to also throw in Arlo Guthry and Pete Seeger. His style is folk/country and he does that very well. During his performance he preceded each song with a related humorous personal story which rivals the story telling talents of Stuart McLean of the CBC Vinyl Café. To quote the program once again:

“Barber’s capacity to weave experiences and characters stems from a keen understanding of narrative, phrasing and metaphor. These are tied together by Barber’s polished finger-style guitar work, warm home town melodies and his inviting and intoxicating personality.”

Inviting and intoxicating personality is not exactly something that I would come up with. I won’t argue with it but it is not really my style, a little too gushy. What I can honestly say is that I did cruse the folk clubs in Toronto in the 1970’s and I have seen a lot of folk singers including Stan Rogers, John Prine, Pete Seeger, Tom Paxton and James Taylor. Del’s performance last night rivals any of those that I have in my memory.

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