MERCURY LOUNGE OTTAWA Thursday May 28th 22:00pm with DJ Trevor Walker

Destiny then brought Rommel to Canada in 2006. Fate couldn’t have played a better trick. By bringing the young musician to a multicultural environment, life exponentially increased Rommel’s amazing artistic skills. The first musical encounter, with the People Project band,an inter-cultural, multi-lingual international musical collective exploring music from around the world, turned out to become an even greater synergic reunion. Formed by young artists from different parts of the Americas (Canada, Mexico, Brazil), the gathering resulted in an explosion of talents in which each one of the musicians greatly influenced each other. People Project and Rommel’s performances at Café Nostálgica (a cultural hot-spot in Ottawa known for its diversity, its warmth and its ongoing support for the arts) became legendary among the Ottawa’s musical scene. By mesmerizing the audience week after week, the artists succeeded in creating a small legion of fans who religiously attended the group’s performances. Rommel also has participated in People Project on a number of occasions and continues to do so. Among the more prominent performances, he was featured with the group at “FESTIVAL INTERNATIONAL DE JAZZ DE MONTREAL“, “OTTAWA INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL“, “GLOBAL GROOVES-TORONTO” and “OTTAWA BLUESFEST” among other festivals, where he collaborated on a mix of People Project and Rommel’s original material.

Rommel has just completed his month tour back home and is preparing to start at school in Montreal. He is gracing Ottawa’s Mercury Lounge stage for his return performance!

Friday September 19th 22:00 Mercury Lounge Ottawa

GOTSOUL RECORDS AND THERAPY PRESENT THE FIRST ANNUAL
MONTREAL INTERNATIONAL HOUSE MUSIC FESTIVAL

Leave it JojoFlores and the good people from GotSoul and Therapy to give House lovers the respect of a festival. Closing down the summer could never feel so good. If you don’t believe me check out this House giant all star
THURSDAY AUGUST 28th GOTSOUL SESSIONS at SEGAFREDO
ABICAH SOUL, MIKE FRESCO & LUKE NATIVE

FRIDAY AUGUST 29th SOUL NATION at TIME SUPPERCLUB
KARIZMA, PAT BOOGIE & CHRISTIAN PRONOVOST

FRIDAY AUGUST 29th DANNY BUDDAH MORALES at CHERRY

SATURDAY AUGUST 30th CLASSICS at CHERRY
ANGEL MORAES, JOJOFLORES & SIMON B.

SUNDAY AUGUST 31st THERAPY 9 YR ANNIVERSARY at CHERRY
KENNY BOBIEN, JOE DIPADOVA, MISAYO, JABIG, MIKE FRESCO & TAZZ
Hosted by: Bic, Claudy, Inobe, Stephen Nelson & Metrotalent

Joni NehRita passed through Ottawa tonight promoting her new Cd “A fine time”. The atmosphere at the Mercury lounge was comfortable and laid back, those present enjoyed the soulful voice of Joni. She was accompanied by three musicians who have been touring with her. The chemistry between them was interesting to see; the up beat Jazz drumming and funky bass lines gave it the kick it needed to make it a great show. Joni’s Cd is well worth the buy, as it sets the mood for a pleasant night. Check out her Myspace here.

July 12th, 2008 Fame and Therapy launched the Album Release of MIAMI SUNSET SESSIONS featuring Jojoflores from Gotsoul Records & HALO from City Deep Music. Jojoflores is a celebrated Montreal DJ with a signature sound that resonates sweet, soulful melodies and a profound jazzy vibe. He is also highly respected for his rare underground garage house. Jojoflores maintains regular residencies at Cherry (MTL) and Cielo (NYC).

Jojoflores was joined by Toronto DJ, Mat Chrysdale. The CD release took place at Toronto King St. West resto/bar Brassaii.

Purchase MIAMI SUNSET SESSIONS today! Or better yet, hit up the next CD Release party at Tribe Hyper Club (MTL) 10pm Friday July 18th. Jojoflores will be joined by Mike “FU” Fresco.

Balkan Beat Box lead members include Tamir Muskat and Ori Kaplan along with a Multiethnic group of musicians Tomer Yosef, Itamar Ziegler, Uri Kinrot (Who I had the fortune to see Jan. 2006 at the Mercury Lounge with an amazing Klezmer band, Boom Pam), Ben Handler, Jeremiah Lockwood, Eyal Talmudi and Peter Hess. Balkan Beat Box also collaborate with a long list of musicians from Bulgaria, Morocco, Spain, Israel, and Palestine. Balkan Beat Box’s diverse membership make for a vast array of classical music styles mixed with dub and electronic . Their high energy, carnival sound played Ottawa Bluesfest Friday July 11th at 7:00 pm on the Bank of America Stage right before heading on their European Tour.

The crowd was mixed. True, strong lovers of the eclectic sound of Balkan Beat Box and early birds wanting a good seat for the 9pm show of Canadian favorites, Great Big Sea. Either way the Balkan Beat Box fans took over!
The front of the crowd was dancing, waving and singing with every song. While the seated folk clapped along in glee!

My favorite parts of the Balkan Beat Box show was their recorded hit songs from their album NU MED from JDUB Records, remixed to high energy dance style mixes. Tomer Yosef (MC, percussion, vocals and sampler) was on fire! Leaping from bass bin speakers, dancing with the crowd playing percussions and mixing live. It was unbelievable! I was not expecting such an innovative performance with a highly cultural sound.

Secondary highlight was meeting the band and having them sign my album! Sweet!!!

Confederation Park was the home to legendary Herbie Hancock with his Grammy awarded Album “River: The Joni Letters”. The lyrics from the album “River” were written by Canadian artist Joni Mitchell. Herbie Hancock graced the stage with two fantastic vocalists, Sonya Kitchell and Amy Keys. Sonya Kitchell’s sound is a cross between Norah Jones, Ella Fitzgerald & Joni Mitchell. While Amy Keys a sound not unlike Tina Turner and Christina Aguilera.
There was definitely no lack of genius musical talent last night! Herbie Hancock was accompanied by Dave Holland on Bass, Chris Potter on Saxophone, Vinnie Colaiuta on Percussion and
Lionel Loueke on Guitar.

Listening to Grammy Award winner Herbie Hancock’s “River: The Joni Letters” is like looking at a painting that hasn’t dried. It was Miles Davis who once told Hancock to “never finish anything” when Hancock played alongside Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams in Davis legendary group in the early ’60s.

“River” focuses on the earthiness of Joni Mitchell’s lyrics interpreted by a plethora of varied vocalist. Tina Turner, Leonard Cohen, Norah Jones, and even Mitchell herself all intone exquisitely while Hancock assumes a reverent neutrality.

Herbie Hancock paid a beautiful homage to Joni Mitchell’s eloquent lyrics. Opening the show with the title track from the Album “The River” entitled River, performed by Sonya Kitchell. Then followed by a power-house performance by Amy Keys performing When Love Came to Town from the Album “Possibilities”.

The solo performances by Dave Holland, Herbie Hancock and Lionel Loueke were worth the price of admission alone. Dave Holland’s fingers danced across the strings integrating contemporary aesthetics to traditional jazz. Then briefly accompanied by Herbie Hancock for a rare treat . Herbie Hancock’s solo was meditative, taking lengthy solitary pauses of contemplation. Herbie Hancock succeeded in expanding the public vision of what music, particularly jazz, is all about today. Lionel Loueke’s guitar solo definitely blew me away! Herbie Hancock, even referred to him as the “Secret Weapon”! His background in acoustic, Afro-beat and Jazz was extreamly well received by the audience. People jumped from their lawn chairs and starting to sway to the beat.

Little Foot Long Foot, born out of necessity. This two member Toronto-based band was conceived from a tribute act. Isaac Klein (drums) bought his second tom to bash like Bonham, and Joan Smith (guitar and vocals) did her best to carry off Plant’s feminine machismo without stuffing her pants. After discovering that the smartest business decision for a tribute band is to add as many midgets as possible, Joan accepted her inability to shred wicked solos, strapped on a fat loud guitar and dug out her originals. Isaac put away the second tom so that Joan’s amp would fit in his car, and they journeyed towards a new horizon where White Stripes comparisons were lush and unavoidable.

Being a two piece band is all Little Foot Long Foot has in common with The White Stripes – musically they couldn’t be further apart. Joan’s voice is hard to put to words, there are moments when you can picture her chugging back JD straight from the bottle, channeling Joplin herself. From a light Billie Holiday to a Dylan feel. Be sure to check this Toronto Blues-Rockn’ duo with their injections of sarcastic prose at one of these great venues.

UPCOMING SHOWS:

June 17th 9pm Mercury Lounge, Ottawa with Bible All Stars
June 18th 9pm Brasserie Lafontaine, Riviere Du Loup
June 20th 9pm The Capital, Fredericton with Chris Colepaugh
June 21st 8pm Summer Solstice Festival, Saint John’s
June 25th 10pm Tribeca, Halifax
June 28th 9pm Brennans, Charlottetown
June 30th 8pm The Mersey House, Liverpool
July 4th 8pm Chuggles, Antigonish
July 5th 8pm Seahorse Tavern, Halifax
July 8th 10pm Gus’s Pub, Halifax
July 10th 9pm The Capital, Fredericton
July 11th 8pm Duncan’s Pub, Amherst with Jon McKeil
July 12th 8pm JB’s Pub, Springhill NS with Nicknameless
July 18th 8pm A Khord, St John’s
July 19th 8pm Doc Dylans, Moncton
July 23rd 9pm Divan Orange, Montreal
July 24th 9pm The Rainbow, Ottawa
Aug 14th 8pm The Supermarket, Toronto
Aug 15th 9pm PepperJacks’s, Hamilton

(This is part one of two videos, the second of which can be seen right here.)

It is, Pierre Chretien insists, still very much an Ottawa band.

But increasingly, The Souljazz Orchestra is bringing its infectious global sound around the globe.

Late last year, it was a string of sold-out shows in Europe. Last month, the sextet was wowing them in Brooklyn. Come July, it’s back overseas for club and festival dates in the U.K., France, Austria, Denmark and Hungary. Further shows in such exotic locales as Iceland are in the works. “To them,” Chretien muses with a laugh, “we’re exotic Canadians.”

Yet despite such globetrotting activities, Chretien and band will find time in their busy schedule to play three local dates over the next five weeks, beginning with a celebration of Souljazz at Barrymore’s on Saturday. (A more intimate show at Gatineau’s Le Petit Chicago is slated for June 21; a considerably less intimate performance will take place in Confederation Park on July 1.)

“We’re still an Ottawa band,” Chretien says. “I mean, we live here, these are our stomping grounds.

“We’re playing more and more all over the world, but we’re definitely an Ottawa band. Ottawa taught us to interact with crowds and to get them participating. Ottawa has been our training camp.”

Few bands have trained harder for the success now coming Souljazz’s way.

Five years’ worth of weekly local gigs saw the band graduate from residencies at the University of Ottawa’s Cafe Nostalgica to the Mercury Lounge to Babylon.

By the release of the band’s superb second album, Freedom No Go Die, the combo’s ensemble playing benefited from near-telepathic communication between members.

Moreover, what had begun as essentially an opportunity for U of O music students (Chretien continues to pursue masters studies in music composition) to play jazz has evolved into a multicultural band whose ability to craft original dance music in funk, Latin and afrobeat styles has rightly commanded international attention.

“We started out a little jazzy, a little more laid back, but after a while you want that crowd participation,” Chretien says of the evolution.

“We started exploring genres related to jazz, but not your intellectual, listening jazz. So afrobeat, Latin, funk … it was all kind of a natural progression.”

The group’s 2005 debut, Uprooted, captured Souljazz in the midst of that transition. But if Uprooted represented a band not yet fully formed, it was no less appealing for it. And within months of the CD’s independent release, ears well outside the 613 were perking up.

“We were just doing it for the fun of it,” keyboardist/songwriter/arranger/vocalist Chretien says.

“But when the album started getting airplay all over the world, we started figuring something was happening. Then we got a record deal and things really started to happen.”

The deal, through Toronto’s Do Right! Music, will see the band’s next, already completed album see international release following its Canadian arrival in September. On CD and vinyl. (The label has also reissued Freedom No Go Die on LP.)

Much touring will follow thanks to the group’s having recently been picked up internationally by The Agency Group.

“They do Pink Floyd and Dolly Parton and all those people,” Chretien says of the world’s largest booking agency. “That has helped a bit.”

A bit. But the bulk of the credit for the band’s success must go directly to the musicians — a not only talented, but also determined lot.

“The music side is important. You need to have your chops and to practise and all that,” Chretien notes.

“But you also need to take initiative and take care of the whole business aspect of it. I think it’s important to promote yourself and to get out there. It’s a lot of work, but a lot of musicians ignore that part of it and go unnoticed because of it.”

Want an album? You got it!

UPCOMING SHOW:

Saturday May 31st 21:30pm Souljazz Orchestra : w/ DJ Zattar Barrymore’s Music Hall, Ottawa, ON

(This article made possible by Souljazz Orchestra going global by Allan Wigney-Sun Media)

For those who have never had the fortune to drive it, the Trans-Canada highway is a long, slow and detailed journey. This route is rarely the fastest, but can be the most memorable way to traverse Canada.

I recently had the fortune to take the wrong turn driving from Toronto to Ottawa and landed myself on this highway. Listening to a CD of an Ottawa afro-funk band, I quickly drew the parallel between Canada’s music industry and one of the worlds longest highways. Relaxed and natural, yet constant and strong! Canada’s artists are bred to know that there is a long road that lie ahead.

TRANS CANADA RADIO is proud to celebrate Canada’s Current Cultural artists and their locations! Traveling across Canada’s vast surface and finding the best of the under and above-ground artists who are rooted in, Soul, Funk, Reggae, Beats, House, Breaks and all that afro-Jazz… and where to check them out in your favorite Canadian city!
Pack your bags! We’re going on a road trip!

Sara Ainslie (editor)