As we wrap up our NXNE coverage, we wanted to give you one last chance to grasp a taste of what it was like to be in Toronto for one sweaty week of music. Check out the best images we took of NXNE (ignore the poor composition and low resolution; we’re very DIY).

Toronto’s Spiral Beach knows to throw a party. Beach balls are required but forget your shoes.

Singer-songwriter Layah Jane is a hearty young musician with a mission. With soulful vocals and a poetic, articulate tongue, Layah’s sound recalls Joni Mitchell, Rickie Lee Jones and Ani Difranco, with a resonance all her own.
Both piano and guitar became tools for writing and accompaniment as Layah began to create and perform original material at the age of thirteen. Since the completion of her first demo in 2000, Layah has been invited to play countless shows and festival showcases including the Rochester International Jazz Festival, Winterfolk Festival, North by Northeast Music Festival, Toronto Indie Music Week, Toronto City Roots Festival, the Ottawa Folk Festival, and New Music West. Following the release of her debut album Grievance and Gratitude (Grace Note Records, 2005), Layah won a CBC Galaxie Rising Star Award, a Toronto Independent Music Award for “Best Jazz” and nomination for “Best Live Acoustic Act”, and a nomination for an American Independent Music Award in the “Folk/Singer-Songwriter” category. Her song “Reverence and Ridicule” won the political category in the Ontario Council of Folk Festival’s 2005 songwriting competition. Recently Layah received a 2007 Ontario Independent Music Award (Best Folk), and nominations for two 2007 Toronto Independent Music Awards (Best Folk and Best Female Fronted Band). Layah’s new EP Patience (Grace Note Records, 2007) was produced by Oliver Johnson (Ivana Santilli, Esthero), and was musically blessed by drummers Davide Direnzo (Holly Cole, Jacksoul), Ben Riley (Bruce Cockburn) and Lyle Molzan (Jann Arden), bassist Marc Rogers (K’naan, Philosopher Kings), and percussionist Dave Gouveia (Amanda Marshall, Ivana Santilli). Both Provincial and Federal grant programs continue to recognize Layah’s musicianship and support her projects, through the Ontario Arts Council, and FACTOR. The Grievance and Gratitude Remixes (Grace Note Records, 2005) took the folk song seeds planted on Layah’s debut recording Grievance and Gratitude, and grew them into flowers that bloom compellingly in colours of breakbeat, trip-hop, hip-hop, rock, sam

ba, and reggae. The tracks were produced by a diverse and well-respected tribe of remixers. Layah Jane has been seen and heard as a live and recorded back-up vocalist for a range of artists making folk, funk, soul, and hip-hop music in the Toronto area. Over the past ten years, she has also appeared as a lead and back-up vocalist on various commercials and Juno-nominated albums. In the realm of television and radio, Layah’s songs have been licensed for Global TV’s “Blue Murder”, and ESPN’s primetime drama “Tilt”. Layah appeared on Toronto 1’s late night entertainment TV show, “The Toronto Show” in 2003, and on Calgary’s A Channel’s “Wired” in 2005. Through regular college and CBC radio play, as well as a fortunate invitation to be the voice of the Dove Real Beauty/Self Esteem Fund’s 2006 “True Colors” TV Campaign, listeners all over the world are being introduced to Layah Jane through the airwaves. Morphing from singer-songwriter to DJ, Layah co-founded the Move Collective, a Toronto dance jam that spread west to Calgary and east to Halifax. Voted Best Non-smoking Dance Event in Toronto by Now Magazine in 2003, rotating DJs pack dance floors each week. Armed with new tunes that are as organically rich and sonically intimate as ever, Layah completed a Summer/Fall 2007 tour of ON, QC, NY, VT, MA, NC, and TX, and is currently preparing for a Spring 2008 cross-Canada tour, in support of her highly anticipated sophomore full-length recording, “Brightness & Bravery”. Layah Jane is a spirited and natural performer who receives enthusiastic support wherever she plays. When she takes the stage we are transported to a place where emotion is raw, reflection is deep, and revolution is not only possible, but necessary.

Grab all of her albums from CD Baby!

25 May 2008 20:00 The Slice Bar and Grill Lethbridge, AB
4 Jun 2008 20:00 Healey’s – Toronto Ind. Music Award “Best Live Act” Competition Toronto, ON
7 Jun 2008 20:00 Moonshine Cafe Oakville, ON
20 Jun 2008 20:00 House Concert Peterborough, ON
28 Jun 2008 18:30 Toronto City Roots Festival Toronto, ON
1 Jul 2008 20:00 Good Sounds Good Showcase – Supermarket Toronto, ON
12 Jul 2008 20:00 Knox Acoustic Cafe – with Brian Macmillan Owen Sound, ON
1 Aug 2008 20:00 Blue Skies Music Fest – with Brian Macmillan Clarendon, ON
2 Aug 2008 20:00 Blue Skies Music Fest – with Brian Macmillan Clarendon, ON
3 Aug 2008 20:00 Blue Skies Music Fest – with Brian Macmillan Clarendon, ON
5 Sep 2008 19:30 Hugh Foster Hall – “Just Milton Folks” Series with Brian Macmillan Milton, ON
6 Sep 2008 20:00 House Concert Waterloo, ON
13 Sep 2008 20:00 Elk Mountain House Concert Series Asheville, NC
14 Sep 2008 8:00 Jubilee Community Asheville, NC
20 Sep 2008 20:00 Salem Art Works Salem, NY
22 Sep 2008 20:00 Dryden Community Center Cafe Dryden, NY
23 Oct 2008 20:00 Ontario Council of Folk Festivals Conference Ottawa, ON
24 Oct 2008 20:00 Ontario Council of Folk Festivals Conference Ottawa
25 Oct 2008 20:00 Ontario Council of Folk Festivals Conference Ottawa, ON
26 Oct 2008 20:00 Ontario Council of Folk Festivals Conference Ottawa, ON
29 Oct 2008 20:00 The Bees Knees Morrisville, Vermont
28 Mar 2009 20:00 Perth House Concert Series Perth, ON
25 Jul 2009 20:00 Knox Acoustic Cafe Owen Sound, ON

With her sparkling sophomore release, I Love Being Here With You, songstress Dione Taylor has emerged as a fully-formed and exciting young artist. While unmistakably a jazz album, I Love Being Here With You reflects Dione Taylor’s love and background in gospel, rhythm & blues and soul. Her rich and smoky voice has a truly soulful quality, one attractively complemented by her keenly trained musical ear. This combination of soulfulness and subtlety is an irresistible one. To record her latest album, I Love Being Here With You, Dione paired up with producers Doug Riley (Ray Charles, David Clayton-Thomas, The Brecker Brothers) and Sandy Mamane (Dione Taylor). “I’ve always been a big fan of Doug Riley and loved the results of the last album with Sandy so all three of us put our heads together and made some magic! ” The producers helped assemble an ace team of players including Jake Langley, Guido Basso, Pat LaBarbera, Terry Clarke and international piano virtuoso, Benny Green. Another special guest on the album is vocal jazz sensation Denzal Sinclaire. He duets with Dione on the tender and romantic title track “I Love Being Here With You” an original composition of Dione’s. The disc is stylistically eclectic, exciting and adventurous yet accessible and entertaining. Dione Taylor burst onto the music scene in 2004 with her debut album “Open Your Eyes” and performances for both the President of the United States and the Queen of England. The past years’ remarkable career trajectory is one that Dione Taylor has traveled with grace, determination and true talent. No wonder this young jazz vocalist is now being hailed as an incandescent rising star on the Canadian musical firmament. Dione Taylor’s 2004 debut recording, “Open Your Eyes” (Matay Records), did exactly that for the Canadian jazz community. Sensing the arrival of a true artist in their midst, they responded quickly and positively.

The album earned nominations at the 2005 Juno Awards, the Canadian Urban Music Awards, the National Jazz Awards and was named one of the Top Recordings of 2004 by Canada’s Premier Jazz Station, Jazz.FM 91.1. That station placed three tracks from “Open Your Eyes” in regular rotation, and the album received unanimous thumbs-up verdicts from music critics. Impressive airplay in Europe, Asia and the U.S. has helped the disc find its way into the homes and hearts of music lovers around the globe.

Hatiras clearly loves to DJ. I would say he’s definitely one of the planet’s top electronic music DJs & producers. He’s produced loads of mind-bending and butt-wiggling music — over 100 releases! He’s won two Juno Awards, a Socan Award for most radio play in Canada and multiple nominations. He owns and operates two record labels (Hatrax and Blow Media ). This man has sold over half million records worldwide.

Hatiras started out as a rave promoter in the ’90s. He created and operated one of North America’s largest event organizations called Liquid Adrenaline. Events averaged 5.000 and peaked at 10,000 in attendance. As a DJ, Hatiras has performed around the world in venues across Canada, USA, Japan, Colombia, Australia, Poland, Germany, Belgium, UK, Serbia and more. As a remixer he’s reworked music for Kylie Minogue, Loleatta Holloway, Junior Jack, Carole Pope and many more. Everyone from The Chemical Brothers to Pete Tong to Roger Sanchez, Bad Boy Bill, DJ Dan, Danny Tenaglia and in between, plays Hatiras music.

Currently, he also hosts a weekly radio show called ‘Hatiras Presents’ that broadcasts on over a dozen stations worldwide and surpasses 100,000 listeners per show. Check the dopeness here!

Upcoming shows:

04/25/2008 : Phoenix : TBA
05/17/2008 : Vancouver : TBA
06/06/2008 : San Francisco : Kelly’s Mission Rock
06/07/2008 : San Bernardino : Hudson Theatre

“Who Knows”

04 – 07 June ART OF JAZZ TORONTO, ON
15 August OLD MILL ETOBICOKE, ON