Pat Bythe – All That Jazz Part VI

This is going to be a long one…….

For the early students of jazz, there were no books or educational courses. The best a young musician had was listening to the music live, following by recordings. You couldn’t take a live performance home, and recordings could be scarce, or simply out of reach financially. As jazz grew in popularity throughout the decades, more and more recordings made this rapidly changing genre more available and attainable.

Roxanne Tellier – Grant Fullerton … King of the Road

In 1967, the Song of the Year was “Canada” by The Young Canada Singers. I was a geeky, gawky Montreal teen with cats eye glasses and a bad perm. My season’s pass to Expo 67 made me feel like a citizen of the world.

But in Toronto, another kind of world was coming together; one of young, talented musicians who’d flocked to Yorkville to find fame, if not fortune.

Grant Fullerton was one of them.

Doug Thompson: A NEW BOOK ON THE CANADIAN MUSIC SCENE IS IN BOOK STORES OR ON KINDLES, OR HOWEVER YOU READ BOOKS THESE DAYS

Before I begin my review, I have to say that I have the utmost respect for anybody who sits down (or stands up for that matter) to write a book…whether fiction or non-fiction.  The amount of time and effort in research and the blood, sweat and tears that it takes to actually write it, can be monumental.  Having contributed to over a dozen books, I know that it takes true dedication and can’t be undertaken lightly.  Writing a book can (and often does) take over your life.

Pat Blythe: K-Pop and other stories

During a recent conversation on writing and music I was asked if I had ever heard of K-Pop. My answer was “no” although I was tempted to say “of course” me being a music junky and all. I’ve been told I don’t get out enough so I’m working on that. In the meantime…

JAIMIE VERNON – OH! CANADA? THE OTHER SONGS OF MY PEOPLE

Tuesday marks the 147th birthday of this great Dominion known as Canada.  Though we’re not quite as old as our brother to the south, our European lineage dates back to May 2, 1670 when the Dread Pirate Ernie Hudson got his ship stranded in the northern waters of the arctic looking for a direct passage to Santa’s Workshop. He and the crew survived on nothing but Her Queen’s Own Biscuits, Tea Candles and striped blankets knitted from the wool of extinct mammoths. The native population had already been here 11,000 years longer and resented the idea that you now had to trade 10 beaver pelts to get a birch bark canoe. We’ve come a long way since then but still pride ourselves on our cultural diversity, beavers, hockey and fornicating while watching hockey. Oh, and we seem to be able to write a mean ditty (not “diddy” you internet meme idiots).