end of the week ramblings

Another long weekend come and gone...being of the Jewish persuasion, Easter really doesn't mean all that much to me except in the sense of rapidly disappearing snow banks, birds chirping in tree tops and the promise of spring fragrant in the air. I am not much for holidays of any religion. Bread tastes extra sweet on Passover (I can't stand matzo - but LOVE matzo balls in my chicken soup); my fast on Yom Kippur usually lasts for about four hours instead of the prescribed twenty-four. I have always found most holidays really dreary. When I was living in Iceland where Easter lasts for, like, ten weeks (ok, actually five days: Thursday through Tuesday with the magical intermission of a manic Saturday when stores are open) - I was usually driven batty by the length of the bloody thing, the endless store closures, the flags at half staff, the frequent northerly winds and often no spring in sight. Here in Toronto, most holidays are mitigated by our huge pockets of various ethnic communities and, as I have mentioned previously on this blog, by the great Sababa restaurant, open 365 days a year, where a shwarma sandwich tastes extra sweet on Easter Sunday when most places are closed. I guess being a musician I have never learnt to appreciate weekends and holidays the way other people appreciate and need them. I make my own schedule and can make a Monday or a Thursday into my day of rest if I so choose - not that I ever do. Despite being Jewish, I suffer from a decidedly Catholic conscience and Calvinist work ethic!

Yesterday we had our "diva" concert at the Staircase Theatre in Hamilton. It was produced and promoted by me but I still say "we" because without our fabulous jazz divas we couldn't have done it. I admit to some trepidation beforehand: one is never sure whether the program is right, whether enough people will show up, whether ego frictions won't flare up. We only had some minor equipment problems which we managed to iron out in time and after a very short soundcheck we got the show on the road.

I was able to hire Anthony Panacci on keyboards, playing with panache (hehehe) and the self-assurance and technique of a seasoned pro. Anthony has played with many, many top Canadian and American players. He was on tour with Liona Boyd and has performed with the likes of Neil Swainson, Don Thompson, Mark Kelso and others. No greenhorn he! Still, taking on three divas is no easy task for anyone and Anthony played like a champ throughout the show. Our first singer, Margot Roi was accompanied by her husband Blair Hunter on guitar. Margot performs with a lot of verve and likes to tackle tunes that are not ususally heard in the jazz repertoire. She did a great rendition of "Things We Said Today", for example, as well as a smoking version of "Black Coffee" - a lovely standard that is not heard nearly often enough. Blair provided some tasty licks on his *WONDERFUL* ES-175 guitar (the capital letters expressing my envy only partially!). Amy Rivard, with whom I've been working regularly in recent months, was second on the bill. Amy is a lot of fun, has great taste in music and perfect intonation. She and I are currently working on her first CD. Of the three singers, Amy is the most middle-of-the-road and I have reason to believe she can be very successul in any genre. Her CD will have a strong Latin tinge to it and will be easily programmable for any radio station. Our last singer was Melody Keleher, accompanied on guitar by her father, Garfield MacDonald. Garfield is a master acoustic picker, equally at home in bluegrass and in jazz. He wrote and performed lovely arrangements of such well known standards as Deed I Do and I Got Rhythm. Melody's voice is a sultry, low alto, with depth and power and a hint of world-weary sadness.

The house was full, we sold a bunch of CD's and hope to stage a series of concerts in the fall. I didn't make money on the project but neither did I lose any which is a very nice feeling. This is my first promoting gig where I have broken even. (just as an aside: Amy and I are booked at the Staircase on April 21)

All things considered, another fine week in music. And now that Easter is over and the black snow is almost all melted, patio season is around the bend. It's not the heat, it's the HUMIDITY!