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Some origins of the electric keyboard

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I love anything keyboard related. I love the history or origins of all things musical. The history of the keyboard is something that I know very little about, so this next article is really for me … oh and for you guys too.

In the beer store the other day, I was in line and noticed the latest CHILL magazine. After picking it up and leafing through some of the pages, there was an article titled Voltage-Controlled Synthesizer.

The first thing that caught my eye was a picture of this vintage MOOG synth. It was made popular by the likes of Rick Wakeman and Keith Emerson. Way back in day, this thing looked like you could run a space ship with it!

The article was about a man named Hugh Le Caine, from Port Arthur. He was a physicist for the Canadian National Research Council in WW1. He then went off to Chalk River to work in the Nuclear reactor that was just starting up. It was the first one in Canada at the time.

So during the War he was working on this futuristic, weird thing called the Electronic Sackbut. Where he got the name for this thing initially only God knows. Where in the world do scientists come up with these names?! Anyways, his invention is now recognized to have been the very first voltage-controlled synthesizer.

In 1945, when the first Sackbut was built inside a desk, Le Caine visualized an instrument in which the operator would control three aspects of sound through operations on the keyboard in three co-ordinates of space: vertical pressure was to correspond to volume; lateral pressure to pitch change; and pressure away from the performer to timbre.

Being a man who was known to have tickled the old ivories more then once in a while, you can see where this new thingy-mabober was going!

Keep on Jammin’




Busker Of The Beaches Attends His Own Wake

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The well known beaches busker, 59 year old Dan Cole, is dying of in-operable lung cancer, but has a funny way of showing it.

Dan Cole is having a wake … but the thing is, it’s for him and he will be there … alive and kicking/laughing or juggling. The man who just can’t stop loves performing on cruise ships and entertaining UN peacekeepers in war zones far away from the comforts of home.

The event was put together by his friends and admirers to help him with the cost of his own funeral expenses. I realize this is a bizarre story to write about, but this was intended to be a nice piece. It’s about an artist who in the past has helped others drift away from their day to day troubles or fears and bring them a laugh or smile. These are the ones society should be idolizing!

“I didn’t want to miss people saying good things about me by waiting until I died,”

My wife found this story while going through some e-mails. The local TV news station, city tv, had picked up this story and then ran another article that was just as nice. The Star had also wrote a piece on Dan’s story as well.

I can’t recall seeing Dan perform on the boardwalk, but if I did I now wish that I may have paid more attention to his act! So hats off to the Busker of Kew Beach!

Keep on Jammin’

Canada’s got the Blues

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Well fellow readers, it is finally time to shake the cob webs out of your head and get rid of those dreaded winter blues away! The blues come from those of us who have been deprived way too long of the sun’s healing properties. The medical term is called seasonal defective disorder (SAD). It’s when we do not receive enough vitamin D from that big orange thing in the sky! For some of us this is not a bad thing cause The Blues is making head way into the Canadian music scene!

The blues has always had a negative feel associated with it for ages. The Blues music is another story completely.

A dear friend of mine, way back in my college days, was a fabulous guitar player with immense guitar skills. Peter Schmidt is his name and his style of guitar playing just screams the blues. He is one of those unsung local talents who has not made it to the big stage yet, but there are many more where he came from. So, is Canada really that gifted in this area of music?

The answer seems to be YES! We have tons of blue society’s that are very active in the city. They hold concerts (Winter and Summer events), untold internet forums and have work shops everywhere, no matter the age.

We have bluesy greats such as the late, great Jeff Healey, Danny Marks, Kenny Brown, Ted Leonard, Steve Grisbrook or big Buzz Upshaw, just to name a few that I know of.
Even Leon Redbone was links to Canada!

There was this great article in this magazine called Chill that I was reading the other day. The article called “The state of the blues in Canada” was bringing to everyone’s attention the rise of Blues and who is the up and coming stars to watch out for. It’s a great read to check out!

So, are we going to shake off or embrace the blues? It’s your call.

Keep on Jammin’

The Shmenge Brothers

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The Schmenge Brothers, like many of the Canadians of the day, were a happy bunch that didn’t mind making fun of themselves in front of the world. We could all relate to these overly happy go lucky guys. When ever watching these guys on SCTV, they made me feel like I was in the show because the circle of friends I had back then, acted like them from time to time.

While growing up in Brantford, I had tons of Polish friends that I went to school with.

These guys and girls were really the salt of the earth bunch. Like all good R.C.-ers, X-mas was a big part of our lives and the Schmenge brothers just loved to celebrate and share their Lutonian Christmas traditions with others.

The traditional polish, polka band stereo type was always a silly topic that we constantly brought up in conversation.

This was because everyone, at least that I knew, back then had someone who was in one of these types of bands. When you got to know the band members and see them live, most of them had those similar on stage persona’s, just like that of the Schmenge Brothers characters!

So this post is dedicated to all my old happy wanderers polish buddies who had rock and roll polka bands in the past! Thanx for the memories guys.

Keep on Polka-in’

Waking up Canadian, eh?

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Are you one of those people who live outside of Canada, looking for an alternative citizenship and wondered what it would be like waking up Canadian, well then check out this video for more incentive!

Our economy is nice, the people are nice, the water and air is nice! So come on, just Wake up Canadian, eh?!

Keep on Jammin’


An Idiot in the neighbourhood

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When are the items that we put out on the curb, for others who could use them when we do not need them, turn into junkyard garbage? Well this is a story that happened to us today.

While cleaning up our basement today, we were going through items that are (1) still working and (2) ones that we are no longer using. So we then decided that we should put them to good use, by placing them out on the curb for others who may find them useful. Why not, because the item would not be put directly into land fill taking up precious space!

After putting the item, a microwave oven, out on the curb, we were hoping that it would find a good home. Around 15 minutes later, we saw an older man come up to our old microwave, looking it over. We thought that it found a new owner, but instead the old guy brought out a pocket knife and CUT THE ELECTRICAL CORD and then walked away! He just walked away!

After seeing this, I ran outside and started screaming “Hey buddy, why didn’t you take the whole thing?” I said this a couple of times to him, but he just kept walking away faster as I repeated it. What an asshole! He wins tool of the day award.

So my question to you my fine readers is, when does a gift left outside for someone to put to good use become a scrap yard item to be cannibalize, leaving the remaining item useless for others to use?

One pissed off Torontonian!!!!

Canada’s 2009 Juno award winners

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So another year has come and gone and it was that time to showcase Canada’s premier musicians for 2009 Juno Awards. The Canadian equivalent to the American Grammys, The 38th annual Juno Awards are growing stronger then ever. At least that is what people on the street and in my world say.

These are the award winners that I liked.

The big news was that Nickleback eclipsed everyone with walking away with both The Fan Choice and Group of the Year.

The runners up that I like is this real neat, quirky gypsy jazz outfit from Quebec called The Lost Fingers That night they had two Juno nominations for both fan choice and for album of the year but unfortunately came up empty handed. These guys are such a refreshing change of pace that it is not funny. Leon Redbone, eat your heart out!

My favorite modern Canadian Rocker to date, by a LONG SHOT, is City and Colour, better known as Dallas Green! This extraordinary guitarist, won the first award of the night, Songwriter of the Year with his latest project titled Bring me your Love. His best solo creation is called Sometimes and is a MUST for anyone’s collection. I know that I’m wearing that damn thing really thin.

Sam Roberts and the boys brought home the Artist of the Year award. He has this intangible feel to his creations. He is musically invigorating, with that raw edge that people in Quebec have, musically speaking, it’s a good thing trust me.

The most creative song he did on that album was Save Your Scissors. When I first heard that one I was in my car. It impressed me so much that I pulled over to get a pen and paper out of the glove box to write down the name of the artist and song. This guy impressed me that much.

The Alternative Album of the Year went to The Stills. The one song that I heard on the Juno’s website has the guitar style of the Edge of U2. I love the slide and anything that has to do with delays! Nice work boys. Also please check out the other bands on this link, they make me proud to be a Canadian musician!

So that is my short list of what went on at this years Juno Awards. I’ll comb over the other categories and see what comes up. So, what were your favorite acts that either played or were nominated for any Juno’s??

Keep on Jammin’

Bare Naked Ladies-less

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As you may or may not know, Steven Page, one of the founders of the Bare Naked Ladies has now left the band to pursue a solo career. The crazy boy band from Scarborough Ontario is saying good bye to one of the masterminds behind their great success for the past 20 years!

I for one, like his old band. They were lots of fun and full of unbridled enthusiasm on stage. They brought out the kid in you and that really is what makes them a stand out act in today’s copy cat music world.

Steven Page’s first solo attempt (while still with the Bare Naked Ladies) was called The Vanity Project.

I only started to listen to bits and pieces of The Vanity Project while writing this post and it’s not that bad. Hit and Run is played in an open tuning format that has a nice, full feel and sound to it. The one called These Wasted Words reminds me a Toronto band called Needy Fingers. So Young, So Wrong, So Long is the type of song that one takes on a long road trip and Here Today And Yesterday has that incredible Klautu aura about it! I think I might pick it up!

My wife and I always wanted to see BNL live, but never got the chance. I guess they’re another great Canadian act that we never get to experience. Don’t get me wrong, The band The Bare Naked Ladies will still exist without Steven Page and perhaps we’ll see them play someday, but it probably won’t quite be the same. At this time the remaining members of The Barenaked Ladies do not plan on adding a new singer – they’ll continue on as they are and in fact are in the process of getting ready to go on Tour later this year.

Steven and the boys were not there to blow you away playing speed music or had that in your face onstage persona.

Steven Page was the one guy in the band that everyone could relate to. He is the modern day resonance man, and that is what he is about to do again. His next venture will be in the theatrical arena. He is the musical composer for the Thomas Patterson Group, Bartholomew Fair at the Stratford Festival. This appears to be a natural progression for him to follow. I think that he will eventually gravitate towards the stage, not the orchestra pit.

Steven Page’s style of guitar playing is very simple and straight forward and very much to the point. Nothing fancy at all in his approach but, it does the trick. His rhythm guitar playing is his bread and butter while playing in the band, plus he has done the odd little guitar solo here and there.

While reading the Toronto Star at work the other day, I noticed an article about Steven Page. It was about his first public musical exposure to the world since leaving the Bare Naked Ladies (BNL). He will perform as a solo act in the Neil Young tribute show coming up Wednesday, June 10 at Massey Hall here in Toronto. It will be part of this years Luminato festival of arts and creativity. I wonder what he will try and pull off at this gig, it’s anybody’s guess really.

As for Stevens adventure into the world of theatre, I am not sure if it will involve him in front or behind the stage. I can envision him in serious roles, desperately attempting to shake off the type casting of his kid like antics on the musical stage with BNL. I think this will be good for him. It will be an adventure that we will all be watching closely. So best of luck to Steven Page in his future endeavors!

My question to you all is, will he reach the lofty heights in his new career as he did with the Bare Naked Ladies?

Keep on Jammin’

Look who was on The Colbert Report

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To my amazement, an old friend of mine from high school, Carl Wilson, was on the Colbert Report the other day. Colbert had him on his show so he could talk to Carl about his new book. His book is about his hate and then his developing interest in some of Canada’s Celine Dion’s music.

You see he started out a hater and wondered why so many were fascinated with her music … in the end he came to like or at least “be able to listen to” some of her music.

The book is called Let’s Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste.

It is so nice to see someone that you know doing so well in his/her related field and then to be interviewed on a popular talk show and have it turn out to be a fantastic hit was a bonus!

When I woke up the other day, my wife put a postie on the breakfast table for me. At first I thought, like most men do when they see something like this is, what did I do now or what do I have to do later? Upon reading the message, I was quite taken back to have read a shocking memo. Before going to bed, she had noticed a familiar name listed as a guest for that nights Colbert Report. She then recorded it on our PVR (TIVO) machine so I could view it later to see if I knew the interviewee. Thank God she did because it was Carl Wilson from my old high school in Brantford, Ontario!

After seeing it for myself that evening when I returned from work, I had to check out Facebook to see if anyone else saw it. As it turned out, a few people did! Then I checked out one of his web sites called Zoilus and found a real neat video of a actor named James Franco being interviewed while on the Red carpet at the Oscars about what some of his guilty pleasures are. He then brought up Carl’s latest book. It seems like the little guy from Brantford does good, way to go Carl!!!

L-R Me, Yuergen Beck, Carl Wilson and Mike McGraw

Keep on Jammin’ Carl

Toronto is 175 years old today

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Today marks the 175th year of the creation of Toronto, Ontario! To some, it is a beacon of hope, multicultural existence and tolerance. To others, Toronto is just a hole in the ground!

So to here’s to my new home town! cheers and many more to come T.O.!

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