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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

2009 Brenda Carol Renaissance Jazz Fair

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This event, Brenda Carol Renaissance Jazz Fair, seems to be taking the neighbourhood by storm! Believe it or not, my neighbour told me! Once again I found out about this near by extravaganza by leafing through my bi-weekly newspaper called the Mirror! The only thing was I found it this Sunday, about 2 weeks after it was delivered! In the words of my good friend Charlie Brown, Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

This event, the 3rd annual no less, sounded like it blew the lid off the joint. The event was held every night from Friday Jan. 30th through to Sunday Feb. 01. The joint in question is our local Renaissance Cafe at 1938 Danforth Ave. in Toronto. This place is about half the distance from our home, as compared to the Broadview Espresso Cafe, so I can even ride my bike there.

Checking out some of the acts that were held at this year’s event, it looks like Brenda chose a nice collection of jazz bands. I love the fact that they had a one much younger player in this year’s line up. That musician is Sam Dickinson on guitar, at the tender age of 17! Wow, there was even a guy playing there from my home town of Brantford named Kyle McGregor! He played both guitar and piano on Sunday.

Jazz music is a positive and creative genre played from the heart for the sheer love of the art.
This jazz fair is intended to showcase performers giving them the opportunity to perform in front of
peers, a respectful audience and to enjoy this exceptional opportunity. This Jazz Fair is not an open
stage show. All performers are selected and allotted performance time.

This time, I have given myself a reminder of the show next year and God willing, I will be able to give you a REAL critique of the event!

Keep on Jammin’

Another hidden Toronto musical venue

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The Queen Elizabeth Theatre, on the grounds of Toronto’s C.N.E., is the most recent musical venue that is underused and just screaming to be found! In a large urban city with 2.5 music lovers, there are not a lot of medium sized halls to attract the middle of the road type of band. So this beauty from the past is just desperately trying to re-invent herself to us!

I tend to be a lover of architecture and it’s history. When ever I run across a real gem of an older building, I often wonder what it looked like in it’s glory years and what important historical events played out in it. Yes, I am a hopeless romantic, drawn into it’s orbit and the Queen Elizabeth Theatre (QET) is no exception! Just check out the QET History Photo Gallery’s History Gallery slide show section of the above link to see what I am referring to!

While as a young guitar player from the country, going to the CNE when I could, I marveled at buildings and the performers that played there! I recall going there with my brother many times to see bands in either the Music Building/Carlsburg Pavilion (which originally was the Provincial Government Building in1926) or the unforgettable CNE Grandstand/stadium to experience the giants of rock and roll of the time period. Yet, we always passed the QET without taking notice of her, too bad.

So has anyone here ever been inside the QET or seen a show there? I would love to know what you thought of it and what the sound was like. I hope you took a few pic’s to share with us!

Keep on Jammin’

Is vinyl really making a come back?

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In some peoples eyes, Vinyl is a far superior musical medium then CD’s, period! I for one am one of those who do subscribe to this point of view. Being a musician, quality should always come first. Sure, CD’s might be easier to carrying around or they might be simpler to exchange from one user to another, but are they really better sounding then vinyl?

I got the idea for this post from another almost extinct form of communication – the newspaper. It was from an article in The Toronto Star in the Entertainment section called Have you Heard?. I’ve see this topic being thrown around in the media almost weekly now. Are people honestly trying to revive this former superior sound medium, vinyl, or are they just filling out space on a page?

It gets me thinking about vinyl’s more and more every time I see the word “Vinyl”. Am I the only one who has this effect when seen in print? Upon seeing this word, I can’t help but reminisce about going to a buddy’s home when I was younger with my favorite vinyl albums under my arm. It not only brings back great memories, but it makes me yearn for THAT GREAT SOUND! Do you know what I mean?

Going to Ken’s place, and putting on some YES on his impeccable turntable was the best! The control knobs were in the middle position, yet the sound, no matter what the album was on the turntable, was always incredible! I think he always used a “concord” stylus/cartridge on his table. He also had this Phase Linear TUBE amp that COULD NOT BE BEAT! As for his speakers, I think they were basically Cerwin Vega.

Our collection of vinyl is fairly modest, in comparison to some collectors out there. It covers many genre’s of music as well as some regional indie bands and the odd one hit wonder. Most are in good condition, but they are constantly calling out my name for attention! The stereo we have is an old Akai Stereo that is solid state, I got rid of my tube stereo ages ago, no room. When I have put on an album, it has a certain resonance in my mind. It just sounds more full and warmer then my CD player!

Our CD stockpile, that I’m looking at now, is quite vast! In our JVC XL-MC222 CD carousel we have 200 alone. We should have picked up that 500 one when we had the chance. The amp is a Panasonic SA TH400, that has this synthetic Quad sound that is not all that bad, but I’ve heard better. We also have a Pioneer DV 563A DVD player that plays SACD’s.

So what is your take on this subject? Do you think vinyl is really making a comeback? Do you still have your old turn table and if so, what is it!

Keep on Jammin’

What did you do for New Years 2009?

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Well hello there everybody, Happy New Years!

My wife, our little black lab Midnight and I just hung out at home on this past New Year’s Eve and just watched some of the many celebrations from the warmth of our couch! I wonder what BIG Jon was doing that night?

We just sat back and watched one of the local New Year’s bashes that was on City TV. They were broadcasting from the fabulous Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto, but as usual, it sucked! The line up, according to their website, was pathetic to us and not all that entertaining, just as in recent years of their covering this event. Why can’t they make their show Canada’s Premier New Years Eve event? How come great bands never play this show?

So later on we changed the channel to the Niagara Falls New Years Party, held at Queen Victoria Park and as usual, it was fabulous! It’s the kind of show that would be great for anyone of all ages to see. I guess 30,000 attendees can’t be too wrong? This is the type of quality event that City TV should be holding in Toronto.

The Niagara Falls opening act was none other then Roger Hodgson, former co-founder and singer for SuperTramp. His show that night was worth going to see, even if it was only him on the bill. He did his show in a unplugged format, along with this multi-talented musician who was the perfect fit for Roger. His set list was like going back to Supertramp’s hey day!

Then came this indie band called Justin Hines. The guys style had this real familiar and comforting feel to it, we really liked it. Even Midnight stopped what she was doing at times to listen to this guy!

After the big count down came Canada’s Kim Mitchell! He was the founder of Max Webster and his playing style is a pleasure to behold!

I realize this post is a little bit late, but I’m still recovering from such a great show and the holidays!

Happy New Year everyone!

Songs Of David Byrne and Brian Eno Tour Live at Massey Hall

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David Byrne appeared in concert at Toronto’s Massey Hall on October 30, 2008 in his “Songs Of David Byrne and Brian Eno Tour”. The concert was in honour of the duo’s first album in 27 years, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today (in stores Nov. 25), and brought seven musicians (some who danced) and three dancers (some who played instruments) along with him.

My old high school friend Carl Wilson, a writer for the Globe and Mail did a review of the show!

He is a music critic for the Globe and Mail, Slate and other media outlets in Toronto. If you ever get the opportunity to meet Carl, maybe while taking in a show that he is writing about somewhere, ask him what he thought about a song we did together live called “Peanut Butter”!

His article was the only reference that led me to this show. I think his piece in the Globe and Mail described it rather nicely!

David Byrne (Talking Heads), is just fantastic to listen to, especially live! Life During War Time as well as Psycho Killer on Stop Making Sense, is David at his musical best. I LOVE playing Life During War Time on acoustic guitar for my brother, I mainly play what the keyboardist is doing, maybe that’s why so many guitar players are looking at me strangely when I play this with them.

Brian Eno (Roxy Music) simply needs no introduction. Everything he touches turns to musical gold! What else can you say about the guy! Same Old Scene, from Flesh and Blood is the one masterpiece that needs to played at 11 on your volume control! Thanks Ken, Allan and Tony and lets not forget Tim M., for bringing him to my attention, oh about 30 years ago!

I’ve never seen either one of these guys live, that’s my loss. So who out there has seen these troubadour’s live? Are they worth the price of admission?

Keep on Jammin’

Moog Taurus Pedal

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The Moog Taurus pedal is an analog synthesizer that is played with your feet. It helps fill out the song your playing with that real church pipe organ/deep base register sound. The best example of this sound is when The Police used this pedal at the beginning of Don’t stand so close to me. This ancient, blast for the past, is precisely what your looking for, if you want that little extra something for your sound!

If you’ve ever seen a church organ up close or in pictures, then you may have a better idea of what this instrument looks like. Hey, if you ever went to someone’s home and they had one of those ‘ol cheezy home organs, then you’d have a good idea as well! The Moog Taurus pedal looks exactly like the pedals at the bottom of these organs. You play it with you feet!

The Moog Taurus Pedal has been around for ages. Bands that have or had them in their musical arsenal are bands like RUSH, YES, Pink Floyd, the Police and many other rock, fusion and metal performers from yesterday, right up to the present day scene!

The thing that got me thinking of this was while playing with CounterPoint the other night. Chris Noto, the best bass player that I have ever had the privilege of playing with, brought it up while taking a break. He said his brother has one and that he’d love to get it from him if he could, and believe you me, this guy REALLY knows what he is talking about. The way this guy plays the bass, if he had one of these things, it would sound like he is playing 3 instruments at once! Just imagine what it could do with your sound.

So check out the links on this page and learn for yourself what this could do for your band’s sound.

Keep on Jammin’

Just came back from the Cenotaph in East York

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I just walked in the door from the remembrance day celebrations at the East York Civic Centre. It was a beautiful ceremony that I’m sure touched everyone’s heart! There was at least 2000 people in attendance, really nice to see that kind of respect!

East York Cenotaph

East York Cenotaph

It started off by a parade of all our military forces. In attendance were War Veterans (Air, Army and Navy), legion members, Fire, Ambulance and the Police just to name a few!

We sang O Canada, followed up by some opening remarks. Then came the Last Post. For someone to say that this song is VERY POWERFUL is not saying enough.

Then came the Lament speech, followed by the Hymn:O Valiant Hearts. Then our local Toronto councilor Janet Davis said a few words. Right in the middle of her speech, 4 yellow coloured Harvard very ancient looking airplanes flew over the cenotaph, nice touch boys! If your into airplanes or your Canadian then you’ve seen these things before! I would loved to have seen a Lancaster there, it’s my second favorite Canadian airplane, my favorite in the Avro Arrow. I don’t know why the damn Diefenbaker Government literally, I mean literally dismantled the life and pride of a county! That is why I’ll NEVER VOTE CONSERVATIVE in my life!!!

Now comes the reading of In Flanders Fields. It was written by a Canadian called Dr. John McCrae (1872-1918) from Guelph Ontario. He was a medic in a field hospital who took a break from sowing up some young solders fresh from a battle and then he penned this beautiful Poem.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

It was read perfectly by Rehanna Ali from D.A. Morrison Middle School. Now it was time for the laying of the wreaths, it was moving to say the least. After this, a song was played by some kids on acoustic guitars with an electric soloing throughout it, nice soloing to boot! The Reverend Alex Bissett recited the Litany for World Peace prayer as well the hymn: O God, Our Help in Ages Past was said.

We then sang God Save the Queen! I haven’t sang that one in many years, so it was great to walk down memory lane with so many fellow Canadians of different strips! They then did the Colour Party Retires and Parade Dismissal. Wow, what an event to experience!

Let us hope and pray that we do not have to put any more names down on another Cenotaph.
May they all rest in peace.

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