It was 1985 and I booked the jazz caravan a two day session at Grant Avenue in Hamilton. I'd pocketed enough coin to record a collection of originals and a few standards with up and coming singer Liberty Silver. Liberty and I had just played a weekend at the Chick 'N Deli on Mt. Pleasant and something clicked. Silver had that jazz vibe and much potential. Still, we hadn't spent time getting familiar with one another so I had to plan a diversion to keep everyone calm and fixated on the running order. I decided on recording a few instrumentals upfront before calling on the big voice.
It was late fall and the drive as usual, bumper to bumper, a grinding slog. A day or so earlier I picked up a price-cut copy of Hollywood Celebrities: The Untold Stories. I passed over the back seat to Liberty and within minutes it was "WTF? time - revelation after revelation - the inside scoop on Fatty Arbuckle - Errol Flynn - stuff hidden away in 1950’s type supermarket tabloids.
Liberty consumed nearly every page before I called her to sing. That she did with bravado - Miles Davis’ "Four" - Stanley Turrentine's "Sugar" and the classic, "Loverman." Sidemen were brilliant; Pat LaBarbera, Reggie Evans, Marty Morrell, Joe LaBarbera and Dave Young.
I thought about the session for days to come and the power celebrity gossip has to enslave our lives. Here we are thirty years down the road from that unique session and tidbits of people’s mishaps and confrontations remain all consuming.
I get this creepy feeling one day Dundas Square in downtown Toronto with all of its flashing Blade Runner lighting, Mt. Everest LCD screens and snappy adverts will start broadcasting twenty-four hour celebrity updates - the thoughts, escapades, tragic break-ups and surreal dullness of stilted lives.
Think of the past week - Kanye West, a Kardashian, Taylor Swift or maybe not, battling like eight year olds on rarified money turf over shared banality. I truly think between stage and studio these folks get easily bored and at a loss occupying most waking hours with anything meaningful other than texting and tweeting insults and selfies. Cap that with a Republican convention so off the rails it keeps steaming towards a climatic ending somewhere near Hooterville, USA.
David Farrell suggested I ask the good people of the Canadian music community to express themselves with the coming overhaul of arts funding and the first response, "can we do something about media, there's nothing about us in the pages of newspapers, that daily read, just celebrity filler?" Resolving that dilemma is out of reach for the 99%.
I do read the dailies and find little to excite in the entertainment sections other than cut and paste celebrity nothingness. Here's the issue, the notorious just don't excite anymore - there's too much, much. The coin herders are boring, self-absorbed and of little importance in a world complicated with strife, climate change, and threats of terrorist activities. Where's Alice Cooper and his bag of bleeding chickens? Donald Trump gets this. He's the ultimate vain PR junkie - feeds on attention, devours media, and rarely fails to deliver something so over the top, outrageous and emotionally stultifying we find ourselves lapping up the spillage. We have entered the Loon Age - and there's only room for the outlandish, provocative, deceitful, and self-absorbed.
I had a wonderful hang at Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival - a few weeks of Beaches International Jazz, all kinds of local events and see so much splendid talent and people seem so normal as if this planet is better grounded than we are told. Musicians are hurting, venues struggle, record companies diminishing and still classrooms are crammed with young aspiring producers and managers with ambition who actually believe if they trip across a bundle of talent they will be part of that future. I admire this yet I'm starting to believe the future will be in the hands of the unhinged - the vast majority of believers will be posts along a highway of broken dreams unless we tap into this vast reservoir of creative home talent and carve an alternate route.
Back to that FYI Music query about the upcoming public debate on federal support for arts & culture that puts everything on the table. What might you suggest needs enhancing or changed?
Dawn M Rubin-Miller: I am a Musicians Master Life Coach.. Music saves lives! It is a documented fact. Kids in music do better in school due to all it's process. Music builds self confidence. In this day and age of technology, it also builds social skills. Music is a form of communication all it's own and enables children to articulate what their words cannot. It is a forum for children to learn they can be part of a positive Team or individual standing. No matter if it's through notes, dance etc. Creative minds do not process the world like "normal" Students. Music shows them they do not have a learning disability but a gift.
Gary LeDrew: I think it most important for the suits to realize that the Arts are the basis of culture and are the biggest draw of tourism. The dummies here in NS quit funding movie projects not understanding that one good movie in Nova Scotia is worth millions in advertising and when the data was in they were out to lunch just on the immediate returns. Not enough support for visual arts. If the music isn't played it’s hard to get funding.
Alexander Mair: Transparency. As well as listing recipients of funding, tell us what they did with the money ... jobs created, artists signed (minus artists dropped), results of tours, etc.
Karen Bliss: I interviewed the Minister a while back and he had to concede they don't have the manpower to properly vet where the money goes, before giving even more money to the same companies.
Tom Veitch: Funding from Government, local business & corporations who profit from the town's villages and cities they are located in. Promoters who listen to the wants and tastes of patrons along with cultural diversity and community support.
Patricia Silver: More support for music festivals. Facilitation of connecting festivals with potential sponsors.
Barry Roden: Federal funding for musical instruments in school across Canada.
Julian Taylor: Music helps define who we are and I think that it's important for young Canadians to hear themselves reflected on the radio. They need to be able to identify with people who are like them and who look like them. Canada is a vast and wonderful country and we are fortunate to have such a lush cultural landscape.
It was late fall and the drive as usual, bumper to bumper, a grinding slog. A day or so earlier I picked up a price-cut copy of Hollywood Celebrities: The Untold Stories. I passed over the back seat to Liberty and within minutes it was "WTF? time - revelation after revelation - the inside scoop on Fatty Arbuckle - Errol Flynn - stuff hidden away in 1950’s type supermarket tabloids.
Liberty consumed nearly every page before I called her to sing. That she did with bravado - Miles Davis’ "Four" - Stanley Turrentine's "Sugar" and the classic, "Loverman." Sidemen were brilliant; Pat LaBarbera, Reggie Evans, Marty Morrell, Joe LaBarbera and Dave Young.
I thought about the session for days to come and the power celebrity gossip has to enslave our lives. Here we are thirty years down the road from that unique session and tidbits of people’s mishaps and confrontations remain all consuming.
I get this creepy feeling one day Dundas Square in downtown Toronto with all of its flashing Blade Runner lighting, Mt. Everest LCD screens and snappy adverts will start broadcasting twenty-four hour celebrity updates - the thoughts, escapades, tragic break-ups and surreal dullness of stilted lives.
Think of the past week - Kanye West, a Kardashian, Taylor Swift or maybe not, battling like eight year olds on rarified money turf over shared banality. I truly think between stage and studio these folks get easily bored and at a loss occupying most waking hours with anything meaningful other than texting and tweeting insults and selfies. Cap that with a Republican convention so off the rails it keeps steaming towards a climatic ending somewhere near Hooterville, USA.
David Farrell suggested I ask the good people of the Canadian music community to express themselves with the coming overhaul of arts funding and the first response, "can we do something about media, there's nothing about us in the pages of newspapers, that daily read, just celebrity filler?" Resolving that dilemma is out of reach for the 99%.
I do read the dailies and find little to excite in the entertainment sections other than cut and paste celebrity nothingness. Here's the issue, the notorious just don't excite anymore - there's too much, much. The coin herders are boring, self-absorbed and of little importance in a world complicated with strife, climate change, and threats of terrorist activities. Where's Alice Cooper and his bag of bleeding chickens? Donald Trump gets this. He's the ultimate vain PR junkie - feeds on attention, devours media, and rarely fails to deliver something so over the top, outrageous and emotionally stultifying we find ourselves lapping up the spillage. We have entered the Loon Age - and there's only room for the outlandish, provocative, deceitful, and self-absorbed.
I had a wonderful hang at Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival - a few weeks of Beaches International Jazz, all kinds of local events and see so much splendid talent and people seem so normal as if this planet is better grounded than we are told. Musicians are hurting, venues struggle, record companies diminishing and still classrooms are crammed with young aspiring producers and managers with ambition who actually believe if they trip across a bundle of talent they will be part of that future. I admire this yet I'm starting to believe the future will be in the hands of the unhinged - the vast majority of believers will be posts along a highway of broken dreams unless we tap into this vast reservoir of creative home talent and carve an alternate route.
Back to that FYI Music query about the upcoming public debate on federal support for arts & culture that puts everything on the table. What might you suggest needs enhancing or changed?
Dawn M Rubin-Miller: I am a Musicians Master Life Coach.. Music saves lives! It is a documented fact. Kids in music do better in school due to all it's process. Music builds self confidence. In this day and age of technology, it also builds social skills. Music is a form of communication all it's own and enables children to articulate what their words cannot. It is a forum for children to learn they can be part of a positive Team or individual standing. No matter if it's through notes, dance etc. Creative minds do not process the world like "normal" Students. Music shows them they do not have a learning disability but a gift.
Gary LeDrew: I think it most important for the suits to realize that the Arts are the basis of culture and are the biggest draw of tourism. The dummies here in NS quit funding movie projects not understanding that one good movie in Nova Scotia is worth millions in advertising and when the data was in they were out to lunch just on the immediate returns. Not enough support for visual arts. If the music isn't played it’s hard to get funding.
Alexander Mair: Transparency. As well as listing recipients of funding, tell us what they did with the money ... jobs created, artists signed (minus artists dropped), results of tours, etc.
Karen Bliss: I interviewed the Minister a while back and he had to concede they don't have the manpower to properly vet where the money goes, before giving even more money to the same companies.
Tom Veitch: Funding from Government, local business & corporations who profit from the town's villages and cities they are located in. Promoters who listen to the wants and tastes of patrons along with cultural diversity and community support.
Patricia Silver: More support for music festivals. Facilitation of connecting festivals with potential sponsors.
Barry Roden: Federal funding for musical instruments in school across Canada.
Julian Taylor: Music helps define who we are and I think that it's important for young Canadians to hear themselves reflected on the radio. They need to be able to identify with people who are like them and who look like them. Canada is a vast and wonderful country and we are fortunate to have such a lush cultural landscape.
More exposure given to each and everyone of the cultures that make up our mosaic through the medium of artistic expression can only benefit us all. It's great that the CRTC has a mandate for 30% Canadian content because it has afforded many artists an opportunity to be heard and develop their careers. Unfortunately the Canadian music that is played is not entirely reflective of the people making music in this country. Moving forward I think that there also should be a discussion about a percentage set aside for cultural diversity implemented on commercial outlets as well.
When Bob Marley, one of the most popular and relevant artist of our time only gets played at 4:20pm (national marijuana smoking time) each day then that is evidence of a systemic hurdle that we need to overcome. One could certainly view that gesture as discourteous to his global message. He had so much more to say. We need to encourage more people to share their stories with one another and support them. We might learn more about ourselves in the process.
Resource: http://www.fyimusicnews.ca
Resource: https://www.kvtr.com/celebrity/
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