http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7VsoxT_FUY

JUST ANNOUNCED
We’re super excited to let you know that Patrick Watson will play Massey Hall this December, hot on the heels of the release of their album Adventures In Your Own Backyard. Now Magazine calls the record a “sneaky surprise” and gives it 4 Ns, and Consequence of Sound remarks that the whole album has a “beautiful richness.” You can check out some of the new material for yourself by enjoying the utterly charming video for “Into Giants” available on the band’s website adventuresinyourownbackyard.com. Tickets for this concert are available to FriendsFirst  members on Thursday and to the general public on Friday.

We’re also thrilled to advise you that Jesse Cook will be returning to Massey Hall this November. Can’t wait until then? Lucky for you, the good folks over at CBC Music captured some video from Mr. Cook’s home studio where he showcases a few songs for your viewing and listening pleasure. Tickets for this one are available to FriendsFirst members on Wednesday and to the general public on Friday.

PERFORMANCES
Sophie Milman (Friday): Sophie Milman returns to Massey Hall in what promises to be a triumphant performance after releasing of her latest album, In the Moonlight. Ms. Milman’s performance will be preceded by a set from the Robi Botos Trio which also promises greatness. Need proof? Check out this stellar review of their debut recording from Exclaim! (Kerry Doole calls the album “superb” and comments, “Botos has been termed the heir apparent to Oscar Peterson, and the combination of technical skill and soulful passion in his playing gives credibility to that claim.”)

Whoopi Goldberg (Friday): Whoopi Goldberg pays a visit to Roy Thomson Hall in a special engagement from Unique Lives & Experiences. I’m sure we don’t have to tell you that this star has a seriously accomplished CV including some shiny hardware: she’s won an Oscar, a Tony, an Emmy, a Grammy, and the Mark Twain Award for humour. You can catch her on The View, of course, and just this month she made a recurring guest appearance on Glee.

George Thorogood and The Destroyers (Saturday): The man and his band behind hits “Who Do You Love” and “Bad to the Bone” (check out the embedded video above) make their way back to Massey Hall for a show that should tear down the house this Saturday evening. Gordie Johnson hits the stage first with his new project “Sit Down, Servant!!”. For a description of the project, check out the bio here.

WEB WATCH
As you may be aware, the ScotiaBank Contact Photography Festival is currently taking place throughout the city of Toronto and we’re delighted to let you know about two exhibits in particular, both from photographer Peter MacCallum. Massey Hall / Guitar Stories opens this Thursday, May 31 at the Diaz Gallery and Yonge Street / Rue Du Faubourg Saint Denis is currently open at The Eric Arthur Gallery. From the Diaz Gallery’s site:

 “MacCallum’s documentation of Massey Hall was part of a larger project in which he photographed the commercial architecture along Yonge Street. He was motivated by a desire to capture Massey Hall’s unique mixture of architectural styles, as well as the special intimacy that can be created there between performer and audience.”

MISSING LINKS
From the department of delightfully weird, Exclaim! is reporting on a new type of spider discovered and promptly named after none other than Lou Reed. A spider that one can only assume walks on the wild side (sorry – couldn’t resist), is apparently named after the music legend because critter is “a type of velvet spider that lives underground.”

And we’ve mentioned All Songs Considered’s intern-written column “You’ve Never Heard…” before but I simply must draw your attention to their latest listen (which is most definitely in the running for my fave album of all time): Simon and Garfunkel’s Bookends.

Stefania Paterak is Programming Associate at Massey Hall and Roy Thomson Hall

Welcome to this Wednesday edition of the Buzz – hope you had a lovely long weekend. Here’s the scoop for this week:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3E2HeAfcdM

JUST ANNOUNCED
Yesterday was a big day in the department of awesome show announcements. For starters, come October 12, the Doobie Brothers will be hitting the Massey Hall stage for a performance of their hits in celebration of their 40th anniversary.

But wait, there’s more! The very opinionated, hilarious, and insightful Fran Lebowitz will also be visiting Toronto for a performance at Massey Hall on Friday, November 2. This very special engagement will see Ms. Lebowitz in conversation with the audience and with host Jian Ghomeshi.

Still not satisfied? Well surely this will make your day – Loretta Lynn will be performing at Massey Hall this September 15 marking her 50th anniversary with her 1960 debut single, “I’m a Honky Tonk Girl.” That’s not the only announcement this legendary songstress has made recently; earlier this month Ms. Lynn announced that she has chosen Zooey Deschanel to play her on stage in a musical adaptation, set for Broadway, of Coal Miner’s Daughter.

And if that’s not enough, be sure to check out the return of The Lost Fingers to Glenn Gould Studio on Friday, November 23. Back by popular demand, The Lost Fingers bring their unique take on Django Reinhardt style jazz reinterpretations of music of the 80s. For a taste on their virtuosity and sheer cleverness, check out the embedded video above of their take on “Pump up the Jam.”

Tickets for all three shows go on sale to FriendsFirst members today and the general public next Monday.

PERFORMANCES
Munk Debate on Europe (Friday): The Munk Debates return to Roy Thomson Hall to discuss the following: “be it resolved, the European experiment has failed.” Niall Ferguson and Josef Joffe will argue for the resolution and Peter Mandelson and Daniel Cohn-Bendit will speak against the resolution. You can read more about the Munk Debates on their site and sign up to learn more about the free live internet stream of the Munk Debate on Europe here.

Bonnie Raitt (Saturday): Bonnie Raitt released her 19th album, Slipstream, on April 10, which has received great reviews from both Rolling Stone and Paste Magazine and now Bonnie Raitt is heading to Massey Hall for a performance this Saturday evening. Opening the show is special guest Marc Cohn, perhaps best known for his hit “Walking in Memphis.”

WEB WATCH
From the Bureau of all things Neil Young, the Buzz can decidedly report that Mr. Young is one busy fella. Exclaim! has a comprehensive review of his 2012 activities including confirmation that the Young memoir, Waging Heavy Peace, will be released on October 2, and that Neil Young Journeys, the Jonathan Demme film that premiered at TIFF last Fall (and includes performance footage from his most recent Massey Hall performances) will have a “proper theatrical release” at the end of June. The link above includes a trailer for the film as well as a music video for Crazy Horse’s “Clementine” from their forthcoming album Americana. Over on Spinner is a comprehensive breakdown of the song (“the oft-sung tale of a grieving miner”) and the video (which is filled with “authentic ‘found’ footage”). Americana will be released on June 5.

Stefania Paterak is Programming Associate at Massey Hall and Roy Thomson Hall

A Toronto treasure, Jay Douglas performs a stripped down version of an original song titled “Man to Man” in studio at Toronto’s Revolution Recording. Watch here from the Massey Hall soundboard:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1s4YH1DuNnE

You can also listen to Jay Douglas on the podcast:

or you can read about Jay Douglas in this week’s issue of NOW Magazine

Massey Hall presents Jay Douglas live at the Glenn Gould Studio with his 12-piece All-Star band this Friday, May 18, 2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vU38ujw1Sis

PERFORMANCES
Amelia Curran (Tonight – Tuesday): The lovely and talented Amelia Curran returns for an intimate engagement at Glenn Gould Studio this evening and we are so excited to see her for a solo date after getting a taste of what she’s been up to when she opened for Whitehorse back in February. Also, have you seen this video (embedded above) yet? Ms. Curran debuts a stellar new song “Modern Man” on our own Soundboard, recorded at Toronto’s own Revolution Recording.

Jay Douglas (Friday): Jay Douglas is a Toronto and reggae music institution and he’s taking the Glenn Gould Studio stage with his 12-piece All-Star band this Friday night. You can read all about the impressive CV that Mr. Douglas has acquired on the event page and be sure to take a moment to view his recent visit to Revolution Recording where he recorded a cover of Bob Marley and The Wailers “Simmer Down” and listen to him on the Soundboard podcast. You can do both here.

WEB WATCH
Have you seen these enchanting and educational videos about “things you might not know about Canada” from Strombo yet? You must – particularly because this one is about the importance of the Massey Family to the country and this one features Colin James (who just played Massey Hall last month) talking about the greatest jazz concert ever (which you may know from reading the Buzz, took place at Massey Hall).

Also from Strombo, if you haven’t seen this yet – check it out: Buddy Guy discusses his recollection of the night that Martin Luther King died and in another clip, the legacy of the Rolling Stones.

And for the combination musicologist-cartographers out there, Torontoist recently put together a map of significant places in Toronto to this town’s history of music prior to 1960. Massey Hall makes the list and the write-up also includes mention of the greatest jazz concert ever.

And finally, as an English Major and self-admitted close-reader of all sorts of texts, I am delighted to be learning about both Rap Genius and Stereo IQ. Did you also miss the boat on the (somewhat) recent internet sensation of close reading rap and rock & roll texts, getting to the bottom of what these presumably irreverent references are all about? You can get the full scoop in this Globe and Mail article.

Stefania Paterak is Programming Associate at Massey Hall and Roy Thomson Hall

On a sunny April afternoon, along with 3 members of his 10-piece All-Star band,  Soul and Reggae mainstay Jay Douglas, performed the classic track “Simmer Down” in studio at Toronto’s Revolution Recording. Watch here from the Massey Hall soundboard:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t80o5_Up2n0

You can listen to Jay Douglas on the Podcast, as he discusses his love for singing and his memory of auditioning at Studio One as a teenager in Jamaica. Jay was there, the same day a young Bob Marley along with The Wailers presented “Simmer Down” to Clement “Sir Coxsone” Dodd – a song that arguably went on to change the face of popular music.

Jay Douglas performs with his 10-piece All-Star Band at the Glenn Gould Studio on May 18, 2012 at 8pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFYF6sfawM4

PERFORMANCES
TSO – The Hockey Sweater (Young People’s Concert Series) (Saturday): Saturday afternoon sees two matinee performances of this TSO Co-Commission based on Roch Carrier’s classic story. Roch Carrier himself narrates the piece and former Montréal Canadiens’ goaltender, Ken Dryden, hosts the performances. A very special afternoon for young fans of music and hockey alike! (Go Leafs Go!)

Glenn Gould Prize Gala Concert In Honour of Leonard Cohen (Monday): As we announced recently in the Buzz, this very special evening will fête Leonard Cohen with quite a list of those honouring him including Colm Feore, Basia Bulat, Cowboy Junkies, John Prine, Serena Ryder, and Gordon Pinsent with Travis Good & Greg Keelor (whom we present at Glenn Gould Studio later in June), among others. This celebration will include this, the Ninth Glenn Gould Prize, as well as the presentation of the City of Toronto Glenn Gould Protégé Prize winner as selected by Mr. Cohen, Sistema.

Jamie Lee Curtis (Monday): Also on Monday, the Unique Lives & Experiences series brings us actor, author, and advocate Jamie Lee Curtis for what promises to be an engaging evening where audience members can “get to know the real Jamie Lee Curtis and her views on Hollywood, family and aging gracefully.”

WEB WATCH
Premier Dalton McGuinty is an avid tweeter as you may know, but a fun recent tweet links to a post on the official Blog for the Office of the Premier that includes a playlist he created called “Songs for the Weekend” (now available on iTunes) which includes tracks from some familiar folks like The Tragically Hip, Bryan Adams, The Canadian Tenors, k.d. lang, and Gordon Lightfoot. Perhaps even more interesting is his link to an article by Richard Florida in The Atlantic, which we missed when it came out last December, citing that Toronto is ranked fourth “on the list of cities whose musicians are producing hit tracks on Pitchfork’s Top-100, with only New York, London, and Los Angeles ahead.”

And if you missed its television debut last Thursday on Jay Leno, check out this CBC article on tune “Toast to Freedom” celebrating the 50th anniversary of Amnesty International. The recording was done at the Studio of the late Levon Helm and includes the legend performing on drums. The credits are a who’s who of music over the past several decades – check it out.

ACCOLADES
Congratulations go out to Jay Douglas (who plays Glenn Gould Studio on May 18) for winning a Harry Jerome Award from The Black Business and Professional Association. Douglas won the G98.7 FM Entertainment Award – you can read about the celebration here and see the coverage in the Toronto Star here.

And congratulations also go out to our own Nancy Beaton who has been honoured with a nomination of Venue Manager of the Year in the Annual BizBash Readers’ Choice Awards. Nancy is the Venue Manager of Massey Hall and we’re thrilled that all of the hard work she does on behalf of the Corporation is being recognized. You can support Massey Hall and Nancy by voting here. Congrats Nancy for being nominated!

Stefania Paterak is Programming Associate at Massey Hall and Roy Thomson Hall

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNIdqu7crW8

JUST ANNOUNCED
We’re thrilled to welcome back Lyle Lovett to Toronto and are excited to see him perform on the Roy Thomson Hall stage in support of his latest album, Release Me. This special presentation on Thursday, July 26 will be with his Acoustic Group and is sure to knock your socks off. FriendsFirst Members have access to purchasing tickets starting tomorrow (May 2) and tickets for the general public go on sale on Monday, May 7. As if that’s not enough, Steve Earle & the Dukes will be hitting Massey Hall on Tuesday, August 14. For this one tickets go on sale to our FriendsFirst Members tomorrow (Wednesday) and to the public Friday, May 4.

PERFORMANCES
TSO – Sci-Fi Spectacular (Tuesday & Wednesday): Meme-making sensation (and, of course, actor who played Captain Sulu of the Starship Enterprise), George Takei plays host for this Pops Concert offered by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. The program is set to feature suites from Star Trek (obviously), Star Wars, E.T., Avatar, and classic Close Encounters of the Third Kind (I, for one, am curious to the treatment of its essential “five tone motif”).

Layla Claire (Thursday): Soprano Layla Claire provides us with the conclusion to the inaugural Canadian Voices vocal recitals series at Glenn Gould Studio. The recital will showcase a program featuring Purcell, Britten, Strauss, Debussy, and more (you can see the full program here). Worth checking out in advance, CBC Music, calls the concert a Hot Ticket this week and includes an excerpt from the Dame Kiri te Kanawa-hosted BBC documentary, “What Makes a Great Soprano.”

The Priests With Special Guest Patricia O’Callaghan (Friday): The “singing priests of Belfast” make their long awaited appearance on the stage of Roy Thomson Hall. The singers, Roman Catholic priests, hail from Northern Ireland and have been highly successful in their music careers in both religious and secular communities and, in fact, their self-titled debut album earned a Guiness World Record as the “fastest selling classical debut of all time.” Check out their blog (including audio-entries from the road) here.

WEB WATCH
This upcoming Monday is “Music Monday” – a day dedicated to celebrating music education and music teachers across the country. Canadian musicians are weighing in – you can check out CBC Music to see “Letters to my Teacher” from the likes of Suzie Vinnick and Alex Cuba. While you’re at it, check out this video from 2010 featuring Luke Doucet singing, “Tomorrow is Coming” – the Music Monday song for 2011 & 2012. Matt Galloway featured Music Monday yesterday on Metro Morning – you can hear the story here. Don’t forget to contribute your thoughts (and thanks to your favourite music teachers) on the CBC site or in the comments section below!

MISSING LINKS
Bob Dylan will be receiving the “Presidential Medal of Freedom” according to the Rolling Stone, which is the highest civilian honour given by the United States. For more on Mr. Dylan, check out NPR Music’s latest on how his song “Blowin’ in the Wind” “still ask[s] the same hard questions 50 years later.”

SAD NEWS
We were saddened to learn last week that Billy Bryans, a man who The Grid recently called “one of the people who brought true meaning to Toronto’s much-ballyhooed multiculturalism,” had passed away. Bryans was a drummer and co-founder of band the Parachute Club (and co-writer of their hit “Rise Up,” which Dave Bidini recently called “the Queen Street music scene’s first national pop hit.”) He was also a producer and most certainly an advocate and champion of the Canadian music scene. There has been, fittingly, a great deal of news coverage of this loss; CBC News has a particularly comprehensive review of Bryans’ successful and impactful life.

Billy was a dear friend to the Halls, serving as programming counsel, community ambassador, tireless promoter, and on some very special occasions, DJ. He taught us, made us laugh, and made us dance. We miss Billy very much – our world was better with him in it and will never be the same without him.

Stefania Paterak is Programming Associate at Massey Hall and Roy Thomson Hall

JUST ANNOUNCED
Video Games Live is returning to Massey Hall this October. Disclaimer: Video Games Live is not a live Lana Del Ray performance. Instead it’s a symphonic orchestral experience where the music of your favourite video games are brought to life. This year’s presentation is all new and includes tunes from a diverse array of games like Final Fantasy, Pokemon, Warcraft, Earthworm, and of course, Zelda. Tickets to our FriendsFirst members go on sale on Wednesday (tomorrow!) and to the public on Friday.

PERFORMANCES
The Amazing Kreskin (Tonight – Tuesday): As mentioned in last week’s Buzz post, we are fortunate to have not one, but two, presentations by The Amazing Kreskin with the second happening tonight (Tuesday) at Glenn Gould Studio. If you haven’t yet had a chance to see The Amazing Kreskin, now is your chance! As he is the World’s Foremost Mentalist – the performance promises to showcase some seriously impressive stuff.

Kellylee Evans (Friday): Kellylee Evans is the recipient of the 2011 JUNO Award for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year for her album fittingly entitled Nina (fitting, as it’s a homage to the wonderful Nina Simone) and prior to that a nominee in the same category in 2007. Earlier this year Ms. Evans also announced the exciting news that she signed to Universal Music (which the CBC show All in a Day points out is the same label as Canadian cohorts Diana Krall, Shania Twain, and Justin Bieber.) So suffice it to say that she’s got some fans who know music – come check out what everyone else is talking about on Friday at Glenn Gould Studio.

John Pinette (Postponed): This event, originally scheduled for April 27, has been postponed.

MISSING LINKS
The Globe and Mail has an interesting state of the nation on audience behaviour and participation (invited or otherwise) during concerts and other live experiences including a discussion on the recent – and controversial – advent of “tweet seats.”

Gordon Lightfoot is in the process of releasing a new album, All Live, which, according to this article in the Globe and Mail is “a compilation of concert cuts recorded from 1998 to 2001” at our own Massey Hall. If Brad Wheeler’s interview with Mr. Lightfoot isn’t enough to whet your Canadiana palate, check out this CBC Music interview with questions CBC culled from fans on the interweb and in the Twitterverse.

Also, Doug Paisley (of whom the Buzz is a big fan) shares his thoughts on “The Bluegrass of Tony Rice” over here.

Stefania Paterak is Programming Associate at Massey Hall and Roy Thomson Hall

Massey Hall lost two treasures last week, a promoter and a performer. They were both important to me at a formative stage of my teenage experience. Dick Clark, in the early 60s not only produced television shows but took artists on tour. One of those tours, specifically the first live concert I ever saw, was at Massey Hall. It was “The Gene Pitney Show” starring Gene Pitney with opening acts including The Outsiders (“Time Won’t Let Me”) and a group from England who were one of my favourites, Chad and Jeremy (“Willow Weep For Me”, “A Summer Song”) *CORRECTION As I recall this was actually Peter and Gordon, another duo  that were one of my favourites.

Then shortly after, my second show, I was perched up in the first row of the Gallery at the side, for Bob Dylan at Massey Hall. The first half was solo acoustic with a harmonica around his neck on a wire frame, and the second half, which is more of the show I confess I came out to see, was Bob backed by a local Toronto group called Levon and The Hawks. “Positively 4th Street” and “Like a Rolling Stone” were what I was there to experience live. A wonderful show despite a round of audience boos (because he was playing electric) but I do remember Levon smiling away with that famous grin. He was a great performer and obviously loved Bob Dylan and the music.

The world lost a great performer with the passing of Levon Helm. We had the pleasure of hearing Levon again at Massey Hall with the tribute to Ronnie Hawkins Celebration of 50 Years of Show Business and of course, twice in the last few years when he performed with his daughter. And Dick Clark – what a huge force at a formative stage of creating music magic in the early stages of Rock and Roll. Music concerts are always personal and hopefully memorable experiences. With the passing of both Dick Clark and Levon Helm, I can still cherish their positive influences.

Condolences on behalf of Massey Hall to the family, friends, and admirers of both Mr. Clark and Mr. Helm. Thank you for creating many memorable moments with us.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoRq73Hnwrg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gU1Rc8qZXyo

Charles S. Cutts is President and CEO of The Corporation of Massey Hall and Roy Thomson Hall

I would like to thank Honens International Piano Competition for the most intensive, sensible and accurate support I could ever have over the last couple of years. Being a Honens winner, I received the whole package of different engagements, projects and interesting collaborations. This kind of support gave me real source for development, for creative growing, for finding myself, my artistic and human personality.

With Honens I got another beautiful possibility that I appreciate a lot – the possibility of traveling, exploring new places, new people and new cultures. For example, just a few months after Honens 2009 I took part in quite an intensive 10 city tour in Germany: I performed almost every day and always in new places, new cities and it was a very interesting and cognitive experience. Considering the fact that now I live in Berlin I would say that this concert tour helped me, not only in a way of studying how the musical world works generally but also in a way of recognition of the country which at that time I was just going to move. That was quite a substantial and supporting experience.

Also, during this time I was able to learn and collaborate with new musicians, playing chamber music and touring together. Working together with Pinchas Zukerman, Clara-Jumi Kang and Toronto-based Cecilia String Quartet was a big pleasure and at the same time – a great source of inspiration and education. Sharing the stage with such major musicians – another beautiful possibility provided by Honens International Piano Competition.

And, of course, the list wouldn’t be complete if I will not mention the debut series which Honens organizes for its Laureates on the major and greatest stages of the world. As a Laureate of Honens I will receive the opportunity to perform on stage at London’s Wigmore Hall, Berlin’s Konzerthaus, Carnegie Hall at New York and of course Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto. It is really a priceless possibility to play on stages of such a high range and a big responsibility and honour for every musician at the same time. Thanks to Honens for that!

Pianist Georgy Tchaidze, First Laureate, Honens International Piano Competition (2009) performs in recital at Glenn Gould Studio on Saturday, April 21, 2012