International Women’s Day Benefit Concert to help save the Toronto Women’s Bookstore

Monday, March 8, 7:30pm in the Main Hall, $10 – 20 sliding scale

Here’s a GREAT way to celebrate International Women’s Day!

Come out to the Tranzac Club for a music / art fundraiser to help save the Toronto Women’s Bookstore.
You can also contribute by offering your art to the event.

Advance tickets available at the Toronto Women’s Bookstore, 73 Harbord St.

Performers:
Raging Asian Women - www.ragingasianwomen.ca
Evalyn Parry – www.evalynparry.com
Belladonna – www.myspace.com/belladonna
George Hewison – www.georgehewison.ca/
Sara Marlowe & the Program – www.saramarlowe.com
Roberta Mohler (Nia dance) – www.lifedances.net

Artists: (so far…)
Cathie Redmond
Suanne Gorenflo (Eco Greeting cards)
Meghan McMaster

Jordann Mason and the Horse Museum, with The Weather Station and Lisa Conway
Tuesday, March 9th, 10pm

“The fevered energy of the iconoclastic Horse Museum made me feel like I was at a group séance for the dead.”  -Eye Weekly

“While [The Horse Museum] isn’t the most accessible band in Toronto, it is attempting something weighty and substantial and is well worth giving a chance.”  -Now Magazine

Check out Jordaan Mason on MySpace and Facebook.

The Weather Station

The Weather Station’s music is achingly on point and has the capacity to leave you, jaw agape, wondering what just happened. As elemental a performance as the name of the band suggests.” – Ottawa Express

Check out the Weather Station on MySpace.

Also check out Lisa Conway on MySpace.

Sunday, March 14th, 5pm.

Erica Mah returns to Toronto with cellist Darcy McCord of ‘The Burning Hell’ to celebrate her newest album “The Harbour Commission”, a series of songs about wild and industrial coastal landscapes across Canada.  Joined by the clever and beautiful indie songwriter Partytime, and special guest Jack Breakfast it will be a perfect Sunday blend of music.

Check out these links:

Erica Mah’s website and MySpace

Partytime’s MySpace

Jack Breakfast’s website and MySpace.

Erica Mah

Tuesday March 30th, 7:30pm

The Rent is a Toronto-based quintet dedicated to researching and performing repertory by American composer and soprano saxophonist, Steve Lacy (1934-2004).

Steve Lacy is perhaps best known for his extraordinary settings of poems by Samuel Beckett, Georges Braque, Allen Ginsberg and many more.

Lacy was one of the finest interpreters of the Thelonious Monk canon; his goal, as he put it, was “to get to the freedom beyond [Monk's] music.”

In the spirit of Lacy’s steadfast, committed research into Monk’s music, the five musicians of The Rent are in search of the freedom beyond Lacy’s music.

They combine rigorous investigation of Lacy’s songs, featuring Susanna Hood’s extraordinary singing voice, with playful solo and group improvisation.  In addition to her singing, Susanna, who is an acclaimed choreographer and dancer, contributes movement improvisation that is a distinctive and electrifying part of The Rent’s performances.

Saturday, April 3rd, 5pm to 7pm

www.myspace.com/chesterfielddweller
www.myspace.com/weallhavehauntedhearts

Tuesday, April 20th, 10pm in the Southern Cross Lounge.

“One feels like they have been hit with [a blunt object]…but in a really good jazz way.”  ~ Moreen Murray

Emerging 11-piece jazz ensemble Blunt Object, formed in early 2008 by trombonist and composer Robin Jessome, presents a unique outlet for the quirky music of composer Carla Bley as well as original and adventurous compositions from within the ensemble. Drawing also on the influence of Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, Ornette Coleman, and Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy, this exciting group represents an imaginative approach, and is quickly gaining momentum in the Toronto jazz scene.

Check out Blunt Object’s website.

Andrew Vincent, with opener The CFL Sessions, Wednesday, May 26th, 10pm

Like good old-fashioned Canadian handicraft—handmade, heartfelt and even naive—Andrew Vincent’s songs are pure heart-on-sleeve nuggets that always manage to nestle their way into the cozy corners of our minds. His knack for churning out memorable melodies and turns of phrase never ceases to amaze, and here on his fifth album Rotten Pear, AV offers up some of his most painfully honest slices of song to date.

Learn more about Andrew Vincent at Kelp Records, check out his MySpace or watch a video on YouTube.

The CFL Sessions
Songs written by CFL players

The original CFL Sessions were captured in the 1970s by the late Canadian folklorist Staunton R. Livingston. The tapes (of Canadian football players performing both original and traditional works) collected dust in the National Archives of Canada until the summer of 2008, when they were discovered by resident folklorist Henry Adam Svec. Live performances of The CFL Sessions feature both musical recreations and brief ethnomusicological analyses.

Check out the CFL Sessions’ website, MySpace or watch a video on YouTube.

Friday, February 19th.  Nadia Bashalani: 10pm.  Giant Hand: 11pm.

NADIA & THE TCHOTCHKES exist with the help and talent of J-F Morin on lead guitar, Steven Ludvik on bass, Jocelyn Duval on piano & vocals, and Maxime Gosselin on drums. At such an early stage in their formation, NADIA & THE TCHOTCHKES have gained some exposure opening for talented acts, such as The Fray, and playing live shows around Montreal and Toronto.

Kirk Ramsay is a folk artist from Ottawa who performs under the name GIANT HAND.  After releasing his debut full length album “Coming Home”, playing his second year in a row at Ottawa Bluesfest, having two showcases at this year’s Pop Montreal and playing a sold out show in Toronto opening for Daniel Johnston at the MOD Club, Giant Hand has big plans for 2010. Akin to Mount Eerie or Julie Doiron, Ramsay is a delicate singer songwriter, with a knack for unadulterated honest songwriting.

Exclaim! noted in a show review, “Giant Hand’s songs pierced the audience with innocence, clarity and a vulnerability that lesser artists often fake.” But the good press hasn’t stopped there. Giant Hand was nominated in three different categories in Ottawa Xpress’ “Best of 2009” poll, including Best Act, was listed as one of the top acts of 2009 in I(Heart)Music’s “Hottest Bands in Canada” list, and made the front cover of Ottawa Magazine’s December issue.

Check out Giant Hand’s website and MySpace.