The Pearl Company

The Pearl Music Collective Presents: Spanjazz! Friday, February 28. 8:00pm. $15.00/$10.00 students/artists. An evening of Original Jazz Compositions: Inspired by world beat rhythms and composed by Gary Santucci: with Jordan Abraham – Keyboards; Steve Wilson – Drums; Brandon Walker – multi-reeds; Ian McGillivary – Trumpet; James Gannett – Bass; Gary Santucci – Guitar. The Pearl Music Collective encourages the creation, performance, and presentation of new instrumental music drawn from the influences of Jazz, Classical and World Beat Music. Post performance reception.

Barry Payne & Rick Taylor. Duane Rutter Opens. Saturday, February 22. Doors 7:00/ Show 8:00pm. $20. Two great Canadian roots singer / songwriters join forces. Folk-roots artist Barry James Payne (AKA String Bone) and Canadian Roots and Blues legend, Rick Taylor,  deliver a concert of original music focusing on their roots. Taylor has recorded and performed with Willie P. Bennett, Stan Rogers, and Colleen Peterson and has fronted many of his own bands with 3 solo CD’s to his credit. www.ricktaylormusic.com  He joins Payne of the popular Celtic band Rant Maggie Rant (also the prolific folk-country-blues songwriter String Bone), and the two collaborate on country-blues tinged folk songs about everyday life. This is an opportunity to see – and hear – a very special collaboration.
Payne’s String Bone band has received accolades from music aficionados from Europe to the USA. His record ‘nadir’ was cited as being reminiscent of Dylan’s ‘Blood On The Tracks’, Springsteen’s ‘Nebraska’, Wilco’s ‘AM’ and Lucinda Williams’ ‘Car Wheels On A Gravel Road’. High praise indeed for a relatively unknown songwriter. www.stringbone.ca
Duane Rutter has been writing and performing original material throughout Canada for over three decades. He has two albums released on Busted Flat Records (www.duaneruttermusic.com)

Ben Sures with Amber Suchy: Friday, February 21: 8:00pm, $15  / $10 students/arts workers/seniors. Singer/songwriter extraordinaire, Ben Sure’s live show is captivating. He’s a great entertainer – funny, smart, musical and a gifted, well-respected guitar player.  He has won or been a finalist in all the International Songwriting contests, John Lennon, International and The USA songwriting competition and more….. He has four critically acclaimed recordings to his credit and is also the current regular music guest on CBC Radio’s national produced sketch comedy program ‘The Irrelevant Show’. He has worked as a commissioned songwriter for CBC radio in Winnipeg , Vancouver and Edmonton and done music for film and television including Sesame Street and has performed with many great Canadian Artists including Rita Chiarelli, Angie Nussey, The Wyrd Sisters, Grievious Angels, Paul Reddick and many more. He has performed as a support act for Ray Davies of The Kinks, The Preservation Hall band, The Good Lovelies, and more….. Edmonton’s Amber Suchy, also known as the lead singer of Ska band King Muskafa, appears with Ben with her strong voice, and her catchy poppy songs, ballads, and interesting rhythms. Listen to Amber: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Inm2pYwKkXI Ben: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4tPWfp3AgM  www.bensures.com

Meaghan Blanchard: Thursday, February 20. 8:00pm. $15 /$10 students/arts workers/seniors. Vibrant, red-headed Meaghan Blanchard is a 24 year old singer/songwriter from Hunter River PEI.  She has drawn a lot of her inspiration from her grandparents and the Saturday night dances at the community hall where they played and sang. Meaghan’s first collection of songs at the age of 18 “Changing Things”, garnered notable success across Canada receiving 4 MusicPEI awards and 2 ECMA nods. Meaghan’s second recording in 2011 “Chasin’ Lonely Again” was Country Recording of the Year at the ECMA awards. Her third album “She’s Gonna Fly” has just been released. John Keane, (REM, The Indigo Girls, Nanci Griffith!) has helped Meaghan craft a record that is (amazingly) head and shoulders above anything she’s done before.
Blanchard’s influences are many and varied, from the more traditional country sounds of artists like Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris to western swing, country gospel and more contemporary country fare as well as Americana like Patti Griffin and Shawn Colvin. “She is an artist with a definite vision of how to use her wonderful voice and pair it with songs that truly move you.” Maverick UK  http://meaghanblanchard.com/

Shari Vandermolen with QUARTER TO NINE: Saturday, February 15: 8:00pm. $20 /$18 students/arts workers/seniors. A sexy, sassy, jazz-soaked treat for the Valentine Weekend! Quarter to Nine is a jazzy musical act with the remarkable Shari Vandermolen on vocals.  The name comes from the song “About a Quarter to Nine” from the musical 42nd Street.  Incorporating the sweet soft jazz feel of days gone by, or the burlesque feel of risqué blues, Q2Nine influences include Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Etta James, Billie Holiday and the “big-band sound”. They’ll be bringing you Jazz Standards, naughty blues and torch songs peppered with just the right amount of show tunes for good measure. “Shari’s training as an actor imbues her music with an emotional edge that takes us places we have never been with these songs. Quarter to Nine is an experience as much as a concert.” http://www.q29.ca  Listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyDlzfMzUkI

Romanyi Rota: Saturday, February 8. 8:00pm. $15 /$10 students/arts workers/seniors. The name Rományi Rota means Gypsy Wheels; they are a truly traditional dance and music group from Hungary, founded in 1985. The band first functioned as a large dance group in Nagyecsed, Hungary, the village where the country’s Roma dance and music movement started in the 70s. As a dance and music collective they won a number of awards. Eventually the founder of Romani Rota moved to Budapest where he collected authentic Roma music in Hungary and in neighbouring countries. In 1995, the downsized band appeared internationally winning the Young Masters of Folk Art award. The members of the band now live in Canada. Throughout the years, Romani Rota has recorded several albums and appeared as guest musicians on a Trans Global album and the Romani Kris film music album. Here is a taste of what they can do!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAnATi6cL8s

Scarlett Jane: Friday, February 7: 8:00pm $20 /$15 students/arts workers/seniors. Andrea Ramolo and Cindy Doire: One of the most exciting new collaborations in recent Canadian music — the marriage of the distinctive songs and beautifully haunting voices, the collaborative song-writing, sultry performance style, and full band arrangements of Andrea Ramolo and Cindy Doire. The blend of the singer’s voices stops conversations; their musical sensibilities interweave seemingly without effort. And now, Stranger, their debut recording, captures their strength and their vulnerability, with a progressive roots sound which embodies the raw and candid demeanor of Lucinda Williams, the moody sensuality of Stevie Nicks, and the tender playfulness of Dolly Parton. A rootsy folk/noir album with enough country-edged rockin’ wailers to keep dancers moving, and gorgeous ballads and moody set-pieces to satisfy the indie-pop fans. Andrea has two previous albums; she’s of Italian heritage, a sweet city woman with fire in her heart, embers in her voice, and a background that includes school teaching, acting, and even tap dancing. Cindy calls herself a troubadour and a vagabond. Her voice can whisper or roar, as the song (and the lyrics) demand. She has three solo albums, two in French, which has given her a following in both French Canada and Europe. www.scarlettjane.com  Listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1OtCr52sj4 

A very special fundraiser for Scott (Professor Piano) Cushnie: Wednesday, February 5. 8:00pm. $15.00 adv / $20 at the door.  Guests for this evening with Professor Piano include Sonnie Bernardi, John Gibbard, and Roly Greenway from Crowbar, Lori Yates, Duane Rutter, Omar Tunnoch, Bucky Berger from Fathead, Trickbag and more to come…….  Scott Cushnie is 75 and currently living in Toronto. As Terry Murphy tells us, “He is in need of more support personally and professionally than I can provide for him from Hamilton so I have asked him to re-locate to Hamilton and he has decided to finally take me up on it. He grew up in the Bronte area and taught Kelly Jay from Crowbar his first piano lesson when they were in High School together. The guys from Crowbar are all contemporaries of Scott. In the 70’s he toured with Aerosmith and played on two of their albums “Toys In The Attic” and “Rocks” for which he has received two gold albums. He recorded an album with Ronnie Hawkins at Muscle Shoals Studio that featured local harmonica legend Richard “King Biscuit Boy” Newell and Duane Allman from the Allman Brothers. Today he still plays but because of his visual impairment, he has great difficulty keeping up with his fans, friends and maintaining a performance schedule that is conducive to his considerable talents. He has recorded several Albums of Instrumental Piano Duets with Some Canada’s finest musicians including Lance Anderson, and the late great Doug Riley.  Scott is interested in continuing down this path and future duet CDs are planned.” Bio: http://bit.ly/1hKwyGk  Listen:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb7VVHV8w70

Ryan Van Sickle: Saturday, January 11; 8:00pm. $20 at the door: Born and raised in Dundas, now living in New York, Van Sickle comes home to rock The Pearl with his annual show! The man is an excellent singer/songwriter whose yearly visit we enjoy enormously.  Writing songs of character and integrity that resound with the timeless and universal, Ryan Van Sickle uniquely translates the themes of love, war, life and death and the epic and mundane struggles within. Following in the steps of the masters from his native Canada, Ryan draws on the influences of Neil Young, Daniel Lanois, and Leonard Cohen alongside American greats Bruce Springsteen, Emmylou Harris, Johnny Cash, Pete Seeger and Lucinda Williams. With the release of his latest album Ghosts Of The Brokenhearted, Ryan emerges as a powerful songwriter; asserting his prowess in building a lyrical highway with a strong voice to carry listeners on the journey. http://ryanvansicklemusic.com/  Listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmBiU67-2q8

Paul Reddick: Saturday, January 4: 8:00pm. $15 /$10 students/arts workers. Back by popular demand (and ours), Paul Reddick calls Toronto home, but his reputation is spreading internationally. The award-winning (phenomenal!) harmonica player, bandleader and songwriter described his most recent CD, Wishbone, as “a soundtrack for dancing and sex.” (!) The January ‘12 issue of Mojo, listed the CD in the #3 spot on its annual list of the Top 10 blues records of 2012. And if those accolades weren’t enough, here’s Scottish crime writer Ian Rankin, a long-time Reddick fan, “Wishbone is terrific!”  When Reddick, nominated for no less than five Maple Blues Awards, was asked “What is the blues?” the answer: “The Blues will always provide a soundtrack, a language, an endless landscape. It offers an unlimited means to express, explore and experience everything and every question that matters most.  It can be the heart singing its deepest song.” http://www.paulreddick.ca Listen:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dcae11Tx0w

Hot Jazzy New Years at The Pearl! Tuesday, December 31, 8:00 ‘til ?  $50 per person.  We’re changing it up this year with more entertainment and an even better buffet (Is that possible?). The entertainment is an astounding collection of super-talented jazz musicians. We promise fun, great conversations, musical magic, and definitely dancing

      To welcome in the New Year:

• Chef Gary Santucci will outdo himself (again) with a pan-global buffet throughout the night.
• There will be two sets from the incredible collection of jazz artists assembled for the evening and
• Michael Williams (whom you may know from his days as a VJ on Much Music) will get us dancing between sets. (Do you have any musical requests?)
• We need you to RSVP: Buy tickets online, via email, or phone.  We are expecting a crowd so let us know as soon as you do!

In our warm, welcoming ‘lofty’ atmosphere!
Featuring: The Spanjazz ensemble: Mike Malone on trumpet, Mike Filice on sax, James Gannet on bass, Jordan Abraham on keyboards, Gary Santucci on guitar and Steve Wilson on drums.

Cash Grab: Friday, December 27. 8:00pm $15 /$10 students/arts workers/seniors. Having performed on the stages of Toronto’s Yuk-Yuks, The Second City, and Comedy Bar, Cash Grab represents a new generation of Canadian comedy – comedians that actually studied comedy in college (the troupe met while enrolled in Humber College’s Comedy: Writing and Performance program). Nominated for the prestigious Tim Sims Encouragement Fund Award, selected to compete in the Fresh Meat competition at The Second City, their biggest highlight to date was writing and performing with former Kids in the Hall star, Dave Foley, at the Humber Fresh Faces Show 2012. A Cash Grab show isn’t just sketch – it’s sketch, stand-up, music and dramatic physical comedy all packed into an hour and a half show of non-stop laughter. “…awesome and memorable… uproarious… mind-bending… Eloquent writers, strong performers, and great at accents, this seven-member troupe ….deliver a fast-paced, high-energy and consistently hilarious set.” Victoria Laberge, Bloody Underrated  http://cashgrabcomedy.com

Danny Michel Trio: SOLD OUT! Saturday, December 21. Doors: 7:15. Concert: 8:00pm. $25 Admission. “With two Juno nominations and six solo albums to his credit, Danny Michel is one of the finest and most charming songwriters to grace the stage. His honest and straightforward lyrics, earnest live performances, and engaging stage banter, have earned him a devoted global fan base. As his fans will attest, he is a spontaneous & fearless performer.  If you’ve seen Danny live in concert, you’re probably already a fan. If you haven’t, you are missing out on “one of this country’s …..musical treasures” (Toronto Star). Like a chameleon, he slips into any genre with ease, playing off the energy of the crowd. Danny is an innovator, demonstrating that creative artists in the digital age can build a rich, successful and intimate relationship with their fans. He gained publicity in 2008 for making the tracks of his hit single “Feather, Fur & Fin” available for his fans to remix and then posting their submissions on his website. For his birthday this past year, Danny “showed the love” to his grateful fans by offering his entire catalogue of music free for download for the day.  www.dannymichel.com   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMkeNwU-0Ew&list=PL1DC4BB9370A1BE60

Dawn and Marra´s Second Annual Christmas Show: Friday, December 20. 7:00pm. $10 or $8 with a canned good or monetary donation. The night will consist of many top local acts, collaborations between artists and lots of Christmas cheer! There will be caroling, snacks, Kim Koren, Lori Yates, Hachey the MouthPEACE, Quails In The Nest, Special Guest Magician, Gazer The Amazer, and more. Proceeds will go to the Hamilton food bank. A night to put you in the mood for the holidays! Come celebrate with us! Dawn and Marra keep adding to the evening so expect some surprises! Listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSialCiYxxU  www.dawnandmarra.com

Ron Hynes: CANCELLED DUE TO SNOW! Saturday, December 14. Doors 7:30 / Concert 8:00pm. $20 advance / $25 at the door. Living legend, musical icon, recent throat cancer survivor… just a few of his tags…. Hynes’ songs are woven into the fabric of Atlantic Canada, he’s won countless awards and his work has been covered by some of the biggest names in music.  For Ron Hynes, it’s all about the songs-and the soul-baring stories… and he has a few left to tell. With a songwriting career that spans more than 30 years, Ron is a six-time East Coast Music Award winner, a Genie Award winner and a past Juno, CCMA and Canadian Folk Music Awards nominee. Frequently referred to as the “man of a thousand songs”, Ron Hynes’ songs have been covered by dozens of artists worldwide, including Emmylou Harris, Murray McLauchlan, Valdy, John McDermott, and Prairie Oyster. His song “Sonny’s Dream” has become a folk classic, performed and recorded by artists all over the world.  He’s an actor, a songwriter/composer.  The feature film about Ron’s life “The Man of a Thousand Songs” debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival to sold-out audiences and critical praise.  “He touches people… it’s a rare gift for songwriters to be able to distill a song until only its essence remains. He’s a treasure.” Fan.   For more, visit: www.hynesite.org Listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lV6QlEL46Bs