The Pearl Company

Cam Penner: Thursday, November 17: 8:00. $15 door. $10 artists/students. In a complicated world, Cam Penner finds beauty in simplicity, with an honest, spare approach to folk music that is refreshing in an age filled with so much insincerity and irony. Singing uncompromising songs about redemption and truth, his is a voice for the disenfranchised, a storyteller for those who never reach their destination. Penner’s fiercely personal lyrics are complemented by a gentle acoustic guitar style, and the defiant heroes of his songs are weary, but they are never defeated. His new album, Gypsy Summer is full of hope. It’s full of love. It’s electrifying and provoking. It’s full of everything we should be looking for, not only musically, but in life.  Cam has shared stages with Richard Thompson, Fred Eaglesmith, Blue Rodeo, Blackie & the Rodeo Kings, John Prine, Glen Campbell, and Lyle Lovett.  http://www.campenner.com

Kaleidoscope Brown: ARECIBO: featuring: Brownman Ali – trumpet (Trinidad): With Paul Morrison – piano (Canada) Amhed Mitchel – drums (Cuba): Ben Miller – 6-string electric bass. Saturday, November 12. 8:00pm. $15 door. $10 artists/students. A brand new latin-jazz outfit delving deeply into both Cuban and Brazilian modern jazz traditions in the New York latin-jazz spirit of Jerry Gonzalez & The Fort Apache Band featuring some of Toronto’s most acclaimed jazz and latin music specialists. The group is named after the Arecibo radio telescope housed in Puerto Rico – the largest radio telescope in the world, responsible for the deepest exploration of space mankind has achieved to date.  http://arecibo.brownman.com Jazz writer Conrad Gayle writes: “Brownman Ali does it again being the great mastermind creating bands as vehicles for his creative output.   His unbridled versatility always pays huge dividends when he adapts and integrates his own unique jazz voice to straight ahead jazz, funk, hip-hop and Latin sounds, and ARECIBO is yet another example of his chameleon like abilities to fit into any mode of music.  In Arecibo he has assembled a great band that brings all 4 of those elements together into a sound that – like the trumpet player himself – is one-of-a-kind with it’s own special identity. “

The Art Bus is Sponsored by Judy Marsales Real Estate:

Next Tours: December 2 and 9

November 11: Off first to Ottawa Street to take in the multitude of galleries, antique stores and excitement now making this street one of the “best streets in Canada”.  Then for something completely different, we will stop at the Sheraton to catch the vibrant and transcendent artwork of Hamilton-born Toller Cranston who’s presenting his art as the ‘Artcracker’ part of the upcoming Nutcracker.   Then we’ll head for the James North Art Crawl for more excitement and blocks and blocks of artists studios and galleries!

•    Starting at 6:30 from ‘The Pearl Company’, 16 Steven Street @ King William.
•    Please reserve a spot via email or phone, and purchase your trip ($15.00/$10 students/artists) when you arrive
•    We finish up at The Pearl for an après-tour wind-down which includes a tour of the building or whatever event is  happening on the theatre floor

Rakish Angles: Thursday, November 10, 8:00pm. $15 door. $10 Artists/Students: The boundary crossing, genre-blending stringband, The Rakish Angles, weave an intricate tapestry of Newgrass, Latin, Gypsy-Jazz and Oldtime music.  The quartet’s members come from musical backgrounds as diverse as Classical, Bluegrass, Jazz, and Heavy Metal.  The Rakish Angles common influences include Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli, Bela Fleck, and fellow Canadians The Creaking Tree String Quartet and Jayme Stone.  What makes the Rakish Angles unique is the collaborative spirit in which they put their pieces together –they recognize and encourage each other’s different strengths and backgrounds, which is heard both in the compositions and in the way each musician is given space to shine.  The quartet has been nominated for numerous prestigeous awards  and are beginning to garner Nation-wide attention and airplay and have even had music used for film.  They are: Boyd Norman (Bass), Serena Eades (Violin), Dan Richter (Guitar) and Simon Hocking (Mandolin)
“The Rakish Angles are pushing acoustic music into new directions. With impeccable taste, tone, timing and an all original repertoire, they are sure to be at the forefront of the Canadian Acoustic scene for a long time to come. Check ’em out!” – Andrew Collins www.rakishangles.com

Emm Gryner with Colleen Brown: Wednesday, November 9, 8:00pm. $15 door.$10 Artists/Students: Emm Gryner’s ferocious self- sufficiency has been recognized and rewarded by a broad spectrum of fellow musicians from David Bowie to Bono; in fact she sang and played keyboards in David Bowie’s band. She appears on Bowie at the Beeb, a live album. She has toured with Ron Sexsmith, Rufus Wainwright and Royal Wood.  She’s stuck it out as an independent artist for more than a decade, releasing records on both sides of the Atlantic (Ireland, in particular, likes its Emm) on her own ‘Dead Daisy’ label and delighting in the freedom to follow whatever musical whim strikes her fancy.  She has played Lilith Fair, playing either of the festival’s accepted roles — snarling rock chick or vulnerable piano diarist.  “I kind of pride myself on….that I’m the person who can open for Burton Cummings and then tour with Ohbijou….” www.emmgryner.com Colleen Brown has picked up support from the CBC, particularly DJ Rich Terfry (Buck 65), along with high profile fans such as Emm, Kathleen Edwards and Hawksley Workman. Brown was a finalist in last year’s Song Quest contest, and won the Alberta Emerging Artist Award for the song Western Fire, co-written with Edwards’ guitarist, Colin Cripps. Last summer, she grabbed the New Music West 2011 Songwriting Award. For the past few years, Brown has been at one moment jamming with members of Blue Rodeo the next, playing the folk festival circuit.  “As an artist I’m striving for the idea of a community, and that a performance, for me, is about give-and-take between the audience and the musicians. It’s not me up here and you down there.” www.myspace.com/colleenbrownmusic Both Emm and Colleen fit right in at The Pearl!

The Ernesto Cervini Quartet: Tuesday, November 8, 8:00pm. $15 door.$10 Artists/Students: Innovative and electrifying Toronto jazz drummer Ernesto Cervini featuring Joel Frahm (saxophones), Adrean Farrugia (piano) and Dan Loomis (bass).  Ernesto who has shared the stage with many legendary musicians such as Clark Terry, Benny Golson, Cleo Laine, Pat LaBarbera, Buddy DeFranco, and many others, has energy to burn, whether radiating it from behind his drums or working on any number of musical and educational projects.  Cervini’s diversity as a musician (he is also an excellent pianist and clarinetist) has allowed him to travel throughout the world, performing in some of the world’s greatest jazz venues such as, Birdland, The Jazz Standard, The Montreal Bistro, The Rex Jazz and Blues Club, and also many of the world’s most prestigious concert halls, such as Massey Hall, The Glen Gould Theatre, The St. Lawrence Center for the Arts and the Sugita Theatre in Yokohama, Japan.  www.Ernestocervini.com

Gary Santucci: Saturday, November 5, 8:00. $15 door.$10 Artists/Students.  Gary will put on another of his guitar seminars; a kind of show-and-tell involving guitar history, guitar-making, and guitar playing. There will be, of course, demonstrations of guitar technique from flamenco to classical and beyond. Gary may be joined by his long-time guitar and bouzouki partner, Dimitrios Doumas if he is able to be here.  Expect a guitar banquet.

The Andy Middleton Group: Friday, November 4, 8:00. $15 door.$10 Artists/Students: Jazz saxophonist and composer Andy Middleton with Canadian guitar legend Lorne Lofsky and the superb bass/drums team of Kieran Overs and Barry Romberg, with special guest Darcy Hepner on reeds.  Andy Middleton has long been considered by critics and his peers to be one of the world’s top-tier jazz saxophonists. While a technically masterful player, Middleton’s solos have rather been noted for their power of inspired imagination, rhythmic drive, lyricism and adventurous energy.  Likewise, his compositions are both harmonically modern and lyrical with a clear sense of the tradition.   Middleton’s unique voice as both a player and a composer/arranger has led jazz icons such as Dave Holland, Kenny Wheeler and Ralph Towner to record and perform with him.  He has also performed/ recorded with Renee Rosnes, Randy Brecker, Bill Evans, Lionel Hampton.  After nearly 20 years in the New York jazz scene, he now lives and teaches in Vienna, Austria.  Catch him in a rare return to North America! andy.middleton@chello.at
“A musician’s musician, just like it says in books.  This American living in Vienna spins fascinating webs of improvisation with long, drawn-out and intense melodies on the tenor saxophone that place him at the top of the international saxophone scene. Great music!”   Jazzthing (Germany)