The Pearl Company

James Gordon: “Sunny Jim” CD Release: Saturday, June 11: 8:00pm. $20 / $15 students/ seniors/ un(der)waged. James Gordon has had a remarkably diverse 30-year career in the Canadian entertainment business. As a solo singer-songwriter and with the ground-breaking trio Tamarack, he has released over thirty-five albums, and has toured around the world. Gordon has written for symphony orchestras, musical theatre and dance works, film scores, and for more than ten years was heard on CBC radio as songwriter-in-residence for the Basic Black and Ontario Morning programs. “Sunny Jim” is the 7th album for James Gordon on Borealis Records. We think this new collection of songs brings him back full circle to his folky roots. There are a lot of echoes here of his acoustic trio days with Tamarack, and of the kind of music he was raised on. Recently elected as a city councillor in his hometown of Guelph Ontario, you can hear some of his progressive politics and activism seeping through as well.
Recorded sparsely in his new studio, there’s a lot of James on it: he plays piano, acoustic and electric guitar, trilele, banjo, accordion, harmonica, tin whistle, recorder and  trumpet. He was joined by his sons Evan and Geordie on bass, guitars, fiddle and percussion. http://www.jamesgordon.ca  Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIOH16wJWzg

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Shari Vandermolen & David Brideau: Saturday May 5.  Doors: 7:30pm. Show: 8:00. Tickets: $20. Shari Vandermolen is a renowned vocalist and award-winning performer in Hamilton and the Greater Toronto Area who has been entertaining audiences for 15 years with her Quartet, Trio or 5-piece band Quarter to Nine.  She is also the lead vocalist for the 10-piece jazz combo SwingLine.  On May 5th Shari brings her powerful and impressive vocal stylings back to the Pearl Company for a more intimate evening of song with jazz guitarist David Brideau, James Gannett on bass and Vince Waters on drums.  “…hear Vandermolen make jelly of your emotions with her voice and her art… one example is Stormy Weather… I barely weathered that storm intact.”  – View Magazine
David Brideau is a Canadian jazz guitarist, composer, and teacher who has been an active musician for over 15 years. A Hamilton native, and honours graduate from the Mohawk Jazz program, David has played all around the GTA with his own group, the David Brideau Trio and Quartet, as well as being prominently featured in groups with Michael Morobito, Amber-Leigh Palka, and Lauren Perreira among others. He studied under jazz greats Bob Shields, Pat Collins, Kim Ratcliffe, and Mark Ucci and is currently continuing his studies at McMaster University. David often composes his own standards, and released the sold-out EP “Addicted To You” in 2016. He is a recipient of the Dave McMurdo Music Bursary, the Antony Roberts Music Bursary, and the Richard Newell Memorial Scholarship.
Ticets: https://www.ticketscene.ca/events/21098/