Coming together in 1962 and originally known as Chad Allan and the Reflections, then Chad Allan and the Expressions, and finally the Guess Who, this Canadian band eventually turned into one of the biggest groups in the world. You May Also Like: The Guess Who – Track Record: The GuessRead More
During the latter half of the 1960s, Willie and the Walkers experienced phenomenal success throughout their home turf of Western Canada. To give you an idea how special the band was, they nabbed a deal with Capitol Records You May Also Like: Fotomaker – The Fotomaker Collection (1995): Forgotten SeriesRead More
Much bigger in their native Canada than in the States, mainstream rockers April Wine still made some hay south of the 49th Parallel, especially with the mushy slow dance power ballad “Just Between You And Me” back in 1981. You May Also Like: Bob Wayne – Hits the Hits (2015)Read More
A deeply personal record, Ron Sexsmith’s Forever Endeavour is a cutely titled examination of what happens when an extremely gifted songwriter turns things inward in an almost overpowering fashion. You May Also Like: Ron Sexsmith, “Can’t Get My Act Together” from Carousel One (2015) Richard Turgeon, “Live Forever” (2020): OneRead More
Leave it to a pair of twins from Canada to provoke listeners in such joyful fashion. With Heartthrob, a contagious chunk of pure pop bliss, Tegan and Sara Quin have taken apart the apparatus You May Also Like: For Mickey Thomas, Starship’s “Sara” still holds haunting mysteries: ‘An audiophile song’Read More
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hB7aWTFGcuI&w=420&h=315] Vancouver native and saxophonist Michael Blake came back to this Canadian city after residing in NYC for a quarter century, and brought home a wealth of ideas with him. You May Also Like: Ryan Blotnick – Kush (2016) Michael Cain – Sola (2015)
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk7NPU9jF3E&w=420&h=315] Jazz performed by large orchestras make up a big, important part of the history of jazz but the kind of big bands that get me fired up the most are ones who break from convention and behave like a rowdy, small band. You May Also Like: Satoko FujiiRead More
You might be tempted to peg Simon Sullivan, a Canadian singer-songwriter and harp player, as a bluesman. And there’s plenty of that to be found here. In the end, though, that would be selling the genre-busting Groovin’ short. You May Also Like: The Young Rascals – Groovin’ (1967): On SecondRead More
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MNXe-AZ4dY&w=420&h=315] If you don’t know anything else about the Montreal-born flautist Sylvain LeRoux and his music, just two things are instructive: he has a passion for Thelonious Monk and a passion for West African music. You May Also Like: Kali Z. Fasteau, featuring Kidd Jordan – Intuit (2016) TylerRead More
Toronto-based pianist Chris Donnelly has made two records so far, and both of them are solo piano records (Solo (2009) and Metamorphosis (2011). We now finally get to hear how this inventive musician interact with other musicians with the first album by Myriad3, a trio he recently formed with fellowRead More
