The Perlich Post

Tuesday, June 23, 2026

The Hulagoons album release party @ The Skyline, Wednesday

The launch of The Hulagoons' new album will also serve as a tribute to the group's late singer/percussionist Teddy Hawkins.

Watch Paul Desmond with Ed Bickert on CBC-TV's Take 30 in 1975

Watch saxophone great Paul Desmond perform with Ed Bickert, Don Thompson and Jerry Fuller on Take 30 with hosts Paul Soles and Mary Lou Finlay.

Paul Desmond with Ed Bickert, Don Thompson & Jerry Fuller on Take 30

Shot for CBC-TV's long-running news and entertainment program Take 30 in the fall of 1975, this rare performance and interview footage of alto saxophonist Paul Desmond – who composed the jazz standard "Take Five" while a member of the Dave Brubeck Quartet and played the unforgettable saxophone part on the band's classic 1959 recording for the album of the same name – features an all-star support cast of Toronto-based musicians, including guitarist Ed Bickert, bassist Don Thompson and drummer Jerry Fuller.

Not only is the clip a rare CBC-TV document of Canadian jazz aces at their peak, it's also historically important for capturing Desmond in action, commanding as ever, less than two years prior to his death from lung cancer on May 30, 1977 at the age of 52. Desmond, who was a chain-smoker and known to enjoy a tipple as well, maintained his famously dry sense of humour even in the darkest moments. Upon receiving his terminal diagnosis, Desmond responded that he was delighted to hear that his liver was in tip-top condition. Unfortunately, the footage isn't the best quality but until the CBC does a proper release of the Take 30 broadcast from '75, a rough video transfer will have to suffice.

Monday, June 22, 2026

Happy 80th Birthday Eliades Ochoa!

Raising a glass to Buena Vista Social Club keyman Eliades Ochoa with a live tear through "Chan Chan," a documentary and more!

Isaiah Collier: Collier Plays Coltrane @ Hugh's Room, June 22

Isaiah Collier's highly anticipated Toronto appearance – which clearly should've been held at a much larger venue – is now sold out.

Isaiah Collier: "Collier Plays Coltrane"

at Hugh's Room's Green Sanderson Hall

Monday, June 22, 2026

Tickets: sold out!

Doors at 9 pm, Show at 930 pm.

The Toronto Jazz Festival is excited to present Isaiah Collier in “Collier Plays Coltrane” - a special celebration of John Coltrane’s centennial.

Saxophonist Isaiah Collier has emerged as one of the most exciting voices in contemporary jazz, known for blending the rich traditions of the past with the urgency of the present to forge the sound of the future. Described as a maverick of creative and improvisational force, he has collaborated with jazz luminaries such as Kahil El’Zabar, Ambrose Akinmusire, Craig Taborn, Joe Dyson, Azar Lawrence and NEA Jazz Masters Billy Hart, Marshall Allen, and Denardo Coleman (son of free jazz pioneer Ornette Coleman), among many others. A proud member of the legendary Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), Collier stands firmly within the lineage of Chicago’s rich tenor saxophone legacy.

DownBeat Magazine has hailed him as “The Next Sax Giant”—a title befitting an artist who continues to reshape the sonic landscape of modern jazz. Watch Isaiah Collier in action below.