Remembering Serge Gainsbourg on his birthday

Remembering French singer/songwriter Serge Gainsbourg with a few performances and a 1974 CBC interview en Français.

Belize's Garifuna Collective, Blandine Kiniki @ Koerner Hall, Thursday

After the unfortunate cancellation of Orchestra Baobab, the Garifuna Collective from Belize makes a fantastic replacement April 2.  

Here's the scoop...

From Belize, The Garifuna Collective a driving force in celebrating the rich cultural heritage and music of the Garifuna people, an Afro-Indigenous group community with a rich cultural heritage, originating from the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent and now residing in various countries, including Honduras, Belize, and the United States. 

Their music is “full of surging seaside rhythms and yearning, soulful melodies that hang in the memory” (BBC Music) and has been described as “an extraordinary blend that layers soulful, indigenous and African rhythms with sweet, lyrical melodies” (NPR). The band’s energetic and evocative live shows draw from their extensive repertoire, mixing traditional Garifuna rhythms with contemporary world music grooves.

 

Singer/songwriter and percussionist Blandine Kaniki, winner of an African Entertainment Award 2015 as Best Female Voice, blends the soul of rhumba with urban music. The Congolese Canadian singer’s 2019 album L’Antidote featured a powerful collaboration with the legend of Congolese music Nyboma and lead guitarist Lokassa Ya M'Bongo.

 

Presented in association with Batuki Music Society. Tickets for The Garifuna Collective with Blandine Kiniki at Koerner Hall (273 Bloor St. West) on Thursday, April 2 at 7 pm start at $50. Get 'em right here. Watch a few clips of the Garifuna Collective in action along with some Garifuna documentary footage below.  

 

Music biz legend Joe "Mr. C" McEwen has a memoir on the way

 A&R exec, writer and music fan Joe McEwen's memoir Tastykakes, Soul Songs & Shining Stars is out April 28th via ZE Books.

Here's the scoop...

ZE Books has announced the release of Joe McEwen’s ‘Tastykakes, Soul Songs and Shining Stars’ on April 28, a labor of love - half a century in the making - from a respected music industry stalwart. A Philadelphia native and an A&R executive for Columbia, Sire/Warner Brothers, Verve, and Concord Music Group - McEwen gathers a lifetime’s worth of encounters, essays, and reveries into one radiant collection, a love letter to rhythm-and-blues and soul music. Its pages are bursting with vivid, compelling, up-front and personal profiles (predominantly written by McEwen while working as a music journalist in the 1970s) with a host of indelible figures: Pops and Mavis Staples, George Clinton, Allen Toussaint, Betty Wright, Michael Jackson, Gamble and Huff, Don Covay, and many more.

“This book is meant to be a fan’s notes with, as its heart and soul, a collection of profiles all written between 1973 and 1978,” reflects McEwen in the book’s introduction. “While rereading these during Covid down time, the vitality of the voices and the vivid memories reconnected me with feelings and emotions that had been long stored in my mental attic. I thought they deserved a second airing.”

Alongside these portraits of legends at the peak of their powers are heartfelt musings spanning the 1960s through the ’80s - illuminating the creative processes behind the songs that defined a generation. Interwoven throughout are reflections on basketball, memory, and movement — parallel sources of rhythm, improvisation, and joy. The book culminates in an extended 2024 conversation with esteemed music author and longtime confidant Peter Guralnick (Elvis Presley, Sam Cooke), a fitting finale to a collection that captures the soul of a lifetime in music.

“This is a tribute to some of the music and artists that have provided me with the building blocks, the sturdy foundation for a career and a never-ending journey of wonder,” McEwen summarizes as the book’s final chapter concludes. “I saw James Brown at the Arena in West Philadelphia in the fall of 1966. It was the first music performance I had ever attended. Somewhere inside remains the heart of a 16-year-old kid at the Arena, overcome by a sense of uncomprehending, incredulous amazement at the drama and spectacle unfolding before me.”

Praise for Tastykakes, Soul Songs & Shining Stars...

“Joe McEwen has long been one of our most incisive connoisseurs of Black music, a journalist with the rare gift of radical empathy. Among the hits collected here: the best profile of Michael Jackson ever written. Read the book, play some music-and rediscover the gospel truth of American soul music.” - JAMES MILLER, author of Flowers in the Dustbin: The Rise of Rock & Roll 1947-1977 and original editor of The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll

“Joe McEwen’s collection is an essential text that captures the textures of pre-hip hop Black pop culture with a sensuous eye. The writing here is as soulful as the music it celebrates.” - NELSON GEORGE, author of The Death of Rhythm & Blues and City Life: A Writer’s Memoir of Ghetto Life and Post-Soul Success

“Joe McEwen’s essays on essential musicians and athletes are so heartfelt and deep that this collection has the emotional wallop of a searing memoir. Every piece here is sweeter than a Tastykake.” - STEVEN LEVY, author of Hackers, Insanely Great, and Facebook: The Inside Story

“Joe McEwen writes beautifully about the Soul greats that he encounters in this book. It’s as electrifying as hearing ‘Dancing in the Street’ for the first time. Each chapter sends you straight back to the music. American art at its finest.” - GEOFF TRAVIS, Founder and currently joint MD, Rough Trade Records

You can pre-order Joe McEwen’s ‘Tastykakes, Soul Songs & Shining Stars’ right here. Check out an interview with Joe McEwen conducted by Barney Hoskyns for the Rock's Back Pages podcast. 

 

RUSH debuts new drummer Anika Nilles at the JUNOs

RUSH performed "Finding My Way" with new drummer Anika Nilles from Jeff Beck's group at The JUNOs in Hamilton. 

Hag's Big City B'day w/ Jamie Oliver & pals @ The Horseshoe, April 1

This year's Merle Haggard birthday bash includes special guests Jim Cuddy, Russell deCarle, Caitlin Hanford and more!

Tickets for Hag's Big City B'day Bash are $25 advance and are going fast right here. 

Mainline guitarist Mike McKenna releases new memoir Goin' To Toronto

Guitar ace Mike McKenna recalls his time with Luke & The Apostles, Ugly Ducklings, Mainline and more.

  
 Goin' To Toronto by Mike McKenna

Join me for a trip back in time to the early days of the Canadian rock scene. We start in my early days with Whitey (Glan) and the Roulettes. Our next stop is Yorkville, where Mike’s Trio becomes Luke (Gibson) and The Apostles. After a stint with The Ugly Ducklings, Joe and I form McKenna Mendelson Mainline. Our trip continues through Diamondback, The Mike McKenna Band, Downchild Blues Band, The Guess Who, and Slidewinder. Our journey spans four countries with many interesting stories along the way. You will also hear from some of my friends and fans including Luke Gibson, Tony Nolasco, Dave Bingham, Peter McGraw and Pat Little.

Mike McKenna is a Torontonian through and through. As a Canadian musician he has traveled the world and played in nine Bands. If the Blues is his first love, then guitars are his second. He is renowned for his guitar solos and slide playing. Mike was inducted into the Canadian South Blues Society Hall of Fame in 2013 and was nominated for a “Lifetime Achievement Award” by the Toronto Maple Blues Society in 2024. Mike has been told by many people that he should write a book. So here it is…

Get a copy of Mike McKenna's new book Goin' To Toronto from Friesen Press right here. Check out a few clips below. You can see Mike playing with the current version of Luke and the Apostles at The Black Swan (154 Danforth Ave) on Saturday, April 11 from 4 pm to 7 pm.  

Maurice & Mac vs. Buck Owens and the Buckaroos

Buck Owens and crew can't top Maurice & Mac's deep soul version of Mike Settle's tune "But You Know I Love You"