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JAZZ.FM91 announces the second edition of its Discover Women in Jazz program

Eric Alper
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JAZZ.FM91 in Toronto is proud to announce the second season of Discover  Women in Jazz. In partnership with the Pat and Tony Adams Freedom Fund for the Arts, this outreach program promotes, champions and inspires women’s contributions to jazz as musicians, writers and bandleaders.

The second edition again features five musicians from the Greater Toronto Area selected by a panel that includes Colleen Allen, Céline Peterson, Dione Taylor, Aline Homzy and Discover Women in Jazz alumnus Reknee Harrett.

Through this program, JAZZ.FM91 will offer these talented women support, space, funding and marketing to foster their careers. The concerts in this series will be broadcast live every Thursday from 7 to 8 p.m. ET between Aug. 4 and Sept. 1, 2022.

An exciting addition to this year’s program is the inclusion of Jazzology interviews, sponsored by the RBC Emerging Artists Project. Taking place every Wednesday in August, these unique Jazzology episodes will showcase each participant in conversation with Jazzology host Heather Bambrick in the leadup to their live performance.

MEET THE ARTISTS

Marie Goudy

Trumpeter and vocalist Marie Goudy started her professional career at the age of 16. Marie has since played with many notable musicians — including on three Juno-nominated albums — came second in the 2020 Toronto Star Readers’ Choice Awards for Best Local Musician or Band, and formed a quickly rising 12tet that released the album The Bitter Suite, reaching No. 3 on the national jazz charts in 2018.

Ashley Kurkjian

Ashley Kurkjian is an accredited music therapist, a registered psychotherapist

(qualifying) and a freelance musician in Toronto. Ashley currently leads and composes for her seven-piece chamber fusion band Different Era, who released their self-titled EP in October, 2016. Ashley can also be heard performing around the GTA with bands GRACE and Human Magic. Ashley has also had the pleasure of playing the Halifax Jazz Festival with Chelsea McBride’s Socialist Night School, the Beaches International Jazz Festival and more with GRACE and The Achromatics, and the Toronto Undergraduate Jazz Festival and the Korean Harvest Festival with Different Era.

Debi Botos

From an early age, Debi Botos has cultivated an interest in Hungarian Gypsy music, from where she was born. Now 26, as a self-taught musician, Debi continues to explore and experiment with the sounds of the legendary Django Reinhardt. Through gigging around the Toronto circuit, playing festivals and concert halls in the U.S. and growing up in a very musical Botos family, she has found a sound that is both modern and an homage to the greats. She studied music at Humber College and has collaborated with some of the contemporary giants of the genre, including Samson Schmitt, Ludovic Beier and Stephane Wrembel.

Alexa Belgrave

Alexa Belgrave is a pianist, musical director and community member based in Toronto with a bachelor of music in jazz piano from the University of Toronto. With a background in classical studies, an interest in composition and an interactive and rhythmic ‘comping style, Alexa has worked with a variety of musical acts such as TUSH, the Queer Songbook Orchestra, Andrew Downing and Shakura S’Aida, and with theatre companies including the Obsidian Playwright Unit, the Musical Stage Company, Nightwood Theatre and more. In 2019, she was awarded a TD Discovery Series grant for her R&B/jazz collective Moodset. She is currently teaching musical theatre performance at Sheridan College and piano at the Annex Academy of Music and more.

Nicky Schrire

Vocalist and composer Nicky Schrire’s work has been likened to Joni Mitchell and Esperanza Spalding. Since 2012, Nicky has released Freedom Flight (2012), Space & Time (2013) and will be releasing her new album Nowhere Girl this year. “Schrire is, by any standard, a remarkable talent … Her voice is a bell, a curve of pliant sound, a personality, a vessel for great songs.” – Will Layman, PopMatters.

 

Dave Grohl Returns To The Stage With Paul McCartney

Eric Alper
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Dave Grohl Returns To The Stage With Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney performs Band on the Run featuring Dave Grohl’s first appearance onstage since the tragic death of Foo Fighters’ drummer Taylor Hawkins, at Glastonbury 2022.

Dorothy Does It Again With Their Print Of Stamp Albums: Hip-Hop

Eric Alper
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Dorothy Does It Again With Their Print Of Stamp Albums: Hip-Hop

The art company Dorothy continues to blow my mind with their new print celebrating the most influential hip-hop albums of the last 40 years.

They’ve reimagined 42 seminal hip-hop albums as a series of oversized postage stamps beginning with the 1982 breakthrough album The Message by Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five and featuring other classics including Run-DMC and their 1984 self-titled album, Eric B. & Rakim and Paid in Full, Public Enemy and It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, De La Soul and 3 Feet High & Rising, Beastie Boys and Paul’s Boutique, A Tribe Called Quest and The Low End Theory, Wu-Tang Clan and Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), Nas and Illmatic, Fugees and The Score, Missy Elliott and Supa Dupa Fly, Lauryn Hill and The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill, Eminem and The Slim Shady LP, Jay-Z and The Blueprint, Kanye West and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Kendrick Lamar and To Pimp a Butterfly.

Each stamp features a graphic inspired by the album (or tracks on the album), the date of release, the label it was released on and its running time.

It’s available here, and get it now!

  • Stamp Albums: Hip-Hop
  • Stamp Albums: Hip-Hop
  • Stamp Albums: Hip-Hop
  • Stamp Albums: Hip-Hop
  • Stamp Albums: Hip-Hop
  • Stamp Albums: Hip-Hop

Photo Gallery: Josh Groban at Toronto’s Budweiser Stage

Eric Alper
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Photo Gallery: Josh Groban at Toronto’s Budweiser Stage

All photos by Mini’s Memories. You can contact her at minismemories@hotmail.com

Josh Groban
Josh Groban
Josh Groban
Josh Groban
Josh Groban
Josh Groban
Josh Groban
Josh Groban
Josh Groban
Josh Groban

Canadian Pop-Rock Virtual Concept Artist Priz Em Soars Through the Galaxy at Love’s “First Kiss”

Eric Alper
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Canadian Pop-Rock Virtual Concept Artist Priz Em Soars Through the Galaxy at Love’s “First Kiss”

On the fringe of the Mega Centarri cluster, in their own galaxy not so far away, war has all but consumed the blue planet Zederth and, after 1,000 years of peace and harmony, virtual diva Priz Em and her lover, musician/scientist Prin Jori Merkanteel, are forced to go to battle — not only with an unseen enemy but also with each other. So goes the tale for Canadian pop-rock virtual concept artist Priz Em and their new single, “First Kiss.”

It’s a fantastical story of grace, love, perseverance, and grace under pressure; no matter the fiction, the reality of relationships faced with grim circumstances is tied to the human experience and, for Priz Em and Merkanteel (aka Stray Horn), their journey is faced with even further dire consequences as they attempt to hold onto one another while trying to save the world they know and love.

While Priz Em joins audiences from a fantasy world, the music is nothing short of real, raw, and authentic. Bringing Priz Em to life are Steve Smith and Anthony Anderson of SA TrackWorks as the project’s visionary producers and musicians — with her vocals performed by Kat. The songwriters behind Priz Em’s music are credited as Sean Tyla, Bruce Irvine, Merlin Rhys Jones, Jack Gunderson, and Kathy Irvine.

First emerging onto the scene in 2018 with the breakthrough track, “Burning Bridges,” Priz Em has released four follow-up singles — including 2020’s “Heartless” and this month’s “FIrst Kiss.”

The care, time, and attention to backlogging, cataloging, and designing the virtual diva is nothing short of a masterpiece, whisking Priz Em from page to screen in one sweeping motion; in addition to Priz Em’s music available across digital streaming platforms, the Mega Centarri universe is chronicled through graphic novels hosted by ComiXology and Amazon.

As a dream willed into reality by her creators, Priz Em has become the centerpiece of a new era in creating an artist — especially with virtual reality on the rapid rise. While the concept of perfecting a holographic figure of a musician is not a new concept, completely designing an entity from thought to actuality is a testament to the sheer level of commitment by the project’s Vancouver, British Columbia-based developers.

And as for Priz Em herself, expect the virtual diva to begin gracing the stages in 2022. She is, of course, a star among clusters in The World Mega Centarri…

And we’re here for the show.

Electronic Group THE NYLON ADMIRALS Deliver A Truly One Of A Kind Listening Experience With New Album, Handbags

Eric Alper
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Electronic Group THE NYLON ADMIRALS Deliver A Truly One Of A Kind Listening Experience With New Album, Handbags

Yeah, sure, you’ve heard of EDM, but what about Cinematic Breakbeat and – more importantly – The Nylon Admirals? Growing ever more popular due to their dramatic style of electronic music, The Nylon Admirals are ready to release their new album, Handbags.

Consisting of four previously released singles and five completely new tracks, Handbags is the spirit of the Nylon Admirals – infusing emotion into their productions and creating an enveloping experience for their listeners. Alongside its lead single, “In A World,” Handbags is an exciting experience filled with highs and lows seldom explored in the world of digital production.

This is ultimately what makes Handbags such a profound album; while sometimes coming across as frivolous, it is merely a façade. Upon inspection, it is very clear The Nylon Admirals put a tremendous amount of work into the feeling and timbre of each mix – creating a very serious and intentionally critical messaging throughout Handbags.

“We formed this project in 2019, mostly through frustration by what we saw as the watering down of electronic music over the past two decades by predominantly loop-driven, dance- and chill- focused music,” they share. “Our goal is to demonstrate ways to infuse the genre with the drama of cinematic music and the richness of old-school electronica.”

To this end, Handbags’ lead track, “In A World” for instance, is a tongue-in-cheek pastiche of cheesy narrated movie trailers that create hype and suspense for a low-bar payout,

And if this rings any bells about mainstream titles, then you might be picking up what the Nylon Admirals are putting down. Ultimately though, it is a powerful delivery of The Nylon Admirals’ mission statement: “We make electronic music for thrill-seekers.”

And this becomes ever so apparent in the album’s finale: a 13-minute cover of Mike Oldfield’s classic instrumental “Orabidoo.” While ultimately a powerhouse of a production, this track establishes The Nylon Admirals as a force to be reckoned with — as a musical workshop of electronic production. An epic of a piece like this is hard enough to tackle due to its length and complexity, but their conviction is what drives the Nylon Admirals to such lengths as to reimagine a piece of music history in a respectful and unique homage.

In contrast to its more bombastic tracks, the album also includes some more melancholic tunes: powerful tracks like “Green Boots” and “Guillotine” – both of which are obviously cautionary tales about the follies of mankind – demonstrate the Admirals’ ability to infuse a range of emotions into their work.

The Nylon Admirals possess a unique sound that blends electronic, acoustic, orchestral, and choral elements underscored with a mixture of breakbeat and Taiko rhythms. While most easily categorized as electronica, their music does not conform to any specific musical genre. This stems from their broad musical tastes which range from classical, jazz, and prog rock, to cutting edge film and breakbeat music.

The Nylon Admirals cite their primary musical influence as legendary British multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield, whose work features similar collages of sounds and styles, capped with rousing crescendos. Other influential artists include Hans Zimmer, The Prodigy, Jean-Michel Jarre, Philip Glass, Björk, and The Art of Noise.

Barney Bentall Releases New Video for “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go”

Eric Alper
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Barney Bentall Releases New Video for “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go”

“My older sister used to tuck me in as a kid by playing Bob Dylan,” multi-Platinum-selling and JUNO Award winner Barney Bentall shares on the topic of his newly released single and video, “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go.”

Available now, and fresh from the -based artist’s new album, Cosmic Dreamer, the family’s choice of a lullaby library “left an indelible impression that continues to this day.”

So much so that he would include his own take on the Dylan piece on the release of his most recent album, Cosmic Dreamer — out now via True North Records.

In it, Bentall collaborates with long-time friend Valentino Trapani — a pal he met just over a decade ago “on a beautiful road in Tuscany,” he recalls.

“We were both on bikes, and Valentino was helping guide the group we were with,” Bentall continues. “He asked what I did, and I told him I was a musician; he asked who I liked and, when Leonard Cohen’s name was mentioned, we both spontaneously sang ‘Famous Blue Raincoat’ from start to finish!

“I was trying to catch my breath a little more than Valentino… But it was a wonderful moment.”

Commissioning Trapani’s collaboration on “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go” for both the song and the video didn’t give Bentall any cause for pause, he shares. “We have sung together over the years, but it’s that first time that really sticks with me. When I was recording Cosmic Dreamer, I was looking for one more track and, when I reached out to Valentino about it, he was all in.”

With Trapani recording his parts of the song in Siena, and Bentall completing his on the West Coast of Canada, the video was shot on iPhones throughout the ranching back-acres of B.C. and rolling vineyards of Tuscany.

“A beautiful thing,” Bentall adds of the cross-continental collaboration process.

The song is one of just three on the LP to feature special guests, and one of two covers on the otherwise all-original release; Ruth Moody and Adrian Dolan also join Bentall alongside Trapani; Cosmic Dreamer also includes a rendition of Gordon Lightfoot’s “Shadows.”

Soaring with sentiments of hope, love, longing, and loss, the release plots a sonic constellation of Americana to traditional Folk and marks the seventh solo release for Bentall — not to mention toppling the tally to over 20 overall when including his JUNO Award-winning band, The Legendary Hearts, and other releases with The High Bar Gang, Bentall Taylor Ulrich, and The Cariboo Express.

“I wanted to experiment with other things and everybody, bless their hearts, was very good about it,” he shared in an interview of his ever-broadening range of roots, country, bluegrass — and even instrumental, as heard in his recent album RanchWriters, written, and released with longtime friend, Spirit of the West’s Geoffrey Kelly. “It’s important for me to write songs and try different music styles. Why limit myself?

“To me, it’s just good music.”

Charlottetown Rockers The Pearly Gates Say “There’s a Black Hole (Where Your Heart Should Be)”

Eric Alper
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Charlottetown Rockers The Pearly Gates Say “There’s a Black Hole (Where Your Heart Should Be)”

Charlottetown rockers The Pearly Gates have burst wide open with love lost on their newest single, “There’s A Black Hole (Where Your Heart Should Be).”

The East Coast-based four-piece comprised of Mark Palmer (vocals, guitar), Colin Buchanan (guitar, vocals), Roger Carter (drums), and Chris Francis (bass) sings the score on a familiar fable, uniquely delivered in their unmistakable sonic offering: a modern twist on 60s rock nostalgia. “There’s A Black Hole” juxtaposes an uptempo jangly dance party with melancholic lyrics.

“I liked the idea of writing a song about a bad relationship I had been in with a dark lyrical theme,” explains Palmer, adding “accompanied by a sunny happy chord progression and sing-along cheerful melody.”

Musing that much of his lyrical content and inspiration for songwriting is inspired by various snapshots of his life, Palmer reflectively recalls penning this track while on the East Coast with his father. “I came up with the melody for the verses while lobster fishing with my father,” he recalls. “I put in long days on the boat doing repetitive work and spend most of the time writing songs in my head. Writing lyrics, working out the melody, and repeating it over and over in hopes of not forgetting anything by the time I get home to add the music to what I produced.”

Pearly Gates is an indie supergroup from Prince Edward Island’s capital city, a formation of veteran rockers from a variety of musical journeys. The group formed during the early portion of the pandemic in 2020 and found their niche performing music that was equally reminiscent of “tweed and tubes” as it is chock full of sarcasm and satire, to both the band’s amusement and their audience’s adoration of their sound.

“‘There’s a Black Hole’ was recorded during a snowstorm with very little heat, and no internet at the height of Covid cases hitting PEI; there was a certain irony with how difficult the recording process was for such a happy sounding song,” Palmer laughs.

The second single for Pearly Gates, “There’s A Black Hole”, was produced by Ian Romano largely by phone throughout the session and recorded as a part of Music PEI’s Golden Ticket Program.

With a juke and jive that’ll compel you to don your go-go boots with your blue eyeshadow, Pearly Gates creates a sonic throwback to a time of flower power and bellbottoms. “There’s A Black Hole (Where Your Heart Should Be” is just far out enough to be a groovy addition to your current playlist.

And that’s what makes it a classic.

Chad Price Wins 2022 CBC Searchlight

Eric Alper
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Chad Price Wins 2022 CBC Searchlight

CBC today announced Toronto-based R&B artist Chad Price as the grand prize winner of CBC MUSIC’S TOYOTA SEARCHLIGHT 2022 contest. Artists in every province and territory submitted their original songs for consideration, but ultimately the panel of judges awarded the top spot to the London, ON-born Chad Price for the song “Somehow, Someway” which will appear as a single on his upcoming album slated for release later this year. In addition, four acts from the previously announced Top 10 will receive Runner Up prizes courtesy of Toyota Canada and MPE. The Runners Up include: pop duo Fionn (Vancouver, BC); indie rockers Meltt (Vancouver. BC); hip-hop artist Mindflip (Gatineau, QC/Ottawa, ON); and singer-songwriter Siibi AKA Angel Baribeau (Mistissini, QC raised, Montreal-based).

“This is such a huge honour, I’m still processing everything,” said Price. “Winning Searchlight will most definitely be an immediate shot in the arm to the career I’ve built over the last decade, but what I’m most excited about is suddenly having access to invaluable resources that will allow me to add new tools to the tool-belt and continue making impactful art for the next ten years and hopefully beyond”.

With a decade of hard work creating music under his belt, Price’s latest singles “Somehow, Someway,” “I Live Alone,” and “Weight” have garnered more than 600,000 Spotify streams and over 75,000 YouTube views. The pop/R&B artist has toured Canada and parts of the US, UK, and Asia including shows at Festival d’été de Québec, Music Matters in Singapore, and JUNO Week in London. Price has previously released two albums, is working on a third and he is nominated for a 2022 Best Pop Artist at his hometown Forest City London Music Awards.

As part of the grand prize, Price will take part in the Allan Slaight JUNO Master Class talent development program, receive a residency at the National Music Centre in Calgary, a Play MPE distribution deal, $5,000 towards the purchase of musical equipment and recording time courtesy of Toyota Canada and more. Full prizing details for the grand prize winner and the four Runners Up courtesy of Toyota Canada, Play MPE, Long & McQuade and CMI Canada’s Music Incubator can be found at CBCMusic.ca/searchlight.

Pop-EDM Artist Frida Maria Creates “Moments” with New Single

Eric Alper
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Pop-EDM Artist Frida Maria Creates “Moments” with New Single

When Frida Maria was ready to encapsulate all the emotions running through her at once, she would soon discover that she had created some “Moments” in the form of a new single.

“The meaning of the letters are yin and yang because it’s pretty dark writing — but in another way it’s happy and the song/beat/melody itself gives you a happy feeling,” Frida shares of the song with Charlie Atom. “It’s a play of emotions we face daily; everyone experiences ‘moments’ in their own unique way, so the writing is pretty universal when you think about it because it can apply differently to whoever is interpreting the song in their own precise ‘moments’.”

A Swedish/Danish multi-talented artist, model, and actress, Frida Maria dreamily incorporates electronica in a new age, indie, pop-rock soundscape that is as much a nod to the dance floor of Studio 54 as it is a beacon of a new generation of musical conception. Her tantalizing vocal prowess hooks the listener and holds their attention captive through exciting, exhilarating beats woven into each song’s harmonic atmosphere.

“For me, writing music and lyrics/poetry is always something very deep and profound as I’m channeling my inner emotions when I do it,” Frida reveals. “When a song comes to me, it’s usually in ‘moments’ when I feel either very sad or very happy, so the song ‘Moments’ was an inspiration in that sense; I wanted to create a song and text by being in the now, in the ‘moment.’”

Adept to writing the lyrics and singing the songs that speak to the universal truths of everyday life and what it’s like to live it, Frida excels at such on the new song. With piano-charged and rushing electronic crescendos alongside harmony-rich melodies, “Moments” fascinates and resonates as an instant dance floor classic — ready for the next frame of action.

Speaking of “Moments” of action, the song came together in a moment all its own.

“I came with the lyrics and the initial melody to DJ Charlie Atom and I sang it to him acapella in his studio in Mexico City,” Frida recalls. “I tried to not overthink it too much, and wrote it very quickly with feelings and words that just came to me.

“Quickly, he nailed down the piano melody structure of the song, and we went directly from there to record the vocals before he did the entire production of additional beats/instruments and mastering.

“We made this song in a few hours, and I think that is why it’s nice that the name is ‘Moments,’” she continues. “We just went for it and didn’t hesitate to create a cool piece of music in the moment we were in at the time.”

It’s the tale that will make you take pause and savour the “Moments” all your own.

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That Eric Alper

Eric Alper is a 6-time nominee for Publicist of the Year during Canadian Music Week and has overseen the publicity campaigns for over 183 JUNO Award-nominated albums (and 16 in 2025), 45 Grammy-nominated albums, including 47 JUNO Award, 58 Canadian Folk Music Award, 126 Maple Blues Award-winning albums and is also truly honoured to work with some of the biggest and most important artists of our time.

Contact me: eric@thatericalper.com

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