Somewhere There Has a New Home

In August, 2010, Somewhere There moved to a new home, 227 Sterling Road, Unit 112, just south of Bloor on Ruttan Street, Toronto. It's a five-minute walk from the Lansdowne Subway Station. Simply head west on Bloor on the south side, pass under the railroad overpass, and take the first left at Ruttan Street. Ruttan is a short cul-de-sac so, when you get to the end, deke left into Merchant Lane, and you'll be facing the new Somewhere There on the south side of Merchant Lane.

See the map here on the Somewhere There website.

"AT SOMEWHERE THERE"

It's a great pleasure to announce the release of WILLIAM PARKER AT SOMEWHERE THERE, his first solo recording in more than a decade, on Barnyard Records. Jean Martin has done a typically loving job with this one, which features an extraordinary 48-minute bowed bass tour de force, "Cathedral Wisdom Light," and two short musical sorbets to round out the disc: "For Don Cherry" on dousn'gouni and "For Ella Parker" on double flute. The artwork is by the musicWitness, Jeff Schlanger, which is appropriate since the live concert from which the recording and painting were taken (July 2008) served to launch the ongoing exhibition of Jeff's work in the Somewhere There foyer.

Both William and Jeff will be coming to Toronto for an extra-special celebration for three wonderful new releases on Barnyard. The text of the media release follows:

BARNYARD RECORDS TRIPLE CD LAUNCH 2010:

Date:
Tuesday, 2 March, 8pm

Christ Church Deer Park
1570 Yonge Street, Toronto
(just north of St. Clair subway)

Admission: $10 advance (available at Soundscapes, 572 College St., Toronto)
and $15 at the door; special price for new CDs, $10/each, at the event

Program:
Andrew Downing, Jim Lewis & Jean Martin

William Parker - solo bass

Christine Duncan conducts The Element Choir, a 60-voice improvising choir with William Parker (bass), Andrew Downing (bass) Jim Lewis (trumpet), Jean Martin (drums) , and Eric Robertson (pipe organ)

This very special event will feature legendary New York double-bassist, William Parker, launching his first solo CD in over a decade, William Parker At Somewhere There , recorded live in Toronto in July 2008 by Jean Martin. “[Parker’s] signature synaesthetic philosophy invites colour-drenched metaphors for the swirling forms sprouting from his bow and bass: Prismic refraction, gardens blooming, a harvest feast being prepared. It’s playful, as seriously playful as your life.”

It will also feature Christine Duncan’s extraordinary 60-voice improvising ensemble, The Element Choir, in collaboration with William Parker, bass; Andrew Downing, bass; Jim Lewis, trumpet; Jean Martin, percussion; and Eric Robertson, playing the church’s beautiful Karl Wilhelm pipe organ, to launch The Element Choir At Rosedale United. “They possess the musicality, playfulness, and restraint to allow these unique and, in the most sublime moments, overwhelming sound resources (not only instruments and voices, but also the space itself) to be harnessed and channeled into a tangible feeling of wonder. This is very literally a wonderful record.”

Furthermore, the exquisite improvising trio of Andrew Downing, double-bass; Jim Lewis, trumpet; and Jean Martin, drums and percussion, will launch On a Short Path from Memory to Forgotten. This passionate and lyrical sequence of group improvisations introduces one of Toronto’s extraordinary creative music ensembles.

In addition, the legendary New York-based “MusicWitness,” Jeff Schlanger, whose artwork graces the cover of William Parker At Somewhere There, will be there to paint all of the musicians while they perform. The Barnyard Records Triple CD Launch 2010 is much more than just a music concert. It is a massive gathering of sound and spirit, a celebration of the energy and talent that makes Toronto an international capital of creative music.

Quite simply, it will be an utterly unique musical and artistic event, the outcome of years of painstaking and original work by Barnyard Records and its artists.

Call for Residency Proposals at Somewhere There

Somewhere There is a venue for creative music in the Parkdale neighbourhood of Toronto. The programming features the diverse membership of the Association of Improvising Musicians Toronto (AIMToronto) as well as our creative-musician friends and colleagues from other places.

Key components of Somewhere There programming are the residencies, during which a musician or group has two months of weekly performance slots on Wednesdays (8pm), Thursdays (8pm), or Sundays (5pm). If you would like to propose a residency for a two-month period between June 2010 and July 2011, then please send a proposal for consideration.

Please include:
1) A one-paragraph description of what you wish to do during the residency
2) A one-paragraph biographical statement for you and/or your group(s)
3) Preferences for time of the year and for night of the week (alternate choices could be helpful)

Please send this information to sowehear(at)gmail.com by Friday, 15 January, 2010.

Slightly more information about Somewhere There is available on www.somewherethere.org.

Somewhere There November Newsletter

November brings with it the start of three new residencies at Somewhere There. Wednesdays feature the wonderful See Through Trio, with Pete Johnston (bass), Tania Gill (piano), and Mark Laver (saxophone), one of the great, undersung groups in Toronto’s scene. None of these wonderful musicians are self-promoters, but their music – a thoughtful and inviting take on a tradition that stems from the great Giuffre/Bley/Swallow trio which features beautiful compositions by all members – really shouldn’t need it. Furthermore, The Rent plays Steve Lacy repertoire every Sunday at 6pm. Susanna Hood (voice & movement), Scott Thomson (trombone), Wes Neal (bass), and Kyle Brenders (soprano saxophone) welcome drummer Nick Fraser (and, in his stead on a few dates, Dave Clark), replacing Brandon Valdivia, who is traipsing about God-knows-where.

The third new residency is a good-natured response to those who chirp about shows starting and ending too late for comfort. Morning Music features a trio that formed for the Suoni per il Popolo Festival in Montréal last June – John Oswald (alto saxophone), Scott Thomson (trombone), and Germaine Liu (percussion) – every Friday morning at 7:55 AM (Yes. In the morning.) The cover charge is $5 or free if you bring pastries and/or fruit to share. Scott will make you a mean coffee (or a normal, not-so-mean tea) at no cost.

Moreover, Scott Peterson continues his Thursday-night residency through November, featuring a different assemblage each week – check the Somewhere There calendar for details. Also among the new developments is the migration of Steve Ward’s Panic Density Series to Somewhere There from the Tequila Bookworm, where it was recently ousted by unsympathetic management. This series will be on alternating Monday nights, starting on 16 November. Lastly, the end of the month, 27-29 November, will featuring an AIMToronto Interface Series with the terrific Bay Area percussionist, Gino Robair. The details of the programming are to be announced (check the AIMToronto website), but a Toronto version of Gino’s improvisation opera, “I, Norton,” is planned.

We look forward to seeing you this month.

Come to Celebrate Two Years and Five-Hundred Shows at Somewhere There

On Tuesday, 22 September, 8pm, Somewhere There will be hosting a party to celebrate its second anniversary and its 500th performance. Come one come all. Cake and dancing.

The eight-dollar cover will win you the surf-styled Rembetika music of Alaniaris: Michael Kaler (bass), Mark Zurawinski (drums), and Ken Aldcroft (guitar).

MUSIC(in)GALLERIES 2009

This year's MUSIC(in)GALLERIES, Saturday 15 August, was the best one yet. There were too many individual musical highlights to name, and what I liked best was the beautiful contrast between the acts that, for me, generated a real feeling of wonder.

Thanks to each of the forty artists and to all of the galleries for a splendid time. John Halfpenny was so kind as to make this video, a selection of the day's programming: Nicole Rampersaud, Ronda Rindone, the Element Choir, Tomasz Krakowiak, Allison Cameron, and Jean Martin.

MUSIC(in)GALLERIES 2009: Saturday 15 August

Somewhere There presents the fourth annual MUSIC(in)GALLERIES, Saturday 15 August, 1-5pm. This musical gallery crawl will once again transform the gallery district of Queen Street West, Toronto, from Trinity Bellwoods Park to Gladstone Avenue, into a focal point for the city's increasingly vibrant and renowned creative music scene.

At no cost to the public, dozens of Toronto's most creative musicians will perform in seventeen art galleries and three bars during the afternoon; the music will start in Trinity Bellwoods Park at 1pm, move into a nearby gallery, with new sets of music starting roughly every ten minutes, generating a gallery-crawl momentum. While most spaces will feature exceptional solo performers playing all manner of instruments in countless styles, MUSIC(in)GALLERIES programming will be punctuated by three special group performances:

- Christine Duncan's massive creative voice ensemble, the Element Choir, at the Edward Day Gallery
- Ryan Driver (thumb reeds) and Renée Lear (projections) performing their live video and music collaboration, "The Balloons of India," at XPACE Gallery
- The Woodchoppers Association will feature two very special guests from Mali, West Africa, Abdoulaye Koné (n'goni) and Jah Youssouf (voice & kamel n'goni) at the Gladstone Melody Bar to finish the event in danceable style.

1:00 Southwest corner of Trinity Bellwoods Park, moving into (1:05) Lausberg Contemporary, 880 Queen Street West – Nicole Rampersaud, trumpet

1:15 Angell Gallery, 890 Queen Street West – Rob Piilonen, flute

1:25 *New* Gallery, 906 Queen Street West – Ronda Rindone, bass clarinet

1:35 Clint Roenisch Gallery, 944 Queen Street West – Alex Lukashevsky, voice & guitar

1:45 Edward Day Gallery, 952 Queen Street West – Christine Duncan’s Element Choir

2:00 MOCCA, 952 Queen Street West – Kyle Brenders, saxophone

2:10 Propeller Centre for the Visual Arts, 984 Queen Street West -- Tomasz Krakowiak, percussion

2:20 Camera/Stephen Bulger, 1026 Queen Street West – Jim Lewis, trumpet

2:40 XPACE, 58 Ossington Avenue – Ryan Driver, thumb reeds & Renée Lear, projections

2:55 Lennox Contemporary, 12 Ossington Ave – Tilman Lewis, cello

3:05 Lens Factory, 1040 Queen Street West – Allison Cameron, apparatus

3:15 Katharine Mulherin Contemporary Art Projects 1082 Queen Street West – David Sait, guzheng

3:25 David Kaye Gallery, 1092 Queen Street West (entrance from Dovercourt) – Wes Neal, double bass

3:35 The Beverly Owens Project, 1140 Queen Street West – Lina Allemano, trumpet

3:45 Median Contemporary, 1142 Queen Street West – Michelangelo Iaffaldano, curio

3:55 Drake Hotel Patio, 1150 Queen Street West -- Nichol Robertson, banjo

4:05 Loop Gallery, 1174 Queen Street West – Anne Bourne, cello & voice

4:15 Akau, 1186 Queen Street West (entrance from Northcote) – Eric Chenaux, guitar

4:25 Gladstone Art Bar, 1214 Queen Street West – Jean Martin, drums & honk-trumpet

4:40 Gladstone Melody Bar, 1214 Queen Street West – The Woodchopper’s Association with Jah Youssouf & Abdoulaye Koné

5:00 Gladstone Melody Bar -- celebration, libation, conversation, no music

MUSIC(in)GALLERIES is supported by the New Music Program of the Canada Council