2017 Guelph Jazz Festival Striding confidently towards its 2018 silver anniversary, the Guelph Jazz Festival was invigorated this year with choice concerts from U.S. and European artists—but nonetheless, two of the most notable performances were from Canadian bands.     Montreal trio[...] Read more

Concerts and Events Ken Waxman Issue 129

Something Else! Festival of Creative Music The rough, faded industrial city of Hamilton, Ontario, might seem an unlikely setting for a top-notch festival of creative music, but thanks to the efforts of Cem [pronounced Jem] Zafir, the artistic director of Something Else!, the city proved a perfect little world for the musicians and[...] Read more

Concerts and Events Mike Chamberlain

Suoni per il Popolo Festival: 17th Edition. With over 100 events across diverse musical categories, the Suoni per il Popolo Festival encompasses several thriving thematic series. While it is theoretically possible for fans of free improvisation, contemporary classical, noise, or alt-rock to attend a concert almost every evening and[...] Read more

Concerts and Events Lawrence Joseph

OBEY Convention X. “In New York, there would be twelve people here,” venerable Halifax percussionist and mentor Jerry Granelli declares. “Here we are in Halifax, and tons of people are coming out to hear weird music!”   OBEY is weird. Its programming is marked by an[...] Read more

Concerts and Events Daniel Glassman Issue 128

Festival de International Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville, 33rd Edition. Festival de International Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville (FIMAV) has defined itself by diversity, crossing genres to present fresh, unexpected music, whether intimate or epic, and maintaining a tradition that touches on classical, pop, and jazz. The festival is a major event, mounting[...] Read more

Concerts and Events Stuart Broomer Issue 128

Sixth Dither Extravaganza. Despite its name, the guitar quartet Dither means business. The New York-based group made waves with the 2015 Tzadik release John Zorn’s Olympiad Vol 1: Dither Plays Zorn, with the foursome playing some of Zorn’s less-heard game pieces. But even before that, they were hosting an[...] Read more

Concerts and Events Kurt Gottschalk

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra New Music Festival. LIKE A BENEVOLENT OCTOPUS, THE VANCOUVER SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA'S ANNUAL NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL HAS BEEN EXTENDING ITS TENTACLES in a variety of occasionally surprising directions since its inception four years ago. This year, for example, the event opened with a performance by avant-jazz[...] Read more

Concerts and Events Alexander Varty

26th Winnipeg New Music Festival. Winnipeg New Music Festival (WNMF) in recent years has been noteworthy for its eagerness to book a program that edges ever further from expectations. The twenty-sixth edition of WNMF was anchored, as usual, at the Centennial Concert Hall. Unconventional satellite venues have become the norm[...] Read more

Concerts and Events Daniel Emberg

Unsound Toronto. Part of Luminato Festival. For over thirty years, the Richard L. Hearn Generating Station was something of an urban myth in Toronto. A massive, decommissioned power plant, shuttered in 1983, it sat there at the edge of the city’s consciousness on the industrial Port Lands, loved only by urban explorers of[...] Read more

Concerts and Events Jonathan Bunce Issue 126

Sound Symposium XVIII. Audiences at Sound Symposium XVIII in St. John’s, Newfoundland were treated to a full spectrum of improvisation, including free improvisation, graphic scores, and directed improvisation. We heard a vast range of music for electroacoustic soundscapes, Javanese gamelan, contemporary art[...] Read more

Concerts and Events Clinton Ackerman Issue 126

Electric Eclectics 2016. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE AT ELECTRIC ECLECTICS IS THAT YOU'RE NEVER REALLY BALANCED. The three-day midsummer festival of weird music and art takes place at Gordon Monahan and Laura Kikauka’s Funny Farm in Meaford, Ontario, which has hardly any level ground. The ground in front of[...] Read more

Concerts and Events Daniel Glassman