Canadian Dimension magazine, July/August 2008

The Dope Poet Society’s front man, Professor D, strides on stage with a rapper’s typically confident air. Snatching the mic with one hand, he thrusts the other straight up, V-shaped fingers projecting peace to the thousands gathered at Metro Hall Square for the Global Day of Protest. (Keep reading…)

Canadian Dimension magazine, March/April 2008

They came by the hundreds, packing the Commodore, Vancouver’s big-band-era ballroom, with leopard-print leggings and neon arm bands to see the socially conscious rapper, M.I.A. Known for her political lyrics, her eclectic personal style and her culture-mashing sound — a raw fusion of dancehall reggae, favela funk and electro — M.I.A. has recently taken up the role of brash envoy for the Third World. (Keep reading…)

Globe and Mail December 26, 2007

When Oscar Peterson soloed, the notes flowed like water from a fountain. It hardly mattered whether Peterson, who died Sunday at the age of 82 at his home in Mississauga, was playing solo piano, with a small combo, or a big band; he was perennially, preternaturally capable, playing as if he could barely keep the ideas inside him. (Keep reading…)

Globe and Mail December 26, 2007 at 12:26 AM EST

MISSISSAUGA — The street is pleasant but ordinary, and so is the house, a two-story monument to the forgettable architecture of the late 1960s. There’s a two-car garage, a neatly kept lawn and a driveway flanked by a pair of coach lamps. But look closer, and you realize that this is a very special house indeed. (Keep reading…)

Counterpunch February 12, 2002

OK, I have something I want to talk about.

Over the past five or six years, I’ve noticed a marked change of direction in many young jazz pianists. Please keep in mind that for the purposes of this article, I’m only referring to jazz pianists, but in many ways it includes other instruments as well. (Keep reading…)

Canadian Dimension Magazine, September/October 2006 Issue

Galaxy is a very good band that happens to be made up of a trio of two lesbians and a bisexual. Vocalist/guitarist Katie Stelmanis explains: “I’m totally fine with being a gay band and having that label, just as long as people know that we’re just as good, if not better, than all the other rock bands.” Katie and her collaborator, Emma McKenna (vocals and guitar), understand the importance of identifying with a specific community while fighting their way through Toronto’s crowded indie scene, but they don’t always agree when it comes to how being gay women affects playing rock music. (Keep reading…)

Canadian Dimension Magazine, July/August 2006 Issue

Major social changes in the United States have fundamentally determined the evolution of jazz music, just as they have other art forms. The 1930s were the period of the rise of jazz and the organized Left. Concretely, this meant big bands and the Communist Party. Notwithstanding some early dogmatic opposition to jazz from cultural commissar Mike Gold, the party soon threw itself into proselytizing for jazz and fighting segregation in the music business. (Keep reading…)

Swans Commentary » swans.com June 19, 2006

Book Review

Dave Van Ronk and Elijah Wald: The Mayor of MacDougal Street, Da Capo Press, Cambridge, MA., 2005, ISBN 0-306-81407-2, 246 pages, $26.00 (hardcover) (Keep reading…)