The family of Pete Otis, who passed away on Saturday January 5 after being hospitalized following his collapse at his New Year’s Eve show at Black Swan Tavern, decided against having public visitations and held a private funeral for the 69-year-old songwriter and impresario on Thursday, January 10. A death notice (under his legal name…
I have been dreading the possibility of having to make this post since discovering early in the week that my longtime friend, supporter and all-round enabler of the Toronto live music scene, Pete Otis, had collapsed following his set during his SongTown New Year’s Eve show at Black Swan Tavern. Last night, on Sat. January…
\ TO EAST \ According to R&B singer George Olliver and others, songwriter and SongTown impresario Pete Otis was still unconscious in hospital early this afternoon after collapsing and being taken to hospital following his performance set on New Year’s Eve at Black Swan Tavern. Otis, who will turn 70 this year, has had previous…
\ TO EAST \ Two veterans from the “Toronto Sound” scene of “The Village” in TO’s Yorkville area from the 1960s are on the bill this afternoon along with a third icon from the time as SongTown’s latest Blues & Boogie Party show takes place at Black Swan Tavern. We’ve written before on a few…
\ TO EAST \ He’s never played a musical note on any instrument that I’m aware of, but James Ratch has been responsible for more people enjoying more live music than many of those who call themselves career musicians. As a promoter of Hard Rock and other acts, as security director at live shows and…
\ TO EAST \ A treasure of the TO music scene stretching back to the era when Yorkville was truly had a “village” feel and Yonge Street really was “where it was at” as the “TO Sound” ascended to prominence, Debbie Fleming continues to delight audiences and evolve. Today the singer equally at home in…
\ TO EAST \ The British Royals have been in the news this weekend, of course, and how convenient for Harry and Meghan to have picked the Queen Victoria Day weekend to hold their nuptials spectacular. There are a couple of musically spectacular shows happening late afternoon into early evening in the east end today…
UPDATE: The Mike McKenna birthday show has been rescheduled to next Sunday due to the weather. Other show cancellations have also been received since this was posted. If you want to check a show’s status, click the link in the club’s address field to go to Google Maps, where address listings also usually include phone…
\ TO EAST \ Having written at some length just last July about the appeal of hearing R&B/Skat/Soul singer Steven Ambrose with an all-star cast of backing musicians, I’m not going to go into a recitation of his many varied vocal skills and enchantments in a storied career of fronting some of Canada’s top bands.…
\ TO CENTRAL \ How much of a priority is Toronto City Council’s Music Industry Advisory Council to its 36 members? Not much of one based on what happened —or rather what didn’t happen— at the Wednesday, February 7 meeting of the body, comprised of six city councillors and 31 “representatives” of the local music…
Another iconic drummer from the heyday of the “Toronto Sound” of Rock and R&B/Blues from the 1960s has shuffled off the mortal coil. Drummer Pentti “Whitey” Glan passed away on November 7 at 71 years of age after a short bout with cancer, with which he was diagnosed in September after follow-up tests from treatment…
\ TO EAST \ No matter how you say their names together (ZwolRox or RoxZwol) the pairing of Robbie Rox and Walter Zwol for a show sounds a bit like one of those miracle medications you might see advertised on tv and that also has a gazillion dutifully-listed strange potential side effects. Which sounds about…
\ TO EAST \ Will today’s teens, when they become elders fifty years from now, remember 2017 as “The Summer of Hate”? Today’s latest concert tribute to “The Summer of Love” in 1967 —one of several that have been held over this rather raucous, peculiar summer season— makes one wonder how the events that have…
\ TO EAST \ With today’s tenth installment of the Hoser Blues Night monthly series at Black Swan Tavern featuring Mike McKenna with his all-star calibre Slidewinder band along with a featured A-list guest plus songwriter sets, SongTown now seems to have firmly established a clear winner of a concept. It shouldn’t be surprising, really,…
\ TO UPTOWN \ The fact that there’s no mention of rental arrears on the bailiff’s notice that is plastered to the door at the Seven44 club (the former Chick ‘n’ Deli at 744 Mount Pleasant Rd —hence its name for the past few years) is perhaps a hopeful sign that whatever dispute they’re having…
\ TO CENTRAL \ If you wanted a parable that showed a young musician how hard work, equanimity and talent can pay off when combined together, the story of the rise of Harpin’ Norm Lucien might be ideal. This affable, unassuming multi-instrumentalist who still loves his harp but increasingly is more valued for his songwriting,…
\ TO EAST \ We’ve written on a few occasions about the monthly In “The Round” showcase presentations staged by Grunge-Roots songwriter Boris Buhot over the past couple of years. They’ve featured some stellar songwriters and putting disparate talents together to swap tunes and often accompany one another nearly always leads to some interesting surprises.…
Romantic loves come and go and so do fashions, jobs, political movements and whole lot more, but musical greats and our love for their product endure in memory long after we forgot why in Grade 7 we thought we couldn’t live without the love of Carol Thurston or regarded Pierre Trudeau as hip in Grade…
