The Whiskey Rabbi and his lamb fetus

So I'm currently on tour with Geoff Berner, playing shows, selling CDs, socially drinking with the fans, discovering holistic healing (thanx Colleen), and promoting Mr.Berner's new Instructional Booklet: HOW TO BE AN ACCORDION PLAYER.
On monday night we played La Sala Rosa in Montreal, and I was paired up with fiddler Diona Davies to form a new string section and deliver a dynamic/complimentary performance as Geoff's new gypsy orchestra.

Diona and I hit it off instantly, and I was a little disapointed to see her leave early the next morning for NYC.

As a trio, Geoff, Wayne Adams (percussion) and I are currently in Ottawa. We did an interview at the legendary CTV studios, where our host Eric introduced me to my childhood idle Carolyn Waldo (sports caster and Olympic Gold Medalist in Synchronized Swimming). We then walked the hall of fame (or is it shame?) and saw pictures of CTV's golden era of television, back in the day when Alanis Morrisette stared in "You can't do that on Television" which inspired today's American hit "Nickelodeon TV" and back when Pierre Elliot Trudeaut was being interviewed, or W5 was still a show worth being watched. (And most of this is way before my time)...

So now we spend most of our hours rehearsing, getting ready for tomorrow's Black Sheep (le mouton noir in Wakefield, Quebec) gig, and the final heavy hitter: The Toronto Ashkenaz Festival of New Yiddish Culture. Last night we played, drank two bottles of red wine and a little bit of porto. Today we rehearsed sober and exhausted, and this evening we were invited to play a few tunes at the University of Ottawa's Grad lounge: Cafe Nostalgica, where John Carroll hosted the jam.

As for the Whiskey Rabbi's tiny lamb fetus, well...you can find out more about it in his Instructional Booklet, that you can buy directly from his website: www.geoffberner.com

FADO -traduction littérale : Destin, chanson Populaire du Portugal, au thème souvent mélancolique.

Récemment, j'ai eu des nouvelles d'un cher ami et musicien incroyable, Luis Fernandes. Luis est Portuguais, et grâce à une bourse de l'UNESCO et un stage avec Musiques Multi Montréal, il a pu passer quelques mois à Montréal en 2004 afin de rencontrer et collaborer avec des musiciens d'ici. Nous nous sommes rencontrés à l'Apero des Festivaliers, et c'est grâce à lui que j'ai eu mon premier goût du Fado. Juste avant la fin de sa résidence, Luis à enrégistré 6 titres au Studio 12 de Radio Canada sous le cadre de l'émission "Des Musiques en Mémoire". Intitulé "L'Envers du Fado avec Luis Fernandes", Il était accompagné par Nicolas Caloia à la contrebasse, la voix de Marta Raposto, et moi au violon.

Ces jours-ci, Luis joue dans sa formation "Toques do Caramulo", et est le coordinateur en gestion culturel et programmation de l'Association Culturel D'Orfeu. Je sais qu'il fait beaucoup plus qu'on peut saisir à la surface, et dès que j'aurai plus d'informations sur ses aventures, j'en rajouterai!

Vous pouvez visiter le site www.dorfeu.com pour plus d'information en Portuguais!

Upcoming Shows

Geoff Berner is a singer/songwriter from Vancouver, Canada. At the end of the month, I will be joining him for a few shows in Ontario and Quebec:

August 26-27 - Peterborough, ON - Peterborough Folk Festival

August 28 - Montreal, PQ - La Sala Rosa, with Wax Mannequin

Sept. 1 - Wakefield, PQ - The Black Sheep, with Wax Mannequin

Sept. 2 - Toronto, ON - Ashkenaz Festival of Jewish
Culture, Harbourfront Center

Feel free to check out his website: www.geoffberner.com

Pedja's back in town, Eastern European Style

So I'm stumbling home drunk...it's about a 1/2 hour sway uphill from the drinking hole we were all at-to what I call home. All I have to do is keep my head down, avoid all the homeless guys on St-Denis, walk straight in my flip flops, and stop hickuping. Forget calling a cab, I can't afford it (and if Pedja knew, he would've insisted on paying).
Yes: Pedja's back in town for a couple of weeks before his next leg of touring, and of course he's insisted that he take Anes, Georgi and I out for drinks (for old & good times' sake of course!) You see, before his lucky break Pedja was in Les Gitans de Sarajevo. Although perceived as some of Montreal's most talented musicians, and yes...decently successful bands, we would all suffer the January-February blues together....

...For Pedja, the winter blues were the stress of scraping up enough money for the rent and student loan payments, for Anes it was the lack of money and the soft call of Bosnia and the deep feelings of nostalgia that come with his homeland, for Georgi it was the lack of money, sunlight, and women. And for me, it was also the lack of money, sunlight and a buildup of angst in regards to my never ending diet of lentils and rice. After all, the Hydro bill started to cut into my food budget.
But now it's August, and Pedja's back in town, wearing brand new American sneakers, nice jeans and finally free of those horrible unfashionable scholar sweaters he used to wear. Now he's got healthy weight on him, a funky hairstyle and some weird happy glow. Yes, he is suckling the tit of one of this province's finer institutions, and shares his wealth with his friends. God Bless Him.

I've been told that I should work on being a better Courvah (whore)...that is, to hustle the gigs a little more...and it is during the hard winter times (and it's easy to reflect on this casually in the month of August) that I'm dying to be a great Courvah so that I too can find a beautiful tit to suckle on.
And if ever I am lucky enough to have my talent heard by those who can afford to hire me and pay me much more than the 600$ I barely scraped together last February (oh how I hope it doesn't happen again next year) may I share my new found wealth with the musicians that kept me warm during the winter, and taught me all that I know about music.

Gnawa El Montreal en Français

Voici la formation Nazir et le groupe Salaam. Nous étions 9 musiciens à jouer au festival des Rythmes du Monde à Montréal. Je suis la petite fourmie habilée en blanc...

La musique était du Gnawa, et le lieu était directement sur le Quai Jacques-Cartier au vieux port de Montréal. J'ai été invité a jouer avec la formation pour 3 titres. Le Festival des Rythmes du Monde était dans son troisièmme cadre à Montréal, et on jouaient en pleine canicule enveloppée d'une couche d'humidité. On faisait l'ouverture pour trois grandes divas de Montréal: Monica Freire, Muna Mingole, et Sandra Campinelli. On est arrivé sur le site à 14h pour le test de son...une production qui a durée un record de 3 heures! Mais je ne doit pas trop me lamenter...mon piezo pickup s'est auto-détruit et les techniciens de son m'ont fournis avec un micro-clip Shure. En plus de tout ça, ils ont eu beaucoup de patience avec moi par rapport aux petit coups de larson que je les fournissaient des moniteurs...grâce à ma nouvelle découverte du micro-clip. À la fin de tout ça, j'ai pu me débrouiller et me trouver un beau son...et ton au violon.


Maintenant, parlons du spectacle! On a commencé à 19h30. Au début il n'y avait pas beaucoup de monde, mais au fur et mesure qu'on jouaient, le monde s'accumulait devant de la scène. Vers la fin de notre set, l'avant de la scene était bien peuplée, l'énergie s'est escaladé en vrai trance gnawa, et tous les 9 musiciens se sont rendus à la musique...en une collectivité totale.

Je vous invite à voir le site de Salaam: www.gnawamontreal.com