November 2018 Music

November 2018 Music

Silence Presents: Grüvology

November 30, 2018

Doors at 7:30 PM
Show at 8:00 PM

Admission $15 at the door

Grüvology was founded in 2006 by pianist Walter Kemp and guitarist Bernard Kunz.
Grüvology has published 3 cds, First Set (2008), Unbridled (2010) and Freeway (2015). All our music consists of original compositions. Our compositions are influenced by gospel, blues, folk, latin and middle eastern music. Our music is available on iTunes. Clips are also on our youtube channel, on our facebook page and our website gruvology.com Some clips are also on Sound cloud bernard kunz.
Grüvology has been named best Western New York Jazz Fusion group every year since 2012. Walter Kemp was best keyboard player for 2012 and 13. Our current bassist, James Benders, was named rising star in 2015. Our new drummer is Ravi Padmanabha, an extraordinary improviser not only on drums and percussion but also on sitar and sarangi. Guitarist Bernard Kunz was named one of the areas most adventurous guitarists by Buffalo News Music Critic Jeff Miers (Feb. 2012) and runner-up best jazz guitarist for 2016.
We have performed at most Western New York venues and Jazz Festivals, Queen City Jazz Festival, Lewiston Jazz Festival, Slyfest at the Huron as well as in Erie, PA, New York City and Toronto, Canada.
April 2015 saw our first European tour in Germany, Holland, Belgium and Switzerland with concerts at Dortmund’s famous Domicil Jazz Club, Splendor in Amsterdam, Centre Culturel Marius Staquet in Mouscron, Belgium, Haberhaus Kultur Klub, Schaffhausen, Switzerland and more.
After a hiatus of almost two years with family engagements and other projects, GRÜVOLOGY is back with a new drummer, Ravi Padmanabha and new music waiting to be performed and eventually recorded.
We hope to see you on Friday, November 30, 2018, at SIlence Sounds in Guelph, Ontario, Canada.


Silence Presents: Tania Gill, Germaine Liu, and Victor Bateman

November 25, 2018

Tania is joined by percussionist Germaine Liu and bassist, Victor Bateman.
The trio will perform an improvised set of music after which, local improvisors are welcomed to join them.

Tickets $15


Silence Presents: Near East

November 23, 2018

Doors at 7:30 PM
Show at 8:00 PM
Tickets $15 at the door

Near East invents their own world-music convention, by bringing together several world music traditions. The Inception of Near East’s Music begins in, Maqam and Iqa’ of the Middle East and Greece, gives way to the raga and tala concepts of North and South India ultimately evolving into group improvisation. From those foundations, Near East harvests a fresh sound, familiar yet surprising. The roots simply cross – pollinate on their own, evolving without additives, without taking anything away.


Silence Presents: Storytelling w/ Maryem Tollar and Dawne McFarlane

November 18, 2018

Arabic songs transport us to the time and place of Anaeet, daughter of a shepherd. Music and story bring us to the shimmering heat of the moment when Anaeet gave a pitcher of water to a hot dusty traveller who fell in love with her. Her practical wisdom is needed to save her husband and their people more than once. With singer Maryem Tollar, playing the Riqq, and storyteller Dawne McFarlane.

BIOS:
Dawne McFarlane
My first childhood memory of storytelling is sitting around a lakeside campfire in Northern Ontario with my family, my Scottish Grandfather illuminated by firelight and silhouetted by stars as he told stories. An enchanting Gaelic brawl rolled through his powerful voice. With that gift in my heart, I have been travelling a storyteller’s journey interwoven with world music and dance, with 30 years of artistic collaboration with independent choreographers, dancers, Sign Language Interpreters, musicians, and clowns. As a parent and teacher, I have been telling and teaching around campfires, outdoor bread ovens, kitchen tables, and in classrooms for 25 years. I have performed as a guest artist at international storytelling festivals in Toronto, Vancouver, and Edinburgh. I teach the art and craft of storytelling through the grades to teachers in Canada and abroad. The power of storytelling to open hearts and minds and bring people together continues to inspire me.

Maryem Tollar
Maryem Tollar is a renowned Egyptian-Canadian vocalist, known for her world music performances as well as original compositions. Her voice has been heard on the theme of CBC’s Little Mosque on the Prairie and A.R. Rahman’s Bollywood hit, Mayya Mayya. She is the featured vocalist in Tafelmusik’s production of “Tales of Two Cities: The Leipzig-Damascus Coffee Houses” and “Safe Haven”, and Christos Hatzis’ piece “Syn-Phonia” with Inuit throat singer Tiffany Ayalik and his multimedia piece “Constantinople” with The Gryphon Trio and Patricia O’Callaghan. In 2017, Maryem was nominated for a Juno Award for “Nazar” with quartet Turkwaz. She received a Juno Award in 2014 with the group Odessa Havana and in 2009 was nominated for her CD Maryem and Ernie Tollar “Cairo to Toronto”. Maryem will be performing with Toronto Storyteller Dawne McFarlane at the Scottish International Storytelling Festival in 2018. Maryem will be releasing a live CD with her group “Al Qahwa Ensemble” with Egyptian violinist, Alfred Gamil; and Syrian clarinet player, Majd Sukar in 2019.


Silence Presents: Citizen Jane

November 16, 2018

Doors at 7:30 PM
Concert at 8:00 PM
Tickets $15

CITIZEN JANE is a Toronto-based folk-pop duo that evocatively weaves powerful vocal harmonies with innovative string textures to create an emotionally charged soundscape. Hailed a “delight” by Folk Radio UK, Reenie and Lea spark a uniquely intimate connection with all audiences.

Their debut album, “In the Storm”, is a reflection on the value of human connection, touching on themes of war (internal & literal), displacement/isolation, self-doubt.. and an urge to embrace differences, unite, and act with love to make the world a little brighter. From sweet, hopeful viola & guitar melodies, to darker mandolin & cello musings, each song takes on a new character in their sonic journey.

Though primarily a song-driven project, CJ is delving into the fiddle world with a couple of instrumental tunes as well. Brought to life by mixing engineers Adrian Dolan (The Bills, The Wailin’ Jennys) and Jon Kaspy (Emily Rockarts).

The duo consists of married couple Reenie Perkovic (vocals, guitar, mandolin) and Lea Kirstein (viola, fiddle, cello, vocals), who met while studying classical music on the west coast of Canada. The ladies have since made a home in Toronto’s vibrant music scene.

Reenie grew up in the Toronto area, after her family escaped the civil war in her birthplace, Sarajevo, Bosnia. She then moved out west to study percussion and composition at UVic, where she wrote contemporary classical works that were read by the Victoria Symphony, and ECM+. While studying, she continued to play guitar and lead pop bands, booking small tours and playing festivals. Reenie was a semi-finalist in the 2016 UK Songwriting Contest, and has released 3 solo albums. She has opened for Juno-nominated Alysha Brilla, and Annabelle Chvostek (Wailin’ Jennys).

Lea is an acclaimed violist and fiddler, who grew up in Victoria, BC, where she studied viola and music education at UVic. Classical musician by day and fiddler by night, Lea discovered new ways of melding the two styles into one. Her passion for these genres took her across Canada & the U.S. with the Folk Arts Quartet. She has recorded with Juno-nominated artists Oliver Schroer and Teresa Doyle.

The duo is passionate about building community & education, and frequently offers workshops at schools, camps, and festivals.


Silence Presents: Joe Policastro Trio

November 13, 2018

Doors at 7:30 PM
Concert at 8:00 PM
Tickets $15 at the door

The Joe Policastro Trio is a Chicago-based alternative jazz trio led by bassist Joe Policastro featuring guitarist Dave Miller and drummer Mikel Avery. While firmly rooted in jazz, the band’s open-minded and inclusive nature also brings rock, soul, funk, Brazilian, and free jazz to the surface while keeping the aesthetic of an acoustic jazz trio intact. Their most recent release, Screen Sounds (JeruJazz Records), is a collection of the trio’s re-workings of movie/TV music. Other releases by the band include 2013’s West Side Story Suite for Jazz Trio, and 2016’s POPS! (jazz interpretations of pop tunes from the 60s-90s), also on JeruJazz Records. In early 2019 the band will be releasing an album focused on their original material entitled Nothing Here Belongs.

“The group’s terrific new album, Screen Sounds, applies a diversity of approaches to all kinds of source material, consistently retaining the essence of the original works while boldly imprinting the trio’s personality” (Peter Margasak, Chicago Reader).

“The trio have refined their layered blend of the familiar and faintly far out, playing three nights a week at Chicago’s Pops For Champagne and through extensive roadwork. Their deep understanding of each other and deft analysis of choice repertoire repays repeat and close listening” (Michael Jackson, Downbeat).

Known for its eclectic taste and approach, the Joe Policastro Trio “makes the case that such musical hybridity is worth celebrating.” “Policastro…is a melody-minded bassist who prioritizes group cohesion over individual displays of virtuosity”
(Brian Zimmerman, Downbeat).

“There are always new wrinkles to be found in the familiar. That’s a political stance that seems to serve the Joe Policastro Trio well…putting alternately gritty and focused touches on songs we’ve come to love….Policastro and company have found their niche tapping into different breeds of treasured songs” (Dan Billawsky, All About Jazz).

The Joe Policastro Trio is a band that can turn “pop tart into jazz art” (Travis Rogers, Jazz Owl) and one that “should have wide appeal among both jazz fans and listeners of other genres”
(Hrayr Attarian, Chicago Jazz Magazine).

Links:
http://www.thejptrio.com/
http://downbeat.com/reviews/detail/screen-sounds


PipeDown! Presents: Hyness wsg DATL, Sweet Toothe, Ten Boy Summer

November 9, 2018

Doors at 7:00 PM
Show at 8:00 PM
Cover – $10/pwyc

Hyness https://hyness.bandcamp.com/track/river 

Sweet Toothe https://sweettoothe.bandcamp.com/ 

Ten Boy Summer https://tenboysummer.bandcamp.com/

Drunk at the Library https://drunkatthelibrary.bandcamp.com/releases


Silence Presents: Surefire Sweat

November 3, 2018

Doors at 7:30PM
Show at 8:00PM
Tickets $10/PWYC

Surefire Sweat is made up of a diverse and multi-generational roster of Toronto-based artists. The music, composed by Juno-nominated drummer, Larry Graves, is original drawing on an amalgam of Funk, Jazz, Brass Band, Blues and Afrobeat. Inventive arrangements act as a vehicle for the all-star cast of musicians to engage listeners through improvisational explorations and danceable arrangements.

Silence Presents: Minor Empire

November 2, 2018

Doors at 7:30 PM
Concert at 8:00 PM
Tickets $15 available on Eventbrite

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Silence Presents: Mike McCormick’s Proxemics wsg Hymns57

November 1, 2018

Doors at 7:30PM
Show at 8:00PM
$10/PWYC

The Proxemics Studies are a collection of songs that emerged from Canadian guitarist and composer Mike McCormick’s exploration of intimate space in its various manifestations.

In the summer of 2016, McCormick decided to address his performative limitations by composing a set of personalized technical studies for the electric guitar. Exploring the physical and practical distance between him and his instrument encouraged him to examine other “distances” in various aspects of his life. This lead him to compile a collection of saved letters, emails, and electronic messages sent to him from partners with whom he had been previously intimately involved in order to examine the emotional “spaces” he had created in his past.

Spanning a lengthy period of time (the earliest letter is from 2009) and a variety of relationships, these correspondences reveal the complex nature of human intimacy – some messages show the unabashed beauty of unconditional love, others reveal the bitterness of heartbreak, and still others expose the volatility of passionate lust.

Setting these texts to musical ideas derived from electric guitar etudes has resulted in a collection of compositions that explores the space between the guitarist and his instrumental capabilities, between the individual and his past relationships, and between the composer and his artistic output.

Mike McCormick – electric guitar
Laura Swankey – voice, electronics
Knut Kvifte Nesheim – drum kit, vibraphone

Hymns57
Hymns57 is a soundscape venture project. Working with field recordings and samples. Tape loops, guitar and a multitude of effects create lush waves of static, rolling tones, and haunting textures that crest and wash over you. Decaying and dissolving in the mix like a glowing, faded memory. Formulated to immerse you, under a wall of sound that leads your ears astray.
https://hymns57.bandcamp.com