Piano

Arranger, Composer, Jazz, New York, Piano, San Francisco, United States, Voice October 16, 2023

She’s the daughter of Bobby ‘Don’t Worry Be Happy’ McFerrin, but she’s forging her own path in music

With her debut album now out, Madison McFerrin brings her world tour to Toronto’s TD Music Hall. By Nick Krewen Special to the Star If the name Madison McFerrin is familiar, it’s because she’s the daughter of Mr. “Don’t Worry Be Happy” himself, 10-time Grammy winner Bobby McFerrin. So one would assume that the elder McFerrin would be forthcoming in offering his 31-year-old daughter advice on tricks of the trade. They…

Bass, Canada, Canadian Music Hall Of Fame, Country, Country Rock, Drums, Guitar, Indie, JUNO, Piano, Pop, Rock, Rock 'N Roll, Songwriter, Toronto, Voice August 24, 2023

A look back at Blue Rodeo’s ‘Five Days in July’ — ‘We had no idea that it would be as important as it ended up being’

As Blue Rodeo’s bestselling album celebrates 30 years, Jim Cuddy recalls how it was made on Greg Keelor’s farm and what it meant. by Nick Krewen Special to the Star Hard to believe that the classic Blue Rodeo album Five Days In July has accumulated three decades of memories. Recorded in 1993 on band co-founder Greg Keelor’s Clarington farm, the effort ended up becoming the group’s all-time bestseller, moving 600,000 copies…

Arranger, Canada, Cinema, Composer, Film Scores, JUNO, Piano, Producer, Québec, Songwriter July 26, 2023

Alexandra Stréliski: From ad agency to award-winning musician with a hand from Jean-Marc Vallée

Stréliski, who has a new album out, Neo-Romance, says the late director gave her a push to make music her career. By Nick Krewen Special to the Star When Montréal composer Alexandra Stréliski release her instrumental album of lush piano music, Inscape, back in 2018, a funny thing happened. It became not only a smash hit in her home province of Québec and the rest of Canada, selling over 160,000…

Art Rock, Bass, Canada, Drums, Guitar, Literary, Piano, Rock, Rush, Synthesizer, Toronto, Voice July 8, 2023

The band Max Webster, almost Canada’s Next Big Thing in the 1970s and ’80s, gets the coffee table book treatment

From 1972 until 1981, the band created five wonderfully idiosyncratic studio albums and toured incessantly — even headlining Maple Leaf Gardens three times within 18 months. By Nick Krewen Special to the Star Up until very recently, Kim Mitchell had forgotten that day in Indianapolis in 1981 when he performed “Battle Scar” with his Toronto rockers Max Webster and a man wearing a mask of ex-U.S. president Richard Nixon snuck…

Arranger, Bass, Big Band, Composer, Education, Grammy, Herbie Hancock, Jazz, JUNO, Newfoundland, Piano, Producer, Voice February 13, 2023

Christian McBride and Joe Sealy double bill mixes Black history with the music.

McBride’s The Movement Revisited and Sealy’s Africville Stories about destroyed Black Canadian community will be part of Meridian Hall double bill. By Nick Krewen  Special to the Star Four powerfully influential U.S. figures and one Canadian tragedy. That’s what’s in store for appreciators of Black History Month when a potent jazz double bill of Christian McBride and Joe Sealy takes to the Meridian Hall Stage on February 17.  For the…