Arranger

Arranger, Canada, Composer, Experimental, Guitar, Joni Mitchell, Pearl Jam, Prince, Producer, Rock, Songwriter, Toronto July 26, 2023

Donna Grantis, a former guitarist with Prince’s 3rdeyegirl, is putting her music to work for the planet, alongside Brian Eno’s EarthPercent initiative

By Nick Krewen Special to the Star It was initially a Prince of an idea. Toronto’s Donna Grantis, the ace guitarist who was a member of the Minnesota wunderkind’s 3rdEyeGirl before his tragic death in 2016, said it was a question that the iconic singer-songwriter posed to the band while they were in a Paisley Park studio that set her on the path to becoming a climate change activist. “Prince…

Arranger, Canada, Composer, Festivals, Herbie Hancock, Jazz, Toronto June 25, 2023

The steel pan is more than a vacation sound to Joy Lapps — it’s about the joy of self-expression

Lapps is one of the few women to specialize in steel pan or steel drum. She will share her passion with the Toronto Jazz Festival. By Nick Krewen Special to the Star Quiz time: what sunny-sounding percussive instrument that invokes the sound of the Caribbean is forged from a 55-gallon industrial drum? The answer: the chromatically pitched steel pan, which is front and centre of Joy Lapps‘ first full-length album of…

Adult Contemporary, Arranger, Bryan Adams, Business, Composer, Grammy, John Hiatt, Los Angeles, Mariachi, Music Industry (Trade), Music Publishing, Pop, Producer, Record Labels, Trumpet, United States May 10, 2023

Herb Alpert brings 60 years of hit-making to Toronto’s Queen Elizabeth Theatre

 By Nick Krewen Special To The Star You may remember him for his No. 1 smashes “This Guy’s In Love With You” and “Rise” – and for his signature “happy” trumpet sound fronting The Tijuana Brass –  but Herb Alpert has worked his way into your musical DNA probably more than you realize. Yes, there were the familiar ’60s instrumental hits like “The Lonely Bull,” “A Taste of Honey,” “Spanish Flea”…

Alt. Rock, Arranger, Beach Boys, Composer, Depeche Mode, Electronic, Engineer, Experimental, Mixer, Producer, Songwriter, Synthesizer, United Kingdom, Voice March 24, 2023

Depeche Mode’s death-tinged Memento Mori isn’t about the passing of Andrew Fletcher, Martin Gore says.

The Depeche Mode songwriter talks about the loss of Fletcher, hit song “Ghosts Again” and how it felt to turn 60 By Nick Krewen Special to the Star If the Depeche Mode video for their current hit song “Ghosts Again” offers  you a sense of déjà vu, you’re not alone. Directed by noted photographer and director Anton Corbijn,  the music video reflects the theme of the British electronic outfit’s 15th album Memento…

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…