Composer

Michael Brook: Toronto Native a Player on World Music Stage

Grammy Bid Defies Years Of Obscurity Nick Krewen Toronto Star Monday, February 24, 1997   He’s played in volcanic caves on The Canary Islands and recorded one of his four solo albums during a press conference at The London Zoo’s Aquarium, but Michael Brook says a gig he performed in the late ’80s with visionary keyboardist Brian Eno topped them all. “We performed at the opening of a Shinto temple…


Mike Oldfield talks Songs of Distant Earth

NICK KREWEN Mike Oldfield, the British composer of Tubular Bells, the chart-topping 1973 instrumental album that revolutionized rock music and represented progressive rock at its most indulgent, sees future music entertainment as “a Salvadore Dali painting you can walk into.” Limited copies of his new album, Songs Of Distant Earth, contain a multi-media CD-ROM that he assembled midway through recording sessions, and Oldfield says he’s excited by new computer technology. “I…


Nash The Slash: Gauze and effects

PUBLISHED IN THE KITCHENER-WATERLOO RECORD ( AND THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR) on January 25, 1997   By Nick Krewen Nash The Slash is the ultimate Canadian cover artist. Whenever he’s performed in public, the Toronto-based electronic musician has been an intriguing sight, dressed in a top hat, sunglasses and swathed head to toe in bandages. Now celebrating his 20th year in the public eye, this chic version of The Invisible Singing…


Joe Jackson – The Glare accompanying Night Music

PUBLISHED IN THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR ON THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1995   NICK KREWEN Hamilton Spectator November 10, 1995   The Glare. It’s the first thing you notice about Joe Jackson when you enter the room: his face is expressionless, and his eyes practically protrude from their sockets as they settle on you for the first time. Unsettling? Yes — especially in light of Jackson’s reported wariness of journalists, a career-long…


Surviving With Rush

PUBLISHED IN THE CANADIAN COMPOSER, APRIL 1986     SURVIVING WITH RUSH     Drummer-lyricist Neil Peart looks forward      By Nick Krewen   The mark of longevity in the music business is originality. Usually, a band that lasts in this fashionably fickle marketplace does so by leaving an indelible imprint on audiences. For the 12 years that drummer Neil Peart has been a part of Rush with guitarist…