Producer

Bob Dylan and The Band’s complete Basement Tapes resurface at last

Toronto duo largely responsible for lifting the veil off “the most sought after and mysterious recordings from the post-nuclear, pre-digital era.” Nick Krewen Music, Published on Wed Nov 05 2014   Sitting at Johnny Rockets, a ’50s-style burger joint in Yonge-Dundas Square, my dining companion pulls out a cardboard envelope and hands it over. “Open it up and have a look. Have a little whiff,” he insists. Inside is a…


New Directions In “Dangerous” Jazz

Story by Nick Krewen | October 28, 2014 For SOCAN’s Words and Music “There’s a way of playing safe, there’s a way of using tricks and there’s the way I like to play, which is dangerously, where you’re going to take a chance on making mistakes in order to create something you haven’t created before.” The late Dave Brubeck wasn’t Canadian, nor was he a SOCAN member, but the quote…


John Southworth finds inspiration on both sides of Niagara

Southworth’s latest theme album is a double disc, with an “American” and “Canadian” side. He plays Toronto’s Music Gallery on Sunday. Nick Krewen Music, Published on Sat Oct 11 2014 For his latest album Niagara, technically constructed as a double album with a nine-song “Canadian” disc and an 11-song “American” disc, John Southworth has specific instructions as to how it should be heard. “It’s not meant to be listened to…


A Nick Cave concert so riveting, it gets five stars out of four

Nick Cave repeatedly ventured as far into the crowd as his microphone cord would let him, staring deeply into the faces he was serenading. Nick Krewen Music, Published on Fri Aug 01 2014 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, July 31, 2014 How transcendent were Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds on Thursday night? Let’s put it this way: there are singers who are…


The Drake Effect

Story by Nick Krewen | July 24, 2014 For SOCAN Words and Music.   “Started from the bottom, now the whole team here.” So says Drake in “Started From the Bottom,” and that’s exactly how his big-bang explosion on the worldwide hip-hop scene has affected the fortunes of his whole team – more than 60 Canadian, Toronto-based songwriters, beat-makers, producers and other collaborators. Drake has almost single-handedly created an entire…