Nicolas Caloia's: Ratchet Orchestra (you aint never seen anything like this!)

This Saturday December 12th, the Ratchet Orchestra will be performing at Il Motore: 179 Jean -Talon West, Mtl, QC corner of Waverly; De Castelnau Metro. ...(the new venue belonging to Sala Rossa & Casa Del Popolo owners). Show starts at 8:30pm, and those willing to come out and listen will be greeted with a 30 piece orchestra playing compositions by Nicolas Caloia and Sun Ra.

For those of you who have never heard the Ratchet Orchestra, or even have the slightest clue of what this brilliantly clunky and musically complex phenomenon is about....here's the myspace link for you to listen to:

Ratchet Orchestra MYSPACE

Last but not least, here's the list of musicians that will be involved in December 12th's show:

BLOODSHOT BILL - Vox
Craig Dionne - Flute
Jean Derome - Bass Flute
Lori Freedman - Clarinet
Gordon Krieger - Bass clarinet
Bryan Highbloom - Soprano sax
Louisa Sage - Alto Sax
Damian Nisenson - Tenor sax
Ida Toninato - Baritone sax
Jason Sharp - Bass sax
Gordon Allen - Trumpet
Philippe Battikha -Trumpet
Thea Pratt - Eb horn
Eric Lewis - Euphonium
Tom Walsh - Trombone
Jacques Gravel - Bass Trombone
Noah Countability - Sousaphone
Cathy Inouye - Sousaphone
Joshua Zubot - Violin
Brigitte Dajczer - Violin
Guido Del Fabbro - Violin
Jean René - Viola
Gen Heistek -Viola
Norsola Johnson - Cello
Nicolas Caloia - Contrabass
Chris Burns - Guitar
Guillame Dostaler - Piano
Ken Doolittle - Percussion
Michel Bonneau - Conga
Robert Kraft - Drums
John Heward - Drums

Hope to see you there!

Amanda Mabro & Elsianne @ Cabaret Juste pour Rire

I first saw Elsiane back in 2007 at Metropolis' small room. François had called me out of the blue and suggested we go check her out. The evening was amazing; I can honestly say that I've never heard a beautiful voice like that. And she was surrounded by a great band and the ambiance of the show was very intense and satisfying!

So ffw to November 27th, and what a coincidence that I'll be backing up Amanda Mabro at Cabaret Just pour Rire...and that Amanda and Elsiane are doing a double bills for the evening. This show is bound to be a night of way too much vocal expertise and magnitude delivered by two astounding Divas! I most recommend that if you're in Montréal this Friday evening, you must come out to Cabaret Just Pour Rire!! Show starts @ 8:30pm, tickets are 20 in advance and 25 at the door...

Les Gitans de Sarajevo: Balkan Dance CD release party @ Sala Rossa

On Thursday, November 19th, Les Gitans de Sarajevo will be releasing their fourth album titled: Balkan Dance @ Sala Rossa. Tune in to see this 7 piece band gipsy groove out La Sala Rossa!

Show starts at 8:30pm, and tickets at the door ($20) include a free Balkan Dance CD!

Come on down, and not too late because the band will be playing all the songs from the album, and the show won't last longer than an hour!

BRIGA : November 2nd @ Cabaret Le Lion d'Or, Montreal, QC

On Monday, november 2nd 2009, we will be celebrating the Briga CD launch at the Cabaret Le Lion d'Or! Not only will we be playing pretty much the whole repertoire from the album, but we'll be screening Lyle Pisio's animated short that features Briga'S song: "EMPRESS".

Doors open @ 8pm, show starts at 8:30pm

$12 + tax & fees, $15 at the door

To purchase, please call Billeterie Articulée: 514-844-2171 ou www.admission.com

Briga, alias Brigitte Dajczer, will be performing an exhilirating show of wild violin that showcases original compositions, and arrangements of romanian, bulgarian, and ex-yugoslavian gypsy repertoire.

With Jeremi Roy on bass, Marton Maderspach on the drums, Alix Noël on keyboard and accordeon, and Tacfarinas Kichou on percs, BRIGA offers you eastern european, balkan and gypsy repertoire, mixed up with either a heavy groove or sensual lyrics... The improvisational talent of all musicians shines and the energy guarantees a night of dancing!

Les Gitans de Sarajevo on Youtube AND CDBABY

Here's a great clip of us playing a televised Concert from ARTV's series: "La Symphonie du Nouveau Monde". Here is a synopsis of the project:
"Cette série propose un voyage aux quatre coins du globe (Bolivie, Maroc, Bosnie-Herzégovine, Sénégal, Guadeloupe, Costa Rica, Haïti, Vietnam, Madagascar, Japon, Inde et Tchad) en compagnie de douze musiciens du monde, originaires de ces pays et qui vivent maintenant au Canada.
Dans le plus ambitieux projet de sa carrière, le directeur musical Luc Boivin (Belle et Bum) adapte avec eux La Symphonie du Nouveau Monde, première œuvre classique inspirée de la diversité culturelle, composée par le tchèque Antonin Dvorak en 1893."


And if you want to get into some other musical highlights that Les Gitans de Sarajevo have enjoyed in the past couple of years, check out last years' clip of the song Zsa Zsa performed on BELLE et BUM:


So now it's 2009, and Les Gitans de Sarajevo have their 4th album out, after 10 years under our belt!! The CD is out, designed by none other than the amazing ZORA SAUVAGE! Check out Les Gitans de Sarajevo's website: http://www.lesgitans.info and if you want to buy a cd, go to www.cdbaby.com! OPA!

Briga: Debut album Diaspora out and about and onsale!

If you are interested in getting a copy of Briga's new double CD album "Diaspora", check out CD Baby & itunes...!

Exciting? Yes ;) Daunting? Yes ;p Relieving & Stressful? All of the above!
A lot of people have come into play in realizing this dream. Many faces, chapters and encounters have been met, and I'd like to dedicate this post to all of them. So I figured I'd break it down to a few anecdotes of interesting times we've shared up until now. Here's a photo of Studio Karisma sound genius Guy Hébert & I during the Mastering of the Album. We spent a very relaxed day together, listening, going to the Polish Bakery, eating so many wonders of food, and drinking tea. Oh...did I mention that we worked hard?!

And after waiting to get the design and printing lined up...It's finaly arrived! A very narrow miss but it all worked out!
The goal was to have the CD ready to share with music lovers at a show we played last night in Ste-Geneviève, Québec. Our good friends at Standard Media Services (www.standardmedia.ca) had shipped the order out from Ottawa to Montreal on August 11th, with the goal of it arriving at my place before noon on August 12th.

As profound stupidity would have it, the order was missed and was now floating somewhere around the island of Montréal in a Purolator truck before it would be retired at the Purolator Headquarters in ANJOU @ 6:30pm. Let me remind you that the show was due to start at 7:30pm and end no later than 8:30pm. The manager, Joe Cuntrera, was facing the possibility that he just might have to drive all the way out to Anjou (about 40 minutes each way) during the show to get those CDs.


Needless to say, what happened next was a gift. On his way to come pick us up before the gig, Joe took a wrong turn and found himself face to face with a Purolator truck. He pulled over and managed to catch the guy in the truck. "Excuse-me, would you by any chance have a box of 1000 CDs that weren't deliverable?" The guy answered "YES!" They checked the name, and it was definitey our order!

So that's that! The CDs were retrieved, Joe never had to drive to Anjou and we got to La Salle Pauline Julien in time for the gig.

As for the album release, it was scheduled for October 2nd at Café Sarajevo but news has it that Café Sarajevo has just lost a court case in regards to being a live music venue. So while we search for a new venue to release the album, we will be selling CDs through CD Baby, itunes and mail order....

à+!
Briga ;)

Dan Meichel: Show them how it really is Danny boy - don't rest in peace!

On Monday morning, April 20th, Paula Fayerman wrote on Facebook: Dear Friends, Dan Meichel died while on tour in Japan. It is thought he had a heart attack. I will miss Dan's smiles and of course hearing him play and sing. I'ld like to do a tribute to Dan on noise this Thursday April 16 from 9:00-10:30 pm. If you have a story or song or hello, please let me know. I'm not sure how to organize this yet, but maybe we can have people drop by CJSW 90.9 studios or call in.

Monday evening, Lyle Pisio called me and confirmed the news. There will be a tribute to Dan this Thursday evening, on CJSW radio from 9ho0 - 10h30h. Check out CJSW's website to hear the live broadcast: www.cjsw.com. Look for Paula Fayerman's NOISE show. As a tribute to Dan, I will post the letter of support that I wrote for his trip to Japan.

To whom It May Concern,
I am writing this letter in support of Dan Meichel’s endeavor to go to Japan, research, discover, and play with artists who approach sound in unique ways. It would be in his best interest to leave Calgary, AB for six months, acquire fresh experiences and to bring back to the prairie community different and challenging ideas.
It is through Dan Meichel and the tiny Noise community in Calgary that I was initiated to the art of improvisation. Little did I know that these formative years would lead to my ability to be a diverse and adaptable player, with a creative and fearless approach to improvisation, be it in jazz, folkore music of different countries, or any other style.
Dan has touched the Calgary Arts Community on all levels. He crosses over from music, to theatre, to dance and visual art happenings. This includes having worked with Alberta Theatre Projects, One Yellow Rabit Theatre, Street of Crocodiles’ celebration of the New Gallery’s 25th anniversary, and Peter Moller’s Shrine of Impossible Love.
Please consider Dan Meichel as a not only one musician who would benefit from going overseas to discover and learn new forms of approaching sound and performance, but an artist who would bring back to an entire prairie community a much needed boost of creative energy.
Sincerely,
Brigitte Dajczer