COC Free Concert Series, Forward Motion and Thomas Egbo Egbo

 

Canadian Opera Company Free Concert Series

While not everyone has the budget to see an opera staged in the beautiful Four Seasons Centre, the C.O.C does provide some excellent free programming that showcases a wide range of operatic, dance, jazz and instrumental performances. These lunchtime (most often anyway) performances take place in the stunning Richard Bradshaw auditorium.  It's a gorgeous glass enclosed space, a window into the very heart of the city. Jazz is somewhat underrepresented in their schedule, but what they do have is always interesting, and why not branch out and hear something different too? Oh, and try and show up a bit early as seats are limited.    

Two recent jazz performances were Forward Motion, a modern jazz and groove ensemble from Humber College, and Toronto-fixture Thompson Egbo-Egbo, doing a showcase of solo piano jazz inspired by black history month.

Forward Motion Ensemble

Simone Hope, vocals

Minh Hoang, piano

Jacob Kozlowski, alto sax

Avery Zuzarte, bass

Angelica Zavala, drums

Jay Yoo, guitar

Student groups are always interesting; it's great to have a window into what the next generation is taking from the last and the path that they will forge themselves. Though at times they can be a bit green around the gills, there is no shortage of talent in the Forward Motion Ensemble. Certainly enough to make a musician like myself salty!  

We were treated to a very interesting modern selection of songs, few of them familiar to the audience. There's certainly a deal of influence from the middle eastern inflected jazz of Tigran Hamasyan (and one of his tunes too). Additionally, they seem geared towards more groove oriented and fusion works than straight ahead jazz. 

Simone, Jacob and Jay make up an an excellent lead trio, pairing unison parts and weaving in and out of one another with counter melodies that compliment tastefully rather than distract.  Simone stood out in particular on a Lucy Yagaran tune.  

The rhythm section was indeed very groove oriented, but also branched out to some fun, more playful time signatures. On the first track they looked a tad bored but really came alive on Steve Coleman's "No Good Time Faeries."  Avery provided an extended bass intro that seemed to wake something in the audience and the band.  Another highlight was Angelica Zavala's own composition "Untitled."

       

Thompson Egbo-Egbo

Thompson Egbo Egbo is a name you'll come across frequently in and around Toronto and is certainly as the program titles it - a pianist you should know - a gifted young pianist from Regent Park who gives back to the community at every opportunity through his foundation.

The Thompson T. Egbo-Egbo Arts Foundation, and its Evolving Through the Arts program, support elementary school students by offering opportunities that foster a sense of self-worth and empowerment through music and the arts. The foundation partners with talented Canadian musicians and artists to provide a focused curriculum aimed at helping underprivileged youth grow as musicians and individuals.  https://egbomusic.com/bio

We were treated to a nice range of tunes that celebrate black pianists, as it is black history month.  Duke Ellington's "Such Sweet Thunder" was a fun bouncy rhythmic treat that showed Thompsons's impeccable sense of rhythm and groove. His interpretation of Bud Powel's "Tempus Fugit" was aptly a short fast and sweet tribute to the pianist's blazing skills. Perhaps the best number of the show was Gershwin's "Summertime;" there was a definite sense of awe in the crowd as his cascading arpeggio lines seemed to a channel a summer breeze.  The finale was Stevie Wonder's "Pastime Paradise" (though perhaps more famously known these days because of Coolio's sampling of it) from the incredibly successful and acclaimed record Songs In The Key Of Life.  I'm always happy to see people interpreting modern pop tunes into jazz (though 1976's Pastime or 1995's Gangster's are hardly contemporary). After all, that's where the vast majority of the old standards essentially come from, showtunes. It's a great choice for black history month and very fun, but perhaps a slight let down as the closer and after some of his flashier repertoire.

Food Recommendation: New York Fries/Rudy

We are just steps away from the Eaton Centre, and since no true Torontonian would be caught dead there on a weekend, a mid week snack/lunch is perfect.  Plus, it matches my salt after watching someone half my age play faster than me!

But, for something a little more substantial, there's always the nearby Rudy outpost on Duncan for some beefy goodness.  They do a pretty darn decent smashburger; it's not as good as Burger Drops, but it's right there.

Drink Recommendation: Homemade Apple Cider

To clarify, cider can be a tad confusing, even Ned Flander's simple explanation leaves a bit to be desired.  In Korea, cider is lemon/lime pop like Sprite or 7up.  In North America, it tends to be the non alcoholic apple juice variety, and in the UK and brewpubs around the world, alcohol. Since we are talking about concert by students, we shall discuss the boozy one, because the homemade variety is both intoxicating and delicious.   

Homebrewing is actually quite simple.  If you are meticulously clean, you can end up with very good product, even as a layman.  The trick is to not stress, and in the words of my first ever brewing book, "relax.... don't worry.... have a homebrew."

Sanitization, in a word, sucks; it takes a while, cleaning products smell, and you have to be thorough.  Relax.... don't worry.... have a homebrew and it will all go easy.  Grab some old clothes so you don't have to worry about bleach stains and why not call a friend, share the work and a homebrew.  

Complicated words like graviometer, specific gravity...relax.... don't worry.... have a homebrew. The basics are simple and then when you inevitably get caught by the bug you can get into all sorts of rabbit holes!

I intend to post a more thorough brewing primer down the road, but here's the basics for an amazing cider!

You don't need to invest in those big beautiful glass carboys quite yet if you don't want.  A homebrew starting kit will come with an excellent food grade quality bucket or 2 (or maybe a glass carboy), a fermentation lock, a syphon, and perhaps some nice luxuries like a bottle capper.  If you want to go cheap, you can get your own container and skip the other gear too.  You don't need a fermentation lock if you remember to burp the CO2 frequently, and you can make perfectly serviceable cider without the other tools too. Relax.... don't worry.... have a homebrew.

Though I have made cider with fresh apples and a very scary looking threshing/maeraction tool and a press, we want to keep things more simple, basic even..... Food basics, Allen's canned apple juice.  It's all Canadian; it's delicious; and most importantly, it's preservative free. You sub another juice, why not? Relax.... don't worry.... have a homebrew.  The one thing you have to avoid is sodium benzoate; this is the additive they add so juice doesn't ferment. 

If you want to make it stronger, you can add more sugar.  The strength of your product is directly linked to the sugar content of your juice.  There are a number of cheap and expensive ingredients we can add to make it more suitable for our young friends at Humber or wherever really.  For strength without taste, corn sugar, but that's no fun. Brown sugar adds a lot of supporting notes to your cider without being distracted.  You can also try fancy stuff like maple syrup and honey, but be warned, the effect is very subtle for the expense.  Also if you use a lot of honey, which isn't 100% fermentable sugars, you can sometimes be left with a sweet rather than dry finish, maybe that's what you want?  Some milk stouts even have lactose in them for that very reason. You can also use campden tablets to kill the yeast midway, leaving some of the apples' sugars for sweetness but then you'd need to drink it flat or buy a CO2 tank.  

So here it is, mix 25 cans of Allen's with a 1kg bag of brown sugar, and a package of champagne yeast (from the internet or purchase from a local you brew wine shop). Place in a sterilized food grade container.  Attach a fermentation lock or burp it daily (open the container for a second to let the gas escape so it doesn't explode off!). Wait a couple weeks and then add a tiny bit of sugar, 0.5-1.0 oz (14-28g) per gallon, and mix well. Then, bottle it up.  Plastic bottles that brew supply shops are fine and cheap; obviously glass is nicer, but then you also need a capper.  Leave it for a week and then open and enjoy! There's a small chance of bottles exploding if you add too much sugar, but.... relax.... don't worry.... have a homebrew.  If you are still riddled with anxiety, go for 0.7 oz and remember it's not going to kill you, just make a mess.