Beach comic Derek Edwards will be appearing at Raising the Roof’s Annual Comedy Cabaret at the Second City, April 7 at 7:30 p.m., 51 Mercer St. Edwards has been a regular at the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal, and has made many other television and radio appearances. He is the only Canadian to have won the Vail, Colorado Invitational Comedy Competition, is a two-time Gemini nominee and a five-time Canadian Comedy Award nominee for Best Standup Comic. He will be touring his one-man show called My Blundering Life beginning this May.
Other performers on the bill include Darrin Rose, Graham Chittenden, James Cunningham, Eddie Della Siepe and Frank Spadone. This is the 16th annual Comedy Cabaret, a fundraiser for Raising the Roof’s national Child and Family Homelessness Initiative, which responds to the fact that families with children are the fastest growing group of people experiencing homelessness. Tickets are $150 each with corporate packages available. They can be purchased from Paula Patryluk at Raising the Roof, 416-481-1838, or email Paula@raisingtheroof.org.
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Kingston Road United Church, 975 Kingston Rd., continues its stellar lineup of music performances with a concert called Spirit, Heart, Mind on April 14 from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Join bassist Timothy Dawson and four of his Toronto Symphony Orchestra colleagues for a program for strings that includes Dvorak’s Quintet, and music composed and arranged by Toronto composer Ed Hayes.
Tickets for Spirit, Heart, Mind are $20 for adults, and free for children 12 and under. They can be purchased at the church office in advance, or at the door. For more information call the church at 416-699-6091, or visit kruc.ca.
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The Salty Dog Bar & Grill, 1980 Queen St. E., presents live jazz every Tuesday evening from 7 to 10 p.m. On April 9 be sure to catch Kelly Jefferson, sax; Artie Roth, bass; and Greg Pilo on drums. There is no cover. For more information call the Salty Dog at 416-849-5064.
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Acoustic Harvest celebrates the Toronto Friday Night Song Circle, April 20, beginning at 8 p.m. The Circle has been a Toronto folk music tradition for 30 years as musicians get together at varying locations—usually private homes—every Friday evening from September to July to harmonize and jam. Some of the participating musicians are Tony Quarrington, Eve Goldberg, Joanne Crabtree, Anne Walker and Jeff Morrison, with many others coming and going as their schedules allow.
The group has decided to gather at Acoustic Harvest—and hold it on a Saturday night—as a special fundraiser for the club, itself a long-standing Toronto folk music institution. The Song Circle will also pay special tribute to three members who recently passed away.
Matthew Shuster was a brilliant singer who helped organize the Woods Music & Dance Camp and the Winter Woods Camp. Tam Kearny was one of the founders of the legendary Fiddler’s Green Folk Club, which started up more than 40 years ago. Both musicians are remembered for their warmth, passion for music and the humour they brought to each Song Circle. Susan Lawrence, the Song Circle founder, died just over a week ago. All three are sorely missed.
The evening will also see a screening of a special documentary about the Song Circle created by Polly Wells. Tickets for this special evening are $22 for adults, $20 for seniors and are available at the door. For more information call 416-264-2235 or visit the Acoustic Harvest Facebook page.
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The Toronto Beach Chorale celebrates Earth Day with a special season wrap-up four-choir concert April 21 at 7:30 p.m. at Kingston Road United Church, 975 Kingston Rd. Musical Director Mervin William Fick directs fourconcert choirs: the Mississauga Chorale Society Chorus, the Peel Chorale Society Singers in Brampton, the award-winning Esprit Chamber Chorus in Toronto as well as the Toronto Beach Chorale. He will be bringing all four together to feature a 100-plus massed choir, with an instrumental accompaniment, to celebrate Earth Day in a concert called With Stars In Your Eyes.
On the program will be Missa Gaia—Earth Mass, by Paul Winter, Srul Irving Glick’s The Hour Has Come, C. Hubert H. Parry’s I was Glad, Randall Thompson’s Have Ye Not Known?, Healey Willan’s Behold, the Tabernacle of God and a piece specially written for Earth Day by Fick.
Tickets are $20 for adults; $10 for youth seven to 18, and free for children under seven. Tickets will be available at the door (cash only) or through the website at torontobeachchorale.com.
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Beach dancer Pamela Briz will be appearing in the upcoming Esmeralda Enrique Spanish Dance Company’s production of Portales, April 25 to 28 at the Fleck Dance Theatre at Harbourfront Centre, 207 Queen’s Quay West. Of Spanish heritage, Briz has been dancing professionally for more than 20 years. She is fluent in all forms of Spanish dance, including classical, folklore and flamenco. She has been a member of the Paula Moreno Spanish Dance company, the Compañia Carmen Romero and teaches at the School of Flamenco Dance Arts in Toronto.
Whenever she gets the chance, Briz continues her own studies, travelling to Seville, Spain for lessons with Ciro, La Tati, Javier Cruz and Juana Amaya, and taking classes and workshops with visiting artists such as Domingo Ortegaa, La Choni and Rocio Molina. She recently performed at the Sony Centre as part of the 2012 Toronto International Flamenco Festival with Amigos de Pilar.
Portales, part of Harbourfront’s NextSteps Dance Series, is a performance of flamenco dance with choreography by Esmeralda Enrique and music by guitarist Oscar Lago. Tickets range from $21.50 to $43, and are available through the box office at 416-973-4000, or at flamencos.net.
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Relish Bar & Grill—The Relish—continues with its nightly music events. Every Friday night from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. catch David MacMichael from The Danger Bees. Saturday is New Music Night. From 9:30 to 11:30 p.m. you can catch such acts as Flamingo Bay (April 6), The Wares (April 13), Cadre (April 20) or Tucker Green (April 27). Wednesday is jazz night with the BTBs from 7:30 to 9:30, while Mondays see Bentroots take the stage from 8 to 11 p.m. Every Sunday is the Stir It Up Sunday open mic from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. This is your chance to join this vibrant East End club and make a little music.
For more information call 416-425-4664 or visit relishbarandgrill.com.
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