Anya M. Wassenberg's Blog: Art & Culture Maven, page 28

Emmys For Whales: Carleton Scientist in Residence Shane Gero & 'Secrets of the Whales'

From a media release:

Emmys For Whales:
Carleton Scientist in Residence Shane Gero & Secrets of the Whales

Stream It Now On Disney+

It was a late-night text that let biologist and Carleton Scientist in Residence Shane Gero know his work had garnered Hollywood accolades. Secrets of the Whales took home this year’s Emmy for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series and much of the series’ subject matter comes from Gero’s research on whale culture and social structures.  

Sperm whale (Photo by Amanda Cotton)

Gero has been researching whales for over a decade and has a particular interest in exploring the culture and social structures of whale families. About four years ago, a photographer with National Geographic wanted to capture Gero’s novel work with families of sperm whales off the coast of Dominica, in the eastern Caribbean Sea.   

“We wanted to shift the perception about whales, to see them as complex creatures with differences owing to genetics, but also to culture,” says Gero.  

Not only was National Geographic interested in telling a broader story, so was Disney+ and from there Gero’s involvement in the project snowballed. The Secrets of the Whales series took three years to produce and involved filming a variety of species in dozens of locations around the world. Gero was involved in almost every aspect.  

Gero provided scientific consultation on the series, but also oversaw footage and edited scripts that would be voiced by actor Sigourney Weaver. Gero credits the series producers with being open to telling the real story of the whale families and what it means in terms of how we protect them.  

Carlton Scientist in Residence Shane Gero
“It has been good training as a scientist to figure out how to craft research to be ingested by all sorts of different audiences,” Gero says. “I’ve always had the mindset that if science isn’t communicated, then what is it for?”  

The Disney+ series is executive produced by James Cameron, and narrated by Sigourney Weaver.

Opera + Visual Art | United Arts Studies Presents A Free Six-Part Video Series

 From a media release:

Opera + Visual Art
United Arts Studies
Presents A Six-Part Video Series

Featuring one new video per monthFor more information visit United Arts Studies’ website 

Soprano Elizaveta Ulakhovich and baritone Perry Sook invite you to a six-part video series.

Pairing some of the world’s great opera arias with masterpiece paintings, “United Arts Studies” hopes to convey the excitement of both opera and the visual arts, and kick off discussions on creativity and imagination.

Releasing one episode per month, the first three episodes of the United Art Studies are available on their YouTube channel The fourth episode on Verdi and Dali is scheduled to be released on September 23, 2021 at the link

Created during the pandemic, this completely free online series follows the story of two young opera singers who decide to enroll in an online art history course when they found themselves with some sudden free time. Hoping to entice lovers of the arts as well as novices to opera to enjoy the endless variety of these great human achievements, each episode contains a lesson about a painter and one or two composers, with discussions interspersed with the performance of operatic arias.

Baritone Perry Sook & Soprano Elizaveta Ulakhovich
Soprano Elizaveta Ulakhovich was born in St. Petersburg, Russia; a recipient of many awards internationally, she is a graduate of the Young Artist Program of the Bolshoi Theatre. Baritone Perry Sook is an American Baritone from Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas, with an exciting career in both musical theatre and opera; Mr. Sook has performed and toured extensively locally and internationally.

United Arts Studies is a nonprofit organization that aims to educate and inspire people of all ages to enjoy and seek out different types of art.​

Founded by young opera couple, Perry Sook and Elizaveta Ulakhovich, they hope to bring familiarity and fun to opera while exploring the visual arts.

Episode 1: FRIDA KAHLO – GEORG FRIEDRICH HÄNDEL

Vintage Jazz | Norm Amadio Trio + Tommy Ambrose: After Hours 1966

Vintage Jazz
Norm Amadio Trio + Tommy Ambrose: After Hours 1966
(Panda Digital 2021)

Listen on YouTube

Re-enter the smoky, late night jazz scene of the mid-1960s in hip style with this recent release from Panda Digital. It's a trip back in time to February 1966 at The Cellar club in Toronto. Producer Andrew A. Meltzer (then a 20 year old songwriter) began to record the Norm Amadio Trio with vocalist Tommy Ambrose at 3 a.m., right after their gig.

The recording captures the easy fluidity of a jazz trio in the zone, with the smooth vocals of Ambrose to add icing to the cake. It's that late, late night vibe, that time of night when there's only one last couple left on the dance floor clinging to each other as they sway to the music. The recording is lovely and organic, the playing tight and loose. 

All the songs on the album were written by Meltzer, who was already a firm fan of Norm's when he brought him the lead sheets for a few of his songs. Amadio agreed to make a date to record them in the club, and hence the recording was made.  The band consisted of Amadio on piano, Bob Price on bass, and Stan Perry on drums, along with Tommy Ambrose's vocals.

The Skies is a standout instrumental track, with its crisp pace. You're The One for Me has a great slow and sexy vibe. As it happens, This Is The Last Time, with music by Meltzer and lyrics by George Jonas, was recently featured on Netflix's Riverdale. 

Norm Amadio

When Norm Amadio was just 17, he was studying classical piano with Boris Berlin at the RMC by day, and playing jazz after hours by night. Born in 1928, he was a key figure in introducing bebop jazz to Toronto's music scene, and drew jazz stars from all over North America to sit in on the late night jams that became famous in the 1940s to 1960s. He played with Stan Getz, Roy Eldridge, Coleman Hawkins, Chet Baker, Dinah Washington, and many other classic jazz greats.

Amadio also worked with CBC television, and the Musical Director for the weekly show Music Hop, along with leading the band for many series, including The Tommy Ambrose Show. Norm recorded his last album in 2009, and passed away in 2020.

Classic RnB | Dianne Brooks: From the Heart & Soul (Panda Digital 2021)

Classic RnB
Dianne Brooks: From the Heart & Soul
(Panda Digital 2021)

Stream It On YouTube

Dianne Brooks was a powerhouse singer, a first call studio singer in both Toronto and Los Angeles. Producer Andrew A. Melzer is releasing some of her best work in this new album, including three tracks recorded live in 1983 and newly rediscovered.

It's easy to see why she was so sought after as a vocalist. Her voice has power, range and expression, and her instincts as an artist are gold. She's more than capable of vocal acrobatics, but uses that power judiciously and with taste.

The late Dianne Brooks was born in New Jersey, where she started singing in the church choir at the age of three. In the mid-1950s, she joined a group called The Three Playmates, who released four singles in 1957.

She moved to Toronto not long after, where she gigged regularly at clubs like The Bluenote and The Croq D'Or, adding TV and radio appearances for the CBC and CTV. She went on to a busy career touring, and recorded her debut album in 1970.

As a backup singer, she toured with artists like Bette Midler, Boz Scaggs, Dusty Springfield, and Count Basie, and also appeared on tracks with Anne Murray and Funkadelic during the 1970s. She was part of various jazz and RnB groups in Toronto, including Dr. Music, and Rob McConnell and the Boss Brass.

The songs on the recording are an interesting mix, from the bouncy pop-jazz of Trying to Get Back To You to the lush and polished piano ballad, Give Me One More chance. She turns to a smooth jazz finish for Paul McCartney's I'm Carrying, and straight up RnB for Can't Get Enough of You.

Three of the tracks were recorded live at George's Spaghetti House in 1983 with the Doug Riley Trio, including two Gershwin tunes, and Venice Breeze, with English lyrics by Dianne and Meltzer.

Dianne continued to gig in the GTA, and passed away in a Toronto hospital in 2005.

The album is a fitting memory of a great talent.

All I Need Is You is a standout track.

Perspectives | TIFF 2021 Filmmakers on Africa’s Cinema Industries From Development to Distribution

Perspectives | TIFF 2021
Filmmakers on Africa’s Cinema Industries From Development to Distribution 

As part of the Toronto International Film Festival's Industry Conference, programmer Nataleah Hunter-Young hosted a panel of African filmmakers for a talk about movies and the Continent.

Mlungu Wam (Good Madam) (Image courtesy of TIFF)

The selection of African films was robust at TIFF21. South African filmmaking partners Babalwa Baartman and Jenna Cato Bass, whose film Mlungu Wam (Good Madam) screened at TIFF, were among the panelists. Finnish Somali writer-director Khadar Ayderus Ahmed, born in Mogadishu, screened his feature debut, The Grave Digger's Wife at the festival. 

Filmmaker Amil Shivji rounded out the panel. A native of Tanzania, Amil got his MFA in film production from York University in Toronto. Today he is also a lecturer at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. His film Tug of War (Vuta N'Kuvute) is set in Zanzibar, an adaptation of an award-winning Swahili novel by Adam Shafi.

The discussion focused on the barriers to filmmaking through the whole process, from funding to distribution. It's often with that first piece - the funding - where problems begin. Mainstream commercial movies have established paths to raising the capital to complete projects. Movies with African locales and themes, not so much.

"We don't have that kind of government support," Amil said. He found a private foundation, one that supported social justice causes, who helped him get the seed money.

Low budget productions are preferable, according to Jenna. It's more expedient, and she mentioned waiting for years for big budget funding to come through on previous projects. "We'll put in our own money, we'll put in our own time."

Co-funding solutions are common, including private and micro-financing alongside institutional funding. As Nataleah noted, it represents a continued pattern of under-development of African cinema, even as big movie studios are flooding the continent with foreign-made flicks.

Khadar's film was created as a Finnish/German/French co-production, which saw him traveling to African locations with a Finnish crew. "This is a European production," he said. "It was easier than most African films." As he noted, however, in getting funding, it was necessary to adhere to a set of predetermined criteria. Is it "African enough"?

One of the biggest problems, according to all the filmmakers, was the interference of funding and other agencies directly into the creative process. Learning the ins and outs of organizations and their demands is part of the dance.

"That is not going to work for the kinds of stories I want to tell," Babwala noted her reaction to funding formulas. In fact, she and Jenna met and bonded over their shared experiences with industry gatekeepers. The institutions themselves may have lofty ideals, but as a filmmaker, you are forced to deal with individuals in positions of power who have their own very specific notions about the kinds of stories that should be told about Africa and Africans.

Tug of War (Vuta N'Kuvute) (Image courtesy of TIFF)

At one time, it was necessary for anything called an African movie to include animals. Now, though, the powers that be are looking for stories about "fixing the country" according to Jenna.

It's about having control over your own work. "It's in the fine print," Amil says. "By the end of the project, you might not even be the author anymore."

Khadar's simple love story had a difficult road to convince funders of its worth. "It's not about trafficking, it's not about warlords..." he says. "They're accustomed to seeing Africa only one way."

Those condition laden portals have become the only doors to go through for African filmakers, and such a narrow window means that projects are competing directly with other African films for the small pool of funding, rather than in an open field of other filmmakers.

"The Europeans are either outright racists, or indoor racists," joked Amil. He describes a process where production partners are on board for the message...but only so far. "In Tanzania, it's the NGO system that dictates filmmaking." That means being subject to the NGO's own agenda.

Khadar related that he'd been offered a bigger budget, with the thought of a whiter audience, if he'd written the script in French. He stuck to his guns, and the Swahili source material, but with a Finnish crew, it meant that he was the only one in the crew who spoke the language of the script.

All of the filmmakers talked about the need for African-based solutions. But, where do they come from?

Streaming companies seems to offer a solution, but the reality is that the big streaming studios buy local stories and projects in Africa, and then produce them in Europe. What's needed is an investment in film industry infrastructure in the Continent itself.

As Amil noted, some African languages don't even have words for film technology.

"There's a lot of work to be done," Babalwa summed up.

Uncovering Overlooked Gems: Conservatory Canada Adds 250 Pieces By Women & BIPOC Composers To Classical Piano Syllabus

 From a media release:

Uncovering Overlooked Gems:
Conservatory Canada Adds 250 Pieces
By Women & BIPOC Composers To Classical Piano Syllabus

Check out the full list of composers at the link

If anyone has been under the impression that the only composers of Western classical music were white and male, Conservatory Canada has the answer. They've added no less than 250 compositions by women and BIPOC composers to their classical piano syllabus.

Composers Joseph Bologne & George Bridgetower

Since the 2020-21 global pandemic, interest in uncovering previously unheard and forgotten music by women and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and Peoples of Colour) composers achieved a critical mass. Thanks to the fine work of interested musicologists and musicians worldwide, music that previously went unnoticed in libraries and other collections is now being uploaded to online libraries, and some even published! In a musical world traditionally dominated by select male composers, the void left by leaving hundreds of other composer’s voices unpublished (especially women and BIPOC composers) is finally being filled.

In an effort to promote and make this music more accessible and heard, Conservatory Canada has added and will continue to add titles to its classical piano syllabus repertoire lists as they become available. As of July, 2021, we have added over 250 titles to Grades 1-10 of our Classical Piano syllabus, and we will be making further additions annually. The majority of the added music is by women composers from the 18th and 19th centuries, and there are some works by BIPOC men as well.

We are grateful for the contributions made by CC Examiner, Cecile Desrosiers, who is sharing her research and passion for this music with us. In order to provide more context, and to reveal the fascinating stories of these composers, Cecile has written detailed biographies for many of the composers which can be found on our website here. These bios will be helpful for teachers and students in meeting the background information requirements of our examinations. 

Here's a look at some of the women and BIPOC composers from the 18th century, for example:

Street Food Lagos Nigeria: Eight Delicacies And Where To Find Them

Street Food Lagos Nigeria:
Eight Delicacies And Where To Find Them

Street food is popular with everyone in Nigeria. It's cheap, it's delicious, and the sheer variety of dishes and variations is staggering.

Nigerians love their local cuisine, and eating on the go is a national habit. Here's a look at eight of the most popular dishes, and where you might find them in Lagos. 

Akara (Image by Linason Blessing/CCOC lic.)Suya

Suya spicy grilled steak on a stick, similar to a kebab. The saovury aroma of grilled and roasted meat is likely what you're smelling as you walk through some areas of the city. The meat is seasoned with hot peppers, onions, and other spices.

Suya seller in Lagos (Image by Mark Fischer/CCOC lic) Akara

These deep-fried bean fritters are extremely popular all over Nigeria, and are often eaten for breakfast alone, or as a side dish to other foods. They have a sweetish aroma when fried, and are typically served stuffed into agege bread as a kind of burger.

Abacha

Also called African salad, this dish comes from eastern Nigeria. It's made from boiled and shredded cassava with ugba (oil beans) and veggies, mixed with potash and palm oil. It's often served with fried fish.

Puff Puff

Popular as a snack throughout West Africa, this is a riff on the French beignet made of flour, sugar, yeast, butter, salt, and sometimes eggs. The dough is rolled int o a ball and deep-fried until golden brown. They're served in various ways, as finger food or on their own with peppers and onions.

Roasting plaintain (Image by Amuzujoe/CCOC lic.)Boli (Roasted Plantain)

Boli is a traditional street food dish, made on the roadside and sold by women. The plantain is roasted over hot charcoal, and then served with groundnuts or veggies and palm oil sauce.

Plaintain Chips

Crunchy fried plantain chips are a universal favourite. Traditionally, they were made with unripe plantains, but sweeter ripe fruits are also used nowadays. The plantains are cut into small pieces and deep-fried with salt, sometimes with onion or pepper, and packaged in a nylon wrap for a portable treat.

Okpa

Okpa is a dish from eastern Nigeria, the Enugu state. It's a popular breakfast option made from iron-rich nuts called Bambara. Steamed with habanero peppers, and wrapped in banana leaves, it's a spicy and portable morning wake-up call.

Fried or Roasted Yams

Yams are a staple of most Nigerian diets. Fried yam is called dundu in Yoruba, and is often sold alongside other deep-fried veggies like potatoes. Yamarita is a battered version of fried yams. Other vendors sell it roasted over hot coals.

Where to Go:

In Lagos, there are a few locales to try for prime street food options.

Balogun MarketAround the Ketu bus stopTafawa Balewa Square Bus Terminus on Lagos IslandObalende bus stopThe uber popular Mile 2 bus stopGlover Court Suya, off Glover Road in Ikoyi has been a mecca for Suya lovers for two decadesunder the bridge at Apongbon, Lagos Island

TIFF Film/Industry | Joshua Jackson & Liquid Media Group Announce Their Arrival With A Party At TIFF 2021

TIFF Film/Industry
Joshua Jackson & Liquid Media Group
Announce Their Arrival With A Party
Joshua Jackson and his Liquid Media Group may not have had a film at this year's Toronto International Film Festival, but they made their presence known via industry talks — and a great party at the Windsor Arms Hotel to cap off TIFF's opening weekend. Joshua Jackson, Chairman Liquid Media Group - also known for 'Dawson's Creek' & 'The Affair'

The invited lined up for up to an hour outside the upscale boutique hotel just off Bloor Street West for COVID protocols - double vaxxing required to enter.

Inside, it was champagne, an open bar, and a steady stream of hors d'oeuvres, along with a DJ, although the crowd of about 200 was spaced apart in little groups rather than pressed together on a sweaty dance floor, as the times would dictate. 

TIFF 2021

Elsewhere, this year's Toronto International Film Festival was a contact-less, subdued affair, and necessarily so. There were no crowds on the street, no bustling festival atmosphere. Most industry delegates, according to reports, chose to attend digitally, leaving only us few journo types and film lovers, of course.

King Street West during TIFF: 2019 vs 2021 - 'Come From Away' still playing
Roy Thomson Hall - TIFF 2021

The only group I saw (that you couldn't even call a crowd) was waiting for Jessica Chastain after the premiere of The Eyes of Tammy Faye at the back of Roy Thomson Hall.

What is Liquid Media Group?In addition to the party/showcase at the  46th edition of TIFF, Liquid’s Chairman Joshua Jackson (Dr. Death, Little Fires Everywhere, The Affair) and CEO Ronald Thomson were among the festival's roster of industry speakers, giving talks on topics from streaming to financing and social media. 
L-R: Liquid talent Natasha Marc (The Good Lord Bird); Peter Loung (Rising Suns); model Adriana Runee
Liquid works with independent producers and others to help finance, package, deliver, and find ways to monetize indie media projects. The company is based in Vancouver, and is publicly traded on Nasdaq (YVR). Canadian Joshua Jackson is Co-Founder, Chairman and Independent Director.

This year, the company has pursued a fairly aggressive strategy of acquisitions, including dotstudioPRO, a technology, consulting and video distribution company, iNDIEFLIX, Filmocracy and iGEMStv.

L-R: Liquid talent Singer Eric Benet; Miku Martineau (Kate); Mourad Zaoui (The Forgiven)

They can also work in partnership with indie companies to produce and distribute content, including film, TV, gaming and VR. The key is a network of shared services that gives creators and producers control over their projects beyond just getting it on a screen. That includes elements like marketing analytics, and access to pro distribution platforms.

As Jackson has noted in recent interviews, it's that last piece of the puzzle - distribution - where indie films often fail, and even when they are screened, the filmmaker has often lost control over the process at that point.

Judging by the effort that is going into their recent push, we can expect to hear much more from Liquid coming down the pipe.

I Love Short Film | TIFF Short Cuts Programme 01: Family Through Many Lenses

TIFF Short Cuts Programme 01
Explores The Relationships Closest To Us

The TIFF Short Cuts Programme 01 delved into family and close relationships, and what is truly awe-inspiring is the level of creativity on display.

Each was able to tell a poignant story within a time frame of 15 minutes or less. 

Love, Dad by Diana Cam Van Nguyen (Image courtesy of TIFF)

DEFUND (dir. Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah, Araya Mengesha)
CANADA | 2021 | English
A funny script and natural performances light up this story of adult twins confined by the lockdown search for ways to fight racial injustice, set during the summer of 2020. 

Love, Dad / Milý tati (dir. Diana Cam Van Nguyen)
CZECH REPUBLIC, SLOVAKIA | 2021 | Czech
It's amazing how much emotion and poignant storytelling Vietnamese-Czech filmmaker Van Nguyen can squeeze out of 12 minutes. The story unfolds as the narrator rediscovers letters sent to her by her father during the year he spent in prison 15 years earlier.

Egúngún / Masquerade by Olive Nwosu (Image courtesy of TIFF)

Fanmi (dir.andrine Brodeur-Desrosiers, Carmine Pierre-Dufour)
CANADA | 2021 | French, Haitian Creole
After a break-up, a woman has to contend with her mother's unexpected visit. There is warmth, and unspoken undercurrents, and it all rings true.

Angakusajaujuq - The Shaman's Apprentice (dir. Zacharias Kunuk)
CANADA | 2021 | Inuktitut
Zacharias Kunuk returns to the festival with his first animated project, a magical story told with stop motion technique. A girl is an apprentice shaman to her grandmother, and she faces a formidable task that will test her abilities.

 
Beity (Isabelle Mecattaf)
LEBANON, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | 2021 | Arabic
There are two stories going on in a Beirut household. The wealthy owners rarely lift a finger, while the servant couple do all the work. Both, though, have daughters old enough to leave home. 
Zero / Nula (Lee Filipovski)
CANADA, SERBIA | 2021 | Serbian
A young couple are on a road trip through pleasant mountainous countryside, have a conversation that veers from light bickering to accusations and back again. Filipovski's clever script and sharp ear for dialogue give each character the chance to make their point with laughs. 
*Full disclosure: I have a bit part in one of Lee's earlier films. ;) 
Egúngún / Masquerade (Olive Nwosu)
UNITED KINGDOM, NIGERIA | 2021 | English, Yoruba
Successful in London, a woman has to return home to Lagos for her mother's funeral. There, she reconnects, albeit briefly, with a childhood friend and feelings long forgotten.
 

Classic Rock Redux | Sundogs: Move (Independent / 14 September 2021)

Classic Rock Redux:
Sundogs: Move
(Independent / 14 September 2021)

Preorder/Listen on Bandcamp

From anthemic classic guitar-driven tracks to radio-friendly pop-rock, solid musicianship and songwriting hooks elevate Move, the latest release by Sundogs, from the rest of the pack.

Formed by Stan Snow and Jed Moffitt in Seattle, Move is the fourth album for the Sundogs. The album includes 12 original songs + 5 alternative mixes that were all recorded at Magellan Creek Studios in 2021.

The band talks about the concept of the album in a release.

"There is a scene in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid where a mine boss is interviewing them for work as payroll guards. The boss asks Sundance if he can shoot, and throws a small piece of wood across the dirt road, saying "Hit that!" Sundance twirls his gun, looks to the ground and then slides the gun into his holster, preparing to shoot. Annoyed, the boss interrupts with the words:  "No! No! No! Son, son, I just want to know if you can shoot!?"  

He takes the gun from Sundance's holster and hands it to him. Sundance fires and misses the target. The boss begins to walk away in disappointment. Sundance then says "Can I Move?" to which the boss replies "Move? What the hell do you mean 'move'!? Sundance responds by coiling, drawing his gun, crouching and firing in a split second. He hits the target twice to the incredulous expression on the face of the boss, and then utters the words: "I'm better when I move!" 

Eddard is a standout track, with its jazzy rhythms and keyboard. Jackie adds a nice churchy organ sound to the mix. Future of Dreams is another danceable track with shades of Steely Dan and a driving groove that suits the raspy vocals.

Battle, the lead single, was inspired by history.

"As I was writing this tune, I was thinking about the Early Middle Ages when Vikings from Scandinavia invaded Great Britain in AD 793. I was trying to imagine what might have been going through peoples minds as they fought to defend their homeland. Many people died. Some were drowned in the sea, others killed or taken away as slaves. Villages, monasteries and cities found themselves besieged by these sea-based foreign intruders. No matter how many times the Vikings were beaten, they always came back. In the end, they finally conquered England in 1066 and changed British history forever," says Stan Snow.

Classic genres with modern polish - it's a mix that works well for Sundogs.

Personnel: Stan Snow: vocals, guitars, bass, producer, songwriter; Jed Moffitt: vocals, keyboards, co-producer, songwriter; Mike Stone: drums; Ben Smith: drums; Mia Boyle: backing vocals; Eva Acton Stokes: backing vocals; Eric Patterson: horn arrangements and tenor sax; Javier Gonzalez: trumpets

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