A Fall from Grace?

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 Busking in Muddy York

Like our good friend Ike and his ill-fated plummet earthwards, we now land in the very heart of Toronto. Sorry to interrupt the fun in the lavatory, as per the previous post!  After our little Mile High adventure, let’s just get real here. This is an image and soundfile from Roy Square, in the midst of its being relegated to Toronto’s history as a mere footnote…a blip in Upper Canada’s march to our shared future: A Brave New World for our kids and future generations to come?

Toronto’s version of Winnipeg’s Portage & Main - if I could put it that way- Yonge & Bloor’s SW corner is now a blank, empty space that ghosts our infamous crossroads here in Toronto, home of the Hudson’s Bay Company, Canada’s merchants since 1670 -  and hey, ya gotta love that proper little apostrophe! 

The whole Bloor Street corridor is in the middle of a major make-over of urban proportions to make itself more ‘user-friendly’. In the meantime it is a hub of controversy as everyone deals with the ongoing noise, dust - or mud, dependant on the weather - diverted sidewalks and unprecedented traffic snarls. And this all to placate the TIFF crowds that are due to roll in on a red carpet next September, in my humble estimation. Hey, some things in this still-provincial town are readily self-evident!

Roy Square was one of those rare urban backwaters that I personally discovered when first exploring  Toronto, and until recently it was home to numerous offices, shops and restaurants. It is indeed sad to see it meet its demise. It wasn’t so much a square as a delightful, hidden enclave.

On any warm, summer afternoon - especially on a sunny lunch hour - it was a vibrant hive of pedestrian traffic that I am sure will be missed by many city-folk here in old Muddy York. I might actually have busked here: you know, in an earlier lifetime, but can’t really say for sure just now…so in this soundfile I ‘busk’ my heart out, playing for the passing spirits who have inhabited this storied location in the heart of Toronto in the midst of its demolition. 

This quirky space, nestled as it was in the shadow of The Bay, is indelibly etched in my memory.  The irony is that  Roy Square was also home to the woefully under-funded offices of the Toronto Historical Association as described in my adventures when I recorded at the Tollkeeper’s Cottage, now situated at Bathurst and Davenport. Last time I checked the THA was in need of computers if you have any kicking around the house.

Next time you find yourself dodging traffic in the chaos that is Yonge & Bloor, maybe give a nod to Roy Square, or what used to be Roy Square. History in the making, eh?

Note: If I’m not mistaken, this is ‘French Accordion’ by acclaimed flutist/composer Ron Korb – apologies, but since recording at Roy Square I have been buried in reams of manuscripts as a colleague and I find ourselves in the middle of a three-year overhaul of the RCM Flute Syllabus. The new syllabus will feature all grades, as well as a compilation series of selected Studies and Pieces – along with recordings - scheduled to be launched at the NFA’s Annual Flute Convention in Anneheim, California, Summer, 2010.