Borisova-Ollas, Elegy

What a way to kick off 2010! I had heard about TLR’s infamous New Year’s Day photo-expeditions, but this was the first time that I tagged along. Tower Automotive is perhaps easy to miss out on Sterling Road - adjacent to some massive chocolate factories, this century-old automotive factorywas to die for.

Every building that I visit and record in has a distinct character, and The Tower had personality in spades!

Believe it or not Tower Automotive in the the city’s west end was once the tallest free-standing structure in Toronto, even taller than The Royal York Hotel, at least back in 1912! This Mies van der Rohe Louis Sullivan-inspired edifice now sits abandoned in the heart of one of Toronto’s most vibrant neighbourhoods, an area rife with transition.

Having been designated historic, the good news is that this classic building will stand the test of time as it awaits its pending conversion into upscale condos, and this in contrast to other factory buildings that I have visited even in this very section of Toronto, some of which are long gone. I guess that would be the bad news: that we are losing as many buildings as are saved these days here in Toronto, or so it would seem.

So the other bit of good news? That I can afford you a glimpse of this place in its present poignant & derelict state and share this with you, acoustics and all.

This picture, kindly taken by acclaimed architect Dieter Janssen who had joined in on the UE fun that day, was snapped on the uppermost floor just steps from the reverberant concrete stairwell where I had recorded after he and I discovered this massive and graffitied wall-sized map of the world.

The acoustics in the stairwell were tensile in the extreme as I read through this piece by Victoria Borisova-Ollas, an Elegy marked Cantabile, Espressivo that I thought well-suited for this forlorn site-in-transition. Like singing in the shower, this was an extremely live echo-chamber - although if you sense a restrained quality, this was because I was extremely wary as I recorded.

The alarm had been sounded early in our expedition as we moved further into the shadowy depths of the monolith, and the text that came around was “stay away from the windows” so you might very well understand my concern in blasting away on my flute - the last thing I would want is to get us all busted! These urban exploration photographers go about their work almost religiously and in near-silence, so I played Sotto-voce almost whispering into my flute, so as not to catch the attention of the security guards who we spotted prowling around the exterior of the antiquated skyscraper!

The image is kind of fun here in how it captures the global parameters of my project, and, with graffiti veiling the world map, there’s just the right suggestion of insouciance, if that’s the right word. After all, the flute - like music itself - is the most ephemeral of instruments in an ephemeral world!

My thanks to Dieter and everyone at TLR, Ms. Borisova-Ollas for her inspired composition, and Urban Explorers everywhere! Below you will find a couple more pics of Tower Automotive from an after-hours visit that I paid to the same site back in the summer…but, well, that’s a whole other story!

…Tower Automotive is even taller than the CN Tower!!

Variations on The Fall

Although this bit of rural urban exploration was over a week ago, I’m still back in this barn up on Gore Road - not sure if I inhabit the place or if in fact it inhabits me. I guess being stuck in a barn over Christmas is kind of appropriate, wouldn’t you say? Wandering around with my friend Rob and puzzling over various deserted buildings on the forlorn site definitely got under my skin even more than the chilling temperatures.

I had suggested to Rob that he bring along his guitar despite the cold, since he plays in a band that does all The Fall covers (talk about your niche market!) and we’d never had a chance to jam together. So he laid out this acoustic version of one of The Fall’s tunes, and I gamely jumped in the fray, frozen fingers and all, to overlay a flute line - all under the eerily back lit and knowing gaze of characters from one of Mike Myers’ Austin Powers movies!

We might have played a little longer, but something very odd occurred. If you listen carefully towards the end of this recording, one of Rob’s guitar strings suddenly re-tuned itself, totally throwing him as it sent the harmonic progression in a new direction - it was actually pretty sick and caught us both off-guard! He couldn’t account for this strange occurrence, as nothing like this had ever happened with his guitar before.

I suggested it was possibly the cold that had wreaked havoc on his instrument, you know, once we were safely back in the car and heading down the country road for the warmth and safety of the nearest Timmy H outlet. But in the end we both agreed it was a playful ghost inhabiting the barn and having its way with us, re-tuning Rob’s guitar and teaching me how to play the blues, or, in this case, a little post-punk flute!

The Frozen Barn Blues

While exploring the haunted and sadly abandoned farmhouse just outside Toronto’s city limits, Rob and I wandered into this adjacent barn space that had clearly been used as a crazy clubhouse, replete with a massive Austin Powers billboard on one wall.

This was the first time we had found a chance to jam together, and man was it freezing in there, one of those penetrating, damp colds that marks the beginning of a good ol’ Canadian winter. I was carting along my old wooden 1920’s flute, an instrument appropriate for the vintage of the farmhouse, which is a piece of work to play in tune at the best of times, so, given the sub-zero temperatures I appreciate you cutting me a little slack in the tuning department…in fact I was kinda pleased with myself that I managed to rock out spontaneously with this Blues riff!

After a couple of hasty takes I could barely feel my fingers anymore, so we hustled out of there and headed for the nearest Tim Horton’s. For more pictures of this desolate country site, check out my slideshow on Phanfare.

Haunted Farmhouse Elegy

Development northwest of the city is rampant at the moment, and returning from the country I noticed an abandoned farmhouse. It used to be one of those classic, tree-lined driveway type places - you know the type I mean - so emblematic and a signature of rural Southern Ontario.

The fact that these century-old maple trees had been numbered with orange spray-paint and callously uprooted and tossed aside like so many left over Christmas toy is what initially caught my eye. The wanton disregard by developers to raze an otherwise precious arbor commodity was offensive and an assault to the senses.

So I decided to venture up the muddy track that once was a bucolic, sheltered drive to investigate further. I parked the car discreetly behind an out-shed only to discover that, in the fading daylight, the doors of the farmhouse were securely barred and windows boarded up despite there being signs of recent occupants having resided here. Exploring around the perimeter of the old place, I discovered that - to my surprise - the front door yielded and was unsecured.

I stepped across the threshold into another world.

Household items of all descriptions lay about the place, strewn plates and a smashed yellow teapot littered the kitchen floor, keeping the books and CD’s that I found in the dining room and living area a moribund kind of comaraderie, as if the most recent family to have lived there had just up and left with less than a week’s notice.

Upstairs was no different: kids’ toys including a marble collection in a plastic container, overturned bed frames and a mattress leaned precariously against a bedroom wall, a baby’s crib…even this mysterious pair of gumboots standing neatly together beside the bathtub in the second floor bathroom.

The place gave me a chill, but I recorded some flute playing nonetheless - an impromptu freestyle solo on my vintage wooden flute - I discovered sounds on my flute that I had never heard before, or even thought imaginable, a violent rhapsodic elegy for a family home with so much history in evidence, yet slated for demolition and relegated to the proverbial suburban junk heap. All in the name of ‘progress’ - sure, the place clearly had fallen on hard times, and wasn’t in the least well maintained, but it all just struck me as unjust and totally regrettable.

Of course my camera batteries were dead, so therefore no pics upon that first visit. And then, as if that wasn’t enough and just to top things off, half-way home I suddenly realized - with a certain sense of urgency - that I had managed to have left my Edirol recorder on the kitchen table, sitting in plain view amidst all the dicarded debris in the unheated place.

A return visit to get some snaps was not only desirable, it was now imperative…kind of like a bucolic Canadian version of that war flic, Black Hawk Down!

So I returned early the next morning with my friend Rob - intrepid Urban Explorer that he is - and we braved the early morning chill cold to wander in and snoop around the place. More than ever it gave me the creeps and left me feeling physically ill. It seriously took me all day to warm up and actually feel somewhat better, sensitive musician-type that I am!?

And I haven’t even begun to describe the narrow staircase that led up to the gloom of the shadowy attic space. One can only imagine what might be lurking up there…

Bach, Sarabande

After scouring the city for a good spot to hold another impromtu full moon concert last night proved fruitless, I took a minutes to play under this fantastic bridge near Dup and Dav.

Streets in Toronto get all sorts of cute abbreviations, a common one being Av & Dav, which is short for Avenue Road and Davenport Road. So, by extension, I feel it only fair to call Dupont Street and Davenport Road (now there’s a mouthful) Dup and Dav, don’t you think?

Arterial nomenclature aside, I have often wondered what the acoustics might be like under this iconic bridge, but usually have been in too much of a hurry or navigating the insane intersection at the bottom of Russell Hill Road to take the time. I believe at one point this was actually a level crossing for the railway that passes overhead. It is likely that some sage city council members from a bygone era successfully lobbied to dig a modernistic underpass here to facilitate transit about the city, all in the name of progress - sometimes I wish there were more of these around town, considering the gridlock! When it comes to getting around TO, I feel I’m master of the backstreets so a little traffic snarl usually doesn’t phase me, but still, traffic is a joke at times!

A violinist friend of mine, Max, and I had set our sights on the Laird warehouses up in the east end of town for an impromptu, after-hours concert - you know, to read some Bach duos by flashlight, whatever - but were stymied when we discovered both warehouses up in Leaside are now securely boarded up : (   After trekking in the dark across muddy tracts of overgrown industrial landfill in the rain, this sign kinda sealed the deal:

Not so sure about the grammar here, but the bit about the dog cinched it for us. And to think I used to roam about and play freely around here!? So we headed for a beer - what else to do - to talk about upcoming gigs, go over ideas about the nature of music, as well as to figure out an order for the program for our upcoming St. Anne’s concert!

Returning home, streets largely deserted, and in need of a hot bath, the bridge beckoned…

Alexander Muir, Maple Leaf Forever

After being moth-balled for years, it came as a pleasant surprise to learn that Toronto’s storied Maple Leaf Gardens has a new lease on life. I happened to have had CP24’s Breakfast Television on as wallpaper yesterday, and they cut to a press conference at the Gardens announcing a $60 million overhaul of the place, a collaborative venture involving Loblaws, Ryerson University as well as various levels of government.

Great good news! Thankfully, gone are the days when an historic edifice such as this might succumb to the wrecking ball - truly, here is a success story in the making, where a unique architectural landmark is at long last on the threshold of being transformed into a vibrant community hub.

Like so many Torontonians, I have my fair share of fuzzy, feel-good, nostalgic memories from frequenting the Gardens, not so much the occasional hockey game as rock events featuring the likes of The Who, Yes, Queen and Bob Dylan. I guess there were others, but it’s all a little hazy, if you know what I mean!?

Slipping past the media check-in table set up in the lobby, Alexander Muir’s iconic The Maple Leaf Forever seemed an appropriate piece to play in this evocative corridor leading to ice level of the capacious, dormant building. Sure, I’m more of a Habs fan, but those hapless Maple Leafs need all the encouragement they can get these days with such a sad season so far!

And of course Muir’s patriotic song was held up as a Canadian national anthem for past generations, and was even played in movie theaters before the film would roll! I like to think that my playing of this song in this location might serve as emblematic of those earlier days at the Gardens, and evoke the spirit of the grand, old building.

To learn more about The Maple Leaf Forever from when I paid Muir’s cottage in Leslieville a visit, out in Toronto’s east end, click here. And of course there is a monument to Alexander Muir up near Lawrence and Yonge: if you’ve never taken the opportunity to visit these delightful public gardens - speaking of gardens - you owe it to yourself to take a stroll through this wonderful Toronto green-space!

Talking Heads, Psycho Killer

We’re talking football here, Canadian football no less, and the words too many men will haunt the Saskatchewan Roughriders for years to come after they gave away the Grey Cup last night in the dying seconds of the game - an extra green uniform on the field was all it took to allow a stunning upset by the Montreal Allouettes, a football final that will go down in the annals of CFL history.

What better opportunity to introduce a local 7-piece band who rather humorously call themselves, yes, Too Many Men, and this fabulous rendition of Psycho Killer by The Talking Heads, performed live at The Smiling Buddha Bar down on College Street back in the summer?

Too Many Men, Qu’est Que C’est?

Robert Aitken, Icicle

I’m delighted to have been collaborating with this inspiring group of Plastique Animee practitioners, part of a much longer story that will emerge in the coming weeks. Last spring I attended numerous sessions at the Royal Conservatory, providing music and improvising on an array of world instruments for the class. One specific piece that was ideally suited to the philosophy of movement and music was Debussy’s Syrinx.

It looked like Toronto’s Plastique Animee group might be on ice as they scoured Toronto for a new home back in September, but with a new season - and new digs at the National Ballet School over on the east side of town- I have re-connected with them and suggested that this descriptive,  improvisational-sounding piece written by acclaimed Canadian flutist Robert Aitken, Icicle, might be well-suited for accompanying one of their loosely choreographed dance sequences.

Ideally I will have the piece memorized and, attired in black dance garb, will be an active participant moving amongst the group as I play, Nijinsky-style!

Bella Ciao

With fellow musicians I recently provided music for the release of Ciao Bella, co-authored by Gina Buonaguro and Janice Kirk - pictured above - held November 4th at Ben McNally Books in downtown Toronto. Check out this slideshow on Phanfare for more music and images from the wonderful reception.

The music featured here is the traditional Italian resistance song Bella Ciao, and features singer Sergio Restagno, myself on flute, along with Max Scheinin, violin and Ronen Segall on accordion.

Congratulations Gina and Janice for a successful launch and the opportunity to provide music for the event!

Excerpted from Ciao Bella:

Once again Clario picked up his accordion. This time though his song was not mournful but a spirited rendition of Bella Ciao – Goodbye Sweetheart, the story of a partisan whose mountainside grave was marked by a beautiful flower, as she hoped Ugo’s was.

This is the flower of the partisan.

O bella, ciao! bella, ciao! bella, ciao, ciao, ciao!

Who died for liberty.

O bella, ciao! bella, ciao! bella, ciao, ciao, ciao!

Piazza, Metodo Popolare, Etude #3

Since The Carlu re-opened a number of years ago after being moth-balled for decades I’d been curious to check out this Art Moderne architectural treasure, tucked away on the south-west corner of Yonge & Carlton. The Carlu will be one of the sites for this week’s Creative Places + Spaces conference, and as an official media-blogger for the event, I finally had my chance yesterday to tour this historic site as part of a CP+S conference orientation for media and volunteers. The CP+S conference is presented by Artscape, in collaboration with MaRS, Martin Prosperity Institute, and the City of Toronto - Economic Development, Culture & Tourism.

I only had a quick peek inside the deserted lobby spaces, yet am happy to report that The Carlu is a treat for both the eyes and the ears! In a couple of days, it will also be a treat for the ol’ grey matter as some of the most visionary thinkers assemble to discuss the role of Creativity in the making of a successful society as part of the conference. Learn more about Richard Florida and the other guest speakers here.

Also hired in as a performer for the conference, I’m looking forward to teaming up with cellist Lucas Tensen at The Carlu and MaRS as over 600 delegates arrive on Thursday morning for the first of two days of presentations - more soundfiles and stories to follow later in the week!

Based on the overwhelming response, organizers have made available discounted tickets that allow guests into the balcony of the Carlu theater space this Thursday. Learn more about attending the conference here or contact Creative Places + Spaces at 416-392-1038 ext 31 or info@creativeplacesandspaces.ca.

 Shakuhachi Improv 3

With night moving in and the batteries in my Edirol recorder dying, here are some final impressions before leaving Sleepy Hollow (see images below). Having tried valiantly to capture images of fireflies and one last image of the moon through the haunted woods of the area, I decided that I had tarried long enough in Tarrytown!

As I sped my way northwards towards Poughkeepsie, the glowing presence of the moon pursuing me at every turn of the road offered little comfort as cars in apparent great haste repeatedly pushed me past the posted 40 MPH to well beyond 60 miles per hour - the locals evidently knew the twists and turns of the shadowy two-lane highway better than as we raced along in tandem through the dark!

With a shudder I suddenly realized how Ichabod Crane must have felt as he travelled this same route, especially when a lone rider on a motorcycle appeared directly behind me from out of nowhere and pushed me even faster, his single headlamp glaring in my rearview mirror! Moments later, on a short stretch of twisting roadway where passing was all but impossible, the motorcycle went roaring past at over 8o miles per hour.

A sidelong glance of the shadowy figure as he flew past confirmed my worst fear: the rider had no helmet! 

Read The Legend of Sleepy Hollow here.

Read more about Washington Irving’s Sunnyside Estate here.

As described in Irving’s strange tale, the fireflies in the woods where I had played in that shadowed glade by the brook were great in number and like none that I had ever seen before! Their phosphorescent lightshow left an indelible and magical afterimage in my imagination!

 Penny Lane

Here is the the view from the back deck of where I was house-sitting for a bass player and his family (who I had only just recently met on Twitter!) near Poughkeepsie before visiting the Musical Bridge described in the previous post. As soon as I heard a lawnmower fire up, I new there was a unique recording opportunity in the making akin to my duos for flute with jackhammer,  jet plane, or pneumatic drill to name but a few.

After a lull in the sounds of lawn care and I had just retreated from the hot glare of the sun, that’s when the weed whacker started up, and I jumped at the opportunity for a second go at this 60’s classic. It was only when I gave a quick listen driving back to Massachusetts the next day that I realized how well the two sound together - it’s almost as if the weed whacker operator is following a score!

You may be wondering why I settled on more Beatles after recording Yellow Submarine in a yellow submarine. Well, after a long day of driving, when I first rolled into Walden, New York, I got some rather confusing directions from the attendant who served me a well-deserved chocolate-dip softee cone. I ended up completely at the wrong end of town on Penny Lane, not a word of a lie, right around the corner from the colourful and welcoming Tschen Kunchab Ling (Tibetan Buddhist) Temple of All-Encompassing Great Compassion, which turns out to be the centre for His Holiness the Sakya Trizin in the Unites States.

My first take of Penny Lane with  lawnmower was a bit rough as I sorted out page turns and da capos. Click on the icon below to hear my first read-through as the lawnmower sounds in the background. I felt badly for the young guy doing the lawn care, who appeared to be doing a great job taking care of several adjoined backyards. I guess it was the woman in charge - maybe his mom - who appeared at one point and berated him about something, somewhere between the lawnmower and weed whacker movements of this impromptu Petite Suite pour Flute & Lawn Care Implements!

Ah-h, the sweet sounds of summer!

 Duo for Flute & Lawnmower

 Rossini, William Tell Overture

With a lot of my colleagues rolling into NYC this week for the National Flute Association’s annual convention, I feel a bit like Cinderella staying back from the ball to attend to summer teaching and some blog-style housekeeping.

So here is my unique musical rendition of visiting The Big Apple. A couple of weeks ago I was headed to the Kingston area with a couple of musician friends to provide background music for what proved to be a wonderful wedding in Odessa. The guys in the trio were game to take a short break from driving and to check out the acoustics of the ginormous (sp?) apple that can be seen on the south side of the 401 a couple hours east of Toronto.

Joking around about what music might be good to play, Max, the violinist, gamely launched into this rendition of Rossini’s The William Tell Overture…you know, speaking of apples!

Here’s to a great NFA flute convention - believe me, I’m there in spirit!

 Phantom Concert 2

My thanks to those brave souls who attended the second in a series of innovative infiltration concerts. The CBC thankfully was on the scene to capture the extraordinary acoustics and some audience feedback as the daring and rather audacious event unfolded.

This segment, recently aired on CBC’s Radio 2, wonderfully conveys the magic and nuance of hearing fine music performed in unusual, off-limits locations - especially when you consider that audience and performers alike might have been busted by security at any moment!

After-hours on the evening of  the full moon, Lucas and I performed several short sets in this purportedly haunted, abandoned ballroom high above the city, and I think there were just enough shadowy figures wandering about the space that this would qualify as a Classical Music Rave!

 A special thanks to Andrew for his superb coverage and editing!

More pics and soundfiles to come, so stay tuned…

 Black is the Colour…

I finally had a chance to test  the acoustics beneath the massive ‘floating box’ of Toronto’s Ontario College of Art & Design despite it being after hours…

With the area deserted, and just an occasional passerby in the distance, I felt a little exposed as I set up to record; however the soothing strains of Black is the Colour (of my True Love’s Hair) helped put me at ease. I wanted to pick something that might not disturb the residents at the nearby Village by the Grange! I discovered afterwards that I had set my recording levels on the low side, although the resulting muted quality of my flute blending with the gentle hum of the Toronto night has a pleasing effect.

I remember the day that I got caught in traffic headed northbound on McCaul Street as a ridiculously over-sized flatbed truck with its load of what looked like giant toothpicks maneuvered in the narrow street just down from the AGO. Those ‘toothpicks’ of course ended up being the whimsical support columns for OCAD’s wonderfully audacious, architectural makeover!

It was some time later that I first caught a glimpse of the ‘new’ OCAD at night, and what a splendid sight! And the sheltered area under the massive, checkered box is an inviting parkette if you haven’t taken time to wander into that delightful little green-space. As mentioned, I have long wondered what the acoustic might be like, so I finally had my chance at the stroke of midnight as I cycled back from a spontaneous visit to the Horseshoe Tavern last week. Just as I had imagined, the acoustics were quite lively - almost like an ‘indoor’ reverb - yet expansive somehow, and elusive, with the city’s ambient street sounds gently spilling in. 

One of those shadowy passersby turned out to be quite generous! Seeing me fiddling with the time-release of my NIKON D-60, Mike Soares and his friend wandered over and obliged me with this portrait snap of me mock-playing in the shadow of OCAD’s underbelly…what is it they say about Torontonians being friendly?! 

…case in point! Thanks Mike!

 Kummer Duo

It was a year ago that I purchased my Armani tux from Tom, along with a couple of choice suits, and it’s hard to believe his annual warehouse sale at the JCC has rolled around again so soon! Playing there today with Max, after testing the acoustics with Tom and his staff yesterday.

Please drop by, the sale runs from today through Saturday…uh, Tom’s prices and amazing selection will definitely suit you!!

 Karg-Elert, Caprice #2

Don’t you just want to hug these socks?!

Last chance to view a unique neon installation, One Sided and Small Minded, by my friend Orest Tataryn on display at the Stantec Building at Spadina and Wellington: ie, ye olde MacGregor sock factory. I was afraid I had missed this installation, but  the show has been extended through the week and is definitely worth checking out.

The old MacGregor Sock  is one of my fav buildings in the city. Or at least it was, while it was in limbo for years as an outlet store for amazing sock bargoons. I’m not sure what the deal was there, as there seemed to be manufacturing going on in the main space behind the small retail area, but the machines seemed to be sitting idle more often than not. Never one to question the reasons behind good value for socks, especially when they were so unique and beautiful!

MacGregor Socks is to Canada as apple pie is to America - it seems like MacGregor socks have always been around and are part of our national heritage: you know, Voyageurs, beaver pelts, Hudson’s Bay outposts….and MacGregor socks…it all goes, er, hand in hand!

At the time of recording, I felt my playing was super-bad…and, uh, not in a good way; however, as I have stated before here, purists should check their baggage at the door when they arrive at Urban Flute Project!  With only a few minutes on the parking meter, and the weather very chilly despite the bright late-March sunshine, I was frozen and short on time. And not to mention badly under-caffeinated!

And in fact, even though my playing might leave something to be desired, and the outdoor acoustic basically sucked, there were some distinctive elements to this soundscape that make it noteworthy: first of all there is the distinctively Toronto sound of a Spadina streetcar at the outset, different in tenor than even other streetcars around the city - maybe something to do with their speed and the broad expanse of the boulevard that Jane Jacobs helped preserve for posterity!?

If you listen carefully, the other remarkable element is about halfway through. This is a short Caprice, so as I started in a second time at a quicker tempo, the sound of very fast walking can be heard passing on the sidewalk behind me. I was amazed to observe that, as I played, the footfall was exactly in time with my faster eighth note pulse…I even automatically adjusted my tempo to match what was happening on in the landscape around me…really, what’s with that?!

This kind of synchronicity does not surprise in the least. It is yet another example of the phenomenon that is even evident in the two previous posts: the timing of those walls at coming down at National Rubber Industries creates a natural cadence in the music, and seems oddly aligned to the ebb and flow of the particular pieces that I happened to be playing.

What does one play for a neon installation?? Perhaps Give My Regards to Broadway, or some Psychedelica, would be in order, you know, like maybe some Purple Haze? I did a quick google-search before leaving the house to see if there was some composer who had even a vague neon reference, but instead of sheet music, I came across this unique flute-related Neon Kokopelli!

Eureka! For order info, try the link above…and only $200 USD for a most amazing conversation piece at your next social gathering!

The featured composer here, Karg-Elert, continues to spark synapses for me, 30 years on. He is one of those progressive composers who can still electrify especially the younger player. His obvious background as an organist, as evidenced by the many diverse and quicksilver shifts of character in his Caprices and Sonatas -from ‘Elfin’ one moment to ‘Volcanic’ the next - align him immediately with a modern sensibility…and this almost eighty years since he penned these ‘progressive studies’ for the ‘modern flutist’!

I’m not sure when neon made its first appearance in cities across North America and Europe…oh, wait, here it is: NEON, and check out the dates here, which back up my hunch that Sigfrid Karg-Elert would have borne witness to some of the earliest neon signs during his lifetime, around the same time that he wrote his 30 Caprices for solo flute.

Get yourself down to Front and Spadina, before these lights are dimmed to make way for the next installation…and, hot off the press, here is the link to discount sock-shopping, assuming you might be heading out west on the Queensway. As the saying goes, it’s worth the drive to Acton Etobicoke, that is if you’re into socks!

This is not the last you will hear of my friend Orest…your local, neighbourhood arc-welder fire captain neo-neon artist! And here is what the artiste has to say for himself:

Orest Tataryn
One sided and small minded
installation, 2008
winter solstice - spring equinox

One sided and small minded was a statement made in a mild state of disgust by the architect / artist Kurt Schwitters of Hanover, Germany regarding the use of a limited number of materials to make art. Although he was part of the dada group of artists he was considered a bit too bourgeois for their comfort and thus thrived as a willing outsider.
I was thinking how this building was dedicated to the singular production of socks and how it has transformed into a house that now deals with the production of architecture. And then I was thinking about how I am dedicated and somewhat entrapped by my own artistic expressions, primarily in neon, regardless of what embellishments surround it.
In this sculpture I stabilize and conceal a colour field behind three horizontal, white, sanded acrylic boxes. Over these I shall be suspending an array of antique sock stretchers made out of white neon over which fit patterned socks and stockings.

Orest Tataryn has been a high steel worker, a professional firefighter (captain), a founding member of the collective Skunkworks/Outlaw Neon, and is currently a Light Sculptor interested in tranformation — how light can transform space, create optical illusions, project afterimages, and alter perception.
The Stantec Window is located at Spadina and Wellington.

Produced with the support of the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council. Support of Stantec Architecture and Stantec Consulting is gratefully acknowledged.

The installation One sided and small minded is a public art project of the convenience curatorial collective.

 Craigie-Burn Wood, Trad

Here is another remarkable staggering recording made inside the National Rubber Industries factory as it was meeting its untimely demise last week. I’m glad that I could bear witness to the final days of this dinosaur of a building out in the the west end of Toronto, as described in the previous post.

There are more images and soundfiles, however this is the one that is truly unbelievable, and that I thought I was describing in the A Jurassic Moment (see previous post) where I described the sound of a wall crashing down. If you listened intently to the last soundfile and perhaps were disappointed, I guarantee there will be no mistaking the incredible sonic wall of sound towards the end of this recording.

I would love to score some of my playing that day for solo flute and percussion. For this one I might need the services of five percussionists! The sound of the demolition at NRI was truly symphonic in its scope, diversity and intensity!

Nice pic, eh? I love the primary colours here with the afternoon light angling in. This photo was taken just minutes before I headed up those red stairs to record. Funny to think this is all gone now.  

There I go again, risking my life for Art, and all for a rubber flute.

National Rubber Industries, R.I.P.

The Blue-Eyed Lass, Scottish Trad

Well, last week was March Break here in Ontario, and it seemed like half the city cleared out, sensibly heading someplace warm or maybe hitting the slopes north of the city. Me? Between meeting with students and a few gigs around town, I had just enough going on that I stick around and revel in how much less traffic there was in getting around town. I ended up having some fine adventures in-town, including this Jurassic moment out in The Junction!

I had been tipped off the day before that a couple of the buildings out in The Junction were coming down, including the old, abandoned GE factory and NRI (National Rubber Institute?)  where I had tagged along with members of TLR camera club. I had joined them and played flute in the cold while they wandered around taking photos and documenting massive interior spaces.

Dinosaurs of the manufacturing era, I’m glad that these buildings have been documented in sight and sound as they meet their demise: these warehouses each have their own characteristics, personality…and lifespan, it would seem. NRI is like an contemporary version of the slow-moving herbivore like the Brontosaurus, especially when compared to the stealth and deadly accuracy of the T-Rex pictured above. This Trawna-saurus Rex is kinda cute, though, don’t you think?

This image reminds me of that scene in Jurassic Park, you know, where the dinosaur peers eerily into the car of our hapless heroes. The sounds that this dino made were absolutely awe-inspiring, and if you listen carefully, there is one particular moment towards the end where a wall comes down, the cascade of bricks completely engulfing this old Scottish Air.

Where one might imagine the sound of a building being being torn down as ugly or just plain noisy, this recording reveals that the sounds of demolition can be endlessly nuanced and even beautiful in their own way. The flute offers contrast, and adds to the poignancy of the moment where our urban landscape changes dramatically. For the better? For the worse? Depends on who you talk to, of course.

Recorded on a second floor area of NRI as the adjacent section was being torn down, I returned a few days later at dusk, just to check in on my old friend. As I tried to get my bearings in the fading light and clambered over large mounds of bricks and metal, I suddenly realized that the space where this recording was made - that whole section of the building - had vanished.

Where I had stood and played my flute no longer existed.

So, how was your March Break?

 College Street Improv

I have found the doors to this historic church on College Street, just west of Bathurst a few blocks, unlocked and beckoning several times now. My first visit was an exciting solo, late-night excursion through mysterious corridors and shadowed stairwells into the expansive, awe-inspiring sanctuary - the diffuse streetlights and muffled street-sounds sculpted the silence and darkness that winter’s night in the 4-storey space. I had a good look around that first time, although didn’t have my flute and recorder on me. I did get some evocative night-time photos on my cellphone, but thought I really should get back, not only to capture the beautiful acoustic of this site in transition with some flute-sounds, but to see the massive interior by the light of day!

On the day of my return, the work crew must have been on lunch-break, as oddly no-one was around. Passing discreetly inside (with a copy of my Urban Flute Project  CD on the ready like a protective talisman, you know, if I needed to explain myself!), I then proceeded up some stairs and into the sanctuary. I discovered that yet again I had the place to myself, or at least so it seemed, so I quietly set up and played my South American wooden, primitive flute, reverently sounding the space. In hindsight I guess I shoulda played, like, Ave Maria or something - either the Bach or Gounod arrangement, I’m not particular - but I am nonetheless thrilled at my success with this rather daring, daytime infiltration!

I’ve been meaning to post this material for a couple of months now, and happened to be down along College Street just yesterday. Update: the condo-ization of this gorgeous building is moving right along, with new roofing shingles and fancy copper trim. I’d love to get back in and play some more, but this at least offers you a glimpse! FYI, my CD Urban Flute Project [transforming space with sound] is available at Soundscapes, just near Clinton & College in Little Italy - great store, and a fun place to browse for magazines or music.

Like the previously described Roy Square, and depending on your perspective, this church conversion can perhaps serve as yet another example of Toronto’s ‘fall from grace’. Let’s just say the jury’s out, and we’ll know better in the coming months as condos are retrofitted with their massive stained-glass windows here. The Church just down the street at the corner of College and Bathurst is often touted as a successful conversion; however it happens that - in pre Urban Flute days - I boldly slipped into the original church as it was in mid demolition. And I have to say that despite the clever conversion, nothing, simply nothing, can replace the religious sense of mystery and history that I experienced that day, treading over mounds of broken plasterand lath, stepping around the pews thrown into jumbled angles in the darkened space, the work crews nowhere to be seen. The basement of that other church was even more dimly lit and emotionally poignant. Feeling my way back above ground, I found myself relying on the sense of touch and smell - in the plaster dust I could almost smell the history and sense of community that was being ineffably altered. - J

cd available at soundscapes

I remember reading a while back that College Street is one of the hippest places on the planet! Well I wouldn’t doubt it for a second, although in the 10 intervening years, this hip strip has likely shifted a half-mile to the southwest, tif you’re wanted to keep pace with the in set: Dundas West, now that’s where things are really happening…just head south from College and Bathurst, hang a right on Dundas, and voila, hipster Shangrila!

So, in case you weren’t looking, this massive church space at the corner of College and Palmerston is undergoing a massive reno