haiti music

There's a flurry of fundraisers for Haiti relief this evening, including a massive Canadian one being taped in Toronto, preceeding the large MTV George Clooney-led telethon event in the US.

It's a devastating disaster and reminded me of my time in India when I was there during the 2004 tsunami. It was a heart-wrenching time - especially when you know how poor these people already were - to have a natural disaster affect them so terribly. There's a lot of focus on getting aid to the people on the ground now, but the time and money will still be needed many months from now.

I came across this clip from a recent Haiti fundraiser. She's called Selah Sue and has a SPECTACULAR voice. It really inspired me. She's Belgian and has an EP available now called Black Part Love.

a new amazing place

I'm a big fan of urban spaces. I don't think they always get the credit they deserve. I mean, we all know that if we're at the top of a mountain or on a gorgeous deserted beach, we're going to remember them and talk to people about them. But we don't always talk about the urban spaces that for some of us who have always lived in cities, are just as memorable.

I've always been a city person. I think that may be because I grew up toddling around south London and then North Vancouver (which, admittedly, had its fair share of greenery and mountains) and then moved to Toronto, took a detour back to London and Mumbai and returned to the downtown Toronto mecca.

I was coordinating some media interviews for Amanda Martinez last week (plug: her new disc comes out October 20 in Canada and she's got shows in London, Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal this month as well) and I'd decided to have it at the new Koerner Hall venue on Bloor Street.

Now, I'm a huge fan of buildings that bridge the gap between old and new. Koerner Hall is Toronto's newest (and possibly most gorgeously appointed) concert hall, part of the brick heritage building that houses the Royal Conservatory of Music. The hall is a warm wood designed room, with a to-die-for acoustics and what looks like taffy-pulled wooden adornment that decorates the ceiling and the back of the stage set-up. Although seating is for 1000+ audience members, it retains its intimate feel and I can tell the concerts there are going to be as pleasing for the artists as the audience since the space presents such an admirable first impression.

So, i had set up a schedule of interviews in the lobby of this building to get the media knowing where it was and to see how great it was that Amanda's new disc was launching here. Makes sense, right?

I thought I'd probably have an experience in the space because I was already overwhelmed by it but it wasn't that space that I'm going to point out as a corner of the world that is full of magic...

As I was bringing the camera crew from CBC The Scene down the elevator to the main floor, we walked through this row of music practice rooms. They look a bit like doors on a ship - with little round windows where you can peek to see musicians at work. And the magic was that the music was bleeding, ever so quietly, into the hallway we were walking through. It was like that Alice in Wonderland tunnel that the Cheshire Cat likes to open every once in a while... we all were flabbergasted and speechless. It's these kind of unexpected corners of paradise in urban centres that I try and enjoy as much as possible. I've now added it to my list of new amazing places in the city of Toronto. Worth the surprise. Made my week.

pride in change

Where were you when? This is the question that gets asked when you hit those crossroads of history that motivate the world to tune in. I was in residence at University huddled around the common lounge television when news of Diana's death came in. I was in drama class in highschool on my birthday when OJ Simpson's verdict came in. I was in Mumbai answering the phone at the house of my friend who was the acting Canadian Consul General when the news of the 2004 tsunami in South East Asia came to us from the emergency contact of the Canadian government.

But this world event was different. This was one of earned respect. After 44 terms, the United states of America swore in Barack Hussein Obama, the first man of colour to be sworn into office. After years of oppression, and fighting for justice, this change is not slight. The man is incredible. But however huge the fact that USA has become a shade more inclusive, it also must be pointed out that Obama cannot be defined by his skin colour alone. His talent to move people, to speak words of wisdom and to engage people is unlike anything I've witnessed before. His speech today was no different. And there were thousands who were watching. Some got in their cars and drove down to be in the middle of the crowd. I decided to go it alone, and was in my living room in downtown Toronto, with the TV tuned into CBC News and my computer logged into CNN live's browser and my facebook page lined up as well. Facebook and CNN had teamed up to create an application where you as a viewer could watch and comment via your status updates in real time. You could tune into your friends' comments only or the everyone feed. Either one was amazing to watch. People were commenting on passages in the speech to Aretha Franklin's oversized grey hat to the uplifting music being played to the poor poet whose words followed the inspiring speech from the new president.

When Starbucks ran an online ad following the ceremony announcing free coffee, it was like the facebook community on cnn.live were throwing eggs at their monitors.

As a Canadian, I was also tuned into the online video feed of CBC.ca as well as the TV in my living room but there were no applications that encourages discourse for this monumental occasion, so I quickly tuned onto my other tab that yielded the cnn/facebook feed. I even logged into twitter to see if what people around the world were saying there.

I can't wait to tune in later on today for the coverage of the balls. And beyond that, I can't wait to see if Mr. Obama takes the time to use his immense power to get people to pay attention to force change in war-torn and starving countries. Change is often hard to force, but I have every faith that his intentions are good. We need a neighbour to the south who is progressive!