TD Toronto Jazz Festival announces that Queen of Gospel Shirley Caesar and Canadian hip-hop emcee, Shad has been added to lineup that includes previously announced Diana Ross, Norah Jones, Omara Portuondo, Tower of Power and over 175 free concerts.

Submitted by Don Graham

Photo Credits: Studio 22 Photography

Canadian Musician Magazine celebrated it’s 40th Year Anniversary in high style. The fete was held in downtown watering hole, Grace O’Malley’s on Thursday, April 25 and had all the markings and feel of a huge award show, replete with a red carpet, multiple photo-op stops and a buzz of excitement as each new celebrity entered the venue. The list of luminaries who showed up for the celebration is a testimony to the impact Canadian Musician Magazine has had on the music scene and industry.

Marc Jordan and Amy Sky came to pay their respects with over 40 artists and special guests in attendance including: Jim Norris, Founder, Canadian Musician Magazine, Andrew King, Editor and Chief Canadian Musician Magazine , The Trews' John Angus MacDonald and Tyler Shaw, Ryland James Iskwe, Kira Isabella Exco Levi Monowhales as well as Lost Cousins Posey, Sean Jones and Sandy and Gord Deppe from the Spoons.

The 2019 East Coast Music Awards: Festival & Conference (May 1-5 2019) presented by TD wrapped up in Charlottetown with several artists coming away as the big prize winners.

Classified takes home four ECMAs including wins for Album of the Year and Video of the Year, Jeremy Dutcher earns three awards including Rising Star of the Year, and Reeny Smith and Les Hôtesses d’Hilaire each garner two trophies apiece.

"What an amazing time we’ve had celebrating the 31st annual East Coast Music Awards in beautiful Charlottetown. Congratulations to all of the very deserving award winners, and thank you to all the fabulously talented artists who performed throughout the week," says Andy McLean, CEO of the ECMA. "This event cannot succeed without the tireless work and contributions from our staff, board, volunteers, local committee, delegates, sponsors, partners, venues and hotels, and we thank you for everything you’ve done this week. The city of Charlottetown has been an incredibly warm and accommodating host, and we can’t wait to return."

Photo: Carmela Laurignano VP and Radio Group Manager at Evanov Radio Group

Carmela Laurignano, vice-president and Radio Group Manager at Evanov Radio Group (ERG), has been named as this year’s winner of the 2019 Rosalie Award.

Handed out by the Radio Trailblazers, a volunteer organization celebrating and supporting women in radio, the Rosalie Award recognizes a Canadian woman each year whom has blazed new trails in radio.

Laurignano began her decades-long career in the broadcasting industry at CHIN Radio Toronto, serving as sales assistant, sales manager, and was later promoted to VP of Sales, Marketing and Promotions, becoming the first woman to hold a vice-president position with a Canadian ethnic broadcaster and one of the youngest vice-presidents in the Canadian radio industry at the time.

With the recent announcement of the Indie/DIY music distributor CD Baby laying out the platform of a major international expansion, the service that is offered is now better than ever. With the hiring of senior staff in Latin America, the UK and EU,East Asia/Pacific and Canada the way forward is exciting and has a whole new current spin.

Darryl Hurs joins CD Baby as the company’s new Canadian rep and will be based in Toronto. Hurs is no stranger to the indie music scene and founded Indie Week Canada almost two decades ago as a hobby and oversaw its transformation into a major event for the independent music community. Cashbox Canada caught up with Hurs in Toronto and his enthusiasm is infectious.

“I am looking forward to being part of the international marketing team of CD Baby representing Canada,” Hurs says. “We have run Indie Week for the last 18 years with the focus on helping indie artists and I look at this as an opportunity to step it up to a higher level. I am especially excited to help artists and businesses build success stories.”

Herbie Hancock poses for a photo in front of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Photograph Steve Mundinger

On International Jazz Day, the music legend opened up about his struggles with addiction, the importance of striving and why the secret to jazz is generosity.

It’s 6pm on a Saturday night and Herbie Hancock is chanting down the phone to me.

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, he goes. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

He pauses, a little breathlessly, to instruct me: “You don’t have to chant that fast.” I’m tempted to jump in – it all seems very soothing – but I don’t know the words.

We have been given – strictly – 15 minutes to talk by the jazz legend’s American press team. But as we get deeper into Hancock’s Buddhist faith, 15 minutes turns into 30 and then into an hour. It is only when I admit, with regret, that I have to go to put up my new IKEA bed, that we both realise the time.

MusiCounts announced Linda Schuyler and Stephen Stohn as the 2019 recipients of the MusiCounts Inspired Minds Ambassador Award, presented by The Canadian Scholarship Trust Foundation. The award recognizes individuals who have had an extraordinary impact on music education and MusiCounts over the course of its 22-year history.

“Linda and Stephen are such an inspiration to so many people, especially to the entire MusiCounts community,” said Kristy Fletcher, Executive Director, MusiCounts. “They have taken a leadership role in supporting us and have inspired others to get involved, which in turn has impacted thousands of children across Canada. We are thrilled to present them with this year’s award, thanks to the generous support of The Canadian Scholarship Trust Foundation.”

Canadian Music Week 2019 is shining a Spotlight on South Africa, in celebration of 25 years of democracy. Lauded for its peaceful transition from apartheid under the astute leadership of revered political prisoner and former president Nelson Mandela, South Africa stands out as a beacon of hope and democracy to the rest of the world. The country is now under the rule of Mandela’s political party, the African National Congress, since 1994. With a population of 54.8 million people, South Africa has the 27th highest population in the world, in an area of 470,900 mi². To put this in context, it is about eight times smaller than the USA.

South Africa. It boasts the second largest economy in Africa and is ranked by the World Bank as one of the most industrialized countries in Africa, is a prime destination for Canadian goods and services, In 2017, exports from Canada into South Africa totalled $917 million, according to the High Commission of Canada in South Africa.

Canadian Music Week, presented by Amsterdam Brewery, announces another round of artists this week. The new additions feature Juno award winning country act James Barker Band joined by singer songwriter Emily Reid at the Sirius XM House, rapper, singer, producer Azaelia Banks, Toronto rapper Tasha the Amazon, and seminal 70s rock band Television. The 37^th edition takes place from May 6-12 at a variety of downtown Toronto venues. See below for previously announced shows.

The indie- rock group The Elwins have been added to The Indies presented by Indie 88 and Jim Beam and will accompany Born Ruffians along with the winner of the Jim Beam National Talent Search.
Nominations are now open:
Part concert and part awards, the Indies are a celebration of national and international independent musicians making outstanding achievements in this area. Submissions are being accepted through indies.ca until March 24, 2019.

The Canadian Independent Music Association (CIMA) applauds the Federal Government for its bold new investment of $20 million over two years towards the Canada Music Fund (CMF) in this year’s Federal budget.

The Federal government has been a strong partner for the Canadian independent music industry. The CMF has been a critical source of support over the years but had been underfunded and over-subscribed for the past decade. Today’s budget adds to the momentum from the government’s 2016 investment in the music sector of $4.2 million over 2 years. The Government’s additional $20 million from Budget 2019 into the CMF is a testament to their commitment and support to Canadian music and its creators.

Defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a general term of disparagement for someone or something repugnant or odious, unpleasant or dull, "grunge" finds its way into music lingo by the 1960s to describe the unfavorably fuzzy or unclean sounds which might've otherwise undercut cheaply or poorly made records.

This etymology is forever changed in 1987 when Seattle record label Sub Pop introduces a catalogue of "ultra-loose grunge" locals including the likes of Soundgarden, Nirvana and Mudhoney, thus giving namesake to a region’s budding sub-cultural movement that would soon thereafter sweep the globe up in its angst-ridden embrace. Three decades later, Morrison Hotel Gallery is pleased to reclaim the term once more with 'Grunge: Rise of A Generation', shining retrospective light on a teenage riot's coming-of-age at all three gallery locations that run from March 8^th-March 31^st, 2019.

An all-star cast of musicians will headline the TD Toronto Jazz Festival, June 21 – June 30, 2019. One of music’s most iconic singers, Diana Ross, will perform, as well as multi-GRAMMY winner, singer-songwriter Norah Jones, Cuba’s grand dame Omara Portuondo, heavy hitters Tower of Power, jazz darlings Cécile McLorin Salvant and Emilie-Claire Barlow, and an exciting double bill with Rinsethealgorithm and Ghost-Note! Tickets are on sale now at www.torontojazz.com.

Cashbox Magazine (Canada & USA) and Record World Magazine have announced the second round of Artists for the Official MIDEM Showcase at Morrison’s in Cannes, France! June 4-7, 2019. We will officially be hosting global talent in the beautiful south of France.

Legendary former VJ Michael Williams will be hosting our stage along with country singer/songwriter Don Graham who will also be performing as well as kicking of an inaugural MIDEM Showcase of singer/songwriters who will be setting the stage for more of these performances at Morrisons.

We have now confirmed Barry Stagg (Canada and USA) Emergency Tiara (USA) and Franky Selector (Quebec, Canada).

BARRY STAGG

Right now is a great and important time in history to do everything possible to help forge a more gender-balanced world. Women have come a long way, yet there’s still more to be achieved.

International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. As the world heads toward International Women’s Day 2019, planning is underway by organizations across the globe to celebrate women’s achievements and tenaciously challenge bias.

This year, Hugh’s Room Live has invited five of our favourite female artists to showcase their outstanding contributions to the musical landscape of our country and the world at large. We’re inviting everyone to participate in an evening of exceptional music and join a larger conversation about how each of us can help to accelerate the pursuit of gender parity. Artists confirmed for the evening include~Laila Biali, Eliana Cuevas, Miss Emily, Joni Nehrita and Suzie Vinnick. Read on to hear their amazing stories below.

When the Rolling Stones began playing gigs around London in 1962, the notion that a rock & roll band would last five years, let alone fifty, was an absurdity. After all, what could possibly be more ephemeral than rock & roll, the latest teenage fad? Besides, other factors made it unlikely that such a momentous occasion would ever come to pass. “I didn’t expect to last until fifty myself, let alone with the Stones,” Keith Richards says with a laugh. “It’s incredible, really. In that sense, we’re still living on borrowed time.”

“You have to put yourself back into that time,” Mick Jagger says about those early days when he and Keith and guitarist Brian Jones roomed together and were hustling gigs wherever they could find one. “Popular music wasn’t talked about on any kind of intellectual level. There was no such term as ‘popular culture.’ None of those things existed.”

“But suddenly popular music became bigger than it had ever been before. It became important, perhaps the most important, art form of the period, after not at all being regarded as an art form before.”

America’s Night Where the Stars Shone. Here are the winners for 2019.

Album of the Year
H.E.R. — H.E.R.
Brandie Carlile — By the Way, I Forgive You
Drake — Scorpion
Various Artists — Black Panther: The Album
** WINNER: Kacey Musgraves — Golden Hour
Post Malone — Beerbongs & Bentleys
Cardi B — Invasion of Privacy
Janelle Monáe — Dirty Computer

Record of the Year
Cardi B — I Like It
Brandi Carlile — The Joke
** WINNER: Childish Gambino — This Is America
Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper — Shallow
Drake — God’s Plan
Kendrick Lamar and SZA — All the Stars
Post Malone and 21 Savage — Rockstar
Zedd and Maren Morris — The Middle

Record World Magazine was one of the three main music industry trade magazines in the United States, along with Billboard and Cash Box. It was founded in 1946 under the name Music Vendor, but in 1964 it was changed to Record World, under the ownership of Sid Parnes and Bob Austin. It ceased publication on April 10, 1982.  Many music industry personalities, writers, and critics began their careers there in the early 1970s to 1980s.

Cashbox Magazine (Canada & USA) and Record World Magazine have announced the First Round of Artists for the Official MIDEM Showcase at Morrison’s in Cannes, France! June 4-7, 2019. We will officially be hosting global talent in the beautiful south of France.

Legendary former VJ Michael Williams will be hosting our stage along with country singer/songwriter Don Graham who will also be performing as well as kicking of an inaugural MIDEM Showcase of singer/songwriters who will be setting the stage for more of these performances at Morrisons.

Our adjudication process has delivered six top acts so far to grace the stage in Cannes, France.

BARA JONSON AND FREE (SWEDEN)

Shawn Mendes on Tuesday grabbed a field-leading six nominations for the 2019 Juno music awards, Canada's version of the Grammys, to be hosted by Sarah McLachlan.

The Weeknd nabbed five nods, while Dutch-Canadian artist Bulow earned four nominations. Nominations for the Junos were unveiled during a press conference Tuesday, January 29 in Toronto.

Mendes will compete for the fan choice award, best single, album, artist, songwriter and pop album of the year. And newcomer Bulow will vie in the fan choice, best single, breakthrough artist and pop album categories. 

Other multiple Juno nominees unveiled on Tuesday include Loud Luxury, Alessia Cara, Bahamas and Hubert Lenoir.

The album of the year competition will pit the latest work by Mendes, Jann Arden and The Weeknd against albums from Three Days Grace and Hubert Lenoir. And the international album of the year category will see Camila Cabello's Camila, Cardi B's Invasion of Privacy and Maroon 5's Red Pill Blues compete against Post Malone's Beerbongs & Bentleys and Travis Scott's Astroworld.

Pex, a global video and music search engine, has announced the launch of its Attribution Engine, making it easier to track and identify audio and video content across major platforms. Used by all the Major labels, music publishers, movie studios, and MCNs, Pex improves how video is authenticated.

Pex stands out versus other offerings in that it can identify both audio and video, and works with segments as short as one second to identify derivative works that otherwise create ownership and claims confusion. Most importantly perhaps, the solution will be available for free to both rights holders and selected platforms.

The Pex Attribution Engine Allows Online Video and Music Platforms and Apps to Programmatically Authenticate Content Before Users Upload.