Raul da Gama
TMR Senior Writer. Based in Milton, Ontario, Canada. Raul is a musician and an accomplished writer whose profound analysis is reinforced by his deep understanding of music, technically as well as historically.
David Newland: Northbound
There is a line in Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier’s lyric for “O Canada” that reads, “The true north strong and free…” which doubtless refers to...
Gord Mowat: Gord Mowat’s Skeleton Crew
The reference to a “skeleton crew” can never be lost on anyone who’s ever worked the graveyard shift in a metropolis that never sleeps....
Diana Panton: A Cheerful Little Earful
The graphics on A Cheerful Little Earful by Diana Panton – and, to a certain extent, this title as well – may cue a...
Bill McBirnie: The Technique and Theory of Improvisation
Bill McBirnie: The Technique and Theory of Improvisation
Canada's celebrated virtuoso flutist Bill McBirnie recently took a break from putting flute to lips and put...
Gordon Sheard & Sinal Aberto: A New Day
Afro-Brasilian music – not the more diffident but, no less sensuously danceable form of Bossa Nova – but louvação da capoeira, afoxê, maracatu, repentismo,...
JV’s Boogaloo Squad: Going to Market
It has been a very long time since I have heard an organ-driven trio sound this impressive. Part of the reason has to be...
Eucalyptus: Kick It Till You Flip It
It is not of the average Canadian – much less its musicians – to court controversy. But there is a group of musicians in...
Ron Davis SymphRONica: Upfront
What do you call a little ensemble with a big sound? If the answer leaves you stumped, it’s because there is no word for...
Sam Kirmayer: Here and Now, High and Low
In Montréal, where he started life and also began life as a musician, Sam Kirmayer is extraordinarily well-respected. Wise beyond his years the guitarist...
Surefire Sweat: Introducing Surefire Sweat
This eponymously entitled debut recording by Surefire Sweat cleverly mixes different contemporary styles of popular music including Black American and Afro-Cuban and other Caribbean...
