At out last event, Hear Here: Revolution, the incomparable musician and author Jason Wilson graced our stage, keeping the evening alive long into the night. We were lucky to have this extraordinary gentleman once, but in case you missed him, we hope that he’ll return at an event in the future so you too can enjoy his performances. Here’s what he had to say about the last event on October 9, 2015:   “Hear Here is a sentient, shape-shifting art portal that materializes every season to bless the good souls of the city. I am fortunate enough to be able to count myself among the blessed. While its form is in one sense static – each event is rooted in a particular theme – its function seems to grow exponentially with every offering. By this I mean that Hear Here, a concept unique to Toronto, provides a comfortable and pliable space for the artful, the organic and the unexpected to occur. Indeed, the most compelling quotient of the HHexperience is that you simply never know what is going to happen next.” – Jason Wilson   Thanks, Jason! Here’s to keeping the magic alive.

Last night I made a quick guest appearance at Hear Here presents: Revolution! — an event that showcased authors, art & music in a single space (on the 20th floor of a downtown office building!). I was under the weather fighting a virus so was jolted by what initially seemed like oddly juxtaposed artforms… readings colliding with live music colliding with visual art (and I say this as a jazz musician who really only deals with being on stage and delivering musical output). It was all a lil disorganized and no one quite knew what was supposed to be happening — BUT as the night went on, the whole thing seemed to make more and more sense. Inexplicably so. And, for me — the event expanded into something that was greater than the sum of it’s parts. And I gotta admit — earlier in the night a fellow musician and I found ourselves exchanging looks of “what is happening right now?”… but as the event progressed and evolved, the juxtaposition of these artforms started working for me. At one point acclaimed poet George Elliot Clarke, was onstage literally screaming stanzas into the mic while guitarist Jason Nett created textural loops underneath and Shelly Hamilton improvised choruses in the background… it should not have worked. But it did. I found myself oddly grinning at the madness… and truly digging it. The whole thing just hung together in a strangely captivating way – the way orange and chocolate should not work, but does (for me). I suspect Jason’s abilities to find exactly what the moment needs is to blame for the cohesion… I felt it later when we played together — that he knows what to do to make a musical moment feel genuine. This is a musician I’d like to see more of. The end result — I honestly found myself digging this weird ass shit all night long! Are all literary events like this? Cuz this one seemed so unique and special. Think of it — an acclaimed word-smith almost shouting poetry into a mic, atop of textured guitar loops and r’n’b-esque vocals — now couple that with interesting modern art on the walls, a 20th story panoramic view of the city, a god-damn Steinway grand piano(!), and delicious finger-food served by smiling staff… dude, as crazy as it sound — the whole thing, just worked for me. It looks insane when I write it out like this — but honestly — it was pretty rivetingly interesting and representative of some courage forays into multidisciplinary art in Toronto. The other thing I noticed — not ONE phone came out all night. No texting. No thumb hockey. No insipid Facebook checking. This was an art crowd who was there to experience this shit fully and in the moment. Heavy. I was impressed by the authors and their work, the art being displayed and the musical guests. (I wanna shout out reggae/afro-beat crew The Fugitive Minds who asked me to jump up for a tune and whose tight delicious