68 SHOWBIZ
FALLSVIEW
CASINO RESORT The spaces
H ThE PLACE TO BE FOR ENTERTAINmENT H
Intimate 1500-Seat Theatre H State-of-the-Art Sound
ThE JUDDS
in between
Errol
Friday, February 25 Nazareth
Showtime: 9PM
Rhythms N Rhymes
Tickets start at $75
One of the most successful Country music duos of all time,
The Judds have had an amazing career accumulating George Koller draws an
multiple CMA, ACM and GRAMMY Awards. Currently on interesting analogy between
The Last Encore tour, The Judds will take the stage to Chinese calligraphic painting
perform such hits as: “Mama He’s Crazy”, “Rockin’ With and the music that the Koller/
the Rhythm of the Rain” and “Love Is Alive”. Michels duet makes.
Sp end s ome time w ith
bass and voice, their brand
new disc featuring Koller on
stand-up bass and singer Julie
SANREmO IV EDITION Michels, and you’ll see —
Saturday, February 26 • Showtime: 9PM rather hear — what he means.
Sunday, February 27 • Showtime: 7PM The analogy makes sense
when you consider that the
Tickets start at $80 spirit of space consciousness
Relive the Sanremo Festival as Paola Rota hosts international superstars, including: that informs calligraphy also
Povia, Gianni Nazzaro, Fausto Leali, Memo Remigi, Jalisse and the Franco Bagutti Big informs every composition on
Band with special guest tenors, Edoardo Guarnera and Ballerina. bass and voice. The album’s a
little lengthy at 14 songs, but
the employment of silence
is a major selling point of an
COUNTRY CLASSICS album that’s powered by just
TREASURES FROm ThE ATTIC those two instruments.
February 15 – 18, 22 – 24, 28, March 2 – 3, 6 – 7 & 9 - 10
Koller/Michels, who’ve
Showtime: 3PM (Note: February 18 - Showtime: 9PM) been performing together for
17 years, celebrate the release
Tickets start at $20 of bass and voice Thursday at
Journey through the decades of Country Music as talented musicians and Glenn Gould Studio.
singers perform the hits from the 1950’s to the songs that top the charts today, “Like a painting with grey
live at Fallsview Casino Resort.
and black brushstrokes, the
remaining white part of the
paper is extremely important,”
the in-demand bassist tells
JEFFREY STEELE
Friday, March 4 • Saturday, March 5
me. “The space allows for the
subtle qualities of tone on bass
Showtime: 9PM and voice to become more
Tickets start at $20
exposed. This is not a common
thing in most recorded music.
Having written for country’s top artists, multi award-winning songwriter and
hit-making producer, Jeffrey Steele, takes the stage with such hits as: “What We play with the space as the
Hurts The Most”, “Brand New Girlfriend”, “My Wish”, “The Cowboy In Me”, third member of the band, and
“Unbelievable”, “Big Deal” and “Love Is A Beautiful Thing”. what we leave open or empty
becomes very powerful in this
type of duo setting.”
TICKETS ON SALE NOW Koller says this dynamic
allows the two “to instantly
H At the Fallsview Casino Resort Box Office on any show day move towards any creative
direction or inspiration that
H All locations (1.877.833.3110) H Online at www. .ca comes to us.
“We can bend all the rules
when there are no restrictions
of form,” he explains. “When
there are only two sounds,
it’s very easy to make quick
U-turns or modulations of
Niagara Falls, Ontario • www.fallsviewcasinoresort.com form and tempo.
“We’ve learned to surprise
Must be at least 19 years of age to attend performances at Fallsview Casino Resort. and test each other on the
fly, and some of the result-
ing experiments have become
our most successful arrange-
ments.”
I tell Koller when he talks
about surprising and test-
The Toronto Sun n Friday, February 18, 2011
Julie Michels and George Koller in the studio.
ing each other, I pictured him
coming up with basslines that
took Michels by surprise and
the two having a good laugh
in the studio.
“The surprises, the sponta-
neous creativity, the fact that
we never do the same thing
twice ... this is what makes this
kind of jazz so exciting to me!
The doors are open and any
Now
HEAR
This!
t:
Errol’s can’t-miss lis
1
The ninth annual
Winterfolk Blues
& Roots Festival,
featuring 150 artists
performing at six locations
on the Danforth, starts
today and runs until
Monday. For details, please
visit winterfolk.com.
2
Swing by The Drake
Underground
tonight to hear why
Edumacation has
been called one of the best
Friday night monthly’s. DJ
Fase and DJ Cosmo will be
spinning. 11 p.m. $10. 1150
Queen St. W.
3
The Chris Antonik
Band and Dylan
Wickens & The Grand
Naturals bring the
blues to the Silver Dollar
Saturday. 8 p.m. $10. 486
Spadina Ave.
shade, any tempo, any idea or
theme can be explored.”
The concept of a bass-and-
voice disc might strike some
as simple, but Koller says the
project demands the highest
levels of alertness and reflex
response but also requires
them to be relaxed.
“It demands everything, yet
it’s very satisfying,” says the
multi-instrumentalist who’s
collaborated with musicians
as diverse as Bruce Cockburn,
Peter Gabriel and Loreena
McKennitt and who helped
spearhead the World Jazz
for Haiti benefit disc I wrote
about here last year.
Along with the excitement
and challenges involved in
making such a unique record
come certain risks, Koller says.
“I guess the biggest risk of
all is just trusting that even
though our sound and style is
different from so much of the
jazz, blues, and pop that’s out
there, that we stay on course,”
he says. “We do know that
no matter where the music
industry’s heading, our audi-
ences tell us that our presen-
tation and sound is loved and
appreciated.
“So, yes, we do have a sound
of our own,” he adds. “That
risk has paid off. Now, we have
a chance to try to reach higher
levels in the music world.”
NOTE: George Koller and Julie
Michels will be joined by Kevin
Barrett, Davide Direnzo and
Diane Leah at Thursday’s con-
cert. It starts at 8 p.m. and tick-
ets can be bought by calling
416-872-4255.
Visit Errol’s blog at www.
musicinthemessage.
blogspot.com.