Multidisciplinary artist Charlie Petch is coming home to Peterborough to perform their new one-person play No One’s Special at the Hot Dog Cart for one night only at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 24th, as the final presentation of Public Energy Performing Arts’ 2023-24 season.

The play, which premiered in a sold-out run at Toronto’s Theatre Passe Muraille in March in a co-production with Erroneous Productions the Toronto Star called “a compassionate, moving piece of theatre,” draws on true stories from Petch’s past as a 911 operator, hospital bed allocater, emergency room clerk, street worker, and — as the play’s title implies — a hot dog vendor.

“Everything I needed to know about emergency health care, I learned as a teenage hot dog vendor in downtown Toronto,” Petch says in a line from the play.

Through spoken word and musical storytelling, Petch shares tales of survival and kindness as a witness to life on the street, as well as the de-escalation techniques Petch has honed over the years.

“I think there would be much less fear if people knew how to stay safe when interacting with people who are having trouble with their emotions,” says Petch in a media release. “In reality, we also need to learn how to de-escalate ourselves.”

Inspired by Toronto street culture in the 1990s and the aforementioned de-escalation practices, Petch began writing No One’s Special at the Hot Dog Cart during the pandemic as an exploration of the negative perceptions around homelessness and mental health. As the pandemic continued and social and economic divides widened even more, that exploration became increasingly topical and urgent for the artist.

VIDEO: “No One’s Special At The Hot Dog Cart” trailer – Charlie Petch

“I am hoping that giving audiences tools and knowledge about emergency response procedures will help them interact with others better, and that will empower them to resist a system that tells us homeless people deserve police abuse, that street culture is heartless and not a community, and that poverty is a crime,” Petch explains.

No One’s Special at the Hot Dog Cart is directed by Autumn Smith — who will also be directing the world premiere of Alison Lawrence’s Onion Skins & Peach Fuzz: The Farmerettes at 4th Line Theatre in Millbrook in July — with dramturgy by Donna-Michelle St. Bernard, stage management by Flavia Martin, set design by Joel Richardson, and lighting design by Joel Richardson. Fully ASL interpreted, the show features Deaf performer Jaideep Goray from Phoenix The Fire.

Sold on a sliding pay-what-you-can scale from $5 to $50, tickets are available in person at the Market Hall box office (140 Charlotte St, Peterborough), by phone at 705-775-1503, or online at markethall.org.

In addition to performing the play, Petch — a certified instructor in non-violent crisis intervention — will be hosting a workshop on de-escalation techniques from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 27th at The Theatre On King. Sold on a sliding pay-what-you-can scale from $5 to $20, tickets are available at eventbrite.ca/e/873425006707 or by contacting Public Energy at admin@publicenergy.ca or 705-745-1788.

A self-described disabled/queer/transmasculine multidisciplinary artist, Petch was born in Peterborough. Their family moved to Toronto when Petch was only six, but Petch returned in 1992 at the age of 19 to attend Trent University’s cultural studies program, mainly because Trent was described as the “bisexual university.”

However, Petch soon dropped out to pursue a career in the arts, initially working at the Union Theatre — Peterborough’s former experimental theatre venue — where Petch won a play-writing contest with Napalm Queen, described as an early precursor to No One’s Special at the Hot Dog Cart. Petch also performed as a stripper in Janet Fiendel’s A Particular Class of Women, a role described as being well-suited to the bawdy side of their nature.

During this time, Petch was also learning the technical side of theatre, becoming the house technician at the Gordon Best Theatre when it first opened before landing a paid lighting gig at the Market Hall.

Also a musician, Petch performed in several bands, most notably Wine With Everything and the Silver Hearts, with the latter showcasing their unique talents on the musical saw.

While Petch left Peterborough again in 1996 to pursue an artistic career in Toronto, they have frequently returned to Peterborough to perform plays and poetry, including as a featured performer at the 2017 Canadian Festival of Spoken Word.

Petch was the 2017 Poet of Honour for the speakNORTH national festival, winner of the Golden Beret lifetime achievement in spoken word with The League of Canadian Poets (2020), and founder of Hot Damn it’s a Queer Slam.

Their debut poetry collection Why I Was Late (Brick Books) was named “Best of 2021” by The Walrus and won the 2022 ReLit Award. Petch was also long-listed for the CBC Poetry Prize in 2021.

A touring performer, as well as a mentor and workshop facilitator, Petch’s film with Opera QTO, Medusa’s Children, premièred in 2022. Petch is the current writer in residence for Berton House.

kawarthaNOW is proud to be a long-time media sponsor of Public Energy Performing Arts.

There are many ways to acknowledge and appreciate Earth Day and this year a group of Northumberland County artists are coming together in one of the most beautiful ways with an evening of song and art in support of local environmental initiatives.

Through music, film, visual art, and spoken word, the Old Camborne School — at 3441 Albert’s Alley in Camborne about seven kilometres north of Cobourg — will be transformed into a space of fun and reflection at 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 20th during “NatureNurture: An Evening of Art for the Earth.”

Organized through sponsorship from Zon Engineering and an arts grant from Community Power Northumberland, NatureNurture tickets cost $20 per person and are available in advance at eventbrite.ca/e/860093190887. A small number of tickets will be available at the door for $20 cash or pay what you can.

“We have always been looking for fun, interesting, and different ways to connect artistically that also speak to the things that are really important to us,” says Shannon Linton, who is the co-organizer of the event alongside poet, writer, and interdisciplinary artist Meredith Katie Hoogendam aka Merkat. “Our art often has a lot to do with the natural world or with climate and people’s experiences of bad situations, so this was a natural fit for us.”

Linton will be performing original songs and “meaningful” covers alongside Toronto vocalist Whitney O’Hearn and indie folk singer-songwriter Jakob Daniel of Cobourg. Called “Murmuration,” the musical pieces explore the common theme of connecting with community and earth for environmental change.

“It’s really focused on the idea of us as humans coming together to make ourselves safer and to make something beautiful the way birds do in murmuration,” says Linton.

For the “Hills Are Alive” segment of the evening, Hoogendam will be screening a short film, presenting her visual artwork, and using language to connect with the audience.

“(Hoogendam’s work) is about the innate dialogue that exists between humans and the natural world, and remembering or returning to actually having a connection to the natural world where it isn’t just something we use for our purpose, but something that we are in a full relationship with,” says Linton. “She sees the world and expresses herself in a way that I don’t know of any other artist that does, so I’m really excited for that piece of the evening.”

While Linton herself has always been conscious of individual things she can do for the planet, it was connecting with Hoogendam, O’Hearn, and other activists in a book club during the pandemic that “lit a fire in her” to become even more vocal in her climate activism.

“Climate solutions require bigger action from government and corporations,” Linton says. “And that has now gone even further into having us think about how we can also create communities that care for one another, because climate change is here. We are not fixing all of it — we cannot fix all of it now. We’re too far gone in some ways, but we still need to be able to have meaningful and beautiful lives and help each other.”

Since the book club, Linton has been joining advocacy groups, volunteering, and is on the environment and climate committee in Hamilton Township.

“I live in paradise, in a beautiful, beautiful natural environment, and I want my two kids to be able to have a meaningful life that includes the natural world,” she says. “That includes community building with people and the connection to earth and to the natural world around this city that is so beautiful and life-giving.”

As a climate activist, Linton ensures that even her merchandise as an artist is environmentally conscious. Not only are her T-shirts upcycled but, rather than selling CDs, for her EP about climate, In Spite of Everything, she chose to release a book of watercolour acrylic paintings from local artist Janita Wiersma to pair with each song. The book is similar to an album booklet, with the album itself available online.

“I think it’s wasteful to just create things for the purpose of getting people to buy them,” she says. “It’s a lot of plastic and a lot of waste, so this book is, to me, another piece of art and a beautiful contribution to the music, and not just a thing for people to buy.”

The proceeds from the merchandise, Hoogendam’s visual art pieces, and ticket sales will all go towards local non-profit organizations. Hoogerdam has chosen for her proceeds to be donated to A Gift of Trees, a fundraiser from Ten Villages Cobourg. The fundraiser’s goal is to plant 10,000 trees equally in the local area through the Ganaraska Regional Conservation Authority and across the country through Tree Canada.

Linton’s donations will be supporting the work of the Northumberland Land Trust and the 14 properties the organization stewards.

“They are doing incredible work — all volunteer — to protect our natural landscape,” Linton explains. “They’re doing all this important work, and it flies under the radar. Rather than hoping the government will take care of everything, smaller groups doing their part are really important and what’s going to get us through.”

Though the April 20th show is the first of its kind, Linton remains hopeful that it might become a regular event that will continue to make audiences think about the climate in a fun and engaging way.

“I love to collaborate and we’re both very committed to continuing in advocacy, so I think it’s fair to say it will happen again,” she says. “But it would never look the same twice, because we’ll always have new ideas.”

For updates, visit the Facebook event page.

Those interesting in donating to the event can support the Northumberland Land Trust, A Gift of Trees at Ten Thousand Villages Cobourg, or email Linton at shannonlinton@hotmail.com.

encoreNOW is a bi-weekly column by Paul Rellinger where he features upcoming music, theatre, film, and performing arts events and news from across the Kawarthas.

This week, Paul highlights a Canadian folk/country music legend’s upcoming Bancroft performance, a fun take on The Canterbury Tales at Bobcaygeon’s Lakeview Arts Barn, the appearance of Juno Award-winning The Fretless at Lakefield’s Bryan Jones Theatre, Matthew Good in concert at Showplace, Charlie Petch’s No One’s Special At The Hot Dog Cart at Market Hall, Jane Bunnett and Maqueque’s Internationaj Jazz Day show in Peterborough, and the Red Carpet Gala Celebration at Port Hope’s Capitol Theatre.

Venerable Valdy brings his musical storytelling magic to Bancroft

There are many ways you can spend $27 and change, but forking it over to experience the music and storytelling of a Canadian folk/pop music legend is a pretty tempting option.

Since launching his solo career in the early 1970s, Valdy — born Paul Valdemar Horsdal in Ottawa — has firmly established himself as one of the country’s most influential songwriters. That’s been verified via seven Juno Award nominations, with two award wins as Folk Singer of the Year and Folk Entertainer of the Year, and four gold albums.

VIDEO: “(Play Me A) Rock and Roll Song” – Valdy

Further to that, Valdy’s signature song, “(Play Me A) Rock and Roll Song” has been recorded by more than a few artists; his “A Good Song” was recorded under the title “I’m A Man” by the great Quincy Jones.

Still touring extensively at age 78, Valdy’s concert at the Bancroft Village Playhouse on Friday, April 19th is one of his 13 performances this month. Truth be known, there are few stages in this country that Valdy hasn’t stepped upon at some point in the past 50 years.

Tickets to Valdy’s 7 p.m. Tweed & Company Theatre-presented performance cost $27.50 plus tax at www.villageplayhouse.ca/valdy. As the date of this column, only a handful of tickets are left.

Chaucer’s epic work receives some fun treatment in Bobcaygeon

Written by Geoffrey Chaucer more than 600 years ago, The Canterbury Tales is a collection of 24 stories encompassing more than 17,000 lines of mostly verse, but some prose too.

Fortunately for them, 13 young actors with Globus Theatre’s Youth Winter Arts Program haven’t been called upon to memorize and deliver all those lines. Rather, on Friday, April 19th and Saturday, April 20th at the Lakeview Arts Barn on Pigeon Lake Road in Bobcaygeon, they’ll present a much more manageable take on the 14th-century work adapted for the stage by Lindsay Price.

Under the direction of Rebecca Anne Bloom, this group of travellers, making the trek from London to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Beckett at Canterbury Cathedral, pass the time and miles by holding a storytelling contest. Bloom describes what ensues as being “very Monty Python-esque.”

Showing their adaptability, the young actors portray a combined 30 characters. Costume changes abound, as does laughter and adventure and even some dance numbers. There’s a lot going on here.

Part of Globus Theatre’s School of Dramatic Art (SODA), the Youth Winter Arts Program began last year as a pilot program. Hats off to administrators of the Bobcaygeon Legacy C.H.E.S.T. fund, the support of which allows youth to participate in the program free of charge.

Tickets to either one of the 7 p.m. performances cost just $10 plus tax at www.globustheatre.com/soda-home or phone 705-738-2037 to order.

The Fretless brings its awarded folk/roots strings talent to Lakefield

Since forming more than 40 years ago, Performing Arts Lakefield has stayed true to its goal of presenting an eclectic selection of world-class entertainment.

On Sunday, April 21st at Lakefield College School’s Bryan Jones Theatre, that mission will remain fulfilled when The Fretless, a Juno Award-winning folk/roots string quartet, headlines Performing Arts Lakefield’s second-last concert of the season.

VIDEO: “My Moon My Man” – The Fretless featuring Madeleine Roger

Since releasing its debut album in 2012, The Fretless has not only claimed Juno Award success — it won a statue in 2017 for Instrumental Album of the Year — but has also taken home a suitcase full of honours from the Canadian Folk Music Awards. That momentum continued in 2022 with a Juno Award nomination for 2022’s Open House that features several guest artists.

Performing Arts Lakefield has scored quite a coup in securing for its program a quartet that has performed in Cologne and Luxembourg, toured Europe six times, and even performed Down Under. It’s a given that Trent Freeman (fiddle/viola), Karrnnel Sawitsky (fiddle/viola), Ben Plotnick (fiddle/viola), and Eric Wright (cello) will deliver a performance that will stay for a long time with those who come out.

Joining The Fretless will be Winnipeg singer-songwriter Madeleine Roger, who will follow up her critically acclaimed debut album Cottonwood with her sophomore release Nerve this August.

Tickets to the 3 p.m. concert, at $40 ($15 for students) are available at performingartslakefield.org/tickets.

Alt-rocker Matthew Good remains a huge draw after all these years

There are many very good reasons to catch a concert at Showplace in downtown Peterborough, but for fans of Matthew Good’s work, initially as the front man of The Matthew Good Band and as a solo artist since then, that he’s going to be on that stage on April 23 is reason enough.

A native of Burnaby, BC, Good was lead singer and songwriter for The Matthew Good Band — still one of Canada’s most successful alt-rock bands — through the 1990s into the new millennium. When the band folded in 2002, Good went his own way and fashioned a remarkable second music life — one that brought him four Juno Awards garnered from 21 nominations in total.

VIDEO: “Men At The Door” – Matthew Good

Meanwhile, signature songs such as “Weapon,” “In A World Called Catastrophe,” “Alert Status Red,” “Born Losersm” and “Last Parade” continue to enjoy heavy radio airplay. His latest album, 2022’s Moving Walls, prompted one reviewer to opine that Good has filled “the shoes left vacant by Leonard Cohen.” That’s a pretty good endorsement.

At age 52, Good, whose lyrics have consistently given a voice to whom he sees as the under-represented, still has to plenty to say and we’re still more than willing to listen.

Note: Tickets to Good’s full-band concert, which will also feature guest Vilivant, an alt-rock singer-songwriter inspired by artists like Good back in the day, are sold out. But where there’s a will, there’s a way. Keep an eye on social media for tickets that will inevitably pop up. You might just get lucky.

Hot dog cart experience has a story to tell courtesy of Public Energy

Spawned in 2003 from Peterborough New Dance that formed in 1994, Public Energy has brought to the stage more than 2,000 artists of various disciplines, mounted more than 500 events, and put more than 50,000 bums in the seats. If that’s not success, nothing is. Bill Kimball et al, take a bow.

Not resting on its laurels, the performing arts presenter is bringing an original work to Market Hall Performing Arts Centre on Wednesday, April 24th in the form of No One’s Special At The Hot Dog Cart — the final show of Public Energy’s 2023-24 season.

VIDEO: “No One’s Special At The Hot Dog Cart” trailer – Charlie Petch

Written and performed by award-winning playwright, author, and spoken word performer Charlie Petch — a former Peterborough resident now based in Toronto — and directed by Adam Lazarus, it’s a collection of true stories from the past as experienced by a 9-1-1 operator, hospital bed allocator, emergency room clerk, and street worker.

Sharing their personal account of working hot dog stands in Toronto, Petch, as a witness to life on the street, shares tales rooted in survival and kindness.

“Everything I needed to know about emergency response, I learned as a teenage hot dog vendor in downtown Toronto,” Petch says during the performance.

No One’s Special At The Hot Dog Cart had its world premiere in March at Toronto’s Theatre Passe Muraille. It’s gritty and honest in a tell-it-like-it-is way, with its depictions of violence, strong language, and sexual content. But Public Energy has never been afraid to push the boundaries and that remains something that audiences have appreciated most over the years.

As with all Public Energy shows, tickets to the 7:30 p.m. performance are sold on a sliding pay-as-you-can scale ranging from just $5 to $50 at markethall.org.

International Jazz Day Peterborough welcomes Jane Bunnett and Maqueque

With International Jazz Day again be marked April 30, local fans of the genre, and those looking for an introduction, have the opportunity to celebrate early when Jane Bunnett and Maqueque headline at Market Hall in downtown Peterborough on Friday, April 26th.

In securing this concert, the local Jazz Day organizing committee has scored huge. A five-time Juno Award recipient with three Grammy nominations as a side dish, the soprano saxophonist and flautist has received for her work, among other honours, the Order of Canada, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal and the Premier’s Award for Excellence. The Toronto born Bunnett’s fireplace mantle is pretty full.

VIDEO: “Tomorrow” – Jane Bunnett & Maqueque

Fronting the all-female Cuban band Maqueque for this show, Bunnett is continuing her mission of mentoring and recording young and brilliant Cuban female musicians.

So far that has paid a huge dividend in the form of Maqueque appearances at major jazz festivals in Newport and Monterey as well as a Grammy nomination for 2016’s Oddara, with 2023’s Playing With Fire the band’s newest release.

This isn’t your grandfather’s jazz. It’s over-the-top energetic and vibrant, attracting new audiences while satisfying a hunger for something new for longtime fans of the genre. As a bonus, Peterborough’s very own Carling Stephen and Rob Phillips are taking a break from their regular Black Horse stage to open the 7:30 p.m. concert. Tickets cost $36 online at markethall.org.

Port Hope’s Capitol Theatre celebrates upcoming season with gala event

Celebration will be the order of day on Saturday, April 27th at Port Hope’s Capitol Theatre as the venue pull out all the stops a sneak preview gala of its upcoming new season.

You’ll read more about future shows in kawarthaNOW as they near, but the Red Carpet Gala Celebration is the focus now and rightly so.

Hosted by audience-engaging Layne The Auctionista, the big night out features musical performances by the likes of Melissa Payne, Jimmy Bowskill, and Blue Rodeo’s Greg Keelor, a sampling of the theatre’s Billboard In Concert series, an early look at set designs for four upcoming summer shows, an auction of props and costumes from previous productions, and strawberries and champagne.

VIDEO: “Share The Love” – Greg Keelor

That’s a lot and, at $100 for a ticket, a lot costs a few bucks but keep in mind this is a fundraiser for the historic theatre that has, over centuries, been a community hub as much as it has been an entertainment venue.

So dress up in your finest and join the 6 p.m. party. A fun time awaits. For tickets, visit capitoltheatre.com.

Encore

• While she didn’t return home from St. John’s, Newfoundland with a coveted statue from the recent Canadian Folk Music Awards, Amelia “Irish Millie” Shadgett says the experience alone was worth the long trip with her dad and acoustic guitar accompanist Murray. Social media lit up with tons of messages of support for Millie both before and after the awards. Many are disappointed her third nomination as Young Performer of the Year remains a nomination but the consensus is, and rightly so, that her time is coming, maybe as soon as next year’s awards ceremony in Ottawa.
• Patrons of the Black Horse are breathing a huge sigh of relief over the place that live music still has a home at the George Street pub. When former owners Desmond and Maria Vandenberg listed the property for sale last summer, there was a fear the eventual buyer would put a stop to the music in favour of something different. Not to worry. New owner Sajen Ganeshalingam has maintained the status quo, clearly recognizing the value in doing so in a city where live music venues have closed with alarming frequency since before he pandemic. Good on him. If it ain’t broke, don’t mess with it, right?
• For four decades now, “Washboard” Hank Fisher and “Reverend” Ken Ramsden have done their thing off and on, performing their unique brand of music, from classical to bluegrass gospel to everything in between. The term “treasure” is often overused but these guys are uniquely ours, their ambassadorship on behalf of the Peterborough music scene having been extended across Canada. On Sunday, April 28th from 2 to 4 p.m. at Stone Hall on the 6th Line of Belmont in Havelock, the pair will do their thing. Tickets cost $20 advance at universe.com/shs0428.

A lover of independent bookstores, Peterborough author Erica Richmond would choose nowhere else but Peterborough’s Take Cover Books to celebrate the release of her latest children’s book, Pixie and the Fox.

Fresh off the exhibit of her Mail Art Stories Project last month, Richmond — who is also the founder of Open Sky Stories, a writing community for which she hosts writing groups and workshops — will be at the Hunter Street bookstore at 7 p.m. on Friday, May 10th and will read from her new book at 8 p.m.

“I would love to have people there and enjoying this space because their shop is lovely,” says Richmond. “I’m so happy to have them in town to find some connection through books and stories and just enjoy everyone’s company.”

The self-published Pixie and the Fox tells the story of, not surprisingly, a pixie who meets a fox. After the fox tells the pixie how much he loves her light, laughter, and sparkle, the pixie follows him on his adventures until she apprehensively enters a cave. When the fox leaves her, taking away that light, laughter, and sparkle with him, she is left on her own without the things that made her special.

“She has to look deep within herself and remember the things that make her who she is, and how to get them back and find her way out of the cave,” says Richmond.

Illustrated by Peterborough-based artist Brooklin Holbrough, the story is the second in the Pixie series, which follows the character as she learns to understand and tackle complex feelings and experiences. Just as the first book in the series, 2020’s Pixie and the Bees, was based on Richmond’s experience living with anxiety, the second book is also “based a lot” on her own life.

“I wouldn’t say that the fox is one specific person in my life, but it’s (based on) experiences that I’ve had of losing myself a little bit and experiencing relationships that are less than healthy,” she says. “And then having to dig in, remembering who you are and remembering your worth, and finding your way back from that.”

Though it’s the second in the series to be published, Richmond actually wrote Pixie and the Fox about six years ago. As with all the personal and “healing” writing she does, she needed to wait for the “right time” and to be in the right place before releasing it.

“I’m in a different place right now where I’m able to talk about things that I might have shied away from before,” she says. “It feels like I can have these conversations with people, and I really want to have these conversations and talk to people because this is a huge issue that we’re talking about a lot more than ever before.”

While the books are designed for children with Holbrough’s whimsical illustrations and Richmond’s easy-to-follow writing, the Pixie stories and the messages within them are universally valuable to adults as well. In fact, when first writing the books, Richmond hadn’t even envisioned them as being for children.

“I try to make it very accessible and use a lot of the patterns that are in children’s books, which I find makes it lighter than it would otherwise,” she says. “It’s more possible for other people to read it too, as with any type of media.”

Richmond says her stories are also a great way to introduce children to serious subject matter, without actually naming anxiety, mental health, “invisible illnesses,” or toxic relationships. She has heard feedback from parents of children who connected with the stories, and loves being able to have conversations around them when she’s attending events.

“These books really are just the beginning of the conversation and just a way that we can share a connection,” Richmond says. “Kids of all ages run into relationship difficulties. Relationships aren’t easy, whether it’s with friend groups or parents or family members or, as you get older, romantic relationships. This is the same, but it’s told through a pixie and a fox.”

While Richmond is looking forward to the in-person launch of Pixie and the Fox at her local bookstore, she is already a regular at Take Cover Books. As a small business owner herself, she says she goes out of her way to support independent bookstores whenever she can.

“Take Cover Books is very supportive of local authors with so many events and the big stores and Amazon just don’t do that,” she says, urging her readers to buy from local small businesses. “People who decide to own an independent bookstore are doing it because they just love books and I think that’s amazing, and I want to support them as much as I can.”

Beyond the book launch, Richmond has more speaking engagements and author readings already scheduled throughout the end of the month and the rest of the year.

“When I first decided to publish Pixie and the Fox last summer, I realized I’ve always wanted to do more speaking events and talking to people,” she says, noting that she developed a keynote for that purpose. “It introduces a lot of the concepts that I write about and the style of writing that I have.”

Among others, she has speaking engagements at Peterborough’s Keith Wightman School, the Peterborough Public Library, The Word on the Street Toronto Book and Magazine Festival, and even has an event in her hometown library in Dresden.

“My mom was the head librarian when I was growing up, so it feels really special to be going back there to do an author engagement event,” she says.

While she doesn’t know what lies ahead for her beloved heroine, Richmond is certain we haven’t seen the end of Pixie.

“I love the genre, and I find writing it is just absolutely the most healing thing ever for me,” she says. “I find a lot of comfort in writing the story. The key with it is to write it as a way of healing, but then I try not to share things into the world until I feel ready that this story can come out.”

In the meantime, Richmond is in the process of another healing journey. She is writing a collection of essays which focus on her life over the past 10 years, chronicling her grief in losing the father of her children to suicide after having separated from him six years prior.

“I feel my experience is a bit unique and I’ve written a lot about it, but I’m getting more intentional about it and I’m writing a lot of essays that will be put together as one collection,” Richmond says.

As with Richmond’s other projects, Peterborough will be ready for anything she releases into the world whenever she is ready to do so.

For more information about Richmond and her work, visit openskystories.com. For more information about Take Cover Books and upcoming events, including the Pixie and the Fox book launch, visit takecoverbooks.ca.

With International Jazz Day being marked around the globe on April 30, Peterborough’s annual celebration of the music genre promises to be second to none.

That’s due mostly in part to Jane Bunnett and Maqueque, an internationally renowned Grammy award-nominated act that will headline a full slate of jazz music events in Peterborough with a concert at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre on Friday, April 26th.

As designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), April 30 was first designated International Jazz Day in 2011. Marked each year since, the day’s aim is to highlight jazz and “its diplomatic role of uniting people in all corners of the globe.”

With iconic jazz pianist and composer Herbie Hancock again serving as the day’s Goodwill Ambassador, more than 190 countries will join the party by hosting jazz concerts and genre related events.

The Peterborough celebration marks the eighth year the day has been marked locally. According to organizing committee member Joe Grant, there are two distinct audiences in sight: those who are already fans of the genre, and those seeking a first-time taste.

“This is geared towards people to get out there and experience live jazz,” says Grant, a Peterborough lawyer whose firm, LLF Lawyers, is one of several sponsors of events marking the day.

“If you never have, it’s a much different experience than listening to something you might hear on an elevator,” Grant points out. “If you think that that’s jazz, it’s certainly isn’t. Experiencing something live and seeing artists of the calibre that we’re bringing in — seeing them play their instruments and improvise — that takes you to a higher realm that you probably haven’t experienced with another kind of music.”

For his part, Grant remembers how he became a gradual convert to the genre.

“It was all ’90s rock when I cut my teeth,” he recalls. “Jazz was something I came to, thinking maybe I should try to cultivate an interest in it. Listening to recorded music didn’t really catch me but once I experienced a live event, that’s when the tables completely turned. It caught me on another level that other music didn’t seem to.”

“One of the coolest things I ever saw was a (jazz) trio. They played, trading off the bass, drums, and piano. They played like they’d been playing for ten years together. Turns out that was the first time they played together. They didn’t even speak the same language, but they certainly knew the same language when it came to jazz. They communicated on another level and it was something very special to see.”

While Bunnett and Maqueque’s April 26th appearance at Market Hall — with Peterborough’s own Rob Phillips and Carling Stephen opening — is the main event, it’s not the only jazz music-related event planned.

The following day (Saturday, April 27th) will see Dine With Jazz provide the chance to enjoy a great meal at any one of four restaurants, each hosting musical duos from 5 to 8 p.m. as follows:

• Pete Woolidge and Mark Davidson at The El (P) (380 George Street North, 705-750-0000)
• Michael Monis and Paco Luviano at Agave By Imperial (376 George Street North, 705-741-5551)
• Victoria Yeh and Mike Graham at Amandala’s (375 Water Street, 705-749-9090)
• Ginny Simonds and Craig Paterson at The Railyard Café (127 Hunter Street East, 705-745-5511)

Reservations are recommended for each restaurant.

Also on Saturday night from 9 p.m. to midnight, The Steve Holt Jazz Quartet — the Juno award-nominated pianist will be joined by Curtis Cronkwright on drums, Perry White on saxophone, and Duncan Hopkins on bass — will entertain at the Black Horse Pub at 452 George Street North.

There are also other jazz performances at local venues through April, which is National Jazz Appreciation Month.

“It’s great to see the arts community and the business community support each other,” enthuses Grant of the restaurants’ and pubs’ participation in International Jazz Day Peterborough.

But the big draw for International Jazz Day Peterborough is undoubtedly Jane Bunnett and Maqueque. This appearance marks a return to Market Hall for the five-time Juno Award recipient and her all-female band of Cuban musicians, who headlined at the same venue for International Jazz Day Peterborough back in 2019.

Speaking from the shores of Lake Saint Peter in Hastings Highlands, Bunnett agrees wholeheartedly with UNESCO’s position that jazz is a unifying music genre that defies borders while embracing multiple cultures.

“You can pretty much go anywhere in the world, be it China or India or wherever, and there’s an appreciation for the music,” she says.

VIDEO: “Dream” – Jane Bunnett & Maqueque

In forming Maqueque, Bunnett has put forth a much-heralded example of jazz’s appeal and growth internationally and, in this case, Cuba in particular.

“It was just really as a one-off,” says Bunnett of the project. “With Spirits of Havana with Larry (Bunnett’s husband and trumpet player Larry Cramer), I was the only female in that group for a good 30 years. We had a lot of young talent come through Spirits of Havana but they were always guys.”

“When we’d go to Cuba, playing mostly in conservatories, more than half of the students were women. When I was at a jam session or a club, I would see these young ladies sitting on the sidelines. They weren’t bringing their horns — they’d go ‘No, no, I’m happy my boyfriend is up there playing’. I’d say ‘Yeah, my boyfriend’s up here playing too, but that’s not stopping me from getting up and playing’.”

“Larry said ‘Stop talking about it and do something’. We went to Cuba and we sort of secretly looked for the right personnel to put together for what was to be a one-off project. Once together, we decided to put together a recording.”

That first album, 2014’s Jane Bunnett and Maqueque, told the saxophonist and flautist that she was onto a very good thing. It won a 2015 Juno Award for Jazz Album of the Year. Better still, the album’s follow-up, 2016’s Oddara, was nominated for a Grammy Award. Two more albums have followed since: 2019’s On Firm Ground/Tierra Firme and Playing With Fire, released just last year.

If that’s not enough, Bunnett has brought Maqueque to numerous international stages and events, including celebrated jazz festivals in Monterey and Newport.

Speaking to the band’s still-growing popularity here in Canada, Bunnett reasons that there are a couple of factors at play.

“When Canadians starting going to Cuba for their vacations, a strong familiarity with Cuban music developed, just from people hearing it in the hotels,” she says.

“That, I think, tweaked people’s interest (in Cuban music) in Canada early on. But what we do is a little different, mixing jazz into it. With women (players), that became interesting; a realization that the women can really play.”

VIDEO: “Tomorrow” – Jane Bunnett & Maqueque

Echoing Grant, Bunnett says there are new fans waiting to be won over to the jazz genre.

“What we really need to do is try and broaden the appeal (and) get a younger demographic into the music,” she says, noting there was a time when jazz was generally referred to as “mouldy fig music.”

“If you look around sometimes at the audience for jazz, everybody is on the older side. What’s going to happen when that age group goes? We need to encourage younger people to enjoy the music.”

Jazz’s historical tendency to re-invent itself is a good thing in that regard, says Bunnett. In the meantime, securing audiences for her band’s high-energy and very danceable music is a never-ending mission.

“What you hope is you get the opportunities to go out and play and develop your sound,” she says. “Without those opportunities, it’s very hard to develop. It’s one thing to practice but if you can’t get out and get the response for your music, you really feel like you’re working within a vacuum.”

“We need the audience. Often the audience is really musically informed. If it’s not happening on the stage, they know it. They’re not dumb. They pick up on it, even more than the musicians do.”

In the meantime, Bunnett is enjoying what has been a life-changing journey, both personally and musically, with Maqueque.

“It’s not like I’m a Girl Guide leader or something like that,” she says. “I’m an artist that still feels like I’m trying to develop and play at the level my heroes played at. I’m happy to have players along for the ride, but it’s important to me to feel that they’re enjoying the journey and it’s not just a platform to the next thing they do.”

Tickets for Jane Bunnett and Maqueque’s 7:30 p.m. concert cost $36 for assigned cabaret table or regular seating and are available in person at the Market Hall box office (140 Charlotte St, Peterborough), by phone at 705-775-1503, or online at markethall.org.

Joining LLF Lawyers as sponsors of International Jazz Day Peterborough are We Design Group, Alterna Savings, and McCosh Private Wealth Management, with kawarthaNOW on board as the event’s media sponsor.

For more information about International Jazz Day Peterborough, as well as other events during Jazz Appreciation Month, visit internationaljazzdaypeterborough.wordpress.com.

To learn more about Jane Bunnett and Maqueque, visit www.janebunnett.com.

kawarthaNOW is proud to be the media sponsor of International Jazz Day Peterborough.