Category Archives: Festivals

AFRO-CUBAN TRUMPETER ALEXIS BARO PACKED THE HOUSE @ POETRY JAZZ CAFE

Last night, I was thrilled to be part of the capacity audience at Kensington Market’s Poetry Jazz Cafe (224 Augusta Ave) as Toronto-based Afro-Cuban trumpeter ALEXIS BARO and his band killed it on stage as part of this year’s TD Toronto Jazz Festival.

Performing music from his recent album, Guilty Pleasure, Alexis was joined by drummer extraordinaire Amhed Mitchel, Jeremy Ledbetter on keys and Yoser Rodrigues on bass. He also teased us with several new compositions from his upcoming Alexis Baro & Pueblo Nuevo Jazz Project that pays tribute to his Cuban musical roots – his new CD, Sugar Rush, due for release this coming September.

Alexis has performed and recorded with many celebrated artists including David Foster, Pacquito D’Riviera, Paul Shaffer, Andreas Bocelli, Omara Portunda, Joey DeFrancisco, Gino Vanelli, Wayne Newton and Tom Jones. He has been the opening act for Herbie Hancock and has led his own groups on tour across Canada, Europe and the West Indies.

His Guilty Pleasure album is a collection of laid back, soulful original compositions touching on a variety of genres including Latin, Afro-Cuban and Contemporary Jazz, and features Cuban female rapper Telmary and Dwayne Morgan. Congratulations to Alexis – Guilty Pleasure was recently named the Gold Medal Award winner at the Global Music Awards. You can purchase the album via iTune dowload or via www.alexisbaro.com

The venue, Poetry Jazz Cafe, located in the heart of Toronto’s Kensington Market, is a cosy showroom entered via an enclosed front foyer filled with comfy chairs and couches. Out back is an open-air patio with candlelit tables surrounded by shrubery that offers a discreet area for conversation or a romantic date night. Run by the charming Sean Pascalle and his welcoming staff, it’s a great new find for Toronto’s live music fans and I recommend you check it out in person. www.poetryjazzcafe.com (you can find lots of photos and news on their Facebook page, linked via the website). I sat at the bar with Alexis’ wife, Tracey (below) who kept me informed on the story of each tune and joined me in cheering along with the rest of the enthusiastic crowd as the band took their bows.The bar itself is decorated by some pretty cool posters and giant photos of legendary jazz figures such as Miles Davis (‘natch), Nina Simone, Stachmo…and over the bar, Sean has installed a giant tv screen – last night it was showing a famous Cuban animated feature to complimented the live music.I was really moved when Alexis picked up his flugelhorn and performed this gorgeous smooth jazz number….

Watch for the release of Alexis’ new album in September – I’ll post an event page on Facebook to promote the concert in Toronto. In the meantime, visit his website www.alexisbaro.com for more music and videos.

URBAN GALLERY HOSTS IN MAGAZINE’S PRIDE TORONTO LAUNCH PARTY

IN Magazine is Toronto’s premier LGBT glossy magazine and last night, Publisher Patricia Salib and her colleagues hosted a party to help launch this year’s PRIDE Month (and introduce the office PRIDE Guide) at URBAN GALLERY, catered by sister-company URBAN SOURCE CATERING. And what a fun party it was, too.Sponsored by TD Bank, guests posed at the photowall, including Gallery director Calvin Hambrook shown here (below L) with Patricia and TD’s Regional Mgr of LGBT Business Development, Al RamseyThe delicious hors d’oeuvres circulated constantly….. …and they disappeared just as quickly!Here’s Maria Khan (below L), Mgr of Talent Acquisition Strategies at Scotiabank who brought her colleagues to support IN Magazine. They’re posed in front of the beautiful paintings by Kirk Sutherland who’s exhibiting at the gallery during PRIDE month – his opening night party is tonight so I’ll share more of Kirk’s work with you later.Also in attendance, M.A.C. Cosmetics representative Drew Bowden who cut such a dashing figure in the crowd, esp. alongside friend Sharon Deebrah of Toronto City Planning (lower pic)More fabulous guests and IN Magazine folks and speeches….Thanks to the hard-working gallery and catering staff, and to Kelly who worked the door, checking the guest list and greeting everyone with her charming smile!

www.urbangallery.ca

www.urbancatering.com

www.inmagazine.ca

URBANSOURCE CREATIVE CATERING SPONSORS FOOD & REFRESHMENTS FOR INSIDE OUT 2016 Toronto LGBT Film Festival Launch Party

This past Friday evening, URBANSOURCE CREATIVE CATERING, one of Toronto’s leading catering companies (established 31 years ago) sponsored the sumptuous repast at this year’s INSIDE OUT/LGBT FILM FESTIVAL (May 26-June 5) VIP launch party hosted in the St. James Cathedral Centre.

I arrived just as Urban’s friendly kitchen staff were plating the hors d’oeuvres (below) and prepping the wine bar With the help of Urban’s Sales & Business Mgr. Wayne Abell (below, 3rd from L) I was able to wrangle the kitchen staff out front for a special photo opp (below)….…and then enjoyed the fun as guests filled the party room, enjoying the photobooth and great music. The delicious hot & cold hors d’oeuvre included pulled pork sliders, Cajun salmon cakes topped with comeback sauce, Arancini risotto balls (or as I like to call them “cheesy balls”) filled with gooey buffalo mozzarella cheese served with roasted chipotle pepper sauce (below, enjoyed by guests)… ….Greek potatoes with feta, olives, pickled onion and tzatziki, garnished with chives…don’t they look pretty? (below) …and also Moroccan Chicken Rouelles topped with mango salsa, Pissaladière Blanco on herbed Provençale crust and Spanish Tortilla with roasted peppers, egg, potato and Manchego cheese topped with tomato jam. Yummmm, guests couldn’t get enough of the tasty treats so the kitchen staff kicked it into high gear…. Even the press photographers were delighted by the food service (below)Wayne enjoyed networking, too – here he is at the photo wall with Inside Out’s Brad and Scott (LtoR)That photobooth was a real party favourite with guests dressing up and acting silly. Here are a few perfect examples of the perfect party guests…. …and of course, I just HAD to get into the act, too. Always the party princess….!Apart from all the fun and frivolity, there were the more serious chores of announcing this year’s film line-up, the complete InsideOut festival program and shout-outs to esteemed supporters, sponsors and guests, MC’d by Todd van der Heyden, news anchor with CTV News Channel. Urban’s service volunteers really enjoyed their jobs, such as Neal (below) who had two lovely ladies flanking him and helping serve the wine.

InsideOut would like to thank….
Food and drinks generously provided by Urban Source Creative Catering, Barefoot Wine & Bubbly, and Steam Whistle Brewing. Party Sponsors: Urban Source Creative Catering, Steam Whistle Brewing, Barefoot Wine & Bubbly, Jack Daniel’s, Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey and Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Fire.
With tunes by Blockorama: DJs Craig Dominic, Blackcat and Nik Red; performances by House of Monroe; video projections by Roxanne Luchak, an art installation by Leuwebb and photo booth provided by Monocle Booth.

For information about this year’s film fest screenings and events, visit www.insideout.ca/

PHOTOGRAPHER MAHA MUNAF SHOWCASES HER STUNNING STREETSCAPES OF DAMASCUS for the 2016 SCOTIABANK CONTACT PHOTOGRAPHY FESTIVAL

On Saturday May 7, URBAN GALLERY, 400 Queen St East in Toronto, hosted a special opening reception for photographer MAHA MUNAF whose stunning B&W and sepia-toned photos of street life in the city of Damascus as well as the countryside in Madagascar are part of the city-wide annual 2016 SCOTIABANK CONTACT PHOTOGRAPHY FESTIVAL. Here are just a handful of images from Maha’s “Scent of Jasmine” exhibition from yesterday’s launch party… Maha graduated as an architect in Jordan in 2004 but had a passion for capturing snapshots of life around her with her camera. She soon found that being a female photographer in a conservative society was challenging but Maha took her camera and took images from colorful India all the way to the Everest Heights. “There are so many places to explore and stories to be told.”Maha always had an eye for art; as a little girl her notebooks contained sketches of fairy tales and places she would soon come to visit. Experimenting with her camera, Maha saw the world differently through her lens, a world with no limitations. Now, having relocated to Toronto, Maha is excited about starting this new chapter; so far she’s been part of two group exhibitions and presented her solo photography exhibition “Forgotten Memories” as part of last year’s Festival which was very well received. She is now looking to do more with her photography – to inspire, grow & get inspired herself.

Artist Statement: Photography is a way to tell a story and evoke a feeling. I utilize my camera as a tool to create imagery that awakens a deeper meaning beyond the obvious visual: an object through texture, a person through gesture or a place through light. My focus is bringing my subjects from ordinary to extraordinary.

Urban Gallery soon filled with admiring fans and family, including Maha’s brother, Mohanad, and sister Maryam (below) who looked at her work with such pride. Gallery guests were soon picking out their favourite images and hopefully there’ll be lot of red dots (sales) alongside the photos by the end of the month-long Festival!It’s always nice when friends drop in with flowers! Urban Gallery curator Allen Shugar (above L) shared a toast with Maha’s brother (centre) and another gallery guest.
There are also a number of full colour photos (below) taken during Maha’s travels through rural Madagascar.

For Gallery hours and additional information on Maha’s “Scent of Jasmine” showcase, please visit www.urbangallery.ca or Maha’s own website: www.mahamunaf.com

WRITER/ARTIST DONNA LYPCHUK OPENS “ART FOR LOUNGES, LOBBIES & LIVING ROOMS” SHOW FOR CONTACT PHOTOGRAPHY FESTIVAL

Last night I was thrilled to attend the opening of my dear friend DONNA LYPCHUK‘s show that’s part of this year’s CONTACT Photography Festival taking place at galleries and venues across Toronto throughout the month of May.Hosted in the unique setting of Mrs.Huizengas Antique Emporium @28 Roncesvalles Ave, the 60+ framed and unframed photographic prints feature stunning landscapes, floral portraits and sassy street scenes. The show also includes one of Donna’s most famous shots of a hurricane-like tempest over Toronto back in August of 2015 – this photo went viral over the internet, was published by news outlets across the country and became Instagram’s “Photo of the Day”. It is also the title photo for Donna’s show promotional materials (see bottom of blog).A long-time resident and arts scene contributor of the Queen Street West Bo-ho community, Donna was a weekly columnist (“the necrofile”) for the now-defunct eye Weekly newspaper as well as a published author, playwright and multi-media artist…… and my dear friend since the early 80’s when we both worked at Yuk Yuk’s. Her own sense of humour and whimsy can be seen in a number of her photos, as well as her “darker side”. I particularly liked her charming “Swan” series, esp. the full-colour framed print featured below….Donna greeted all her friends who dropped in to admire her work and support the show, and I watched as several prints were sold, too – congrats, Donna! For those wishing to purchase her work, Donna (below, centre) has priced her photo prints very affordably – you can pick up a great picture for as little as $16 or as much as $160. Donna’s florals attracted a lot of attention – here are two of my faves…. I really liked this one (above) as the trees look like naked bodies dancing thru the flowers!!

I highly recommend checking out these beautiful photos that will hang in Mrs. Huizengas throughout the month of May…and have fun checking out all the kitsch and vintage treasures in this huge antique emporium. For store hours call T: 416-533-2112. Thank you for supporting Canadian artists….especially Donna Lypchuk

URBANSOURCE CATERING & URBAN GALLERY HOST IN MAGAZINE’S SNEAK PEAK OF THIS YEAR’S TORONTO PRIDE EVENTS

Last night, IN Magazine held their Community Networking event with a sneak peak of Toronto’s Pride 2016 events, sponsored by the TD Bank, in the Urban Gallery space (400 Queen St East) with deelish treats catered by UrbanSource Catering.

Publisher Patricia Salib was joined by Reggie Lanuza (Dir. of Operations), Woodrow Monteiro (Sr A/c Director), Christopher Turner (guest editor for their Lady Gaga issue) and hard-working intern Joel Ducharme as they welcomed guests and sponsor reps for an evening of cocktails, fabulous hors d’oeuvres and networking. The guests all enjoyed the stunning artwork of Gary Barnett, Urban Gallery’s artist for April, whose show officially opens tomorrow (Sat. Apr. 9).

Here’s publisher Patricia with her husband Boris, and with A/c Director Woodrow (bottom pic)

PRIDE 2016 Presentation Pride Flag Raising Ceremony

Woodrow Monterio and Patricia Salib from IN MAGAZINE

Some of the delectable treats included…..Sriracha prawns with bacon, seafood Kokoda spoons, a gourmet fruit & cheese buffet, Cajun salmon cakes with “comeback” sauce:

as well as port-poached pears with ricotta and candied walnuts, and roasted grape & Burrata on torn basil & crostini (yummmm)

Port-poached Pears with ricotta and candide walnuts

Roasted Grape and Buratta with torn basil on crostini

Congrats to the Urban Catering and Gallery team (below) who made the night such a success for the folks of IN Magazine, and be sure to visit each website (see below).

Calvin, Wayne and the URBAN SOURCE CATERING Crew

www.inmagazine.ca/

www.urbangallery.ca/

www.urbancatering.com/

HITTING THE RED CARPET @ ACTRA TORONTO TIFF PARTY (Pt. II)

“More more more…how’d ya like it, how’d like it?” Only readers familiar with the disco era will probably get that….but it was still the case last night when Toronto’s fabulous film folks walked the red carpet at the ACTRA Toronto TIFF party held at the HangLoose Media studios…and they brought more more more glamour and fabulosity!
Was great to catch up with my old friend David Gale, pictured above with Ferne Downey and Theresa Tova who had some fun with Kate Wheeler of What She Said web radio who interviewed them on their way inside (below). Meet the multi award-winning Helena-Alexis Seymour, 2 time Best Actress winner (F.A.B.I.O) and Best Actress nominee at the Black Canadian Awards (below).And here’s the beautiful, elegant Clara Pasieka (below) who is also Chair of the Young Emerging Actors Assembly (YEAA).Canadian acting royalty was in the house…yes, that’s Tantoo Cardinal, award-winning actor, activist and recipient of the Order of Canada! Ms. Cardinal was just honored with the 2015 ACTRA Award of ExcellenceI love it when actors get “into it” during photo calls – gives us all something to shoot and play with. And I soon discovered the shoes! My inner Carrie Bradshaw freaked out over some of the sexy footwear and even the guys brought it. Even the wristwear was pretty cool….I want that one!Recent imports from LA, here’s writer/director Dan Spurgeon (below, left), and his partner, producer Drew Blakeman (right) who were chatting up the actors about their award-winning play, The Baby, which is set to open here in Toronto next month. http://thebabyliveonstage.com/ Here’s internationally renowned flautist, composer and film scorer Ron Korb and his beautiful wife & photographer Jade. One of my favourite photo opps for the actors was this “selfie station” (below), What a great idea.I love this photo (below) ….two of my fave party VIPs, ACTRA’s PR Officer Karen Woolridge (left) and Safiya Ricketts (right) who’s on the ACTRA Diversity, TAWC and YEAA committees.

Stand-up comedians/actors Ali Hassan & Dave Merhege (below) shared a few laughs with us.One of the hardest working men in Toronto showbiz is Bobby DelRio, actor, writer, director, handsome dude about town…you name it, Bobby does it!

Randi & Barrie Shelson put in an appearance

The stunning blonde in the firetruck red gown (below right) is Christine Jenna Cilano, Founder/CEO of Bella Life Model Agency of Boston (she whispered to me that she may be opening a Toronto office) who arrived with a cool entourage that included local club entrepreneur David Laxton (at left), musician Rasta Phill, model Lauren Marx and CEO of Madflower Creative, Nico Bacigalupo.Here’s more ACTRA members enjoying themselves, nice and relaxed, having fun and working the red carpet photo opps.

Ta-daaah! That’s all I can say about this lovely, funny volunteer who helped keep our energy up while working the red carpet for 3hrs.Below, Raj Girn, publisher of Anokhi Media, one of the night’s sponsors, sparkled and shimmered. I remember attending the launch party for her successful luxury magazine, Anokhi Vibe, several years ago and I’m so happy for her success in such a tough market.More fun, fabulous party people…. Now…a big thank-you to to all the event sponsors and partners for making the soiree so successful.

And congratulations to all the amazing volunteers who worked so hard to pull off such a fun, glamorous event. Bravo, and a big standing O to you all!

OUT THERE @ TIFF WITH THE FABULOUS MELISSA DIMARCO

And so the dance begins….

The fans are lining up outside the Ritz-Carlton Hotel (above) in hopes of spying visiting celebs during the Toronto Int’l Film Festival (TIFF) – the annual high holidays for the movie industry.

Got a great start to my TIFF’ing this year…I got to visit the media hospitality suites in the Hotel Intercontinental on Front St West and my first stop was the www.OutThereWithMelissa.com suite, hosted by the gorgeous, friendly MELISSA DIMARCO (yes, she’s even prettier in person).

Her team of hosts (below) welcomed me to the suite and I had fun with the photo wall….can’t wait to see how “fabulous” they made me look – only hope their Photoshop program was working overtime..LOL!

Downstairs, there was lots of schmoozing going on, as well as tons of nibblies and sponsor drinkies….

…and more networking opps with industry folks like Dixon and Bruce (below)and I caught these two fellas below mid-chew (sorry)…. LOLYoung ACTRA party organizer Sarena Parmar (below right) was working the room like a pro!…and here she is again with Rodger Edralin of Napintas Films (centre) and one of the numerous casting guys (left) in town over the next 10 days.Here are more of Melissa’s great team of room hosts and her official photographer (below right) who looks quite a bit like Chrissy Teigen, don’t you think?

Sadly I left the party a bit too early as I missed fellow countryman and Oscar-winner, Geoffrey Rush (below with Melissa )Aussie star Rush is famous for The King’s Speech and numerous other films but I will always remember him for his award-winning portrayal of pianist David Helfgott in the movie SHINE which holds a special place in my heart. It’s based in my home town of Perth, Western Australia, and I remember seeing the real David play in the piano bar of the Parmelia Hotel which I frequented after work in the early 70’s (I was under-age to drink booze but kids and dogs were allowed in hotel bars in Oz – civilized or what, eh?). G’day, Geoffrey…if you need any Vegemite or Lamingtons, I got a stash here!

As I left the suites I ran into the adorable and super talented Katie Boland who was making her exit with her hands full of goodie bags. Such a pretty dress!So a really big thanks to Melissa and the Out There with Melissa DiMarco gang, and a special thank you to Caron Nightingale, Director of Sales for APM Canada (one of the suite’s sponsors), who kindly extended the invitation to me. Check out what APM does here: http://www.apmmusic.com/

I’m looking fwd to visiting the ladies of Sirius XM’s What She Said next week so check back for more TIFF news.

CALL FOR ENTRIES: URBAN GALLERY TO HOST EQUINE PHOTOGRAPHY SHOW DURING NEXT YEAR’S “CONTACT PHOTO FESTIVAL”.

My friends down at URBAN GALLERY (400 Queen St East, Toronto) are putting out a “call for submissions” for next year’s Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival (May 2016) so they’re looking for professional or semi-pro photographers and emerging photographic artists to submit photos of horses, ponies, donkeys, mules…even zebras!…for next year’s city-wide festival.Deadline is Sept. 30th so hurry up and email Calvin at Urban Gallery (urbangalleryart1@gmail.com) for fest info and eligibility. Am sure you can do better than my efforts (below)…LOL

CELEBRATING ASIAN HERITAGE MONTH WITH SILK ROADS GALA

I was honoured to be invited to “Silk Roads II – Mongolia”, a concert event celebrating Toronto’s Asian community and their contributions to our history, culture and the arts. It also marked the launch for the new Virtual Museum of Asian Canadian Cultural Heritage website [ http://bit.ly/1KszEQ7 ].

Canada’s leading flute virtuoso Ron Korb performed along with dancers and musicians, and the event was kicked off by a photographic travelogue of their recent trip to Mongolia, courtesy of Dr. Neville Poy and his charming wife, the Hon. Dr. Vivienne Poy (pictured below) following their son, Justin Poy, giving the opening address to the packed house at the Innis Town Hall Theatre, Toronto.

Our charming MC for the evening, Janet Lin (pictured below) then intro’d all the performers, starting with an awesome performance by Xuanyi Liu playing the rare Chinese harp, the Konghou (centre) who was accompanied for one song by beautiful dancers Alice and Natasha (bottom picture)

Ron then took the stage to present several tunes from his latest CD, Asia Beauty, accompanied by JiaLiang Zhu on piano.

Ron was followed by a contemporary dance piece featuring Mairead Filgate and Luke Garwood (below)

…then Greek musician Yiannis Kapoulas played a series of tunes using instruments influenced by those originally brought to the Middle East via the silk road (below)

The performances were capped of with a beautiful traditional Mongolian dance presentation by the Chi-Ping Dance Group and dancers from the Chinese Collective Arts Association (below)

There was a grand curtain call for all the performers and event organizers, volunteers and VIPs with Justin and his parents taking up drums and joining Ron to play the finale “jam” (below) as everyone took their curtain call.

The entire celebration of Asian Heritage was both entertaining and educational and my thanks to Gabriella Luchetta for photographing all the colour and excitement you see here.

Ron and Dr. Poy thank you for dropping by!