The Gryphon Trio Play Rebecca Clarke /  by Chris Foley

This has been a big week for the Gryphon Trio, who just won a Juno award for best Classical Album, Solo or Chamber. These occasions are above all an opportunity to put the spotlight on the music itself, and the Gryphon Trio’s End of Flowers album features a piano trio by the long-neglected British-American composer Rebecca Clarke. Here’s the first movement:

The Rebecca Clarke Society has more information and news about Clarke’s life, works, and upcoming events.

The Gryphon Trio are:

Annalee Patipatanakoon, violin
Roman Borys, cello
James Parker, piano

On a side note, Jamie may or may not have thanked violists for their unwavering support at their acceptance speech at the Juno awards ceremony.

What To Do When the Creative Process Isn't Happening /  by Chris Foley

Julia Cameron on how to get back on track when you don’t feel like creating:

It is only by courting humility that we stand a chance as artists. When we choose to join the human condition rather than set ourselves apart from it, we begin at once to experience relief. If we stop calling our writer’s block “writer’s block” and begin using words like “resistance” and “procrastination” we are suddenly no longer in rarefied territory.

One of the greatest disservices we can do to ourselves as artists is to make our work too special and too different from everybody else’s work. To the degree to which we can normalize our day, we have a chance to be both productive and happy. Let us say, as is often the case, we are resistant to getting down to work. We have a choice. We can buy into our resistance—Writer’s block! Painter’s block!—or we can simply say, “I don’t feel like working today, and I’ll bet an awful lot of other people are in the same boat.”

The minute we identify with the rest of humankind, we are on the right track. The minute we set ourselves apart, we are in trouble. When we start thinking that as artists we are very different from other people, we start to feel marginalized and hopeless. When we realize that we are probably in pretty much the same boat as everyone else, we begin to edge toward solution. Our shared humanity is the solution. Our “specialness” is the problem.

I’ve used Julia’s Morning Pages method for several years now - this process has helped me to understand myself better, realize what types of projects I really want to be doing, and how I can work at my best. Julia’s The Artist’s Way is what I recommend as an entry point into Morning Pages, and she also has a workbook that helps you to get more deeply into the practice.

(The magnificent image above is from Pedro da Silva on Unsplash)

Root Systems /  by Chris Foley

Sarah J. Bray offers some insights on being a highly sensitive entrepreneur:

Isn’t it interesting how when you give a plant good nourishment at the roots, the rest takes care of itself? I’m learning that work-related growth is the same way. It’s taken me a while to truly embrace this concept (and I’m still uncovering new layers of how to do this), but the more I do, the calmer, clearer, and more effective my work becomes.

At an individual level, this means optimizing my habits and rhythms rather than chasing bigger and better projects and outcomes. This has been tremendously hard for me (hello, INFP!) because I hate doing the same thing I did yesterday and the day before and the day before that. I love obsessing over new things and letting my passion for something drive me into the ground.

But you know what I love more? Being healthy. Being confident in my ability to keep working on something and making it better over time. Having a feeling of spaciousness in my life instead of the constant feeling that I should be doing more.

Sarah’s quote above is from Part 1; also check out the second and third parts of the series.

Jeremy Dutcher and Why Indigenous Music Matters /  by Chris Foley

Congratulations go out to Jeremy Dutcher, whose Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa (iTunes link) won the Juno award for Best Indigenous Album last weekend. Jeremy’s process for creating the album involved transcribing and arranging songs in the Wolastoqiyik language from wax cylinders in the Canadian Museum of History.

Here’s Jeremy singing and playing Pomok Naka Poktoinskwes on CBC’s First Play Live:

A few words about Jeremy’s process from his National Music Centre residency a few years ago:

In his acceptance speech, Jeremy asked all the other nominees in the Best Indigenous Album category to stand up and be acknowledged. His words on the importance of the Indigenous genre:

All of your work changes this place, and it deserves to be considered outside of this category. Because our music is not niche. Our music is saying something.

I don’t know how many more times they’re going to let me do this, so Justin - Mr. Trudeau - a nation-to-nation relationships does not look like pipelines. A nation-to-nation relationship does not look like sending militarized police forces to unceded territory. And a nation-to-nation relationship doesn’t look like - in 2019 - our communities still on boiled water advisory. 

So, this means so much to me. I hope to continue to share and use this platform to tell truth. We can all do better…

The Space Between the Notes /  by Chris Foley

Rhonda Rizzo explores the ground of being called silence from which music emerges:

Actors know the power of the pregnant pause.  Artists understand the need for white space.  Some musicians play the notes; others play the space between the notes.  Masterful artists of any discipline think perhaps the notes or words or space are a way to express the silence and that sound and silence are simply mirror images of the same thing.  But then again, have any notes really ever expressed the nature of silence?  Can words or paint or sound ever do more than hint at the eternal silence that is the foundation of everything—the silence of earth and rock and empty space.  After all, the Earth is simply a spinning marble of clay in a sea of silence older than time.

Many people are surprised to learn that I rarely listen to music in my free time, and that it is most certainly not classical. In order to function as a pianist and teacher of music for up to 9 hours a day, I need periods of silence for at least part of the day so that I can emerge from a place of quiet and actually listen to the music that I’m playing and teaching.

The Omega Steak & Seafood House's Caesar Salad Recipe /  by Chris Foley

Nearly 10 years have passed since the closing of the well-known Oakville establishment renowned not just for their main dishes, but also for their legendary handmade Caesar salad, prepared in the traditional manner at your table.

For the Ides of March, here is a recipe reverse-engineered by our former next-door-neighbour Walter Sawka over the course of many visits to the Omega. The ingredients and specific instructions are by Walter (recently retired with his wife Debbie up to Fergus), who served as my salad coach* during the first few times I made this recipe.

One does not simply make this recipe on a single occasion. Be aware that if you’re interested in preparing this recipe for family or friends, such is its quality, popularity, and reputation that you will be doomed to prepare this dish at all subsequent dinner engagements you host.

(Serves 2 – 4)

A large wooden bowl with a round bottom is preferable for mixing the ingredients, since the wood provides some friction which will allow for a better breakdown of the garlic, and the rounded bottom helps with the mixing of the ingredients. The wood also retains the garlic flavour better than a plastic or glass bowl.

Cast of Characters (in order of appearance)

  • Ground pepper (lots!) and salt (they act as an abrasive as well as a seasoning)

  • 2 cloves garlic, finely mashed

  • 2 – 3 anchovy fillets, finely chopped and mashed (or use anchovy paste – a good squirt)

  • 1 tsp dry mustard

  • 1 TBSP red wine vinegar

  • 1 egg yolk

  • 8 – 10 dashes Worcestershire sauce

  • 2 – 3 dashes Tabasco sauce (optional)

  • Up to 1 cup Canola or vegetable oil (NOT olive oil! – it is too flavourful on its own)

  • Lemon Juice (1 – 2 capsful, to taste)

  • Bacon bits

  • Croutons

  • Parmesan cheese, grated

  • 2 or 3 heads Romaine lettuce, washed and torn into bite-sized pieces

Procedure

  • Put pepper and salt in wooden bowl.

  • Chop up the garlic, then place in the bowl and mash with back of a spoon. Spread it throughout bowl. With a wooden bowl, the garlic juice will stick to the sides of the bowl and will more readily be incorporated into the salad dressing.

  • Add the anchovies, dry mustard, red wine vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce. Mix vigorously. Add the egg yolk. Again mix vigorously with the back of the spoon until it is fully incorporated. The egg yolk and dry mustard will act as emulsifiers to thicken and blend this mixture with the oil.

  • Continue to mix vigorously with the back of a spoon while slowly adding the oil a bit at a time. Mix until it thickens; add oil; mix until it thickens; add oil. Continue while tasting the mixture until the ratio of oil is correct and you have the right consistency.

  • Add the lemon juice (about a capful) and stir it in. Texture should still be paste-like at this point. Taste. Add more oil or lemon juice as needed. Mix.

  • When ready to serve, introduce torn-up pieces of romaine lettuce, bacon bits, Parmesan cheese, and croutons to taste. Mix well.

Note: If mixture fails to thicken after adding the oil and mixing thoroughly, try mixing vigorously some more and see if it emulsifies. It should. If it does not, add some lemon juice at the edge of the bowl and rapidly mix at the contact point. Slowly spread the mixing to other parts of the bowl until you get the right consistency. It should thicken somewhat. Next time, try adding the oil more slowly and less of it at a time before mixing.

*Until discovering this recipe, I had never utilized the services of a salad coach. After the experience of Walter gently leading me through the best practices of making this family favorite, I heartily recommend utilizing one.

(Image courtesy of Raphael Nogueira on Unsplash)

A Simple Trick for Writers /  by Chris Foley

Paul Graham’s simple but wise advice for writers is to write like you talk:

Here's a simple trick for getting more people to read what you write: write in spoken language.

Something comes over most people when they start writing. They write in a different language than they'd use if they were talking to a friend. The sentence structure and even the words are different. No one uses "pen" as a verb in spoken English. You'd feel like an idiot using "pen" instead of "write" in a conversation with a friend.

Paul’s essay archive is also worth a look.

(Via Josh Ginter)

Radio-Canada's Ultimate Record Giveaway /  by Chris Foley

You’ll never find a bigger record giveaway than this one:

Radio-Canada is seeking Canadian institutions that fall into one or more of the following categories: a) secondary or post-secondary educational institutions that offer specialized music instruction recognized by a provincial Department of Education or the equivalent in Canada; b) museums; c) public libraries; d) community radio services; e) non-profit organizations with a social mission (hereinafter referred to individually as the “Institution”) to acquire, as is and without charge, one or more portions of its inventory of vinyl records comprising an estimated 108,000 surplus copies of 33 RPM, 45 RPM and 78 RPM records, and/or its inventory of CDs comprising an estimated 57,000surplus copies (hereinafter referred to as the “Inventory”).

The breakdown of vinyl is astonishing:

  • 49,000 33 RPM records

  • 19,000 45 RPM records

  • 40,000 78 RPM records

I’ll bet the 78’s are where the genuine treasures lie. Of the types of non-profit institutions listed, I can guess that community radio services might have the biggest mandate to take on such a huge record collection, assuming space permits. Might be worth the road trip to Montreal…

(Via Ludwig van Toronto)

(Image from Umberto Cofini on Unsplash)