London bound

Great run in Montreal.  Fabulous to be back in the city after so many years.  Maybe it's time to go back for a longer trip!

We didn't get any mainstream press, but some reviews from the web on the show


FIVE STARS
"This is the best show I've seen so far. Crosses the line between touching and gut wrenching. The character is beautifully developed. Compelling performance that speaks to darker themes without losing it's sparkle. A must see for Brecht lovers or anyone with an interest in the political history of theatre.
A touching love song to a bygone era"

AND

FOUR STARS
"A must-see! This show combines music, nostalgia, tragedy, comedy, and cross-dressing into a one-of-a-kind experience."


AND 


FIVE STARS
"Absolutely wonderful. (And I can be a hard sell on cabaret!) Loved the dark melancholy mood, and the political parallels arguing what it means to be an artist in uncertain times. HIGHLY recommended!"

Going Dark

Driving North, heading up to Montreal Fringe Festival from the Orlando Fringe Festival. Spent today walking through the appropriately atmospheric streets of Savannah thinking about my new cabaret show.

My blurb for the show is

"Get out! Raus! Casse-toi! Vous êtes trop tard. Too late. The Cabaret is finished. Forever!" 

Trapped in the ruins of a Cabaret theatre, the Master of Ceremonies is trying to make his escape. First they censored him. Then they beat and dragged away his cast. Soon the theatre will vanish in flames. But tonight a final group of thrill-seekers has wandered in the open door, looking for a spectacle. Alone on stage, the MC must improvise one last show. So tonight he will play all the parts - singer, dancer, stagehand, showgirl, funnyman - and sing his heart out with some of the greatest songs ever written.

it's a dark little show.... very, very dark....  a stage full of corpses and some songs to sing....


And until 10 days ago I wasn't really sure that it added up to anything. I knew I wanted to work on this period and work on these songs.  And I believe that the songs gain a special strength and power when they are put in context of their time. I'd spent months researching, getting the costume together, the music.  I recruited my friends to help out.  Roxanna Bikadoroff did an amazing poster.

I traveled to Ottawa to work with Dave Dawson on the direction.... but it all just seemed like a strange idea that I had.


Now, after a series of shows in Orlando, it seems to actually be something.  The Orlando Sentinel called it 'A gem of a show... a cabaret of shadows', and orlandotheatre.com said 'Duthie, with his shaved head, haunted face and gorgeously delicate baritone, is utterly arresting as the vanquished impresario of a ruined cabaret…Duthie’s singing is magical.'


After touring Whiskey Bars for years (a show which I'll be doing for the first time in Vancouver and Victoria this summer) I knew that songs can gain a special power if put in context of their time.  


And over those years I've become fascinated and also very frustrated by Cabaret.  Mostly because the word is almost meaningless now.... Cabaret once meant a very special performance space and style - a space where the performer was in close, almost uncomfortable intimacy with the audience, and a satirical, almost aggressive style that questioned both the morals of the day, and the motives of the audience.  Nowadays Cabaret can mean so many things - long-legged girls with pasties and feathers, faded old Broadway singers rehashing their lives beside pianos, a jumble of disconnected skits by eager young thespians, an evening of Rodgers and Hart.  All of which have their good and bad side, and none of which particularly interest me.


I wanted to do a concert of songs that would capture the rebellion and questioning and  unadulterated fear that permeated that period.  


I particularly wanted to do that right now because in the US and Canada there is a new repression making its way over the Arts.  It might not be the unashamed brutality of Hitler's rise to power in 1933, but it's a brutality of conservatism and rationalism, where the Arts are asked to justify themselves on whether or not they are 'profitable' and 'express community values'.  Since the only possible answer to these is a resounding 'no', then this justifies cutting and slashing and repressing.  In the US there is the stupidity and anger of the Tea Party, seeking to 'defund' any hint of artistic expression that doesn't match their conservative Christian values or that isn't based on a strict profit motive, and in Canada a new right wing in charge is seeking to personally green light only the arts funding which they personally approve. 


There's an infamous line about the pre-war period of anti-war art which goes something like 


'you can observe the incredible success and power of avant-garde theatre and cabaret from the way they stopped the rise of fascism in Germany'.  


That is, they failed, big time.  


but they left a precious legacy of rebellion...  so does that mean it was a mistake to try?

next shows in Montreal Fringe Festival,

Horaire / Schedule

09 - MAI (Montréal, arts interculturels)

• 11 Jun @ 20.00

  12 Jun @ 15.15

  14 Jun @ 23.45

  16 Jun @ 20.00

  17 Jun @ 23.45

  18 Jun @ 17.00

then on to London, Ontario, and Regina, Saskatchewan

Want some music? Get it direct from CD Baby

Lucky

Is how I feel.

Starting a new tour in a few weeks. With a new show. And new songs. And I'm nervous. Very. But I shouldn't be. I have the help of wonderfully talented friends. The wise and thoughtful Robert Burns read the early layout in Paris and pushed and pulled the concept till it had some direction. Alex Morrison in Winnipeg gave me another perspective. The wonderful Dave Dawson of Black Sheep Theatre is directing the new piece. Chris Cody did an extraordinary job on the musical accompaniment. Tracy Darin kicked in the choreography and musical staging. Benjamin Lefebvre designed the poignant bowler hatted MC costume. The amazing Roxanna Bikadoroff is designing the Poster and image for the show. And of course Lisa made the whole thing worth doing (and kicked my butt when I almost gave up).

Lucky indeed!

Burn's Day

On Sunday night we celebrated Burn's night. Haggis and whiskey and all the trimmings.

But today is Robert Burn's birthday, so I thought I'd put up a little tribute of my own - one of his first songs, dedicated to all the ladies of the world.

This comes from years and years ago when I recorded a cassette (that's how long ago it was!) of Scottish songs for my Dad's birthday. God, I sound very wee!

the player should pop up here -

Green Grow the Rushes

or click HERE



Green Grow the Rushes, by Robert Burns
There's nought but care on ev'ry han',
In ev'ry hour that passes, O;
What signifies the life o' man,
An' 'twere na for the lasses, O.
Green grow, etc

Chorus
Green grow the rashes, O;
Green grow the rashes, O;
The sweetest hours that e'er I spend,
Are spent amang the lasses, O.

The warly race may riches chase,
An' riches still may fly them, O;
An' tho' at last they catch them fast,
Their hearts can ne'er enjoy them, O.

Green grow, etc

But gie me a canny hour at e'en,
My arms about my Dearie, O;
An' warly cares an' warly men,
May a' gae tapsalteerie, O!

Green grow, etc

For you sae douse, ye sneer at this,
Ye're nought but senseless asses, O;
The wisest Man the warl' saw,
He dearly lov'd the lasses, O.

Green grow, etc

Auld Nature swears, the lovely Dears
Her noblest work she classes, O;
Her prentice han' she try'd on man,
An' then she made the lasses, O.

Green grow, etc

Back in Paris, back to the web

Well, I'm back in Pareee. It feels great to be home after almost (no, wait, actually more than...) 6 months on the road. Such a pleasure to cook my own food and be surrounded by 'my stuff' and my music and my walls. The dog is snoring on the floor and all feels right with the world. And I'll be doing most of my blogging over on my site www.parislovesjazz.com.

I haven't been updating it for a while, but now that I'm back in the city of lights I figure it's time to hit the keyboard again. It's brought me some great friends and contacts and managed to work its way up to the top of Google's search engine listings for jazz in Paris. Not sure what that means - but it's kind of cool...

So drop by www.parislovesjazz.com and you'll probably get a good idea of where I've been this week, or my plans for the weekend - and if you're in town, then please join me

cheers
Bremner

Winnipeg

I'm not reading reviews this summer.

God, that feels terribly decadent and pleasurable to be able to say that. It's an incredibly self-indulgent pleasure to just perform for the audiences, and do the show, and not pay any attention to the reviewers. I got kind of obsessed in the last fringe tour I did - with Whiskey Bars, and the reviews - either good or bad - and god knows I had a lot of both - really started to affect the way I performed and my pleasure in the work, so this summer, I figured I'd just get up there and sing and let the audience tell me whether the show was good or bad...

But Lisa is keeping track for the files - and a thoughtful one came up, and they liked it, so I'll post the link here - I haven't read it, but apparently it gives a good idea of the show, and god knows I'm crap at describing my own work.... so here goes

http://www.cbc.ca/manitoba/features/fringefestival/2010/06/the-pig-of-happiness.html

cheers
Brem

Pigs first night out

well, that was stressful – and fun!

the first show in ottawa of a new text with new music and new instruments in a byov where I’m running the sound and costume changes and musical accompaniment…. ack…

it went fairly well…. no, honestly, I have no idea how it went. Everyone stayed for the whole show (always a good sign!), and at the end they seemed happy. But I have no perspective. I’ve had my head inside this show for a long rehearsal process, and I’m still not sure what I’ve come up with. A story, within a story, within a story… and a character that is the actor that is the character and a set of wildly cheerful happy songs presented in a way that veers between the maniacally delighted and the deeply tragic.

For now I’ll rest on my laurels… the show is up and running. There’s a whole whack of details and storylines that I now see need to be polished and tightened, but I’ll leave that for tomorrow, when I can see straight.

In a dark room with a lot of words and music

The last weeks are always like this …. though I swear every time that I will have the piece done and ready a month before, I end up in a dark room in the days before the opening with a lot of words and music trying to put them all together in the way that I imagined.





The Pig of Happiness is a reworking of a show I tried out last year at the London Fringe – The Barker’s Spiel …. however, extensive marketing research at the fringe revealed the title was impossible to pronounce for the average theatre goer… so changes were made. I thought this would be just a tiny tweak to the text and music, but it ended up being a total reworking of the piece.

So, the studio is full of paper – I work by sticking big sheets of brown paper all over the walls and then when I’m working on the show I can make notes with markers and stick ideas and images. It makes for a flexible way to work, but even I have to admit it sort of looks like I’m a crazy person living in a room, writing on the walls…



The Studio in mid rehearsal

at the moment there’s 12 songs and a ukulele and a concertina and an old casio and some backtracks and a bunch of text and old lights and costumes and a soft shoe shuffle and it all adds up to about an hour and forty five minutes — which is a problem since by the time I open in Ottawa on the 19th I have to have to cut it down to an hour….

it’ll be an interesting two weeks…. I’ll keep you updated on how it goes

you can see more of the work, and videos and listen to music at www.bremnerduthie.com

Summer Plans

I'm on the road again! Well, almost... in June gonna start moving from Toronto to Victoria with a new cabaret show and also a jazz concert.

(and between you and me - both of the shows adapt to impromptu spaces like living rooms and gallery spaces and church basements ... so if you'd like me to detour over to your community or home or neighbourhood, just give me a shout and I'd love to head over and use it as a chance to meet up)


The Pig of Happiness is a cabaret about.... well, about being a pig for happiness...





here's the blurb - ‘To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else.’ Elevate your spirit, kick-start your karma and become one with the Pig. A new show from cabaret singer Bremner Duthie. From Weill to Nirvana to Britney to Brel to Tom Waits. From a howl to a lullaby. “Seedy. Stirring. Utterly memorable. – Andrew Clover, Sunday Times, UK



And the Sky Was Blue is a new album of standards and re-imagined pop songs.





I like to say it's like a big old brass bed – a well pounded mattress of bouncy old jazz springs, a colourful quilt of pop twang, and a huge fluffy feather pillow of Sixties soul.


more information on both of them at www.bremnerduthie.com


Some of the shows I'm doing this summer are still fixing dates and times, but here's a short list below.

I'll be in Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, B.C.


Ottawa, Ontario
Ottawa Fringe Festival - June 21 - 28
Laurier Royal Oak Pub
The Pig of Happiness,a cabaret


Wakefield, Quebec
Piggyback Festival - June 25 - 27th
'The Pig of Happiness', a cabaret


Swift Current, Saskatchewan
Chautauqua Festival - June 9 + 10
'Whiskey Bars'a kabarett with the songs of Kurt Weill


Toronto, Ontario
Annex Live Restaurant Cabaret, July 13th
Speak Low, the songs of Kurt Weill



Winnipeg, Manitoba
Winnipeg Fringe Festival - July 14 - 25
The Pig of Happiness, a cabaret


Winnipeg Manitoba
Centre Culturel Francopho Manitobann
Mardi-Jazz - July 20th, 2010, 8:30pm


Winnipeg, Manitoba
Mcnally-Robinson Bookstore July 24th
Saturday night Jazz at Prairie Inc.


Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Saskatoon Fringe Festival July 29 - Aug 7
The Pig of Happiness, a cabaret


Gabriola Island, British Columbia
Gabriola Theatre Festival, August 22nd
Whiskey Bars, a kabarett with the songs of Kurt Weill


Vancouver, British Columbia
Vancouver International Fringe Festival - Sep 9 - 19th
The Pig of Happiness, a cabaret

All new Weill

Spent the last months reading the collected letters of Lotte Lenya and Kurt Weill, a couple of Weill biographies and the remarkable biography of Lotte Lenya. Also searched through Weill's complete works to find new material that I want to explore in this upcoming cabaret.

Years ago I created Whiskey Bars because I was frustrated by doing the songs in recital. Well, now I'm creating a cabaret (that resembles a recital) along with the remarkable pianist and singer Neill Kernohan, because I'm frustrated about doing the songs in a theatrical venue. I want to be able to sing these songs and not be in costume, not worry about lights and theatres and sound and just be able to sing.

But I still think the songs deserve (like any great jewel) to be placed into a great setting. So I'm hoping to link them up with stories, anecdotes and reflections about his life and times and the complex relationship he had with Lotte Lenya. Their lives together spanned two world wars and a half dozen countries and some of the most important artistic and political movements of the 20th Century.

We did a first workshop performance this month as a house concert in the welcoming salon of pianist Lawrence Pitchko, we'll do another in May. No theatre, no makeup, no costumes. Just the music and some reflections on the extraordinary life of Kurt Weill.

The Bloody Business

It's a broadsword and dagger extravaganza! I'm walking onstage soon with a new production of Macbeth. We're all done up in designer suits and carrying blackberrys and iphones, but also carrying daggers and broadswords. It is a small cast, so we're all playing several roles, and I think (at last count) I die four times (that's not counting the off-stage dispatching of myself as Duncan) The only character I play that makes it through the show alive is the Porter, with his great licentious speeches... A wonderful adaptation by Tommy Taylor of Forward Theatre and fabulous stage fighting choreography by Christian Feliciano.

LIVE RATS!!

Lisa Pasold looking fab and reading the opening paragraphs of Rats of Las Vegas, at SPOT - Small Press fair of Toronto. The huge bay windows of the Gladstone Hotel look out on Queen St West and framed a wonderful reading series hosted by Sang Kim.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MfTDdHaIvU



http://www.lisapasold.com.

RATS OF LAS VEGAS features Millard Lacouvy, a short, plain, fiercely independent girl who is a prodigy in the male world of poker. Millard learns her craft in Depression-era Vancouver and then graduates to high stakes games on the Canadian Pacific Railway. When the trains fail to satisfy either her ambition or her need for security, she goes to Bugsy Siegels Las Vegas. There, her talent with cards brings her a new kind of family. But she is haunted by the handsome conman she has known all her life, and she learns that love can also be a game of chance. Along the way, Pasold gives us a rich and convincing historical portrait of Vancouver and Vegas in the 1940s.

Buy the book at http://www.amazon.com/Rats-Las-Vegas


Filmed at the Small Press Book Fair in Toronto.

March 4th at the Cameron

Come along, it'll be half party, half concert, audience participation is threatened but not guaranteed, the ambiance is spiffy, the beer is great and the location is simply historic.

the CD is jazz with a dark, pop twist, pulling in songs from the Velvet Underground and the Talking Heads. I think it sounds like Tom Waits and Frank Sinatra in a fist fight over who gets to sing next in a red velvet lounge in Vegas.





or maybe it's less violent and more romantic to say it sounds like a big old brass bed – you know... a well pounded mattress of bouncy jazz springs, a colourful quilt of pop twang, and a fluffy feather pillow of Sixties soul.





what else should I tell you? Stories??

Should I tell you how the CD was originally meant to be a jagged mix of electropop and jazz, but the producer got a better paying gig and quit days before the recording session?

Should I tell you about my panic as I realized I was faced with four days in the studio, and no idea how to deal with it?





Should I tell you about the day the charmingly stoned guitarist forgot both his guitar and amp, and did the day's recording on what was basically a toy guitar that was kicking around the studio?

Should I tell you about my despair as I listened to the feeble twangings that were recorded from that cheap instrument straight onto the board?





or should I tell you about how those four amazing musicians pulled together without any producer and simply did what I should have had confidence they would do in the first place - use their talents and skill to put down some amazing music, and challenge me to come up with vocals to match.

and should I tell you about the studio engineer who, when he was mixing the CD, heard the guitar sounds and went straight to the back of his cluttered space, pulled out a 1963 fender amp, rerouted the tiny guitar through that amp, added some reverb and rerecorded the whole thing... giving me a sound like it fell out of a gorgeous '60's blues album.





or how my friend Toni Mustra donated his amazing graphic talents to create a gorgeous, mysterious album cover crafted from a shot of a cloud drifing through the Blue Sky over Trinity Bellwoods park in Toronto.







I'm not sure if I should tell those stories... but if you're curious, and want to hear some more gossip... and what it sounds like live... well, come by the Cameron House (the Back Room... the party room!) on March 4th, and we'll show off a bit...


'The Sky Was Blue' was recorded in Paris at Bopcity Studios with Remi Amblard, Benoit Gil, Thierry Tardieu and Tomasso Montagnani.

I'll be accompanied on the 4th by the extraordinary talents of Scott Metcalf on keyboards, Scott Kemp on Bass, Robin Pirson on drums and Joel Schwarz on Guitar.

Splendid Koko

Delighted to have been part of the launch of the new very spiffy venture of my friend Sang Kim - KoKo in Yorkville. Extraordinary space, renovated with 100 year old beams of wood from an ancient Ontario barn. Great mix of antiquity and glowing modernity. Amazing Japanese/Korean cuisine and wow, those cocktails... as yet unnamed creations from behind the bar based on various Asian alcohols...

The first outing of the new group, with Robin Pirson on drums (or drum, as he could only fit a snare and a multitude of little percussion instruments onto the performance space), Scott Metcalf on piano and Scott Kemp on Bass.

We played three eve-more fun sets. Finished the evening with a rap/jazz version of Joni Mitchell's Court and Spark (as my French guitarist Benoit Gil said after our first try at this arrangement "Are we allowed to play this song like thees? What eeef her lawyers hear it....")

Looking forward to taking a 2nd shot at the songs at the Album launch on March 4th at the Cameron House on Queen St.