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Catherine O'Hara attends the U.K. premiere of 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice' at Cineworld Leicester Square on Aug. 29, 2024, in London.
FYI
Obituaries: Canadian Comedy Queen Catherine O'Hara, Pioneering Reggae Drummer/Producer Sly Dunbar
This week we also acknowledge the passing of Canadian jazz trombonist and composer Ian McDougall, Toronto bassoonist Jeff Burke and American percussionist Mingo Lewis.
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Catherine O’Hara, an award-winning Canadian comic actor and screenwriter known for her roles in acclaimed comedy series SCTV and Schitt's Creek plus such hit movies as Home Alone and Beetlejuice, died on Jan. 30, at age 71.
An obituary in Billboard reported that "O’Hara died at her home in Los Angeles 'following a brief illness,' according to a statement from her agency, CAA."
O’Hara’s career was launched at the Second City in Toronto in the in 1970s. Along with her lifelong collaborator and later Schitt’s Creek costar Eugene Levy, O'Hara was among the legendary original cast of the Canadian sketch show SCTV, which also featured Martin Short, John Candy, Andrea Martin, Rick Moranis and Joe Flaherty.
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Schitt’s Creek would dominate the Emmys in its sixth and final season, and Billboard notes that the show "brought O’Hara, always a beloved figure, a new generation of fans and put her at the centre of cultural attention. It also brought a career renaissance that led to a dramatic turn on HBO’s The Last of Us and a straitlaced role as a Hollywood producer in The Studio, both of which earned her Emmy nominations."
A highly versatile actor, O'Hara also found critical acclaim in a series of mockumentary films written and directed by Christopher Guest, including A Mighty Wind, Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman and For Your Consideration.
A spoof of the 1960s folk music revival, 2003 film A Mighty Wind featured O'Hara starring alongside Levy as a folk duo bearing a resemblance to Ian and Sylvia Tyson and it showcased her singing talent. A song from that movie, "A Kiss At The End Of The Rainbow," earned an Oscar nomination for Best Music (Original Song), and the duo delivered a memorable rendition of it at the 2024 Academy Awards. Writing in Vulture, critic Rebecca Alter termed it "my favourite Oscars musical performance of all time."
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Accolades O'Hara earned over her long career included two Primetime Emmy Awards (for SCTV and Schitt's Creek), a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Films in which O'Hara appeared have grossed more than US$4.3 billion worldwide. She was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2017.
Her voice roles include the films The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), Chicken Little (2005), Over the Hedge, Monster House (2006), Where the Wild Things Are (2009), Frankenweenie (2012), Elemental (2023) and The Wild Robot (2024).
O'Hara gained a career resurgence for her role as Moira Rose in the CBC sitcom Schitt's Creek (2015–2020), earning a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy.
Recent credits included the Apple TV+ comedy series The Studio and the HBO post-apocalyptic drama series The Last of Us, with her performances bringing her back in Emmys contention this past September as a double nominee. Her role in The Studio also earned O’Hara a 2026 Golden Globe nomination.
Catherine O'Hara was a member of a large and close-knit Irish-Canadian Toronto family. One sister, Mary Margaret O'Hara, is an internationally lauded singer-songwriter and brother Marcus O'Hara has long been a key figure on the city's Queen Street West scene, especially as the operator of venues including the famed after-hours club The Squeeze Club and the organizer of the annual Martian Awareness Ball at the Horseshoe Tavern.
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Loving tributes to Catherine O'Hara quickly proliferated on social media. Canadian vocal superstar Michael Bublé posted on X about her passing that “heartbroken doesn’t even begin to cover it. She wasn’t just a legendary artist, actor and comedian. She was an ambassador for Canada in the truest sense: brilliant, fearless, deeply original, and so full of humanity.”
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On Instagram, director and actor Sarah Polley wrote, “She was the kindest and the classiest. How could she also have been the funniest person in the world? And she was at the very top of her game. There won’t be another like her.”
The comedy institution Second City issued this statement: "Second City is shocked and deeply saddened by the untimely passing of the great Catherine O’Hara, a comedienne and actress beloved by her fans, colleagues and anyone who got the privilege to glimpse her genius. Getting her start on The Second City stage in Toronto, Catherine was an original cast member of the seminal SCTV series, creating memorable original characters like Lola Heatherton and Dusty Towne, as well as her impersonations of Lucille Ball and Brooke Shields. Her success after SCTV is well documented from roles in Home Alone and Beetlejuice, to rejoining her SCTV family in Schitt’s Creek and her most recent turn in Apple TV’s The Studio."
Second City CEO Ed Wells added that "she was also a wonderful human who gave back to the community. Catherine was one of the first alumni to serve on Second City’s Artistic Advisory Board, giving us and the next generation of comedians the gift of her time, talent, and mentorship. We celebrate her indelible legacy, which lives on through the countless people she has inspired.”
In a Facebook tribute, veteran Toronto music promoter and artistic director Derek Andrews recalled that "Catherine was always gracious, kind and, despite her Hollywood fame, humble. Toronto has lost one of the founders of our performing arts community, but she gave us so much! Go watch A Mighty Wind to appreciate her remarkable echo of a young Sylvia Tyson. Gone WAY too soon."
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Read more tributes to Catherine O'Hara from Eugene Levy, Dan Levy, Macaulay Culkin, Martin Scorsese and more here.
Jeff Burke, a bassoonist who gigged extensively on the Toronto club scene, died on Jan. 30, after a series of strokes. His age has not been reported.
Burke was long a popular member of the Toronto music community, playing in multiple bands in diverse genres. These included Shadow Puppets, an indie rock band that released a self-titled album in 1993, The New Continentals, Doghouse Orchestra, The Subtonic Monks, Ambers Dragon and more.
He frequently performed solo bassoon and theremin, including as a longtime busker on the Toronto subway system.
Burke worked extensively with acclaimed songwriter/bandleader Rich Marsella in Friendly Rich and The Lollipop People. Marsella offered a Facebook tribute that reads (in part): "Jeff Burke was a beautiful soul, a true original, and giant among us. I mean, he played the bassoon and Theremin!"
"He always added such joy to any stage or space that we ever shared. He once played all of Master of Puppets on the bassoon at The Brampton Indie Arts Festival, and of course, when I arranged Rush's A Farewell to Kings his bassoon loomed large.
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"He's [on] the very first episode of my podcast, Industry Tactics. He's a dear friend, who I will hold with me, as I move forward both on and off the stage. I know so many of us in this city love Jeff Burke and are so thankful to have known him. He will never be forgotten, legendary busker, creative musician, caring father, sci-fi lover, gentle human. Safe passage, fellow dreamer."
Also on Facebook, legendary Toronto concert promoter Gary Topp recalled an incident that was clearly a career highlight for Burke. "The time that I told Jeff he could sit in with the Sun Ra Arkestra at Lula Lounge in Toronto 20 years ago was the type of incident that made my life/job most gratifying," Topp posted. "Here was this kind of down and out guy as happy and full of pride as anyone I’ve ever encountered. And he certainly rose to the occasion on stage. I will never forget that."
Another memorable musical encounter with a great came when Burke was busking at a Toronto subway station and jazz legend Keith Jarrett stopped to listen. On Facebook, Burke's musician friend Bob Wiseman (Blue Rodeo) recounted the story: "Jeff Burke had been playing bassoon in the Dundas Station tunnel for an hour, long enough that the rhythm of the trains were syncing to his phrasing.
"Halfway through an improvised rendition of 'Baba O'Riley,' which always made morning commuters blink, he felt the temperature of the tunnel shift. Jeff glanced up. There he stood. Keith Jarrett. Jeff nearly dropped the bassoon. Jarrett raised a hand, saluted him. 'Keep playing,' he said. His reed felt like it developed its own heartbeat. He started playing again, choosing a long tone that drifted upward. Jarrett nodded.
"Jeff improvised around nothing and everything, fragments of bassoon études, pop riffs he’d twisted for subway acoustics. Jarrett stepped closer, hands in his pockets. At one point he closed his eyes. 'Do you know,' he said softly, 'it is rare to hear someone play like you, telling the truth in every note. Toronto’s lucky,' Jarrett said. Jarrett then left for soundcheck at Roy Thomson Hall and Jeff was pleased about the whole thing."
Also on Facebook, Toronto scene veteran musician and broadcaster Danny Marks posted that "Jeff Burke was a Toronto celebrity and he did it in a most unique, low key and surprising way. We first laid eyes on him at Albert's Hall when he came out to our Stormy Monday Jam. It seemed incongruous, Bassoon at a Blues Jam.
"He was game, Jeff's playing improved with time and we were always glad to seem him, with his ready smile and gracious bearing. We'd lost track of Jeff Burke for a few years and then noticed he began cropping up all over town, often playing in the subway, always welcome and appreciated. Good people all over are recalling the man and the Bassoon."
Ian McDougall, an acclaimed Canadian jazz musician, composer and educator who played with John Dankworth and Rob McConnell and the Boss Brass, died on Jan. 26, at the age of 87.
Calgary-born, he grew up in Victoria and started playing the trombone at a young age. From 13, he played at venues around Victoria, and in 1960 he left to tour in Great Britain with the John Dankworth Band. McDougall returned to Vancouver in 1962, and played with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and at the Cave Supper Club, under the leadership of Fraser MacPherson
He earned a Masters of Music degree at the University of British Columbia in 1970, the same year he co-founded the fusion group Pacific Salt with five of Vancouver's premier jazz musicians. That outfit recorded three LPs and was inactive by the early 1980s. McDougall and bandmates Oliver Gannon and Ron Johnston then recorded and played the Canadian festival circuit under the name R.I.O., initials from each of their given names.
In 1973, Ian and his wife, violinist Barbara McDougall moved to Toronto and he began a studio career. Rob McConnell, founder of popular and seminal big band The Boss Brass, invited him to join the group, and he became a featured soloist, playing with the group until 1991.
McDougall was a founding member, soloist, lead trombone, and arranger for Doug Hamilton's The Brass Connection. He also composed and arranged classical music, with commissions from the CBC and the Vancouver and Toronto Symphony orchestras.
During his time with Rob McConnell and the Boss Brass (1973-1991), the group was nominated nine times and received four Juno Awards. The Boss Brass album All In Good Time won the Grammy Award for best jazz instrumental performance, big band in 1983 and the album The Brass is Back was nominated in 1992.
The Brass Connection won a Juno for their eponymous album in 1982, and were nominated again in 1984 for A New Look. The album Live Jazz Legends with Oliver Jones, PJ Perry, Terry Clarke, and Michele Donato was nominated in 2008.
Ian McDougall released nine albums as a bandleader, between 1994 and 2012. He had three albums nominated for the best traditional jazz album Juno, In A Sentimental Mood (2006), instrumental album of the year The Very Thought Of You (2013) and traditional jazz album, The Ian McDougall 12tet Live (2014).
In a Facebook tribute, renowned Canadian jazz critic and author Mark Miller called McDougall "a consummate musician, as comfortable playing in big bands — Dave Robbins’ orchestra in Vancouver during the 1960s was one, the Boss Brass for many years in Toronto another — as he was in studio orchestras and the small band settings of Pacific Salt, RIO and his own sextet.
"His compositions, meanwhile, included works both for big bands and classical ensembles; his 'Symphonic Suite for Jazz Band [to wit, the Boss Brass] and Orchestra' [1984], brought the two eventfully together."
In a Globe and Mail review, Miller once wrote: “As trombonists blow, McDougall is not of the boisterous tailgating school; he likes the instrument’s creamy sound, its regal authority and its romantic associations.”
A sessional instructor from 1986 to 1988 at the University of British Columbia, in 1988 McDougall was invited to teach trombone, jazz studies, and orchestration at the University of Victoria in 1988, retiring as Professor Emeritus in 2003.
In April 2008, McDougall was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada
International
Sly (Lowell Fillmore) Dunbar , a legendary and influential reggae drummer, songwriter and producer, died on Jan. 26 , at the age of 73. A cause of death has not been reported.
An obituary in Billboard includes this statement from Dunbar's family: "Sly helped shape the sound of reggae and Jamaican music for generations. His extraordinary talent, innovation, and lasting contributions will never be forgotten. Sly’s music, spirit, and legacy touched people around the world, and we are deeply grateful for the love and support during this difficult time.”
Billboard notes that "Working with longtime partner bassist Robbie Shakespeare (who died in 2021), Dunbar was one half of the dynamic duo that provided the thrumming backbeat to reggae classics from the likes of Black Uhuru, Peter Tosh, Burning Spear, Bunny Wailer, Gregory Isaacs and countless others."
"Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Dunbar got his start playing in a group called the Yardbrooms at age 15, before moving on to the group Skin Flesh and Bones and his first recording session with Lee “Scratch” Perry and the Upsetters’ on the 1969 single 'Night Doctor.' That same year he also played on Dave and Ansel Collins’ Double Barrel album, with the title track hitting the top of the U.K. singles chart.
"His life and career would change forever when he met Shakespeare in 1972, with the pair who shared similar musical sensibilities ranging from homegrown Jamaican riddims to Motown and soul music developing a close relationship with Tosh, with whom they recorded five albums. Sly and Robbie appeared on late great Tosh’s beloved 1977 LP Equal Rights, as well as 1978’s Bush Doctor and 1983’s Mama Africa, which became Tosh’s highest-charting album in the U.S. when it hit No. 59 on the Billboard 200 album chart."
Estimates are that the prolific pair of Sly and Robbie have appeared on more than 200,000 tracks, including remixes and songs that sampled their work. They had a long relationship with lovers rock icon Dennis Brown, performing on more than a dozen of his albums and worked in the Revolutionaries, the house band at Jamaica’s legendary Channel One studio.
A VP Records tribute observes that "As key architects of the classic ‘Rockers’ sound, it was only a matter of time until Sly & Robbie stepped out on their own, forming The Taxi Gang and their own imprint ’Taxi’ — scoring huge hits with Black Uhuru, Gregory Isaacs, Dennis Brown, The Tamlins and many more.
"The Taxi sound was unbeatable during this time, so much so that Sly & Robbie’s innovative approach to music creation became sought-after by the mainstream, most notably Chris Blackwell and his seminal label Island."
Billboard reports that "Known as the Riddim Twins, the duo developed a number of signature grooves over their four-plus decade career, including the 'rockers' rhythm, which helped them inject some energy into the popular 1970s and 80s 'one drop' reggae rhythm."
Sly and Robbie then became a highly sought-after rhythm section for recordings by a highly diverse grouping of stars. That list includes Madonna, Paul McCartney, Britney Spears, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Serge Gainsbourg, Sinead O’Connor, Grace Jones and Sting, to name but a few.
James "Mingo" Lewis, a noted jazz and rock percussionist and drummer who played with the bands Santana, Return To Forever and more, died on Jan. 27, at age 72. A cause of death has not been reported.
Lewis worked with Santana in the early 1970s, featuring on the albums Caravanserai, and Carlos Santana & Buddy Miles! Live!. and Carlos Santana and John McLaughlin's Love Devotion Surrender . He wrote the the track "La Fuente Del Ritmo" that appeared on Caravanserai in 1972.
He went on to play in top fusion band Return To Forever and with Al Dimeola, as a band member for Di Meola's first five albums. He also contributed four compositions to those albums and wrote the song "God-Bird-Change" for The Tubes album, Now.
Lewis showed his versatility by also appearing on albums by The Tubes, XTC, Billy Joel, Todd Rundgren and Brian Eno.
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