Music Biz Headlines, Oct. 21, 2021
Laila Biali (pictured) collaborates with Jodi Proznick, a new documentary profiles Oscar Peterson, and Roy Forbes celebrates a milestone. Others in the headlines include the CPO, Music Express, June Garber, KKR, Kobalt, Bloodshot Records, music bonds, Foo Fighters, Faust, INXS, Elton John, Rod Zombie, and Caroline Polachek.
By Kerry Doole
Oscar Peterson documentary asks whether Canadian jazz legend received the respect he deserved
In 2021, do we really need a documentary to tell us how great Canadian jazz pianist Oscar Peterson was? Maybe – and just why is that? With his elegant bio-doc Oscar Peterson: Black + White, director Barry Avrich discreetly (perhaps too discreetly) sniffs around the question of Peterson’s legacy and whether he truly received the respect he deserved in his lifetime. – Brad Wheeler, Globe and Mail
Fall music 2021: 25 albums to soundtrack your season
Toronto artists are putting out some of the strongest music right now, and this autumn is no exception. – Richard Trapunski, NOW
Laila Biali on working with "soul sister" Jodi Proznick and superstar Sting
Toronto jazz star Biali plays the Shadbolt Centre this Thursday (October 21). It's officially a double bill, and the first set will be a performance of Proznick's album, Sun Songs, which Biali was the featured singer on. – Georgia Straight
45 Years of Music Express Magazine: Building a legacy – Part one
Both the musical Stampeders, who had CanCon hits like “Carry Me” and “Sweet City Woman”, and the CFL’s Calgary Stampeders played roles in the origin of the magazine. You see, back in ’76 Music Express founder/editor Keith Sharp was a rookie sportswriter for the Calgary Herald covering stories like the gridiron Stampeders when a rock and roll opportunity came knocking at the door. – Roman Mitz, Music Express
Roy Forbes celebrates 50 years, from Bim to Edge of Blue
Roy Forbes is celebrating 50 years in the music business right now, because back in 1971—18 years old and fresh out of Dawson Creek—he showed up in Vancouver to launch his career as a singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer. Back then, though, he was better known as Bim. – Steve Newton, Georgia Straight
Review: CPO rises to the challenge of difficult works
Normally, the various concerts given by the Calgary Philharmonic are grouped in some way: there is the classics series, the pops series, and other groupings by audience type — plus various specials. The last CPO concert, though, was a one-off event, shaped for the performance of a relatively new work by Korean-German composer Unsuk Chin. – Kenneth DeLong, Calgary Herald
June Garber: Off the carousel
Under normal circumstances you would refer to the repertoire on this album as “standards”, but when Toronto jazz vocalist June Garber sings them they become songs written by her – or at the very least songs written just for her. – Raul Da Gama, thatcanadianmagazine
International
Confirmed: Kobalt sells catalog to new KKR venture, Chord, for $1.1 billion
We told you so! Kobalt Capital on Oct. 19 confirmed that investment giant KKR has acquired the KMR Music Royalties II portfolio for approximately $1.1 billion. KKR is teaming with co-investment partner Dundee Partners – the investment office of the Hendel family – to acquire the catalog, which contains over 62,000 copyrights across multiple genres. – Tim Ingham, MBW
Major record companies feel the heat as UK competition watchdog studies music streaming
The major music companies will not be fond of this news. The CMA has just announced its firm intention to move ahead with a market study into music streaming. It would see the CMA poking around in the major record companies' business – and trying to ascertain whether it sees any cause for alarm. – MBW
Influential indie label Bloodshot Records closes after two years of turmoil
After two tumultuous years of turmoil within as well as from outside the label, Bloodshot Records is shutting down, as a company website message says the office is “permanently closed,” and co-founder Rob Miller penned a long farewell message that begins, “Regrettably, it is time for this phase of Bloodshot Records to come to an end.” – Chris Willman, Variety
The name's Bonds. Music bonds
As well as all of his zeitgeist-shaping music – and clear-headed philosophical forecasts – David Bowie was also something of a financial pioneer. He famously launched the highly-innovative ‘Bowie bonds’ in 1997. These saw rights to Bowie’s royalties in the US securitized into bonds. MBW hears from multiple senior sources that such bonds secured against music assets – are about to make a big comeback, with a transformational effect on the value of this industry. – Tim Ingham, MBW
Paul McCartney to induct Foo Fighters Into Rock Hall
We're just a couple of weeks out from the 36th annual induction ceremony for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Hall has just revealed several of the people who will be offering inductee speeches for this year's entrants as well as several guest performers. Among them is Sir Paul McCartney, who will be providing the induction speech for the Foo Fighters. McCartney and Dave Grohl have a long history together. – Loudwire
Krautrock legends Faust: ‘We were naked and stoned a lot – and we ate dog food’
They blagged a fortune off their label after promising to be ‘the German Beatles’ – then went wild in the countryside making experimental krautrock. But was there more to Faust than pneumatic drills and nude donkey rides? – Alexis Petridis, The Guardian
Review: Elton John taps some talented friends for new album
John’s 16-track album “The Lockdown Sessions,” which sees the Rocket Man outsmart the pandemic by working with an eclectic mix of artists, from Stevie Nicks to Lil Nas X. Not all of it works, but most of it does, and credit John for the supreme musicianship to bend to his guests’ strengths in music’s every genre. – Mark Kennedy, CP
The futuristic folklore of Caroline Polachek
The avant-garde, ever-elusive siren who’s building the surreal future of pop. – Rayne Fisher-Quann, NEXT
Rob Zombie confirms main cast of his 2021 The Munsters movie
The hard rock star is directing the new ‘The Munsters’ movie and has confirmed the three main characters. Lily Munster will be played by Rob’s wife Sheri Moon Zombie. – Paul Cashmere, Noise11
INXS Underneath The Colours turns 40
‘Underneath The Colours’ came out on 19 October 1981 on Sydney independent label Deluxe Records, owned by Michael Browning, who was AC/DC’s first manager. – Noise11
