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Tony Zorzi/Facebook
Tony Zorzi
FYI
Obituaries: Toronto Guitar Veteran Tony Zorzi, Indie Rock Musician Will Cullen Hart
This week we also acknowledge the passing of Alice Brock, a hippie heroine via her association with the classic Arlo Guthrie song "Alice's Restaurant Massacree."
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Tony Zorzi, an in-demand guitarist and teacher on the Toronto music scene, died on Nov. 27, at age 69, after a long battle with cancer. Billboard Canada has been informed that he survived five years after a Stage 4 diagnosis.
The JazzinToronto website noted that Zorzi "was a versatile artist who performed with countless Toronto musicians, worked in shows at Toronto’s Royal Alexandra Theatre and the O’Keefe Centre for the Performing Arts, and played with such notables as Vera Lynn, Gene Pitney, Bob Hope, and Quebec recording star Diane Tell."
He had pit orchestra credits for the Toronto runs of such hit shows as Tommy, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Crazy for You, Bat Out Of Hell, Kinky Boots, School of Rock, The Last Ship and many more.
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On the recording front, Zorzi once joked that he can be heard on "every beer, pop, motorcycle or car jingle at one time or another," and he recorded extensively for CBC Radio and TV productions.
His recording credits include albums by Ranee Lee, Christopher Ward, Shirley Eikhard, Don Breithaupt, Terry Hatty Group, Humber College Jazz Ensemble, Pat Perez, The Brigham Phillips Big Band, Bob DeAngelis, Hannah Burgé, Dominic Mancuso and, perhaps most significantly, multiple albums by two acclaimed Toronto bands, 5AFTER4 (led by Toronto drummer/composer Vito Rezza) and Monkey House (led by keyboardist/composer Don Breithaupt).
Zorzi was a graduate of the Humber College Music Program, and he went on to teach guitar and ensemble playing on the faculty of Humber College.
As news of Zorzi's passing spread, his friends and musical peers were quick to offer tributes, both on social media and to Billboard Canada.
Drummer/composer/bandleader Vito Rezza informed Billboard Canada that Zorzi played on five 5AFTER4 albums, including the 1993 Juno-nominated release Notorious. He explains that "As the founding member and major compositional contributor, I wrote music with Tony Zorzi in mind, exclusively. He was that important.The most expressive and innovative raw talent our world has witnessed in a long time.
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"Those first three recordings from my band, 5AFTER4, were very influential, as it has been suggested to me from so many music lovers. Tony was a force that offered and created our sound. We are all better musicians and people for having worked with Tony, as we attempted to come close to his artistic output. I am gutted."
Don Breithaupt offered this tribute to Zorzi to Billboard Canada: "Tony Zorzi was a consummate musician, as anyone in the Toronto scene will tell you. He played every style with authority, and brought his 'A' game to every gig, coaxing nuance and soul from his guitar with his famously big mitts! He was also warm, humble and generous — again, ask anyone. I was lucky enough to share the bandstand with Tony a lot over the years, and he played on several Monkey House albums, including our 2011 breakthrough Headquarters. To say he’ll be missed is the understatement of the century."
On Facebook, veteran drummer/composer Mark Kelso posted that "Tony Zorzi was superman. He was a great human being, a fabulous guitarist, and an incredible athlete. You know, the type that pisses you off because he so good at everything! I was so fortunate to play so many gigs with him over the last 40 or so years. He was also one of the funniest guys ever to hang with. What a huge, fantastic laugh he had. When he was on the bandstand, you knew you were going to have a great time. My heart goes out to his wife Kathleen and their daughters. This is yet another sad loss to our musical community. He will be missed. Rest in Peace Tony and as always F**k cancer...'why I oughta'..."
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Veteran Toronto guitarist Frank Cosentino, on Facebook: "I have such fond memories of our time together, especially those wonderful conversations about gear. You truly sold me on your Bassmans – I’ll cherish that. I can't count the moments we shared in Little Italy, and your monthly visits to the teaching studio always brightened my days. Rest in peace, Tony."
Toronto bassist Russ Boswell posted this tribute on Facebook: "Tony Zorzi was the template for how to be a better person. It’s hard to express what a positive impact he had on me, or anyone else who was lucky enough to have known and/or worked with him. Tony was an inspiration for musicians, his students, or for those in the audience who heard him weave his magic on the guitar… constantly changing the settings on his pedals to get it ‘perfect’ while everything he played was ‘perfect’ all along. He didn’t gossip, or complain, or talk behind anyone’s back and he never seemed to wish that he was anywhere else but where he was at the time… if Tony joined a group of people having a conversation it wouldn’t be long before everybody would be talking loudly and having a laugh. He lifted any band up with his monstrous talent and good vibes. Tony’s presence will be felt and remembered for a long time."
Guitarist/composer Carlos Lopes reminisced about Zorzi on Facebook: "I met Tony Zorzi 1/2 a century ago at Humber. Took all of a couple of seconds to become lifelong friends. We played gigs, played hockey, took many trips down to 'The House of Guitars' in Rochester to forage for gear, did duo guitar gigs, hung out and jammed. We lived at opposite corners of the city and we had this life-long running gag. 'It’s your turn' (to come to my place and jam.) Whatever we did, we never stopped laughing. You showed us how to live, and you showed us how to die. You will always be my brother... and by the way, Tony, 'it’s your turn.'”
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A fellow Toronto guitarist, Gino Del Sole posted on Facebook that "Tony Zorzi was my Teacher, Mentor, Colleague and Friend. He was always gracious and giving of his knowledge and time. An incredible talent and man. I was lucky enough to study with him and even got to play some shows with him."
A close friend and musical collaborator, Dominic Mancuso posted a Facebook tribute that called Zorzi "a husband, father, brother, educator and masterful musician. Man I loved him SO much! The outpouring response and tributes from the musical community in Toronto is a true testament to his legacy.
"The amount of time I was so privileged to have with him was a divine gift. The critical contributions he’s made to my life, as a person, father, son, musician, producer, composer … simply enormous.
"When I was self-producing a record in the mid-2000s, I told Tony 'I want everything to revolve around my voice and my guitar. So will you help me make this record?' He said 'I’m in!' He brought over 14 string instruments. I had 11 so we had an arsenal of timbres, ready to go. We were two kids in a candy shop. That album, Comfortably Mine, garnered us a 2010 Juno and Canadian Folk Music Award for World Music Album and Artist of the year, respectively. I'm convinced, it would have never happened without his critical contributions. "
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In a Facebook post, Zorzi's wife Kathleen reported that "This past week, the TMA [Toronto Musicians Association] notified Tonz that he was the recipient of this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Of course, in hearing the news, in his humble and eloquent way, he said, ‘nice,’ with that warm, confident smile."
International
Alice (May) Brock, a Massachusetts restaurant owner immortalized by a popular Arlo Guthrie song, “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree,” died on Nov. 21, the age of 83, from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Guthrie's 1967 antiwar song, "Alice's Restaurant Massacree," became a counterculture classic, and, by association, made Brock famous.
An Associated Press obituary reports that Brock's death was announced Friday (Nov. 22) by Guthrie on the Facebook page of his own Rising Son Records. Guthrie wrote that “This coming Thanksgiving will be the first without her. Alice and I spoke by phone a couple of weeks ago, and she sounded like her old self. We joked around and had a couple of good laughs even though we knew we’d never have another chance to talk together.”
AP terms the song "a Thanksgiving staple classic-rock production. In the 18-minute song, Guthrie sings 'you can get anything you want' at Brock's restaurant and rambles a recounting of a visit to her restaurant the Back Room in Western Massachusetts for Thanksgiving dinner one year. In the lyrics, Brock cooked a big meal for Guthrie and his friend Rick Robbins the day before they appeared in court for littering. Brock, who bailed the men out in 1965, even helped the songwriter write the first half of the song. After the song's release, the restaurant owner became a bit famous herself and people began to recognize her from it."
A resident of Massachusetts for her entire adult life, Brock owned and operated three restaurants in the Berkshires — The Back Room, Take-Out Alice and Alice's at Avaloch — in succession between 1965 and 1979. She was also an artist and author.
Will Cullen Hart, a founding member of noted U.S. indie-rock collective Elephant 6 and member of Olivia Tremor Control, died on November 29, of a heart attack, at age 53. He had been living with multiple sclerosis for two decades.
The news was reported on the Elephant 6 website. Co-founder Robert Schneider, shared that Hart died “suddenly, peacefully, and in a very happy mood around the release of the two new OTC songs” — the recently released Olivia Tremor Control singles “The Same Place” and “Garden of Light.”
Pitchfork reports that "Born in Athens, Hart grew up in Ruston, Louisiana, alongside Schneider, Bill Doss, and Jeff Mangum. As teenagers, the four put out home recordings under the Elephant 6 banner, and, after completing high school, Doss, Hart, and Mangum moved to Athens, where they formed the Olivia Tremor Control. Schneider ended up in Denver, Colorado, where he founded the Elephant 6 Recording Company label to put out music created by his band Apples in Stereo. Hart, a visual artist, created most of the artwork for his own band and others associated with the collective."
The Olivia Tremor Control released their first proper album, Music From the Unrealized Film Script: Dusk at Cubist Castle, in 1996, followed by other music before they disbanded in 2000. The following year, Hart formed Circulatory System and released their debut album.
Both those bands remained dormant until 2009 when the Olivia Tremor Control reunited and Circulatory System released a second album, Signal Morning. The Olivia Tremor Control’s resurgence was slowed, however, by Bill Doss’ death in 2012. Hart’s last album with Circulatory System, Mosaics Within Mosaics, was released in 2014. That same year, an Elephant 6 documentary was announced, and it finally received a wide release, in 2022, as A Future History Of: The Elephant 6 Recording Co.
“Will was infinitely chatty, infinitely funny, infinitely expressive, infinitely creative,” Robert Schneider wrote in his eulogy for Hart, “He was infinitely loved by me, and by his bandmates and the Elephant 6 and Athens communities.”
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