This Week In Art/Culture/Entertainment
By John Swartz
It’s Orillia Jazz Festival Weekend and the marquee event is Saturday night with the Oscar Peterson Centennial Quartet playing at the Opera House at 7:30 p.m.
The band is called the Centennial Quartet because August 15 would have been Oscar’s 100th birthday. The quartet is made up of Robi Botos on piano, Mike Downs on bass, Jim Doxas on drums and music director, and Ulf Wakenius on guitar. They also have a special guest, pianist Sean Nimmons with them Saturday night.
I don’t know I’d want to be sitting at the piano for something like this. I’ve heard enough stories from Lance Anderson about Oscar. Lance was Oscar’s electronic keyboard technician. I remember Lance telling me about some of the chords Oscar could play simply because of the size of his hands and being able to reach notes mere mortals could never hit.
Oscar truly was a once in a lifetime pianist on the order of Franz Liszt, who was noted for his virtuosity that made all the other pianists of his day jealous. Lance has done it, but Lance is one of those extraordinary keyboard artists who can pull it off and Robi is too (he’s played in Orillia before), but I’m sure there are moments both them have thought ‘what if I bugger up this next lick?’ while mid tune. It has to be intimidating to even think one could walk onto a stage in front of a paying audience and purport to play Oscar’s music on his instrument.
If someone asked me to do a concert playing Buddy Rich’s music No would come out my mouth so fast. I can play about 95% of the notes Buddy played and can get around the other 5%, but there is no way I’d think I could do it in front of an audience of which there might be one or two people watching who know his music well, even if they couldn’t pay it.
Think about it. Even with any of the Burnin’ For Buddy concerts Neil Peart produced, of the assembled greatest drummers of the day not one of them did more than one tune, let alone a whole set. Most good drummers have one of Buddy’s tunes learned, but it would take months, if not years of practising a concert’s worth of tunes to get to the point of a passable performance. Even as I type there’s only one drummer, Greyson Nekrutman who has the chops and a sensibility for the music to pull it off I can think of – and I only know of four of Buddy’s tunes he does, and additionally as many of the iconic drum solos.. I suppose if Jorge Garrido (El Estepario Siberiano) wanted to he could easily pull off set’s worth of Buddy’s music.
My point is Robi can do it and you are going to see and hear some fantastic piano work. There’s a lot more to it than just playing the notes. How you play them is the deciding factor. Oscar played in the pocket which is a term musicians know to mean in the time of the music (which may or may not be the same as being on time or on the beat). It’s more a feeling you play inside of along with the other musicians on stage and then in turn convey to an audience.
Adding some authenticity to the gig is having Ulf Wakenius in the band. Ulf was a member of Oscar’s quartet for ten years. No one ever played with Oscar who wasn’t the best at their craft. From Sweden, he recorded three albums with Oscar and he’s played with a number of other musicians including Dennis Chambers and Pat Metheny.
Speaking of pocket, you may have carried Oscar around in yours. There was a $1 coin issued in 2022 commemorating Oscar.
Oscar’s daughter, Celine, will also be on hand to serve as emcee and to tell some stories about Oscar. This is going to be a great night and you can get tickets online.
Friday night there’s an indoor/outdoor event to enjoy. It happens in the courtyard between the Orillia Public Library and the Opera House. There will be a beer garden and music by Liam Finney and Lincoln Baragar to start the night. They are Twin Lakes students who played at the Arts Orillia fundraiser the night of the ice storm and at Starry Night.
Then there will be a set by the band, Wide Arches, with music might be described as lounge music if the tunes I chose to listen to are representative of their repertoire. Arts Orillia, organized the night as a costume themed affair called the Neo-Noir Jazz Crawl, a 20s dress up kind of thing. That means a century ago, not now. I’m dressing up, I have jeans almost that old, and an undershirt too. Things will move indoors to Gord’s stage where DJ Accomplice will spin some dance music. Tickets are available online, or you can pay at the door.
You can also catch the Phoenix Jazz Ensemble at Lake Country Grill Saturday night and St. Paul’s has their traditional Sunday morning jazz service at 10:30 a.m. with Cole Mendez, Jacob Thompson, Dan McCoy, Peter Corbasson, Henry Rogler and Mike Smith performing.
Lightfoot Days
This starts October 30 with a performance by the Lightfoot Band at the Opera House. I don’t know for sure, but I would slap some money down at the casino up the road they are the only band doing shows with all the original members (of Gord’s last band) – well, except for Gord.
If you haven’t seen them, Andy Mauck is a more than suitable stand-in for Gord. He’s been friends with most of the band for 50 years and can deliver the songs in a way you’d think it was Gord on stage, if you were blind. And he does it effortlessly. That’s because he’s been performing the tunes himself for decades as a solo performer and knows them well. He also was at every Massey Hall concert Gord did for decades, so he knows how Gord sang the tunes.
The band will do two workshops at Creative Nomad Studios October 31 at 1 and again at 2:30 p.m. They will also be participating in the Memories of Grod at 7 p.m. at Creative Nomad.
There will be a proclamation of Gordon Lightfoot Day by Mayor Don McIsaac in front of the Opera house November 1 at 11 a.m. There will be a screening of the documentary Lightheaded at Creative Nomad at 1 p.m. with producer John Corcoran in attendance. John U. Bacon, the author of The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald will be at Manticore Books from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. to sign copies of his New York Times Top Ten Best Selling (#6 this week) book.
Sunday morning St. Paul’s has a special service at 10:30 a.m. Jakob Pearce will be performing and a new chorale arrangement by Jim Lewis of If You Could Read My Mind will debut. They will also be unveiling a permanent exhibit about Gord. The festival closes at 12:30 p.m. at Mariposa Market – with cake.
That Happened
Many people experienced electrical outages last week, some many times, and the gremlins struck twice at the Orillia Youth Centre fundraising concert at Creative Nomad Studios. The first came midway through Nixon Boyd’s first tune, Every Time We Turn a Corner. The lights went out, but he kept playing, with the audience helping out with the chorus, until power came back on a minute later. He got through the rest of his set without problem.
Then just before Kenny Lashley was to start his set (with Tim Kehoe accompanying him) the power went again and this time it lasted. They called the show, sort of. I left, but of course the musicians weren’t splitting right away, at least until they packed up. So what did they do, they took the show outside into the alley between Creative and The Common Stove and performed there acoustically under the emergency lighting. I’ve seen the pics, lots of people stayed and those I spoke to later said it was the wildest thing they’d been part of.
They were scheduled to do the same show the next night at the youth centre, but arrangements were made to do it over at Creative Nomad. Both Lenny and Kevin Seconds were fantastic and when they return (which I’d bet on) you should go see them. Yeah they are both former punk rockers, but how in your face can you get sitting down playing an acoustic guitar? The music is more introspective in the folk tradition.
Ethan Mask and Kay Star (Kayla Elizabeth) each played a few of their tunes before Kevin took the stage – using a guitar Lenny donated to the youth centre.
Youth center director, Kevin Gangloff, has 4 more concerts lined up. Danny Michel and Roger Harvey will play one at the youth center October 22. Roger is sticking around for a few days and doing one October 24 with Ronnie Douglas Bonnie Milne and Angie Nussey at Creative Nomad, and then with Alex Kaye Black October 25 at Paper Planes Play Café. The remaining concert is November 13 at Creative Nomad with Jet Lips, Guilhem and the Bamboo Bones, and Brat Stepson. You can find tickets to any of those online.
Other Concerts
The Orillia Silver Band has one October 19 at St. Paul’s Centre. Several members of the band will serve as soloists in this program called Prospects. The centerpiece of the dance card is Prospects by James Curnow. It’s in six movements and has themes from Latin America, Japan, Celtic Scotland, Africa, and North American jazz/funk.
The OSB will also play Holst’s Moorside Suite (from which the famous March is from), and Ashokan Farewell, both tunes you will know. You can get tickets for the 2 p.m. concert online.
The Orillia Concert Band has their first of their concert season October 25 at St. Paul’s. They will be joined by the Orillia Big Band. This is a fundraiser for The Mariposa House Hospice. The OCB will play the first half including a medley of tunes by Chicago. The big band, with vocalist Milli Schop, does the second half and they’ll do Take Five, Basie’s Queen Bee, At Last, and Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy. You can get tickets for the 7:30 p.m. concert online.
The Cellar Singers start their season October 26 at St. James’ Anglican Church. Their concert is built around two pieces by Mozart – Requiem and Vesperae Solennes de Confessore (Solemn Vespers for a Confessor). Ernesto De Luca will be making his first appearance as the Cellar’s accompanist. You can get tickets for this and their next concerts online.
The Shorts
- MAT’s Film Night at the Galaxy has A Nice Indian Boy Oct. 22.
- Mariposa House Hospice has a fundraising concert Oct. 19 at Braestone with the Doghouse Orchestra. Get tickets online.
- Mariposa Folk Fest 2026 tickets, at 2025 prices, just went on sale; you can also get tickets for their Nov. 29 concert with Aysanabee and JD Crosstown at St. Paul’s Centre online.
- The City is taking submissions for new displays of art at the Orillia Recreation Centre. There are two exhibits. One is the Stack Gallery (next to the check in counter) and the focus is art made by those in the ‘all abilities’ community. That’s the new term for those who have disabilities and submissions from the disabled are what is being sought. The other is for a change up of art in the Indigenous display and the work considered is obviously from Indigenous artists. You can find more details and how to submit by Oct. 31 online.
- Makers Circle is now open in the former Hibernation Arts storefront on Peters Street. I was in and the walls are already full with new art by artists new to me. There’s some interesting stuff by Lexi Dance-Cassidy, MJ Page, and Claire Lalonde.
- Derick Lehmann has a 90s Dance Party on the Nov. 15 at ODAS Park and you can get tickets here.
- Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital Foundation has a gala happening Nov. 15 at Lakehead University. Music is by John Amato singing jazz standards. You can get tickets online.
- At OMAH see a permanent exhibit of their acquisition of items from Gordon Lightfoot’s estate, Gordon Lightfoot: Turning Back The Pages, in the small gallery on the main floor; the main gallery has the spectacular Yours To Uncover: An Ontario Road Trip featuring the work of Peter Fyfe and John Notten; a new exhibit, John Gould: Travels Of The Mind And Body is up now, the opening reception is Oct. 25 at 1 p.m.; also see Tracing Places: Advertising In Orillia; get tickets for OMAH’s Music For The Museum event, November 1, Jacquie Dancyger Arnold, Hugh Coleman, Ross Arnold, Blair Bailey, Laura Kelly, and Gail Spencer are performing… Peter Street Fine Arts guest artist is Rick Barrett.
- A few Halloween things: Orillia Square Mall has the Horror-Fest Show Oct. 18 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. produced by Dr. Comics with guests Friday the 13th director Tom McLoughlin, and actor James Stokes, panels, movies and a cosplay contest. Admission is $20; In Coldwater Witches Walk happens from 5 to 9 p.m. Oct. 17; and starting Oct. 16 the Coldwater Mill and Scream Shack have a series of events happening the rest of the month – you can find out more and book times here… Downtown Orillia has the Monster March Costume Parade Oct. 25 starting at 11 a.m. from the parking lot opposite Seto’s.
- Quayle’s Brewery has J Ezs playing Oct. 17; My Missing Piece (early set) and Stephan Bernard ((late set) Oct. 18; Michael Maartyn Oct. 19; Sydney Riley Oct. 23; and Ron Whitmann Oct. 24 … the Hog ‘N Penny has Vince Therrien playing Oct. 17; the Kempencelts are in Oct. 18; and they have an afternoon jam session every Sunday with Sean Patrick and others… Mark Thackway is at Picnic Oct. 19; Dave Shaw is in Oct. 23… the Griddle Pickers do brunch at the Common Stove Nov. 2the ANAF Club has the Debbie D Band playing Oct. 18; a Halloween dance Oct. 31 with Mil and the Thrills; the Mr. Mad Band is in Oct. 25; Outcast is in Nov. 1… the legion has a Halloween dance with the Renaissance Band Oct. 25, get tickets at the bar… Brewery Bay Food Company has two nights of comedy – Dirty Show is Oct. 17 with Tyler Morrison and Greg Enwright and Oct. 18 with Drew Behm and Greg Enwright (tickets); The Big Bad Jug Band is in Nov. 1 (tickets).
(Photos by Swartz – SUNonline/Orillia and Images Supplied) Main: Oscar Peterson (center) and from top right the Oscar Peterson Centennial Quartet, Jim Doxas, Ulf Wakenius , Mike Downs, Robi Botos. who are playing at the Opera House Oct. 18.
