Nabil Durzi & Michael Massaro stopped by to talk about adding jazz to electro.
We talked about:
- Phil’s Drumset update
- The drumset
- How do you record all your songs? How “finished” are they?
- Using a spreadsheet to keep tabs of your songs in progress
- Cakewalk gets left off of VST integrations
Nabil, is a pro bassist, music producer, recording artist, collaborator, and founder of Grooves Audio Production in 2004, also a band member of the groovy funky band Jellyfish Interrupted with Paul Vos, Sherry Jacoby, and of course Neel Modi.…
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This week we welcomed five more songwriters who sent us their answers to our latest songwriting challenge, to write a song with a single chord progression throughout. We got two protest songs, a song about social media, a rather tense relationship, and of course, COVID-19.…
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This week SongTalk welcomed John from Tomato Tomato to our virtual studio.
They just might be Atlantic Canada’s most entertaining musical duo. The New Brunswick based pair – John and Lisa McLaggan – have built a reputation on a live show that is as much about their on-stage charisma as their musical multi-tasking and vocal excellence.…
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This week Song Talk Radio welcomed Gilbert Neal to our studio.
A master song craftsman, Gilbert Neal – on his latest release Mistakes of Memory shows the depth and diversity of his influences: Leonard Cohen, Pink Floyd, ELO, Stevie Wonder, Steely Dan, Stephen Sondheim.…
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Canadian Juno and Latin Grammy winning artist, Alex Cuba joined us to talk about his songwriting process and perform a new song, Solo Mia, live on the show.
We talked about:
- Alex’s first visit to Canada as part of his father’s band
- How a melody-first way of songwriting tells Alex what the song is about
- The differences between solo writing and collaborating with others
- How to develop unique and rich chord progressions (hint: jazz)
- Writing in Spanish vs English
- How Alex’s playing style is unique to him, and why this is important – this applies to everyone!
…
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This week, SongTalk welcomed jazz pianist and teacher Steve Koven. Steve is a composer, performer, producer and educator. He has one of the longest standing trios in Canada, performing, touring and recording together for over 26 year. Aside from performing and recording with his trio – Steve Koven Trio – Steve also has other recording projects such as the Koven Collective and Koven & Law as well as Lazersuzan
We talked with Steve about:
- his process for writing
- how he communicates his song ideas to his bands
- the touring opportunities available through consulates and embassies
- where he finds inspiration for his music
- what improvising can bring to songwriting
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Toronto-based Saxophonist Richard Underhill talks about his work with Blue Rodeo, The Shuffle Demons, and how horns work within a song.
We talked about:
…
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Indie jazz pop singer-songwriter Jordana Talsky stopped by and shared tips on using looper pedals for songwriting and shared two original songs.
Listen to the show
Stuff we talked about:
…
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OK, so we’ve got a thing for the cowbell. Or maybe that was just Phil. In any case, the under-appreciated cowbell gets the most love it’s had since Christopher Walken’s fever.
We talked about:
- the history and distinctive sound of the cowbell
- the heyday of the cowbell in 70s rock
- syncopated vs.
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Teen-aged jazz/soul superstar Avery Raquel joined us to talk about moving from covers of jazz standards to her own blend of jazz and soul to better connect with her audience. We talked about:
- Jazz standards by Chet Baker, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, and Frank Sinatra
- Listening to songs analytically
- Tension and release in a song (and how Avery is amazing at it)
- “Don’t bore us, get to the chorus” – or not?
…
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Sean Bertram returned to the show following the release of his debut album, The Right Place. We talked about:
- Sean’s studies at Humber College in Music Guitar
- poetics in your lyrics
- changing chords and melodic centre between sections of your song
- contrast in pop songwriting
- self-doubt in songwriting
- Taming Your Gremlin by Rick Carson
- how to change up your guitar playing from section to section
- how to use an AABA structure in your verse
- Sean’s new album The Right Place
- Sean’s dad, Allister Bradley and his appearance on the show
Listen to the show
Download the lyrics for Caroline and I Think Too Much
Watch the live performance
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Paul Novotny (born Peterborough, Ontario, 1958) is a composer, bassist, producer, and engineer. He is the bassist on the international runaway hit video-game, CUPHEAD; over 50,000 sales in 2017.
As a producer, his record label has achieved three Juno nominations and one Juno win for Joe Sealy’s Africville Suite.…
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Popular guest co-host and guest on Song Talk Radio, Patrick Ballantyne dropped by the studio to share two of his favourite Canadian songs. “Help Me” by Joni Mitchell is a great example of her unique combination of melody, structure, and lyrics to evoke a casual conversational tone.…
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Multi-instrumentalist and back up vocalist Sintja Baba has been playing alongside various Toronto acts and is currently playing that role in Marlon Chaplin’s band. She started her own band THE NAIVE, where her music has taken the shape of various genres.…
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Seasoned professional guitarist, singer-songwriter, and all-around nice guy Scott Neary shares some of his best kept songwriting secrets. Scott also accompanied the talented jazz songwriter Steven Teatz for his appearance on Song Talk Radio. We talked about:
- The great chorus debate – to repeat it verbatim or not?
…
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The very talented Kaleb Hikele stopped by during his tour and played some great tunes, even one written for a wedding.
Some stuff we talked about:
- theSunHarmonic.com
- working on pushing your limits
- playing for weddings
- strategies for lyric writing
- passing chords
…
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