Author: ToqueTrad

An engraving of Summer, depicted as a young woman surrounded by fruits and other seasonal bounty.

Session: Sunday, June 16, 2019

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So, as you know, we have been having our regular session but forgetting to blog about them this year. We are still alive! Lack of blog or email notification does not mean there are no sessions! You can always trust the Tranzac calendar of events or our TOQueTrad calendar page to tell you which Sunday to come to play tunes. We are continually grateful to the Tranzac for hosting our session since the beginning of 2012. To show our appreciation, we ask for a token donation to the Tranzac Club (recommended: $3.00 or so). The sessions start just after noon Read More …

A Kate Greenaway illustrated card from circa 1900 showing children frolicking in the snow, courtesy the Osboren Collection at Toronto Public Library.

Session: Sunday, January 20, 2019

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A quick reminder that we are getting together to play some tunes this coming Sunday from noon to 2:45pm in the Main Room of the Tranzac Club as usual. Hope to see you there to play in the new year. As you may have seen in a previous post, Rob set up a YouTube channel to for tunes, of which he has published only one, Boucher de St-Ambroise. See you all soon. Rob and Donna

TOQueTrad video channel – Boucher à St-Ambroise

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I thought it would be useful to create a YouTube channel for TOQueTrad that would have tunes as they are played at our regular Toronto session. This video was created last April during one of the many power failures during the first few months in our new apartment. The tune is “Boucher à St-Ambroise” by André Brunet. You can tell the video player to playback at slower speeds if you are trying to learn the tune. You can also tell the player to play back at faster speeds if you find my tempo to be tortuously slow. Transcription: https://thesession.org/tunes/11806

Toronto Santa Claus parade, 1919: Shows a swan float and lots of lovely old cars and people in festive witnter garb.

Session: Sunday, November 18 (Santa Clause parade)

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This is a reminder about the session this Sunday. This is the session that co-incides with the annual Santa Claus parade, so be prepared to take evasive manoeuvres. Museum is the closest subway station which let out south of Bloor. Consider going to Spadina and taking the streetcar to the first stop, which is south of Bloor. Arrive early: The road is closed from 12:30, so if you make it across by noon you should be fine. This is the route from last year. Bonne chance à toutes et tous ! Hope to see you all soon. Rob and Donna

Picture of a violin made by Joseph Guanerius 1698-1744

Session May 20 and World Fiddle Day events at Hugh’s Room Live

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Just a quick reminder of the session at the Tranzac this Sunday, May 20, noon to 2:45 pm. It will be great to see you all there! Tonight, there is a concert at Hugh’s Room Live featuring Abebe Fikade (Ethiopian masenqo), Okan (Elizabeth Rodriguez and Magdelys Savigne and band, originally from Cuba,  and our own Shane Cook from Dorchester, Ontario. Visit their site for tickets and more information. Tomorrow night, May 19, Hugh’s Room Live is hosting  World Fiddle Day event: morning for workshops with Shane Cook and Elizabeth Rodriguez (Cuban music)  and an afternoon jam. Again, you can visit their site Read More …

Wordmark for LATOQUE: The letters LA are in red, TO are in light blue, and QC are in the blue of the Quebec flag's fleurs-de-lys.

Reminder: NO APRIL SESSION

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A quick reminder that the  APRIL session is cancelled due to a conflict with the club’s annual Girls Rock Camp for adult women (and other non-binary people) . But here is some news that may raise your now-flagging spirits: Peter and Ann-Marie are hosting a house concert  for LATOCQ! The band features Claude Méthé (Québécois fiddler) and  David Greely (Louisiana fiddle) and Dana Whittle (guitar). Billed as “A trip inside two French traditions – from Louisiana to Québec – on fiddle and in song”, you can find more information about them, including audio and video clips, on the LATOQC website. For tickets, speak to Read More …

A picture of the two bands, Maz and Les poules a Colin

Session reminder for Sunday, February 18

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There will be a session this Sunday, as usual, from noon to 2:45pm. Please note that the APRIL session is cancelled due to a conflict with the club’s annual Girls Rock Camp programme. This is the adult women’s (and other non-binary people’s) rock camp, so check it out and pass the word. You can register for the camp until March 15. In the meantime, there are three events you might consider attending: The 27th annual Chris Langan Weekend of Irish music happens the first weekend in March here in Toronto. See the Chris Langan website for more information, to get concert Read More …

Confabulation, who are David Woodhead, Doug Wilde, Colleen Allen, Anne Lindsay, Bob Cohen, Rich Greenspoon, Fern Lindzon and Rebecca Hennessy

February 2nd: David Woodhead’s Confabulation CD release

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There is still time to get your tickets for David’s CD release next Friday, February 2nd, at Hugh’s Room. The show starts at 8:30. More info and tickets are available on the Hugh’s Room Live site. The new CD, Tunnels and Visions, will be available at the show or, if you ask nicely, David might just bring some to the next session. You can listen to some Confabulous tracks on David’s website. By the way, if you haven’t already done so, please change your bookmarks for Hugh’s Room from hughsroom.ca to their new site, Hugh’s Room Live (dot com). Their Read More …