History Lesson: If you haven’t visited the Friar’s Music Museum in Dundas Square (on the 2nd floor of a Shoppers Drug Mart at 283 Yonge Street) you might want to check it out before they turn over the exhibition at the end of September. The current exhibit is “Shaking the Foundations: Women Trailblazers in Toronto Music,” which honors the contributions of women to the city’s music scene. The exhibit features rare photos, recordings, and memorabilia from influential artists across genres, highlighting their impact and breaking barriers in the music industry. Some of the artists highlighted include Carole Pope, Kiran Ahluwalia, Jane Bunnett, Jackie Shane, Salome Bey, Sylvia Tyson, Jully Black, Lori Yates and Lorraine Segato. This initiative is managed by the Downtown Yonge BIA and a new organization called The Toronto Music Experience. It is a bold new cultural destination that celebrates the music, its creators and performers of Toronto – past, present and future.

Located in an accessible downtown location, TME will preserve and showcase the city’s unique music history across all genres, including jazz, blues, classical, pop, folk, rock, reggae, hip-hop, latin, Indigenous, electronic and world music. As a Registered Canadian Charity, TME will not only honour the city’s musical past, but present current artists and music of Toronto today.  And through educational and public programs, exhibitions, events and performances, it will inspire future generations of performers, writers, artists and music industry leaders and foster a love and appreciation for music.  Through preservation and presentations, TME aims to inspire music lovers with museum exhibitions, events and programs that explore the city’s unique and diverse music culture, past and present. www.torontomusicexperience.com

Passings:  Two “behind-the-scenes” figures whose names are probably not familiar to most of our readers passed away last month but they left their mark on the Canadian Blues landscape. Harvey Glatt started out promoting concerts (early ventures included Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin) and then opened a record store (Treble Clef in Ottawa), started a record label (Posterity Records and later was a major investor in Linus/True North), launched a radio station (CHEZ-FM) and managed and supported many roots artists for his entire life. He managed Bruce Cockburn in his early days and Bruce remembered, “Harvey was hugely helpful to me in the ‘60s — more than I was able to appreciate at the time. He was my introduction to the music business. Even outside of Ottawa. It was through his connections that the virtually invisible band I was in, based in Toronto, got to open for Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Wilson Pickett — great gigs, and almost the only ones we had. Harvey gave so many of us opportunities we might not have had without him.

Guitarist Tony D remembered Glatt as someone who championed musicians from the ground up. “If you told him you were playing somewhere, he would come and show up if he liked what you were doing,” he said. “Then he would help you — he’d pass your name along to other promoters, to agents, to other clubs or wherever to get you exposure. He was that kind of guy.”

Glatt and his wife Louise co-owned Ottawa’s legendary Le Hibou Coffee House at its Sussex Drive location. The folk venue, which closed in 1975, attracted such big names as Joni Mitchell, Muddy Waters, Van Morrison, Kris Kristofferson and Gordon Lightfoot.

Closer to home, the passing of Denise Curry was a heavy loss for the Canadian Blues and live music community, most notably the Niagara region of southern Ontario.  Always working quietly behind the scenes Denise was the driving force behind her late husband, Dave Curry`s Mighty Duck Blues Band.  Although she didn`t accept being referred to has the band`s manager, that was the role she played. Negotiating the deals, venue changes and payrole, that was the ground she covered.  The Mighty Duck Blues Band was a residency group, holding down weekly engagements at three clubs in St. Catharines, Ontario over 19 years.  The Golden Pheasant a.k.a The Duck, The Bar Upstairs and Jo Blos Rock & Wok were the venue stages they called home for eight months yearly.  Over the years The Mighty Duck Blues Band opened the door at their weekly gig to share the stage with some the best Canadian blues performers working today.  Gary Kendall wrote, “Denise rarely missed a show, handling the payouts and making everyone happy.  She played a big role in the band`s public relations, surveying the audience and doing her best to keep club owners smiling”. She also established The Dave Curry Memorial Music Fund lending financial support to The Laura Secord Secondary School Music Program in St. Catharines and contributing to The Joel Dupuis Band expenses when they took part in the Internation Blues Challenge, Memphis TN in 2024.