Live music is BACK on Davie Street! Come check out the QUSIC series!
Vancouver musician Matthew Presidente has hand-picked some of the best and brightest up-and-coming 2SLGTBQ+ identifying artists to perform for audiences. So far, they have featured a range of new talent, along with longstanding Vancouver favourites such as Devours, Leo D. E Johnson, Future Star, and Hank Pine.
On the last Thursday of every month, head down to The Junction Pub for a showcase of diverse talent.
All shows are also recorded and available for viewing on the Unicorns.Live platform.
Check out their webpage for event listings and more info, as well as their QUSIC Spotify playlist.
QUSIC is made possible by Rebellious Unicorns Production Company, and is supported by Creative BC and the Province of British Columbia.
BC’s own Cellar Music Group has over three hundred musical releases to its name. As of this year, at least one of them has been graced with a Grammy Award.
Cellar Music Group founder Cory Weeds.
In 2001, jazz saxophonist Cory Weeds created Cellar Music Group to showcase contemporary and traditional jazz music to the world. Weeds launched the label by simply rolling the tape at his beloved Cellar Jazz Club in Vancouver, BC to capture the city’s fine jazz musicians and visiting players live on the bandstand. The label steadily grew to include studio recordings, documented from Vancouver to New York City, and further afield.
Whether it’s through live recordings via Cellar Live, studio sessions through Cellar Music, or the careful restoration of archival recordings through Reel to Real Recordings, these distinctive (and thoughtfully aligned) operational imprints make Cellar Music Group now one of North America’s most active and successful independent jazz labels. The group has received recent support from Amplify BC’s Music Company program.
Jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman performing at the original Cellar in 1957.
The original Cellar Jazz Club was a Vancouver hotspot for cutting-edge music and musicians, and continued to nurture the careers of a host of local and touring musicians from its inception in the 1950s.
The specific Grammy-winning selection in question was for Best Large Ensemble Jazz Album, put together by duo Steven Feifke and Bijon Watson. Feifke and Watson’s Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra is aptly-named: Bijon Watson has shared this album and award, “…symbolizes the importance of embracing diversity throughout an ensemble, while also bringing visibility to the mission of promoting inclusion in jazz and arts education as well”
Album cover for The Ostara Project.
The recent Grammy win isn’t the only award show to recognize a Cellar Music Group release. The Ostara Project – one of Canada’s leading female jazz supergroups, spearheaded by Music Arts Collective’s Jodi Proznick and Amanda Tosoff – also received a nomination at the 2023 JUNOs for Vocal Jazz album of the year. This heavyweight group has received 9 JUNO nominations to date, with three wins.
When asked about their impact on – and alignment with – Cellar Music’s broader, long-term efforts on behalf of jazz as an idiom, Weeds notes that, “…these incredibly powerful and talented women came together and made a poignant album. Hopefully, it signifies a change in attitude around gender equality in jazz.”
As both a label and a force in its own right, Cellar Music Group provides support, resources, and opportunity for jazz and jazz musicians from coast to coast to coast. In doing so, what Cory conceived just over twenty years ago continues to ensure that the future for this unique art form is both vital and vibrant.
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Photos and artwork courtesy of Cellar Music Group and CBC News.
With over 20 years of cross-cultural creativity and collaboration to its credit, and with the entirety of Turtle Island (known to some as ‘Canada’;) as its platform, Kathara is an artist collective comprised of musicians, dancers, actors, multimedia artists, storytellers and healers. The group is dedicated to centering the traditional and creative expressions of Pilipinos – people Indigenous to the archipelago named “The Philippines” by Spanish colonizers.
In 2019, the group received a Demo Recording grant from the inaugural cycle of the Vancouver Music Fund to record an original work: “Lupa ay Buhay”, an original piece composed by Elenita Boots Dumlao, Kathara’s founder. Acclaimed BC-based musician, composer, and music educator Russell Wallace served as the track’s producer.
A still from the “Lupa ay Buhay” music video shoot.
Three years after this initial project phase, this song has found new life through its subsequent adaptation into a music video. Made possible thanks to support from Vancouver Foundation, this new iteration of the work is helping to expose the song – and, Kathara, as a collective – to an even broader audience than before.
As Kathara co-founder and artistic director Babette Santos explains it, “The song title translates to ‘Land is Life’, and speaks to the sense and awareness Pilipinos uphold in sharing ‘Kapwa’. This translates to a sense of collective understanding, wherever in the world they may find themselves as Indigenous or diasporic Pilipinos.”
As a collective, Kathara’s roots can be found in authentic cross-cultural collaboration and artistic exchange. The group champions Reconciliation, right relations, and global efforts to bring an end to colonialism. What began in 2002 as a cultural exchange between members of Kathara Davao Mindano (in the Philippines) and members of the Plipino diaspora living in Coast Salish Territory (Vancouver, BC), has grown into a thriving movement of individuals passionate about the promotion and protection of people, land and culture. In creating new artistic projects, the group draws inspiration from many disparate sources, including contemporary artists like Kimmortal, Davey Calderon, and Alvin Tolentino.
A still from the “Lupa ay Buhay” music video shoot.
Babette continues, “Shared histories and journeys of self-discovery as diasporic people through music, dance, martial arts, and theatre are what continue to drive us in a variety of paths – from circles, ceremonies, cultural sharing, and community building, along with embodiment practices of remembrance and performance.”
As with all things the Kathara collective undertakes, the decision to give “Lupa ay Buhay”, specifically, a new context for performance was deeply intentional.
Co-founder and musician JR Guerrero clarifies, “Like watching a child grow and change, this song, and our collective, have been expressed through many hands and voices. Every relation, collaboration, expression, ritual, ceremony, and movement within our collective works and network, intend to build upon previously created containers for collaborative yet autonomous growth in community with Kapwa. This is a way of knowing that translates to seeing ourselves in others, including land, water, sky, and all beings.”
The group at a recent event in New Westminster, BC.
This new music video release marks the latest in a long line of meaningful initiatives from this group. Over the years, additional projects of Kathara’s that evoke special pride have included:
3rd Babaylan Conference co-hosts – bringing together community from across Turtle Island for a weekend of pre-colonial Pilipino spiritual and cultural exploration and celebration, Gulf Islands, 2016.
Dance collaborations in honour of MMIWG2S with Butterflies in Spirit and Lilian Howard, Winnipeg, 2017.
Kapwa Fest: The Art of Our Relations showcasing original works by Indigenous artists of Turtle Island, sa Pinas and diaspora, of many generations and intersections, Scotia Bank Theatre, 2018.
Banyan: An Intercultural Ceremonial Performance, Dance collaboration with SEACHS, Granville Island, 2019.
International Women’s Day at MOA ceremonial dance collaboration at Museum of Anthropology, 2020.
Traditional dance in honour of Elder Kat Norris, Grandview Park Vigil, 2022.
Kathara members at an event held at the now-closed Heartwood Cafe on East Broadway, in Vancouver, BC.
When asked to offer advice to others contemplating similar creative undertakings, Kathara member Emerald Asuncion’s response is simple.
“Often, the projects you’re most proud of are the ones that bring community together. Find your community.”
You can learn more about Kathara here.
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Photos courtesy of Rodrigo Caballero and Kathara Society.
February 2023 – An eligible production corporation (under Film Incentive BC – FIBC) or an accredited production corporation (under Production Services Tax Credit – PSTC) can claim the tax credit when filing the T2 Corporate Income Tax Return. A completed claim form and the certificate(s) for each eligible production should be attached to the top of the T2 form for each taxation year.
PSTC
For taxation years beginning on or after February 19, 2020, the claim form (T1197) – T1197 BC Production Services Tax Credit Form, accreditation certificate and T2 must be filed with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) within 18 months from the end of the tax year in which the PSTC is being claimed. The CRA will not process claims that are filed late or that are missing the required documents by the deadline.
FIBC
For taxation years beginning on or after February 19, 2020, the claim form (T1196) – T1196 BC Film and Television Tax Credit Form, eligibility certificate and T2 must be filed with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) within 18 months from the end of the tax year in which the FIBC is being claimed. Also, the production corporation must submit a completion certificate with their T2 corporate income tax return if the production was completed in the related tax year. The CRA will not process claims that are filed late or that are missing the required documents by the deadline.
Note that for taxation years beginning before February 19, 2020, the filing period with CRA is 36 months from the fiscal year end of the corporation.
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