Friday night rocked!

Crosspost alert: This post is a duplicate of the one on Jamilton. But read on... it isn't all the same!

L to R: Sean Cotton, Suzie McNeil, Lily Sazz, Tiffany Thompson. Yes, yes, our noses are all red because we were freezing!

Yesterday, I found out quite by accident that Suzie McNeil (of late known for her being a finalist on "RockStar INXS") would be playing downtown at Gore Park for the lighting of the CHML Christmas Tree of Hope. I figured it would be a great way to deliver her CDs for Women's Blues Revue Live. She's got a track on it called "Up Above The Clouds". We laughed about it, because I had a few songs on the project for which I was unsure of the composer, and Suzie Vinnick helped me track down a few of them. She called Sean Cotton, a frequent collaborator and backup band member for Suzie, to see if he knew who wrote that tune, and low and behold, it turned out to be him and Corin Raymond (aka The Undesirables). Anyway, she put on a great half hour set in sub-zero temperatures, and Sean and the band sounded great, too.

CBC Radio's "Fresh Air" host Jeff Goodes and Lily Sazz

After Gore Park, I headed back to Dundas to attend the Design Hope event at the Dundas Valley School of Art. I knew that Dan Medakovic was the organizer of the CD compilation that was a big part of their "out of the cold" campaign this year, and that Rob Lamothe (one of my faves) was performing there. That was a great event! Well-attended, and they raised over 55,000 dollars in the months leading up to last night. I bumped into lots of people I know, and got to meet Jeff Mahoney from the Spec in person, and an extra bonus was meeting Jeff Goodes from CBC. His show is on from 6-9am on Saturdays and Sundays, so as a night-owl musician, I never got to hear it. (At least not by getting up early... maybe by staying up too late!) Anyway, now that I'm married to Pastor Paul, I like to say that "Sunday is the new Monday", and I seldom miss Jeff's musings on his Ontario-wide show. I love hearing about the little towns and events going on across the province, and his interviews with the characters involved. Plus he plays an eclectic mix of music, and you never know what you'll hear.

Lily Sazz

Lily's Jamilton Blog: www.jamilton.ca
Website: www.lilysazz.com

Pictures, pictures...

Thought I'd post a few pictures of the last couple weeks' activities.
First one (above) is a shot from my audience perspective at the Hamilton Music Awards, which were great, I thought. I chose this shot because Colin Linden can be seen on the screen at just that instant. Lots of friends up there!

This is me, Marg Stowe, Michelle Josef, and Ellen McIlwaine. I hope they forgive me for putting this on my blog. We were all bushed after an afternoon of rehearsal for the next day's Massey Hall concert. But the cool thing was that Ellen was raised in Japan, so ordering and eating Sushi with her was extra fun.

This is one of my favourite candid shots. It's Shelagh Rogers (from CBC Radio) having her makeup applied by sister Margot. Shelagh, who emcees the Women's Blues Revue, shares my dressing room at Massey Hall, and I couldn't resist snapping a couple of this tender sisterly moment. Margot likes to fly in from Vancouver and hang with the gals at the show.

This is what I called my "CBC Sandwich" shot. On the left, is Holger Petersen, host of "Saturday Night Blues" on CBC, and on the right, it's Shelagh Rogers, host of "Sounds Like Canada". It's the first time I've ever seen them in the same place at the same time. We let Holger share our dressing room, too, and he was dubbed "Holgeretta" for the evening. "The only man who is man enough to share the stage with these women..." Holger co-emceed the Women's Blues Revue this year, since it's also the 20th anniversary of SNB.

I'll post a couple of pictures on my Jamilton blog, too. Check it out at www.jamilton.ca.

Ciao for now...

Lily

Women's Blues Revue Live!

November 25th's Massey Hall Women's Blues Revue concert is now behind me! The show went off without a hitch, and the live broadcast went smoothly. They'll be airing most of the concert again on Sounds Like Canada on CBC Radio One 99.1 FM with host Shelagh Rogers on December 15th after the 10 a.m. news.

The WBR Live CD was launched on show day, and it's being received very well so far.

The first review is in and can be read at The Live Music Report online.

Next project is Groovecorp and Hen Party both performing at Sonny Del-Rio's Hamilton Hometown Christmas event on Sunday, Dec. 3rd, along with 13 or so other fine bands. I'm looking forward to it!

I'll post some photos of WBR when I get a chance.

Lily