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BRUCE COCKBURN > News > 2020 > April

Articles from April 2020

Celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Founding of the Group of Seven

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24 April 2020 – Join us on May 7 at 2 pm (2 to 3:30 pm) for a virtual presentation celebrating the centenary of the Group’s founding with Ian Dejardin, Executive Director of the McMichael and curator of the exhibition “A Like Vision”: The Group of Seven at 100.

Followed by a special musical performance by Bruce Cockburn.

Bruce Cockburn - Linda Manzer - McMichael Gallery - Group of Seven - Mt LeFroy - Lawren Harris
Bruce Cockburn – Linda Manzer – McMichael Gallery – Group of Seven Guitar Project

Please register below through Zoom and you will be sent a link to the event on Zoom in advance. You do not need any special equipment to participate. Simply click the link that is provided in your confirmation email from your computer, tablet or smartphone to access the presentation on the day of the event. The presentation is password protected so you will also need to enter the password found in the confirmation email.

https://mcmichael.com/event/g7virtualtalk/

Bernie Finkelstein: Bruce will be doing a song which we will keep as a surprise but its not one that you hear him do too often.

He will also be providing the gallery with an essay on Tom Thomson who actually is not a member of the Group of Seven but was their biggest influence. This essay will be part of a book the gallery is preparing but at this time I don’t know when it will be released. The book will have several essays from famous Canadians who are familiar with the Group of Seven and Tom Thomson. You might recall that Bruce played and wrote the Mount Lefroy Waltz for a display of guitars built by luthiers, *his was built by Linda Manzer, inspired by the Group. The version Bruce gave to the gallery for the show was solo but the song as you know it is on Crowing Ignites with a pretty cool little band. ~Bernie Finkelstein

Bruce Cockburn: Life during isolation and social distancing

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18 April 2020 – In recent days, I have posed this question via email to a handful of creative artists and citizens of note:

“During this time of social distancing and isolation at home, what are examples of the music you are listening to, the books you are reading, and/or the television or films you are viewing?” (If you wish, please feel free to also share your thoughts on the effects this isolation is having on your creativity or on your world).

This edition features the email response of recording artist Bruce Cockburn.

You might think, in this time of isolation, that there would be an opportunity for catching up on all sorts of things: household tasks that we’ve been putting off, books waiting to be read, etc, but for me the reality is that with my wife teleworking and my 8-year-old “teleschooling” and having ZOOM play dates, and all of us together 24/7, I’m quite a lot busier than what used to be normal. That said, I have been listening and reading: Fernando Pessoa’s novel The Book of Disquiet, William Gibson’s Agency, poetry by Charles Bukowski, Joan Logghe and Wislawa Szymborska. For music, it’s pretty random. Recent listens include YouTube videos of David Russell’s stunning guitar playing as well as various performances by Voces8, Charles Mingus’ Tijuana Moods (an old favorite), the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street, and Schoenberg’s Verklarte Nacht..I haven’t watched any TV. That’s something I mostly do in hotel rooms. My daughter and I watched the second Smurfs movie the other day, which I love!

We are lucky in that my wife is still working. I feel for the baristas and waiters and cab drivers and everyone who depends on being able to move around and congregate for work. There’s an undercurrent of worry we all feel. My daughter feels some stress that gives her trouble getting to sleep sometimes. I feel somewhat fatalistic about COVID-19 with respect to myself.

I suppose each of us has to find whatever ways we can to put our “house arrest” to good use, even if it’s only resting, which a lot of us probably need. After a month, it still feels like a novelty. The challenge of coming up with creative ideas of how to pass the time, maintain friendships and acquire toilet paper is still kind of entertaining in itself. I’m not sure that will remain true if we have to live like this for too long.

~from jerryjazzmusician.com

Tour Dates re-booked

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Hello everyone,
So as most of you would have figured out by now all of the late April through May shows have been cancelled. [Due to COVID-19] — That’s the bad news but the good news is that most those same shows have been re-booked for late October and November. Take a look and you’ll see the new schedule.

Those of you that have tickets for any of the shows listed here will be able to use those tickets for the upcoming shows however if you can’t come to the new date or have any other questions, just get in touch with your local contact where you bought your ticket and you’ll get a refund or answers to your questions.

We’re sorry that we weren’t able to re-book all of the shows but will be trying very hard to get back to those places we’ll be missing as soon as possible. Often the reason that we couldn’t get back to each place was due to venue availability or routing problems. The important thing is that we all stay healthy and well and with luck we’ll see you in the fall. ~Bernie Finkelstein