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Being Patricia Cano
There is an iconic quote from Horace that describes Patricia Cano perfectly: poeta nascitur, non fit – “the poet is born, not made”. It is true of remarkable people – from the great and all-but-forgotten cricketer Sir George Headley to… well… practicing poets such from Catullus to Cavafy, Okigbo, Dylan Thomas and others… to Yeats, Eliot and especially Pound. But one also suspects that Horace could also be describing those very special people who were born with a prodigy so all-encompassing that they could put their mind to doing great things no matter what the “thing” actually was, or is.
And Patricia Cano is such a person. She could become an actor in musical theatre and she did. She could become a musician and a vocalist – brilliant at both crafts – and she did. But then she took it all to the proverbial “next level” She is not only a prodigious stage and screen actor but, also a musician, the craft of which she has mastered to a degree that raised it to a rarefied realm. Best of all she is able to create music to perfection in five languages – English, French, Portuguese, Spanish and Cree.
Artistic genius is something inexplicable; this is at the very heart of its defining physiognomy. Geniuses live with this internal enigma and are unable to reveal its mysteries and secrets. Miss Cano has, in all likelihood, never thought of her artistic life in this way. She is humbly and completely absorbed by these contradictions, ill at ease in a world of mundaneness, sometimes alarmed by their own uniqueness snow-blinded by a truth, which common mortals can only dimly perceive, and swept away by a primordial force that is so beyond them, geniuses play like children.
A genius and a gift to the world Miss Cano nevertheless view the world with the immensity of the child’s eye; creates and innovates as she was born to, for in her genius is an unbridled intellect that predominates over the will, which, in turn, allows the creation of artistic—even academic—works of pure contemplation, bereft of interest, specific or otherwise.
Of course, nothing happened to Miss Cano by accident. She grew up in a home brimming with culture in the Sudbury, Southern Ontario, Canada. The heritage of the city has been shaped not only by the culture of its indigenous inhabitants – the Ojibwe of the Algonquin group of people – but is also a prominent Franco-Ontarian region. The daughter of a Peruvian doctor Miss Cano remembers that the five hundred year old culture of the old country was always alive in all its glory at home in Sudbury.
But she was in a Franco-Ontarian town surrounded by a rich Indigenous heritage and it informed everything she did in school as well as in the University of Toronto, where she graduated with Honours in Theatre and Spanish Literature. It wasn’t long before she embraced the career as an artist and came to the attention of Tomson Highway, the Cree writer and composer. But Europe came calling and Miss Cano spent five years in Paris where she joined Le Théâtre du Soleil an internationally-celebrated theatre company. Already fluent in three languages – English, Spanish and French – it wasn’t long before Miss Cano made waves in France.
She found herself in Seoul, South Korea, where for three months she studied traditional South Korean folk singing and drumming. Meanwhile the lure of singing was becoming much too great to resist. She had already fallen prey to the charms of Portuguese music and soon an opportunity to travel to Brasil came knocking. Once there Miss Cano spent seven months in Rio de Janeiro drinking in the mesmerising music of Brazil and it wasn’t long before she “went native” playing, singing and feeling her way into Brasilian life and she was soon adopted into the Carioca music scene. It’s easy to see how Miss Cano might have “gone native” in Rio albeit in such a short span of time.
Miss Cano has the ability to not simply transform herself into the characters she sings about or plays on stage, but to “become” them so convincingly that she seems to shape-shift like some mythical Valkyrie as she traverses the cultural topography from North and South America to as far as Europe and even the Far East.
Surely this is what must have drawn the Cree musician, poet and playwright Tomson Highway to Miss Cano. In 2001, the playwright cast her in the lead role of Emily Dictionary in his play Rose. That was followed by title roles in The Incredible Adventures of Mary-Jane Mosquito the story of a whimsical and wise, wingless little mosquito from Manitoba. The play was commissioned by and staged at the prestigious Stratford Music Festival.
“I have always been deeply honoured,” Miss Cano says “that Tomson has trusted me with his incredible art. We’ve travelled all over the world with his beautiful work. I am in love with it all,” she adds, “from the cabaret Kisageetin. Like all his work this cabaret written and performed in Cree. We did that for the first time in Sudbury, at Le Théâtre du Nouvel-Ontario. That was followed (in 2010) by performances at the Banff Centre for the Arts, as well as Toronto’s Canadian Stage Berkeley Theatre,” she say, proudly.
Of course the performance for which Miss Cano is best known is in the French National Arts Centre co-production, of Mr Highway’s one-woman musical The (Post) Mistress. She was cast in the (sole) role of the Franco-Ontarian postmistress named Marie-Louise Painchaud. If you missed the performance you can take some comfort in listening to the gorgeous songs that have been brought to life by Miss Cano on celebrated CD, which also features Mr Highway (playing piano on one song and providing vocal harmony on another and the saxophonist Marcus Ali also returns, playing saxophone and clarinet – both of which he played on the theatrical production).
The CD also features a constellation of Canadian musical stars such as Ted Quinlan on guitar, George Koller on contrabass, David Restivo on piano, Mark Kelso on drums, Gordon Sheard on piano and Luis Orbegoso on percussion. Despite the fact that (on CD, at least,) we miss the otherworldly effect of Teresa Przybylski’s post-office set Miss Cano as Marie-Louise Painchaud is breathtaking as disposes of her dizzying music with staggering panache as she adds lyricism, humour and melting beauty to the music. The lustre of her timbre and the grace of her execution are truly sensual and extraordinary.
The extraordinary percussion colourist Luis Orbegoso, along with the Brasilian-born composer and guitarist Carlos Bernardo helped Miss Cano form a powerful and enduring musical team. Together with the guitarist, Miss Cano has crafted some of her finest original music featured – so far – on her next two adventures, both of which also feature Mr Orbegoso who assisted in production too. The first of these – the vocalist’s debut as leader – was a gorgeous recording This is the New World. A title, as it turned out, that was even slightly prophetic for the repertoire it contained seemed to raise the curtain on a musical landscape that is literally owned by Miss Cano, one that she also shares with Mr Bernardo, of course, but also one in which she reigns supreme like a sort of musical Boadicea.
Right from the start one can discern that Miss Cano’s repertoire is a sort of palimpsest; the diverse layers or aspects apparent beneath its surface have been steeped like the brew of an ancient apothecary with the ingredients plucked from the proverbial magical forests of Brasil, Peru and other parts of Latin America, ancient North American Indigenous and Franco-Canadian cultures. The music traverses Latin America and while there are many notable performances on the disc, especially (several by) Mr Bernardo, Mr Orbegoso and by Stéphane Paquette it is Miss Cano who provides the disc’s highlights.
Throughout her sojourn Miss Cano’s vocals display her burnished tone and occasional Callas-like tension passionate expression and between elegant seductive mesmerism. Although she is the consummate storyteller right from “Solidão Nunca Mais” she is unsurpassed on “Amazonie”. And as Mr Bernardo creates shushed silences and soft tremolos Miss Cano uses the space for her vocal entries and colours. By the time you get to the iconic “Toro Mata” what emerges is an authentic interpretation of tradition that comes from a magical deep-dive into her own Afro-Peruvian heritage and, indeed, into all of South America; all of this as she serves up the most unique dressing on spectacular feast of music.
It would have been hard to imagine not simply a perfect debut, but also how Miss Cano could possibly top that performance. Then, in 2017 came Madre Amiga Hermana and a breathtaking repertoire of music. On the poetically-inspired “Caminando”, Miss Cano sings in phrases seeming to resemble series of sighs, the elegantly plucky guitar of Carlos Bernardo urging her ever onward. Hardly less beguiling are “Juana Guerrière” and “Carmela y Raúl” – dedicatory pieces for members of her family – in which she conveys not only reverence, but a mesmeric, youthful innocence enlivening the eternal vernal elegance of the former song with affective ornament, lightly articulated declamation and carefully controlled vibrato.
Tempos are justly chosen throughout and the appropriately resonant importance given to the complex, dancing traditional rhythmic forms of “Terre Mère” provides the icing on this most delicious cake. On “Morning Hymn” exquisite violin, viola and cello obbligato is a poignant supplication of fervent intensity where Miss Cano brings great tenderness and expressive depth to the music. The broad sweeping gestures of “Toi et Moi” call all the gracefulness of French song to mind while “La vie comme si” with Mr Bernardo’s subtle guitar obbligato is of consummate beauty.
In all of this, of course, one had also to reserve the highest praises of Mr Bernardo, composer and guitarist in the great tradition of Brasilian instrumentalists, and also a co-conspirator together with the ineffably brilliant Mr Orbegoso. To that list one has now to add the robust genius of Jeremy Ledbetter, a composer virtuoso pianist in his own right and who we must now acknowledge as a masterful arranger and orchestrator, and orchestral conductor as well. This magnificent surprise was served up on the 13th of October 2018 at a performance at the Al Green Theatre in Toronto.
The evening featured music from the new Patricia Cano Songbook – “A beautiful gift from Jeremy to me,” Miss Cano acknowledged. Mr Ledbetter’s brilliant orchestral interpretation of Miss Cano’s music was an ambitious one and was all the more impressive with the presence of the Canadian Sinfonietta, conducted by him (together with Miss Cano’s quartet that featured Mr Bernardo, Paco Luviano on basses, Mr Orbegoso on percussion and voice, and the quartet’s new member Juan Carlos Medrano also on percussion. Even if Mr Ledbetter’s approach to conducting may have dismayed some traditionalists, his own performance – certainly as orchestrator and his debut as conductor – absent of clichés, possessed an integrity and power commensurate with the music of Miss Cano and Mr Bernardo.
The music showed Miss Cano heading into the vivid countryside of her art, the dramatic and renowned elegance of her voice drew us in as we magically became part of its natural landscape that mixed beauty and danger, the sounds of children birds, trees and wise near mythic ancestors. It was beautifully evocative of warm nights and blazing days, each song taking us to some wild and beautiful place with a trusted and inspiring musical friendship that we had now forged thanks to a sublime artist who shared her experiences with such naked honesty and generosity.
The Canadian Sinfonietta was flawless and seemed to revel in the challenges of the Afro-Peruvian (and occasionally Brasilian) music. The strings were opulent and Aleksander Gajic’s star turn when he was called upon to solo with the quartet was voluptuous and sublime. Indeed the entire ensemble gave a characterful performance full of lagrima-filled laments and thrilling crescendos. It was a riveting evening, somewhat amusing at times, especially as the aria-like supremacy of Miss Cano’s vocals was often met with loud and unrestrained audience cheering; a vision of what brilliant opera by bel-canto singing sensations might have once elicited before the days stuffy opera etiquette.
Of course it was an evening to remember because Miss Cano, who had recently recovered from a touch of the flu, managed to absolutely soar into the night. Framed attentively, eloquently and imaginatively by Mr Ledbetter shepherding of the music played by the Quartet and the Sinfonietta Miss Cano was literally sublime. Her newly orchestrated version of “Juana Guerrière” was imperious, “Mi Maru”, the landó written for her son was absolutely beckoning and this (orchestral) version of “Toro Mata” was sans pareil. Throughout the evening one had a sense that despite her enormous previous achievements, somehow she had managed to surpass them all.
Miss Cano’s artistry is now in a rarefied realm. Her voice is now at once rich and at its opulent best as we heard from the whispered first bars of “Juana Guerrière” through the rousing savagely expressive crescendos of “Toro Mata” and beyond. She was giddy and girlish when the music called for it and seductively adult at other times. Indeed it was very much the kind of one-of-a-kind Patricia Cano show, one which gives and will surely reiterate the belief that few, if any, performers can reach the level of brilliance attained by an artist as unique to music and musical theatre as the incomparable Patricia Cano.
How one composer spent four decades forging a distinctly Québécois path through the experimental music landscape
When Joane Hétu picks up her alto saxophone, she claims territory. At sixty-six, the Montréal composer, vocalist, and saxophonist has spent forty years carving out space for experimental music in Québec, building institutions and communities that define the province’s musique actuelle scene.
Her latest recording, Elle a son mot à dire, captures Hétu leading Ensemble SuperMusique through thirteen of her compositions from across two decades. The album opens with “Elle n’a pas de mot” (She has no words)—a brief ambient piece that stacks wordless singing atop a chorus of “whirly tubes,” ribbed hoses spun above players that pirouette through the harmonic series. An apt introduction to an artist who has spent her career finding new ways to give voice to the unspoken.
Finding Her Voice in the Underground
Hétu’s path began in the early 1980s with avant-pop groups like Wondeur Brass, Justine, and Les Poules. These bands merged the pluralist ethos of New York’s downtown scene with European progressive sensibilities while maintaining something distinctly Québécois. “I was very young, in my twenties, and this fusion happened quite instinctively, without real premeditation,” she recalls. Through connections to figures like Zeena Parkins, Ikue Mori, and Fred Frith, and the Recommended Records network, these groups found their place in an international experimental music community.
Even while performing with these bands, Hétu was thinking beyond individual artistic expression. In 1980, she co-founded SuperMusique with Danielle Palardy Roger and Diane Labrosse. Eight years later, they organized a Festival of Innovative Women Musicians, devoted entirely to women’s groups working in avant-garde music—a radical curatorial gesture that signaled Hétu’s growing interest in building infrastructure alongside making music.
“We were connected to the New York scene,” Hétu explains, “but we wanted to create something here, something that would support the community we were building in Montréal.”
From Performance to Institution
The instinct to support that community would shape Hétu’s career as much as her compositions. By 1998, she had taken on co-direction of Ensemble SuperMusique, transforming the organization into one that explicitly welcomes “emerging artists, mid-career artists, and major figures alike.” Where many experimental music scenes fragment along generational lines, Hétu has consistently worked to bridge those gaps.
“This intergenerational cohabitation is a great richness for us,” she explains. “It opens perspectives, stimulates listening, and provokes essential exchanges.”
On Elle a son mot à dire, this collaborative philosophy becomes musical practice. In “Mot elle a,” vocalist Sarah Albu’s written part interweaves with improvised percussion, creating what Hétu calls “flexible, malleable” pieces that depend on interpretation. “For now, I only have one recording, but I hope it will live through other recordings and interpretations,” she says. “This is one of the objectives of open scores: to encourage multiple and living interpretations.”
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The Economics of Experiment
Running an experimental music organization led Hétu deeper into the infrastructure questions that determine which music gets heard and preserved. As founder and longtime president of DAME Records (Distribution Ambiances Magnétiques Etcetera), she took on the less glamorous work of documenting and distributing Canadian experimental music—a role she maintained for three decades.
“I’ve always had a passion for sound recording,” she reflects. “From 1985, I got involved in Ambiances Magnétiques, then DAME took over.” The work came with unexpected costs. “After my daughter’s birth in 1990, I was looking for a certain stability, knowing that tours would be more difficult. Naively, I believed that having a record label would offer a form of security. It was quite the opposite. This enterprise cost me a lot in creative time. Looking back, it’s perhaps what I regret most: having carried it for so long, for thirty-three years.”
Despite the personal sacrifice, DAME has documented a vital chapter in Canadian music history, providing a platform for artists like Jean Derome, Pierre-Yves Martel, Tim Brady, and dozens of others who might otherwise have remained unrecorded. “DAME documents this precious musical heritage and ensures that these musics are represented, supported, available, and that this artistic history is accessible,” Hétu explains.
Claiming Creative Territory
The questions of space and belonging that drove Hétu’s institutional work find their most direct artistic expression in her concept of territory. The idea runs through much of her work, most explicitly in her piece La femme territoire ou 21 fragments d’humus. For Hétu, territory encompasses everything from the intimate to the political: “the Earth, my room, Quebec, my soul—a woman who becomes vastitude.”
“In it, I take a position, as a woman, on my territory—intimate and collective,” she explains. “I doubted while writing it; I had trouble trusting myself. Today, I’m happy with the path traveled and with this work.”
The territorial thinking extends to her approach to voice and instrumentation. Hétu never formally learned to sing, drawing from influences like Tenko, Phil Minton, Jaap Blonk, and Paul Dutton. “I have a deep love for the voice and its noise-making potential. It’s visceral and fundamental to me,” she says. In her work with La chorale bruitiste JOKER, founded in 2012, she explores what collective vocal improvisation can accomplish using techniques like soundpainting.
[click on image to enlarge]
Seasons of Composition
Hétu’s relationship to place extends to her famous engagement with Québec’s harsh winters. Where others see obstacles to cultural life, she found creative catalysts. Her trilogy Musique d’hiver emerged from the practical reality that “January, February and March are rather quiet in the record industry, which leaves time to compose.” But the relationship between season and creativity runs deeper than scheduling.
“I love winter, I love the sound, the cocoon effect it produces,” she explains. The final piece in the trilogy, Récits de neige, focused specifically on snow’s geometry: “I hoped to compose 30 short pieces that musicians could amalgamate as they want, like snowflakes, which each have a different geometry.”
Building for the Future
Today, as Hétu approaches her fifth decade in music, she remains committed to the experimental principles that have guided her career while grappling with new challenges facing the experimental music community. “I believe the public has the capacity to welcome innovation,” she argues. “But it needs tools, which are becoming scarce: radio broadcasting, interviews, production support, and venues dedicated to new music.”
Her work with Ensemble SuperMusique continues to demonstrate that experimental music can build lasting institutions and communities. Recent projects include ongoing workshops in graphic scores and conducting gestures, international collaborations, and regular concert series that have sustained the musique actuelle community for decades.
“I respond to the call, to the impulse of the moment. I am still, fundamentally, the same composer,” Hétu admits. Viewed across four decades, her work reveals a consistent thread: the understanding that experimental music concerns itself with creating the conditions for a community of artists to flourish.
In an era when funding for experimental music remains precarious and cultural institutions focus on measurable outcomes, Hétu’s approach offers a different model. Her career demonstrates that sometimes the most radical act is creating space for other voices to emerge, building the infrastructure for artistic communities to sustain themselves across generations. After four decades, Joane Hétu still has something to say. She’s still creating spaces for others to find their own voices within the experimental music territory she has helped map. In Québec’s cultural landscape, that may be her most enduring composition.
“One of the most unforgettable moments of the Festival was the electrifying performance by Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue”
The Festival International de Jazz de Montréal took place from June 26 to July 5, 2025, in the Quartier des Spectacles. The 45th edition of the world’s largest jazz festival was a resounding success, attracting jazz enthusiasts from around the globe.
The Heart of the Festival
Located in the heart of downtown Montreal, the Festival site becomes a meeting place for jazz lovers worldwide for ten days. The area is closed to all vehicular traffic and remains open until midnight, allowing visitors to enjoy close to 150 indoor concerts and more than 350 free, open-air shows presented on the specially redesigned Quartier des Spectacles.
A Personal Journey
As a jazz fan and festival enthusiast, I had always intended to attend the Montreal Jazz Festival. Despite missing several chances, I finally managed to go this year, although for a shorter time than I would have preferred, from June 30th to July 3rd.
Arrival and First Impressions
I enjoyed a pleasant 5-hour Via Rail train trip from Toronto to Montreal, arriving around 2 PM. After settling into my Airbnb, I found the jazz festival site and met up with Danilo Navas, the editor-in-chief of That Canadian Magazine. We eagerly waited for the first act to perform on the TD Stage, a free concert by UK tenor saxophonist Nubya Garcia.
Garcia and her band delivered an energetic and incredibly enjoyable set that featured music from both of her recordings. This is an artist I will be watching more closely.
One of the most unforgettable moments of the festival was the electrifying performance by Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue. This mind-bending concert had everything thrown into the mix, creating an explosive fusion of world jazz, funk, and New Orleans soul.
The unbridled excitement and energy from the stage were infectious, drawing the audience in and making them an essential part of the show. The crowd danced, cheered, and grooved to the irresistible beats, unable to resist the magnetic pull of Trombone Shorty’s music.
After this exhilarating experience, the only thing left to do was find a chill spot to unwind and bask in the afterglow of this burst of New Orleans magic.
Canada Day Celebrations
On July 1st, Canada Day, I took a walk to Old Montreal to check out the celebrations. The area, reminiscent of Europe, was closed off to most traffic, allowing visitors to enjoy the numerous restaurants with patios and sidewalk cafes. I indulged in a coffee and biscotti at one inviting cafe before making my way back to the jazz festival area, with a brief stop in Chinatown for some delicious dumplings and soup.
Memorable Performances
This Canada Day was my most active in terms of concerts, with three free shows happening almost consecutively at outdoor venues.
The Sugar Darlings: Miche Love, a key figure in the Montreal blues scene, captivated the audience with her powerful and soulful voice, supported by the electrifying solos of Paul Lucyk on guitar and Kaven Jalbert on saxophone.
Julien Fillion Band: This lively quartet, led by the talented Julien Fillion on saxophone, guitar, and keyboards, delivered an energetic performance to a rain-soaked crowd. The show must go on despite the unpredictable weather challenges.
Endea Owens & the Cookout: Detroit-raised recording artist, bassist, and composer Endea Owens captivated the audience with her soulful singing and jazz and soul-infused playing.
My Last Full Day at the Festival
My last full day at the festival was spent exploring the grounds and soaking in the vibrant atmosphere of the Montreal Jazz Festival, discovering the many facets of this grand celebration.
Christine Jensen Quartet at Le Studio TD
One of the last jazz concerts I attended was at an indoor venue that offered a free performance by the Christine Jensen Quartet, which featured alto saxophonist Christine Jensen. This outstanding group of world-class musicians includes Jim Doxas on drums, Gary Versace on keys, and Adrian Vedady on contrabass. The quartet played tunes from Jensen’s latest recording, “Day Moon,” released in 2023, as well as selections from her other quartet albums.
A Memorable Experience
In summary, the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal is an excellent event held at a captivating venue, offering a wonderful experience with many free concerts and more. I look forward to returning and delving even further into the modern music of our era.
Editor’s Note: We will publish our photo gallery from the 45th Festival International de Jazz de Montréal in a separate post in the next few days.
Luminato at Harbourfront – June 15, 2025
Somd’agua: A Dance Migration Performance
A mesmerizing collaboration featuring Esie Mensah, Alex Oliver, Reimundo Sosa Reinoldes, and Adrianna Yanuziello, Somd’agua provided a profound exploration of Afro-Brazilian culture. The performance artfully depicted the sacred connection between the deities Oxum and Yemanjá through movement and rhythm.
The fusion of powerful singing, chanting, and dynamic Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian percussion created an immersive backdrop for the dancers’ graceful movements.
As the river meets the sea, the performers wove their magic, creating a flowing exchange of energies that stirred deep emotions and evoked memories of distant lands.
The natural setting of Harbourfront Centre enhanced the experience, with the breeze from Lake Ontario and passing tall ships complementing the performance’s aquatic themes. The audience’s enthusiastic participation peaked during the climactic duet, where the dancers achieved perfect harmony.
Santé! By Cirque Kikasse
Quebec’s innovative circus troupe transformed a food truck into an extraordinary performance space.
Their show seamlessly blended fast-food preparation with spectacular acrobatics, showcasing remarkable athleticism and gravity-defying feats both on and above their unique mobile stage.
Musical Performances and Workshops
Afro-Indigenous roots of Colombia Cumbia workshop with Beny Esguerra
Beny Esguerra, the Juno-nominated multi-instrumentalist, delivered an engaging exploration of Afro-Colombian rhythms. Accompanied by his daughter, who acted as her father’s assistant. She helped distribute percussion instruments.
Esguerra created an interactive experience where the distributed percussion instruments became integral to the musical performance. It featured a fun and engaging demonstration that showcased the communicative power of drumming.
Kombilesa Mi
This vibrant Afro-Colombian ensemble brought the distinctive sounds of San Basilio de Palenque to life. Their dynamic performance merged traditional rhythms (Mapalé, Bullerengue, Son Palenquero) with contemporary hip-hop elements, performing in both Spanish and their native language, Palenque.
Formed in 2011, the group serves as a cultural bridge, connecting young people with their heritage while embracing modern musical expressions. The show was well-attended, and these fantastic entertainers had the crowd singing along, clapping in time, and seemingly having a joyful experience.
The festival experience concluded perfectly with an evening stroll along the Harbourfront paths. The day’s artistic celebrations settled into memory as night descended over Lake Ontario.
Photo Gallery: Adrianna Yunuziello Dance Migration performing Somd’agua
Photos by Paul J. Youngman [click on images to enlarge]
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