Prochaine Station

“Don't play the saxophone, let the saxophone play you.” ― Charlie Parker This post is a sequel in our quest to (re ) discover street music in Montreal. Through th i s series of blogs we hope to change people’s stereotypes of musicians who perform in M etro stations . S ome of th ese artists are just amazing. Our advice to you is simple : just stop , listen and enjoy! After a long day at work, on my way home, I noticed this dynamic duo performing at metro Snowdon. They were doing something totally original that immediately catches your attention. Here is a sample video showing their virtuosity. Jay Uno, a 28-year old saxophonist, has been playing the instrument since he was 10 years old. His didn’t let his talent be limited to the sax and also started rapping at the age of 15, on the streets of Montreal’s Little Burgundy, the neighbourhood where he grew up and was first introduced to hip-hop culture. He was Inspired by his brother A1 Smoke, a ...

Admit it : W e all love the unusual rhythm and melody of A rabic music. It's so relaxing to be going about your typical day and hear those magical notes from an instrument most of us don’t even know how to pronounce. Today’s post is all about Arabic music and a very talented Buzuq player. Music of the M iddle E ast has a long tradition going back many centuries. It has had influence on other kinds of music around the world. We can even see this influence in the work of composers like Mozart and Beethoven. There are 4 genres in today ’ s Arabic music: Modern, Classical, Pop and Arabic G u lf style music. Because of the more elastic sound of Arabic music, the songs are sung in a minor key, which is why they are not that up beat in pop. Enough with the general knowledge lesson, n ow take a look at the video below.                               The f irst n ame of the artist in the above vid...

Let’s admit it: we live in a never-ending bubble, especially during our daily Metro commute - a bubble comprised of our text messages, social media feeds and Spotify/iTunes playlists (thanks to those damn noise cancelling headphones). But every now and then, the bubble bursts and we look up and interact with the real world for a moment. That’s when, we get a glimpse of some incredibly talented artists, who perform at the Metro. The music and the energy of these artists instantly uplift us and makes us forget everything else for a few minutes. In fact, the vibrancy and diversity of the population of Montreal is well represented by the plethora of talented musicians to whom we listen to few seconds on our hurried way to the train. These artists play every instrument under the sun, ranging from cello to saxophone to even the oud and genres ranging from hip-hop to classical . Therefore, being music crazy STM travellers, we decided to blog about these artists, as a way of sh...