REVIEWS
MARY MARGARET O'HARA MAKES RARE APPEARANCE IN TORONTO
Toronto Jazz Music Examiner
Cathy Riches
August 28th, 2010
I’m not too sure what the heck happened at Lula Lounge this past Wednesday night, but whatever it was, it wasn’t dull. And I gather that’s the case whenever Mary Margaret O’Hara takes the stage, which is very rarely these days. Toronto’s Yvette Tollar, who was also singing that night, is the one responsible for putting the evening together and coaxing O’Hara out of her rabbit hole.
For anyone not familiar with O’Hara’s style, as I wasn’t until the other night, she’s known for her quirky, free-wheeling performances, interjecting witty asides and stream-of-consciousness commentaries mid-song. Her delivery, sense of humour and improvisational skills often reminded me of her famous sister, Catherine.
A performer like that needs solid yet risk-taking musicians to collaborate with and on Wednesday she had them in spades: guitarist Kevin Breit on guitar and vocals, Hugh Marsh on violin, Rich Brown (Tollar’s husband) on bass and Davide DiRenzo on drums.
The evening started out with a sparse, experimental piece and from there ranged across a gamut of styles. Breit and Tollar shared the vocals on Breit’s rootsy composition, Hang On, while O’Hara threw in musical quips about her grip not being as good as it used to be (so hang on).
Brown opened Compared to What with a wicked funky solo. The group’s jazzy cover of Joni Mitchell’s Edith and the Kingpin was one of the most mainstream tunes of the evening, unless you count Somewhere Over the Rainbow. But with O’Hara taking the lead on that one, playing with the tempo, back-phrasing into yesterday, leaping octaves and ending with an imitation of the Cowardly Lion, it was unlike any of the thousands of other versions we’ve all heard. The thing nearly went off the rails a few times, but credit goes to the band for saving it from being a train wreck.
Several guests took the stage during the evening including Tollar’s younger sister Allison Long (who has a lovely voice) and brother Ernie Tollar’s adorable wee daughter. Then for a complete change of pace, Dan Ackroyd got up on stage and blew the roof off the place with a Blues Brother’s style number. As well, Aidan Closs, who has collaborated with O’Hara in the past on some improvisational pieces, sat in on drums and sang a song about how women should take over the world, inducing lots of head nods from my (female) friends and me.
It took me a few days to digest everything I heard throughout the evening and that’s a good thing. I hope that Tollar puts together another show like it soon.
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