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EYE MAGAZINE, TORONTO, ONTARIO YOUTH EXPRESS ON THE RIGHT TRACK "Why don't we save the Earth?" sings precocious 12-year-old Mitchell Allen, sounding like the next Randy Newman, albeit a less cynical one. Mitchell is one of five songwriters aged 16 and under sharing the stage at Hugh's Room on the evening of June 29 as part of a Youth Express! event organized by singer-songwriter Lisa Patterson. Patterson, through her Imaginit Music Studio in South Riverdale, has been helping young musicians develop their songwriting, performing and recording chops for more than eight years. In May of this year, she hosted her annual Young Songwriters Showcase, which included mentors like Arlene Bishop, Lori Cullen, Kathryn Rose and Blair Packham. The same month, she presented another showcase for a pilot program that she co-ordinated, the Youth Playback Theatre Project (YPTP). The YPTP is also part of the Hugh's Room event, listening to people's stories and transforming them (through spontaneous improv) into miniature theatre pieces. Artistic Director Christopher Von Baeyer gets audience members to talk about their day - an afternoon of gardening, a bike trip around the city - and the young people act it out a few seconds later. It's charming, funny and unclenches a normally reserved Toronto audience. The night is a benefit for Sketch, an arts studio for homeless and street-involved youth, whose work is hanging on the walls. The work varies from primitive to abstract to ironic, all of it worthwhile and selling quite briskly. Sketch founder and artistic director Phyllis Novak speaks movingly about the resourcefulness and creativity of these "entrepreneurial survivors." "They aren't an issue," she says. "They're people who share a mutual desire to search for beauty." For the young people onstage, Patterson has been instrumental in that search. Her support allows young musicians like Dusty Moreira (think of a young Jill Scott), Sarah Reid (think Alicia Keys), Klara Longfellow and Angela Hubble to strut their stuff with her band, on one of the best stages in the city. Throughout the evening, Patterson plays the mother hen, encouraging the kids' performances, moving a lighting rig here, adjusting a mic there. Anything to foster their full, fearless expression. Patterson is so busy in support that it's easy to forget her own latest album, Roam. To remind us, she and her band open and close the night, rocking the house with deep, groove-oriented, Eastern-influenced songs like "Forward" and "Need Each Other." Not saving the Earth, exactly ... but working toward its future, one young person at a time. HOWARD DRUCKMAN |
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NOW MAGAZINE Roots pop artist Lisa Patterson has been around the world working with musicians from many cultures, but right now her most treasured collaborators are Toronto youth. Her latest project is her June 29 Youth Express benefit show for Sketch, a local arts organization offering visual arts workshops and studio access to street-involved and homeless kids. MORE
EYE MAGAZINE "Why don't we save the Earth?" sings precocious 12-year-old Mitchell Allen, sounding like the next Randy Newman, albeit a less cynical one. Mitchell is one of five songwriters aged 16 and under sharing the stage at Hugh's Room on the evening of June 29 as part of a Youth Express! event organized by singer-songwriter Lisa Patterson. MORE
VANCOUVER PROVINCE This is all mixed up but Patterson makes it all make sense. Originally from Vancouver, now living in Toronto, her bio stresses a family upbringing with Scottish and Romanian roots. Sure enough, Patterson's second album has gypsy and celtic elements but there also is jazz and the faint influence of drums 'n' bass. MORE
GEORGIA STRAIGHT, VANCOUVER Former B.C. resident Lisa Patterson relates her globetrotting experiences via fluid production, sultry grooves and exotic musical influences on ROAM. The Toronto-based musician celebrates the release of the disc, her second, this Tuesday (July 13) at the Media Club. MORE PETERBOROUGH EXAMINER Toronto musician Lisa Patterson is creating a pattern of great music. Roam is evidence of an artist who clearly wants to create a sound all her own. In the mind of Lisa Patterson, there are no musical boundaries. MORE
INK 19 MAGAZINE Everyone has heard the saying, "think globally, act locally." Canadian singer Lisa Patterson's latest CD, Roam, is infused with that kind of thinking. Patterson's songs are focused on personal concerns like romance, life, death and how it all fits together. MORE GUELPH UNIVERSITY ONTARIAN The first impression that comes from this album is its uniqueness. This almost seamless blend of jazz and what seems like Indian or Eastern European music is very intriguing. I couldn't help but tap my foot and sing along upon my first listen. The melodies are interesting and intricate and are well balanced by the lively percussion and fluid instrumental backgrounds. MORE
NORTH SHORE NEWS LYRICS, and the messages they convey, are extremely important in Lisa Patterson's scheme of things. Her new album Roam is full of a global esthetic that brings together many different sources. While she wants her songs to be heard by as many people as possible she says there is much more at stake. "The philosophy that I'm trying to spread is 'let's take the time to try and understand each other. Let's try to connect with each other because our world is a really funny place.' MORE |
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