Irvine Welsh's "Ecstacy"

My song "Side Streets + Parked Cars" has been chosen to appear in the film "Ecstasy", based on the book by Irvine Welsh (Trainspotting) and directed by Rob Heydon.

If you would like to be updated on the trailer and film release dates etc, please follow on Facebook: www.facebook.com/IrvineWelshsEcstacy

Pop-Up Number Two

So on a burning-hot Sunday afternoon, Alex, Anna and I bombarded the grand piano that sits in all its loneliness on the mezzanine level of Loblaws in Forest Hill.

I felt quite tongue-in-cheek about selecting Loblaws as one of our Pop-Up sites, even bringing along my eco-shopping bags so that I could simply get groceries after playing (provided we didn't get kicked out, which we did not).

Many seniors were there, some with their caregivers. The odd young family came and went, unsure about our antics but clapping nonetheless. Loblaws employees on break from the shopping chaos below gave us nary a sideways glance. A homeless man with a beat-up guitar case seemed to really listen closely to the lyrics. A real motley crew, the people who hang out on the mezzanine level of Loblaws. Us included, with our music stands and vintage summer dresses.

The girls and I had a good time, giggling that store announcements blared between the lines of our only quiet song, laughing our heads off at my little daughter and her buddy Stella dancing wildly and hopping around to the music, smiling at each others' pretty harmonies.

It was such a different experience from our Pop-Up at Hazelton Lanes. No one shutting us down, a real spacial distance between us and the audience - but also more strangers expressing appreciation. And interestingly enough, the sound was quite good up there. I was of course not amplified in any way, but my voice carried across the room really well.

The Toronto Star was there and wrote a very nice article about us in today's paper:
I will upload video soon.

Pop-Up Concert Number Two tomorrow!

Sunday July 17 at 1PM. Send me a message at my full name, all one word, at gmail dot calm.

I will let you know the mid-town Toronto location, and if you are able to make it please do use utmost discretion when you arrive as our concert has of course not been previously arranged with the venue.

Hope to see you!

Next Pop-Up Concert ...

... is July 17 at 2PM, free of course. If you are interested in coming out and would like to know the location, please email me at: lenni jabour (one word) at gmail dot you-know-the-rest.
For now I will give you a location hint: the President is not Barack Obama.
xxoo LJ


(ps: pop-up balloons by my darling friend Julia Guther: www.juliaguther.de)

Is It Me You're Looking...For?

I passed this today while walking home and burst out laughing:



To make it all the more wonderful, the lyrics are tear-pieces at the bottom of the poster where the contact info would normally be.




It reminds me of part of the purpose behind my Pop-Up Concerts. Made me so incredibly happy.

Ewanika

Today I went to my friend Trish Ewanika's shop, to do a little photo shoot of summer 2011 ensembles for her lovely website.

There are many things that make me happy about this - first of all, Trish and I have been good friends since 1995. Secondly, I LOVE not only the clothing she designs but the details, the lovely whisper-details that make her work so amazing and personal, so quintessentially Trish - but also you. This is in my opinion a real artists' gift, to be able to express oneself in such a way that you feel it is your expression too.

I am wearing one of the summer '11 dresses to a tea party I'm going to next Sunday ... super-excited to bust it out with saddle shoes, skinny belt and drop necklace.

www.ewanika.ca for more photos, inspiration, and to learn about wonderful Trish.

Pop-Up Concert Number One

We did our first Pop-Up Concert last Saturday, at Hazelton Lanes in Toronto ... where sits a lovely and largely abandoned shiny black piano in an atrium that was once a skating rink, and is now a space for cafe tables and chairs. I had scoped it out some time ago and decided it would be a perfect place for our first renegade performance.

The premise of the Pop Up Concert is that we (Alex McMaster on cello and Anna Atkinson on viola) get quite dressed up and overtake rarely-used (or forbidden-to-use) pianos that have been abandoned in an unexpected public space in the city's core, filling that space with music. This is not previously arranged with the venue, so discretion before our performance is key (ie, our invited friends were advised not to ask a security guard where the concert is, etc). The performance is, of course, free.

I had no expectations of what would happen here, except that there would be a general public beyond our friends who would be amused (or otherwise) at our intentions. The least amused of which were two young security guards, who are captured in this clip (just over 6 mins long) attempting to shut us down after we perform my song "Ruby". It was our fourth song, and I thought they were very polite about waiting until it was over.

If you listen to the ensuing conversation you will note that I ask the one security guard to sing along...



Next Pop-Up Concert is in June (date TBA) at the next unexpected public space we have chosen ... we will let you know where closer to the date if you are interested in coming out.