Jay Malinowski at The Great Hall – April 4, 2014

Photographs by Neil Van

On Friday night, a crowd of Torontonians found shelter from the gloomy weather into The Great Hall for a night with Jay Malinowski & The Deadcoast.  Lead singer of Bedouin Soundclash, Jay Malinowski wrote an album of stories from his family’s history with having Toronto as the second last date of their Canadian tour.

Kicking off the night was folk trio, Queen of The Fleet.  As The Great Hall filled up, the opener sang songs of heartbreak, covered Neil Young, and tight harmonies.   This was the perfect music for the rainy weather outside.  The Great Hall accented them well I must admit.

People filled the seats, balconies and surrounding sides of the stage for the headliner.  Jay told stories about buying his best friend, Oscar his dog in between songs and giving a little bit of a background to his family history, which ranges from the West Coast, as well as shout outs to his family in Toronto who were there that night.  Changing from piano, to guitar and to holding nothing but the microphone in hand, the crowd wooed at every chance they got.  Stripping down to just him on the piano and guitar for the last few songs, saying the night was coming to an end, the crowd clearly weren’t ready to let go.  I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Jay often the last few years recording this album down the street from me, dog in tow.  It’s nice to see the result of that now in full swing.  It was nice to see Malinowski solo with a new sound.  It was refreshing to see an artist reaching into his own artistic being, as to what Jay Malinowski & The Deadcoast certainly demonstrates.  You can buy the latest album, “Martel” now.