(Toronto, ON) – Ok, so I will admit that I had never heard of Frazey Ford before. When I did a quick search, I saw she was classified as a folk artist. Not a particular genre that ranks high on my personal interests. However being one who never backs away from an assignment, I went to the Harbourfront Centre Theatre with a preconceived notion that I wouldn’t enjoy the performance.
The evening started off with Phil Cook, who just so happens to be in the band, but was playing a solo performance as the opening act. An old electric guitar in hand, he played a very bluesy inspired set, consisting of both cover songs and original material. He was personable and the audience liked his show.
Toronto born Frazey Ford came on stage with her large backup band, consisting of a trumpet player, saxophone player, a backup singer, keyboardist (Phil Cook), guitarist, bassist, and a drummer whose left arm was in a cast. Yes you read right, a drummer with a cast. He performed the entire night basically with one arm and did a pretty decent job.
I won’t even pretend to know the song names, but I will state that I was instantly intrigued by her performance. It wasn’t folk music like I perceived it to be. I considered it to be “easy listening” music. Her vocals instantly reminded me of Alanis Morissette, minus the anger. She emanated a natural vocal vibrato, with an ear pleasing tone.
They played an array of songs that were ear friendly. Included in the set was a funk tune, an inspired gospel song and even a song that Frazey describes as a political, Muppets meets Sesame Street kind of tune. It left my imagination wondering, until they started playing it and I was transported to my youth watching Sesame Street.
She dedicated a song to the strong woman who had courage to do what was right, especially the victims of the Jian Ghomeshi case. A song entitled Firecracker was dedicated to her brother who had been fighting addiction for over twenty years and recently got clean. She even dedicated a song to an ex boyfriend, stating he provided her with the inspiration to write a money making song. She thanked him and the audience laughed.
She was so chill in her demeanor, a free spirit, on occasion dancing to the music like she was plucked from the hippy era. Her natural funny charm filled in the gaps between the songs.
I was pleasantly surprised with her performance. Even chatting with the guy next to me about the impression she made of both of us. Although living in Vancouver, she apparently does perform fairly frequently in Toronto. If you have a chance, check her out. I’m glad I did.
