Category: Festivals

July 29 . Issue #143

Post author By Paul Yanuziello
Post date July 29, 2022

“Let us come alive to the splendour that is all around us and see the beauty in ordinary things.” Thomas Merton

1. Summer in the country and village festivals. I’ve completed two so far this summer, both were at the New Earth Village Festival. Great times! I got to read my book Scratchy the Squirrel: A Time for Friends to some children and children at heart, I sold some books and I had lots of fun.

Scratchy the Squirrel at New Earth Village

2. Classical Music festivals, jazz music festivals – Symphony in the Barn, I have tickets for Saturday’s performance. I am super pumped to witness this cool idea of blending classical music and farm country life.

Yes, this is life, listening to live music, oh yeah and Arts in The Park too. Thank you to the Dance Migration for sharing their art in Walter Saunders Park in Toronto this past week I must not forget to mention my report, now published, in That Canadian Magazine about all that Salsa on Blue Mountain.

3. My reviews of some music that I checked out, see Paul J. Youngman at Latin Jazz Network – Gregory Porter show review, Toronto Jazz Festival reports.

4. Finding book stores in small towns like Flesherton’s, Speaking Volumes Books and Creemore’s – Curiosity House Books is a fantastic pass time. You meet some great people and you browse the books.

I picked up some great books from both bookstores. Including, A Bird Chronicle, written by Rina Barone with illustrations by Ruth Ann Pearce, at the Curiosity House Books store.

5. Get out and enjoy the trails – but be careful. I was depending on my walking stick, which I found on the trail, and took a tumble. Luckily I was not severely injured, dislocated the index finger of my left hand and scraped my right shin. A small cut on my head, just to the side of my right eye and I tore my pants. Oh well, either get a good walking stick or don’t depend on the forest stick.

I’ve had a lot of experience falling, ukemi, in martial arts training, so this could have been much worse.

The trails, Niagara Escarpment and Bruce Trail, the forest bathing, are excellent and I go for a dip in the Beaver River every morning, so great!

Thank you for reading, if you think someone you know would be interested in my newsletter please pass it along.

All of my books are now available at your favourite bookstores, support local bookstores with your online purchases. Make sure you get out and about this summer. Visit a book store, or the library and pick up some books. If you’re looking for a great early reader chapter book get my book Scratchy the Squirrel: A Time for Friends. Or one of my picture books, Samba on a Snowy Day or Samba in Brazil.

Stay safe, stay well, stay strong and keep going.

Tags Arts in The Park, Curiosity House Books, Gregory Porter, Latin Jazz Network, New Earth Natalie, New Earth Village, Rina Barone, Ruth Ann Pearce, Speaking Volumes Books, Symphony in the Barn, That Canadian Magazine, The Dance Migration, Toronto Jazz Festival

Festivals Music Reading

June 24 – Issue #142

Post author By Paul Yanuziello
Post date June 24, 2022

“Just living is not enough… one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.” — Hans Christian Andersen

Hello all and welcome to another month. Summer has arrived here in the Northern Hemisphere. Join me as I share 5 points of interest: things to do, things to see and something to read too.

The featured photo is of my garden in the Grey Highlands, the peonies are in full bloom.

1. The summer solstice happened this week on June 22nd, 5:13 AM, to be exact. I missed the sunrise, I was up a couple of hours later and working out before setting out on a trail adventure. Hiking on one small part of the Bruce Trail.

International Day of Yoga is on the same day, I always mix in some yoga in my training. This year’s theme is Yoga for Humanity.

2. My friends at Settle Stories celebrated Summer Solstice Storytelling with some great stories for the children from Internationally-renowned storyteller Dominic Kelly.

I watched it live, however, a recording will be available to watch until 12pm on the 5th of July. To access the recording you will need to register for the event. Enjoy!

3. Events for summer are happening, live and in-person, a first in over two years. This week I visited Toronto and spent time at the Italian Food Festival. My family and I also ate dinner at one of my favourite restaurants, Bella Vista Trattoria.

I have signed up for accreditation to the Toronto Jazz Festival. I’ll be writing for the LatinJazzNet. Most of the events are free, I’ll be looking to catch up with some great Canadian talent.

I received my tickets to Kuné, performing at the Collingwood Music Festival. This will be my first time attending the Collingwood Festival.

This weekend my daughter is performing at Blue Mountain as part of the annual Salsa at Blue Mountain. Guess who will be at the Blue Mountain Village this weekend cheering her on.

4. My summer reading looks like this: Spirit Dance by Douglas Smith, a novelette that I just completed reading. Smith is a master of short story fiction. This story is just perfect for National Indigenous History Month.

A story of indigenous lore meeting modern ways. Nature versus mankind in a war of shapeshifters, the animal kingdom and the righteous government of the day. A great story.

Speaking of books, my next book will be the third in The Samba Dog series, Samba in Switzerland. My illustrator Joshua Miller and I will be meeting later this week to discuss the layout for the illustrations.

5. My musical tastes have run the gamut from classical to the blues. One new release that has received plenty of spins, is, El Tinajon from saxophonist Luis Deniz.

As you may have surmised the album is Latin Jazz with heavy influences of Afro Cuban Jazz. I dislike labels though, the primary element is simply good toe-tapping music.

Deniz plays soprano and alto sax’s on the album, his playing is magnificent on every track. He is joined by a group of stellar musicians who provide beautiful accompaniment and wonderful musical interludes.

Thank you for reading, if you think someone you know would be interested in my newsletter please pass it along.

All of my books are now available at your favourite bookstores, support local bookstores with your online purchase.

Stay safe, stay well, stay strong and keep going.

Children's Books Festivals Reading

Newsletter 50

Post author By Paul Yanuziello
Post date August 7, 2020

Newsletter 50

Hello and welcome. My e-book promo continues this week, I hope you check out my book and some of the other great books that are included, books celebrating nature and the outdoors. This week I spent time exploring Yorkshire and the festival of Story. I take in some storytellers, listen to Annie Ross and more. Please join me for “5” things I found interesting this week and I want to share with you.

1. This week I am happy to report on a virtual storytellers festival that I am attending as an observer, the Yorkshire Festival of Story. Joanne Harris informed me and other members of her newsletter about it, she is the author in residence for this year’s festival. The festival normally runs for a weekend in August. This year, as a virtual festival it will run for the month of August.

2. At the festival mentioned above, I became fascinated by storytellers. Clare Murphy treated families to a story on the first day of the festival. The reading was at 6 am North America time, fortunately, the Crowdcast live videos can be seen later and are available for 24 hours. A wonderful example of her storytelling when a live show was, the thing, at a festival in 2016.

Impressed and inspired by Clare’s performance, I feel the need to be much more entertaining when I read my stories. Thank you Clare.

3. Annie Ross passed away on July 21st, I only became aware of her passing while listening to my Sunday morning jazz radio show Radio Deluxe with John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molaskey. I enjoyed Annie Ross’s singing, especially with Lambert, Hendricks and Ross. And her song “Twisted” made famous by Joni Mitchell, many actually think Joni wrote it. I spent my holiday Monday, (a civic holiday in Canada), listening and watching old T.V shows featuring Ms. Ross.

When the IAJE convention came to Toronto back in 2006 I attended and I met up with Jon Hendricks. He gave me a promotional copy of his new CD, L, H & R Redux, a band that included Hendricks, his daughter, Aria, and her childhood friend, Kevin Burke.

4. My basement library was hiding an old book, a rare and beautiful find. Published in 1912, Prattles For Boys and Girls, the inscription on the back cover, To Marguerite, From Aunt Ruth, Henry and Nora with Love. A birthday gift to my mother from her Aunt and Uncle?

A compilation of short stories, poems and historical narratives; some as short as a few lines and some are several pages long, all with illustrations. The book contains quite a number of beautiful colour illustrations from American artists such as Joseph Warren, Alice Beach Winter and Phoebe Pickering Jenks. Having been inspired by the storytellers at the Yorkshire Festival of Story, I am exploring the possibility of reading some of these strange old stories to children during these strange times.

5. My viewing pleasure this week included a fantastic glimpse into life on Okinawa;

Alive and kicking at 100 – The secrets of the Japanese

Okinawa is an island to the southwest of Kyushu, the southernmost island of Japan. A place that I remember with fondness I wrote about it shortly after my visit in 2002, Japan: Ancient Traditions… part 1.

Thanks for reading, if you think someone you know would like my newsletter please share it with them. If you’re looking for a great children’s book, check out my book, Samba on a Snowy Day.

Please consider a contribution to our next book project by buying me a coffee (in a ceramic mug), swing by Ko-fi.com. Every coffee helps out during these challenging times.

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Tags LH&R, Prattles, Storytellers