Music Niagara Festival goes out with a 'pop' this week

Five straight evenings of shows at Ironwood Cider House close out Music Niagara Festival’s 26th season this week. 

Beginning Monday, August 12, the festival’s Pops Series presents everything from world music, jazz, Celtic fiddle songs, high-stepping dance, classical music with a twist, classic soul and pop to a little bit of humour.  

It kicks off with Music Niagara regulars Quartetto Gelato under the Music Niagara tent at Ironwood on Lakeshore Road in Niagara-on-the-Lake. 

Those familiar with the quartet from previous Music Niagara performances are in for a bit of a surprise this week. They’ll be accompanied by soprano Sarah Albu, a singer, composer and performance artist based in Montreal. 

Albu applies her background in theatre and an obsession with science fiction to bring a unique perspective to experimental music and 20th-century repertoire. She loves improvisation and has taken on everything from traditional Balkan village music and ancient sacred polyphony to film and game soundtracks, noise and psychedelic rock. 

Albu is sure to bring a new and interesting element to the always dazzling, humorous and entertaining performance by Colin Maier (oboe), Konstantin Popović (violin), Kirk Starkey (cello) and Matti Pukki (accordion).

The high-energy family act The Fitzgeralds bring their Celtic fiddle music and traditional step dancing prowess to the Ironwood tent Tuesday. Tom, Kerry and Julie Fitzgerald, along with guitarist Alanna Jenish, are veterans of national and provincial fiddle and step-dancing competitions.  

Hailing from the Ottawa Valley, they bring a rare combination of exceptional musicianship, incomparable step dancing, audience interaction and an evident love of performing wrapped up in an engaging, genuine sibling connection.

It’s world music on Wednesday, August 14 with Los Variants, who wowed a Music Niagara audience at St. Mark’s Anglican Church last August with their mix of Afrofunk, reggae, jazz, blues, Caribbean, Flamenco and Middle Eastern music.

Led by drummer Vince Maccarone, the band’s lineup varies from show to show, featuring musicians and vocalists from Algeria, Sicily, El Salvador, Peru and Egypt. If you were there last summer you will certainly remember the talents of Fethi Nadjem on violin and Maryem Hassan Tollar on vocals. Both will return with Maccarone to NOTL on Wednesday, along with guitarist Michael Occhipinti, bassist Ryan Spratt and percussionist Lucho Orbigoso. 

The final two evenings feature the trio of Luke McMaster, Kevin Pauls and Joel Parisien. 

McMaster last appeared for a Music Niagara show in 2021 while COVID restrictions still prohibited large gatherings. He and his band played his Icons of Soul set in July in front of a small crowd under a tent at Chateau des Charmes Winery. The show was recorded by Niagara College’s Broadcasting program for an in-home concert series that aired that August and can be seen on YouTube. 

The Icons of Soul show returns Thursday to Ironwood, but with the addition of Pauls and Parisien as band members and vocalists. 

“With that show, we honour (songwriter) Lamont Dozier, who’s kind of an unsung hero of Motown,” says McMaster. “He was an amazing person, and I’m so thankful I got to spend time with him. The last song he ever wrote is My Life is a Song, which we wrote together. We also do a medley of Supremes songs and one from the Four Tops and other acts he worked with.”

Near the end of that Thursday program, McMaster promises a tease of Friday’s Rogers, Richie and Robinson performance. That’s where Pauls and Parisien step more to the forefront as members of The Undercovers, who will release an album of Smokey Robinson, Lionel Richie and Kenny Rogers songs this fall.

McMaster’s 2020 album Songs of Smokey was a collection of 12 numbers made famous by Robinson, including The Tears of a Clown, The Tracks of My Tears and Ooo Baby Baby. The latter song is what got McMaster noticed by the 1987 inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

“Meeting Smokey has always been on my bucket list,” McMaster says. “A friend of his heard my sped-up version of Ooo Baby Baby and played it for him while golfing. He had someone email me, and then he called me. He invited me to Palm Springs to golf with him.”

McMaster was just a casual golfer, but he stretched the truth somewhat and told the legendary singer that yes, he loved golfing. He quickly bought a new set of golf clubs and took lessons. Three months later he joined Smokey on the links, took in Robinson’s show in Palm Springs and got to spend some time backstage with him.

“He told me he had never heard a version of that song he liked until he heard mine,” says an incredulous McMaster. “It affirmed my decision to become a singer.”

The idea of the McMaster, Pauls and Parisien teaming up as The Undercovers had already begun to form before that trip, so the Stoney Creek, Ontario resident told Robinson about it. 

“He told me that Kenny Rogers and he golfed together all the time,” says the 49-year-old. “He talked a bit about how much he and Lionel appreciated what Kenny did, too. His words infused the show with a level of authenticity that it never would have had. It felt like we had been given permission to go through with it.”

McMaster takes on the bulk of the Smokey songs during the show, while Pauls sings lead on most of the Kenny Rogers numbers. But McMaster steps in for a duet with Selina Evangeline on Rogers’ Islands in the Stream. Likewise, Parisien does Robinson’s Shop Around while handling most of the Lionel Richie songs. 

“We don’t try to do the songs exactly as they were originally done,” McMaster asserts. “But it all flows so easily. Those three are so connected. It makes for such a beautiful set that it actually surprised us a bit.”

McMaster considers it an honour to close out the 21-show Music Niagara Festival season with his two performances. 

“It’s really cool that we can set up everything for the first show, and just show up and play the second night,” he says. “And anything that gets me to Niagara-on-the-Lake, I’m into doing.”

Food from Ruffino’s Pasta Bar and Grill will be available for purchase on-site. For Information and tickets for all five concerts, visit musicniagara.org.

Music Niagara Festival Pops Series
All shows $40 at the tent at Ironwood Cider, 7 p.m.
Tickets available online for each show up to 5 p.m. the previous day,
available at the door on the day of the show
Monday, August 12 - Guartetto Gelato with Sarah Albu
Tuesday, August 13 - The Fitzgeralds
Wednesday, August 14 - Los Variants
Thursday, August 15 - Luke McMaster - Icons of Soul
Friday, August 15 - McMaster, Pauls and Parisien as Rogers, Richie and Robinson