Posts Tagged ‘musicians’

City of Music on Dundas West

Posted: June 20, 2019 in graffiti and street art
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On the east side of 1533 Dundas West there is a large mural, partially obscured by trees but easily visible from the street. It was painted last year by Jieun June Kim, Pablo West and Giovanni Zamora as part of a cultural exchange between (Toronto) Canada and (Valparaiso) Chile.

large mural on the side of a building beside green space, with a couple of trees in front

It can also be seen at the new Dundas West Museum. This is an open air museum that features the murals and street art in the area  bounded by Lansdowne Avenue on the west, College Street on the north, Bathurst Street on the east and the Union Pearson Express railway tracks on the south.  They are brand new – their official launch was just this past week.   Check their website for more information about the murals and the artists who created them.

part of a mural by Jieun June Kim, Pablo West, and Giovanni Zamora, a male guitar player, with large brim hat, on background made of multicoloured cubes on point

part of a mural, two women musicians, a trumpet player and a violin player

violin player in mural along with woman playing a drum with her eys closed and head bent forward

elicser paints people (again)

Posted: October 18, 2017 in alleys, graffiti and street art
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As part of a larger mural project in David French and Barbara Barrett Lanes (near Bloor and Bathurst), elicser has painted another mural with more of the kinds of people that he is known for painting. Every day people doing every day things – with some emphasis on musicians and the people who listen to them.

For this post I’ve combined photos that were taken back in mid-September on the weekend that the ‘Wall Expressions’ project was started with those that I took a few weeks later.  ‘Wall Expressions’ was a StreetARToronto project to paint/repaint garages in David French Lane.

below: Elicser works on a face

street artist, elicser elliott, up on a lift as he spray paints the outlines of a man's head as part of large mural that he is working on.

below: The finished face.

mural, part of, by elicser, people sitting outside, a young child with red hair sits on the grass, her mother behind her. A black man sits on a wooden seat, a cassette player on his lap

below: More of the mural in progress.

view of most of a long horizontal mural on the side of a building in an alley, by elicser, who is in the picture, painting, mural is of people doing various things.

part of a partially completed mural, two girls sitting at a table and talking, one with brown skin and long black hair, one with short red hair, a glass of water in one hand

partially finished man with green sweater, grey hair, elbows on table

finished section of a mural, with man with grey hair sitting with elbows on a table,

elicser works on painting a mural, in the foreground is a large painted guitar player with a red uitar, painted behind a metal fire escape staircase

part of a mural by elicser of people - 4 people, a woman overlooks them, a small black man on a cello and a man with beard and glasses on a white guitar.

part of a mural by elicser of people - a woman is sitting on a stool and playing a guitar, a man in a red and black checked shirt

below: The complete mural

mural by elicser of people - whole mural, completed, on Barbara Barrett Lane, musicians and the people listening to them as they sit at tables

paper people

Posted: August 14, 2017 in graffiti and street art
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Over the past few weeks I’ve seen a number of new pasteups of people – or at least they are new to me.  The first three are ones that I spotted in Graffiti Alley yesterday.   I am not sure if they are portraits of actual people.  You can see more of her work here on instagram.

poster street art of a black woman's head and shoulders. She is wearing a head scarf that is striped fabric wound round her head. The words on the poster say Diversity is Hope

poster street art of a black woman's head and shoulders, 3/4 angle. She is wearing a head scarf that is patterned fabric wound round her head. The words on the poster say Diversity is Hope

poster street art of a black woman's head and shoulders, 3/4 angle. She is wearing dreadlocks. The words on the poster say Diversity is Hope

The other series of portraits that I have seen are of musicians.  I do not know who the artist is.

below: Woody Guthrie with his fascist killing guitar.  He is on Queen West near Graffiti Alley.

black and white paste up of Woody Guthrie standing, holding onto his guitar that has the words This machine kills fascists, written on it.

below: Gord Downie outside number 28.  He is near Ossington and Dundas.

a black and white image of Gord Downie from Barenaked Ladies group, wearing his hat, outside a blue door at number 28

below: Joni Mitchell is also on Queen West.

a black and white pasteup of Joni Mitchell playing her guitar and singing

below: A younger Leonard Cohen

a black and white pasteup of an image of a male guitar player, young man, on a grey wall

The last person is just someone weird pasted onto a door.  I don’t think that he’s anyone in particular.   He seems to have a beard and a high collar but I could be wrong!

street art paste up of a man's head and shoulders, ugly, long beard, high collar, striped shirt

The next time you’re walking around downtown you can try people watching too!

 

 

music and dancing in the street

Posted: July 28, 2017 in events, people
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shoes of a man who is moving as he sings, street and sidewalk in the photo

Beaches Streetfest 2017
Pictures from last evening’s fun.

below: Spock was there too.

a man dressed as Dr. Spock from Star Trek hugs a musician at an outdoor music festival

below: Old Man Flanagan’s Ghost plays their Irish and Scottish music outside The Stone Lion.

the band, old man flanagan's ghost plays on a street corner, a bass player, a guitar player, and two fiddlers,

two musicians with lights on them, from the back, with the crowd standing on the street in front of them, one woman dancing

a singer with his arm up in the air, a woman across from him also pointing upwards

below: A saxophone player from The Achromatics shows off her style.

a woman in a red skirt plays the saxophone on the street, a part of the Achromatics, a music group, a man on keyboards stands in the background

below: Johnny Max Band

singer Johnny Max sings at a street festival, blue fedora, purple check shirt, a man in the background with a 416 Toronto T-shirt on

below: Dancing to the music.

a couple dances on the street, attending a music street festival, some people look on.

below:  Someone wants to play along.

a little girl runs towards a temporary stage set up on the sidewalk, she is pointing to it. The musicians have moved forward and are playing closer to the crowd

below: Jenie Thai

a woman in sunglasses and teal dress plays the keyboards. A man with a small beard is playing the guitar beside her, a red wall with text street art is behind them.

below: Shooting bubbles. These bubble makers were being sold at the festival so there were lots of bubbles all over the place.

kids playing with plastic bubble shooters in a crowd on the street.

below: Guitarist Neil Chapman from the Zedheads in a rare moment when he lifted his while playing the guitar.

guitarist, neil chapman, playing outside.

below: Another Zedhead member

bearded man with sunglasses and black basebell cap sits at a drum set. Hhis baseball cap says Zedhead on it.

below: A window seat behind the stage

a woman is seated in a restaurant by the window that is open, she is looking out and watching a group of musicians perform, there is a man on a drum set as well as another man.

a young boy in a large yellow T-shirt is watching musicians outdoors.

below: Queen Street as the sun went down.

evening, darkening sky, many people on the street at a street festival, most people are facing away from the camera except one woman in front who is looking straight ahead. Musicians playing on the right, standing in front of stores

below: Excitement!

three young girls watch an evening outdoor music performance by a band of 6 musicians on a street corner

below: Under the red lights.

a youngblack man in sunglasses and black hat sits at a keyboard with mircophone in front of him, evening, some red lights are shining on him. outside.

back of a girls head, long hair tied in a ponytail, outside, in the evening, as she watches a music performance with a small crowd of people

people, part of a larger crowd watching a street performance, one woman has a bright orange mohawk hairdo.

The festival continues all weekend (July 28, 29 and 30)

#beachesjazz | #beachesstreetfest

When Irish feet were dancing

Posted: March 20, 2017 in events, people
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legs and feet of girls in frilly green tutus as they dance in a parade

St. Patricks Day Parade, 19 March 2017

bagpipe player wearing a green hat for St. Patricks day

Watching floats, bands, banners, flags, leprechauns, bagpipes, drums, dancers, hurlers, soccer players, dragons, shamrocks, leprechauns, crazy hats, green hats, green everything, but most of all, people.

woman holding a metal flag pole, she's wearing big shamrock shaped glasses

feet and legs of two girls dancing on a float in a parade

a woman in a green cowboy hat with a green fringe, a green shamrock sticker on her cheek and wearing a green, orange and white scarf

a retired fireman with a green tam, moustanche and a big green bowtie

st. patricks day parade, man wearing a costume that makes it look like a large leprechaun is grabbing him around the knees

a man holds one end of a white banner that says County Kildare, St. Patricks Day parade

boys running a parade. one is wearing an orange body suit that also covers his face, also green tshirt and white shorts and green bowler.

a flute player in a blue uniform plays and walks in a parade. Other musicians in the background

two women with little green hats perched on their heads watch the St. Patricks Day parade

Ramses shriners band marches and plays in the St. Patrick Day parade. Red trousers, black jackets, large green shamrocks decorating their drums

a man playing the bagpipes in a St. Patricks day parade. he's wearing an oversized green and white striped hat with a band of shamrocks on it. Also wearing a big green bowtie

a middle aged woman in a fireman's jacket sits on a float in a parade (firetruck?) whe is holding a small teddy bear with a green sweater and a young girl is with her

a man is walking a dog in a parade. the dog is wearing a grewen hat for St. Patricks day

a group of adults and youth from Scouts Canada walk in the St. Patricks day parade, carrying lots of Canadian flags

a girl wearing green sunglasses and a scout uniform

a man stands on a sidewalk along with other people. he is dressed a costume that is a green beer bottle, his head is the neck of the bottle

adults and kids sitting on the sidewalk watch drummers go past in a parade. girl with big green bowtie and boy with long green tie and green bowler hat

three boys among a crowd of onlookers at a parade. The boy in the middle is wearing green and dancing as he watches

five kids sitting on a float in the St. Patricks day parade

liuna union members walk in the St Patricks day parade in Toronto

a young girl with a liuna union jacket on walks in a parade. she is wearing beer bottle shaped glasses

St. Patrick in the parade, talking to spectators on the sidewalk

a woman with a big smile and wearing purple gloves is holding up a white banner in a parade

a father and daughter have seats on the sidewalk as they watch a parade go by

two old yellow police cars in the St. Patricks day parade

chinese dragon, with two people inside it working it, walking down the street in a parade with spectators standing on the sidewalk

people standing and sitting on a small outdoor patio, on the sidewalk, watching the St. Patricks day parade go past. The bar is the Smiling Cow.

an older man in green Irish tophat and green coat and green bowtie

a man is dressed in an elvis costume, he's silver Elvis - skin all with silver makeup, holding a guitar

two boys wearing hats and oversized green ties watch a band march past in the St. Patricks day parade, bag piper in the very foreground.

a man and his two kids watch a parade. They are wearing big green and white hats

a woman cheers as she watches a parade from the sidewalk. Her partner is standing beside her

from the back, not much of his face is visible, a man wearing a green wig and a green tam with a pom pom on top

Kathleen Wynne, premier of Ontario, talks to a policeman and another man outside, before the start of a parade

 

near Dundas and Dufferin streets

Posted: August 14, 2015 in graffiti and street art
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A few things seen while walking Dundas West (and the alleys behind it) near Dufferin Street.

below:  Dundas Street West, looking east from Dufferin Street, March 2015

view of Dundas St. West, looking eastward towards downtown from the intersection with Dufferin St.

below: At the corner of Sheridan Ave and Dundas West.

building on the corner of Sheridan and Dundas is a two storey brick building. On the whole of the side wall is a large Dundas West mural featuring a large butterfly painted on it.

a Jarus street art painting of a woman sleeping on a bed. She has long black hair and is wearing white clothes

On a wall that has been painted a couple of shades of red is a painting of a green head with a green and red striped head dress on

sign on the door of a store that says Solicitors will be fed to the chihuahua, with a picture of a little chihuahua dog below the words

large colourful mural on the side of building, two stylized musicians, a drummer and a guitar player as well as two people dancing.

large mural of stylized people, 2 people, a drummer and a dancer

garage door with three black line drawn foxes, there is a construction site to the right of the garage
A brown car is parked in a driveway beside a door with a yellow man's face painted on the bottom half of the door. He's bald, little round ears and his eyes are closed.
blue door with faded paint and a metal grille in front of it, beside a garage door with graffiti on it including the words Idle no more. Upper storey has an exterior door that goes nowhere

garage door with a picture on it titled Casa Nostra, a picture of a man playing a large guitar and a woman standing beside an outdoor table with food on it.

black and white street art on a garage door that is partially obscured by trash bins and wooden structure. The art is geometric shapes and includes the words Kick out the Jams

mural behind a small tree on a red brick wall, spiral of DNA, medical symbols, butterfly

black stencil of a man's head on a white brick wall

Streetfest on the Beach, 2015

Posted: July 25, 2015 in events, people
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The annual Streetfest on the Beach,
on Queen St. East between Woodbine and Beech,
23rd, 24th, and 25th July

A young Asian boy is on his mother's shoulders. He is looking back. He is wearing a greyhat with a red band, as well as a tie.

A crowd is on Queen St in Toronto as they have come to listen to live music as part of streetfest at the beach, intersection with Glen Manor Road

looking east, Friday evening

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Three brass players performing outside. Two men on saxophones and a woman playing a trumpet

A couple sitting a bench laughing. They were taking a selfie when they noticed 4 photographers taking their picture. She is embarrassed and is covering her face, he is laughing.

young black man, drummer, laughing as he plays the drums

Isaiah Gibbons, drummer, Saishubi

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a group of older people dancing to the music on the street at a street music festival

blog_streetfest_dancers

three musicians performing outside. Two women singers and one male singer

the Arsenals

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young man in dreadlocks and a yellow Tshirt waiting to perform at a music festival

A black woman with shoulder length curly hair and a bright pink top is singing into a microphone. A woman in green is watching her

Mae, singer in Grace, Toronto’s all female funk & soul band

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A woman's back is to the camera as she watches live music outside. Her black hair is tied in a short ponytail, she is wearing a white hat and a white sundress. She has a large tattoo on one shoulder blade.

two young boys sitting on the sidewalk watching a drummer play in a band in a street music festival performance

A young boy looks longinly at his sister who is drinking coconut water from a coconut with a straw. He is trying to reach his own straw

man playing the guitar outdoors at a street music festival

Paul James band

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A man is squatting on the sidewalk with two girls on his knee. Both girls have balloons. They are part of a crowd watching a band perform in a street music festival

saxophone player playing in front of many microphones at an outdoor music festival

saxophone, Blue Room

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lead singer for Blue Room, grey hair and beard, Hawaiian shirt, black hat, singing at streetfest at the beach

Brian Neller, lead singer, Blue Room

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A man has his arm around a woman's back and her hand is on his shoulder as they watch a musical performance outside along with a number of other people

Dr. Draw playing his violin in front of a crowd, outdoor street music festival

Dr. Draw

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Dr. Draw and his backup guitar player, streetfest at the beach,

keyboard player in Conor Gains band playing at Streetfest at the Beach, Queen St. in Toronto in July, summer evening

Conor Gains Band

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A man is buying food from a food truck

 

behind Honest Eds

Posted: January 4, 2015 in graffiti and street art, landmarks, locations
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Honest Eds, a Toronto icon, at the corner of Bathurst and Bloor since 1948

Standing on Bloor street looking south through the alley beside Honest Eds store. There is a glass covered walkway between the buildings on either side of the alley. On the side of the wwalkway is a sign that syas 'Honest Ed Alley'. The alley leads to a parking lot.

Looking south from Bloor Street towards the parking lot behind Honest Eds.

There are a few murals on the buildings that back onto the parking lot.

mural on a two storey light grey brick building showing musicians.

Trumpet players on the back of the Victory Cafe at the corner of  Markham and Lennox Streets

large mural of a woman with boxing gloves on. Beside her is a picture of a large dog's face.

Woman with boxing gloves has been on the back of Trainers Fitness for a few years.  The newer dog is painted on the back of A Leg Up Pet Services. 

The back of two buildings with a narrow passageway between the two. Both are two storeys high. The one on the left is painted light purple and has the words Southern Accent written in yellow letters. The one on the right is a mural of a man paddling a canoe down a tropical river, with a monkey and a parrot also in the picture.

Purple behind Southern Accent restaurant and a mural painted by Christie Ossington Neighbourhood Centre through their LOFT program.