“Just a night out” at Alice Fazooli’s! Saturday night, January 14 really brought out a crowd. Primarily from the Canadian-born segment of Toronto’s Estonian community, they came to hear performers from their own age group. They could have filled the Great Hall of Esto House. They also came to enjoy each others’ company. So for me, the stars that came out at night were also the public. Looking past the glass of a good-for-the-heart Merlot which matched the price of admission, I spied long straight-blond, perky cherry-brown and sassy red. Correcting myself on my retro attitude toward women, I went to check out the musicians.

The four advertised acts were all there: Martin, Rosie and Tiina, Tale Wind featuring Diane, and D.A.T.E. The promo had been excellent: “shamanistic, effervescent, sizzling, classic, between the covers!” For Estos, the sequential shorts in the local paper and its website were also cleverly planned.

Martin Ahermaa’s mix of Brazilian and jazz on the classical guitar was an introductory act par excellence. I regretted the lack of program notes, but then I woke up to the fact that this was not a concert. It should have been. I visualized him in a quiet recital room where all the strings could be heard. Martin’s instrument has seven. The bass strings were hardly audible and the miking was not ideal. Nevertheless, his musical skill and jocular, oft whimsical stage manner make him an artist and entertainer to watch.

Rosemarie Lindau (vocals) and Tiina Kiik on the accordion reprised a part of their marvellous cabaret concert, Tango Naturno, of a year ago. We caught Rosie’s sense of humour in starting out her act with ,,Big Spender!” in honour of the high-rollers who had come to catch her act. Her classically-trained velvet mezzo on reserve most of the evening, she seduced us with chesty sensuous vocal charms, clean and clear, particularly on rejuvenated Edith Piaf material. The audience was not spared Rosie’s feast of fabulous factoids, especially about Jacques Brel’s girlfriend’s pet dog. Tiina’s accompaniment was sensitive but occasionally subdued due to her awareness of possible feed-back.

Tale Wind began with Peeter Kopvillem on vocals and lead guitar. The virtuosity in his chosen instrumental styles is riveting. The trio, complete with Ray Mang on bass and Raoul Langvee on drums, provided a tight, compact, well-balanced sound.

Tale Wind featured Diane Russell, who, from the moment she bounded on stage to join the band, showed what a phenomenon she is. While I’d heard comments about her Janis Joplinesque style, I saw her as a unique performer, highly visual and dynamic to the max. Strikingly beautiful, she exhibited a voice - including a well-worn, occasionally wobbly, vibrato - that was a ringing, growly demand to be heard. While Rosie communicates heart to heart, Diane does it gut to gut. The place went wild as she finished her act with Bobby McGee to end all Bobby McGees – at least for the millenium. The intensity carried over into the crowd until the room was rockin’.

Moving around to talk to the fascinating people from TO’s Esto village, I did not ingest all the music that followed. I listened to some comments about difficult access to better viewing and the stage being too low. That was all right with me. Having seen Rosie and Diane perform from front and centre, I was not intent on following the actions of the males onstage. I reflected with others on the great idea for the evening. Aware of at least one of the moving forces, I edged closer to the stage once more.

And there was D.A.T.E.! These were the guys between the covers. Only the covers had been blown off by the power of the sound. Three of the musicians, Don Paterson, Alex Brown and Martin Deemar seemed to be pounded forward by one of the most intense vocal drummers I remember seeing. This was Robert Vessmann - or Superman. (From the neck up, looked more like Lex Luthor, though.) Ripping into the skins and trumpeting into the mike, he was massive arms and shoulders in perpetual motion. One of the main shakers for the event, his presence reverberated even from the back of the band.

Oh, the food! As the new owner of a cat that’s fatter than moi, I was not inspired to order dinner before the show(s). Many of my friends and acquaintances, returning my gaze rather smugly, had booked early and looked very satisfied as I visited the dining area. The suave host for the evening, manager Tom Altosaar, did not hide his presence and made me feel welcome. My eventual homage to Fazooli’s chef was a late order of crab cakes which I intended to share. These turned out to be two huge, soft, rounded patties, exact replicas of my grandmother’s “kotletid”. My admiration of these almost brought tears to my eyes. (Ah! The chef must be Estonian.) I felt good sharing them as bite-sized canapés. In spite of the joking about the prices, the evening’s fare was a bargain.

Oh, the show! The evening can be summed up best by: Terrific!

This was a demo of what can be done with an idea - combining Esto musicians with other local professionals. Congratulations to the conceivers, planners, executors and all the stars!

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