I was on a mission to see just how un-jazz I could make my jazz festival experience this year, so I hauled ass to The Mod Club (722 College) on Wednesday night to see turntablist extraordinaire RJD2 (aka Philadelphia’s Ramble John “RJ” Krohn).

Sadly, when I got there, the gentleman checking names at the door informed me that there were to be absolutely no photos of RJ himself. In order to get my camera in, I had to swear on a stack of vintage funk and R&B vinyl (and all else that is sacred) that I’d comply. Not wanting to violate any personal beliefs about soul theft, I contented myself with digging the tunes and shooting the openers.

TO’s DJ T-Lo kicked it off with a 2-table set mixing up a lot of deeply funky hip hop records (lots of Tribe in the mix). Cool grooves, very laid back.

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Dr. John and The Wild Magnolias bring N’awlins to TO

Last night at Nathan Phillips Square, the 22nd annual Toronto Jazz Festival officially kicked off with a wild night of music and dance from New Orleans.

For me, June has been a month of opening bands that are hard to follow, but I think The Wild Magnolias might be one of the biggest spectacles I have ever seen. When you get three guys across the front of the stage dressed up in full Mardi Gras Indian costumes, it would still be a great show if the band didn’t even play a note.

This New Orleans combo is wickedly talented, though, and they burned down a funky bunch of N’awlins standards like “Iko Iko” and “Big Chief” that had the arguably older, more reserved Toronto crowd on their feet and dancing in the aisles for most of the set.

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Featuring: Grace Emilys, Mistress, Dance Yourself to Death, Grand Analog, Foxfire, Run with the Kittens, This is Radio Freedom and The Worst Pop Band Ever.

I kicked off Saturday night in Kensington (I really hate driver-side parallel parking, by the way) so I could check out one of the festival’s few representatives from the land of haggis. Good thing I did, too, because Dundee’s Grace Emilys came a long way to play a great set to a relatively sparse crowd (much like the first Toronto show by The Police), and years from now I’ll have the photographs to prove that I was there (assuming of course they catch on the way that other band did).

The cool thing about Grace Emilys is that the three guys out front switch up the lead vocal duties, often mid-song. They delivered some nice, tight and concise songs, including one of my new personal faves, “Falling Up the Stairs” (B-side of their debut single) - nice choice for a set closer.

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Featuring: Hugh Cornwell (ex of the Stranglers), Priya Thomas with special guest Lindy Vopnfjord of Major Maker, and The Travelling Band

I haven’t seen rain like that in ages. I needed a paddle to get across Dundas. Luckily, the Dakota (249 Ossington) has Maudite on tap, which made me much happier (definitely calmed my nerves), although I was a little sad I had no designated driver (damn responsibilities).

Fortunately, punk rock elder statesman Hugh Cornwell was in the house with his acoustic guitar. Whipping though a short set of newer solo material mixed with Stranglers gems, his longtime loyal fans were treated to tunes going all the way back to 1977’s Rattus Norvegicus. The crowd did a commendable job singing along to “Hanging Around,” and I was saved the bother of having to shout out a request when he graced us all with “Golden Brown.”

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Featuring: The Books Elusive, Stand, Mad Staring Eyes, Monotonix, Jennifer Foster, Stop Theif and People in Planes

I decided to kick off NXNE 2008 by going to the Big Bop (651 Queen West @ Bathurst) so I could bounce between Holy Joe’s and Reverb to take in as much as I could.

I showed up just in time to catch the first song by Toronto’s The Books Elusive upstairs at Holy Joe’s. This high energy duo proved to be lots of fun. With Lynne Dubuc on vocals and guitar and Damon de Szegheo on drums and vocals, my first thoughts were of a gender reversed White Stripes, though that’s probably oversimplifying things.

To sum them up in just one word, I’d call them proto-minimalist. de Szegheo absolutely pummeled his kit, which is always a lot of fun to see. He switched to mallets to add a gentler touch for one number, but it wasn’t long before the rubber tips came flying off.

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If you’re passionate about music, as I am, you tend to view time spent listening to a band as a sort of bizarre relationship, whether it be a casual flirtation or a full blown romance. Just so long as it doesn’t turn into a case of stalking, all is fair.

I’ve been following R.E.M. for over two decades now, since the night I stumbled upon their first appearance on Late Night with David Letterman (when they played “South Central Rain (I’m Sorry)” before it even had a name). From that day on, I was hooked, slavishly devoted to the Georgian quartet’s effortless melodies and Peter Buck’s chiming, Byrd-ish guitar textures.

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If I have nothing else to say, it is this: Man Man puts on one mother of a live show. Don’t miss it if you get the chance.

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The Emerald Isle has given us many great bands - U2, the Pogues, Stiff Little Fingers, Planxty - but sadly, Bell X1 is not one of them. Although the band was enthusiastically received by the crowd at the el Mocambo last night for their first ever gig in Canada, their flat, paint-by-numbers performance killed any need I might have had to see them again.

For me, the highlight of the night was David Ford’s opening set, which he kicked off in fine form with “Go to Hell,” the opening track from his most recent album Songs for the Road. The wandering Englishman utilized his box of toys to full effect on this tune, spontaneously recording one part, looping it, then overdubbing another until he had created a multi-layered mini-symphony to accompany his impassioned vocal delivery.

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For the last big night of Canadian Music Week, I hauled ass to the Royal York for the 8th Annual Independent Music Awards, a celebration of the spirit of independent music in Canada.

Yes, awards were handed out in every category from Favourite Metal Artist (3 Inches of Blood) to Favourite Children’s Artist (The Smudge Fundaes), and there was lots of conjecture in the press pool about what it might sound like if those two acts collaborated on a few tunes.

But the real reason for me to be there was the performers, many of whom had played earlier in the week while I was taking in other artists.

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For my third night of Canadian Music Week, I decided to finally find out for myself what Hawksley Workman is all about. For years, many people have told me about his amazing talents, but I’ve never had a chance to check him out for myself, so this year I decided to change all that.

For the most part, the rumours are true: Workman is an amazingly talented singer/multi-instrumentalist, and he’s surrounded himself with a diversely talented band (the inventive violin/mandolin/guitarist was especially impressive) with which to tour his sixth album, Between the Beautifuls. You’d think that with all this incredible talent under one roof I’d have my socks rocked off, but after two and a half hours of watching these performers showing off I was surprised to find myself bored silly.

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