Our friends over at Toronto's Harbourfront Centre have put together an exciting lineup of musical talent for Canada Day, including a reunion performance of Canadian funk band Crack of Dawn.
Riley Wallace, social media specialist at Harbourfront, writes on the centre's blog:
Meet Rupert “Ojiji” Harvey and Alvin Jones. They represent two members of the Canadian r&b/funk outfit Crack of Dawn. In 1975 they became the first Canadian black band to ever sign with a major label, after inking a deal with Columbia records. Columbia released one LP and four singles including the Chuck Jackson written “It’s Alright” which went to No.42 nationally in the spring of 1976. A cool side story that Alvin noted off camera: “The cover of our album was very expensive for those days. They [Columbia] paid for a jet to go up in the sky and take a photo of the sunrise. It’s one of the more expensive album covers produced”.
CBC Radio's Garvia Bailey spoke with the band about their experiences touring Canada as black musicians.
Listen
Listen to Rupert Harvey talking about his encounter with a farmer in the Prairies.
The full interview can be heard on Saturday's edition of Big City, Small World, and the interview will be posted here.
The full interview from Harbourfront is below:
If you are in Toronto, you can check out Crack of Dawn performing on Sunday, July 1, at 2 p.m.
Related:
My Canada Day playlist: Marcus Mosely of the Sojourners
My Canada Day playlist: Ewan Currie of the Sheepdogs
Airplane Boys take off at Harbourfront Centre
posted by
Jeanette Cabral
on Jun 29, 2012