Artist description Jazz from the streets of Toronto!

Music Style Jazz

Musical Influences Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Bill Evans, Jaco Pastorius, Cannonball Adderley, Pat LaBarbera, Brian Dickinson, Pat Metheny, Ray Brown, Benny Green, Joe Henderson, Sting, Wynton Kelly, Kenny Wheeler, Dave Holland, Wayne Krantz, Frank Zappa, Wayne Shorter, McCoy Tyner, Keith Jarrett, Charlie Haden, Gene Harris, Shelly Berger, Kenny Werner, Jack DeJohnette, Charlie Parker, Thelonius Monk

Artist History This band originally began as a jazz trio with Justyn Snikkar on bass, Dave Olsen on piano and Dan McGovern on drums. Justyn and Dan were old friends from Gravenhurst, Ontario and they met Dave at Humber College, where they were all students in the Music program. They named the group Red Light District and the band made its living by busking on the streets of Toronto. Their main busking location was on the John St. Bridge to the SkyDome, where RLD would perform before and after every Blue Jays baseball home game. The group started performing there in the spring of '92, which turned out to be an exciting year to be down at the Dome since the Blue Jays ended up winning their first-ever World Series. Needless to say, the crowds going to the games were pumped and the music of RLD became part of that whole energy. Up to 50,000 fans per game would pass by the band on their way to the game and many stopped to listen and drop some money in the bucket to show their appreciation for the music. When the Blue Jays were out of town, the trio would perform daily, rain or shine, at the corner of Yonge & Bloor for the workers and the shoppers. During the summer of '92, Red Light District began performing every Saturday night at the Elephant & Castle pub in the Eaton Centre. For these shows, the band became a quartet with the addition of alto saxophonist Gus Miragias, who was also in the Music program at Humber. RLD ended up playing there every week for over a year and a half. RLD continued to busk at the Dome for the '93 baseball season, but with a different drummer. Dan left the group to spend his summer in his hometown in Muskoka and passed the drum stool to Craig Lapsley, another student from Humber. The Blue Jays made it to the post season yet again and RLD was out in the cool autumn air, playing for the fans. RLD ended up having their most lucrative busking night ever the night Joe Carter hit the 4-run homer to give the Jays their second World Series title. During the summer of '93, RLD went into the studio to record 8 of their original compositions. These were tunes that they played regularily while busking on the street and performing at the Elephant & Castle. Gus Miragias joined them for this session as well as vocalist Lorraine Lawson, another friend from the Humber music program, who sang on Dave's ballad entitled Hourglass. The band, in this form, eventually came to an end after they graduated from Humber and went their separate musical and geographical directions. Justyn continues to lead different incarnations of Red Light District and their music can be heard at www.mp3.com/RedLightDistrikt. Dave started a group to perform his original compositions called Just Think and their music can be heard at www.mp3.com/JustThink. Craig has been busy playing and teaching in the Hamilton area and has toured extensively with the Space Invaders, the Travoltas, King Apparatus and White Cowbell Okalahoma. Gus continued his music studies at the New England Conservatory in Boston, earning a Masters degree. He stayed in Boston after graduation and continues to play and teach music there. Lorraine recorded an album of original pop songs called 'If I Could', which recieved extensive radio and video play in Canada. She subsequently recorded an album of jazz and latin standards called 'Quiet Nights and Quiet Stars' and both the pop and jazz material can be heard at www.mp3.com/LorraineLawson. The recording that Red Light District made back in the summer of '93 is now up on here Mp3.com under the name Coolface, which is a title of an original composition that the group used to play. The song got its name from one of many strange busking experiences in which a guy, who was obviously high on something, came up to the band while they were performing at the Dome and proceeded to describe to them how his face "felt cool man!!"

Group Members Justyn Snikkar -bass / Dave Olsen -piano / Craig Lapsley -drums / Gus Miragias -alto sax / Lorraine Lawson -vocals

Instruments

Location Toronto, Ontario - Canada

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