Ayah was the second act of the day, following Gentleman Reg, and she arrived with her collaborator and producer, Slakah the Beatchild. The two of them have been collaborating for years and have a creative chemistry that was evident as soon as they boarded the streetcar. While we were mic’ing them up, they broke into a new jam they’d come up with on the drive to our pickup location. We managed to capture a few minutes of this, and hopefully we’ll post it soon as a ‘behind-the-scenes’ piece.

We decided to mix up the route a bit for Ayah’s performance and Frank, our driver, suggested we head down to Toronto’s waterfront and through the Union Station Loop. A great suggestion! You’ll see how different the atmosphere of the car looks as we rolled through the underground tunnel loop. None of us had ever been through this turnaround before and it was a cool experience. Listening to Ayah’s incredible voice, accompanied by the jazz-infused chording of Slakah’s guitar, it felt like we were ‘out of time and space’. 

Of course, the charm of the old streetcars comes with a price; but the rattle and hum (to put it mildly and nod to an old album title at the same time) didn't faze Ayah at all. She's obviously a supreme talent and we know you'll be seeing and hearing alot more from her in the future. -- cb