Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

 J ay Douglas Movie Turns Up the Volume at the Royal Theatre for One Night Only By Stephen Weir It is only fitting that the city of Toronto is getting a sneak preview of a documentary about one of its favorite sons—Jay Douglas. Play It Loud! – How Toronto Got Soul is coming to The Royal Theatre with a special advance 6:30 p.m. screening on October 23. Given his long history performing in Toronto, perhaps this new movie, made for television, should be called Play it Long and Loud because the Jamaican-Canadian performer has been taking the stage since the late 1960s. He’s still very much a part of the reggae scene, having performed a major concert in late August at the CNE. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Toronto's Caribbean, Jamaican, and reggae music scene was almost unrivalled in North America in terms of quality and talent. Jay Douglas, the lead singer of The Cougars and one of the biggest and brightest stars of that era, is the subject of this new TVO Original documentary...

  The Queen of Soca Reigns At Harbourfront this weekend By Stephen Weir The Queen of Soca, Destra, is coming to Toronto next week to perform. Don’t look for her on the Lakeshore or at any Carnival events (unless she makes a surprise appearance or two); the Trinidadian singer will be on stage, outdoors at Harbourfront on August 2nd. The Harbourfront Centre will once again host its annual Island Soul event from Aug. 1-5 to showcase all things Caribbean. The extended long-weekend event includes epic evening performances from the queen of Soca, Destra, with DJ Power; dancehall and reggae hits with the legendary Johnny Osbourne; and a night of hilarious laughs with one of North America’s best stand-up comedians, Trixx. New to the mix is the rave-style party Paradise Soul, a day party featuring choice MCs and DJs bringing vibes and spinning tunes from afternoon into the night. Island Soul Lineup: Comedy Night with Trixx and Friends - Aug. 1 at 8pm, tickets starting at $30 North America...

Caribbean stars win big at JUNOs By Stephen Weir A long anticipated and much delayed award ceremony took place on line over the past week. The JUNOS, which honour Canada’s best recording artists, were originally scheduled to be given out on stage in Saskatoon in mid-March but were cancelled because of the Virus lockdown.  On Monday evening the 42 JUNO Awards were presented online. The big winners were  singer-songwriter Alessia Cara (3 awards) and Sean Mendes (Single of the Year Award). For the second year in a row, nine-time JUNO Award winner Avril Lavigne won for JUNO Fan Choice Three Caribbean Canadian performers from the GTA were nominated for Junos in the categories of Reggae, R&B /Soul Recording and Rap. Brampton’s Daystar Peterson (aka Tory Lanez) Tory Lanez maintained his reign of the Rap Recording of the Year category, marking his third consecutive win, as well as being the first artist to win in both the Rap Recording and R...

Jay Douglas and Jamaica's  DJ General Trees drop a big one! Toronto’s all-time favourite reggae performer Jay Douglas has a new song out and a new “album” in the works. Still going strong after 45-years of performing, the Toronto singer has just “dropped” Jah Children, a single he has recorded with Jamaica’s Dancehall DJ General Trees. Saying that Douglas is part of Toronto’s reggae scene, is unfair to the singer.  Better to say he started the reggae scene in the Six back in the late sixties with the group The Cougars and continues to be the big draw for the sound. While the Yorkville and Yonge Street scenes have long since disappeared, Douglas continues to soldier on. You have probably seen him on stage at Caribana and Carnival concerts, headlining at the CNE, on TV as he accepted his Junos, and performing at some of the GTA’s most popular watering holes. “ We have never stopped,” Jay Douglas told the Caribbean Camera. “I started as a kid in Montego Bay in the early ...