The first cold month, when all that matters is a good drink and good company and a good thing to talk about, is the right time to introduce a new (and yet, not at all new) parlour game to the city: the music salon. Though similar socio-intellectual gatherings undoubtedly took place the world over, this particular nomenclature – the salon – is historically associated with 17th and 18th century European intellectuals, who gathered to discuss art and literature and philosophy, often at the behest of salonnires, or female hosts.
The tradition of group ideation continues in things like TEDx and the nerdgasmic Red Bull Music Academy lecture series. The Polaris Record Salon, hosted by the national music prize, regularly hosts events and panels across the country. It’s also implied in music legend Brian Eno’s idea of ‘scenius:’ “the intelligence and the intuition of a whole cultural scene. It is the communal form of the concept of the genius.”
So it only made sense for local DJ and party-thrower Henri, better known as mymanhenri, to take his excellent instrumental DJ bookings (Flying Lotus, Ras G, Africa HiTech) one step further by introducing an equally experimental Q&A/discussion, #SayWrd. Housed in the Drake Hotel’s new A/V space, The Box, the inaugural edition of #SayWrd is this Wednesday and features producer Samiyam.
“The bug was really planted back in 2007 when I was hired for the Toronto edition of Red Bull Music Academy. I was left agape at what I was experiencing,” explains mymanhenri. “In 2009, Red Bull Canada called me to assist with the RBMA Tour, featuring a budding artist named Flying Lotus. We did nine dates across the country, and at each stop we had an RBMA-styled lecture, speaking about his career and (being a graduate of the) Academy. That year I began to work with the Drake Hotel after their programmer came to the Toronto stop and expressed interest in doing similar shows.”
The increasingly accessible RBMA lecture series (here’s THREE BLISSFUL HOURS with Erykah Badu) has resonated quite deeply with everyone from music nerds, to historians to casual listeners, and it’s something mymanhenri aims to recreate locally with #SayWrd. “During an RBMA lecture, someone might have heard DJ Premier talk about stealing records or that Steve Spacek really developed his sound after his partner Morgan bought an MPC,” he explains. “For a music person, these are priceless moments.”
Having spent four-and-a-half years booking some of the best DJs and producers in experimental, cerebral hip-hop and dance music, mymanhenri is confident #SayWrd will amass a healthy following—especially when linked to DJ gigs (Samiyam plays the Drake Underground later that evening). “Ultimately,” he adds, “I’d love to see this worked into programming during something like NXNE or CMW. The goal will also possibly be to take this online by either live-streaming or archiving lectures for later-viewing.” We’ll be tuned.
The very first #SayWrd Q&A featuring Samiyam will take place December 14, 6 p.m., at The Box at the Drake Hotel, followed by a DJ gig later that evening. If you’d prefer to argue about Canadian hip-hop, you can also check out the Polaris Hip-Hop Salon (disclaimer: this writer is on the panel) that same night, right next door in the Drake Hotel Lounge, 7:30 p.m.
