Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Ron Davis: Toronto Mike'd #539

Episode Date: November 7, 2019

Mike chats with pianist and composer Ron Davis about SymphRONica, his career in jazz, the other side of his professional life and how they're connected.

Welcome to episode 539 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, StickerU.com, Ryan Master from KW Realty, Capadia LLP CPAs, and Ridley Funeral Home. I'm Mike from TorontoMike.com and joining me this week, I've been worried all week about saying this word, pianist

and composer Ron Davis. Pianist. It's a dangerous word. It is. It's a more dangerous profession. Oh my goodness. I don't even have the Palma Pasta lasagna box on the table for the Periscope. What? I'm out of here.

You have to vamp for 10 seconds. Come on, Ron. You can do it. I am going to vamp as Toronto Mike goes and gets the Palma Pasta lasagna. And you know what I'm going to vamp on, Mike? Is what an amazing podcast Toronto Mike does over seven years. And you're the pride of Toronto podcasting. How does anyone do that for

seven years? Keep it going, keep it fresh. And you have amazing stuff that happens. I hear you had an interesting episode with Humble. Oh, the Humble and Fred one. And Humble, yes. And so that was my vamp. So I feel honored to be here on this broadcasting gem, this jewel in the broadcasting and podcasting crown. Okay, Ron, you know what this means. It means from now on.

We're dating. From now on, yeah, we're dating. What basis is, okay. From now on, I'm going to do that at the beginning of every episode. I'm going to pretend I forgot the palm of pasta box on the table. And I'm going to tell my guest to vamp because now I know when I do that, I get more praise than I deserve. Well, you deserve it. But on the other hand, you're going to have to have another 539. That's me. I'm 539 because this is episode 539. So my name is now 539.

Oh my gosh, Ron, this is amazing. So please don't stop. Keep going. Amazing for me. We'll just do 90 minutes. I'm on the Toronto Mike podcast. Did you say I'm a gem? Yes, a gem in the crown of Canadian podcasting.

I'm going to pull that quote like a testimonial. That'll get you far. That's going to make you riches. Untold pennies. Oh, man. They don't even have pennies. Thank you, Ron, so much for the kind words. When did you first discover the podcast, John and mine?

So this is the other side of the coin. Can I make a confession on air? Scoop. That's what I'm here for. Real talk. Yes. I knew you, Mike mike from twitter first i only knew you as a twitter presence i'm i've been listening to podcasts since 2005 since they first began right and i've been really big into them i i think i i mentioned

to you can i can i use can can i use any? You can swear your balls off here, Ron. Go nuts. Well, as a pianist, I don't know what that expression means. As a pianist, you have balls? Yeah. Right. No, of course you can swear. I just swore my balls off.

I'm a broadcasting slut. That was my swear word. A slut's not even a swear word. I feel like you built that up like you were going to drop a big one on us and then slut a swear word. Slut's not even a swear word. I feel like you built that up like you're going to drop a big one on us and then slut. Is slut a swear word? I guess it's a bit of a curse word of some sort. But tell me what you mean by broadcast slut.

What does that mean? I've always been interested in broadcasting since my early youth. And in fact, I'm really, although I've had multiple careers, I'm a failed broadcaster. I wanted to be Mike, and I didn't. Mike Cooper? No, Mike you. You know?

Okay. I don't know who Mike Cooper is. Is that right? I'm sorry, Mike. I thought you were a broadcast slide. I am. This is somewhere. I think this is.

Is this him? This is randomly. Okay. Did you see this? Oh, 1050 Chum. That's my time. Yeah, so that's, 1050 Chum. That's my time. Yeah, so that's a 1050 Chum. That was courtesy of Doug Thompson.

You've just handed me a Chum chart for those who are only listening and not watching. Which is most people, actually. Which is most people. Unbelievable. So we could talk all about 1050 Chum. How did you miss Mike Cooper? Did you listen to 1050 Chum in the 70s? Oh, hold on so this chump

chart that you handed me is from 1975 right that was a turning point in the biography of ron davis is that okay so the way i want to structure this episode is because uh you're you're you're extremely talented and a fascinating human being but i actually suspect and there's no disrespect here but for my audience when they hear a name like, who's on recently? Bruce Arthur, let's say, okay? Bruce Arthur is the kind of guest that we're used to around here. It's like, oh, Bruce, I hear him on sports radio.

I read him in the Toronto Star. He's quite a Twitter follow, if you follow on Twitter. Now, I'm wondering with Ron Davis. Who's he? Yeah, right. Yeah, but that's why I told you yesterday. I emailed you, and you who's he? Yeah, right. But that's why I told you yesterday, I emailed you, and you tried to reassure me,

but you, I emailed you that, that I think I'm going to be your worst guest. I feared that I was going to be your worst guest ever. I'm not going to will it, because I think this is going to, 539 is going to be a classic. I'm willing to that.

I'm already, it's already after your opening remarks, it's already one of my favorite episodes, but, and I won't, should I name them? I was going to say, I reassured you, there is one episode that people like to talk about my favorite episodes. And I won't, should I name them? I was going to say, I reassured you,

there is one episode that people like to talk about as the worst, and I won't embarrass the guy because he's back in the market here. But you will not, I guarantee already that this is not the worst episode.

Yeah, but it wasn't for content that I was worried about. It was worried about, because just the thing you just said, who's Ron Davis? And I didn't even know Mike Cooper. And the whole point was, is that in listening, so you just said, who's Ron Davis? And I didn't even know Mike Cooper. And the whole point was, is that in listening,

so you asked me, I got to back up for a second. You asked me when I started listening to you and the confession I had to make is that even though I've been following you, I think for a while on Twitter, I hadn't really listened to you, even though I'm a podcast guy,

because there are too many podcasts to listen to. And I was listening to others. So I've been catching up in the past few, I only started listening to you in the past few weeks. Is that right? And again, no spoiler, because at the end of this episode, I'm going to share a little story of how we connected.

I'm now hurt that you have only been listening for a few weeks, because I thought you were listening when you first connected. No, be encouraged. Be encouraged. Don't be hurt, because it shows that even though you're at it seven and a half years, you've only just begun. You're going to grow like wildflower.

Did you enjoy these wildfire? Wildfire. I think wildflowers grow a lot too. I told you I was going to fizzle. I think it's happened. But Ron, okay, so you only a few weeks ago. Yeah. I only started listening.

I knew who you were. I followed you. I followed what you were doing. But my point is, how do I put this? I didn't really know. So your people don't know who Ron Davis is, but I didn't really know who your people were, right?

Right. Like I didn't even know who Stelic was because I stopped following hockey in 1975. I stopped following chum in 1975. Right. And so I'd heard the names Humble and Fred. I'd never heard them until I heard you do that interview. Interesting.

So they don't know me, but I don't know them. So either today, episode 539, which will go down in the... Is it annals or anals? Annals. Oh, okay. Definitely not anals, because that gets us back to the penis. And yeah, we got to be careful. Well, it does.

But then you have the front and the back. But anyway, moving on. This one will go down in the annals of one where we cross-pollinated. I learned about your people and you learned about us. On Friday. Well, this is Thursday. I just realized this is tomorrow. I'm talking about Friday like it's a long way off.

So tomorrow, a gentleman named Al, Al Grego. He's the lead singer for the, you know, the FOTMs will know that Al Grego is the lead singer of the Royal Pains who played a few Toronto Mic Listener Experience events. Now, Al has been putting together top 20 episodes of Toronto Mic episode 251 to 500. So he's already done the top episodes from, you know, one excluded. Well,

you, you're not even eligible. Don't worry. That's why. Okay. You might make the 501 to five from your mouth. Yes. 750.

Right. Okay. So my, uh, tomorrow at about 6 PM, cause Al's got a real job. He can't, you know,

he can't be here till 6 PM. We're going to, and I don't know what he's picking because he's going to play them off his tablet. I'm going to connect it by Bluetooth. So he's going to play the clips. I'm going to hear them for the first time when they're played.

And I'm going to find out what Al deems to be the 20 greatest episodes from 250 to 500. So I am looking forward to that. And then again, I suspect the next time he comes around for episode 501 to 750, this one will be probably in the top five.

From your mouth to God's ear. Although we're early in the cycle, as they say. I have to interrupt, Mike, because I may have kiboshed some of your housekeeping. Didn't you have some housekeeping to do? Or did you do it? Well, we're still doing it, Ron. Really?

Who's hosting this show, Ron? Come on. Do you have some housekeeping to do? Or did you do it? Well, we're still doing it, Ron. Who's hosting this show, Ron? Come on. Do you have a... So I introduced the owl best of to ask you, in your brief experience of Toronto Mike, do you have a favourite episode? They're all my favourites. How many have you got through? Well, I have not

gone through 539, well, or 538. And what I'm in awe is what you are able to do you are able to sustain a long conversation with people from varied backgrounds uh and with a truly toronto informed mind and mindset and and just keep the interest and i'll be honest with you i haven't been able to listen to the end of everyone because there's so many and because you find so much interesting to talk about like you don't drag right it's all killer no filler and all unedited too uh right i shared the story with you before i pressed record about andy kim calling me up so andy kim

was over yesterday kicks out the jams amazing it's 90 minutes man we it was great we talked about sugar sugar and uh here i'll play a little of him while I tell this really brief story for the podcast. I had a couple of people over this morning who had never heard this song before. And I played it for them in the headphones and they were listening. And one's like 25 and one's 40, these people. Neither knew this song. And they both dug it, man. They were grooving to this.

Oh, what's not to dug? This is amazing. And remember, this was recorded in a time probably when it was live off the floor or relatively live. Oh, I don't know. I know that he did it. He rolled his own on this. That's why I say he's like a punker, man, because he hired the session people. He put it all together.

There was no label funds. He financed the whole thing, recorded this song on his own because nobody wanted to, they thought he was done. He sounds like a jazz musician. That's what we all do. Right, so you can relate. So forget punkers,

he's a jazz musician. Andy Jazz Kim. Andy phones me up, I'm on a bike ride after yesterday's episode, which was 538, and then he's, you know, he's like,

he had a great time, but he needs some editing done to the episode. There's some, there's something he said at the beginning he needed removed and moved to the end. And this other part he wanted fixed up. And he said that the video, he was unshaven and needed me to lighten up the video. And he was giving me these orders and I'm on a bike ride listening to Andy Kim with these. And I'm like, in my mind, I'm thinking like, like, dude, you knew that you knew the deal. Like, you you know this is live to air and

you consented and i don't want to do this bullshit but it's andy kim so i'm like i'm gonna try to make him happy and i'm talking him through it and then he he keeps me on the line for a while and then andy kim's like mike i'm just pulling your leg i almost crashed my bike like i was like this guy i didn't expect that andy kim is now uh an FOTM. He calls me up to Josh me. It was kind of a nice moment. One of many honors that await you in the future. But hold on, I got to pull focus here. Can I pull focus?

Yeah. Okay, so Andy calls you and he pulls your leg. Yeah. And you're thinking on the bike ride, like as you're sweating, double sweating now, because you're also on the bike, you're thinking, it's like, oh my God, this is Andy Kim. I got to make him happy yeah sure so if tomorrow i call you up and i say my you gotta pull that fucking video out there are you gonna have the same time i say oh my god this is well davis a jazz penis the big reveal at the end of this episode which we're not going to reveal

to the end it's going to be a big surprise We'll explain why I would probably want to make you happy as well. Good save. We'll reveal that at the end though. Okay, but this is a jam. Thank you, Andy Kim. So the housekeeping. I want to say hello to new super fan, big fan of Toronto Mic'd. I only learned about this through email. Steve Pagan. Steve Pagan. Hi, Steve. Steve is one of my favorite broadcasters in the world and a buddy. How are you, Steve?

He's a buddy. Yeah. Okay, so I got the feeling he learned about Toronto Mic'd when he came on Toronto Mic'd, okay? So he hadn't really listened and he was here and we had a great conversation. But subsequent to that, I guess maybe he listened, I don't know, did he listen to himself

or maybe that I was on his radar? He's like, what do other people sound like on this show, and he started listening to episodes, and I got this great note, like he said, he loved the McKinney episode, and he was talking about the 1050 episode, and he was like, running Bedini, and he was running down all these episodes he had listened to, that he thought were fantastic. Okay, if you get, if you get props from Steve Paikin, you are getting props from a broadcasting god. He is brilliant, and it doesn't surprise me. See, it's what I said before. You're getting all the people who hadn't.

He hadn't heard you either. So he and I are in the same boat, and now you're attracting all these people. So do I have to invite everyone on the planet on the podcast for them to be aware of it? How do I make people aware that this exists? If this is good, let's pretend, let's go with the premise that this is a good podcast. I think it's a sound premise. So how do you make the masses? Because obviously the masses, the majority of people you meet on the street have never

heard of Toronto Mic'd, I'd say. Well, I mean, it's true of Steve Paikin as well. It's true of Steve Paikin as well. How do you make the mass, like I can't afford to buy a billboard at Young and Dundas and I can't afford to run ads on CP24. Like how do you make the masses aware that this exists?

So that is such a deep question. Everyone in the music business is dealing with that. And the answer is doing exactly what you do and keeping at it, surviving. Because it's true. Because I'll tell you something. Advertising, I'm not going to name names, but there is a prominent person in the music business

who wanted to promote an album, who put so much money into just promoting it that really it's more income than you and I will make in our entire lives, and the album tanked. On the other hand, there are, I don't have to tell you about kind of viral things, but that don't spend any money. But you know, Mike, one of my favorite expressions in the music business, but it applies elsewhere, is it takes 10 years to become an overnight success.

And you're seven and a half years into this, and look at what's happening. You're getting Steve Paikin's attention. You don't have to invite everybody, but you're doing it. And now you're getting further known. And now I know it. And you're plugged into my kind of network. You're plugged into Steve's network and to Andy Kim's network. I don't know, maybe you need to invite, I don't know, who runs 60 Minutes? I don't even watch anymore. Invite someone.

I was going to name a bunch of dead people. I'll get Mike Wallace in here. Yeah, Mike Wallace and David Brinkley and Walter Cronkite. If you got Walter Cronkite, that would actually. And that's the news. Oh, my gosh. Now, a little watchman here because I'm going to have a little contest. So here's the housekeeping.

I'm just taking care of it out of the bat, and then we'll get to Ron Davis here. Now, what did I decide? Okay, absolutely. Absolutely any time. Okay. If you want free tickets to the Watchmen, the Watchmen, they're FOTMs.

They are playing the Danforth Music Hall on November 23rd. They're with the Grapes of Wrath. This is the seat. Ron, this is the kind of music in the wheelhouse of the average Toronto mic listener. I know. That's why I said I might be the worst guess. You're too cultured and smart for us, but we'll get to that. Cultured like yogurt.

If you want these tickets, Danny Graves has given me a couple of tickets to give away to a lucky listener. You need to do this. You need to record a short video on your smartphone or wherever. I don't know. Your laptop. I don't care how you make the video. Make a short video in which you tell us, tell the world why you're a massive Watchmen fan and why you should get these tickets to the Danforth music hall.

Just record this snippet of you saying why you should get these tickets and why you love the Watchmen and tweet it at Toronto Mike. And you can, I think you should also tweet it at Watchmen music. Watchmen music is their handle. So tweet this out a few days before this event. I'll get the specifics, maybe November 19th at midnight or something

will end this contest. And somebody's going to get these tickets. So if you want Watchmen tickets, that's what you do. Tweet a video of you telling me why you deserve to see the Watchmen at the Danforth Music Hall. Ron, have you ever heard of the Watchmen?

Be honest with me. I have. Okay. Just about two minutes ago. I'm sorry. I don't mean to. That's okay. What do you mean by broadcast slut though again?

Like you never finished what that meant, did you? I know. I tend to go in a few different directions. Sorry. I'm interested in great broadcasting. I'm interested in the process. I'm interested in how you put I'm interested in the process. I'm interested in how you put it together.

It's a bit like people who aren't musicians who want to know everything about how an album is made and what the musicians are, what the instruments are, that kind of analogy. So I've always been, I actually interviewed in 1974 when I was still in high school for Radio TV Arts at Ryerson. Right. And I brought my friend along who didn't want anything to do with this broadcasting stuff.

And I blew the interview because it was actually an on-air person who interviewed me. And I thought, Oh my gosh, this is someone who's on radio. And I got so nervous. They pulled my friend in to interview him and he just finished an over 30-year career

as a producer at CBC. That's amazing. Anyway. But there are greater callings for you, so it all works out for you. Different callings. We'll get to that. I want to say hi to Ralph Ben-Murgy. No.

You're a jazz guy. Are you serious? That I'm saying hi to Ralph Ben-Murgy? Hi, Ralph. Ralph is a huge buddy. He just introduced my big show last May. Oh, he's okay, because you're in the jazz world and Ralph was on Jazz FM for many many years

okay so why am I saying hi to Ralph besides being a FOTM Ralph Ben-Murray is starting a podcast and he's decided to do it with TMDS which is a fancy way of saying I'm going to work with him on this okay I just got a whoa whoa what's the end of that sentence, Ron?

Come on, this is a family show. What's going on here? A happy moment. You're happy, okay. Yeah, I just got a happy moment. Because your friend Ralph is, yeah, he's going to be... So that's fantastic. You and Ralph?

Yeah. Ralph, my man. And with you, Mike... Tell Ralph he's in good hands. Mike, you're in good hands. And Ralph, you're in good hands. Does everybody in the world know who Ralph Ben-Murray is? I assume they do.

Well, if they listen to this show, they do. He's kicked out the jams once. He's been on at least twice. At least twice. Maybe more. I've got to check it out. But I would think so. If you're of a certain age, right?

If you're really young, you might not know. But if you're at least, I'm not know, but if you're at least, I'm going to say, if you're at least 35 years old, you know Ralph Fienling. For sure. For sure. I mean, a CBC legend,

a Jazz FM legend. Can I say Jazz FM? Yeah. I mean, I just said it. Especially now, but again, spoiler alert, this is all going to come at the end of the episode.

We're doing good teases here. Or you are, not me. I'm just following you. Just don't give it up. But yeah, you can say, of course you can say Jazz FM. A lot of my good friends work there. This gets like Steve Paikin, Ralph Ben-Murgy.

Like, come on, Mike. Okay, do you know the name Jeff Lumby? You just made that up. Okay, so this is, now I'm saying, why am I talking about Jeff Lumby? He's a FOTM. But also, this is amazing, because Remembrance Day is on Monday, right?

Remembrance Day. Jeff Lumby's grand uncle, Tom, so that means his dad's uncle, his grand uncle, Tom, is now the oldest living Canadian veteran. Wow. He turned, today, Tom, again, Jeff Lumby's grand uncle, who lives by himself in Ottawa. He still lives on his own. Today, he turned 108 years old. I, you know, so a big salute to Tom's uncle. No, his name is Tom.

Oh, sorry. It is Jeff's uncle. To Jeff's uncle, Tom. And I have to add that my parents were victims of the Nazis in World War II, and they were liberated by soldiers from North America, from America and Canada. And so I not only salute the veterans and Tom

for the work that they did, but I have a personal stake and a personal gratitude for the sacrifices that they made. And it sounds like old clich know, old cliches, the sacrifices, but we can't imagine what those people went through and they liberated my parents. I want to talk about your parents because, wow, wow. Tom, just to wrap this up because it speaks nicely to what you just said, Tom was a part of the first Canadian tank delivery regiment, which was instrumental in the push out of Normandy during the Battle of the Falaise Pocket in August of 1944. And I,

just to revisit something you said there, here I am in my mid-40s, you know, recording a podcast with you, and I just have no idea what it must have been like. Like, I cannot fathom what these young men and some young women too, but especially the young men in the front lines there, I cannot imagine what it was like to endure that. And then even if you were lucky enough to survive that, what kind of, I guess, PTSD and emotional baggage, back when we didn't really understand PTSD and how to treat it, like bringing that home

and living with that I I simply cannot imagine what that's like it's the so thank you Tom for your service you're here your parents do you uh what was the name of the the labor camp if you don't want me asking I know I don't so my mother was born in warsaw and so what happened to the uh people there it's that first they were put in ghettos my mother was in the warsaw ghetto and then uh she was shuffled off to a labor camp which was partly a death camp called scarzisco um where but because she was young and healthy, they had her making munitions. My father, he was born in Romania, but ran away when he was 14 to Budapest. And the Nazis only got him in 1944 because Hungary was not fully run by the bad fascists until then. And the Nazis grabbed him after the Swiss refused to give him shelter,

even though my father had Swiss papers. It's another story. And the Swiss turned him over to the Nazis. The Swiss embassy in Budapest turned him over to the Nazis. And he was in the horrible Bergen-Belsen death camp. And that's the one that if you ever see videos, they're the piled bodies and the bulldozers.

Yeah, it was. But, you know, he survived. He was liberated and he survived. And he came to Canada with nothing, absolutely nothing. He went down to Spadina and scrubbed metal barrels to get the rust off of them to get a job. And then he built himself up into the kind of middle class. He started a coat factory.

See, that's the kind of perspective sometimes you need that. Like just, you know, we just talked about, you know, 108-year-old Tom and what he went through and what your parents went through. Again, can't imagine. But firstly, so glad they survived because you might not be on this podcast. I couldn't be here without them.

Wait. That's a fact. That is a fact. That's a fact. Now, even just go back further. And again, I was going to start with Symphronica because I want to get into that. Thank you for pronouncing that properly.

I know that when you write it out, you want Ron in all caps. When do I get to give you? Oh, hold on. Did I give you that? Well, okay. Well, first, can you tell me about your grandfather first? And then we'll get to give you... Oh, hold on. Did I give you... Well, okay. Well, let's first tell me about... Can you tell me about your grandfather first, and then we'll get to Simponica? Because I was reading about your maternal

grandfather, right? Joseph Landowski? Ladovsky. Ladovsky. I butcher every name, so no offense to anybody. It's okay, Miles. Tell me just a little bit, if you don't mind, just a little bit about him. I will. So, just to give a connecting point to the FOTMs,

there's a restaurant at Lawrence and Bathurst called United Bakers, and that is run by the Ladofsky family. And that was started by, I guess that's my great uncle. So by my maternal grand, I'm sorry, my maternal grandfather's brother um yeah grand uncle i guess

that is grand uncle right and um so um his brother was my grandfather had a quote unquote restaurant in warsaw but it wasn't really a restaurant it was a booze can it was an illegal booze can and you couldn't serve a booze after hours and you couldn't serve food and booze can it was an illegal booze can and you couldn't serve a booze after hours and you couldn't serve food and booze together in warsaw my grandfather did both and it was a place where all the politicians went it's like it's such a it's such a underground grimy story um and uh his place was so famous uh because it's where all the politicians went that there was a famous song written about it. Well, there was a song written about it in the 30s.

This is going back to the late 1920s and 30s. Should I tell the whole story? It's kind of long. Yeah. My grandfather ran this place. Apparently it was also the shelter for Polish soldiers who were trying to

rebel against the occupying powers. And he even, my grandfather even, hid one of the greatest Polish national heroes, General Pilsudski. And ask anyone from Poland, they'll know that name. So my mother survived the war, came to Canada. The Nazis had burned down everything. My mother had no relics left from her family. She said there was a famous song about my grandfather and we kind of didn't believe her because there was no evidence of it.

And about 10 years ago, just before my mom died, we discovered this sheet music that was all about my maternal grandfather's, they call it a restaurant, it was a booze can, and how all the politicians go to eat there, and how you don't dare to say anything about Fat Joe, my grandfather, or you get in big trouble. And when the Polish government found out that not only was Fat Joe of the legendary song a real person, but that his grandson was alive and well in Canada, they flew me to Poland to do a concert. And everybody knows the song.

I don't know if you want to do a concert. I'll give a CD to any FOTM who can say they're from Poland and they know the song. Bal Naganojna. That's the Polish title. But it's totally famous. Yeah, because your grandfather is... Joe.

Joe Madofsky. Okay. Is like the hero in this ballad or whatever. Totally. Well, it's kind of, it's pretty grimy. Like it would totally, if it was done today, it's pretty grimy. Like, it would totally, if it was done today, it would be a grime,

like, total grime. Do you know the Polish consulate is around the corner? I do, and I've played there. Get out of here. When the Polish government brought me over,

the Polish consulate, hello, everybody in the Polish consulate, they were the ones who organized it for me. I bike by it every day. Every single day I bike by that Polish car.

Well, you wave hello and say czecz to them. This area is very Polish. It is. There's a lot of Polish in this area. So when this story about my grandfather's song was emerging, CBC did a radio documentary. A producer there by the name of Barb Dickey was really interested in this story. So she took me not quite to this area, but over to Roncesvalles,

which is also quite Polish. She had me walk up and down the street and she stopped people on Roncesvalles and said to them, are you Polish? And if they answered yes, she threw it to me to make me sing the song to them to see if they knew it. And almost

everybody knew it. I'm going to play this game of my buddy Shem, who lives across the street. Absolutely, yeah. Nowzeszemski. Now, I played there. It's gone now, but I played Viva La Vida. That's a Coldplay song. It is. Is that an album you composed for your grandparents?

So that's on a Ron Davis album, right? Is it about your Polish grandparents? Yeah, so I actually have 12 of them about to start my 13th record. And the album you're talking about is called My Mother's Father's Song. So it is the album was dedicated

to my mother and my grandfather who I never met. He died when he was 32 years old in the early 1930s. He was fat. Well, they called him Fat Joe. Fat Joe, yeah. You don't get that nickname,

although it could be an ironic nickname. Sometimes the skinny guys get like, sometimes the fat guys call it skinny or something. Like Curly in the Three Stooges, right? Right, they're ironic nicknames. Anyway, but the, so that album was dedicated to it. And there's even a side story to that album.

My father financed that album was dedicated to it. And there's even a side story to that album. My father financed that album. And he had been against me being a jazz pianist because he thought I should have other careers. And that's another tease for what we're going to talk about later. Yes, there's a big reveal at the end of this episode here. When I reveal, Ron is my great uncle. I'm not going to walk out there. I'm sorry, that's another reference to that episode.

Oh yeah, the Humble and Fred episode. Yeah. That was a bit of a shit show actually in hindsight. I'm having brunch with those guys next week. I know, but you know, you did a beautiful recover with Humble afterwards, right? Yeah, I think so too. It was a good episode.

That was a good episode. But my father funded that album, my mother's father's song. And because otherwise I wouldn't have been able to, you mother's father's song, because otherwise I wouldn't have been able to, you're talking about Andy Kim, I wouldn't have been able to make it

and pay the musicians. And the day I recorded that song in honor of my grandfather who I never met, my father phoned me. I was still in the studio and told me to come over. And he said he had finally,

he had got the check. He was able to get the money in the bank to pay for the album i went to visit him and he gave me the check and we hung out and talked a bit and the next morning at 5 a.m he passed oh my goodness so the last thing he ever we ever did together was uh to um celebrate my maternal grandmother with that it's like he held on for that. He held on for it. And it's kind of funny because he was actually, he never believed my mother.

Oh, there's no famous song. And then he was kind of, my mom was vindicated, right? So your parents survived the Holocaust and came to Canada and built a great life here and they're no longer with us. Correct. I'm sorry. Sorry to hear that.

No, well, thank you. They had bad beginnings but good ends. I'll take a moment here, if you don't mind, to tell everybody listening about Ridley's annual Holidays and Hope Candlelight Service. So Ridley Funeral Home is a new sponsor of Toronto Mic'd, and they're going to host this at the Assembly Hall. Now, the Assembly Hall is pretty much Lakeshore and Kipling.

It's a fantastic facility. And how to describe it? Essentially, if Ridley Funeral Home, they host this, and it's an opportunity for families to draw strength and support from their community as they gather to memorialize their loved ones. So if there's a loved one, uh, you,

you don't get to, to see this holiday season, you might, you might find some comfort in, uh, collecting at assembly hall the first Wednesday in December at 7 PM. And the people at Ridley funeral home, I've met a bunch of them now and wonderful people and easy to talk to.

And again, this is a free event, and everybody is welcome. Ron, what am I listening to right now? I'm not sure. Groove move? Oh, yeah, this is my symphronica. How come you didn't know? I'm worried now. I have a short-term memory. Where am I again?

Right. Yeah. Sorry, it just took me a minute. I was in the middle of a solo. It's cool. We can even let it breathe a moment here. Hold on. Let's hear a little second of it.

It's like a fusion. There's lots of stuff going on in here. That's what Symphronica is. Like, sym is Greek for together, with. So I bring stuff together. That's Roger Travasos on drums uh kevin barrett on guitar mike downs on bass such a great group alin hamzi on uh lead violin just crazy and symphronica the has ron in it because you're r. Okay, so I do that with almost everything. I have a song called Rhythmoron.

My last album was called Up Front. Gotcha. Gotcha. And, you know, actually, this might be the moment to hand you your official Symphronica fridge magnet. Thank you. And your official Symphronica sticker. You know, I'm a sticker guy. I do know. There's stickers Thank you. And your official Symphronica sticker. You know I'm a sticker guy. I do know. The sticker's for you. So you've given me

Symphronica stickers and we're going to talk a little more about Symphronica because you're performing November 5th which is... Well, I did perform November 5th. Oh, what day is today? Today is November 7th. We're going backwards in time. Okay, well we'll talk about it in a moment.

November 9th. So where are you November 9th. November 9th, Saturday. So where are you November 9th? November 9th, I'm at the fantastic theater cultural center, 918 Bathurst Cultural Center, which is located at? 918 Bathurst. Whoa, you're quick. That's a good idea. To name the place after the address.

Okay, you're right, of course. November 5th, you did perform, but that is past tense, and nobody hearing us could ever go to that unless you had a time machine. So go to the 918 Bathurst Centre for Culture on Saturday, November 9th to see Symphronica. And by the way, I want to ask you in a moment about the Edinburgh Festival Fringe,

but let me see what's a good line for Symphronica? If you want to describe it in one line, maybe I should let you do it. But what would you, can you give me a one sentence, like an elevator pitch on what exactly you'd expect from Symphronica? It's a little bit cryptic,

but it really does describe what Symphronica is about. The jazz that you've been looking for, the music you want to hear. And that is because we're a jazz group, although we combine a lot of influences. But how many times have I heard people say, oh, I don't like jazz or and, you know, there's a lot of jazz that's really like closed and brainy and and it's like we're not that like my I want to do jazz.

I want to create what. I want to create. What's jazz? Just improvising. It's unstructured, but structured. And it's connecting and live music. It's kind of like Mike Boone podcasting. It's like just, you're jazz, right? So it's the jazz you've been looking for. I want to be punk though. Can I be punk and jazz? Yes.

No, punk and jazz and punk. Is that junk? No. I'll take that. Paz. Paz? No, yeah. We'll work on that one. We'll workshop that one. And the other reason I call it the music you've been

you want to hear is because I have heard so many people say, oh, I'm tired of Top 40 or, you know, I want to hear something different. And it's like, hey, I'm doing that. Like, you know, other people are. It's not only me, and we live in a wonderful world,

but that is what I aim for. So that's how I describe it. And by the way, you mentioned November 9th, and I don't want to put you on the spot here, but I was, oh, do you know what song this is? Making Plans for Nigel. It is. Of course, yes.

That's why I'm playing it. I like this song. With the great Ross McIntyre on bass. And the guitarist, I think she's on this track, is, tell me if you recognize this name, Donna Grantis. Oh, I'm going to disappoint you because I don't recognize that name.

Well, it'll resurface when I tell you the little story. So Donna, Roger Travassos on drums and Ross McIntyre on bass went in the studio, recorded this and then about a month later when we were going to do our release,

Donna called me and a fabulous guitarist and wonderful person calls me and says, Ron, I'm really sorry. I can't make it to the release. You know, I know you had it booked and all that

and I'm saying, oh, okay. Yeah, I got a phone call last Friday. This was Monday. I got a phone call last Friday a release you know I know you had it booked and all that and I'm saying oh okay yeah I got a phone call last Friday this was Monday I got a phone call last Friday and I got flown out to Minnesota for an audition and I have to leave Toronto Minnesota

oh like right after Donna recorded she got hired by Prince she was Prince's last guitarist Donna Grantis. Oh, wow. Wow. Yeah, so I always take credit if Donna got hired by Prince. What else could an audition in Minnesota be?

It's true, but yeah. That's a great story. So she was there right to the end. Wow. And she's on this album, but I'm not sure if she's on this tune. So I was going to say about November 9th, how do you feel about a ticket giveaway to FOTNs? Yeah, sure.

Of course. But I have a challenge. What's the challenge? The challenge is I will give away actually as many pairs of tickets as respond to this challenge. They have to tweet either audio, video or text and if it's audio or video

10 seconds or less, they have to tweet to at Toronto Mike why Toronto Mike is a killer podcast. I like this contest. What if nobody does it? Well, then if nobody does it, then...

Okay, so I'm going to get a lot of tweets. I'll never be on here again. I need tweets for the Watchmen contest. I got two tickets to give away. And it sounds like you're giving away tickets to Symphronica on the 9th of November, which is coming up at the 918 Bathurst Centre for Culture. So yeah, fine.

It's going to be a great show. You know who's hosting it? It's James B. FOTM James B? Of course, FOTM James B. I have his album here somewhere in this pile here. But yeah, he's fantastic. He has many albums.

Ambassador. Oh, I know, I know. But I think I have his Look People stuff. Actually, you know what I just realized is that I think B and you have one thing in common it's that um you're you're like you're toronto you know like if you put people who oh when you say albums you meant like vinyl right i can't actually play it but it looks great bob scott crazy that is classic that must be worth a fortune i don't know what it's worth but it was given to me by James

when he visited wow yeah you and James are that's what Toronto is about because you celebrate Toronto okay you gave me stickers you gave me a sticker

you gave me stickers I'm giving you stickers stickeru.com Toronto Mike stickeru.com go to stickeru.com if you Mike. StickerU.com. Go to StickerU.com. If you need to make more, I won't ask you where you got these Symphronica stickers.

They were made by a fan in England. Sorry I interrupted you. No, no, that's okay. But if you needed more, I'd highly recommend you upload the image at StickerU.com. You can order one or as many as you like. They're in Liberty Village and they create quality stickers. They're great people too. Great supporters of the Real Talk here. So thank you StickerU. There's a case of six

fresh craft beers for you to take home with you Ron. I am and it's an embarrassment of riches. I actually love Great Lakes Brewery so I love them too. Great Lakes Brewery and if you attend and I'm about to, maybe I'll do it now

on December 7th which is a Saturday at noon did I already tell you did I do this already yeah okay so we're all collecting at uh Palma's Kitchen for TMLX5 and uh the day after that you could go to Great Lakes Brewery for their Christmas market which was uh well it's just crazy I was there last year it was bananas so a lot of fun so uh go to Great Lakes Brewery the day after TMLX 5 for the Christmas market there. Thank you, Great Lakes. There's a lasagna for you, Ron, from Palma Pasta. Again, they're hosting TMLX 5.

If you're around, you know I would put you on the mic if you showed up at TMLX 5. Everybody's invited. I want to jam the place. We're going to have free pasta and free beer, and it's going to be fantastic. This is a vegetarian Palmas kitchen pasta, right? You got it, man. You got it.

That's what my preference would be. You got your vegetarian lasagna frozen in the freezer upstairs. And thank you so much, Palma, for hosting TMLX5. Can't wait. What an endorsement yesterday by Andy Kim. I guess he had been on in November 2018, which means he got a lasagna and he was telling the story about,

I guess he was, I don't know if he was skeptical. People think when they think of frozen lasagna, I think people think of like crappy TV dinners or some kind of garbage. This is not that. This is the family recipe, the Petrucci family recipe that Palma,

you know, Palma is the matriarch of the family. That's her name. And it's their recipe and it's unbelievable. It is by far the best lasagna you could ever have that, you know, you didn't make from scratch in your own kitchen. So he was telling the story of how good it was. And he was so, he said he was waiting for an invite back so he can get another lasagna.

So thank you for that testimonial, Andy. Now tell me about going to, you went to Scotland for the Festival Fringe, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Tell me this story. Yes? Yes, that is me. It's the same Ron Davis.

I was just thinking, I was like, oh, I don't know what you're talking about. Scotland? It's, that was our? This was our fourth year. So every August, the amazing city of Edinburgh, which has many ties to Toronto. I mean, when you go to Scotland and tell people there's a Dundas Street or a Queen Street or a King Street, they all chuckle because that all resonates.

And Sir John A. MacDonald was Scottish. But every August, Edinburgh becomes, to the arts, what the Olympics are to sports. It becomes ground zero, world center for the arts. And Edinburgh Festival Fringe, which is only one of a few festivals that goes on in August, is the largest arts festival in the world. 4,000 shows a day. There. 4,000 shows a day.

There are 4,000 shows a day. A million people come to the city of half a million. 4,000. It's crazy. That's insane. But it is also, it's where everyone is. The arts fans, the artists, the industry people. We went for our

fourth season. We did 17 Symphronica shows. We were honored by the presence of the Canadian ambassador, the High Commissioner to the UK, came to see us. Scotland's representative to Canada came to see us. And man, when you're playing for, you know, for the world, it's something to behold. To anyone, I mean, I guess every FOTM is an arts fan in one way or another.

You got to put Edinburgh Fringe on your bucket list. It's a beautiful city and you'll see everything. Theater, comedy. It's where Trevor Noah got his break. It's where, what's her name? Hannah Gadsby got her break. My wife's a big fan, yeah. Yeah, I mean, like comedy, music, juggling, dance, vaudeville, burlesque.

It's all there. And so we were part of that. I feel bad I butchered the name of the damn city. There's no hard G on that. I should have known Edinburgh, not Edinburgh. What am I doing here? When you're there, it's a bit like, well, you know what? You're good because people from Edinburgh pronounce Toronto Toronto.

Are you from Toronto? And I said, no, I'm from Toronto. So if you're in Edinburgh, you say Edinburgh. It's almost like E-M-B-R-A, Edinburgh. See, everything I know is groundskeeper Willie. I don't know if you ever caught it. Groundskeeper Willie is what I learned about. Although I did have Stephen Caldwell on the show.

No, Shrek, man. Shrek. That's right. And he's from, yeah, and Shrek, believe it or not, is from Scarborough. So it all comes full circle. A cropper, yes. Right. I'm trying to get Mike's brother on the show.

Mike's brother, Mike Myers' brother, wrote a book on the kids in the hall. And I'm a diehard Forever Kids in the Hall fan. So I'm trying to make that happen. Why wouldn't you be? Yeah, but he's on the West Coast. But when he comes through town, he's got to come. Is that the brother who did that? He did a commercial with Mike, right?

I don't know. I'm guessing maybe. I don't know how many brothers Mike has. There was like a TV ad about something. Now I forget what. I don't know either. By the way, just so people know, I'm now listening to Ron Davis'

You Guys Doin' Moon River. Actually, this is a solo, my solo album. Do you know what the name of my solo album was? Ron Davis solo. No. Rhythmaron. Oh, there you go. By the way, did you notice that

the city has my name in it? Yes. That's just it. Yeah, it's Toronto. Right. So this is a solo thing. It's very romantic if you, honestly, if you want to get laid. Can I say that?

Put this on. Yeah, you just did, man. I'm not going to edit that out. I'm calling you tomorrow morning and see how you react. Yeah, this is such a beautiful song. So if you're in that quiet moment, you've had your pommel's pasta, and you've already went over the heart of your intended...

And you're drinking your Karma Citra IPA. Absolutely. Actually, that would be the perfect drink, right? I'm not sure I would recommend for that romantic thing. The red leaf lager? Yeah. Lager is what I drink. So you've drunk the Karma Citra.

You've had the Palma Pasta. The lights are down. The candles are lit. You're not going to make your move. It's still too early to make the move. But then you say, do you mind if I put on something a little less you know

loud than the Watchmen and then so you switch over you put on this Moon River yeah and then you start to speak in a whisper

wow and you kind of lean over it's working for me man is it? yeah I'm glad you mentioned candles because at the very end I have another surprise for you

regarding candles are you going to light my ass? yes we'll see how it goes we'll see how the last half hour here goes. Yeah. Now, let's go.

Now that we've talked about Symphronica and we've talked a little bit about your fascinating family history, how do you end up in music? I need to build you up, find out how you end up in music. Are you teasing the end again? So we can tease how all the rest that no one knows about yet. Okay. So like, okay. So tell me like, what gets you into music?

Like you're amazing. Well, well, thank you. Well, how it gets you into music is music. I, I,

I got bitten by the bug. You know, my parents, because they were kind of ripped from their lives and households before they reached their mid-teens, never got to finish their education. And my father was from a really poor family anyway, so he would have never had the full education. But at the same time, they were raised in a time when culture was big and especially like a respect for musicians and classical music.

and especially a respect for musicians and classical music. So my father, as formally uneducated as he was, always played music and inspired a respect. And something happened when I was six or seven, and I started saying, I want a... Oh, I know what it was. I started saying, I want a piano. My father, that was the good side of it. The bad side was my father made my two older brothers learn accordion,

which at the time was horrible. Oh, you're playing Popeye. There isn't a Popeye. Maybe at that age you would be watching Popeye. Totally. If you're an animation fan, as I always have been, the early Max Fleischer Popeyes were awesome. I've got them on VHS. I got them in some

bargain bin somewhere. Yeah, like the Alibaba. With that kind of 3D. And if you listen to the muttering of Popeye it's actually hilarious. Open says me. Yeah, fantastic.

Absolutely, although nowadays we have to recognize it wouldn't pass. Well, Bluto's, you know, dragging olive oil against her will. There's no consent there. This is wrong. Absolutely. It was from the 30s. It's of its time.

So, yeah, so I got into music, and I pestered my father, who couldn't afford a piano, to get a piano. And he bought kind of a bit of a beater upright piano. And he got me into lessons, and then I was terrible at it and then I gave up and then then I heard jazz and I heard these I don't know if you know these names Art Tatum and Fats Waller and ragtime piano and the rest is history I started practicing like 12 hours a day. This is Art Tatum. Oh my God. It's an old recording,

so pardon the potato quality, but this is Art Tatum. There aren't any new Art Tatum recordings. This is his greatest, I think this is one of the greatest piano recordings in the history of recording. And Art Tatum, in case any of your listeners might not know,

born in 1909 died in 1956 he was blind 90% blind 100% blind in one eye 90% in another um he would have been a great classical pianist if there wasn't if racism didn't keep him out of classical music and the dude like nobody has come close to him he's from another another universe. And what he's doing now, never mind the technique, the music that he's making. He haunts my mind's ear.

I just happen to have some Art Tatum loaded up. God bless you. Actually, let's tell the truth. This is actually me playing. Art stole me backwards in time. Well, I heard when you're 13 years old that you made your public debut by playing Maple Leaf Rag at some Toronto Ragtime Society.

Yeah, Toronto in the 70s was actually a mecca for ragtime music. And people came from all over the world. And I was a part of that. And yeah, that's where I made my public debut, and it led to my first gig. And at the same time, do you know Gord Sheard, the pianist? He's played with Manteca, and he plays with Brazilian groups. I would like to fake it and say yes, so I sound cultured. Unfortunately, I don't know that name. Well, there was another Toronto pianist who was there at the time. groups and i have to i would like to fake it and say yes so i sound cultured and uh unfortunately

i don't know that name well there's another toronto pianist who was there at the time great great great pianist did you hear people applauding me thank you thank you no this can't be me this gentleman is on a wall of fame around the corner from here, which commemorates people who lived on the lake, the waterfront. Yes. Oscar Peterson. The Sea Jam Blues by Oscar Peterson.

So I'll bring it down. I know he's another influence. Absolutely. So when you're 16 years old, you actually, I guess you make your pro debut. You performed at the grand opening of a Toronto restaurant. Do you know which restaurant you were performing at? It was either the Blue Angel, which was in a very seedy part of town at Queen and Bay, which was really seedy at the time.

Or it was the Groening Board, which was run by Harry Stinson, who became a real estate guy. Interesting. Interesting you mentioned real estate. That's a trigger word around here. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's hear. By the way, you mentioned media slut or whatever was your term there.

Were you at all familiar with DJ Brian Master? Of course. Well, you know, you didn't know Mike Cooper, so... I didn't, but no. Brian Master, not to age Brian, but he does go back to my time. So let's hear from Brian. Hi, it's Brian Master, sales representative with Keller Williams to Realty Solutions Brokerage. I like working by referral.

I love working with people, finding out what they need and where they want to go. So every month I put out an item of value called the Client Appreciation Program. And this is really great material. It's all about, well, for one thing, the way the real estate market is, but other things like, well, this month is how to turn your home into a smart home. We've also had things about how to throw a party on a budget, some travel tips. It's really great stuff and it comes out once a month called the Client Appreciation Program. I'd love to get you on it. It's easy to do. Send me an email to letsgetyouhome at kw.com and I'll

send that out once a month via snail mail and follow it up with an email that's something related to the item of value. You can't miss. It's great information. It's something you can share with your friends. I'm Brian Master, sales representative with Keller Williams Realty Solutions Brokerage, thrilled to be on Toronto Mic'd. And Brian Master will be at TMLX5 if you want to chat him up, and that'll be pretty cool to have him there. There's a great picture somebody sent me of him with Frank Zappa.

Oh, wow. That's cool very cool and just before uh because i want to turn the page in a moment and talk about the sort of the other side of your your life if you will but let's hear from rupesh kapadia he's the rock star accountant who sees beyond the numbers and he was answering listener questions if you have any accountancy questions keep them coming by the way but's a, he came in and answered a question here. Linda, listener of Toronto Mic, who I've met at several Toronto Mic listener experiences. She writes, I am a freelance writer.

When do I need to start charging HST to my clients? Someone told me I need to start charging HST from my first sale. Hi, Linda. This is an excellent question and this is a question where I can help you save some money in real sense. Okay, so the requirement for any small business for registration of HST does not kick in till your annual total sales is over and above 30,000 Canadian dollars. However, to all my clients, I have always recommended to register for HST from day one and there is a very simple reason for that. When you get registered for HST on day one and start collecting your client's HST from day one. You can also start getting

the HST that you pay on business expenses, which is called input tax credits from day one. So for example, you go out and you buy stationery for your office, which costs you $100 and you pay $13 on that HST, if you were registered on day one, you would get this $13 back. Now, he's talking my language there. I run TMDS, don't you know? And, you know, yeah, I charge HST. And every quarter, I've got to do my reconciliation, if you will, HST out and in, and end up giving a whole bunch of money to the CRA recorders. So, yeah.

That's really good advice. I'm sorry to say that in the jazz business, I often get a refund, but that means that I'm, well, you know what that means. Hey, but there's another side to you. So, let's do this now. Let's do this now.

Let's do it. Is there a drum roll or something? Well, here, no. Here's not a drum roll. You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to play a little bit. You have many influences, of course, but there's another one.

I'm just going to play a bit of that as we kind of go into this a little bit here. Tell me if you know who's playing. I know who that is. Who is it? Melodious Thunk. No, Thelonious Monk. Correct. Oh, my Godonious Monk. Correct.

Another... Oh, my God. He's a total influence. You've only missed one other of the big ones. Or not missed, but... Who did I miss again? You didn't really miss them. You haven't played them yet.

Willie the Lion Smith. Oh, I did miss him. Yeah. But I did catch the Oscar features. If Willie finds out, you're toast. All right. Talk to me about, okay, we've talked about your gifted musician and symphronica and very interesting stuff, but you told me you can't get rich being a jazz musician.

Did you tell me that or did I just draw that conclusion? Is that a look of surprise on your face? I have to feign some surprise that a look of surprise on your face? I have to fake some surprise here on behalf of the client. People think if you're this talented and you're creating all this great music and you're you can pay the rent and

pay the mortgage in this town. Is that not true? So two things. First of all, joke, not joke. How do you end up with a million dollars in jazz? I don't know. Start with two. And the not joke part is, if there are any musicians, especially young musicians listening, it's really important.

It actually kind of goes back to your point, Mike. How do you, Toronto Mike, get to be better known? Talent is the least part of the equation. Toronto Mike, to be better known, talent is the least part of the equation. The most talented musicians are often, rarely the most successful. There are many other factors in a professional career.

So I'm not talking about myself, of course, but, you know. So it is really hard to make money in jazz especially since um actually i'm going to tease my concert from may 23rd 2020 of symphonic do it yeah it actually is also has to do with the fact that jazz which used to be that used to be the gangster music right jazz like up until even the 70s that was like you know the music your parents didn't want you to hear. And it was totally gangster and rough and all that. And then McMusic and McRadio took over and highly processed and highly controlled and highly corporate. And one thing they did, they eliminated instrumental music. So in my day, maybe even in your day, Mike, even on the top 40, there was still instrumental music. So in my day, maybe even in your day, Mike, even on the top 40,

there was still instrumental music. Do you remember Wipeout or even Popcorn or The Homecoming? And what was the one from Beverly Hills Cop? Do you know which one I'm going for? I feel there was an Axel,

not Axel Foley, that was a guy, but there's a, yeah, you're right though. You would get instrumental songs. There's only always one or two, you know, and then it's now disappeared.

So I've actually founded the Instrumental Music Liberation Front in order to bring back instrumental music like jazz to the forefront. So all that to say that if you're doing jazz, it really is hard to make a living because it's kind of we've been marginalized. And because, yeah, by definition, you're not going to have a top 40 hit. By definition. There's also a bit of an own goal, a little.

I mean, some sectors of jazz, and this is what I hear when people tell me, oh, I don't like jazz. Some sectors of jazz have become really brainy and there's kind of an attitude like, you know, who the fuck cares if you don't like what i'm doing i played something really complicated and if you don't like it that's your problem so there's a little bit of that attitude in some sectors but there's plenty of great jazz and i mean i try and make some frantic of that but there are other people

too especially in toronto toronto is one of the great jazz cities of the world, by the way. Like, people say, oh, New York, Chicago. Okay, New York, Chicago, maybe Berlin, and Toronto. Not in, like, all neck and neck. Wow. Wow, okay. I could go on about that one for hours. And here I am, yeah. Well, hey.

Days. That'll be part episode two. You'd have to give me way more Palma Pasta and Great Lakes Brew. I could arrange that. Here, let me blow. I'm going to say this and then you're going to explain this to me. But okay. From 1987 to 1993, you, I was going to say, you, Ron Davis, completed a master's and PhD in French linguistics at the University of Toronto. Your thesis was titled, I'm going to butcher this,

Chronosemantics, A Theory of Time and Meaning. And it won you the 1993 University of Toronto French Department Doctoral Thesis Prize. And then it gave you a position as an assistant professor in the French department. So, like, to me, that sounds like an academic smart guy. Like, that doesn't sound

like a jazz musician to me. I fooled them. So, okay, so talk about this side of your life. Like, I'm going to assume that this is a, I'm going to assume this is a hell of an

academic accomplishment. I'll let you be the judge of that. I mean, what you say is true. I think I might have begun my master's program in 86, not 87, but whatever. I got the master's in 87. You've been rocking LinkedIn, haven't you?

I don't know where I... I actually have no memory of where I got that, but that might have been pulled from your Wikipedia page. I don't have a Wikipedia page, but Ron Davis does. Maybe I laser-beamed it into you when I came in today.

I have to tell you, jazz musicians do have a bit of a, I don't want to say gangster, but kind of gutter reputation a bit. But you will find as educated, but you won't find, you will find as educated, but you won't find much more educated group of individuals as you will in the jazz world. So yeah,

I did my PhD. I was super interested in languages and linguistics, especially the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, who figures prominently in my thesis. And I don't know, I just kept writing and doing research and teaching at U of T. And the Canadian government and the U of T gave me some scholarships. So I kept going and then the department offered me a position. But academia wasn't for me as a full-time position.

So I didn't continue after 1998. So, okay, so if that being a like a U of T French professor if that and the jazz doesn't pay the mortgage or whatever like how have you been feeding yourself you can't just rely on free uh palm of pasta lasagna when you come on Toronto Mike like like like like where's the money been coming from in your life? Well, Mike, it's now the time for the drum roll. Why don't you introduce it?

Or maybe... Okay, no, first. Before that reveal here, I'm going to play another song from you. And quickly, I want to ask you about it because you being a French professor... So I grew up loving the Muppets. The Muppets are Sesame... you being a French professor. So I grew up loving the Muppets.

The Muppets or Sesame? I grew up loving both, but I guess this is the Muppets, right? So this is Manon Manon, which is like a classic for any fan of the Muppets back in the 70s, I guess. It's actually an Italian song. My wife's Italian, so...

See, I thought it was... That's how much I know. I actually thought it was a French song. No, it was written by an Italian. All's actually an Italian song. My wife's Italian, so. See, I thought it was, that's how much I know. I actually thought it was a French song. No, it was written by an Italian, all the Italians, so I forget.

And the original recording is an Italian recording with, you know, really cheesy, but. Ma-na, ma-na.

Which, like the song Forever, it's tattooed in my head because of the Muppets here. Right, but I think it's Grover, whoever who does the actual ma-na,

ma-na, it's like, ma-na, ma-na, like that voice, right? Is it Animal's Grover or whoever who does the actual monomino. It's like monomino. Like that voice, right? Is it Animal? I can't remember who does it now. Is it Animal? I'm going to defer to you.

I can't remember. I don't think it's Grover. I think you're the Muppets. Muppets in the 70s was a very big deal for me as you can imagine. It was a big deal.

Of course. It's how I discovered people like John Denver and stuff because they would come on the Muppets. It was like a variety show for younger people or whatever. But they'd have like Mark Hamill or something.

It was kind of interesting. That's true. So there's your Menomena. Which has nothing to do with the reveal, does it? No, nothing to do with the reveal. I just thought, if I don't play it now, when am I going to play it? Okay. Let me tell everybody that, you know, I've done 539 of these episodes and uh i'm not the first am i the first

you're not the first like oh l l word i don't know i don't know no no no uh it's gonna give away the reveal but lauren honickman's been on recently for example uh so there's definitely been more but yeah you do this a lot i guess and i always talk about real talk and i try to be fair and up and up but uh i i've i've had like some lawyer letters and stuff and uh one was a uh without getting too many specifics although i think i did have it i think i wrote all about this but on your blog yeah that's right ross porter had his lawyer send me like a i guess i don't know what to call a cease and desist or uh they what he wanted me desist. There were episodes of Toronto Mic'd where he was disgust and he wanted them removed from the internet and things like that. And I started, maybe I started tweeting about this.

Like, I didn't know what, I don't, I'm not a rich man. I didn't have a lawyer, but I didn't want any trouble. And I think, I remember when I first got the cease and desist from the lawyer, I was a bit, I think scared would be a good word. Like, I didn't, I wanted to avoid any costly court issues, et cetera. And I,

by the end of the day, I had secured a lawyer. Really? Boy. And. You want to have a lawyer about as much as you want to have

an undertaker, which is no, no disrespect to Ross and Port. Yeah. They're, no, that's a no that's it that's that's a fine place but it's ridley funeral home is where we want people to consider ridley funeral

home but oh my god that's okay it's okay it's okay uh you are my lawyer well i guess i became that so you're referring to an episode a difficult time for Jazz FM, which we've already discussed. And there were allegations made against the then, I believe he was CEO, but he was running that station, Ross Porter. And there was litigation and it was really ugly. And it really affected me deeply because Jazz FM is like heart and soul of the jazz community. And they're great people. Like you say, you know, uh, uh, James B, uh, Danny,

Garvia Bailey, Danny Elwell, Bill King is a friend of FOTM. Um, a lot, a lot. I mean, Ralph Benmergy had been there.

Mark Wigmore. Oh my God. The awesome Mark Wigmore. Yeah. Had, had been there. And so there were all sorts of allegations flying. And what you had done is you had had one of your episodes.

I found that out after the fact. You had one of your episodes. You were talking to someone, and Ross's name came up. And then you got this letter. And I thought this letter, this lawyer's letter, was unfair, and I disagreed with it. And it really pained me, well, well first of all to see that Jazz FM was going through the ructions

how do you like that word ructions I can't even spell that word yes you can oh probably I'm an English major at U of T but I can't match your French professor well I can't match your English well you know all the well ruckus let's say it was going on at Jazz FM

and then there you were. And it's like, I thought, well, Toronto Mike, who I've been following on Twitter, is not being treated fairly. I don't think this is right. So I couldn't stop myself from reaching out. Did we actually mention that I'm a lawyer? Well, this is our way of saying, yes.

Okay, so I was going to say, you're my lawyer, which infers that you are a lawyer. You are a lawyer, right? I didn't hire a non-lawyer here so okay you did so i'm fired no yes i've i i was uh uh balled to the car i mean called to the bar in 1984 so i left professional music in 1979 under parental pressure and then uh I did a common law degree at University of Ottawa, but I did it in French just to make it interesting. And then I became a lawyer and I practiced full-time for two years and then part-time since 1986. Okay. So you're a part-time, so is it fair to say you're a part-time lawyer and a part-time jazz musician?

Is that how you'd be able to say that? Honestly, without being facetious, I'm a full-time musician, but a part-time lawyer. I'm actually a partner in the Fogler Rubinoff Law Firm in Toronto, 120 lawyers. They're quite generous of spirit to accept me as doing this part-time lawyer work. And it ends up being about 40 to 60 hours a month. But for example, in August, I did zero hours because I was only doing the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. I'll get you some work, don't worry.

Okay, so basically you reached out on Twitter. You're like, hey, would you have a phone call? And we jumped on the phone. And again, I had to find it. And I'm embarrassed to say now, the name didn't resonate with me. It's okay, Miles. I'm thinking Miles Davis,

the bitch's brew here. Okay, so speaking of great jazz musicians. Indeed. Yeah. My mother always used to lament that Miles Davis is so famous and makes so much money. Why can't you make money like him? He's the same name.

That's like when you say, oh, jazz musicians, oh, you know, Take Five is a big hit or whatever. Like there's these anomalies or whatever. Okay. So Ron Davis, we jumped on a phone call, we talked, and I learned that when you secure a lawyer, you get some client lawyer privileges that you get when you secure a lawyer you get some uh client lawyer privileges it's that you get once you know lawyers have a different word for everything and one of them

what no well you use the right word it's called privilege but all it means is secret that everything a lawyer and a client say between themselves is secret and it's jealously protected it's the one thing that i can think of in this society maybe with the only exception of of when a journalist gets a source um that is under a lock vault unless the client never the lawyer the client says you know what i'm gonna reveal this so it would never be for me to say what we discussed but if you were uh wanted to discuss it that is your prerogative right yeah absolutely yes that makes sense so so uh i did secure your services and i mean we got through that and i i in hindsight now that uh letter i got from the

lawyer actually uh angers me so at the time you're frightened to get a lawyer letter and then you kind of we had a great chat and you gave some perspective to it all and explain some things of the law and everything because all of course all i ever said about ross was stuff i read in the globe and mail for example you know and uh simon's wrote a great deal about it simon whomped i never know how to say that name that close he'll have to correct me later i'm sure he's listening now uh you made me feel better about everything and you know i again i never i i did eventually redact i posted that letter and i did redact parts of it some stuff in there that really was unfair like personal stuff that was disclosed that i was sort of blamed for some things i never should have been

blamed for to be clear uh they weren't uh they weren't the things that you redacted weren't in anything that you wrote right they were in something from the lawyer's letter and you as you was you're right publish the lawyer's letter on your on your blog right and then had the request to redact parts of it and you and i agreed that that the redact, it was a not, it was a fair request. Right, like I didn't have to redact. I chose to redact. That was your choice. Because I felt it was, yeah, a fair request and I was happy to comply.

Okay, so yes, so there I retained you. You became my lawyer. I won't go into too many details on a second incident, but there was another incident which I felt was unfair that I consulted you on and that you guided me through, professionally coached me through, whatever. So I want to thank you. Oh, well, it's a privilege. You know what? Why do we do music? We do music to connect with people. Why does someone do law? To connect with

people and help, I hope. I do make a bit of a living at music i mean i some i mean at loss i sometimes joke because there was actually 10 years when i almost did almost when i almost did no law but i was i've had my law license for 30 whatever years and for all the years i didn't work at law i figured it must have cost me at least 10 million dollars in wages so my music career is a $10 million career. But if I can help someone, you know, whether or not I'm getting paid, like that is, that's gratifying in itself. And I thought you were hard done by.

And you put yourself out there, Mike. You put yourself out there as a broadcaster. I know you're raking in the millions by doing this, you know, and you say things and you're about real talk and you're about honesty and you're about transparency. And like, this is what, you know, we as Canadians and Torontonians want to believe about ourselves. Like what you're doing is amazing.

And I go back to what we said at the beginning. It's a gem. And if I can make a little contribution to letting you go forward, then I thank you as much as you thank me. So what can I say? Sounds like a mutually beneficial relationship we have here. Yes, I believe in the States they would call it a quid pro quo. Yes, that word has popped up now and then recently. Absolutely.

No Ukrainian government connections there whatsoever. Oh, so your Polish background. I want to ask you, well, you mentioned... Yakshimash! Ronceys, of course, you mentioned they have the great Polish festival every year. Why is the Polish festival happening on the exact same weekend as the Ukrainian

festival on Bloor Street West? And you can walk, you know, that's not that far a walk between the two. For all my university degrees, there are some questions that elude me it just seems personal to me uh i don't want to get geopolitical here but uh hey what do i know like are people supposed to go to the one and then go to the other are you supposed to pick one like it's some kind of uh maybe it's two for one

by the way the clash thank you the was thinking, okay, when we talk about you being a lawyer and then being my lawyer, what do I play? Well, it was a no-brainer for me that I would play the cover of I Fought the Law

by Joe Strummer here in The Clash. The law won. I fought the law. And the law won. I fought the law. And the law won. I fought the law.

And the law won. Now, the other issue, again, we won't, I didn't want to go into detail on the second one too much, but I was, I wasn't, I was threatened with a lawsuit. And again, you were a great deal. I remember when I was worried about this one as well because of this person's reputation. This is an infamous person in this country. And I was literally biking.

I remember I was on a bike ride, shockingly enough. And then I have the Bluetooth headphones on and the phone rings and I answered. I was right on the Humber Bay Bridge when we had a chat that really kind of calmed me down about this whole thing. The last thing I wanted was a legal battle with this individual and

yes, so again, again, I'll repeat myself and just thank you again for all your legal advice and for representing me here. It's a privilege. It really is. Who is Doug Banwell? That sounds like the title

for, I don't know, a sequel to Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Only because again, you're going to tell us now, I don't know, a sequel to Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Only because, again, you're going to tell us now, but it feels like, okay, so you're going down this academic road. It sounds like there were parental pressure that maybe you weren't, maybe being a jazz musician was a way to the poorhouse and they know how smart you are. And did you get pressure to go get a real job that paid real dollars?

That's the only reason I ended up in law school because I only applied to two law schools Which is crazy When you apply to law school you apply to like Dozens right And so I only applied to two I sabotaged both my applications In one case it worked I got rejected immediately

And the other one I never sent in my transcripts And I didn't think I'd be going to law school And I'd pursue my music career But without telling me my father opened my mail. And the mail was, you didn't send in your transcripts to University of Ottawa. And he ordered the transcripts and sent them in. And so, yeah. So it was a week before law school.

My father said, congratulations, you've been accepted to law school. So when you're going down this road now, law school, so you can, you know, make a dollar, what, what pulls you back into music? Is this where, like,

I'm just trying to find out, is this, I was trying to figure out what draws you back and is, do we give any credit to, to Doug? Doug Banwell is the reason I'm in music now. So that's in 1997.

I'd been pulled out of music by law and and i stayed out of music for 18 years and in um uh 1997 i'm on the sidewalk in front of my then home in brunswick and um an old friend uh ingrid mccool whose brother chris mccool runs the sultans of string if you know that group it might be the greatest last name in the history of the world. It's great. It's actually a Lebanese named Makhoul. M-C-K-H-O-L-L. Do you know Andy Kim is Lebanese? His parents emigrated to Montreal from Lebanon.

There's so many Lebanese. Much to work. Credit in Canada. So I run into Ingrid McCool, and I say, Hi, Ingrid. And she says, this is my boyfriend, Doug Banwell. Hello, Doug. I'm Ron. Hello, Ron. What do you do? I said, well, I'm kind of in between jobs. I do part-time law. What do you do, Doug? And Doug Banwell says he's a musician.

And then I say to Doug, these are the fateful words. I say to Doug, I used to play piano because I wasn't playing piano those days. I was gone. Right. And Doug said, well, why don't we jam? I said, nah, nah, I don't do it anymore. And he just prevailed and prevailed. And so Doug Banwell is, was a top flight saxophone,

flute, clarinet player. Now he plays bass and piano as well. And he just persisted and hauled my ass out to do a jam session. And I thought that would be my last jam session. And he said, that was good. Let's do another. So we did another. And then he said, well, let's do a gig. And I'm like, a gig? And then we end up doing my first gig at the Moonbean Coffee Company in Kensington. And really, the rest is history. Then we got other gigs and other gigs. And then I switched the sig line in my email because it would just say Ron Davis. And sometimes it said Ron Davis lawyer or whatever it

said. And then it became Ron Davis musician. And I haven't looked back. That's 22 years ago. Have you ever played the Kensington Market Jazz Festival? I have. Run by Molly and company. Oh, I can't believe I'm blanking on Ori. Ori Dagan and Genevieve Martinet. Okay, no, good. Glad you gave credit to some others. I only know it as the

Molly Johnson Festival. Molly would be the first one, I'm sure, to give a shout out to Ori and to Genevieve. Cool. Well, yeah, I have played it. Awesome. I don't know if Doug Banwell's played it. All right, here's how we're going to close here. Fantastic.

So I find it, so great jazz, people can see you. And again, you've told people how they can get, you're going to give a ticket. Again, remind me again. You know what? Anyone who tweets or does anything in the world to say why Toronto Mike is great. But do they have to tag?

Should we, okay, what's your Twitter handle? Maybe they should tag you on it so you see it happen. At Ron Davis Music. At Ron Davis Music when you're praising me.

Again, I'm not asking for the praise Ron is, so you have to do that. I'm asking for Mike. And you're going to give them tickets to this thing. Symphronic.

Awesome. And to hear about the academic career and then being a lawyer and being my lawyer, which is amazing, you know. And I want to close with this. Let me just play this song. I forget what this is. That's okay. I'll remind you. I know.

It's me. It's me. It's beautiful Italian. Who's beautiful voice is that singing Italian? It's the beautiful voice of a beautiful woman recording in the hills of Umbria with her husband, Daniele Nardi. How do you know this Daniele Nardi? I'm her husband.

So this is your wife? This is my wife. And funny you should play this to me because we spent close to a month in Umbria recording this. And I only play one note on that tune. I'm holding down like an organ note. Oh, no, two notes. But I play piano. This is her Espresso Manifesto, music of Paolo Conte album.

Manifesto, music of Paolo Conte album. So she is an Italian-Canadian pianist, bass player, composer, but now known for Espresso Manifesto. Awesome. So shout out to... Thank you. Thank you for pulling me out. Please give her, yeah. Well, shout out to your wife, of course. course this is a fantastic stuff and it's good that we play some italian music with palma pasta as the uh as the sponsor now sorry i just we mentioned candles earlier now it's all good again i always preface this by saying not a sponsor you know they just like they're paying me what i paid you for your legal uh services okay so that's what's around here the electric city candle company this gentleman chris is a listener of the program loves toronto mic and he's working with uh special needs adults uh running a hockey league for special needs adults i've seen the pictures they

they play hockey it's uh rather expensive so these special needs adults i've seen the pictures they they play hockey it's uh rather expensive so these special needs adults make these candles these great candles that smell fantastic too i had one running it was called banana bread it's unbelievable these candles and i just uh want to make people aware that you can buy these candles i believe i don't want i gotta find out if i'm right i think it's 10 bucks a pop or something all the proceeds go to the special needs uh hockey program that's uh if you want more information on that by the way electric city special needs hockey.com if you want to buy the candles it's electric city candles with an s at the end uh.com they're currently fundraising to buy a used van

for their travels because they're renting these vans and the travel is very, very, very expensive. So they had a gift. It's so custom. It's even got your name on it here. They, I told them who was coming up and they shipped over via UPS or whatever. They shipped over these custom. So there's honors.

And I mean, I had, I got a package too, and a beautiful card from one of the players on the hockey team, the electric city candle company. So enjoy, enjoy that extra gift, the bonus gift for you, Ron.

It was worth the trip here. Well, it was worth anyway to speak to you. And you remind me, I have a whole hockey background. I was coached by Bill White and Pete Mahavlitz. Wow. And I went to Tam O'Shanter

summer hockey camp for six or seven years when I was a kid and you would have been a great NHLer but they said you were too small is that what happened

and that's what drove you into jazz music my heartbreak five foot five I couldn't make it I also tried for the NBA but Muggsy Bogues

played in the NBA just never forget that what was he five seven or I think he was less than that oh was he I think so

I think so I I think so. I'm honoured. I'm honoured to be here at the great Toronto Mike podcast and now I am a listener and I am an FOTM. I hope.

Am I allowed to be an FOTM? Without a doubt. I thoroughly enjoyed it and not even close to the worst episode of Toronto Mike ever and one of my favourites. Thanks for doing this.

Third worst? No. You were fantastic. You were fantastic. You were fantastic. And were fantastic. You were fantastic. And that brings us to the end of our 539th show.

You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Ron again is at Ron Davis Music. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer.

Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta. Join us on December 7th. Just come and enjoy. You'll get some free pasta and beer and you'll love it. It'll be great to meet you. Sticker U is at Sticker U.

They've donated some swag for the attendees at TMLX5. Brian Master is at Let's Get You Home at KW.com. Brian's going to be there. Capadia LLP is at Capadia LLP. Keep sending your questions for Boob Pesh.

And Ridley Funeral Home is at Ridley FH. See you all next week. And I don't know what the future can hold or do For me and you But I'm a much better man for having known you Oh, you know that's true because Everything is coming up Rosy and green

Yeah, the wind is cold But the smell of snow