Welcome to Shift, where Tom Allen takes you on a daily musical journey from the stalwarts of Classical music to the cutting edge of Contemporary tunes. Join us here on CBC music for a round-up of the stories of the day, some videos of music (or maybe just videos interesting to music fans) and a place to speak your voice.
Monday October 15th
Thanks to those who participated in the 5th week of Rainbow Battle. It was our third week of putting the best renditions of "Over the Rainbow" head to head. We started off with Ian Tyson's folk guitar up against Maynard Ferguson's trumpet and sextet. Ian Tyson moved on to deal with Ray Charles in the second week. In week 3, Ian Tyson once again proved the authenticity of his performance, winning a tight battle against Keith Jarrett. In week 4 came the heaviest hitter yet: Melody Gardot. Again, Mr. Tyson had no trouble coming out on top.
But this past week, we let the audience decide who his competition would be. They picked vocal heavy-hitter Ella Fitzgerald. Truly, the competition came down to the wire. With less than 10 votes between them, this was the most entertaining Rainbow Battle yet. But who would come out on top?
Congratulations to Ella Fitzgerald for becoming the second Rainbow Battle winner. It took 5 weeks, but finally Ian Tyson met his match.
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Pachelbel's canon is one of the best known pieces in all of classical music. But did you know Johann Pachelbel himself had written hundreds of pieces of music? Would he be happy today if he found out his fame was based on only one of his pieces? Today, we're playing one of Pachelbel's other many incredible pieces. Maybe the sentiment will spread.
Felix Baumgartner did something incredible, but it required something we all have to use every day. He floated up into the stratosphere and jumped back to earth. He broke the sound barrier in the process. But he had to trust every member of his team, every seam of his parachute, to work. It's the same way we have to trust a red light to save us from being hit by a car. And because of that trust, Mr. Baumgartner accomplished something never done before.
You can contact us at SHIFT with your ideas, questions, or anything else by sending us a message on our Facebook page. Through email, you can reach show producers Alison Howard ( alison.howard@cbc.ca ) or Alex Redekop ( alex.redekop@cbc.ca ).