Montreal

On Allison Crowe’s first cross-Canada tour, a dozen years ago now, she and her trio (Dave Baird on bass, Kevin Clevette on drums) performed at Upstairs, a jazz club below-ground in Vieux-Montréal – Old Montréal, Quebec.

Dear friends - nos copains, Gerry, Gilles-Mathieu et autres – introduced us to the delights of this French-Canadian city – the tasty smoked-salmon spread, the maple pies in Côte des Neiges Farmers Market, the Tam-Tams of Mont Royal, and Brother Andre’s heart at home still, above it all, in St. Joseph’s Oratory.

Forest fires raging in the province’s James Bay region screened the city – not in clouds of thick smoke, but, in a sepia-tint making all appear antiqued, dream-like as if in aged photographs or cinema reels.

So, come on, follow the alley down, take the steps to be greeted with a song, “Montreal”, from Allison’s album “secrets” – music.allisoncrowe.com/track/montreal - produced by Rainer Willeke - accompanied by Hedy Lamarr and Charles Boyer in a turn from “Algiers”, a 1938 film directed by John Cromwell.