The Ward Cabaret

02/06/2024

Friends! I'm excited to let y'all know that the very first track from the new New Orleans-based project Music at the Center of the River will be dropping on March 5, when it will be available on most streaming services. This collective trio has really got a special sound that speaks of the Great River and the people and music that have lived along its banks. It's earthy, it grooves, it sings and sobs, we got , , , and all weaving together. And the cats in the band (Mark Rubin and Michael Ward-Bergeman) are righteous creators and performers in these musical realms. So keep your ears and eyes peeled. Meanwhile, I'd like to invite you right now to go on over to Instagram, where we'll be releasing regular li'l vids in the lead up to the release, and follow us, right here:

https://www.instagram.com/centeroftheriver/

Please be early adopters of this magical project...We'll treat you nice and bring you some sweet treats, musical and otherwise.

02/01/2022

A new, New Orleans-based collective sparked by Ward Cabaret creator David Buchbinder , Enjoy!

Buchbinder, Rubin, Bergeman deliver this contemporary Klezmer composition in their vigorous style.

03/12/2021

Ward Songs! "Where there are people there is music... the music of The Ward was the music of the people." From traditional wedding songs to a tarantella, their songs and dances live on!

This is "Ward Songs: Celebration Songs" by David Buchbinder on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

03/10/2021

Ward Songs! "Overture" develops a sonic structure for the stories and characters that inhabit The Ward: Klezmer, Cantonese opera, folk music from Southern Italy, gospel and jazz. The sounds exist in harmony, just as did the Blacks, Chinese, Jews and Italians of Toronto's first multicultural community. Have a listen!

This is "Ward Songs: Overture" by David Buchbinder on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

03/08/2021

Ward Songs! Our immigrant ancestors live on! Morris Winchevsky's utopian vision rings true in "The Future (Di Tsukunft)." Channelling The Ward's spirit, the original Yiddish lyrics are expanded to include parts in Cantonese, English and Italian. Join in!

Ontario Heritage Trust

This is "Ward Songs: The Future" by David Buchbinder on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

03/06/2021

Ward Songs! The "Tragedy of Sirio" is a soulful tribute to the ill-fated 1906 journey of a ship with 600 Italian immigrants, of which 300 drowned. An eerie parallel to today's migrant crisis with many perishing at sea on far riskier crossings. Sung in Italian, Cara Rebecca drives the sorrow of an expectant relative home.

Ontario Heritage Trust

This is "Ward Songs: Tragedy of Sirio" by David Buchbinder on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

03/04/2021

Ward Songs! Immigrant residents of The Ward lived with deeply felt longing and nostalgia for the people and places they had left behind. In the larger world of those times, music was often the only and best way to connect with their roots. Italians would bathe in the beautiful sounds on the 1920 recording of Enrico Caruso singing "L'Addio a Napoli." Watch cast member Cara Rebecca bring it to life!

Ontario Heritage Trust

This is "Ward Songs: L'addio a Napoli" by David Buchbinder on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

03/02/2021

Ward Songs! Aviva Chernick and Mitch Smolkin breathe new life into this 1912 classic by Eliakim Zunser documenting the disparity between the dream of "A Golden Land" sold to immigrants and the stark poverty and harsh reality they quickly found themselves in. Watch their moving rendition of "Das Goldene Land" sung in Yiddish.

Ontario Heritage Trust Aviva Chernick Music

This is "Ward Songs: Das Goldene Land" by David Buchbinder on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

02/28/2021

Ward Songs! This unprecedented medley of Cantonese and African American songs could be the standard bearer for the power of cross-cultural creation: Seemingly disparate cultures and sounds finding common ground in their underlying force of human feeling.

Derek Kwan's gorgeous rendition of "Autumn Remembrances" is transformed through Kaisha Lee's s**t song into a full version of "St Louis Blues." A vibrant example of "the kind of intercultural art that would make Toronto a world-renowned cultural producer" – Carly Maga, The Toronto Star.

Ontario Heritage Trust

This is "Ward Songs: Autumn Remembrances - St Louis Blues (medley)" by David Buchbinder on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who…

02/26/2021

Ward Songs! "I Open My Mouth to the Lord" is an African American Gospel piece in the tradition of "sorrow songs," which often held coded messages for slaves on their way to freedom.

Led by Jeremiah Sparks, Kaisha Lee shines, and the entire cast sings a moving a capella. This, along with "The Future," captures the spirit of The Ward Cabaret: "I won't turn back. I will go! I shall go! To see what the end's going to be."

Ontario Heritage Trust

This is "Ward Songs: I Open My Mouth to the Lord" by David Buchbinder on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.