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Elora Mews Shops - Order Elora Products On-Line
Shop securely from the www.eloramews.com website for books
about Elora and the Elora Gorge, music from the internationally acclaimed
Elora Music Festival and the Elora Festival Singers, and movies shot on
location in Elora.
Many books have been written about Elora, the beautiful Elora Gorge and the
Grand River Valley. Only a few have been listed here. We hope you
enjoy our products and please feel free to suggest any items that we have not
included here.
When Charles Clarke settled in Elora Ontario in 1848 he joined the
ranks of the province's radical reformers. He also tirelessly
promoted the natural beauties of Elora and tried to protect the
environment of the Grand River and the Elora Gorge from the
ravages of industry and human carelessness. Using Clarke's
journalistic writings, his private diary, and a memoir he wrote
later in life, Kenneth Dewar paints a vivid picture of Clarke's
evolving sense of himself and his world in an age of profound
transformation.
"This fine book gives an intriguing vista of village Ontario and
the impact of 19th-century changes on its people." P.B. Waite,
Choice
Buildings of Niagara, St.
Catharines, the Hamilton Escarpment, Paris, Cambridge, Waterloo
County, Guelph, Fergus and Elora and St. Marys (Paperback)
The story of the stone buildings of the
cities and towns of southwest Ontario
Constructed in the most permanent of
building materials, historic stone buildings are, quite literally,
touchstones to other times and other lives.
Exploring
the history of these mid-nineteenth-century buildings -- among them,
charming cottages and farmhouses, spectacular mansions, glorious
churches and cathedrals, and dignified civic buildings -- reveals a
picture of their communities' origins, aspirations and evolution.
From the
stories of the houses and buildings in these early Ontario communities
we learn of the masons, the architects, the developers, the town
leaders and citizens who created and inhabited these enduring examples
of a variety of stonebuilding techniques and architectural styles.
A
Heritage of Stone offers a fascinating new perspective on the
histories of many leading communities of south-western Ontario. It
celebrates the many fine stone buildings which are the pride of these
cities and towns. This book will also appeal to anyone interested in
heritage buildings and 19th century Ontario architecture.
The
natural beauty of the Grand River Valley and the rural charm of its
communities come alive in this magnificent book. The the cover
illustration is of
Elora's boardwalk at the centre of historic
Elora's Mill Street West.
John de Visser's photographs have been
collected in more than forty books. His outstanding collections for
the Boston Mills Press include Newfoundland Souvenir, Spirit of the
Garden, Rideau, At the Water's Edge, Summer Cottages, Muskoka,
Georgian Bay, Grand River Reflections, Credit River Valley, and
Thousand Islands. In 1994 he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award
by the Canadian Association of Photographers and Illustrators in
Communication.
Kenneth Hewitt's "Elora
Gorge: A Visitor's Guide" is not a visitor's guide in the conventional
sense but rather is a field guide to the geology, geography, and
paleontology of the gorge.
The book describes the
geological history of the gorge area, from its origin 410 million
years ago as a system of reefs and lagoons in a tropical sea, through
the birth of the gorge itself at the close of the last ice age, to the
present. It discusses the various fossils to be found there, primarily
of reef-building organisms and shellfish.
It also presents three walks through the gorge. For each walk Dr.
Hewitt identifies sites of special interest and explains their
geological or paleontological meaning.
One of the best aspects of this book is its integration of
scientific exposition with the descriptions of the gorge's features so
that the visitor can understand the meaning of what he sees. If you
are planning to visit the gorge and want to understand what you
observe, this book will be a valuable asset.
Whether you’re planning to visit Ontario’s many waterfalls in person
or in the comfort of your favorite reading chair, this superbly
illustrated book is an absolute must.
Waterfalls of Ontario lists and describes 80 falls. Each is listed
alphabetically and organized by region: - Algoma - Cottage Country -
Golden Horseshoe - Ottawa Valley
Each waterfall is illustrated with a full-page color photograph and a
concise description that includes detailed driving instructions,
relevant geological features, and a brief history. Regional maps are
included for those who wish to visit the waterfalls. A sidebar
features handy at-a-glance information such as the nearest settlement,
walk time, trail conditions, size, and map co-ordinates.
About the Author:
Mark Harris is a water resources professional and avid traveler who
has written and contributed to many scientific studies.
George Fischer’s work has appeared in the New York Times, Islands
Magazine, and Explore as well as calendars from Barnes and Noble and
Wyman and Sons.
Elora Festival Music:
The Elora Festival has been making Sweet Music since
1980. Artistic director Noel Edison, founder of the Elora
Festival Singers, has put the Elora Festival and the Elora Festival
Singers onto the world stage. Here are a few of the many famous
names that have appeared on the various stages of the Elora Festival
over the years.
Jeff Healey and the Jazz Wizards will be performing at
the Elora Festival on Friday, July 21, 2006 at the Gambrel Barn at
8:30 pm. Tickets are available at the
Elora Festival
office.
"Long before Jeff Healey burst onto the '80s blues-rock
scene with an unorthodox lap-steel-like approach to conventional
guitar and a flair for radio-friendly pop songs like "See the Light"
and "Angel Eyes," he had a deep jones for 1920s and '30s jazz.
"His
first major release in that vein, a live recording with his
eight-piece Wizards and British jazz revivalist/trombonist Chris
Barber as his guest, takes Louis Armstrong's historic Hot Five
recordings and Django Reinhardt and the Hot Club band as its swinging
twin axis of influences
"Sure, the results aren't groundbreaking, yet they're authentic and
fun, thanks to spirited performances and a selection of mostly playful
uptempo chestnuts, including "Sing You Sinners," Georgia Tom Dorsey's
suggestive title track, and Bessie Smith's "Keep It to Yourself."
"Barber's trombone solos are hale and raucous, but Healey's his own
ringer, fretting elegant, classic guitar lines and pulling boisterous
double duty on ebulliently squawking trumpet.
--Ted Drozdowski
Elora Festival Singers:
The Elora Festival Singers where founded by Noel
Edison in 1980 as the principal vocal ensemble for the
Elora Festival.
The choir’s activities have expanded to include the
popular Winter Series concerts in Elora and the surrounding
communities, touring and recording. The choir also makes up the
professional core of The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and The Mendelssohn
Singers.
In the Heavenly Kingdom
Willan (Composer),
Elora Festival Singers,
Edison Larkin (Performer)
Ontario's Elora
Festival Singers and director Noel Edison should be declared national
treasures by the Canadian government.
The artistic care and
professionalism that they commit to every project are exemplary, and
there's no doubt that Healey Willan could have no finer advocates than
these outstanding musicians (and there are many strong contenders for
that honor among Canada's unrivalled and impressive cadre of choral
ensembles!).
If you haven't heard
Willan, this is a great introduction. And if you have, you should know
that the disc's final track, the beloved motet Rise up, my love, my
fair one, is without question its ideal recorded realization, the
thing that proves that Edison and his choir really understand what
Willan is about and know how to bring his uniquely expressive choral
forms to life.
And it's reason
enough to own this CD, a performance so sure and lovely that you want
to hear it again and again. [5/17/2006]
--David Vernier
Holly Cole
Holly's concert at the Elora Quarry in 1998 was an acoustical wonderment.
Holly Cole Has Impressed as One of the Most Inspired and Inspiring
Contemporary Interpreters of Popular Song for Well Over a Decade.
She Has Charted an International Career that Includes Seven Gold and Platinum
Albums, Numerous Awards and Some of the Finest and Most Engaging Vocal Work in
the Studio and in Concert.
Available October 12th, 2004, "The
Holly Cole Collection, Vol.1" is a cross-section of recordings
that span her career. This comprehensive collection includes hit
material as well as tracks previously unavailable in Canada,
including:
"Hum Drum Blues" recorded in New York City in 1995 with jazz greats
Javon Jackson and Mulgrew Miller.
"Shiver Me Timbers" recorded by the trio in 1995 during the temptation
sessions but only available on Japanese release.
"The Question of U" written by Prince and produced by Bob Belden,
includes world-renowned jazz musicians Chuck Wilson and Benny Green.
"Trust in Me" newly recorded and arranged for the original trio with
large string ensemble.
Rounding out the collection are selections from six of Cole's previous
releases: Girl Talk (1990), Blame It On My Youth (l991), Don't Smoke
In Bed (1993), Temptation (1995, Romantically Helpless (2000) and
Shade (2003).
2003 Release from the Canadian Chanteuse who Returns to Form with this
First Album in Nearly Four Years.
The Self Produced Album features an Imaginative Collection of Tunes
Loosely Related to Summer. Among the Highlights Are Renditions of
Classics by Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin and a
Breathtaking Version of Brian Wilson's "God Only Knows".
"If you are not already a Holly Cole fan, but enjoy
jazz, her latest album, "Shade", may be a good way to introduce
yourself to her special artistry. If you are a fan, you will smile
at her continued creativity.
"An eclectic but effective mix of songs unified by the common
theme of having something to do with summer, the album starts off
with an almost "smooth-jazz""-like mechanical-sounding percussion
sequence that had me dreading what was to follow.
"But I listened beyond that intro and was intrigued by the blend
of styles and influences she acknowledges in the instrumental
accompaniments, while maintaining her own distinct imprint on the
vocals.
"Her interpretations sound unlike any other you've heard of the
same song, so some of them might take some getting used to if you
are familiar with other more familiar covers. But after a couple of
"listens", her versions not only sound original, they sound "right".
"This album is a real treat for any season! "
-- A Customer
The Nylons
The world famous Canadian acappella band "The Nylons" appeared at the Elora
Festival in 1993 and 1995.
That's what makes this a real true vocal recording.
Vocals aren't supposed to be perfect. Only in a musical time where
production has replaced the art of song writing, could the idea come
up that THIS album is full of weak vocals and off key singing.
The range of Claude Morrison and Marc Connors,
especially on his solo during Me And The Boys leaves the listener
awestruck. Arnold Robinson's bass sounds natural and doesn't shake the
dust off your speakers like it eventually did in future recordings.
I'm a huge a fan of the Nylons and also sing in my own
acappella 5-some and we strive to always sound like this album and
NOT like a rockapella group with the 80's drum machines and robotic
sounding harmonies. I own ALL of their albums but this is the only one
I will play for inspiration and true vocal singing. If anything, they
should have stuck to this formula for all of their following albums.
Want proof of this? See one of their live shows. Then
tell me what is truly more magical and beautiful; live natural singing
with real percussion and snaps, or, drum machines and robotic
harmonies. And also, I nearly forgot, vocal layering. On this album
you are (almost) always getting 4 voices. On later albums it was
normal to have 5 to 12 vocal tracks playing at once. Studio trickery,
does not a good album make.
Ann Mortifee is one of Canada's most talented singer/songwriters. Ann
Mortifee was born in Zululand, South Africa, November 30, 1947. She
spent her first years on a sugar farm there and came to Canada as a
young child.
As a teenager in Vancouver, she began singing with the legendary Josh
White after her first public appearance which was at a local
coffeehouse. That first performance was precipitated by a dare put to
her by some of her classmates at school.
Ann's singing career now spans more than three decades during which
she has performed with such notable artists as Hagoode Hardy, Harry
Belafonte,Ramsey Lewis Michele LeGrand, Bobby McFerrin and John
Denver.
Known throughout the
world for her passionate and honest performances, Ann has released
eight albums, written three musicals, and several ballet and film
scores.
She has worked as a
keynote speaker for conferences on such concerns as the use of
creativity in healing, sexual abuse, death and dying, environmental
and women's issues.
She received the Order
of Canada in 1992 for her outstanding contribution to the healing and
performing arts in Canada.
Movies Produced in Elora:
The beauty of the Elora Gorge with its spectacular
rock faces and white water, has attracted movie producers from around
the world. Here are a few of the many movies that have used the
Limestone cliffs and natural and historical scenery for the settings
of these wonderful movies.
An air of gothic
romanticism pervades every aspect of this remarkable film, based on a
true story from the turn of the 20th century. In its torrid plot, one
can hear the icy restraints of the Victorian era cracking.
Diane Keaton is uncannily
perfect as Kate Soffel, wife of a priggish prison warden (Edward
Herrmann). She's funny and touching playing what used to be called a
"neurasthenic"--a nervous, depressed woman with mysterious physical
ailments.
When the
film opens, Kate is just recovering from a three-month-long spell, and
back at work preaching to the inmates in her husband's prison. Whom
should she encounter but dangerous death row inmate Ed Biddle, in the
irresistible person of Mel Gibson. The forbidden affair that blossoms
between them is feverishly exciting, but the film operates on myriad
other levels.
Director Gillian Armstrong (My Brilliant Career) and
screenwriter Ron Nyswaner (Philadelphia) have much to say about
capital punishment, and about the miserable fate of women in this
repressive society who dare to act on their passions. There's nothing
morally clear-cut in this movie, which is what makes it consistently
fascinating.
Kate and
Ed's romance is as right as it is wrong; we never really know how to
feel about either of them. The film's stunning cinematography and
superb period details are exhilarating, from the towering, bleak
beauty of the prison to the gorgeous panoramic chase scenes of
horse-drawn sleighs in the snow.
Video Details:
After meeting under extraordinary life-and-death circumstances, a
Chicago police officer (Lopez) and a lost soul named Catch (Caviezel)
fall in love. While uncovering the truth about Catch, she is forced to
deal with the secrets of her own past.
On the DVD:
Feature-length commentary by director Luis Mandoki
Interactive menus
Scene access
Languages: English & French [dubbed in Quebec]
Subtitles: English, French & Spanish
A heartwarming and funny hit that's earned overwhelming critical
acclaim, SIMON BIRCH features great performances from stars Ashley
Judd (DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YA-YA SISTERHOOD, HIGH CRIMES, KISS THE
GIRLS) and Oliver Platt (BICENTENNIAL MAN, DON'T SAY A WORD) in an
outstanding cast!
Even though Simon Birch is the smallest kid in town, deep down he
knows that he was born to do something big! He's on a constant search
to discover his destiny, but somehow manages to find nothing but
trouble!
Three brothers (Nicolas Cage, Jon Lovitz, Dana Carvey) with a
streak of lawbreaking in them head to a small town in Pennsylvania
called Paradise, intending to rob a ripe bank there.
But the people in
the community turn out to be so nice that the thought of ripping them
off proves difficult to imagine.
The three leads each get to do their
uniquely comic shticks, and that makes this film marginally watchable.
But the pace is enervating and the story's main idea isn't all that
well developed.
