Toronto Music Shops

[My-Low-SX90R]

I'm going to be in the Toronto area in late June for the Toronto Jazz Festival and I was wondering if anyone knew of some good music stores to check out while I'm up there. Maybe even one where there might be something rare to play, like a bass sax perhaps. Any help will be much appreciated.

[Kareeser]

Long & McQuade is a nice reputable store that is spread Canada-wide.

There is one in Toronto:

From website:
925 Bloor St. W.
Toronto, Ontario
M6H 1L5
(just west of Ossington subway, on the south side of Bloor.)
Tel: (416) 588-7886
Fax: (416) 532-9708
E-mail: info@long-mcquade.com
Hours: Mon, Tues, Wed, Sat: 9:30 - 6:00
Thurs, Fri: 9:30 - 9:00

[GenericGuy]

Long & McQuade is definitely your best bet in Toronto... but I see you're in South Bend. Gonna be tough to compete with WWBW.

[Neil Sharpe]

Long & McQuade is fine for what it has. But selection is limited especially for vintage horns.

A sax shop definitely worth a visit is Ken Forentran Woodwinds at 849 1/2 Bloor Street West (416-516-6445), about two blocks down from Long & McQuade on the same side of the street. As noted elsewhere on this Forum, Ken Forentran has a great rep as a sax tech, and often has some really interesting saxes on hand.

[Merlin]

Yep, L&M's Bloor St. store is about the best stocked for new stuff in T.O., but having been in WW&BW, I'd say you may be underwhelmed...

Ken's shop is good, but he's often busy, especially around festival time. He's a terrific alto player himself. Ken's often available by appt only on Saturdays.

BTW, if you like big bands, I'm playing the festival opener with Jim Galloway's Wee Big Band on the first Friday of the thing. It's a jazz repertory group focusing on pre-bop, for the most part.

The best club to head to during the fest is the Rex Hotel on Queen St. 3 groups a day, every day.

[My-Low-SX90R]

Wow, thanks guys. I appreciate the info. Since I see some of you live in Ont, perhaps you can recommend to me a hotel in that area for the TJF that would best fit the starving musician budget????

[Merlin]

Hmmmm...tough quest during the festival, a cheap room.

Pride Weekend runs about the same time as the jazz fest...so things are VERY busy.

I worked with some guys this week who were up from Florida. They stayed at the Bond Place Hotel, which is downtown, just near the Yonge St. strip. It'd be worth checking out their site.

The Producers is playing at the Canon Theatre as well, and you may be able to find a hotel deal that includes tickets to that as well.