Pictures and video was the closest we got to bottling this jam.

Event super-hosts Lisa and Clint of One-of-a-Kind-Dinner throw music parties at a loft in the heart of Toronto’s Entertainment District once a month. By day, the space serves as a photography studio for commercial shooter Edward Ambrosius, but each month on a Saturday after the night lights burn brightly and the taxicab cacophony begins on Adelaide Street below, Edward opens up the loft to let the sounds of guitars, drums, voices, and horns (and any other instrument that shows up) take over.

The Red Moon Music Collective is as much of a group as Broken Social Scene. Some of the performers make it every month, some less often, new people join in, they take breaks and take turns and sometimes they combine the two:

slide guitar with beer

There is no protocol other than a simple sign-up sheet so people know when they’re up next, the same as what you’d find at a pool hall or a dart board. The only difference is it’s all self-serve: BYO drinks and snacks. It’s like going to a house party except a third of the space is covered in guitar cases, percussion instruments, speakers and cords leading to an amplifier.

This is not your garden variety houseparty, however, unless you have artists simultaneously drawing and painting musicians and dancers as they perform. (Or maybe you do. If so, they should join us!)

It’s tough to describe the vibe, so I’ll leave you with Lisa’s videoclip above and my photo album below of last Saturday’s jam. As jams go, this one was ace: lots of new people jamming with the regulars, sing-a-longs to Queen and dancing throughout. Completely unscripted and free-flowing, the evening didn’t want to end.

And did I mention it’s FREE? Yes, the best things in life are.

our illustrious co-hosts, Lisa and Clint (along with Edward)

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