Update: Apparently, they've gone with Shane. The thing I find hard to believe is that this is their fifth boy with an "Sh" name and they're only just now using Shane.

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This morning, the population of Toronto grew by one as a baby decided to be born on the side of the Don Valley Parkway.

The baby's parents were southbound heading to Toronto East General Hospital at around 8 AM when mom just couldn't hold him in anymore, so dad pulled over near Wynford Drive and delivered the baby happy and healthy with the assistance of an EMS dispatcher over the phone.

I was on a mission to see just how un-jazz I could make my jazz festival experience this year, so I hauled ass to The Mod Club (722 College) on Wednesday night to see turntablist extraordinaire RJD2 (aka Philadelphia's Ramble John "RJ" Krohn).

Sadly, when I got there, the gentleman checking names at the door informed me that there were to be absolutely no photos of RJ himself. In order to get my camera in, I had to swear on a stack of vintage funk and R&B vinyl (and all else that is sacred) that I'd comply. Not wanting to violate any personal beliefs about soul theft, I contented myself with digging the tunes and shooting the openers.

TO's DJ T-Lo kicked it off with a 2-table set mixing up a lot of deeply funky hip hop records (lots of Tribe in the mix). Cool grooves, very laid back.

In this new column, we talk to musicians, sometimes about the music they make, sometimes about whatever tangent they happen to go off on. And once in a while we may talk to non-musicians as well, just to keep you on your toes.

We're going to kick the whole thing off this week with ten things you ought to know about one of the busiest musicians in town, guitarist Reg Schwager.

Dr. John and The Wild Magnolias bring N'awlins to T.O.

Last night at Nathan Phillips Square, the 22nd annual Toronto Jazz Festival officially kicked off with a wild night of music and dance from New Orleans.

For me, June has been a month of opening bands that are hard to follow, but I think The Wild Magnolias might be one of the biggest spectacles I have ever seen. When you get three guys across the front of the stage dressed up in full Mardi Gras Indian costumes, it would still be a great show if the band didn't even play a note.

This New Orleans combo is wickedly talented, though, and they burned down a funky bunch of N'awlins standards like "Iko Iko" and "Big Chief" that had the arguably older, more reserved Toronto crowd on their feet and dancing in the aisles for most of the set.

Winnipeg's Grand Analog aren't your typical hip hop outfit; mixing beatboxes and turntables with live musicians and incorporating elements from funk, reggae and rock with true sincerity, they've earned the distinction of being one of the few decidedly non-jazz acts to be invited to play the Toronto Jazz Festival.

"In this day and age, we're comfortably an eclectic mix," says front man Odario Williams from his new home in Toronto. "If you think about hip hop today, hip hop in 2008, in general, that definitely doesn't fit in a jazz festival; it should be in a club somewhere... but I think we're an exception to the rule. We're very much into musicianship and melody and I think that's what resonated with the jazz fest staff. Can't speak for them, but that's my assumption anyway."

With the school year soon coming to a close, the good folks of the award-winning contemporary, interdisciplinary theatre company Mammalian Diving Reflex have put together a simply incredible menu of real world experiences for the 647 kids of Parkdale Public School and the residents of West Queen West.

In what's being hailed as the duel in the 'dale, this multi-faceted event will mash-up the talents of generation Z students with their more established counterparts in the community. Here's a look at what's in store: