Connell steps in to steer CFQR AM Radio; Curb star coming to The Fringe

It looks like the new CFQR AM 600 Radio station is getting closer to making its presence felt on the airwaves. New owner Phil Richards is completing work on a local studio in the suburbs, added the Trent Out Loud entertainment hour at 11 am weekdays and a Caribbean music show weeknights from 9 pm to 11 pm. That schedule has recently been expanded to include a “Hear it Again” rebroadcast of Trent Out Loud at 8 pm weekdays, which rolls into three hours of Caribbean and World Beat sounds running to midnight, seven days a week. Now comes news that radio veteran Jim Connell has agreed to step in as an operational consultant and likely program director. He hosted a short-lived morning show under the previous ownership and of course has been a fixture in the business for decades.

For now the station will continue to predominantly play nostalgic music from the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s. But Connell told me he hopes to help deliver a full service radio station, with local on air personalities, by the beginning of the summer. “For the past seven years this station has been nothing more than a jukebox hooked up to a transmitter,” he said. “There is a lot of work to do, from CRTC record keeping to the purchase of equipment. We will have a studio to work out of, but plenty of our contributors will be able to work remotely as well. There is definitely room for another AM station in Montreal and we certainly have a lot of talent available who can fill out our roster when the time comes.”

CURB HER ENTHUSIASM: Did you watch the final episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm last week, with the incredible Larry David? Iris Bahr appeared in one of the series’ most talked about episodes in season five, playing an orthodox Jewish woman named Rachel stuck on a ski lift with Larry. Bahr reappeared in the finale in a court scene where all of the characters Larry wronged spoke against him. Bahr happens to be a popular stand-up comic who reached out to me to announce that she will be here June 6 to 16 to appear in the Montreal Fringe Festival. “Being in the finale was a gift,” she told me. “Rachel is by far my most favourite role on TV and knowing this was the finale of such a legendary series made it all the more exciting and emotional.”

ART BY THE WATER: The artists of the “Art By The Water Exhibition” and Canadian and internationally known fashion designer Simon Chang will team up to invite the public to attend the 15th art sale at the Beaconsfield Yacht Club on Friday, April 26 with a special vernissage from 6 pm to 9 pm. The art sales continues on Saturday and Sunday. There is no admission charge and everyone will have a chance to win a painting. Approximately 200 paintings will be up for sale, with partial proceeds from the artists to benefit a specific project for special needs children, teens and young adults through The Simon Chang Foundation for Change.

ONLINE EXTRA: Do you visit our website or have you downloaded our app? There is so much to explore. See my Cohen Confidential blog for a recap of The Festival de La Voix on the West Island and my Entertainment Notebook. As well, our FYI digital magazine is now online. My contributions include a Society column looking back on the festivities preceding the St. Patrick’s Day parade, a review of first-time local author Sivan Slapak’s fantastic new novel Here is Still Here and a look back on the McGill Medical Direction’s Physician Wine and Cheese event. The latter group is composed of aspiring medical students.