TAURO, the collaboration between jazz pianist and singer-songwriter Cynthia Tauro and Brendan Canning (Broken Social Scene), share their debut single “Great Minds”. The duo found its genesis in the summer of 2022 during the uncertainty of the pandemic. Brendan coming from the indie rock world, and Cynthia from the Toronto jazz world, having just released her debut album.

The laid-back alternative R&B track speaks to a long lasting love between two people. Of the track, TAURO reflects, “They know they shouldn’t be together, but somehow the feeling of them still lingers”. Combining R&B drums with Cynthia’s soothing harmonies, layered with Brendan’s vocals, “Great Minds” harkens back to the days of trip-hop and finds itself in the spirit of such legendary groups as Air and Zero7.

MORE ABOUT TAURO

Cynthia Tauro has been active in the Toronto music scene for the better part of the last decade, playing primarily in the jazz circuit. Shortly after completing her degree in jazz performance at Carleton University, she released a debut full-length titled Moments. It was met with modest acclaim but more importantly it introduced her to some heavy hitters in the scene like Guido Basso, Robi Botos and Terry Clarke.

Fast forward a couple years and a few hundred gigs later, including a stint in the stage production of Mama Mia, Cynthia was looking for some new and untapped avenues to explore. She sparked a friendship with Brendan Canning in 2022 at Field Trip Music Festival in downtown Toronto and immediately felt a spark as the music of Lucy Dacus played in the background. The conversation quickly turned to writing songs together and it was clear a path was being laid out.

Cynthia began coming over to Brendan’s home for impromptu jams while the two tried to figure each other’s musical worlds out. In Brendan’s words, “It wasn’t until Cynthia started playing what she called ‘intervals’ that I truly started to see where we could connect on a deeper level.” Those ‘intervals’ would eventually become the song “Great Minds”.

This fruitful partnership is already scheming for the future. Multiple recording sessions with Spencer Muscio (Jessie Reyez), Kintaro Akyama (Birds of Bellwoods), Juwayon Clarke (Daniel Caesar), and Little Scream mean there’s more music on the way in the very near future.

MORE ABOUT BRENDAN CANNING

Brendan Canning is the co-founder of multi JUNO Award winning, 2x Polaris Music Prize nominated internationally acclaimed group Broken Social Scene who have just celebrated their twenty year anniversary. He has three solo albums under his belt and has been part of numerous bands over the last three decades including hHead, Len, By Divine Right and Cookie Duster. Canning's film credits span Half Nelson, It’s Kind of a Funny Story, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, the Netflix series Spinning Out and more.

Quietly, he’s known as the “Butter Tart Guy” from the 90s smash hit, “Steal My Sunshine” and also the DJ who’s played every bar, warehouse, backyard, booze can and roof top since 1998. Today he splits his time between Tauro, Broken Social Scene, composing for film, and music director at the Drake Hotel in Toronto.