Bringing harmony to St. James Town
Giving back through music.
Tenant musician Cliff Martin
Cliff Martin has a rich musical history. This jazz musician and tenant of 200 Wellesley Street East has performed in some legendary Toronto venues, like Massey Hall and the El Mocambo. Not only has he played with big acts like Muddy Waters and Ronny Hawkins, Cliff’s music has been featured in commercials for McDonald’s and Molson. He has also toured all over the U.S. and Europe.
Even with such a busy schedule, Cliff has found the time to be actively engaged with his community. Cliff is a former Toronto Community Housing (TCHC) tenant board member who served in the early 2000s. He’s currently Chair of the St. James Town Resident’s Association, which does a lot of great things. The Association puts together food hampers, loans out wheelchairs and walkers for tenants with mobility issues, and gives pet carriers to tenants who need to take their pets to the vet.
Sonny Terry (left) and Cliff Martin (right) at Convocation Hall
The food hamper program was particularly well-received. “My concept for the program was not so much to provide food as it was to help tenants save money,” said Cliff. “We scaled it up from 75 hampers to over 300, so that they filled the lobby of the building at one point. We provided food to 550 tenants monthly: 450 here and 100 at 240 Wellesley.”
A graduate of the University of Michigan with a master’s degree in music, Cliff’s influences include jazz greats like Miles Davis and Oscar Peterson. While he can play harmonica, trumpet, piano, and guitar, harmonica is his passion. He’s currently channeling his expertise and experience into creating a music program for kids and adults in his building.
Cliff Martin (left), Mike Mckenna (middle), and Keith Mckie (right) in the greenroom Yorkville, Heliconian Hall, Toronto
In the future, Cliff would like to see the city invest more into communities and thinks it’s important for people to get involved in making this happen. His advice to youth looking to get into community development is to stay in school and take advantage of programs that provide education about advocacy, like those offered by Social Planning Toronto.
After taking a break, Cliff has started to play music again. He shares that he wants to put together a café in his building featuring well-known poets and musicians. He mentions this initiative had success in the past, particularly with tenants suffering from mental health issues. “They enjoyed the music and the company, which can be tough to get in this environment,” he said.
To learn more about community advocacy in Toronto, visit socialplanningtoronto.org.
