Canada Listens: Jacksoul
Actor Kim Roberts champions Jacksoul's album Sleepless in Canada Listens 2022
Kim Roberts is a highly accomplished and sought-after actor whose considerable talents have landed her roles in everything from The Handmaid's Tale to Paw Patrol (Mayor Goodway!), along with roles in Schitt's Creek, Being Erica, The Doodlebops, and Saw III and IV. In Canada Listens 2022, Roberts will have to cut through stiff competition if she wants her chosen Canadian soul classic to win it all.
"Jacksoul were revolutionary at the time just in their formation, the type of music they embraced, and the genre they created and brought to the Canadian scene," Roberts extols passionately.
Jacksoul was an extremely successful R&B/soul group, forming in 1995 in the band's hometown of Toronto. After its first album, Absolute, in 1996, the band went on an incredible run when it came to the Juno Awards: Jacksoul won three consecutive Junos for its second, third, and fourth albums in the category of R&B/soul recording of the year in 2001, 2007 and 2010. That first win in 2001 was for Sleepless, Jacksoul's album released in 2000, which Kim Roberts has chosen to champion for Canada Reads 2022. It contains the hit "Can't Stop," which hit No. 8 on the Canadian Top 40.
Canada Listens is hosted by CBC Music's Saroja Coelho. She will guide the panellists through four radio shows of passionate debate. Each day, starting Monday, April 11 on CBC Music (8 a.m. on Mornings, 5 p.m. repeat on Drive) the panellists will vote to remove one album from the group, leaving one album spinning on Thursday, April 14.
A special two-hour version, highlighting the best of the 2022 Canada Listens debate, will air on CBC Radio One on Monday, April 18 at 4 p.m. (4:30 NT).
The Canada Listens winner becomes the one album Canada needs to hear. The contenders this year include:
- Bruce Cockburn's Further Adventures Of, championed by "Survivorman" Les Stroud.
- Mustafa's When Smoke Rises, championed by comedian Dave Merheje.
- Crown Land's Crown Lands, championed by poet Erica Violet Lee.
- Ria Mae's Ria Mae, championed by Olympic athlete Stephanie Labbé.
- Jacksoul's Sleepless, championed by actor Kim Roberts.
Which Canadian album would you suggest? Tweet us @CBCMusic with #CanadaListens and let us know!
