Why is it that Toronto has so many good male folk singers but very few of the other gender? Girl folk singers that are any good are about as scarce as a cheap cup of coffee in the Village.

But then there's Joani Anderson, a young Edmontonian who just arrived here this summer. I saw her at The Place where she was filling-in for ailing Al Cromwell.

She performs with a pleasant Baez-like voice, clear and with a natural beauty. Establishments like The Place are not a good showcase for her talent. She'll be quietly singing a soft lyrical number and suddenly the fellow at the counter will rudely operate the coffee-machine making it sound like a steam boiler blowing off.

But Joani's voice charmed the audience even under those conditions.

She accompanies herself completely on the guitar and something called a Maritime Tiplie ukelele which merely looks like a shrunken guitar with 10 strings.

She'll be at the YMCA's Back Door Club in the Yonge Eglington area tomorrow and soon at the Half Beat when that Avenue Road coffee house institutes a permanent entertainment policy.