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Information
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forward this to anyone you think may be interested. For a full list
of past newsletters, see
http://www.to-music.ca/newsletter.htm
In this newsletter:
Event highlights include:
- "Triple African Festival", Aug. 29-30
- African Travel Expo, Sep. 1-3
- Labour Day Weekend: Irma Thomas, Wanda Jackson & Carlinhos
Brown/Brazilian Day
- Ethiopian New Year's, including a don't-miss appearance by
Getatchew Mekuria
Odds and Ends: notes, news, video, articles and books on:
- Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Johnny Otis, Khaled, Paul Simon
1. UPCOMING
Some quite notable events coming up in the next couple of weeks. Check
www.to-music.ca/events.htm for details on these, other events
and updates:
a) "Triple African Festival", Aug 29-30 on Bloor
The AfriVillage
Festival,
a street festival taking place along Bloor between Ossington &
Christie Pits for the last few years features food, crafts, kids activities,
music, etc. This year only, it’s been joined by two other festivals:
Michèzo!
International Festival, now in its 7th year and normally
held on the Toronto Islands, was postponed and moved this year to Bloor as a
result of the city strike.
The Toronto African Film and Music Festival,
originally planned for Ontario Place in May has for this year, split into
two parts and also relocated. The film portion will also join Afri-Village
with a number of African films, screened for free. Film details and schedule
on the TAFM website. (The music part of the festival is
scheduled to occur in November; details TBA).
Visit the festival links above for more info.
b) African Travel Expo: Sep 1-3
The first annual event is designed to promote Africa as a travel and
investment destination. It features numerous exhibitors from travel,
tourism, government and corporate sectors, and includes speakers and musical
entertainment daily at 12 noon (including Valu David & Alpha Rhythm Roots).
Sheraton Centre, 123 Queen St. W (across from City Hall). Free, 10-6pm each
day. See
http://www.africantravelexpo.com/
c) Labour Day Weekend: Sep. 4-7
A few highlights to send summer on its way. (If it hasn't left already)
Hot & Spicy Food Festival: Sep 4-7
The always popular Harbourfront Centre event takes up a long weekend
this year. Besides the food, one of the hot musical treats is a performance
(as well as a Q&A session) by Irma Thomas,
the great New Orleans R&B singer, making her first Toronto appearance in a
number of years. She has just this week released a new "50th anniversary"
CD, which includes a number of her recordings over the past half century,
plus a few new songs. Amazon has
samples from the CD. Watch Irma performing at her induction into the
Louisiana Music Hall of Fame
here.
Also featured: SalsAfrica, Rebirth Brass Band, Terence
Simien and of course many more acts. Details of the weekend
here. (It's all free).
Wanda Jackson: Sep 5
The Queen of Rockabilly (now almost 72), who earlier this year was
finally – and deservedly – elected to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, returns
for her annual show at the Cadillac Lounge. Here’s
a good 7 minute documentary done around the time of her HOF induction. (And
for a taste of Wanda today,
here
she is doing her classic "Fujiyama Mama").
Brazilian Day: Sep 7
New York City’s Brazilian Day, marking Brazil's Independence Day has become
a huge event, drawing over 1 million people to 46th Street each
year. Toronto gets its first taste this year with a big show in Yonge-Dundas
Square.
Brazilian music
superstars Carlinhos Brown
and Elba Ramalho join some of
Toronto's top Brazilian musicians like Batucada Carioca. Free, 2-7pm. Get a
video sample of Carlinhos
here. For more
info, see
http://www.braziliandaycanada.ca/
d) Ethiopian New Year's weekend: Sep. 12-13
There are always activities marking Ethiopian New Year's Day; this year
includes a very notable concert:
Getatchew Mekuria and the Ex: Sep. 12-13
Getatchew is the truly legendary Ethiopian sax player whose career began
60 years ago. (Vol. 14 of the superb Ethiopiques CD series is dedicated to
his music). In the past few years, he has teamed up with the Dutch punk/avant-garde band, The Ex. A documentary about their collaboration was screened at Harbourfront last summer the same night Mulatu Astatke performed on stage.
For more about the pairing, read
here and watch
(and listen) here.
The Saturday night show features Eritrean krar player Daniel Nebiat as
opener; Sunday's show opens with Canaille. Part of the Wavelength concert
series; details here.
Note: Saturday's show is (or soon will be) sold out. A rare opportunity.
Other New Year's events include:
Tamrat Desta at the
Opera House, Sep. 12
Celebrate New Year's late in Ethiopian style with the Ethiopian
singer, plus performances by Sarah Tesfai, Saba
Sabini (Jaivah/Nouvel Exposé), Ayt Band. Presented by Afrosonic
Entertainment. Doors are 9, but don't expect the show to start much before
midnight.
Ethiopian Day Celebration
Festival at Christie Pits
The annual festival began in 1999. Free, 10am-11pm, Bloor
opposite Christie subway station. More info
here.
e) Guelph Jazz Festival, Sep. 9-13
One of Southern Ontario's top festivals, this year's includes
Getatchew Mekuria/The Ex, Tanya Tagaq, Jah Youssouf & Abdoulaye
Koné, Jane Bunnett, Mr Something Something and many others --
not to mention a lot of jazz!
There's a lot more going on, including the always excellent, jam-packed
Small
World Music Festival, Sep. 24-Oct. 4; K'naan at the Phoenix on Sep. 18;
Madagascar Slim's CD release Sep. 27, and
don't forget the recently announced lineups at the soon-to-open
Koerner Hall, as
well as Massey Hall/Roy Thomson Halls. See www.to-music.ca/events.htm
for details on these and other shows.
2. ODDS & ENDS
a) "Didn't It Rain?"
Last week's torrential downpour (and the wet summer in general) brought to
my mind the song of that title by the great gospel singer, Sister Rosetta
Tharpe. Here's some
memorable footage of her doing the song in an English rain storm following
her entrance by horse-drawn carriage. Or watch her in a more "gospel"
setting, but with some of her blistering electric guitar doing
"Up Above My Head'"
For more of Sister Rosetta, I recommend the book
Shout Sister Shout
by Gayle Wald, and the compilation CD of her recordings, Up Above My Head.
Last year's Grammy-winning album by Allison Krauss and Robert Plant
included the haunting song, "Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us", whose opening
line is the title of one of Tharpe's classic songs, "Strange Things Are
Happening Everyday". Their song closes with
I hear Rosetta singing in the night
Echoes of light that shine like stars after they're gone
And tonight she's my guide as I go on alone
With the music up above
b) Johnny Otis
The video clip of Rosetta performing "Up Above My Head" inexplicably
finishes with a split second cut of R&B bandleader Johnny Otis sitting at
the piano. However, as long as he showed up, it's worth mentioning that his
1968 book, Listen to the Lambs, long out of print has just been
republished. The book's origins were a letter Otis wrote to a friend in
the wake of the 1964 Watts riots. The book explores his view of the riots,
their cause, and his passionate views on American society and racism, as
well as discussing his childhood and early musical exposure. It has great,
heartful and passionate writing, musical history, and a lot of humour.
Otis is one of the
great figures of R&B, primarily in his role as a bandleader who attracted great
singers and musicians. He recorded Big Mama Thornton in 1953 singing the
first version of "Hound Dog" (although Otis's co-writing credit was disputed
by Lieber and
Stoller). As the years went on, he recorded, toured with, and showcased some
of the greatest blues and R&B singers of the past decades.
Here's the rest
of that mini-clip of Otis, but in this one, it's Otis doing the singing of his one big pop
hit from 1958, "Willie and the Hand Jive" (That's the Three Tons of Joy
doing the Hand Jive, and Lionel Hampton on vibes). A later Otis can be seen
here at the 1970
Monterey Jazz Festival introducing Big Joe Turner. (Otis's set with Turner
and numerous other performers was recorded and released as a
great double LP)
c) Festival in the Desert... No, not that Festival, not
that desert...
It's unlikely you'll ever see this newsletter or website recommend a show at
someplace like Casino Rama, and so the chance of recommending one in Las
Vegas -- at the MGM Grand no less -- should be next to zero. But apparently
not zero...
Algerian rai star Khaled, whose newest CD, Liberté, is deservedly
being recognized as one of his greatest ever, will be at that spot on Nov.
21, headlining a show of Arab and North African artists. "I expect Las Vegas
to be for this one night the capital of Rai & Roll" he says in
this interview.
You can see him perform in
this 32 minute, hi-def clip from a concert earlier this year. (He opens
playing the accordion!)
d) Revisiting a classic
A friend sent me
this video link today of Paul Simon performing "Diamonds on the Souls of
Her Shoes" in Zimbabwe, 1987 with Ladysmith Black Mambazo. It's worth
remembering what a great job Simon did back then to collaborate with and
promote African musicians who were barely known here. His Graceland LP was
truly a landmark.
John Leeson www.to-music.ca
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