Covering African, world & roots music

NOTE: New pages are now located at www.to-music.ca
 

Old web pages:  Newsletter   Photos   Articles   Videos   Best of   Links

 
Web This website


 

T.O. Music Pix Newsletter #87: Aug. 28/09
Click here for information on subscribing and an index of past newsletters
 

 
 

Information on subscribing and unsubscribing to this newsletter is at the end. Please 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