T.O. Music Pix Newsletter #100: Jan. 14/10 Click here for information on
subscribing and an index of past newsletters
It's certainly unfortunate that the first newsletter of the new year
-- and #100 at that -- mostly focuses on loss, death and other
disasters.
NOTE: It's likely there will be no newsletters, and few
website updates for the next month. Check some of the links on the
events pages for other sources of event info.
There is little I can add about the horror
we've all seen, although it is worth echoing Governor-General
Michaelle Jean's words yesterday:
Now more than ever, it is time for
us to show our solidarity with the most vulnerable people in
the Americas, our brothers and sisters in Haiti, whose
courage is once again being so harshly tested.
It is indeed time to show solidarity and
support, and what is most needed is MONEY to
assist those relief organizations who are already responding to
this disaster. The federal government today announced it would
match Canadians' donations (up to $50 million). See FAQ
here. The CBC website lists some of the major, experienced
organizations on
this page (with links to their Haiti donation pages); choose
whichever of them you prefer.
You can also donate via text message on your
cell phone. $5 per donation. See this
webpage for an example (iPhones not required!)
As well, the Lula Lounge was
originally planning a "Pay What You Can" night on Friday (Jan.
15) with a double-bill of Dominic Mancuso (8pm) and "Descarga
with Roberto Linares Brown and DJ Alberth Moreno" (10pm).
Instead, it will be a "Donate What You Can", and the Lula will
collect money for relief efforts in Haiti.
Hugh's Room
will also be organizing a benefit, to be announced in the next
day or two.
Sat. Jan. 16, 12-5pm: "Unified Relief Effort
for Haiti's Earthquake Victims":
An information session and opportunity for
action and donations. Among the organizations present: World
Vision Canada, Canadian Red Cross, Save the Children, Third
World Awareness, Pierspective Entraide Humanitaire. North York
Civic Centre, 5100 Yonge St. (5 blocks north of Sheppard, at
North York Centre subway station) Information:
416 919-5995 or 1-877-968-2889. See poster at left.
In relation to the
situation in Haiti, the death of one single person seems so small, but
certainly one of the saddest pieces of musical news I've
heard in years was
the notice of Lhasa's death on New Year's Day.
A unique and superb talent, her death from breast cancer was all the more
tragic for happening to such a young (37) person.
One of the more memorable live performances
I've attended in years was her February, 2004 show in the intimate setting of
Hugh's Room. She played Toronto again that fall in the larger Winter Garden,
and as far as I know, had not played here since. Her appearances were few
and very far between.
Those shows had followed up her 2003 release,
The Living Road. As has been often noted recently, she had
"disappeared" from the music business for a few years following her
acclaimed debut, La Llorona, to travel with her sisters' circus in
Europe. However when she came back, she did it superbly. The Living
Road had recently been named on more than one list of the Top 10 world music
releases of the decade, including The Times of London (who ranked
it #3)
David Dacks
wrote about her
in the Jan. 7 Eye Weekly, and from the UK, Peter Culshaw on "the arts
desk" website
extends an article and interview with her which he had originally
written in 2004 after seeing her live in London. The page also includes
contributions by Robert Sandall about how she ended up in Montreal, and
finally, a moving essay on The Living Road by Howard Male. ("Lhasa’s
music seems to be all about time and place, and longing and exploring, and
fear and shadows, and light and darkness; about how all these different
realms, different states, make up the human experience, and how they all
have to be welcomed and embraced.")
The Living Road ends with "Soon This
Space Will be Too Small", a song which she frequently ended her shows with
at the time. She introduced it recalling her father's observation that to a
fetus, birth must seem like the end of the world.
Soon this space will be too small
And I'll go outside
To the huge hillside
Where the wild winds blow
And the cold stars shine
I'll put my foot
On the living road
And be carried from here
To the heart of the world
...
From a 2004 interview by Malachy O'Neill
following the same performance Peter Culshaw references:
Q: The
last song, Soon This Space Will Be Too Small, is quite a showstopper. It
felt like the only thing to do was to walk out in silence and carry the
echo of it…
A: I’m glad. That’s very much on purpose, the way that the show is
constructed. The way it’s more sad and melancholy at the beginning and
then it kind of warms up a bit, going through all these different moods
and feelings. Then at the end it really lets loose and gets very
energetic. With the last song I always feel like we’re taking all of
that energy and bringing it back down again so that people walk out with
the music continuing on inside of them.
That song, Soon This Space Will Be Too Small, is kind of a turning point
for me, it feels magical. It’s like alchemy or something; it’s different
from everything else that I’ve ever written… Maybe if I say something
general I’ll end up disagreeing with myself, but what I was going to say
was that a lot of the other songs seem very caught up in human emotions
and suffering and stuff like that. And that song seems to go deeper than
emotion, to something else, something more mysterious…
Some video of her performing in
Montreal, April 2009:
Since the demise of Global Rhythm, The Beat was the last North
American world music magazine. As of December, there are none. After 28
years, The Beat, which specialized in reggae but covered a broad
spectrum of music from around the world closed up shop.
Sterns Music's record store
in London, England -- one of the world's landmarks of African music --
closed last fall. Sterns is both a music label and one of the great sources
of African music.
To combine two of the items
in this theme, a friend recently told the story of meeting Charlie Gillett
many years ago while in London. They went to Sterns, and, in looking for
suggestions from one of the gurus of this music, asked Charlie to pick out
"5 of his best" from the large Sterns selection. She walked away with more
than 5. Fortunately, both Charlie and Sterns are still around, but in
different formats...
Read Sterns story
on their website (Not --
at this point -- updated to reflect the store closing).
The British DJ is one of the icons of world
music, who unfortunately has been struggling recently with health problems.
Over the years, this newsletter has often cited his radio shows (available
on the Internet). His old weekly show on Radio London was a real gem:
eclectic, wide-ranging, informative and fun. Its core was often his "Radio
Ping Pong" feature where he and a guest would trade playing musical
selections for each other. His Christmas Day show from several years ago
with Mavis Staples was one of my favourite radio broadcasts of all time.
(And is the reason Mavis is the December photo on my
2010 photo calendar). Lhasa was his guest
one night, and she performed an impromptu version of Sam Cooke;'s "A Change Is Gonna Come".
However, one night following a show that featured K'naan as his guest, he
suddenly left the show due to health issues.
Although he continued (and
still continues) to do
a 30-minute show for the BBC World Service, its restrained time and format
can't capture the spirit of the earlier show.
A few years ago, he and two other DJ's took
over a weekly show, "World on 3"; they each did 2 weeks in a rotation.
The musical selections were not as varied as on his old show (no
doubt if the BBC listed it as "world music", that's what they expected --
whatever "that" is), but Radio Ping Pong made its return, as did his weekly
guests.
However, very suddenly, he announced (to
his own surprise) that he would have to leave that show as well because of
health. His last radio show is available online through the evening of Friday, Jan. 15. Charlie's note
about his departure, along with a link to the
podcast is
here.
Ironically, his
website and
forum have just in
the last few days recovered from a serious attack from an unknown hacker(s).
One or the other was offline much of the time since mid-November.
My appreciation of Charlie, written when he
left his Radio London show is here,
and a profile from fRoots magazine is reprinted
here.
After such a distressing
newsletter, here are a few more positive items...
Ali Farka Touré & Toumani Diabaté: a new CD release coming
Their first duo release,
In the Heart of the Moon won a
Grammy,
and in February, World Circuit will be releasing
another album,
Ali and Toumani, with the late Cuban bassist Orlando "Cachaito" Lopez. Watch a video
clip of the single "Kala Djula" (now available online)
here; for more
info, see
this World Circuit page.
Baaba Maal
videos
A
new video
from his current release, Television has just been
released. Baaba will, of course, be making his first Toronto
appearance in 6 years in April. In
another
video, Afropop Worldwide's Banning Eyre interviews Baaba
about Television. Afropop also has online
a recording of Baaba Maal's from his moving acoustic tour in
2002, at Joe's Pub in New York City.
Songlines
magazine in he UK sponsors annual awards for world music. The nominees are selected by readers' online voting among
candidates in four categories: Best Artist, Best Group,
Cross-Cultural Collaboration, and Newcomer. Eligible artists are
those who had albums reviewed in Songlines during 2009. The top
four from each category will be published in their April/May
issue, and the winner selected by a jury.
Voting is open through the end of
January; click the link above to vote.
Despite
everything, there are plenty of exciting musical events coming
to town this winter. Check the event page for details. Among the
highlights are:
Maple Blues
Awards, Jan. 18: The 13th annual awards for Canadian blues
artists, this year the event will be held at Koerner Hall.
Details
here.
Teddy Afro,
Jan. 23. A huge event for Ethiopian music fans. One of the
most popular singers in Ethiopia, his 2010 tour is greatly
anticipated by fans. A strong critic of the Ethiopian
government, his 2008 arrest and conviction for hit-and-run
manslaughter was seen by many as politically motivated. He was
released in August of 2009. Read Afropop's account of Teddy's tour
here.
Black History
Month: There is always a full plate of concerts in February.
Music Africa is presenting free shows every Friday at the
Gladstone (Masaisai, Njacko Backo, Adam Solomon & Kwesi Salassie),
along with a special celebration of African's first World Cup,
plus a tribute to the late Tarig Abubakar. Plus Harbourfront's
14th annual Kuumba Festival. (Besides the live music events, I
highly recommend the film, Soul Power, being shown on Feb. 6 and
7.
This is a
documentary of the 12-hour, 3-day concert in Kinshasha, Zaire
featuring (among a large lineup), James
Brown, The Crusaders, Celia Cruz & the Fania All Stars, Miriam
Makeba, Franco & OK Jazz, Tabu Ley Rochereau, BB King, Bill
Withers, The Spinners. The event was in preparation for for the
famous Muhammed Ali-George Foreman "Rumble
in the Jungle", and the documentary was put together from footage
rescued & reconstructed from unused outtakes of the award
winning documentary When We
Were Kings.
