In this issue:

1. This weekend:
   L'Orchestre Sepentrional from Haiti: concert & film
   More at Harbourfront's Hot Spot & Corso Italia
2. Other events:
   a) Afrofest next weekend: lineup updates
   b) Other shows: Lula this month & others
   c) Congolese stars on July 25
3.Down the road: Eliades Ochoa & the "original" Buena Vista Social Club
   Eliades Ochoa at the Lula; and a dream African-Cuban lineup.
4. "Wavin' Flag" the World Cup and original versions
 

A quick weekend event update
See event page for more details on these and many other shows.

1. This weekend:

A reminder of Harbourfront's "Hot Spot" on this weekend. A highlight will be tonight's "double bill" of L'Orchestre Septentrional, the 18-piece band that goes back 60 years. Quoting Harbourfront's page, the band has 'made music through dictatorships, democratic interludes, coup d'etats and chaos. Their music and legacy in 2010 is all the more poignant as the country heals from one of the worst natural disasters in its history."

At 7pm, excerpts of the forthcoming documentary on the group, When the Drum is Beating (info here), and at 9pm, the group takes the stage. Details here. See some video of them here.

Sunday, "salsa rockers" from Columbian, la-33 play at 5pm. Info here. There's much more going on; check the Hot Spot link above.
 

Also, Saturday & Sunday, Corso Italia street festival on St. Clair features an excellent musical lineup (among other attractions).

 

2. Coming Up:

b) Next weekend: Afrofest!

An event that needs no introduction or promotion here... always one of the best weekends of the year. 

There have been some lineup changes, so check Music Africa's website for the latest, and also my event page.  Among the recent additions: The Occidental Brothers Dance Band International, who will be joined by East African music giant Samba Mapangala. They joined together in 2008 to record one of the best of the "Obama songs" of that year, "Obama Ubankiwe". Other performers include Zimbabwe's Chiwoniso, JP Busé from Congo (and former singer in Zaiko Langa Langa), Masaisaia, and many others. More details TBA soon.

 

b) Other events coming up soon:

As noted in the last newsletter, the Lula has a particularly interesting lineup this month, including:

• Las Alegres Ambulancias, a Columbian group whose history goes back to 1905 will do a workshop July 6, and performance July 8
• Boi Akih July 7 (music from India, Africa, Europe & the Moluccan islands)
• Mamak Khadem, July 9. Trance music with Persian roots
• Tien-Juicani, July 13. Music based on the folk harp from Veracruz Mexico
• Ensamble Sinsonte, July 18. From Columbia, this is their first visit to Canada
• Orquestra Fantasia, July 24. Tribute to the music of Columbia

And elsewhere in the next week or two, a few shows of note:

• Grupo Fantasma, July 8, Horseshoe
• Sleepy LaBeef, July 10, Dominion on Queen
• Gypsophilia, July 9, Hugh's Room
• James McMurtry, July 13 at Lee's Palace
• Ruth Mathiang & Waleed Kush, July 15 (noon) at Nathan Phillips Square
• "Expressions of Brazil" weekend at Harbourfront, July 16-18
   

And as noted in the last newsletter, a remarkable several days of music beginning July 19 with Jimmy Cliff, then featuring a jam-packed schedule of African acts.

 

c) Congolese Stars:

The 2-day annual Bana Y'AFrica festival (see events page for lineup) closes Sunday night with one of Africa's great female singers, M'Bilia Bel from Congo. This might be her first real performance in Toronto with a proper band. A rare treat. Watch some video of her here.

When she finishes her set, you can wander a bit east for some more top-notch Congolese music. The great guitarist, Diblo Dibala, will bring his band & dancers to the just-opened Centre Matonge club at 224 Parliament at Shuter, operated by the same folks who organize the  Bana Y'Africa festival.

 

3. Down the road: Eliades Ochoa & the "original" Buena Vista Social Club

Eliades Ochoa, the Cuban guitarist (Cuarteto Patria, Buena Vista Social Club), who sold out two nights in April at the Royal Theatre will be performing in the more intimate Lula Lounge on Aug. 20. Show details TBA

And in related news:

As noted here previously when discussing the ngoni player Bassekou Kouyaté, the project that eventually evolved into the Buena Vista Social Club originally had much different intentions. The plan was to connect top African and Cuban musicians: Eliades Ochoa, Malian guitarist Djelimady Tounkara and Bassekou Kouyaté. Unfortunately, passport mixups prevented the Africans from travelling to Cuba, and the idea changed to that of recording many of the older Cuban musicians.

13 years later, they finally did get together, and a CD, AfroCubism will be out later this year, featuring the original 3, plus kora master Toumani Diabaté, and one of West Africa's greatest voices, Kasse Mady Diabaté along with other African and Cuban musicians.

They will be touring North America this November. Most details and dates are not yet announced. No sign yet of them coming to Toronto, but tickets are on sale for a Nov. 5 Montreal show, and Nov. 9 in New York.

I already have my tickets for the New York performance!

Some info at www.afrocubism.com, and a video of their first recording is here. (This song is definitely of the "cubism" flavour).

 

4. "Wavin' Flag": Then and now

With the World Cup in full swing, K'Naan's "Waving Flag" of course still gets frequent play as one of the event's "official" songs. However, it started out life with quite a different flavour.

Here is the current version, with lyrics

And the original, filmed at the Bonnaroo Festival in 2008.