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In this issue:
1. Juno Nominations include African Guitar Summit and Mr. Something
Something
2. Vieux Farka Touré Feb. 10
3. More events
4: Other: K'naan on Somalia; recent photos posted.
1. 2007 JUNO
NOMINATIONS:
Congratulations to two (mainly)
Toronto-based African groups nominated for a 2007 Juno in the World
Music Category: The African Guitar Summit, winners of the 2005 Juno, and
Mr. Something
Something, with their first nomination.
The full list of
nominees is here.
The awards will be announced April 1.
2. VIEUX FARKA TOURÉ: Feb. 10
I've mentioned Saturday's concert by the
son of Ali Farka Touré in past newsletters. His Saturday show may well be
one of the concert highlights of 2007. Since his debut on the world music
stage last fall, he has been receiving extensive press coverage, and rave
reviews about his new CD -- and his performances, now that he has kicked off
his CD Release tour.
Here's a take posted on a world music list
this week:
I had the privilege of seeing Vieux perform one night last week in Brooklyn,
where he and his locally-based band did a "dress rehearsal" for the CD release
tour, which began last Friday. This young man is not only his father's son
(i.e., carrying the Toure mantle), but clearly has what it takes to be a true
star in his own right. I was completely blown away - by his musicianship, stage
presence, and the ease with which he travels the continuum of Malian blues and
then carries it forward into as yet uncharted territory. Can you tell I was
impressed? And that's not easily done...
Sean Barlow, of Afropop Worldwide wrote:
Vieux
Farka
Toure debuted this weekend at Wesleyan
University. Wow!
Hotshot guitarist. Way charismatic stage presence. Playing repertoire
from his debut album "Vieux
Farka
Toure" (World Village) as well as
several pieces from his father's songbook. Great project. (I also saw
the debut of his remix project at a swanky club in Manhattan that had the
20-something crowd (imagine that!) cranking on the dance floor.)
Here's Barlow's report and photos:
http://www.afropop.org/multi/feature/ID/687
John Goddard who has written previous
articles in the Toronto Star about Touré (and his Toronto
connection), today
(Feb. 8)
features a recent interview he did with the musician. This week's
NOW also has an
article. The Rock, Paper Scissors website has extensive
links to press coverage and reviews, and also a
profile of VFT.
See Harbourfront's
Kuumba page for more
info (and video), and you can visit
Vieux Farka
Touré's website, for more,
including audio and video clips
3. FRIDAY DILEMMA
The problem of Black History Month: too few
days; too much music. Take this Friday for example. What to do? You need to
choose among:
- Fojeba (Cameroonian
guitarist/singer Jean-Baptiste Fojeba and his group) play at the second
of Music Africa's free African music events (every Friday in February).
7-10pm.
- Adam Solomon & Tikisa head up a
night of South African wine tasting and East African foods at the Safari
Village Restaurant. Wine and food start at 7; Tikisa at 10:30. 1690
Danforth Ave. (near Chester).
Adam's show at the Safari last December was one of my favourites
of 2006. Photos
here.
- Or, catch jazz giant Joe Sealy,
with Waleed Abdulhamid and others at the Trane Studio on Bathurst,
in the 7th annual Nubian Messenger: From Nubia to Africville series.
9pm.
- Blues? Magic Slim and the Teardrops are at the Silver
Dollar.
- Or, head to Harbourfront for the kickoff of their jam-packed
Kuumba weekend. Friday night features Jay Douglas and the
All-Stars and more.
- Just can't get out? You can catch the African Guitar Summit's
February Glenn Gould concert on "The World in Performance", 8-10pm on
CBC Radio 2.
If you plan your time and route, you should be able to catch more than one
event.
4. OTHER EVENTS:
A small sample below. Check
http://to-music.ca/events.htm
for details on these, and many more events.
Tonight (Feb. 8), two fundraisers:
Now: Worlds of Music Winter Workshops
are now beginning. Learn a new musical skill from some of Toronto's top
musicians and teachers. A huge array of styles including South Indian & Jazz
singing, Georgian singing, East & West African drumming, Klezmer, Brazillian,
Latin, Canadian fiddling, Calypso songwriting and a lot more. Most courses
are 8 weeks, and they offer a $20, "try-once" feature.
Visit Worlds of Music for details.
Feb. 16: Tamsir Seck, Kassoum Diamoutene
and
Katenen Diobaté at the Gladstone, 7-10. Free.
Feb. 16 & 17: Odetta's shows
at Hugh's Room have been cancelled, as she is ill.
Feb. 15:
African Dance Ensemble performs
"Joy of Mama Africa": drumming, dance and song, Feb. 15 at the Lula Lounge.
Feb. 20: Johnny Clegg at the
Danforth Music Hall
Feb. 23: Njacko Backo at
the Gladstone, 7-10. Free.
Feb. 24: Winter Bana Y'Africa is
back. This year with Tamsir Seck, Pekocé and Star Five (Soukous). Tranzac
Club.
Also,
check NOW Magazine's extensive
Black History Month listings
5. OTHER NOTES
a) Catch
K'Naan talking about Somalia in two places:
a) The cover story of
the Feb. 1 NOW:
"Talking Back to the Empire: From Mogadishu to Rexdale and Back
Again"
b) He appeared on CBC TV's The Hour Jan. 17, talking with
George Stroumboulopoulos about the current situation in Somalia. See
the interview
here. (Note: the video clip may not work in Firefox. Blame
the CBC).
b) Recent photos posted. See
http://to-music.ca/photos.htm
The Jan. 26 Music Africa tribute to
Boubacar Diabaté at the NOW Lounge, with a long list of performers. It was a
great show, packed with over 4 hours of almost non-stop music. It's early in
the year, but it may be on my list of best live events of 2007.
Feb. 2: Daniel Nebiat ("Danny"); Eritrean
krar player at the Gladstone.
Feb. 3: Tamsir Seck at Earthsong.
John Leeson
www.to-music.ca
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