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East Africa Relief concert: Aug. 25, Lula Lounge
Batuki Music Society invites you to ‘Msaada’, the East Africa Relief concert to benefit the Médicins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders Horn of Africa Crisis campaign taking place at the Lula Lounge on Thursday August 25th at 8 pm. ‘Msaada’ means help in the Kiswahili language, widely spoken in East Africa. The concert features a lineup […]
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Griot – a documentary
The Griot, a documentary by Volker Goetze focusing on Senegalese kora master and singer Ablaye Cissoko: The Griot directed by Volker Goetze by vgoetze
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RIP, Jerry Leiber
One half of one of the greatest pop music songwriting teams ever (with Mike Stoller), Jerry Leiber died today at the age of 78. They wrote and/or produced hits for Elvis, The Coasters, Big Mama Thornton (“Hound Dog”), Peggy Lee, Charles Brown, Ray Charles, Ben E King (“Stand by me”). They don’t come any better. […]
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RIP, Jack Layton
There have been so many tributes to this remarkable man who led such a remarkable life, that I can’t add much more here. And while I have many thoughts about how much he contributed to a better Canada, in the context of this website, I picture him at Afrofest. Frequenty there are politicians and dignitaries […]
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A musical prayer for Libya
For over 6 months, ordinary Libyans have sacrificed, fought and died in order to finally rid themselves of the terror & opression they’ve lived under for almost 42 years. At this point, victory & freedom for Libyans may finally be close. In the last week, towns and cities all over western Libya have been freed. […]
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Griot concert (Sep 17) & annual Mamaya Festival (Sep 24)
From Toronto’s Katenen “Cheka” Dioubaté, a griot originally from Guinea. Her annual Mamaya festival… TAMALA (Toronto African Music and Living Arts) TAMALA is proud to present the 6th annual MAMAYA Festival and Griot Night Concert on two Saturdays, September 17& 24, 2011 at the Centre for Culture, Arts, Media & Education at 918 Bathurst Street. […]
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Vintage Vinyl Party & Sale: Aug. 27
CKLN — Toronto’s oldest community radio station — has indeed fallen on hard times, but is still broadcasting music, news & community information, now just online at ckln.fm They do however, need funds to continue, to find office & studio space (see this blog post) and to maintain the equipment needed. They’re hosting a sale […]
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Njacko Backo: Children’s camp, Children’s book- Aug. 22-26
Summer’s not over yet. An opportunity for kids… Garrison Creek Art Centre’s African Safari, August 22-26 Njacko returns to the Garrison Creek Art Centre for a one week summer day camp where children will sing, dance, play music, and make an African animal sculpture! For photos from previous summer camps, and to see other camps […]
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St Louis Blues: Bessie Smith’s only movie
For no particular reason… The Empress of the Blues” in her only film appearance (what a shame!). Below are links to the full 15 minute 1929 film, built around her 1925 hit. It’s poor quality, but the opening gives you more evidence of how rotten her man is. This page has some background on the […]
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Aug. 11 notes
T.O. Music Pix on CKLN: A reminder that I’ll be doing a guest spot on Paul Corby’s “Corby’s Orbit” show on CKLN Friday, Aug. 12 around 1pm, featuring some music and talk. Tune in online to www.ckln.fm Also on the Internet this week While on the topic of Internet radio shows, I’m currently listening […]