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Notes: Mapfumo, Bombino, Ragovoy, Congotronics &…
Shows at the Lula last week As noted in another post, Thomas Mapfumo closed out Afrofest, but because some of his band members didn’t get visas for Canada, filled in with some local musicians (including guitarist Larry Lewis & Tich Maredza on bass). Mapfumo wasn’t happy with the struggles to get the tightness he wanted, […]
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Event notes for this weekend
Some events to consider this weekend: See alsowww.events.to-music.cafor more Jul. 22: Sexteto Tabala at the Lula Last weekend, Harbourfront held the Colombian Diaspora Festival (see Harbourfront blog for some video & photos) Friday night, the Lula hosts the Toronto debut of Sexteto Tabala, from San Basilio de Palenque (“the first free town in America”). The […]
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Afrofest replay: audio & video
A strange bout of flu made me miss my first Afrofest in years, but whether you were there or not, you can catch some of its performances. CIUT FM, as always, broadcast most of the two day festival, and has archived all the performances it broadcast. Listen here I talked to many people who were […]
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Afrofest schedule
The 2011 Afrofest schedule and a map of the site is here. Three stages, vendors, food, a Children’s Village and of course a beer garden. This year Wellesley St to the south and one lane of Queen’s Park Crescent to the east will be closed to traffic, expanding the size of the festival area and […]
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“Summer kicks off”: Upcoming highlights
Event listings have been updated. Check out www.events.to-music.ca for information on numerous shows through the summer. July this year keeps up its tradition of great music. Some shows to check out in the next couple of weeks: Details on the event listings page. Fri. Jun. 30: Kabakuwo at the Lula Mandingue music, featuring dual […]
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Afrofest in Queen’s Park 3 weeks away
Email announcement from Music Africa: AFROFEST AT QUEEN’S PARK ON JULY 9th & 10th Afrofest, a free celebration of the richness and diversity of African culture, is set for Queen’s Park in Toronto on Saturday July 9th and Sunday July 10th. Featuring world-renowned African musicians and top African groups based in Canada, an African marketplace, food and craft vendors, artistic displays, […]
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Yemen Blues, and other event and musical notes
Event notes: (See www.events.to-music.ca for full details of these and other upcoming shows & events) Luminato Festival is now in full swing, with events all over the map (figuratively and literally), including free concerts nightly at Metro Square (now David Pecault Square) at King & John, including Art of Time Ensemble, Delhi 2 Dublin with Malkit […]
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Desandann: Receiving long-deserved recognition
Sometime in the late 90’s, I first saw Grupo Vocal Desandann, a 10-member vocal group of Haitian descendants living in Camaguey Cuba. They played that night at Harbourfront, and I fell in love with their music. However, commercial success and wider critical notice has been sadly a long time in coming. Despite their alliance with […]
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Harboufront Centre summer music announced
One of the treats of summer: great music by the lake. Today, Harbourfront announced the lineups for the 2011 “Hot Spot Summer” music lineup. Lots of interesting and unique performers coming; details are in a press release posted here, and the main festival webpage is here. The theme weekends are: NXNE, Jun. 11-12 Franco-Fête, Jun […]
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May 21: “An Evening (and afternoon) for Bazou”
On Saturday, May 21, Njacko Backo & Valery Woloshyn are hosting their second benefit for École St. Albert Le Grand, the school Njacko attended as a child in Bazou Cameroon. The money raised from last year’s event provided some urgently needed infrastructure repairs to the school, and also funded the purchase of some traditional African […]