Benefit for Billy Bryans tonight at Lula

A reminder of the night for Billy Bryans tonight at the Lula Lounge. The producer, musician, publicist, promoter, DJ and friend of music (especially Cuban and Latin music in recent years) has been suffering from lung cancer for some time and is now in palliative care. His impact to the local music scene has been significant enough that Errol Nazareth wrote News that Billy Bryans is once again fighting lung cancer and receiving palliative care has galvanized the music community in a way I haven’t witnessed in all the years I’ve been covering the city’s various scenes. Last Saturday, Garvia … Continue reading

The crisis in Mali, Tuareg music and rebellion

For some people, when you say “Timbuktu”, it is like the end of the world, but that is not true. I am from Timbuktu, and I can tell you we are right at the heart of the world. — Ali Farka Touré. from the liner notes to his 1994 album, Talking Timbukutu In 1994, I was looking forward to seeing the great Malian guitarist for the first time, in a concert with American Ry Cooder, with whom he had recorded the above CD. However, not long before that concert, word came out that Touré had cancelled his tour, because of … Continue reading

Okavango African Orchestra concert broadcast on CBC’s Canada Live on April 20 & 22

From Batuki Music (www.batukimusic.com): Canada Live on CBC Radio will broadcast the Okavango African Orchestra concert featuring Daniel Nebiat (Eritrea – krar/vocals), Donne Roberts (Madagascar – guitar/vocals), Pasi Gunguwo (Zimbabwe – marimba/mbira/vocals), Kooshin (Somalia – kaban/vocals), Sadio Sissokho (Senegal – kora/tama/djembe/vocals), Waleed Abdulhamid (bass/vocals) and Walter Maclean (Ghana – percussion) on the following dates: Wednesday, April 20 – Canada Live at 7:00 pm on CBC Radio 2, 94.1 FM in Toronto (check the CBC website for frequencies elsewhere – http://www.cbc.ca/frequency/) Friday, April 22 – Canada Live at 2:00 pm on CBC Radio 1, 99.1 FM in Toronto (check the CBC … Continue reading