Summer (festivals): just around the corner: #1: Luminato

That early summer we had seems to have disappeared suddenly this week, but all the news of summer (and other) music festivals should keep you warm. Most notably, for this website is the news of the free music concerts at what may now be the  premiere annual arts event in Toronto: Luminato. Its free concerts, organized by Derek Andrews are often among the best of the year, and this year promises to be the best yet. (Enjoy the riches while you can… the recent provincial budget called for cutting Ontario’s contributions to Luminato over the next 2 years by 40%!) … Continue reading

WOMEX Award to the creator of “Ethiopiques”

WOMEX (the World Music Expo), which organizes and hosts the largest annual world music conference each fall today announced that the 2011 Professional Excellence Award has been given to Francis Falceto, the originator and curator of the great Ethiopiques CD series and “the music of Ethiopia’s greatest champion”. Some excerpts from the press release: Falceto has single-handedly brought Ethiopian music to the forefront of world music consciousness. In addition to the CD series that now numbers 27 volumes, he has organized concerts and tours, an annual festival in Addis Ababa, published the book “Abyssinie Swing”, created a documentary film of … Continue reading