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Roots of rock & roll: “hillbilly & blues/R&B”
I came across this 1951 video of the great Western Swing Band, Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys on Twitter recently (posted by Afropop Worldwide no less!), singing their 1930’s hit “Ida Red” — a song first recorded a decade earlier (by Fiddlin’ Powers and Family), and has roots back to an 1878 popular song, […]
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Bombino: Nov 29 concert archived online & interview
Update: Full audio of this concert is archived here The excellent new Tuareg guitarist, Omar Moctar, known as Bombino, played a blistering set this past July at the Lula Lounge, to a highly enthusiastic, but much-too-small audience. He’s touring again, but unfortunately will miss Toronto this time around. Catch him live online though, in a […]
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Odds, ends & catchups
As noted previously, I haven’t been able to post updates or newsletters recently. The events page (www.events.to-music.ca) now has extensive updates through the new year. Below are a few scatttered items that have been accumulating recently, in no particular order: “Music for Peace” Steve Paikin, on TVO’s “The Agenda” interviews David Buchbinder (Flying Klezmer Bulgar […]
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Twitter odds & ends
Some odds & ends,I’ve tweeted or re-tweeted recently…. I’m at @TOMusicPix nprmusicnprmusic Happy 75th Birthday, Buddy Holly. Hear the story of one of his biggest hits, “Peggy Sue.” http://n.pr/n6OX2D myworldmusicMyWorldMusicFriends CD Review: Rwanda’s Mighty Popo: Mighty Popo Gakondo Borealis Records read more http://bit.ly/qsDJHG » FelaMusicalFELA! on Broadway An early feature of Fela! […]
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Event notes: Aug 7
A few items to watch for. See www.events.to-music.ca for more about these and many other upcoming shows: Stella Chiweshe is the big news in African music here, with performances Aug. 13, 20 & 21 and workshops. See elsewhere on this page for details Aug. 11-14: Two festivals: The Brampton Global Jazz & Blues Festival featuring […]
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August Odds & Ends
“The Strange Alchemy of Fool’s Gold” on NPR A radio feature on the LA-based indie rock/African sounds/Hebrew lyrics band. They’re just about to release a new CD (lyrics in English this time), and will be coming to Toronto this fall for the Small World Music festival. (Sep 22-Oct 2). More from NPR: “The Music of […]
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Newport Folk & WOMAD festival: audio, video, photos online
Two major music festivals were held last weekend: The Newport Folk Festival and in England, WOMAD. Some info, audio, video and photos from those events: NEWPORT Most concerts are archived online on the NPR website. Last night, I enjoyed Ramblin’ Jack Elliott’s performance (with Pete Seeger guesting). One of a kind, and a true treasure. […]
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Newport Folk Festival: live (& archived) webcasts, Jul 30-31
NPR (National Public Radio) is webscasting this weekend’s Newport Folk Festival, starting at noon on Saturday & Sunday. A terrific lineup (see below). Details on the NPR website, along with links to archived webcasts from 2010 Saturday, July 30 All Times ET 6:00 pm: The Decemberists 5:50 pm: Pokey LaFarge 4:45 pm: Gillian Welch […]
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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, […]