Category Archives: Artists

Information, comments, news, etc about artists and other “musical players”

Achilla Orru: Tribute in Globe & Mail & UPDATE re: April 7 event

  March 18, 2013 - 9:28 pm | , ,
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A wonderful tribute to the late Achilla Orru (see post below) in the March 19 Globe & Mail‘s “Lives Lived“. Written by his friend & fellow Ugandan-Canadian Opiyo Oloya, who is also known by all African music supporters in the Toronto area. Many harried Toronto subway commuters likely never knew his name, where he came from, his mother tongue, or his deepest love. To them, Achilla Orru Apaa-Idomo was the blind black man with the sweet voice who played music on the funny-looking instrument in the station. Tribute/Fundraiser, April 7 A tribute to, and fundraiser for his wife and children will … Continue reading →

RIP King Achilla Orru Apaa-idomo

  February 10, 2013 - 2:18 pm | , , ,
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Written while listening to Achilla’s 2004 CD, Dho-Mach (Sacred Gift)… The Ugandan and Canadian world music communities received sad news this past week, that lukeme player Achilla Orru passed away at the age of 53. apparently as the  result of heart disease. Some information about his passing is on this page, written by Davies Bagambiire. This page contains some biographical & music information. Achilla’s wife, Rose, lives in Uganda, but had just recently been granted a visa to enter Canada. There are fundraising efforts beginning to help her and their three sons  (aged between 2 and 6) to get to Canada. … Continue reading →

Townes Van Zandt tribute (from No Depression)

  January 16, 2013 - 10:22 pm | , ,
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Last week, Kevin Norton wrote a tribute on the No Depression website to the great Texas singer-songwriter, Townes Van Zandt, who died New Year’s Day, sixteen years ago. This sentence captured some of the flavour of his talent, his music, and his demons: If there was ever a musician that fit the mold of Robert Johnson’s blues man making a demonic bargain at a crossroads at midnight for his talent and then looking over his shoulder, terrified, as he fled for the rest of his life from some hell hound only he could see, it was Townes. Read the article … Continue reading →

Roots of rock & roll: “hillbilly & blues/R&B”

  October 19, 2012 - 11:51 pm | , ,
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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, “Sunday Night”. The video is a terrific capture of one of the seminal bands that pushed country music boundaries in the pre-World War Two era. Wills was known as the “King of Western Swing” and recorded over a 40 year period. But the song made … Continue reading →

Sleepwalk Guitar Festival: A weekend of guitar greats and legends

  October 19, 2012 - 11:18 pm | , ,
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You won’t be able to sleepwalk through this guitar extravaganza. The 2nd annual Sleepwalk Guitar Festival at The Great Hall on the weekend of Nov. 2-4, sponsored by Six Shooter Records and curated by Luke Doucet will be filled with guitar stars and legends: in concert, in workshops and in interview sessions. The festival website with schedules, ticket info and more is here. The Six Shooter Facebook page has more information, and a raft of videos of some of the performers. Some more about a couple of the artists is below. James Burton Many years ago, whenever I read anything … Continue reading →

Cuban food — and music — where??

  October 12, 2012 - 11:23 pm | ,
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My neighbourhood of Bloor West Village is not known for particularly interesting restaurants, and certainly not for live music. But things have begun changing recently, at least in one case. Bloom — a restaurant until recently under the same ownership of the Bloor/Yonge Focaccia — after a somewhat promising start, had (in my opinion) regressed to the generally uninspiring, and comfortable niche that seems to work in this neighbourhood. But last year, Focaccia’s chef, Cuban-born Pedro Quintanilla moved to Bloom, and added a bit of Cuban cooking to the menu. More recently, the restaurant was purchased by Luis Mario Ochoa, the … Continue reading →

“Music in Mali” documentary

  October 12, 2012 - 10:42 pm | ,
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Music In Mali: Life Is Hard, Music Is Good: Via Afropop Worldwide, I came across information on this recently completed documentary about Malian music (filmed before the tragic fighting and repression in that great country). The film is produced by Kanaga System Krush (KSK) Records, but at this point, I don’t have any information on any screenings or its availability. I will keep tabs on it though. The embedded clip is a 14 minute preview. (Click the full-screen icon to view it properly). Music In Mali: Life Is Hard, Music Is Good is a feature-length documentary about the musicians, dancers and everyday people of … Continue reading →

Sherry Ryan at The Dakota: Oct. 6 / Ticket, CD giveaway

  October 4, 2012 - 10:50 pm | , ,
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NOTE:  I have a pair of tickets to her Saturday show & a CD to give away to the first to contact me. Email info@to-music.ca This site tends to focus mostly on “world”, and especially African music, but I do periodically report on other music, notably some country/American artists. This Saturday, Newfoundland singer Sherry Ryan performs at the Dakota Tavern as part of her CD Release of Sister of Mine. I wasn’t familiar with her music until now, but having listened to the CD, and some of her earlier music, I’ve been really impressed with her sound, her singing and … Continue reading →

Harbourfront’s “Classical IV” weekend featuring Masters of Mali with Sidi Touré

  July 25, 2012 - 11:19 pm | ,
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I’ve often found this themed weekend (in the past, appropriately titled “What is Classical”) one of Harbourfront’s most interesting each year, as it poses that musical question. One of my favourite Harbourfront concerts in recent years was Orchestra Piazza Vittorio performing their unique take on Mozart’s Magic Flute. This year’s “Classical IV: Strings” focuses on a wide variety of stringed instruments, and, Harbourfront suggests, asks questions such as: What is modern classical music? Why are some folk melodies and pop tunes called classics? And who gets to call them that? Can sonorous instruments from different cultures talk to each other? … Continue reading →

Graceland/Under African Skies: released & reviewed

  June 12, 2012 - 8:17 am | , ,
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I’ve posted a couple of items recently about Under African Skies, the excellent documentary about Paul Simon’s groundbreaking Graceland album, released 25 years go. The documentary includes footage of original recording sessions, Simon’s first return to South Africa last year, and the international political controversy it caused from his breaking of the UN’s cultural boycott of the apartheid regime. For that 25th anniversary, a raft of packaging has now been released: CD’s, DVD’s, BluRay, deluxe box sets and more. Don’t let the marketing hype mislead you however; the music is still brilliant, and the documentary, by Joe Berlinger, is great. … Continue reading →