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Afrocubism at Luminato, June 12: A Big Deal
I’ve posted several items about Afrocubism here and in the newsletter over the past couple of years, but it’s worthwhile commenting again about what a remarkable collection of musicians will be assembled on the stage at Luminato on the evening of June 12, for a free concert. This website has a particular focus on African […]
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Luminato & other festival info
Part 1 of the summer festival notes. Check www.events.to-music.ca for details on these and many other events. Summer festival time kicks is here, kicking off this weekend with The Afrofest launch event tonight Beginning Friday, 10 amazing days of free Luminato concerts & the annual free Muhatadi International Drumming Festival Saturday. Afrofest launch: June 7 […]
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Doc Pomus documentary
UPDATE (May 13) Just came back from the first-ever screening of the documentary, A.K.A. Doc Pomus at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema as part of the Toronto Jewish Film Festival. What a great film. It did an excellent job of capturing the spirit of Doc’s life (as well as the music and the stories. I […]
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“Under African Skies”: Documentary on “Graceland”, 25 years on (updated)
Update, May 24: See this page for details on the various CD/DVD/Blu-ray packages being released June 5. Update (May 18): The film will be shown on A&E (TV), May 25 at 10pm. Update (May 13): A couple of film reviews: LA Times (May 11) The Age (Australia) (May 14) And, to capture a bit of […]
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May Days (and down the road)
Check www.to-music.ca/events for details on these and many more shows. Great stuff to look forward to this month including… A big-time highlight: Khaira Arby at the Lula May 8. More on her here The Annual Lulaworld Festival kicks off the next day, marking 10 years of this Toronto musical treasure. This year’s festival focuses on […]
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Njacko & Friends: supporting Bazou at the Gladstone, May 12
This is the third annual fundraising event for this project to raise much-needed funds for Njacko Backo’s childhood school, École St. Albert Le Grand in Bazou Cameroon. The school, which receives no government support was lacking in so many basic facilities, that Njacko and his wife Valery, on visiting in 2009, decided to embark on […]
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Don’t miss Khaira Arby May 8: “It’s boom! It’s flash! It’s great!”
Anyone who’s followed this website, or my newsletter for the last couple of years, knows that I’m a huge fan of the Malian singer Khaira Arby. Over the summer of 2010, I followed news & reviews of her first-ever North American tour, and finally saw her perform in Toronto that September, at the Ashkenaz Festival […]
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Doc Pomus: documentary, biography & appreciation
A new documentary, AKA Doc Pomus will screen on May 13 at the Bloor Hot Docs Theatre as part of the Toronto Jewish Film Festival. (Screening details here) I don’t know the documentary, but highly recommend this, based only on what I know of Doc Pomus’s life. Doc grew up as a short, overweight Jewish […]
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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 […]
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Bombino: London concert still on (Fri. Apr 13)
It’s unfortunate that the visas for the Bombino and band did not come through in time for Thursday’s Lula Lounge show; no doubt the band would have rocked the place again. They may be back later this summer, but the good news is that they did finally get the visas this afternoon, and their Friday, […]