Anya M. Wassenberg's Blog: Art & Culture Maven, page 129

Junefest Recognizing & Celebrating Deaf-Blind Awareness Month June 18 2014 in Toronto

From a media release:

JuneFest - an annual awareness festival recognizing and celebrating Deaf-Blind Awareness Month in Ontario. 

Wednesday, June 18, 2014
12:00 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Mel Lastman Square (Toronto)
5100 Yonge Street at North York Centre subway

TORONTO - RCH and CHKC are proud to present the 12th annual JuneFest, an awareness festival that recognizes and celebrates June as Deaf-Blind Awareness Month in Ontario.  This year’s event is on Wednesday, June 18, 2014 at Mel Lastman Square in Toronto.

Starting at 12:00 p.m., there will be information booths hosted by various organizations and agencies to raise awareness about the dual disability of deaf-blindness, the latest technology and devices, and the services and resources that are available.  Many deaf-blind consumers will also be in attendance.

The public, local business community and media are invited to attend JuneFest with friends, families and colleagues to learn about deaf-blindness while enjoying music, a charity barbeque, games and activities, free samples and more.

Over 200 students in grades four through eight from across the Greater Toronto Area will participate in JuneFest for the second year in a row.  Youth-oriented programs and games will provide them with opportunities to read Braille, learn other alternate forms of communication and interact with people who are deaf-blind.  They will also enjoy performances by local pop-punk sensations Crash! Radio, which is fronted by award-winning singer-songwriter Ivy James, recently named Best Young Songwriter by the Toronto Independent Music Awards.

ABOUT DEAF-BLINDNESS
Deaf-blindness is a disability in which an individual has a substantial degree of loss of both sight and hearing, the combination of which results in significant difficulties in accessing information and in pursuing educational, vocational, recreational and social goals. Deaf-blindness is a unique and separate disability from deafness or blindness. An individual with the combined losses of hearing and vision require specialized services including adapted communication methods.

A variety of different types of music throughout the day will be available for everyone to enjoy. Music will be provided by As You Like It DJ Entertainment & Event Planning and include:

Crash! Radio plays catchy pop-rock music with a punk twist. The band is fronted by award-winning singer-songwriter Ivy James and features Aidan Robson and Brad Dekker on guitar, Derek Osborne on bass and Ben Lee on drums.

Maracatu Baque Bamba is an upbeat Afro Brazilian percussion group that specializes in performing and teaching the spirited cultural tradition celebrated as Maracatu de Baque Virado. Through its lively rhythmic synergy the troupe channels the raw force of the drums to create a dynamic percussive sound. Facebook
ASL Storytelling    

Storytelling in American Sign Language
by Christopher Welsh. Chris trained with National Theatre of the Deaf in Chester, Connecticut and also studied improvisation at Second City in Toronto. He performed at Canada Clown Carnival, Winnipeg International Storytelling and Shakespeare Living Willow Theatre in Wales, U.K. Christopher was the first Deaf comedian to perform before a hearing audience at Yuk-Yuks in Toronto. He has also performed with the Show of Hands Theatre Company.

Latin Alternative Music Conference (LAMC) 2014: Free Music, Annual Showcase & More July 8-12 in New York City

From a media release:

The Line-Up For The
Annual LAMC Showcase at The Gramercy Theatre On Friday July 11th 2014 
Featuring AJ Davila, Esteman, A Band Of Bitches,
The Wookies, Diana Fuentes and Los Macuanos

• Check out the rest of the Latin Alternative Music Conference at the link

NEW YORK CITY - This summer, thousands of entrepreneurs, musicians, DJs, journalists, marketers, managers, filmmakers, programmers and all kinds of music lovers will gather in New York City from July 8-12th for the 15th annual Latin Alternative Music Conference (LAMC).

Today, La Banda Elastica announced the line-up for the annual LAMC showcase at the Gramercy Theatre, which will feature AJ Davila, Esteman, A Band Of Bitches, The Wookies, Diana Fuentes and Los Macuanos on Friday July 11th. See below for more detailed info on each artist.

The LAMC also offers free concerts at parks from Brooklyn to Harlem, plus intimate private showcases at iconic venues around the city and numerous industry panels with special guests.

On Wednesday, July 9th at Central Park SummerStage, the LAMC will present a line-up of hip-hop heavyweights featuring Beatnuts, Ana Tijoux, Bodega Bamz and DJ Tony Touch. The LAMC will close on Saturday July 12th with another show at Summerstage, featuring Babasónicos, Juana Molina and La Santa Cecilia.

Also on Wednesday July 9th is the annual ‘Indie Showcase’ at the Mercury Lounge, which features up-and-coming acts from across the Americas, including Santé Les Amis, Danay Suarez, Los Crema Paraiso, Me Llamo (Sebastián), Caloncho and El Mató Un Policía Motorizado

On Thursday July 10th, the LAMC will once again return to Celebrate Brooklyn at Prospect Park for a free show featuring Illya Kuryaki & the Valderramas, ChocQuibTown and RVSB.

More info on the artists performing at the LAMC showcase at the Gramercy Theater:

A Band of Bitches (Mexico)
Nominated in 2013 for a Latin Grammy for “Best New Artist,” A Band of Bitches are a mysterious, rambunctious, mask-wearing, party-friendly band that have rocked major festivals including Vive Latino, SXSW, Neon Desert and more.



AJ Davila (Puerto Rico)
Widely known as the frontman for the popular garage rock band Davila 666,  AJ Davila’s debut solo album Terror Amor features collaborations with Cole Alexander (Black Lips) and Sergio Rotman (Los Fabulosos Cadillacs), and has received glowing reviews at Spin, Vice, NPR and more.

Diana Fuentes (Cuba)
Diana Fuentes became the second Cuban to join Sony Music Latin, second only to Celia Cruz. Often collaborating with her husband, Eduardo Cabra (aka Visitante of Calle 13), Diana Fuente’s music combines Afro-Cuban rhythms, pop, electronica, folk and bolero.

Esteman (Colombia)
Esteman is the name of a captivating audio/visual project out of Colombia that combines pop, disco, indie rock, and hypnotic choreography, and has collaborated with Andrea Echeverri (Aterciopelados), Natalia Lafourcade and Carla Morrison.

Los Macuanos (Mexico)
Combining elements of dark avant-garde electronic music with upbeat traditional Norteño instrumentation, Los Macuanos are a trio of DJs from Tijuana whose sound echoes a once hedonistic lifestyle, taking cues from the rave era of the late 90s, revisited with introspection and nuance.

The Wookies (Mexico)
The Wookies (who dress the part, wearing Chewbacca masks as they take to the DJ booth) is a band out of Mexico making waves in the electronic/techno music scene both at home and abroad, having rocked crowds alongside The Chemical Brothers, Die Antwoord, Steve Aoki and many others.

CD Release & Live Dates Summer 2014: Kuenta i Tambú Turn Curaçao Tradition into a Wild, Sweaty Dance Floor with Tambutronic, their US Debut

From a media release:

Bumping History: Kuenta i Tambú Turn Curaçao Tradition into a Wild, Sweaty Dance Floor with Tambutronic, their US Debut

Live in New York City:
• June 27, 2014: Frontiers at the Seaport - "River to River Festival", South Street Seaport / New York, NY - Free Admission! - Doors Open: 4:00pm
• August 2, 2014: Celebrate Brooklyn - Prospect Park, West & 9th Street / Brooklyn, NY - Free Admission! - Doors Open: 6:30pm, Show: 7:00pm
• Buy the CD

Tradition is a tricky beast. There are those who would leave it as a dusty, living museum exhibit. Then there are others who see further, into the possibility of tradition, a line that runs through history all the way to the present. They’re the ones who respect the past but aren’t going to be hidebound by it, who make it a very vital part of now. People like KiT, who’ve transformed the old tambú music of Curaçao into the 21st-century phenomenon of Tambutronic (Jiga Musica).

Then meets now via hard kicks and hooky synths, the gritty good times that spawned bass music’s tropical, global offshoots, from baile funk to moombahton. Taking up the sounds that evolved in Dutch clubs and mashing them effortlessly with the group’s percussive, evocative Caribbean roots, KiT proves how easily traditional grooves can move in new, unexpected ways.

Though as fresh as M.I.A. or Major Lazer, KiT’s music began long ago and far away. On Curaçao, an island in the Caribbean close to the coast of Venezuela, history remains very much alive. Originally home to the Arawak Indians, it was conquered by the Spanish in 1499 then became Dutch in 1634. But in many ways it’s almost an outpost of Africa, a first stop for slave ships on their journey to South America, and the influence of another continent is still powerful. For centuries, the people have celebrated with drums and singing, styles like seú, muzik di zumbi (music of the spirits), and above all, tambú.



When Roël Calister, a Curaçao-born percussionist who moved to the Netherlands, began his career, it was with the traditional music of his homeland, everything he’d learned as he grew up. The band he founded in 2005, KiT, played and sang acoustically. It even infused the material he composed. But in 2010 a sea change happened, following a change in band membership.

“Like a lot of people, we were listening to hip-hop, to dance music,” Calister recalls. “We started experimenting with beats and electronics to give our music the feel that fascinated us in European electronic music, music we really loved. We released an EP and the style we call Tambutronic was born.” Since then KiT have evolved and refined their music. They’ve introduced Tambutronic music to several continents, including prestigious gigs at Kennedy Center and Lincoln Center, and added a new singer, Diamanta, to make them into a five-piece. And, Calister says, “We knew it was time to make a proper album.”

For all its contemporary sound, though, the music of KiT is very solidly based in tradition.

“On ‘La Señora' you hear a very old style of singing from Curaçao. We’ve added bleeps and synths to give a modern contrast to that,” Calister observes. “We wanted to bring it all into the 21st century.”

“But I also wanted to give glimpses of where it all came from. ‘Zunta Zunta’ is untouched, that’s how the music often still sounds. It’s a work song from the west side of the island. The last track, ‘Bool’ is traditional tambú with solo percussion on top.”

And they can jump from the tradition right onto the dance floor without missing a beat. Tambutronic is the music of celebration, all the sweat and joy of Carnival on a disc. And nowhere is that more apparent than on the opening, ”Lightswitch,“ packed with muscle and percussive punch.

“We added Carnival drums to that,” Calister says with a smile. “Caribbean street drums to give that feel. And then we made it modern.” That updating extends to ”Maria Ta Jora,“ where the band took a sample from an old seú song and constructed something completely new around it. The past dancing side by side with the present.

And Tambutronic has proved to be very popular in Curaçao, where KiT have scored several major hits.

“The people there are very proud that we took the step to give the old music a new look,” Calister says. “We stay true to the roots but we also give the island its own voice in the modern world.” Older folk, familiar with the tradition, hear that in the music while youngsters who’ve grown up on American hip-hop, R & B and the global flavor of dance music, hear their own world reflected at them. And that’s an important way to keeping the past alive and strong.

Live, KiT are a non-stop Carnival, a riot of beats and rhythms that take the audience deep into the Caribbean. Above all, though, it’s obvious that the musicians enjoying playing the music and the live percussion thunders through the air.

“We have fun,” says Calister, “and that’s the key.”

Tambutronic: where Curaçao’s past dances with its future and takes on the world.

Following the release of Tambutronic, Kuenta I Tambú will be touring the US in June and July 2014. Want to know more? Check out the album at iTunes, their website, Facebook page or follow KiT on Twitter.

Following the release of Tambutronic, Kuenta i Tambú will be touring the US in June and July 2014.

Mobile Mozambique; Wired for Sound Records Local Artists Through Community Radio

From a media release:

Mobile Mozambique; Wired for Sound Records Local Artists Through Community Radio

Wired for Sound is an innovative OSISA-funded mobile recording studio that aims to create opportunities for young artists to record and collaborate with more established musicians and explore local youth culture through musical expression. The appreciation of culture and stories of the everyday are unravelled through music and are documented through interviews, radio debates and radio documentaries.

The project is the brainchild of Simon Attwell, founding member of South African band Freshlyground, and radio producer Kim Winter in collaboration with Freshlyground guitarist Julio Sigauque.  Wired for Sound in association with the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) assembled a mobile 4x4 recording studio, capable of exploring even the most isolated regions of the project’s 2013 destination, Mozambique. The mobile studio is configured to run off a solar panel and battery system, allowing the team unrestricted access to musicians who are not able to travel. Recording locations are then chosen according to acoustic quality, aesthetic appeal and cultural relevance.

Attwell explains, "Most of the tracks we recorded are the artist's original material tweaked and worked on in collaboration with Wired For Sound or created from scratch for the Wired For Sound recording." Artists receive copies of their tracks, which empower them to promote their profiles through community radio and Soundcloud accounts.

Wired for Sound’s ambitions extend further than simply collaborating with artists to produce music. The project’s long-term goal is to help develop recording infrastructure for local musicians. “Wired for Sound takes the tracks back to South Africa for further collaboration with established musicians, resulting in a full album, the proceeds of which go towards creating basic recording and production facilities at the community radio stations,” confirms Winter.

“Wired for Sound – Mozambique is an album that exhibits the best collaborative songs recorded over two months in northern Mozambique, showcasing traditional instrumentalists, contemporary singer songwriters, MCs, choirs and bands,” reveals Attwell. “The album covers a wide range of genres spanning rap beats and African style zouk to Marrabenta and Chimurenga rhythms with several haunting instrumental pieces.”

“We were fortunate to collaborate with some of Southern Africa’s most well regarded musicians to produce the album,” adds Winter, “Zolani Mahola from Freshlyground, blues guitarist Albert Frost, classical guitarist Derek Gripper and saxophonist Buddy Wells all lent their experience to the project which has burnished some remarkable talent.”

The final product is an album, a radio documentary, a video promo and a selection of photo essays. “In addition to this, the project allows Wired for Sound to deliver feedback to OSISA regarding the lives of young people in specific places and the status and challenges of community radio in the areas we have visited,” adds Attwell.

The pilot project has already given rise to international exchanges with The John Issa Band being invited to Denmark on a two week, all expenses paid, musical and cultural exchange. This will be the first time the band will have left Mozambique. Wired for Sound has attracted the interest of a number of organisational and cultural departments around the world to set up similar exchanges. These partnerships are life-changing opportunities for young musicians, and there will be a focus on expanding these relationships as Wired for Sound progresses. 

Wired for Sound sponsors: Rockit Distribution, Marshall Music, AKG

Toronto's Summer Favourite Returns: Canadian Stage presents Shakespeare in High Park from June 26 to August 31, 2014

From a media release:

Toronto's Summer Favourite Returns:
Canadian Stage presents As You Like It and Titus Andronicus at Shakespeare in High Park  from June 26 to August 31, 2014
A pay-what-you-can summer series staged outdoors
at the High Park Amphitheatre

• Reserve your seat

Toronto, ON – Canadian Stage’s Shakespeare in High Park returns this summer with a Shakespearean double bill at the High Park Amphitheatre (1873 Bloor St. W.), pairing the pastoral comedy, As You Like It, with the bard’s first tragedy, Titus Andronicus. Outdoors and under the stars, the plays run on alternate nights from June 26 to Aug. 31, Tuesday to Sunday at 8 p.m. Each performance is pay-what-you can, with a suggested contribution of $20. The productions are presented by Canadian Stage in collaboration with the Department of Theatre, York University.

“Shakespeare in High Park is one of Toronto’s favourite summer traditions. Last year we marked a record-breaking season of outdoor theatre featuring two plays in repertory. This year’s double bill stages two very exciting and contrasting pieces from Shakespeare’s anthology,” said Matthew Jocelyn, artistic & general director, Canadian Stage. “With an exceptionally talented and versatile cast led by two phenomenal directors, Nigel Shawn Williams and Keira Loughran, an evening or two of theatre in the great outdoors is an experience that’s not to be missed.”

Shakespeare’s most musical play, As You Like It, follows Rosalind (Amy Rutherford) and Orlando (Alexander Plouffe) as they are forced into exile, separately, to the Forest of Arden. As their love story unfolds, the two become tangled in an amusing tale of lust and hidden identity. Inspired by 1950s France, director Nigel Shawn Williams creates a world where nature once again reigns, and where gender roles, politics and identity are put to the test. With original songs and music by Sam Sholdice, the play is a light-hearted examination of human nature that will make your heart sing.

In the action-packed tragedy Titus Andronicus, Shakespeare created a vicious cycle of revenge between the Roman general, Titus (Sean Dixon), and Tamora, Queen of the Goths (Shauna Black). Through manipulation and deception, these two families start down the dangerous path of mutual destruction. Turning the traditionally violent story into a thrilling cautionary tale, director Keira Loughran has created a production that is accessible to a broad audience. Marrying influences from Imperial Japan and current Japanese pop-culture, with ancient Rome – Loughran has created a fantasy world in the wake of devastating war.

Performed in repertory and sharing the same 12-person cast, actors transition from comedy to tragedy night after night. Members of the company include: Shauna Black, Gwenlyn Cumyn, Beau Dixon, Sean Dixon, James Graham, Chala Hunter, Omar Alex Khan, Michael Man, Alexander Plouffe, Amy Rutherford, Jan Alexandra Smith and Emilio Vieira (a 2014 graduate of York University’s acting program).

Building on the Shakespeare in High Park collaboration established last season, the creative team includes talent from York’s theatre department. Graduate students are serving as assistant directors, and undergraduate students under faculty supervision are assisting in the construction of costumes and accessories for both productions. An exciting experiential learning opportunity, this partnership gives students the chance to work alongside leading theatre artists on a professional production before graduation.

Continuing a series of new initiatives also implemented last season, Canadian Stage offers a limited number of advance premium seat reservations online and the option to pay with debit or credit at the entrance. Backstage tours, youth nights and pre-show workshops for groups are also available. Details are available at www.canadianstage.com. Pack a picnic and enjoy a night in the park!

As You Like It runs from June 26 to Aug. 30 with performances on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 8 p.m. Opening night will be July 3 with previews June 26, 28 and July 1. Titus Andronicus runs from June 27 to Aug. 31 with performances on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday at 8 p.m. Opening night will be July 4 with previews June 27, 29 and July 2. Both performances run approximately 90 minutes with no intermission at the High Park Amphitheatre.

Facebook: Canadian Stage
Twitter: @CanadianStage
Twitter Hashtag: #SiHP; #csAsYouLikeIt; #csTitus

About As You Like It: 
Opening night July 3 to August 30
Creative team
Director Nigel Shawn Williams
Assistant Director Matjash Mrozewski
Costume Designer Lindsay Anne Black

Cast
Ava and Audrey - Shauna Black
Phebe, Dennise  and Lady Jody - Gwenlyn Cumyn
Duke Senior and Le Beau - Beau Dixon
Touchstone - Sean Dixon
Oliver and Corin - James Graham
Celia - Chala Hunter
Duke Frederick and Silvius - Omar Alex Khan
Jacques de Boys, William, Martext and others - Michael Man
Orlando  - Alexander Plouffe
Rosalind  - Amy Rutherford
Jaques - Jan Alexandra Smith
Lord Amiens and Charles - Emilio Vieira

About Titus Andronicus: Opening night July 4 to August 31
Creative Team
Director Keira Loughran
Assistant Director Jamie Robinson
Costume Designer Angela Thomas

Cast
Tamora - Shauna Black
Chiron and others - Gwenlyn Cumyn
Aaron and others - Beau Dixon
Titus  - Sean Dixon
Saturninus  - James Graham
Lavinia - Chala Hunter
Aemilius and others - Omar Alex Khan
Demetrius and others - Michael Man
Bassianus and others - Alexander Plouffe
Nurse and others - Amy Rutherford
Marcus and others - Jan Alexandra Smith
Lucius - Emilio Vieira

CD Release: Jane Bunnett and Maqueque - The Cuban Connection Continues (June 17 2014)

From a media release:

CD Release June 17, 2014
JANE BUNNETT AND MAQUEQUE: THE CUBAN CONNECTION CONTINUES 

• Summer Festival Release Dates – Winnipeg, Toronto, Saskatoon, Calgary, Edmonton, Stratford and more - see the bottom of this post
• Get the CD here

TORONTO – Four-time JUNO Award winner, two-time Grammy nominee, and Officer of the Order of Canada, soprano saxophonist/flautist Jane Bunnett once again brings the soul of Cuba to the hearts of Canadian music-lovers. Along with her new and exquisite all-female sextet, Jane Bunnett and Maqueque, she will reveal the band’s fresh sound and unveil the new self-titled CD with summer festival stops in Winnipeg, Toronto, Saskatoon, Calgary, Edmonton, Stratford and more! 

Already a national treasure, Jane Bunnett certainly doesn’t sit on her laurels. She’s too busy creating music, touring and championing Cuban artists, and making sure visas are in order, for that. A long-time jazz musician on the scene, Bunnett began digging deep into the music of Cuba during a trip there in 1982, and falling in love with its intricate folkloric Afro-Cuban rhythms, blending them with contemporary jazz sounds. It’s an ongoing passion for her and her husband, trumpeter Larry Cramer – in spite of the hair-pulling, painstaking work that goes into arranging tours with Cuban artists. Bunnett has been credited with introducing a lot of great Cuban musicians to North American audiences over the past couple of decades, including Dafnis Prieto, Yosvanny Terry, Pedrito Martínez and David Virelles. Her latest project is an assembly of all-star Cuban musicians, a sextet which includes herself and five extraordinary young females.

Jane Bunnett and Maqueque (pronounced Mah-keh-keh), will be touring Canada followed by a US tour (if all goes well on the visa front). Maqueque band members are Jane, on flute and soprano sax, virtuoso drummer Yissy García, dynamic percussionist Daymé Arceno, (who is also a powerhouse vocalist), Yusa on tres guitar and fretless bass, pianist Danae, and Magdelys on batás and congas.

The album is a rhythmic and vocal feast, with thick and lush arrangements that at times foray into frenzied montuno improvisation and vocal scatting, such as in the title track “Maqueque.” A very fitting name, when loosely translated it means the energy of a young girl’s spirit. Certainly it’s also fitting for the band, since all of the young women are actually in their early ‘20s except, Jane and Yusa. The group’s fresh and highly accessible take on jazz vocalization – as on the cover of “Ain’t No Sunshine When She’s Gone,” featuring the stylings and deep resonant voices of Daymé Arceno and Yusa, which are reminiscent of morna/fado chanteuse Cesária Évora – stirs the soul especially when blended with Bunnett’s mournful yet sensual soprano sax riffs.

There are a couple compositions by Daymé, such as the tres guitar-driven Afro-Cuban track “Canto a Babba,” highlighting a call-and-response theme, interwoven with effortless, playful soprano sax and vocal lines throughout. Another gem is her “Guajira S. XXI,” which also showcases a similar sprightly yet haunting vibe, again with the dulcimer-like tres guitar, but this time with intricate flamenco-like clapping rhythms, soaring flute and no vocals at all.

It’s a beautifully voice-laden album, (they all have tremendous singing voices), but driven by the propulsive intense rhythms of drummer Yissy Garcia and percussionist Magdelys.There are also tracks that accentuate the piano, like the song “Mamey Colorao,” a quirky 1940s Cuban piece composed by the late great Cuban ivory-tickler Pedro Peruchin. The JB & Maqueque version is quite different in arrangement, but pianist Danae stays somewhat truer to the Peruchin original while the other players take flight.

A smooth but lively cha cha cha number, “De la Habana a Canada,” literally drives home Bunnett’s idea of permeating our Canadian musical landscape with intoxicating Cuban sounds from Havana.

The pièce de résistance, however, is the last track, “Song for Haiti,” which incorporates mellow, soothing flute, urgent horns courtesy of frequent collaborators, Toronto’s Heavyweights Brass Band, and swirls of strings that lead in to a sultry spoken word piece by Cuba’s most celebrated female rapper/poet, Telmary Diaz.

The 10-track album was mixed and mastered by David Travers Smith and recorded in Abdala and Egrem studios in Cuba, in Toronto at Canterbury with Jeremy Darby, Found Sound  with David Travers Smith, Number Nine studios with George Rodina, and for the song “Song for Haiti,” Green Door with John Critchley.

UPCOMING DATES 2014:

17-Jun-14      Winnipeg Jazz Festival – Winnipeg, MB
19-Jun-14      Toronto Jazz Fest (opening night) – Toronto, ON
20-Jun-14      Saktel Jazz Festival – Saskatoon, SK
21-Jun-14      Saktel Jazz Festival – North Battleford, SK
24-Jun-14      Medicine Hat Jazz Festival – Medicine Hat, AB
25-Jun-14      Vancouver Jazz Festival – Vancouver, BC
26-Jun-14      Victoria Jazz Festival – Victoria, BC
27-Jun-14      Calgary Jazz – Calgary, AB
28-Jun-14      Edmonton Jazz Festival – Edmonton, AB
30-Jun-14      Etobicoke Rib Fest – Etobicoke, ON
05-Jul-14       Lakefield Jazz Festival – Lakefield , ON
July 11 - 12, 2014     Hastings Highlands Jazz Fest – Hastings Highlands, ON
24-Jul-14       Botanical Gardens – Toronto, ON
31-Jul-14       Huntsville Jazz Festival – Huntsville, ON
02-Aug-14     Stratford Jazz – Stratford, ON

West African in NYC: Benyoro CD Release, NYC & California Live Dates June & July 2014

From a media release:

Benyoro’s Moveable, Trans-Diasporic Meeting Place of West African Music
CD Release July 8, 2014
Live dates June 20 - July 12, 2014

• Check out the Tour Info at the bottom of this post

Benyoro: the band is, quite literally, a meeting place. Its name, taken from Mali’s Bamana language, means precisely that.

That the six-piece group would come together in NYC seems almost inevitable. The city is the polyglot home to a thousand different languages and dialects, where African music devotees can find their kindred spirits in recent émigrés from the continent. Where South African jit can nuzzle up next to merengue and the blues can sit next to Kenyan benga. And as the band shows on its debut album, Benyoro (July 8, 2014), it’s a place where the Mandé music of West Africa can thrive.

“What we really do is play praise music,” explains guitarist and ngoni lute player Sam Dickey. “We’ve just sped it up a little; it brings the music into a more dance-oriented context. Toumani Diabaté and his Symmetric Orchestra have been major innovators in this regard.”

And Dickey knows very well how Diabaté, the great virtuoso of the 21-string kora harp, works. The California native, who spent part of his childhood in Burkina Faso, lived and studied with Diabaté in Mali – as well as taking lessons from the legendary Djelimady Tounkara of the Super Rail Band – and sat in every week at Symmetric Orchestra performances.

Mandé music, specifically the music of the Maninka and Bamana people, is the soul of Benyoro, fully evident on tracks like “Kaira,” where the six-piece band storms a groove behind the guest vocals of Bébé Camara, or the sinuous “Haidara Sirifo,” which brings in singer Tapani Sissoko, but the sound reaches across Africa.

“Listen to the first track, ‘An Sera,’” suggest Benyoro’s kora player, Yacouba Sissoko. “We make the connection with Congolese soukous there. That’s natural – soukous is hugely popular all over the continent, it’s informed every type of African music. But Africa is such a big continent, with so many different cultures, and we try to make music for all Africa, to put the different sounds together and create a new color. ”

Born in Kita, Mali, Sissoko grew up in a jeli family, the hereditary caste of musicians and historians often referred to as griots in the West. He began taking lessons on his instrument from his grandfather when he was nine. Since moving to New York in 1998, he’s developed a remarkable career, playing with superstars as diverse as Paul Simon, Regina Carter, and Baaba Maal.



And Yacouba Sissoko was exactly who Dickey wanted for Benyoro when he began putting the band together in 2011.

“When I first moved here I was playing in a lot of different bands,” Dickey recalls. “But I knew I wanted to play this music in a specific way with a certain set of musicians I’d met.”

They also included Martinique-born bassist Patrice Blanchard, who’s worked with Angelique Kidjo and downtown jazzman Bobby Previte, drummer Andy Algire, Luke Quaranta on percussion and talking drummer Idrissa Koné. Rehearsing together, they knew they had that special spark, and that the African-rooted music they were making could move listeners of all backgrounds.

“Our philosophy is to walk a line between the traditional and the modern,” explains Dickey. “We’re not a fusion band; we try to let things come together organically. So many people over here see African music as this exotic ‘other,’ an imaginary Africa, but we want to show that it can exist in a really down-to-earth, concrete way in New York.”

The album is heavily weighted toward traditional Mandé songs, like the classic “Kulanjan,” but they sit with perfect ease next to three original compositions, and everything is given the Benyoro treatment.

“We started out just playing traditional music, then we worked up some of our own material. A few of the arrangements pay tribute to Toumani in their style. The combination of meditative traditional melodies with upbeat rhythms is something we really appreciate.”

That joy booms out of the speakers. For musicians and listeners, Benyoro is indeed a meeting place. To celebrate the release of the album, Benyoro will be taking their crossroads music on tour in California, and an appearance later this year at the Bear Creek Festival, one of the staples of the jam band scene.

Make ready for the movable meeting place of Benyoro.

Photo Credit: Deneka Peniston

Tour Info:
June 20, 2014 Fri New Haven, CT @International Festival of Arts and Ideas
June 28, 2014 Sat New York, NY @Meridian 23
July 5, 2014 Sat Big Sur, CA @Esalen Institute
July 6, 2014 Sun Los Angeles, CA @The Mint
July 10, 2014 Thu Berkeley, CA @Ashkenaz
July 11-12, 2014 Fri-Sat Grass Valley, CA @California WorldFest

imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival Celebrates National Aboriginal History Month June 2014

From a media release

imagineNATIVE
Film + Media Arts Festival
Celebrates
National Aboriginal History Month
June 2014

• Stay in touch with social media: https://www.facebook.com/imagineNATIVE / https://twitter.com/imagineNATIVE

TORONTO - The 15th annual imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival returns October 22-26, 2014 but the celebrations begin in June with National Aboriginal History Month.  imagineNATIVE will commemorate National Aboriginal History Month with several special free events.

imagineNATIVE’s indigiFLIX Community Screening Series is expanding their programming for National Aboriginal History Month by presenting three FREE events throughout the month of June. indigiFLIX presents an incredible selection of films shown at previous imagineNATIVE festivals.

June 13: In co-presentation with the Bloor/Gladstone Toronto Public Library, the Festival Award Winner Shorts Programme will feature drama, comedy and documentary works from past festivals on themes of survival, strength and perseverance. The shorts will include Amaqqut Nunaat (The Country of Wolves - image below), Throat Song, Fighter, My Story, Le Reve D’Une Mere (A Mother’s Dream), Red Girl’s Reasoning, and Mohawk Midnight Runners, which will be followed by a Q&A with the film’s director, Zoe Hopkins.

June 19: In co-presentation with the Spadina/Bloor Toronto Public Library, the imagineNATIVE Youth Shorts Programme will showcase the best shorts by or about youth, which offer personal, traditional, comedic and inspiring perspectives from Canadian Indigenous artists. Titles include Wave A Red Flag, My Story, Nuu (Octopus Story), Ou Tu Va Toi?: Diane, Eagle vs. Sparrow, and Fusion.

June 25: indigiFLIX will wrap up with indigiFLIX: Under The Stars, an initiative of the Regent Park Film Festival’s popular outdoor screening series, with a return screening of Empire of Dirt, the Canadian Screen Awards (CSA) Best Picture nominee by Peter Stebbings, produced by Jennifer Podemski and starring CSA-nominated actors Cara Gee and Jennifer Podemski.

June 21: imagineNATIVE, in partnership with TIFF, co-presents a special screening of Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, fully translated into the Navajo language. Ats’ahoniyee’ nil holoo doo: May the force be with you!

June 26: Wrapping up National Aboriginal History Month, imagineNATIVE will participate in the 5th annual Aboriginal History Month Celebration at Yonge-Dundas Square. imagineNATIVE will be there all day long with prizes and giveaways, as entertainers such as Digging Roots, Métis Fiddler Quartet and Derek Miller perform throughout the day.



The imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival is the world’s largest Indigenous media arts festival that celebrates the latest works by Indigenous peoples at the forefront of innovation in film, video, radio and new media. Each fall, the Festival presents a selection of the most compelling and distinctive Indigenous works from Canada and around the globe. The works accepted reflect the diversity of the world’s Indigenous nations and illustrate the vitality and excellence of Native art and culture in contemporary media. The 15th annual imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival will be held October 22-26, 2014.

imagineNATIVE
Celebrates
NATIONAL ABORIGINAL MONTH
with A Series Of Free Events!

Friday, June 13 @ 6pm
indigiFLIX: Festival Award Winner Shorts Programme
Toronto Public Library, Bloor/Gladstone
1101 Bloor Street West

Thursday, June 19 @ 6pm
indigiFLIX: Youth Shorts Programme
Toronto Public Library, Spadina/Bloor Branch
10 Spadina Road

Saturday, June 21 @ 3:30pm
Navajo Star Wars
TIFF Bell Lightbox
350 King Street West
For more information: clck here

Wednesday, June 25 @ 7pm
indigiFLIX Under The Stars:
Empire of Dirt @ Regent Park Film Festival
Daniel’s Spectrum
585 Dundas Street East

Thursday, June 26 @ 10am – 7pm
imagineNATIVE @ Aboriginal History Month Celebration
Yonge-Dundas Square

Opera & Atomic War: Tapestry Opera Presents Shelter June 12 to 15 2014 in Toronto

From a media release:

Tapestry Opera
presents
SHELTER
June 12-15, 2014
Berkeley Street Theatre
Plus a Series of Free Nuclear Events during the Run

• Tickets

TORONTO - Tapestry, in co-production with Edmonton Opera, present the Toronto premiere of SHELTER by Julie Salverson and Juliet Palmer, June 12-15 at the Berkeley Street Theatre.

Flirting with the dangerous beauty of science, SHELTER, a darkly comic chamber opera, maps the journey of a family struggling to be ordinary in the atomic age. Under the enlightened guidance of physicist Lise Meitner, Thomas and Claire fall madly in marriage, and birth a glowing daughter called Hope.  Hidden away for 21 years, Hope finally emerges to find a mysterious man at her door with a destiny to fulfill.

Hailed as an 'intriguing, darkly comic fable'� by the Wall Street journal and a 'remarkably provocative production'� by the Calgary Herald, SHELTER received its world premiere in Edmonton in 2012, ten years after Julie and Juliet met at Tapestry's composer/librettist laboratory.

Along with SHELTER, Tapestry is presenting a series of free Nuclear events to enhance the theatre-going experience, including Atomicalia, a curated exhibition of material culture items featuring atomic symbols and labels; and an explosive Symposium of pre-show talks.

Atomicalia exhibit seeks to discover how pervasive and successful nuclear images, iconography, themes, and identities have been at entering our daily lives, often without conscious recognition. The exhibit demonstrates how we have domesticated nuclear imagery in our patterns of consumption from the early Cold War through to the present. Atomicalia  will be exhibited throughout the run, in the Berkeley Street Theatre lobby.

From June 13-15, the Atomic Symposium takes place with free pre-show talks:
A Jumble of Paths: a reading with Julie Salverson and Peter C. van Wyck, with John O'Brian
For nearly a decade Salverson (playwright and drama professor) and van Wyck (writer and professor of communication studies) were travellers together on the highway of the atom. What emerged was a dialogue between disciplines.¨

Responding to the Nuclear Present I with Dr. Robert Jacobs and Dr. Mick Broderick  with John O'Brian
Professors Jacobs and Broderick have been working for the last five years on the Global Hibakusha Project, assessing the cultural and social effects of radiation exposures on communities, families and individuals. This work has led them to conduct oral histories in radiation affected communities around the world, primarily nuclear weapon testing sites, nuclear production sites, and nuclear power plant accident sites.

Responding to the Nuclear Present II with Gordon Edwards and Robert del Tredici, moderated by Blake Edwards
This session will feature a mathematician and a photographer - both of whom have been working on nuclear issues for over 30 years - addressing how they take measure of the contemporary nuclear predicament.

Tapestry presents
A Tapestry and Edmonton Opera co-production
SHELTER
Libretto by Julie Salverson • Music by Juliet Palmer
Directed by Keith Turnbull
Christine Duncan, mezzo-soprano (Claire), Teiya Kasahara, soprano (Hope), Keith Klassen, tenor (Pilot), Andrea Ludwig, mezzo-soprano (Lise Meitner), Andrew Love, baritone (Thomas)
Leslie Dala, Music Director
Jo Leslie, Movement Director
Sue LePage, Stage and Costume Design
Robert Thomson, Lighting Design
Ben Chaisson, Video Design
June 12-14 7:30pm, June 15 2pm¨
Berkeley Street Theatre Downstairs, 26 Berkeley Street
Ticket prices range from $55-$75 + HST and can be purchased in person at the Canadian Stage Box Office at 26 Berkeley Street, by calling 416.368.3110 or online at CanadianStage

SHELTER Events
June 12-15, Berkeley Street Theatre Lobby
Atomicalia Exhibit

Friday, June 13, 5-6:30pm
A Jumble of Paths: a reading
Julie Salverson and Peter C. van Wyck, with John O'Brian

Saturday, June 14, 5-6:30pm
Responding to the Nuclear Present I
Dr. Robert Jacobs and Dr. Mick Broderick with John O'Brian

Sunday June 15, 11:30-1pm
Responding to the Nuclear Present II
Gordon Edwards and Robert del Tredici, moderated by Blake Edwards

CD Release: Sixteen-year-old Self-Taught Native American Spirit Flute Musician Alissa Skorik Releases 'Eluna' (June 2014)

From a release:

Sixteen-year-old self-taught Native American Spirit Flute musician Alissa Skorik has just released her debut recording - Eluna

• Buy the CD

Alissa is a 16 year old self taught Native American Spirit Flute musician, she started playing the Spirit Flute when she was 12 years old.“I picked it up and made it work” was what she always told everyone. Alissa had no idea that this was uncommon or unusual, the flute just “spoke to her”. During times of trouble Alissa would seek music, particularly Native American Music. As Alissa went through intense bullying and sexual harassment in her life, music was her saviour and inspiration. Alissa wanted to play; to make music and to change the world.

With an ancient sound and a new take on traditional Native music Alissa aims to create pieces that will touch peoples hearts young and old. “The Native American culture does not get the respect nor notice that it deserves” says Alissa, she wants to change that. It is her hope that the new take on traditional Spirit Flute music with modern beats and synthesizers will interest the younger generation in traditions that run the risk of soon being forgot.

“The Spirit Flute and the Native American traditions help me over come so much grief in my life, I hope it does the same for others. However in order for it to have such an influence people need to know about it and get interested, Thats where I come in” -Alissa.

To date Alissa has released 5 songs all included on the “Eluna” album.