Anya M. Wassenberg's Blog: Art & Culture Maven, page 16

El Anatsui Will Be Next Hyundai Commission Artist For Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall

With material from a media release

El Anatsui Will Be Next Hyundai Commission Artist For Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall
Open to the public 10 October 2023 – 14 April 2024

Tate Modern and Hyundai Motor have announced that Ghanaian artist El Anatsui will create the next annual Hyundai Commission. 

El Anatsui, In the World But Don't Know the World? (detail), 2009 (Aluminium and copper wire, 1000 x 560 cm) © El Anatsui, Collection Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and Kunstmuseum Bern, Courtesy the Artist and October Gallery, London; Photo © Jonathan Greet

One of the most distinctive artists working today, El Anatsui is best-known for his cascading metallic sculptures constructed of thousands of recycled bottle-tops articulated with copper wire. Repurposing found materials into dazzling works of abstract art, Anatsui’s work explores themes that include the environment, consumption and trade. 

His site-specific work for the Turbine Hall will be open to the public from 10 October 2023 – 14 April 2024.

I first became aware of El Anatsui and his work in 2009 on a trip to New York City. I managed to stumble into the Contemporary African Art Gallery in the Upper West Side, and had to wait while the gallery owner chatted with someone else. In fact, I ended up sitting next to one of El Anatsui's shimmering pieces without knowing what it was. 

I saw his work again in person when he had a major show at the Royal Ontario Museum in 2010-11, including a work that was left with the ROM.

El Anatsui (portrait photograph) Photo © Aliona Adrianova, 2019, Courtesy October Gallery, LondonEl Anatsui

Anatsui was born in Anyako, Ghana in 1944 and has spent most of his career in Nigeria. Over a long-lasting and distinguished career as both artist and educator – serving as Professor of Sculpture and Departmental Head at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka – Anatsui has developed a highly experimental approach to sculpture, embracing a wide range of forms and materials including wood, ceramics and found objects. 

He has experimented with liquor bottle tops since the late 90s and continues to push the medium’s boundaries in novel ways, creating radical, transformative sculptures which assume new shapes with every installation. Interested in the changing histories of the objects he repurposes into shimmering sculptures, Anatsui fuses specific local aesthetic traditions with the global history of abstraction. In 2015, Anatsui was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 56th International Art Exhibition of the Biennale di Venezia and his work is held in major collections around the world.

El Anatsui, Kindred Viewpoints, 2016 (Aluminium and copper wire, 1680 x 2140 cm) Image courtesy Marrakech Biennale 6, NOT NEW NOW; Photo © Jens MartinReactions

Frances Morris, Director of Tate Modern, said in a media release, “El Anatsui is responsible for some of the most unique and unforgettable sculptures in recent times and we are delighted that he will tackle the Turbine Hall this autumn for the annual Hyundai Commission. Anatsui’s much-loved Ink Splash II 2012 in Tate’s collection enchants visitors wherever it’s shown, and we can’t wait to see how this inventive artist will approach a space like the Turbine Hall.”

DooEun Choi, Art Director of Hyundai Motor Company said in a statement, “El Anatsui's works are distinguished by his dedication to exploring the transformative potential of art and his attention to histories. We look forward to seeing how El Anatsui transforms the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern for the eighth Hyundai Commission.”

El Anatsui, Skylines?, 2008 (Aluminium and copper wire, 300 x 825 cm) © El Anatsui, Private Collection, Courtesy the Artist and October Gallery, London; Photo © Jonathan Greet

Since Tate Modern opened in 2000, the Turbine Hall has hosted some of the world’s most memorable and acclaimed works of contemporary art, reaching an audience of millions each year. 

The annual Hyundai Commission gives artists an opportunity to create new work for this unique context. The commissions are made possible by the long-term partnership between Tate and Hyundai Motor, confirmed until 2026 as part of the longest initial commitment from a corporate partner in Tate’s history.

Hyundai Commission: El Anatsui is curated by Osei Bonsu, Curator, International Art, and Dina Akhmadeeva, Assistant Curator, International Art, Tate Modern and will be accompanied by a new book from Tate Publishing.

Filmed at his Nsukka, Nigeria studio in 2011, El Anatsui describes his process.

Nuit Blanche Takes Over Toronto In September 2023

From a media release

Nuit Blanche Takes Over Toronto In September 2023

Apply for the 2023 Independent Project and/or Open Call Program by 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, March 5 - INFO HERE

TORONTO - This September, the City of Toronto will host the 17th edition of Nuit Blanche, Toronto’s popular all-night art celebration. 

Nuit Blanche, created by the City in collaboration with Toronto’s arts community, will return this fall from 7 p.m. on Saturday, September 23 to 7 a.m. on Sunday, September 24. 

Toronto's City Hall lit up by a 4 digit display for the first Nuit Blanche in Toronto on 3 October 2009, 23:58 (Photo by Skeezix1000/CC BY-SA 2.0)

For one dazzling night, neighbourhoods across Toronto will experience remarkable and inspiring pop-up art installations, including major exhibition areas planned for Etobicoke, downtown and Scarborough.

Nuit Blanche is now accepting proposals for the Open Call Program and Independent Projects for this year’s festival from Canadian and international artists. Submissions are due Sunday, March 5. 

The City has announced this year’s theme, Breaking Ground, and introduced the 2023 Nuit Blanche curators.

Curatorial theme

The 2023 curatorial theme, Breaking Ground, speaks to ideas centred around the natural world and being on the vanguard of change and innovation. Defined as the preparation for building or planting, Breaking Ground invites artists to explore a diversity of themes, including but not limited to the implications of climate change, construction and development of the city’s urban landscape, the impacts on communities and collective responsibilities around land and stewardship.

This year, Nuit Blanche seeks to uncover and highlight artists whose ground-breaking practices challenge the status quo through media, form or content, to transform public spaces and inspire the public to experience Toronto in new and meaningful ways.

Curators

Nuit Blanche Toronto 2023 will feature three Toronto-based curators: Lillian O’Brien Davis who will lead the exhibition in Etobicoke, Kari Cwynar who will lead the exhibition in downtown and surrounding neighbourhoods and Noa Bronstein who will lead the exhibition in Scarborough.

Lillian O’Brien Davis is a curator and writer based in Toronto. She has curated independent projects at the Art Museum at the University of Toronto, the Susan Hobbs Gallery, the School of Art Gallery at the University of Manitoba and others. Lillian is currently the Curator of Exhibitions and Public Programs at Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography.

Kari Cwynar is an independent curator and writer based between Toronto and Montreal. She has held curatorial research positions at the National Gallery of Canada, the Banff Centre for the Arts and the Art Gallery of Ontario. She was the inaugural curator of Evergreen’s public art program in Toronto’s Don River Valley.

Noa Bronstein is a curator and writer based in Toronto. Nora has been the Executive Director of Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography and the inaugural Senior Curator at the Small Arms Inspection Building and is currently the Executive Director of Gallery TPW. Her practice is often focused on the social production of space and thinking through how artists disrupt and subvert systems.

Life of the Earth project by artist Director X, October 4, 2019 (City of Toronto/CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)Call for Artists

Two opportunities are open and available for artists to participate in this year’s Nuit Blanche through an application process – Open Call Program and Independent Projects. 

Proposals for both opportunities should respond to the curatorial theme Breaking Ground, have a strong visual component and be rooted in contemporary art practice. Applications are due on March 5 at 11:59 p.m.

The Open Call Program focuses on mid-scale projects selected by this year’s curators to be presented in their respective exhibition areas, funded up to CAD $11,000 and produced by the City. 

The Open Call Program is open to Canadian and international artists and collectives of all artistic disciplines.

Independent Projects are self-produced in traditional and non-traditional spaces across the city, such as the public realm, parks, galleries, storefronts, office towers, streets and sidewalks. Toronto-based artists with a professional artistic practice looking to move beyond a traditional gallery space are eligible and encouraged to apply.

Virtual Information Sessions

Interested Independent Project and Open Call Program applicants are encouraged to join one of two virtual information sessions. 

Information and applications here

Sessions are identical, free to join and last approximately 90 minutes each. Dates and times (all times are Eastern Standard) are as follows:

Wednesday, February 22, at 6 p.m.Wednesday, March 1, at 6 p.m.

“Nuit Blanche Toronto will help shine a light on the vibrant and robust art scene in the city’s neighbourhoods in 2023. Each year, this event provides Torontonians and visitors alike the opportunity to experience art made accessible for all. I encourage artists across Toronto to apply to have their work included in this year’s Nuit Blanche.” – Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie (Scarborough-Rouge Park)

Nuit Blanche 2022

Sparkling Jazz | Doc City: Welcome to Doc City (Deluxe Edition) (Independent / 27 January 2023)

Sparkling Jazz
Doc City: Welcome to Doc City (Deluxe Edition)
(Independent / 27 January 2023)

Stream It On Spotify

A sparkling sound and accomplished jazz and RnB chops are the draw on this album by Doc City, aka Clarence Taylor, MD. Doc City is the musical alias of Clarence Taylor, MD. The son of a Baptist minister from Cleveland, gospel music and spirituals were his musical foundation. Alongside his medical career, he's won awards for his music over the years.

He collaborates with a host of session masters, including people like Lafayette Carthon (piano), who, as an esteemed musician, author and pastor, bridges both of Doc's worlds. The full list is here.https://doccitymusic.com/the-musicians

What Love Is broadcasts a slow and sexy groove that wouldn't have been amiss in the 1970s or 80s, and channels Barry White in that mix of jazz RnB. 

Using various vocalists, he achieves a range of moods and modes, from strident to the sensitive and expressive. In When You Are Near, instrumentation is lush, with strings and muted trumpet to underpin the melody.

While he wrote most of the songs on the album, he does a nicely jazzed up version of the Sade hit, Sweetest Taboo, playing with the rhythms, and adding harmony vocals that give it another dimension.

Your Ego Too is a highlight of the release, with its churchy organ and swing. The percussionists on the album deserve special kudos of their own. What I'll Do is a classic RnB duet with a slow build.

If old school jazzy rhythm and blues are your jam, you won't go wrong with this release.

With Doc on keyboards and vocals, he's joined by Featured Artists:

Sean Jones -trumpet (Wynton Marsalis, Herbie Hancock, Nancy Wilson, Diane Reeves)Lafayette Carthon -piano (Michael Jackson, Celine Dion, The Winans)Steve Cox -piano, Moog (Dazz Band, Trisha Yearwood, Garth Brooks, Allison Krauss)Steve Mackey -bass (Peter Frampton, India Irie, Keb Mo, Dolly Parton)Kenney Anderson -sax (Gloria Estavan and Miami Sound Machine, Bobby Caldwell)Jamey Haddad -percussion (Paul Simon, Carley Simon, Steve Gadd, YoYo Ma)

Websites:

Official Website: DocCityMusic.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com.clarence.taylor.737Instagram: cavsgersh

Polished, Poetic Pop | Kate Fenner: Dead Reckoning (Independent / 15 January 2023)

Polished, Poetic Pop
Kate Fenner: Dead Reckoning
(Independent / 15 January 2023)

Stream "Dead Reckoning" on Spotify.

With a clear and expressive voice that wraps around the songs, Kate Fenner's Dead Reckoning is a collection of thoughtful pop for adult listeners. The Canadian native is now based in New York City.

Kate talks about the album's inspiration in a release. “When my friend Mike was dying in December of 2019, I came across an Amy Hempel poem about the failure of language when faced with things like death— 

At the end, I wanted to comfort him.
But what I said was, Sing to it. The
Arab proverb: When danger approaches, sing to it.”

That's not to say the tracks are melancholy. My River is an introspective piano ballad, while Transit of Venus has a latin-esque groove - and the 11 tracks cycle through a range of moods. Kate's voice is fluid, reminiscent of musical theatre training in its technical facility.

Her lyrics are thoughtful and poignant. From Quiet Rider:

Quiet rider, boots dug in the flank
With reins you guide her, sky so wide and blank
Ever watchful, but you don't see anything
Just feel the breath flow and the air around you sing...

Her voice floats effortlessly above the music, consisting of good old school instrumentation - piano and keyboards, guitar (including pedal steel), cello and violin, along with the usual percussion and upright bass. Her music is described as singer-songwriter or folk, but I'd add atmospheric. Ghost Moon is a standout track with a mesmerizing slow groove.

It's contrasted nicely by That Fire, an intriguing track that blends elements of roots rock with psychedelic. It epitomizes her imaginative touch when it comes to songwriting. 

You'll be impressed by the artistry on all levels of this release.

Personnel: Stéphane San Juan—drums and percussion; Connor Schultze—electric and upright bass; Mark Spencer—guitar, pedal steel guitar, piano, Wurlitzer, organ, Mellotron; Tony Scherr—bass on 1, 7; acoustic guitar on 7; electric guitar on 4, 7, 9; Jason Moran—piano on 1; Scott Harding—electric guitar on 3, 5, 8, 9, Mellotron 2, 9, Moog on 5, string arrangement 1, 10; Chris Brown—organ on 5, strings, wurlitzer and additional production on 4; Lucien Clough—intro and outro piano on 10, guitar on 4; Agustin Uriburu—cello on 1, 7, 10; acoustic guitar on 2; Tomoko Omura—violin, viola on 1; Kate—singing, acoustic guitar on 3, 6, 8

Stay connected:

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Glamrock Redux | Ruby Topaz: Rabbit Hole (Independent / 9 November 2022)

Glamrock Redux
Ruby Topaz: Rabbit Hole
(Independent / 9 November 2022)

Stream It On Spotify

Imaginative rock with classic edges is what you'll find on this release by veteran musician Ruby Topaz.

It's rock with an orchestral sensibility and even operatic flair. The arrangements draw the ear with layers of inventive orchestration. Rabbit Hole will remind you of the Beatles with its sitar-like opening, and Dream Running uses atmospheric electronics to cast an ethereal mood.

There are 16 tracks on the release, and the duo don't repeat themselves when it comes to mood or tone. You're Still Running is a straight up rocker, just to prove they can.

Vocalist Mark Bram has a distinctive sound with a nice range and melodic style, and the songs showcase his strengths. His style inspired by Robert Plant and similar artists, but he manages to make the sound his own.

Bram also plays a mean lead guitar (along with guitar synth and keyboards, as well as bass and drums on some of the songs) with a nice ear for licks that complement the song. 

Schizophrenic Law is a standout track, with a slowed down rhythm that's sexy and sinuous. He slows it down again, this time to a country rock mode in Come Back To Me, then with a jazzy swing to Your Love. 

Classic rock never really died; it just entered the modern era with practitioners like Ruby Topaz.

Rabbit Hole by Ruby Topaz

Art Pop | Globus: Cinematica (Imperativa Records, Inc / 14 October 2022)

Art Pop
Globus: Cinematica
(Imperativa Records, Inc / 14 October 2022)

Stream It On SpotifyBuy/Stream On Bandcamp

"With Cinematica, I wanted to create a musical journey, much like the best of cinematic experiences, which takes the listener through a myriad of visual landscapes and deep connections to the essential fibers of the human condition. The album contains a diverse representation of musical genres, with lyrical explorations of complex relationships, mental health, tyranny, war, unifying struggles, healing and hope. Much of the inspiration came from a familiar production process for Globus - using original orchestral instrumental compositions to evoke and inspire new melodies and additional arrangement elements, creating new Cinematic Rock songs. It’s vital to me that the intended result is a visceral, immersive, bigger-than-life aural experience for the listener." - Yoav Goren (Globus)

With a cinematic sweep and a storytelling heart, Globus' new release plays like an atmospheric soundtrack from the 27-second Sprockets, which plays like a kind of overture.

The themes are socially aware and the lyrics poetic.

Peace in our time
Gives me hope
Makes me smile
But like sheep
We ignore
Man's hunger for war

Goren has written scores for Hollywood films, including film trailers for franchises such as Spiderman, X-Men and Harry Potter. That sense of drama and theatricality is translated to the music on this release.

It's powerful art pop-rock with orchestral flair. Peace In Our Time has an appropriate build to urgency. O California, in stark contrast to the largely upbeat fairytales of most songs about the state, is spooky and dwells on broken dreams and disparity of opportunity. False Redeemers has an operatic range, including a chorus behind the strings and orchestral percussion. 

Goren writes all the material, with the notable exception of covers of David Bowie's seminal I'm Afraid Of Americans, and the classic You'll Never Walk Alone. He electronicas Bowie's song, contrasting the verse with the urgency of the chorus, and adding an avant-garde piano line. It's an interesting take.

With several singers on backup, Goren is the lead vocalist, with a perfect and expressive alt-rock tenor. Some songs, like War, divide the vocals among several voices. 

As a songwriter, he has a nice facility for blending hooky anthemic melodies with serious subjects in the lyrics. Seraphim begins with a swirl of orchestral energy, with the vocals of a classical choral work on top of solid percussion. In contrast, Brothers in Arms offers a heavy synth-rock sound with an anthemic groove, while Carry The Flame has the heart of an old school RnB song.

It's music out of the ordinary with a sense of storytelling and theatrical drama. 

Personnel: Yoav Goren - Piano, Synths, Guitars, Bass, Drums, Vocals; Ryan Hanifl: Vocals; Dann Pursey: Vocals; Lisbeth Scott: Vocals; Anneke van Giersbergen: Vocals; Lindsay Solo: Vocals; Adam Max Goren: Vocals; Stacy Wilde: Vocals; Jane Runnalls Poole: Vocals; Tate Simms: Guitars, Bass; Ariel Mann: Guitars; Mark Phillips: Guitars; Kfir Melamed: Bass; Gregg Bissonette: Drums

Websites:

Official Website: globusmusic.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/globusmusicTwitter: https://twitter.com/globusmusic/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/globus_music/

Stony Plain Records Announces Roots Music Legend Taj Mahal New Album Savoy - April 28 2023

From a media release

Stony Plain Records Announces Three-Time
Grammy-Winning Roots Music Legend Taj Mahal
To Release New Album Savoy on April 28, 2023

Preorder/Listen here

WATERDOWN, ON – Stony Plain Records announced the release of roots music legend Taj Mahal’s ground-breaking new album Savoy, on April 28. 2023.

Taj Mahal can rightfully be called a living legend for his contributions to popular music. With a voice as instantly recognizable as Louis Armstrong, Ray Charles, or Johnny Cash, throughout his career Taj has pushed the envelope of American roots music forward by incorporating sounds from the Caribbean, Africa, traditional blues and jazz. He has won three Grammy Awards from 14 nominations, was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame, and presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Americana Music Association. 

With Savoy, Taj takes a new direction in his musical journey, exploring a collection of blues tinged classic material with his good friend and acclaimed record producer John Simon, whose resume includes producing classic albums by The Band, Leonard Cohen, Gordon Lightfoot and Blood Sweat & Tears. Recording Savoy is the realization of a musical collaboration they had been discussing for decades, finally locking in the studio time in Oakland, California to make it happen in August, 2022.

In the introduction to the first track “Stompin’ at the Savoy,” Taj Mahal talks about his parents meeting for the first time at the famous Savoy Ballroom in Harlem during the initial run of Ella Fitzgerald with the Chick Webb Band in 1938, writes Stony Plain Records co-founder Holger Petersen in the album’s informative liner notes. The album is a loving throwback to the sounds of the swing jazz big band era. With guest vocals of Maria Muldaur on “Baby It’s Cold Outside” and Evan Price’s violin on two tracks, the album covers 14 standards composed by the likes of Duke Ellington, Louis Jordan, George Gershwin and Louis Armstrong, brought to life by the unique voice and character of the one and only Taj Mahal.

Taj explains, “I heard [the songs on Savoy] as a kid when all of those people who made those musics were alive and speaking to us through the records. Those weren’t just records to collect. Those were like listening to your relatives, your uncles, your cousins, your grandparents speaking to you through that medium, the medium of music.”

Taj-Mahal, photo by Jay Blakesberg

“The music was good then. It’s going to be good now,” concludes Taj, “especially when you got people who really respect what it is. Also, [who] respect the gift they’ve been given. It’s a gift to be able to play music, art, dance, write, do science, whatever, ‘cause you’re contributing to humanity. What you’ve been sent to do, that’s the whole thing.

Taj’s exploration of music began as an exploration of self. He was born in 1942 in Harlem to musical parents -- his father was a jazz pianist with Caribbean roots who collaborated with Buddy Johnson, Taj’s godfather.  His mother was a gospel-singing school teacher from South Carolina -- who cultivated an appreciation for both personal history and the arts in their son. “I was raised really conscious of my African roots,” Taj says. “My parents came together around music, which was swing and the beginnings of bebop. That was significant, in terms of what kind of music I heard from them.”  

Fans of Taj know that he started working with Ry Cooder in the mid-60s LA band, The Rising Sons. His first two solo Columbia albums, Taj Mahal’ (1967) and The Natch’l Blues (1968), are two of the most influential blues albums of all time.  Never one to be pigeonholed, Taj has recorded more styles of roots music than any other artist. Those releases include music from the Caribbean, Hawaii, Africa, and India, as well as gospel, rock, early R&B, children’s music, soundtracks, and nearly every kind of acoustic and electric blues. He brings a musicologist’s quest to each project. 

Taj first met producer John Simon at the New York City Columbia Records Studios in 1968. John was producing and playing piano on the first Electric Flag album. Taj was already a fan of John’s productions, playing and arrangements, in particular his arrangements for an album featuring Marshall McLuhan, the influential media guru. At the time, John was a staff producer at Columbia. Taj invited John to play keyboards on his tours during the ‘70s and he also played on Taj’s landmark The Real Thing (1972) album as part of an adventurous band that included four tuba players. Taj and John have remained close friends and kept in touch over the years and toured together again in 2006. Talk eventually turned to their mutual love of classic standards with a blues twist and to doing another album together. Trading songs, the two came up with a list of 59 possibilities before settling in on the 14 contained in Savoy. 

Savoy was recorded at 25th Street Recording in Oakland with engineer Gabriel Shepard.  Taj showed up the first day about 1:00 PM and settled in with cups of sweet tea. Backing Taj Mahal vocals and harmonica on Savoy is a rhythm section comprised of Danny Caron – guitar; Ruth Davies – bass; John Simon – piano; and Leon Joyce, Jr. – drums; with background vocals by Carla Holbrook, Leesa Humphrey, Charlotte McKinnon, Sandy Cressman, Sandy Griffith and Leah Tysse.

On the first day of recording, the band was running down John Simon’s arrangement of “Stompin’ at the Savoy” with encouragement from Taj. Chick Webb had the first hit with the song in 1934 and Ella later recorded it with Louis Armstrong.  Taj said, “It needs a little more sashay. You’ll know it when you hear it.” 

Co-Executive Producer Holger Petersen who was at the session shares, “and everybody did! Taj’s scat singing is a highlight. Except for “Killer Joe, fans would likely have heard all the others at one time or another at the Savoy Ballroom during its long run from 1926 to 1958. This is a Taj album like no other and a deep part of his long history.”

Savoy will be released on compact disc, vinyl, and digital formats on April 28, 2023.

Check out Taj Mahal and Maria Muldaur's holiday single (Nov 2022):

Baby, It's Cold Outside by Taj Mahal, Maria Muldaur

Toronto Dance | Sashar Zarif Dance Theatre’s نی نامه / Song of the Reed February 11 & 12 In Toronto

From a media release:

Toronto Dance
Sashar Zarif Dance Theatre’s نی نامه / Song of the Reed
Aga Khan Museum February 11 & 12, 2023

Get Tickets Here

Aga Khan Museum presents Sashar Zarif of Sashar Zarif Dance Theatre’s new work titled نی نامه / Song of the Reed. This work is inspired by the first poem in the book of Masnavi by universally acclaimed poet, Rumi. This work will be presented at Aga Khan Museum from February 11th – 12th, 2023. 

Photo by Nima Arabi

Many people believe that the complete wisdom of Rumi, shared with the world through over 65,000 verses of mystical poetry in Farsi, is summarized in the first word of this opening poem, “Beshno/Listen”. In this poem Mowlana (Rumi) compares the soul to a reed flute: hollow and empty of ego. And the fire-full sound of the reed as a cry of longing for the reed-bed it has been cut from.

Image by Sashar Zarif

نی نامه / Song of the Reed is a ritual work that creates a space and time, devised to allow us to actively listen. This atmosphere is facilitated by a cast of six cross generational and multidisciplinary artists, whose breaths and bodies collaboratively create a hypnotizing river of dance and music. نی نامه / Song of the Reed is inspired by and draws from, music and dance from Rumi’s birthplace, the ancient city of Balkh, and the rich cultural tapestry of Afghanistan. 

Zarif will be joined by guest artists Nasrullah Tavakoli (Afghan Dutar and vocal), Günay Akca (Turkish Reed/Ney), Sashar Zarif Dance Theatre’s Mairead Filgate, Kathia Wittenborn, Ethan Kim, Sully Malaeb Proulx, creative facilitator Katherine Duncanson, and lighting designer Gabriel Cropley.

Sashar Zarif Dance Theatre - Image by Sashar Zarif

Sashar Zarif has thirty years of ethnographic and cross-cultural creative field work in over forty countries across the globe. His years of investment in research have resulted in a unique approach to choreography and its creative process called “Moving Memories/Living Stories”.

This work was generously supported by Canada Council for the Arts

Performance Details:

Saturday, February 11th at 8:00 pm & Sunday, February 12th at 2:00 pmAga Khan Museum, 77 Wynford Drive, TorontoBox Office Information Tickets: $30 regular, $27 friends, $22.50 students and seniorsAdmission to the galleries is included the day of the showBox office phone: (416) 646-4677 or online here .

A look at Sashar Zarif Dance Theatre's 2022 production, Kismet:

New Single | Ritmo Machine: Isla del Ritmo (Nacional Records, January 27, 2023)

With material from a media release

New Single
Eric Bobo & DJ Latin Bitman Return With
Ritmo Machine: Isla del Ritmo
(Nacional Records, January 27, 2023)

Check out the lead single Isla Del Ritmo

Ritmo Machine is the acclaimed collaboration between CYPRESS HILL's percussionist Eric Bobo and mix master DJ Bitman (Latin Bitman). I loved their debut album ‘Welcome To Ritmo Machine’ (2011) and have waited a long time for the follow-up.

Eric Bobo & DJ Latin Bitman - Ritmo Machine

Their original release featured a host of collaborators, including Chali 2na (Jurassic 5), Sen Dog (Cypress Hil), Ana Tijoux, Money Mark & Mix Master Mike (Beastie Boys), P-Nut (311), and Sick Jacken (Psycho Realm).

More than a decade after their debut, the duo are back and celebrating B Boy Culture, Break Beats and the sounds of the street on "Isla Del Ritmo", the first single of their follow up album, out later this year.

To quote the Miami New Times, “If you're into golden-era hip-hop, live instrumentation, electro, dub, and Latin sounds, you will love it.” 

Isla del Ritmo by Ritmo Machine

Pop Single | Erin Côté: Crazy Ex Girlfriend (Independent / 20 November 2021)

Pop Single
Erin Côté: Crazy Ex Girlfriend
(Independent / 20 November 2021)

Stream the Single From the EP Cheeky Saint

I wasn't crazy
Until you showed me how
Now psycho
Is all that I know...

Erin Côté's vocals her melodic and nimble, and she sings it straight while the lyrics detail the undoing of the narrator - a victim of love. The sentiments are those anyone can relate to.

The music is bouncy synth driven pop with a catchy beat and refrain. It's typical of the rest of Côté's EP, Cheeky Saint. The sound is earworm modern pop, and words with wit and wisdom. Each of the four tracks offers something different, from the sunny Stranger on the Skytrain to the darker mood of Diamonds and Gold, a song about greed, or Moon Madness, a wistful thought for the one that got away. 

A native of Vancouver, British Columbia, Erin studied musical theatre at Capilano University, and works as an actress and dancer as well as a singer. 

Personnel: Cheeky Saint (Piano and Guitar by Keith Burchnall)