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Free one-day concert series, September 28: Beginning at 1pm,the festival presents a series of free concerts at Yonge-Dundas Squarecalled “Small World in the Square” lasting the entire day to 11pm.There are seven internationally celebrated acts booked. Unable todo justice to all of them here I’m providing a sketch of a few picks.Headlining is the reggae supergroup Third World marking 40 years onstage, in the studio and on the road. Spreading the message of peace,love and unity through music, these “reggae ambassadors” are therecipients of the 1986 United Nations Peace Medal, two Jamaica MusicIndustry awards for Best Show Band, and no less than ten Grammynominations. In 22 albums, Third World proudly combines a veritablecatalogue of musical influences including Jamaican reggae of course,but also older rural Jamaican, African roots, American pop, R&B, funk,rap and Euro classical music.Also taking the stage is the Lahore group Noori (Light) widelyconsidered pioneers of the relatively young Pakistani rock musicscene. The band plays a fusion of pop and rock and on occasioncolours their songs with traditional South Asian instruments, as intheir Season 3 session in the TV show Coke Studio Pakistan (view it onYouTube). While their instruments and musical idiom may be a reflectionof the West, their lyrics reflect more homegrown verities. Noori’ssongs mirror the dreams and realities of urban Pakistani youth, urgingthem to change their world for the better and professing women’sempowerment. I’m curious to see their Canadian fans and how theyinteract with these stars.Audiences in the square will also be taking a journey downColombia’s Caribbean coast escorted by Colombian-born composerand guitarist Roberto López and his band. The Montreal-based Lópeztakes us on a multi-level musical encounter starting with the inspirationof wind bands of Colombia’s Caribbean coast grooving to theregional rhythms of cumbia, paseo, mapalé, chandé, champeta andporro, interpreted via North-American jazz band instrumentation.Then “Global Bollywood” gets a local interpretation from Toronto’sBageshree Vaze and Ensemble. The group celebrates Indian film musicarranged for an ensemble of some of Toronto’s finest musiciansgrounded by the master grooves of Vineet Vyas on tabla. MTV India“rising star” Vaze is a triple threat. She’s not only the vocalist and bandleader but also an accomplished kathak dancer, a North Indian dancestyle closely associated with its traditional music.My remaining word count allows me a preview of only the closingshow of the festival: DakhaBrakha on October 6 at the Revival Bar.The Kyiv-based quartet, whose name means “give and take” in oldUkrainian, has invented a surprising and refreshing stream of worldmusic, infusing their theatrical take on Ukrainian village music with ametal-like rock sensibility. Their core instrumentation of closely mikedcello, floor tom, darabuka, djembe and occasional keyboard synth,harmonica and Jew’s harp support the group’s soaring vocal solos andpowerful close harmony refrains.I heard their North American debut at Luminato 2013 where theirset was in turns emotionally and powerfully intense and then chilledout, the latter in what sounded like an odd-ball R&B cover. Eventhose, like me, who don’t understand DakhaBrakha’s Ukrainian lyrics,nevertheless have come alongside their brand of transnational musicmaking. The group tags its style “ethno-chaos,” but whatever thelabel, the sheer emotional and quirky power embedded in the musicmarks it as one, however idiosyncratic, map of a way forward forthe genre.Andrew Timar is a Toronto musician and music writer.He can be contacted at worldmusic@thewholenote.com.The Season’s Musical Rainbow◆ BLUE PAGES UPCOMING IN OCTOBER!Published every October and updated year-round atthewholenote.com, the Blue Pages is The WholeNote’sannual guide to Southern Ontario concert presenters andthe musical riches they provide.Presenters! It’s not too late to count yourself in, but hurry!Address all directory inquiries todirectories@thewholenote.com◆ ORANGE PAGESBuilding on our March 2013 launch of this new directorywhich covered private teachers, community music schools,and seasonal programs, in November we’ll explore fulltimemusic-centred education at secondary and postsecondarylevels.◆ CANARY PAGESPublished in May and updated year-round at thewholenote.com, the Canary Pages is our guide to choral opportunitiesat every age and level of skill, across Southern Ontario.◆ GREEN PAGESOnline from April, in print in June, The WholeNote’sGreen Pages is our annual guide to summer musicOntario-wide, across Canada, and beyond.Don’t miss a note! You can find our directories, at any timeof year at thewholenote.comINDEX OF advertisersAmadeus Choir 29ATMA 5Bach Children's Chorus 54Canadian Opera Company 72Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra 17Celtic Orchestra of Southern Ontario 54Christ Church Deer Park Jazz Vespers 33City of Toronto Historic Museums 25Civic Light-Opera 43Classical 96 69Colours of Music 20, 49Cosmo Music 39Early Childhood Music Association ofOntario 54Elmer Iseler Singers 30Esprit Orchestra 4Etobicoke Centennial Choir 55G27 43Gallery 345 47Grand Philharmonic Choir 28Hannaford Street Silver Band 14Heliconian Hall 57I FURIOSI 24Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber MusicSociety 45, 50Little Voices Dancing Feet 55Liz Parker 55Long & McQuade 54Long & McQuade/New Horizons Band 39Matthew Kelly 56Miles Nadal JCC 55Mississauga Symphony 19Moeller Organs 56Mooredale Concerts 21Music at Metropolitan 19, 43Music Gallery 33Music Mondays 43Music Toronto 9, 46Musicians in Ordinary 45Nancy Sicsic 56New Music Concerts 7, 47Norm Pulker 56Oakham House Choir 55Ontario Philharmonic 18Oriana Women’s Choir 26Orpheus Choir 27Pasquale Bros 57Pax Christi Chorale 46Peter Mahon 26Queen of Puddings Inc. 53Remenyi House of Music 16Roy Thomson Hall 3Sheila McCoy 55Sinfonia Toronto 19Soundstreams 31St. Olave’s Church 45St. Philip’s Anglican Church 33Steinway Piano Gallery 15Steve Jackson Pianos 24Sweetwater Music Festival 20Tafelmusik 2, 44, 47The Sound Post 15Toronto Chamber Choir 55Toronto Consort 23Toronto Masque Theatre 46Toronto Mendelssohn Choir 29Toronto Symphony 71TorQ Percussion 13U of T Faculty of Music 11Vesnivka Choir 30Village Voices 55VOICEBOX: Opera in Concert 23Windermere String Quartet 25, 44Women’s Musical Club 17Yorkminster Park Baptist Church 27thewholenote.com September 1 – October 7, 2013 | 41