PDF file - Nathan Brock, Conductor

JUNOS and Bridgesandrew timarBefore we get to this month’s concerts, I’d like to wade in onthe world music component of Canada’s music industry awards,the JUNOs. Held from March 26 to April 1 in Ottawa, thisyear’s JUNOs have 41 award categories encompassing nominationsof the top-selling singers and musicians you would expect such asArcade Fire, Avril Lavigne, Drake, Justin Bieber, Michael Bubléand Nickelback.The “World Music Album” category nominationsreflect more modest album sales,Kiran Ahluwalia.but no less artistic ambition and achievement.Among the distinguished performersrepresented is previous JUNO award-winnerKiran Ahluwalia. Her latest album AamZameen: Common Ground fuses her ownghazal and Punjabi folk-song approachwith the music of the African masters ofMalian “desert blues.” Montreal based artistSocalled has had a shorter career, yet hislatest music, impossible to pigeon-hole, isno less ambitious in its transnationality. Hismusical mission appears to cross all sorts ofmusical and media boundaries, all the whileembracing a kibitzing attitude toward soundcollage inspired by pop, funk, klezmer andrap. Another nominee is the Brazilian-bornsinger, percussionist and composer AlineMorales, represented by her debut solo albumFlores, Tambores e Amores. Her musicassays Brazilian song styles such as samba,forró and 1960s tropicalia, and forges them into her own voicewith traces of Italian film soundtracks, avant-garde poetry, Africanpercussion and vintage synths.Now to the month’s live offerings: examining world music ina living historical context on March 1, the Royal Conservatory’sString and World Series at Koerner Hall presents the multi-GrammyAward-nominated viola da gambist, Jordi Savall, directing twogroups, Hespérion XXI and the Tembembe Ensamble Continuo. TheCatalan virtuoso of the viola da gamba, “an instrument so refinedthat it takes us to the very brink of silence,” Savall has been amongthe world’s major figures in early music since the 1970s. He ispartly responsible for bringing the viola da gamba back onto theworld stage. While his typical repertory ranges from the mediaevalto the baroque period, Savall’s approach to interpreting this “dead”historical repertoire has always been informed by the performancepractices of living oral music traditions of Europe, the Arab worldand now the “New” world.Appointed European Union ambassador for intercultural dialoguein 2008, Savall is passionate about asserting the common rootsof human expression. The Koerner Hall concert is titled “FoliasAntiguas & Criollas: From the Ancient to the New World.” It featuresSpanish and Mexican baroque music as well as performancesfrom the living Mexican Huasteca and Jarocho music traditions:Savall explores the creole music created from their confluence. Youcan catch the programme March 2 at the Perimeter Institute inWaterloo if you miss it at Toronto’s Koerner Hall.No less challenging to the music landscape status quo is theMarch 5 CD launch concert, “Bridges: Jewish and Arabic Music inDialogue” at the Al Green Theatre, Miles Nadal jcc. Headlining areLenka Lichtenberg, the Jewish singer with an international career,and Middle Eastern-Canadian singer, dancer, actor and qanunplayer Roula Said. For over 20 years the inspiring Said has beenone of Toronto’s leading lights in the belly dance, Arabic and fusionmusic scenes. While Lichtenberg was born and raised in Prague,she completed her university music education in Canada. Her currentmusic reflects her Yiddish roots and her ongoing study of theJewish cantorial tradition; in her extensive touring, she pursues acareer as a singer-songwriter. Together, their aim with “Bridges”is to establish an inspiring dialogue between Jewish and Arabiccultures grounded on musical commonalities. They are supported intheir quest by an outstanding backup band composed of a Torontoworld musician “A-team,” including John Gzowski on oud, guitarsand bouzouki, Kinneret Sagee on clarinet and Ernie Tollar on sax,flutes and clarinet. The rhythm section consists of bassist ChrisGartner, percussionist Alan Hetherington and Ravi Naimpally ontabla and dumbek, all of whom performed with convincing élan onLichtenberg’s sparkling last album Fray, markedly influenced byToronto’s interactive world music scene.On March 2 the Toronto-born chanteuseAlejandra Ribera performs at the GlennGould Studio. Her dramatic singing andgenre-hopping eclectic repertoire draws onboth her Argentinean and British heritage,and particularly mirrors the grit and magicof Ribera’s everyday urban Canadian realitywith its darkly lyrical themes.The Amadeus Choir, directed by LydiaAdams, presents “A Celtic Celebration,”March 3, at Toronto’s Jubilee UnitedChurch. The 115-voice veteran choir isjoined by Stratford’s five-piece, pan-Celticfusion band Rant Maggie Rant, led bymulti-instrumentalist Mark Fletcher. TheHighland dancers also on the bill willundoubtedly further animate the concert.The Royal Conservatory’s World Seriespresents two outstanding singers early inMarch. On March 7, in a multi-mediapresentation, the Latin Grammy awardwinning Lila Downs will perform herdramatic and highly unique reinvention of traditional Mexican musicand original compositions fused with blues, jazz, soul, African rootand even klezmer music.And on March 10, it’s another Grammy Award winner’s turn: thepowerful-voiced Angélique Kidjo performing her brand of Afro-funkfusion with an infectious joie de vivre. Dubbed “Africa’s premierdiva” by TIME magazine, the West African born Kidjo has been anactive member of the international world music scene for over 20years. Her list of illustrious collaborators including Bono, CarlosSantana, Peter Gabriel, Alicia Keys and Branford Marsalis, gives anidea of the force of her personality and the significant impact of hervocal accomplishments.On Thursday March 15, at 7:30pm, Nagata Shachu, Toronto’sprofessional Japanese taiko drumming and music group, presentsthe premiere of Tatsujin Gei (Master Artists) at the JapaneseCanadian Cultural Centre in Toronto. Three master performers fromJapan — Kodo Drummers’ Yoshikazu and Yoko Fujimoto, and theOkinawan dance master Mitsue Kinjo — will join forces with NagataShachu directed by Kyoshi Nagata. (This rare chance to see someof Japan’s top exponents of taiko, song and dance in Toronto missedour listings deadline so you won’t find further details here in themagazine. Call the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre at 416-441-2345 for details.)This month, two of our universities showcase the wide-rangingworld music activities of their music students and faculty. I’ve foundthese concerts are a particularly good way to sample a musicaltradition new to me: they’re relaxed, the youthful participants arecharged with the enthusiasm of new converts — plus they’re free.On March 15, from noon to 8pm, York University’s Department ofMusic presents day one of its “World Music Festival.” Performancesby the World Music Chorus, Celtic, Ghanaian, Cuban, Klezmerensembles and the Escola de Samba will fill the halls and roomsof the Accolade East Building with global sounds. The festivalcontinues all next day with Caribbean, Chinese, Korean Drum,George Whiteside24 thewholenote.com March 1 – April 7, 2012