Volume 17 Issue 9 - June 2012

Courtesy of LuminaTOThe father of ska, Jamaica’s Ernest Ranglin.is a tribute to the exciting hybrid Ethiopian music being made bythe bands of Haile Selassie’s era. The Debo Band has recently beensigned to SubPop’s Next Ambience label. The other ensemble onthe card is Abyssinian Roots. Produced by Toronto’s Batuki MusicSociety, the band features notable expats of Addis Ababa’s nightclubscene. Among the styles presented: “Azmaris” songs accompanied bymonochord music with lyrics replete with social commentary, variedregional folk musics, as well as Ethio-jazz standards.The evening concert on June 12, titled “Buena Vista West Africa,”comes with a world music back-story. The opening act is the IvoryCoast singer Fatoumata Diawara in her North American premiere.After a career as an actress and multi-instrumentalist, she releasedan album featuring her singing. Diawara also made significant contributionsto other high-profile projects, including Herbie Hancock’sGrammy-winning Imagine Project. Now to the back story of theshow’s title. In 1996, several of Mali’s finest musicians were scheduledto visit Cuba to record an album with local musicians. TheMalians never arrived, however, and the veteran Cubans, not wishingto squander the scheduled studio session, recruited other musiciansto partner with. That recording resulted in the global worldmusic hit album Buena Vista Social Club. Fourteen years later theoriginal Malian invitees, including Bassekou Kouyate, ToumaniDiabate, Kassey Mady Diabate and Djelimady Tounkara, were finallyunited with the Cuban singer and guitarist Eliades Ochoa and hisGrupo Patria. They produced the album AfroCubism. That this remarkableAfrican-Cuban musical ensemble, which rarely performslive, is making its Toronto premiere at a free concert is a good argumentfor Luminato’s programming.Then, on June 16 at 8pm, Toronto’s self-described “Balkan-Klezmer-Gypsy-Party-Punk-Superband” Lemon Bucket Orkestra,opens Luminato’s “Balkan Beat Blowout.” According to the festivalpromo the 13-piece Orkestra “grew out of a conversation betweena Breton accordionist and a Ukrainian fiddler in a Vietnamese restaurant”—not an unlikely scenario in contemporary Toronto, I’d say.Even the title of their 2011 EP Cheeky gives away their folk partyways. Lemon Bucket is putting its imprint on the city’s urban-folkscene with their quirky arrangements of traditional Ukrainian,Yugoslavian and Romanian songs. The headline act scheduled at 9pmis the Bucovina Club Orkestar, making its North American premiere.In addition to these (and many more) concerts, Luminato is alsopresenting free weekday noon hour discussions and concerts ofworld music interest at the Luminato Lounge at the festival Hub,under the rubric, “Lunchtime Illuminations and Concerts.” Theseevents feature artists’ conversations, each paired with a customtailoredmusical performance. They look like an unparalleled opportunityto get a deeper peek into the artists’ m.o.Please check the Luminato website (www.luminato.com), printmedia and of course The WholeNote listings for more details.OTHER PICKSContrary to appearances in my column thus far, Luminato is not theonly world music game in town this month. On June 1, the RoyalConservatory presents Simon Shaheen at Koerner Hall. Among today’smost significant Arab musicians, performers and composers,Shaheen is a virtuoso oud and violin player, incorporating traditionalArabic, jazz and Western classical idioms. Of interest to fans andstudents, Shaheen will also lead a public masterclass on Friday June 1at 10am, at Beit Zatoun, located on Markham St., just south of Bloor.Also on June 1, Ensemble Polaris presents “Game On!” at theHeliconian Hall. This concert presents traditional Canadian andnorthern European songs and dance tunes linked thematically withsport and games of skill and chance. Self-described as an “Arcticfusion band” —and why not? —Ensemble Polaris also performs at 2pmon June 7 at the Toronto Public Library’s Orchardview branch.June 6 at noon the COC’s World Music Series presents a concertof “Authentic Klezmer and Gypsy Swing” at the Richard BradshawAmphitheatre. The musicians include the Yiddish Swingtet: JordanKlapman, piano; Jonno Lightstone, clarinet; Tony Quarrington, guitarand mandolin.Further afield at the University of Waterloo, the Department ofMusic presents “Singing: East and West” on June 13 at RenisonUniversity College. The University of Waterloo Choir directed byGerard Yun performs chant and (Tuvan, or Inuit?) throat singing.Guests include Marhee Park, soprano; Waterloo ChinesePhilharmonic Choir; and the Bluevale Collegiate Choir.Back in Toronto, on June 20, the Georgian choir Darbazi performsas part of the glittering lineup at the SING! Festival fundraiser hostedby star tenor Michael Burgess at the Green Door Cabaret on OssingtonAve. Darbazi will also perform sets on July 2, at the Canada DayCelebrations, outdoor SING! tent at Harbourfront Centre.Andrew Timar is a Toronto musician and music writer.He can be contacted at worldmusic@thewholenote.com.Canada’s Premier Celebration of World CulturesJuly 5 - 8, 2012Victoria Park, London, Ontario, CanadaMusic, Dance, Food & Crafts from Around the WorldFREE ADMISSION!More than 275 Unique ExhibitorsAlejandra Robles (Mexico)Mdungu (The Netherlands)Dave Young Quintet (Canada)Over 35 Top Professional World Music & Jazz Ensembleson 5 Stages including“The Sunfest Jazz” & “Le village québécois” stages& NEW this year … SUNTROPOLIS ‘12“Celebrating the New Sounds of Brazil & Cuba”info@sunfest.on.ca 519-672-1522 www.sunfest.on.caJune 1 – July 7, 2012thewholenote.com 21