Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi & The Black Spirits
Zimbabwean Oliver Mtukudzi is a truly great guitarist, vocalist, performer and composer. Zimbabwe’s pride, most successful artist and national treasure, Oliver is gifted with a deep and gusty voice plus a talent for writing songs that reflect on the daily life and struggles of his people. ‘Tuku’ as he is known, began performing in 1977 and has earned a devoted following across Africa and beyond, all the while incorporating elements of different musical traditions. A member of Zimbabwe’s Kore Kore tribe, he sings in the nation’s dominant Shona language as well as Ndebele and English. Tuku (along with Angelique Kidjo, Hugh Masekela and Ladysmith Black Mambazo) is one of the most successful African recordings artists globally, having sold hundreds of thousand of records on Putumayo, Heads Up/Telarc and Sheer Sound. Tuku is an alumni of Acoustic Africa II (2011 edition) and a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Eastern and Southern Africa, focusing on Young People’s Development and HIV and AIDS Prevention. April's concert marks the return to Toronto of one of Africa’s musical giants.
July 18, 2014 4 images
Ramneek Singh
Ramneek Singh, introduced to Indian Classical music at the tender age of six, is an accomplished vocal artist with almost thirty years of strict vocal training with an attractive style of presentation that has won her much acclaim. She prides herself in being a purist from Ustad Amir Khan's Indore Gharana, a distinctively meditative style. She has performed in festivals and concerts in India, Canada and USA. She sings Khayal, Thumri, Shabad-kirtan, Sufiana, and Folk.
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Rajeev Taranath & Abhiman Kaushal
Internationally acclaimed Rajeev Taranath, a disciple of the late Maestro Ali Akbar Khan, is one of India's leading exponents of the sarod (lute). His performances masterfully combine the depth and rigor of Hindustani classical music with an inspired imagination and emotional intensity.
Abhiman Kaushal is an outstanding tabla artist who is much sought after for his sensitive accompaniment and intense solo playing. He represents the Farukkabad and Lucknow styles of tabla. Having been initiated into the art by his father R. B. Kaushal, who was a disciple of the legendary Ustad Amir Hussain Khan, Abhiman later continued his training under the famous Ustad Sheikh Dawood of Hyderabad, India, and the Ustad’s senior most disciple, Pandit B. Nandkumar. Abhiman has accompanied most of the leading musicians, singers and dancers of North Indian classical music. He has toured around the world performing in prestigious venues. He has numerous recordings and world music collaborations. He has recorded a soundtrack for National Geographc’s Man Eaters of North India, for Zoolander movie and has performed for MTV’s Aerosmith icon show in front of a live audience. Recently he was the solo featured musician for the acclaimed electronic dance drama Ramayana 2k3 which won rave reviews in Los Angeles and New York City.
Abhiman is currently on faculty at UCLA and UCR as Director of the North Indian Classical Music ensembles.
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Kiosk
Pioneers of Iran's underground music movement, Kiosk is praised for its sharp and satirical lyrics as well as its unique blend of musical styles, from rock to gypsy jazz to Iranian folk.
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Brownman
This one of a kind musical mashup brings together iconic jazz-hip-hop trumpet player Brownman (of Guru's Jazzmatazz) joining forces with 2 pioneers of of alternative Cuban music - rappers Ogguere & Telmary - for a sound that bridges the distance between Jazzmatazz & Los Orishas with creatively energized panache.
July 17, 2014 4 images
Jorge Drexler and Lenka Lichtenberg
Jorge Drexler, Uruguayan Madrid-based musician who won wide acclaim after becoming the first composer ever to win an Academy Award with a song in Spanish. He won the Oscar® for composing the song "Al Otro Lado del Río" from the film The Motorcycle Diaries. In the last few years he has received nominations in three consecutive Grammy Awards and four consecutive Latin Grammy Awards, and has won two Spanish Music Awards.
Jorge Drexler is beloved for the beauty and intricate construction of his music and for the deft poetry of his lyrics. Critics have also hailed him as a keen observer of complex, timely themes such as technology and global interconnectedness, in addition to romance.
Drexler’s songs have been featured in numerous other films, including James Ivory’s The City of Your Final Destination, which he scored, and which stars Anthony Hopkins, Laura Linney and Charlotte Gainsbourg. His original song for the Spanish/Brazilian co-production Lope, directed by Andrucha Waddington, earned him the GOYA Award (Spanish Arts & Cinematographic Academy award) for Best Original Song in 2011.
While he was making the n app, Drexler undertook another first recently: He starred in Argentine writer-director Daniel Burman’s film All In, which premiered in the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival, winning the award for Best Screenplay for a Narrative Feature Film in the World Narrative Competition.
Lenka Lichtenberg shines as one of the most visionary artistic builders in a nation that defines its identity as a multicultural mosaic. The Prague-born soprano unites the world through sacred song in no less than seven languagues -- Yiddish, English, Czech, French, Russian, Hebrew and Roma.
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DakhaBrakha
DakhaBrakha is an “ethno chaos” quartet from Kiev, Ukraine. The name DakhaBrakha is original, outstanding and authentic simultaneously. It means “give/take” in the old Ukrainian language. Reflecting fundamental elements of sound and soul, Ukrainian “ethno chaos” band DakhaBrakha, create a world of unexpected new music. Accompanied by Indian, Arabic, African, Russian and Australian traditional instrumentation, the quartet’s astonishingly powerful uncompromising vocal range creates a trans-national sound rooted in Ukrainian culture.
July 16, 2014 4 images
Sierra Maestra
Stars of Cuban music ever since they formed in the late 1970s, Sierra Maestra was the first, and remains the best, of the modern-era groups to play in the old-style son line-up as during the style’s golden age of the 1920s and ’30s. Celebrating 34 years since its formation.
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Marcio Faraco
Brazilian-born, based in Paris, France for over 20 years, Márcio Faraco stays true to the traditional music of Brazil, melding the language of the samba, bossa nova and choro in his evocative songs. While his music draws likely comparisons with the masters-Chico Buarque, Milton Nascimento, João Gilberto and Caetano Veloso - he is adept at straying from his South American roots adding Portuguese fado, African rhythms, and Cuban beats. Featuring delicate and masterful guitar work, his vocals are beautiful and engaging. Márcio is joined by Philippe Baden Powell on piano, the son of the legendary Brazilian guitarist Baden Powell.
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