[FA Worldmusic] small world music festival launches thursday...

[derek andrews]

The Fifth Annual Small World Music Festival
September 21 - October 1, 2006
Line-up Announcement


Wednesday August 23rd, Toronto - Small World Music announces its fall
festival line-up. Celebrating the festival's fifth anniversary, Small World
once again presents the best from the global music scene at some of
Toronto's best downtown clubs and theatres: Lula Lounge, Phoenix Concert
Theatre, Roy Thomson Hall, The Music Hall, Mod Club Theatre and The
Gladstone Ballroom. From September 21st to October 1st, 2006, Small World
Music Festival delivers performances from around the planet. Tickets will go
on sale through www.ticketpro.ca on Monday, August 28th and will also be
available by calling 416.645.9090.

Almost ten years of adventurous programming have made the Small World Music
Society renowned for bringing together global music trend-setters, breaking
down sound barriers and weaving musical magic into Toronto's cultural
landscape. Over the last five years, the fall festival has established
itself as one of the key dates on the city's busy arts calendar. Dozens of
artists have made their Canadian debut under the Small World Festival banner
and this year promises more of the same - a diverse line-up of the best of
global sounds on Toronto's stages and ten days of musical discovery for the
city's audiences. The following line-up of musical acts is now confirmed.


Thursday September 21st, 9:00 p.m.
Lula Lounge, $15 adv / $20 door
FIAMMA FUMANA, (Italy)

An outrageously cool sound-clash by three women from Emilia Romagna. With a
reverence for folk tradition and a modern beat-driven sound, they've set
ears and dance-floors ablaze in Europe. Led by the crystalline voice of
Fiamma herself, this group is on a continuing mission to remember what is
being forgotten in their local culture and bring the songs to pop music.
This summer saw the release of their new CD, Onda, on Omnium Records.
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Friday September 22nd, 8:00 p.m.
Phoenix Concert Theatre, $25 adv/ $30 door
NATACHA ATLAS (England / Egypt)

'Bewitching in any language'  Uncut
The world music diva, with a voice that has opened up western ears to Arabic
music, performs with her new ten-piece ensemble. A globetrotting palette of
influences has allowed her to create a body of work that refuses to be
categorized, entrancingly fusing North African and Arabic music with western
electronics to produce a unique and passionate dance hybrid. With this tour,
her career comes full circle to touch base with her roots. Her new ensemble
harks back in its sound and traditions to the music she grew up with.
'...Atlas' voice ... [is] fragile, sensual, mysterious....' -Time Out, New
York

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Saturday September 23rd, 8:00 p.m.
Roy Thomson Hall, $49.50-$99.50 @ 416 872-4255
RAVI SHANKAR and ANOUSHKA SHANKAR (India)

The guardian of Indian classical music and world music mentor, RAVI SHANKAR
and daughter ANOUSHKA SHANKAR, a star in her own right, prove their mastery
of the sitar  two generations of musics most creative and influential
figures. Their on-stage collaborations are transcendent. Presented by Roy
Thomson Hall & Asian Television Network.

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Saturday 23, 10:00
SevenFiveOne, 751 Queen Street W., $10 door
SAL PRINCIPATO (Liquid Liquid) (USA) & PAN TIKI (Canada)

Few bands cast a net of influence as wide or unaffected as seminal New York
punk-funkers Liquid Liquid. Active from 1979 to 1984, the band released four
EPs and created underground classics including "Cavern" (sampled by
Grandmaster Flash in "White Lines") and "Optimo." Adored by house and
hip-hop heads, art rockers and dub fanatics alike, the band was championed
by peeps including Larry Levan, Afrika Bambaataa and, later, the Beastie
Boys.

The night will include the live multi-percussion/ world-dance vibes of
Toronto's Pan-Tiki. Pan-Tiki project is Christian Newhook DJing or
performing a near-solo live PA, building and blending sounds he compares to
Jeff Mills, Todd Terry's House of Gypsies alias and Gary Martin of
Technotica.

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Sunday September 24th, 9:00 p.m.
Lula Lounge, $15 adv / $20 door
CARMEN CONSOLI (Italy)

Jon Pareles of the New York Times called her "...an Italian singer and
acoustic guitarist whose volatile songs signaled passion across the language
barrier." Carmen is known for her unflinching emotional live performance of
songs that examine broad themes of love, illness, solitude and friendship
from a feminine - and feminist - perspective. Her innovative mix of
indie-rock influences, bossa nova rhythms and jazz and blues-inspired riffs
have engendered a sound unique on the Italian music scene. Her albums sell
in the millions and she has been a multiple honoree at the MTV Italy Music
Awards.

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Monday September 25th, 9:00 p.m.
Lula Lounge, $15 adv / $20 door
KINNIE STARR / TANYA TAGAQ (Canada)

Groundbreaking Inuk throat singer TANYA TAGAQ has brought an ancient Inuit
vocal game to the heights of the international music scene, and to
collaborations with Bjork and the Kronos Quartet. Tagaq makes music that is
both unusual and universally appealing on a most primal level. Her
innovative, solo style of throat singing seeks to push the boundaries of
emotion. Tagaqs new CD, Sinaa (sih-NAA), displays her technique through a
collection of original improvisations and three traditional Inuk throat
songs.

The KINNIE STARR you know: MC-singer-poet-actress-beatnik who was born in
Calgary, became her adult self in Vancouver, and was raised on heavy doses
of Zeppelin, Sade and De La Soul's Daisy Age... The Kinnie Starr you'll meet
on Anything, her new CD: the title is her stock answer to a question that
she hears all the time: "So, uh, what does your music sound like?" (For the
record: hip hop, rock, folk, R&B,  electronica... anything.)

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Tuesday September 26th, 9:00 p.m.
Lula Lounge, $10 adv / $15 door
JOAQUIN DIAZ CD RELEASE (Canada / Dominican Republic)

His repertoire is a mixture of traditional and original tunes, characterized
by irrepressible beats. Among the best of a new breed of merengue artist,
Montreal accordionist Joaquin Diaz fills the dance-floor with syncopated
Caribbean rhythms and infectious vocals. "In Diaz's hands merengue is
hard-core stuff, an exhilarating polyrhythmic ride on a runaway train.''  -
Chicago World Music Festival

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Wednesday September 27th, 9:00 p.m.
Lula Lounge, $15 adv / $20 door
DRUM NATION (Canada)

A celebration of percussion music from all corners of the globe and beyond,
DRUM NATION presents an evening of smokin grooves, virtuosic solos, and
percussion music that runs the gamut from the traditional to the cutting
edge of contemporary and everything in between. Together for the first time,
this stellar cast of Canadian percussionists will share each others
repertoire and musicality to create a concert that will be unlike anything
you have heard before. The first of many Small World Music initiatives in
the creation of new Canadian music. DRUM NATION is : Ravi Naimpaly (Tasa),
tabla / Deb Sinha (autorickshaw, Maza Meze), darbuka / Rick Lazar (Samba
Squad), congas / Kiyoshi Nagata, taiko / Mark  Duggan (Evergreen Club),
marimba / Patrick Graham (GaPa), frame drums / with special guest Kwasi
Dunyo,  Ghanaian drums.


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Thursday September 28th
Lula Lounge  2 shows 8:00 p.m. $15, 10:00 p.m. $10
8:00 p.m. - ASH DARGAN (Australia)
10:00 p.m. - MR. SOMETHING SOMETHING (Canada)

ASH DARGAN, an Australian indigenous recording artist renowned for his
mastery of the Didgeridoo, has been pushing the boundaries of contemporary
world music for the last ten years. His distinct blend of Australian
indigenous and contemporary music captures the essence of one of the oldest
cultures on earth.

Funky seven piece afrobeat-jazz dancefloor sensation and one of Canada's
most successful tour club acts to emerge in recent years, MR. SOMETHING
SOMETHING has blown away audiences in the summer of 2006 from Sydney, Nova
Scotia to Vancouver Island. Founding members Larry Graves [drums/percussion]
and John MacLean [saxophone/voice] settled on the unbeatable dance rhythms
of Nigeria, Senegal, Mali and Ghana as the natural elements that would
ultimately make up the Mr. Something Something sound. These guys rank with
any Afrobeat in the world today.  Exclaim


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Friday September 29th, 8:00 p.m.
Lula Lounge, $15 door
8:00 p.m. - HENDRIK MEURKENS & PERMUTACOES (Brazil / USA)
10:00 p.m. -PARABOLICA (Brazil / Canada)

HENDRIK MEURKENS, a virtuoso on both the chromatic harmonica and the
vibraphone, is the most important jazz harmonica player since Toots
Thielemans. German-born but now based in New York, Meurkens' recordings and
performances garner worldwide acclaim. A two-mallet player in the tradition
of Milt Jackson and Bobby Hutcherson, Meurkens was en-route to being an
instantly recognizable vibraphonist when he heard Toots Thielemans. Inspired
by the sound of Thielemans' harmonica, he taught himself the
difficult-to-master instrument.

Singer and percussionist Guiomar Campbell, a native of Minas Gerais, Brazil,
leads the band PARABOLICA, the Toronto-based musical group built on a strong
foundation of Afro-Brazilian folk rhythms, bossa nova, samba and forro,
played with a jazz sensibility. Their high energy show ranges from Brazilian
folkloric music, to popular samba medleys, to jazz and funk-inspired
original compositions.

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Saturday September 30th  2 Shows
The Music Hall, $20 adv/ $25 door @ 416 778-8163
AFRICAN GUITAR SUMMIT (Canada), 8:00 p.m.

2005 Juno Award winners for World Music Album on the Year, AFRICAN GUITAR
SUMMIT is a star-studded collective uniting the talents of nine virtuoso
musicians: from Guinea, Juno Award winner Alpha YaYa Diallo, with his
countryman Naby Camara on balafon; from Ghana, the elder master of the
guitar, Pa Joe, with  golden voice Theo Boakye, and the heartbeat of
drummer Kofi Ackah; from Kenya, the Fiesta guitar of  Professor Adam
Solomon; from Burundi/Rwanda, the bluesy Mighty Popo; and from Madagascar
the  quicksilver guitars and harmonies of Donne Robert and multiple Juno
Award winner Madagascar Slim. This group has created a buzz ever since their
first performance and this show will continue that legacy.

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Sunday October 1st, 8:00 p.m.
Mod Club Theatre, 722 College St., $20 adv/$25 door
DEBASHISH BHATTACHARYA (India)

DEBASHISH BATTACHARYA, (India) is a master slide guitarist who, along with
V. W. Bhatt, has blurred boundaries between Indian classical music and the
blues. Stunning virtuosity combines with deep soul for a truly
groundbreaking (MOJO) musical experience. Beautiful and inspired - Daily
Telegraph

______________________________________________________________________


Sunday Oct. 1, 9:00 p.m.
Gladstone Ballroom, 1214 Queen St. W., $15 door
CHANGO FAMILY (Canada) - Festival Closing Party

A Montreal-based non-stop party that masquerades as a band. From raucous
ska-punk, groovy funk and mellow reggae, to plaintive gypsy violin, all find
their way into Chango's uplifting, joyous sound. The texts are sung in
French, Spanish and English as well as Wolof, Arabic and a few others, very
often in the same song.


WHO: FIAMMA FUMANA, NATACHA ATLAS, RAVI SHANKAR and ANOUSHKA SHANKAR, SAL
PRINCIPATO (Liquid Liquid) & PAN TIKI, CARMEN CONSOLI, KINNIE STARR / TANYA
TAGAQ, JOAQUIN DIAZ, DRUM NATION, ASH DARGAN, MR. SOMETHING SOMETHING,
HENDRIK MEURKENS & PERMUTACOES, PARABOLICA, AFRICAN GUITAR SUMMIT, DEBASHISH
BHATTACHARYA, CHANGO FAMILY
WHAT: The Fifth Annual Small World Music Festival
WHERE: Lula Lounge, Phoenix Concert Theatre, Roy Thomson Hall, The Music
Hall, Mod Club Theatre and The Gladstone Ballroom (Downtown Toronto)
WHEN: September 21  October 1
TICKETS: Available Monday August 21st through www.ticketpro.ca, 416.645.9090
WEBSITE: www.smallworldmusic.com

-30-

Small World Music Society acknowledges the support of the Department of
Canadian Heritage, the Ontario Arts Council, the Toronto Arts Council and
Canada Council for the Arts, as well as numerous community partners and its
Festival Media Partner, CBC Radio One.

For more information, please contact:
Jennifer Claveau or Beverly Kreller
SPEAK Music
office at speak-music.com
416.599.9079 / 416.922.3620
SPEAK Music, www.speak-music.com
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502 - 680 queens quay west, toronto, ON, canada, M5V 2Y9
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