AFROFEST 2008 - July 5 and 6


the 20th anniversary celebration!

Confirmed main stage acts include Ivory Coast singing sensation Dobet Gnahoré, rising Senegalese star Fallou Dieng and Cape Verde's new singing diva Mayra Andrade and the Haitian-Cuban Grupo Vocal Desandann.

A strong national focus will see many of the most popular African artists across Canada including Vancouver based Alpha Yaya Diallo, Ottawa's Mighty Popo and a special feature act bringing together one of the most popular Toronto groups of the first Afrofest, Nakupenda, led by Theo Yaw Boakye.

The amazing 2008 line up also includes Femi Abosede & Culture Force, Donné Roberts, Njacko Backo, Konyokonyo Musica, Shego Band featuring Hani, Waleed Kush, Tapa Diarra, Katenen "Cheka" Dioubaté, and Shangaza Performers.

Enjoy free music workshops at the Baobab Tree Stage and the Youth Zone, which has an expanded program oriented to youth including music theatre and poetry with Lameck Williams, Anne Marie Woods, Stolen From Africa, Jane Musoke-Nteyafas, Hajile Kalaike, Bahli Tesfa, Reverse, Halisi, Cafric, and also two plays - "Absolute Democracy", an abridged version of a play originally written by Seifu Belachew and Neguise, and "All In The Lyrics", Muoi Nene's new play that uses wit, laughter and music to tell an amusing futuristic story.

The popular Babatunde Olatunji drum stage will feature Samba Squad, Maracatu Nunca Antes, Sani Abu & Ijo Vudu Dance Company, Southern Volta Cultural Performers, and more drumming ensembles and teachers including performance, drum circles and instruction.

For the younger ones there is a Children's Village area, with activities designed to teach and inform about African culture through art and crafts, drumming, and storytelling with SwizzleStick Theatre, Christopher Pineiro for facepainting, Robert Faulkner for Stilt workshops for kids, clay artist Audrey Hudson, drumming and dance, arts & crafts.

Afrofest 2008 will be broadcast from Queen's Park on both days live on CIUT 89.5 FM. CBC will again record some of the performances for future broadcast as well as bringing Big City, Small World live on Saturday from 5pm to 6pm.

Music Africa gratefully acknowledges the support of the Department of Canadian Heritage, Ontario Trillium Foundation, Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts and The Elementary Teachers of Ontario.

Thanks also to our media co-presenters CIUT, CBC Radio and Planet Africa.

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Karibuni Radio can be heard weekly, on Sunday from 6 to 8 PM EST, at 89.5 FM in southern Ontario and Buffalo, NY, by satellite at channel 826 on Star Choice, by digital cable at channel 946 on Rogers, or streamed online at CIUT FM
- a musical journey around the continent of Africa: listen to the classics and the latest hits, hear interviews with artists, news and information on the local African music scene here in Toronto.

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Mighty Popo
The spotlight on violence, chaos and genocide in the news from Rwanda and Burundi could obscure in a darkness of despair all the music, dance, laughter, civility and joie de vivre of those countries. Mighty Popo, a Rwandan born in a Burundian refugee community, is evidence to the contrary, as a person of enormous charm, wit, resilience and, yes, joie de vivre.
Similarly, reducing Popo to a Rwandan-Burundian refugee and survivor whose music is steeped in African tradition misses the whole story of a rising star in Canada, which includes his effortless musicality as a member of the 2004 Juno Award winning African Guitar Summit, his highlight performance at the Canadian edition of Bob Geldof's international Live 8 concerts (one of the few chosen for EMI's Live 8 DVD), his brilliant return to New Orleans for CBC Radio's Maple Leaf Mojo Meets New Orleans Gumbo benefit concert (broadcast live cross-country), or the kudos received for his genre-busting solo work,
As much as Popo has inherited a love of the traditional music of Rwanda and Burundi, he also has a lifelong connection with rock and roll, blues, jazz, R&B, reggae and folk traditions. His music reflects his immersion in a world culture navigated with grace, sensitivity and an enormous sense of exploration and fun. It is music enriched by many traditions, authentically his, and validated by its own excellence.
http://www.mightypopo.ca

MUHAZI promo video

Muhazi is the name of a lake in eastern Rwanda. It is a magical place, and the making of this CD was full of magical moments and coincidences: my experiences studying music in Rwanda with the Batwa and with master guitarist Ibrahim, the unexpected arrival of friends like Tanga and Vitas from various corners of the world to record with me, my good fortune in getting exactly the great guest artists I wanted into some wonderful (and unlikely) studios (how many Guinean balafon players lay down tracks after midnight in Whitehorse?) ... I feel a deep emotional connection to these songs and a 'rightness' about how they came to be that goes beyond anything I've felt before. Enjoy!
Mighty Popo, from CD liner notes