SHAKURA S’AIDA LAUNCHES NEW CD AT
GALA CONCERT EVENT AT TORONTO’S REVIVAL
NIGHTCLUB ON WEDNESDAY APRIL 14
Who: SHAKURA S’AIDA with special guest HARRISON KENNEDY
What: Passionate, powerful blues presented with rock and roll flair
Why: Canada’s international blues star launches her new CD
When: Wed. April 14 NOTE: Early show (7 PM-11 PM)
Where: Revival (783 College St., Toronto)
Tickets: $22.50 in advance at TicketPro: www.ticketpro.ca (toll free 888-655-9090)— $28.00 at door.
Toronto’s Shakura S’Aida returns from her second tour in Europe this year — interrupted by a date at a blues festival in the U.S. Virgin Islands — to launch her new CD in her home town.
The CD, Brown Sugar, has already been released in Europe and several other foreign markets, but its North American release is set for April 13, the day before a gala event at Toronto’s Revival Nightclub on Wednesday April 14.
Most of the songs on Brown Sugar and written by S’Aida with her guitarist Donna Grantis, who will be featured at the concert. The CD was produced by Jim Gaines in Tennessee late last year — Gaines has produced releases in the past with Stevie Ray Vaughan, Santana and the Steve Miller Band.
Brown Sugar is released world-wide by the German-based label Ruf Records, and distributed in Canada by Allegro Media.
Opening the April 14 event will be Hamilton-based Harrison Kennedy, who records for the ElectroFi label based in Toronto.
GALA CONCERT EVENT AT TORONTO’S REVIVAL
NIGHTCLUB ON WEDNESDAY APRIL 14
Who: SHAKURA S’AIDA with special guest HARRISON KENNEDY
What: Passionate, powerful blues presented with rock and roll flair
Why: Canada’s international blues star launches her new CD
When: Wed. April 14 NOTE: Early show (7 PM-11 PM)
Where: Revival (783 College St., Toronto)
Tickets: $22.50 in advance at TicketPro: www.ticketpro.ca (toll free 888-655-9090)— $28.00 at door.
Toronto’s Shakura S’Aida returns from her second tour in Europe this year — interrupted by a date at a blues festival in the U.S. Virgin Islands — to launch her new CD in her home town.
The CD, Brown Sugar, has already been released in Europe and several other foreign markets, but its North American release is set for April 13, the day before a gala event at Toronto’s Revival Nightclub on Wednesday April 14.
Most of the songs on Brown Sugar and written by S’Aida with her guitarist Donna Grantis, who will be featured at the concert. The CD was produced by Jim Gaines in Tennessee late last year — Gaines has produced releases in the past with Stevie Ray Vaughan, Santana and the Steve Miller Band.
Brown Sugar is released world-wide by the German-based label Ruf Records, and distributed in Canada by Allegro Media.
Opening the April 14 event will be Hamilton-based Harrison Kennedy, who records for the ElectroFi label based in Toronto.
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QUEBEC STAR CARACOL MAKES CONCERT DEBUT IN TORONTO WITH ROXANNE POTVIN: DOUBLE BILL SET FOR HUGH’S ROOM MARCH 2
Who: CARACOL with ROXANNE POTVIN
Why: Two bilingual Quebec-based artists share a rare double bill
When: Tuesday March 2, 2010
Where: Hugh’s Room , 2261 Dundas St. W
Time: Doors at 6:00 p.m. / Show at 8:30 p.m.
Tickets: $20.00 in advance/ $22.50 at the door
www.hughsroom.com/ 416-531-6604 for tickets and reservations
Caracol is one of Quebec’s best-known young performers — but her performances in Toronto have been limited to showcases in the past at Canadian Music Week and North by North East.
Now she’s coming to the city’s best known acoustic music venue, Hugh’s Room, on a double bill with Roxanne Potvin —raised in Gatineau, a five-year Toronto resident, and now living in Montreal.
Like Potvin, Caracol — real name Carole Facal — cheerfully combines personal songs in both French and English. While Potvin emerged from a blues background, Caracol blends American folk and Jamaica rock-steady with a vintage ’50s appeal. Her ex-band, DobaCaracol, sold more than 100,000 records, won Felix Awards (Quebec’s equivalent of the Junos), and played well over 400 shows in 16 different countries.
As a solo artist (with her own band) she has opened dates for Serena Ryder in the Maritimes (and Serena has opened for Caracol in Quebec), and is performing in Toronto between concerts at the Winter Olympics and another European tour.
Roxanne Potvin has performed at Hugh’s Room in the past, and will return with new material she has been writing since the move to Montreal last year. At her last Hugh’s Room appearance, she came close to selling out the room; this time she’ll perform in both her native languages.
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B.C. GUITAR VIRTUOSO RACHELLE VAN ZANTEN SET FOR HUGH’S ROOM APRIL 19
ON EVE OF EUROPEAN TOUR:
TREASA LEVASSEUR IS SPECIAL GUEST
Who: RACHELLE VAN ZANTEN with special guest
TREASA LEVASSEUR
Why: Blues-based guitar virtuoso meets soul songwriter
When: Monday April 19/2010
Where: Hugh’s Room , 2261 Dundas St. W
Time: Doors at 6:00 p.m. / Show at 8:30 p.m.
Tickets: $18.50 in advance/ $22.50 at the door
www.hughsroom.com/ 416-531-6604 for tickets and reservations
Rachelle Van Zanten is an unlikely figure — a young woman who began playing bluegrass, but became an electric slide guitar virtuoso who tours Europe at least twice each year. She racked up 11 years (and four albums) with the award-winning rock band Painting Daisies, and now lives in rural BC.
Blessed with a charismatic stage presence that’s both infectious and charming, she’s been described by the Ottawa Citizen as “the total package, a great voice and a strong songwriter with excellent pop and rock sensibilities."
Twangville, a respected alt.country website in the U.S., wrote: “Van Zanten sure can play a mean guitar with confidence and brawn. It’s a mix of the rawness of a Lucinda Williams lyric with the slide guitar chops of Bonnie Raitt and a touch of Chrissie Hynde’s attitude.”
She’ll be joined at her first Hugh’s Room concert by Treasa Levasseur, the Toronto-based soul singer and keyboard player, who is set to record her next tracks in Memphis later in Spring. Her current CD, Low Fidelity, has been a favourite with CBC Radio and blues programmers at college and community stations across North America and Europe.
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SECOND SHOW ADDED AS ALEJANDRA RIBERA SELLS OUT HUGH’S ROOM DEBUT.
Alejandra Ribera is an adventurous, unique artist who is now — after an exhaustive apprenticeship at Queen Street’s venerable Cameron House — finding a much wider audience.
A singer who crosses jazz, pop, folk and world music boundaries with confidence and a rich, powerful voice, she has sold out her Hugh’s Room debut on Sunday January 17. As a result, a second Hugh’s Room show has been added on Monday January 18.
Putting Alejandra’s music in a pigeonhole is almost impossible, but names as varied as Tom Waits, Louis Armstrong, Edith Piaf and Mercedes Sosa have been raised by fans and critics.
Her elegantly simple debut CD includes eight of her own songs (including one in French) and a unique version of Cielito Lindo, a Mexican folk standard sung in Spanish sets the tone. Alejandra called the album NavigatorNavigateher, and the cover shot shows her smoking a Cuban cigar, her eyebrows and her attitude indicating the surprises contained in the music.
Who: Adventurous artist ALEJANDRA RIBERA and her band
What: A second “listening room” concert by a singer who crosses jazz, pop, folk and world music boundaries
Why: The Sunday show, being taped for Canada Live on CBC Radio 2, is sold out
When: Sunday January 17: SOLD OUT
Second show added:
Monday January 18. Doors at 6 p.m., show at 8.30 p.m.
Where: Hugh’s Room, 2261 Dundas St. W, south of Bloor W.
How much: Tickets $15.00 in advance ($18.50 at door), available from the venue (416) 531-6604 www.hughsroom.com. Dinner reservations recommended.
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Websites
www.alejandraribera.com
www.hughsroom.com
Alejandra Ribera is an adventurous, unique artist who is now — after an exhaustive apprenticeship at Queen Street’s venerable Cameron House — finding a much wider audience.
A singer who crosses jazz, pop, folk and world music boundaries with confidence and a rich, powerful voice, she has sold out her Hugh’s Room debut on Sunday January 17. As a result, a second Hugh’s Room show has been added on Monday January 18.
Putting Alejandra’s music in a pigeonhole is almost impossible, but names as varied as Tom Waits, Louis Armstrong, Edith Piaf and Mercedes Sosa have been raised by fans and critics.
Her elegantly simple debut CD includes eight of her own songs (including one in French) and a unique version of Cielito Lindo, a Mexican folk standard sung in Spanish sets the tone. Alejandra called the album NavigatorNavigateher, and the cover shot shows her smoking a Cuban cigar, her eyebrows and her attitude indicating the surprises contained in the music.
Who: Adventurous artist ALEJANDRA RIBERA and her band
What: A second “listening room” concert by a singer who crosses jazz, pop, folk and world music boundaries
Why: The Sunday show, being taped for Canada Live on CBC Radio 2, is sold out
When: Sunday January 17: SOLD OUT
Second show added:
Monday January 18. Doors at 6 p.m., show at 8.30 p.m.
Where: Hugh’s Room, 2261 Dundas St. W, south of Bloor W.
How much: Tickets $15.00 in advance ($18.50 at door), available from the venue (416) 531-6604 www.hughsroom.com. Dinner reservations recommended.
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Websites
www.alejandraribera.com
www.hughsroom.com
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