UPCOMING HOT TICKETS
Abraham Inc. featuring David Krakauer, Fred Wesley, and Socalled Abraham Inc. is a unique new supergroup featuring the titanic trio of klezmer clarinet master David Krakauer, legendary funk trombonist and arranger Fred Wesley (of James Brown, George Clinton, and Maceo Parker band fame), and Canada's own Yiddish hip-hop renegade Socalled. The group has stretched across musical and racial boundaries to create the most sophisticated and explosive fusion of Jewish music with hardcore funk ever produced. The group's performances thus far, at such venues as Carnegie Hall, France's Transmusical de Rennes Festival, and Harlem's historic Apollo Theater have reached enthusiastic bi-racial audiences and received critical acclaim, heralding a new age in Black-Jewish music-making. Krakauer, Wesley, and Socalled will be joined by Allen Watsky (guitar), Jerome Harris (bass), Michael Sarin (drums), Brandon Wright (saxophone), and Freddie Hendrix (trumpet). Thursday 28 August | 8pm
Tickets | $18 advance | $25 door
Tickets | $18 advance | $25 door
Part of
Mitch Smolkin
A Song Is Born CD Release A Song Is Born forges the creative talents of a group of internationally-acclaimed artists brought together by their love for making music. The concert and album are based on a series of songs that in many ways define the evolution of not only Yiddish music but also the Yiddish experience. The arrangements move from being elegantly simple to wildly contemporary, inviting the listener to profoundly connect with the music and its strong lyrical and melodic content. The dream project of singer Mitch Smolkin, former Artistic Director of Ashkenaz Festival, A Song is Born pushes the boundaries of Jewish music and invites in a world of new sounds and rhythms. In addition to Mitch Smolkin on vocals, the project features Klezmer en Buenos Aires' Cesar Lerner (keyboards) and Marcello Mogulevsky (winds), and Boris Sichon (percussion), Paul Brody (trumpet), Levon Ichkhanian (guitar), and Aviva Chernick (vocals).
mitchsmolkin.com Saturday 30 August | 7pm
Tickets | $18 advance | $25 door
A Song Is Born CD Release A Song Is Born forges the creative talents of a group of internationally-acclaimed artists brought together by their love for making music. The concert and album are based on a series of songs that in many ways define the evolution of not only Yiddish music but also the Yiddish experience. The arrangements move from being elegantly simple to wildly contemporary, inviting the listener to profoundly connect with the music and its strong lyrical and melodic content. The dream project of singer Mitch Smolkin, former Artistic Director of Ashkenaz Festival, A Song is Born pushes the boundaries of Jewish music and invites in a world of new sounds and rhythms. In addition to Mitch Smolkin on vocals, the project features Klezmer en Buenos Aires' Cesar Lerner (keyboards) and Marcello Mogulevsky (winds), and Boris Sichon (percussion), Paul Brody (trumpet), Levon Ichkhanian (guitar), and Aviva Chernick (vocals).
mitchsmolkin.com Saturday 30 August | 7pm
Tickets | $18 advance | $25 door
Part of
Zully Goldfarb (Argentina) featuring Roxana and Fabian (Toronto)
An Evening of Yiddish Tango From Buenos Aires comes Argentina's leading purveyor of authentic Yiddish tango music. Like the immigrant Jewish musicians of New York's Lower East Side, who melded the jazz and Tin Pan Alley sounds of America with the old world sounds of the shtetl, Argentinian musicians have for decades woven their Yiddish musical heritage with that of their adopted home, resulting in a stunning hybrid form. With her mellifluous voice and charming presence, Zully Goldfarb performs a unique repertoire of indigenous Argentinian Yiddish tangos and rearrangements of Yiddish classics like Papirosn and Mayn Yiddishe Mame in tango style. Goldfarb will be accompanied by Pablo Saclis (piano), Omar Massa (bandoneon), and Joe Philips (bass). Toronto's leading tango dancers Roxana and Fabian, will also join the performance. Zully Goldfarb's North American premiere at Ashkenaz will be one of the festival highlights.
zully.com.ar
Roxana & Fabian are Toronto's leading tango dancers. Like the tango itself, both were born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and since their childhoods they have lived and breathed tango culture. More than a couple, when they dance they transform themselves into a single spirit to express desire, passion, love and sadness. Their performances and teaching have been enthusiastically embraced by audiences and presenters the world over, including Canada, the US, Uruguay, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Japan, Europe, and Argentina.
tangodeoro.com Sunday 31 August | 6:30pm
Tickets | $18 advance | $25 door
An Evening of Yiddish Tango From Buenos Aires comes Argentina's leading purveyor of authentic Yiddish tango music. Like the immigrant Jewish musicians of New York's Lower East Side, who melded the jazz and Tin Pan Alley sounds of America with the old world sounds of the shtetl, Argentinian musicians have for decades woven their Yiddish musical heritage with that of their adopted home, resulting in a stunning hybrid form. With her mellifluous voice and charming presence, Zully Goldfarb performs a unique repertoire of indigenous Argentinian Yiddish tangos and rearrangements of Yiddish classics like Papirosn and Mayn Yiddishe Mame in tango style. Goldfarb will be accompanied by Pablo Saclis (piano), Omar Massa (bandoneon), and Joe Philips (bass). Toronto's leading tango dancers Roxana and Fabian, will also join the performance. Zully Goldfarb's North American premiere at Ashkenaz will be one of the festival highlights.
zully.com.ar
Roxana & Fabian are Toronto's leading tango dancers. Like the tango itself, both were born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and since their childhoods they have lived and breathed tango culture. More than a couple, when they dance they transform themselves into a single spirit to express desire, passion, love and sadness. Their performances and teaching have been enthusiastically embraced by audiences and presenters the world over, including Canada, the US, Uruguay, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Japan, Europe, and Argentina.
tangodeoro.com Sunday 31 August | 6:30pm
Tickets | $18 advance | $25 door
Part of
Flory Jagoda
Judeo-Spanish Songs from Bosnia Following the 15th century Spanish Inquisition, Sephardic Jews who settled in Mediterranean countries preserved their traditions and their Ladino language while blending in the musical flavours and rhythms of their adopted countries. Into this rich heritage, Flory Jagoda was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia, where her mother's family, the Altaras Family were well-known singers and musicians for generations. Following the tragic obliteration of Sarejevo's Sephardim in the Holocaust, Jagoda emigrated to the US, and for the last six decades has made it her personal mission to keep alive the rich Ladino musical tradition of Bosnia's Jews, earning her recognition as "The Keeper of the Flame." Now in her 80s and residing in Washington, DC, Jagoda continues to perform and is known world-wide as one of the few authentic performers of Ladino music. Though in danger of extinction, Ladino music has recently experienced a minor revival, in no small part due to Flory Jagoda's stewardship. In 2002, she was honoured with a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts for her contribution to preserving a traditional art form. At Ashenaz, Flory Jagoda will be accompanied by her apprentice Susan Gaeta (guitar, vocals), and Toronto's Bogdan Djukic (violin, percussion), and Aleksander Gajic (violin).
floryjagoda.com Monday 1 September | 1:15pm
Tickets | $15 advance | $18 door
Judeo-Spanish Songs from Bosnia Following the 15th century Spanish Inquisition, Sephardic Jews who settled in Mediterranean countries preserved their traditions and their Ladino language while blending in the musical flavours and rhythms of their adopted countries. Into this rich heritage, Flory Jagoda was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia, where her mother's family, the Altaras Family were well-known singers and musicians for generations. Following the tragic obliteration of Sarejevo's Sephardim in the Holocaust, Jagoda emigrated to the US, and for the last six decades has made it her personal mission to keep alive the rich Ladino musical tradition of Bosnia's Jews, earning her recognition as "The Keeper of the Flame." Now in her 80s and residing in Washington, DC, Jagoda continues to perform and is known world-wide as one of the few authentic performers of Ladino music. Though in danger of extinction, Ladino music has recently experienced a minor revival, in no small part due to Flory Jagoda's stewardship. In 2002, she was honoured with a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts for her contribution to preserving a traditional art form. At Ashenaz, Flory Jagoda will be accompanied by her apprentice Susan Gaeta (guitar, vocals), and Toronto's Bogdan Djukic (violin, percussion), and Aleksander Gajic (violin).
floryjagoda.com Monday 1 September | 1:15pm
Tickets | $15 advance | $18 door
Part of
Andy Statman Andy Statman's music is a unique and often unpredictable amalgam of bluegrass and American roots, avant-garde jazz, and Jewish sounds from klezmer and Hassidic sources. A mere glance at some of his musical collaborators over the years — including Itzhak Perlman, David Grisman, Jerry Garcia, Bela Fleck and Ricky Skaggs — confirms his eclecticism, versatility, and legendary status in contemporary American music. Equally virtuosic on mandolin and clarinet, the Grammy-nominee is an intense and spiritual performer known for barn-burning solos, sprawling improvisations, and prayerful meditations based on centuries-old Hassidic Nigunim. Much as John Coltrane transformed modern jazz vocabulary into a language of musical prayer, Statman too has redefined Jewish music through Jewish mysticism, spiced with a hearty helping of American musical influences. Statman will be joined at Ashkenaz by Larry Eagle (drums) and Mark Rubin (bass).
andystatman.org Monday 1 September | 6pm
Tickets | $25
andystatman.org Monday 1 September | 6pm
Tickets | $25
Part of
If Cows Could Fly (Calgary/Hamilton/Montreal) If Cows Could Fly is an autobiographical musical play about growing up Jewish in the Ottawa Valley . Written and performed by Dora award-winning actor, singer and klezmer musician Allan Merovitz, the play travels from villages in Poland and Bessarabia, to Antwerp, London, and on to the new worlds of Nova Scotia, Montreal, and finally Smiths Falls. Merovitz reconstructs the fragmented memories of his family in the Diaspora, and intersperses them with a wide range of musical styles — Yiddish songs, country-and-western ballads, as well as klezmer and Ottawa Valley fiddle tunes — in order to present the 20th century Jewish experience in Europe and Canada. Running through all the stories is the indomitable spirit to survive, persist, and transcend. An impossible dream is said to come true only "if cows could fly". Impossible? Maybe not! With Frank Rackow (clarinet, saxophone), Henri Oppenheim (violin), and Ronald Weihs (violin).
"A lovely heartwarming evening for the whole family" — Avril Benoit, CBC Radio Sunday 31 August | 1:30pm
Monday 1 September | 5pm
Studio Theatre
Tickets | $15 advance | $18 door
"A lovely heartwarming evening for the whole family" — Avril Benoit, CBC Radio Sunday 31 August | 1:30pm
Monday 1 September | 5pm
Studio Theatre
Tickets | $15 advance | $18 door
Part of
Theresa Tova (Toronto)
A Tribute to the Great Women of the Yiddish Theatre An award-winning singer, actor and writer, Theresa Tova is a "towering, pan-cultural jazz-cabaret diva" (Planet Jazz). Sultry, sassy, witty, funny, and graced with a velvet contralto, Tova is without a doubt one of the most versatile performers in Canada and is equally at home in any genre. In her newest production for Ashkenaz, Tova and musical director Brian Katz (guitar, piano) will lead a journey through the songs and stories of the independent and enterprising Yiddish theatre starlets who helped keep Yiddish culture alive by bringing it out of the shtetl and into mainstream popular culture. From its operatic beginnings with the likes of stately prima donna Regina Prager, to the novelty turns of zaftik superstar Bessie Thomashefsky, and through to the beloved Molly Picon, every song, every woman, every story has love and pain entangled. With Greg Dedenus (piano), Jim Gelcer (drums), Jonno Lightstone (woodwinds), and Peter Telford (bass).
theresatova.com
Sunday 31 August | 9pm
Tickets | $18 advance | $25 door
A Tribute to the Great Women of the Yiddish Theatre An award-winning singer, actor and writer, Theresa Tova is a "towering, pan-cultural jazz-cabaret diva" (Planet Jazz). Sultry, sassy, witty, funny, and graced with a velvet contralto, Tova is without a doubt one of the most versatile performers in Canada and is equally at home in any genre. In her newest production for Ashkenaz, Tova and musical director Brian Katz (guitar, piano) will lead a journey through the songs and stories of the independent and enterprising Yiddish theatre starlets who helped keep Yiddish culture alive by bringing it out of the shtetl and into mainstream popular culture. From its operatic beginnings with the likes of stately prima donna Regina Prager, to the novelty turns of zaftik superstar Bessie Thomashefsky, and through to the beloved Molly Picon, every song, every woman, every story has love and pain entangled. With Greg Dedenus (piano), Jim Gelcer (drums), Jonno Lightstone (woodwinds), and Peter Telford (bass).
theresatova.com
Sunday 31 August | 9pm
Tickets | $18 advance | $25 door
Part of
PAST HOT TICKETS
UK music legend
BILLY BRAGG
Live in concert! Harbourfront Centre, in partnership with Toronto Downtown Jazz (TDJ) and The Other Operation present a solo concert by legendary UK singer-songwriter Billy Bragg. This cult music figure is renowned for being a captivating live performer and has just released an acclaimed new album Mr. Love and Justice. With opening act CR Avery (8pm). Tuesday 17 June | 8pm
BILLY BRAGG
Live in concert! Harbourfront Centre, in partnership with Toronto Downtown Jazz (TDJ) and The Other Operation present a solo concert by legendary UK singer-songwriter Billy Bragg. This cult music figure is renowned for being a captivating live performer and has just released an acclaimed new album Mr. Love and Justice. With opening act CR Avery (8pm). Tuesday 17 June | 8pm
MOHAMAD REZA LOTFI AND SHAYDA ENSEMBLE In his hands, old neglected instrumental pieces and songs flourish into fresh, dynamic, and timeless pieces. Lotfi takes the audience on a journey down memory lane by offering improvisations on old favourites of Persian music and offering new compositions. He is accompanied by Shayda Ensemble, a group of young talented musicians he co-founded as a means to promote and preserve Iranian classical music. Thursday 17 July | 9pm
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