Toronto has been a nexus for African music since the 1980s although the buzz has quieted considerably since the shuttering of the original Bamboo club on Queen Street West in 2002. The ’Boo was the center of a music scene that positively percolated and it has been sorely missed by Toronto’s reggae and world music communities. “There’s still no other venue where you can regularly hear live reggae and world music,” says guitarist and bandleader Adam Solomon, left. “Lula Lounge reserves the weekends for Latin music, but at least they’ll host reggae and African bands between Monday and Thursday.”
Solomon is behind this Thursday’s African Guitar Summit at Lula, a benefit for Haiti featuring Adam’s band, Tikisa, Jean Fojeba, Show Do Man, JP Buse, Ado Mantiamina Band, Altaf, Patu Bokelo and Masaisai. The real blow-out will come sometime after midnight when some of the best African guitarists in Canada join forces to recreate the Juno Award-winning African Guitar Summit: players include Alpha Yaya Diallo and Naby Camara (balafon) from Guinea; Ghana’s elder master of the guitar, Pa Joe, Theo Yaa Boakye (golden voice) and drummer Kofi Ackah; Kenyan native, Solomon; the bluesy Mighty Popo (Burundi/Rwanda) and Madagascar’s Donné Robert and Madagascar Slim. That’s a lot of bang for 10 bucks!
Solomon, who has called Toronto home since 1992, is certainly hoping to pack the house and raise as much money as possible to help ease the suffering in Haiti. “For us, the show comes from the Canadian spirit of lending a hand,” he says. “What happened in Haiti is devastating and they need more help; their country has been destroyed and no matter how much aid they’ve received, it’s still not enough because the country must be rebuilt. We have to do the best that we can whenever we have the chance to do so.” Funds raised will support the efforts of Canadian Red Cross.
The sky was glowering when I met Solomon at Toronto’s Long & McQuade music store yesterday but his sunny disposition was indomitable. When I asked Adam how he copes with the grim northern winter he responded with a laugh, “Just like any other Canadian! You have to be tough when you’re a Canadian and I’m a Canadian now.”
Solomon says he and so many of his fellow African musicians have chosen to coalesce here in Toronto for a variety of reasons: “First of all, it’s a multicultural city. There are lots of small clubs to play all year round and in the summer there are lots of festivals. We also have many granting bodies like the Toronto Arts Council, the Ontario Arts Council, the Trillium Foundation, FACTOR; all these organizations help musicians, which makes Toronto a good place for us to live. And Toronto is the centre for Canadian broadcasting and media and entertainment.”
Even without the Bamboo, Solomon manages to keep quite busy. In the past week alone, he performed with Tikisa at the Gladstone Hotel, he did a solo turn at Nathan Phillips Square Saturday as part of the CTV Olympic Celebration and now the African Guitar Summit. He also busks in the subway where his spritely, African guitar stylings help fortify harried commuters.
“My favourite stations are Bloor or Eglinton,” he says. “It’s good to make people happy when they’re going to work or coming from work. When they hear the music they become happy, they enjoy it. People say to me, ‘Adam, I was stressed-out but when I hear your music it makes me happy.’ I feel like it’s a good thing for the city.”
WHERE/WHEN: Thursday, February 25, Lula Lounge (1585 Dundas Street West, 416-588-0307), 8 pm; $10.
Photos by Christopher Jones
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Exhibit Africa Inc. Cordially invites you to the Spirit of Africa . . . through the arts, food and beverages. Fashion in addition, design, Dance and music. Please join us at the Assembly Hall. Volunteers are Welcome. Sept-04.2010
Public show, 10:30 am -5 pm, private show, 7 pm – 12:30 am
Call for reservations 647-881-5905