The Toronto Sun n Friday, February 4, 2011
Natasha Waterman
Black History
in the making
Musical performances, celebrations mark past, present and future
As it has done in the past,
Harbourfront Centre is once
again dedicating two week-
ends to mark Black History
Month.
“The Black in History week-
end (Feb. 5-6) commemorates
both the history and the future
of black culture, while the Car-
nival on Mas weekend (Feb.
12-13) celebrates the art, his-
tory and energy of Caribbean
culture,” the Centre says.
This weekend’s music high-
lights include performances
by local neo-soul group Jame-
sking, Natasha Waterman —
who’ll be singing songs from
her Long Road disc, and Pablo
Terry y Sol de Cuba.
Jamesking is at the Brig-
antine Room tomorrow at 3,
Waterman does an acoustic
set at the Studio Theatre Sun-
day at 2:30, and Terry’s at the
Lakeside Terrace Sunday at 6
p.m.
Errol
Nazareth
Rhythms N Rhymes
Their shows will be comple-
mented with dance perform-
ances, films, panel discussions,
exhibits and family activities.
F o r d e t a i l s , v i s i t h a r-
bourfrontcentre.com, or call
416-973-4000.
Over at The Gladstone,
there’ll be a free show every
Friday night to mark Black
History Month.
Blandine, who was born
in the Democratic Repub-
lic of Congo and raised here,
will show off her pipes Friday
night. Her debut CD will be
released later this year. 1214
Queen St. W. For more info,
call (416) 531-4635.
BLUE MAGIC: They’re helping to
keep the blues alive in the Great
White North and that’s why two
Torontonians will be collect-
ing two prestigious awards in
Memphis this weekend.
The Keeping The Blues Alive
awards ceremony is organ-
ized by The Blues Founda-
tion, whose mission is to pre-
serve and promote the blues.
Each year it hands out awards
to individuals and organiza-
tions whose work mirrors its
mandate.
Congratulations to Mako
Funasaka — who’s being rec-
ognized for his work in film,
television and video — and to
Andrew Galloway, whose Elec-
tro-Fi label has been awarded
Blues Label of the Year.
“I was quite stunned when
I received the news from Jay
Sieleman of the Blues Foun-
dation,” Funasaka says. “I’m
not even sure if I asked him
why I was lucky enough to be
chosen, to tell you the truth.
I know I was nominated at
least once before when I was
working on my Talkin’ Blues
TV series, but in my shock of
hearing the news I don’t think
he specified the actual reason
why I was chosen this year.”
For the last 10 years, Funa-
saka has been travelling the
world to record interviews
and performances by a vari-
ety of blues personalities,
before editing those conver-
sations to create videos, pod-
casts and broadcast material.
The result, Talkin’ Blues, is a
39-part series examining the
current state of blues music,
documenting the stories and
the passion behind the music.
The series was syndicated
on Bravo! Canada and also
appeared on BET Jazz.
In addition, Funasaka con-
tinues to produce video pod-
casts (37 and counting) avail-
able on iTunes, featuring per-
formances and conversations
with international and local
bluesicians.
Funasaka feels that Gallo-
way is equally surprised and
humbled by the honour.
“He certainly deserves it
for all the great work he does
in the blues,” Funasaka says.
“I just know that this occa-
sion means even more to me
because I get to share this with
my best friend in the blues —
and the person who has prob-
ably taught me more about the
blues and the blues business
than anyone else out there.”
Windsor’s Canada South
Blues Museum will also col-
lect an award in the Historical
Preservation category.
Visit Errol’s blog at
www.musicinthemessage.
blogspot.com.
SHOWBIZ 65
Now
HEAR
This!
Errol’s can’t-miss lis
t:
1
Reggae legend Willi
Williams, Truths &
Rights, Kae Sun and
Blessed are some
of the folks paying tribute
to Bob Marley tonight at
the Annex Wreckroom.
9:30 p.m. $10 with food
donation/$15 without. 794
Bathurst St.
2
Jazz pianist Adrean
Farrugia plays a free
show at the Home
Smith Bar in the Old
Mill Inn Saturday. 7:30 p.m.
21 Old Mill Rd.
3
Eucalyptus, who play
“jazz-improv-calypso-
rumba,” are at Hirut
Fine Ethiopian Cuisine
every Sunday this month.
7 p.m. 2050 Danforth Ave.
(416) 686-9375.