Yemen Blues program

Meridian Arts Centre

George Weston Recital Hall

Yemen Blues Starring Ravid Kahalani

February 18, 2023

TO Live would like to acknowledge Tkaronto, which is a Mohawk word meaning the place in the water where the trees are standing.

We live and work on the traditional territory of Haudenosaunee-speaking nations, including the Huron-Wendat, Seneca, and Mohawk. Haudenosauneespeaking nations have been here since time immemorial, and were more recently joined by the Mississaugas of the Credit.

This place has many Indigenous ports, including where the Humber and Rouge rivers meet other waterways such as Lake Ontario. Ancient longhouses— typical Haudenosaunee housing structures—have been found along both these rivers and in the north of Toronto near modern-day York University. This territory is covered by the Dish with One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement between the Haudenosaunee (Six Nations) Confederacy and the Anishnaabe (Ojibwe) and allied nations to peaceably share and care for the lands and the relationships around the Great Lakes.

What this means is that by living and working here, we all have a responsibility to the environment and to each other, to treat each other and the environment with peace and respect. This means we have responsibilities to honour, renew, and consistently uphold the values and relationships outlined in the ancient agreements.

Today, Toronto is home to Indigenous peoples and settlers from around the world. Let us all come together in an atmosphere of respect and peace to do good work together with good minds. Let’s start building stronger and healthier relationships with each other and the spaces we inhabit in Tkaronto, Ontari:io, Kanata.

Let’s hold our minds together in kindness. Nia:wen. Thank you.

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Welcome letter from TO Live

Get ready for one of the most gripping and fun live bands in contemporary global music today.

A supergroup of diverse top musicians from New York, Israel, and Uruguay on oud, world percussion, brass, and strings, Yemen Blues mixes Yemenite, West African, Latin, and jazz influences along with mambo and North African rhythms to create a joyful and deep foundation, while the vocals remind us of ancient Arabic chants mixed with funk and blues.

From the start, Yemen Blues created an original sound that became a new language in contemporary music. With a changing cast of top musicians from around the world, each member of Yemen Blues comes from a different background and brings their own sound and arrangements to Ravid Kahalani’s compositions.

Ravid Kahalani grew up in a traditional Yemenite family, learned the language and the traditional chants of his people, and then extended his musical influences to West-African soul through to classical opera and Afro-American blues. Ravid has become an important star in the Israeli music scene, an exceptional performer, and a breakthrough musician in contemporary music.

Horns fire off emphatically, percussion adds deep rhythmic textures, vocals soar and quaver, and the enchanting oud strums out subtle melodies. You’re in for something very special tonight—enjoy!

Clyde Wagner President & CEO

Max Rubino Director of Commercial Programming & Partnerships

Ravid Kahallani, Rony Irwin, Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz, and Dan Mayo.

Ravid Kahalani

Vocal and gimbri

Ravid has become an important star in the Israeli music scene and a breakthrough contemporary musician around the globe over the past several years. Via a series of detours, Ravid was drawn to music first and foremost through his love for African-American soul and blues, roots music, and traditional religious songs. His diverse singing talent instilled an enthusiasm for the music of the Sahara and North Africa. After performing over 500 shows with Yemen Blues since its inception in 2010, Ravid is now working on a solo project while continuing to perform and create more music with Yemen Blues.

Rony Iwryn

Latin percussions

Latin percussion artist Rony Iwryn was born in Uruguay and is drawn to the music from his roots. Throughout his career, Iwryn has played and recorded with many wellknown artists from around the world, including Ofra Haza, Idan Raichel, David Broza, Gidi Gov, Yoni Rechter, Lara Fabian, and Shir’el.

Shanir Ezra

Blumenkranz

Bass and oud

Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1975 to Egyptian and Polish parents, Shanir was given his first instruments, the pots and pans from the kitchen and a three-string guitar, at the age of two. He has performed in concert halls and festival stages all over the world, recently joining Yo-Yo Ma for a U.S. tour playing oud and bass with the Silk Road Project.

Other activities include performances with Marty Ehrlich, Miho Hatori, Bill Frisell, Cyro Baptista’s Banquet Of The Spirits, Uri Caine, Eric Friedlander, Charles Gayle, Kasu Uchihashi, Michiyo Yagi, Makigami Koichi, Yoshida Tatsuya’s Ruins, Trey Spruance, Dave Douglas, Steve Coleman, Sylvie Courvoisier, Joey Baron, Mark Feldman, John Zorn’s Masada, Masada Sextet, Electric Masada, Cobra, Masada String Trio, and a special concert with John Zorn for BBC Radio.

Dan Mayo Drums

Dan Mayo is a virtuoso soloist, drummer, producer, and composer. He is known for his jaw-dropping work with the innovative power trio Tatran, of which he’s a founding member.

A sensation in his home country Israel, Mayo has quickly attracted the attention of the international jazz, instrumental, and indie circuits with hundreds of thousands of followers and countless views on social media worldwide.

Mayo was elected “best new drummer of 2017” by the biggest drumming magazine in the UK, Music Radar’s Rhythm Magazine, which praised his “inventive approach to sound and grooving creativity” and crowned him as “the hottest new drum talent around.”

Mayo is touring with Mike Shinoda (Linkin Park) as part of the Post Traumatic show. They have toured all over the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

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