MOHSEN NAMJOO, JORGE DREXLER, MASHROU’ LEILA and more as part of the Small World Music Festival, at various venues today (Thursday, September 26) to October 6. Free-$120. 416-536-5439, smallworldmusic.com.
Small World just got bigger. The local non-profit promoting cultural diversity through music recently announced that it will open a performance space of its own in January near Trinity Bellwoods Park.
In the meantime, the 12th annual Small World Music Festival is shaping up to be a good one – perhaps the best yet. Here are a few highlights:
MOHSEN NAMJOO Friday (September 27) at George Weston Recital Hall, Toronto Centre for the Arts
Called “the Bob Dylan of Iran” by the New York Times, California-based Mohsen Namjoo calls himself a nonconformist, and rightly so: in 2009 he was sentenced to five years in jail for allegedly ridiculing part of the Quran in his song Shams. (He formally apologized.)
He’s used his background as a music scholar and setar player to forge his own fusion of Middle Eastern, Western classical and modern music, drawing on Persian poetry while incorporating elements of blues and jazz.
JORGE DREXLER October 3, at St. Andrew’s United Church, with opener Lenka Lichtenberg
Uruguayan headliner Jorge Drexler may be best known for his song Al Otro Lado Del Río, which appeared in The Motorcycle Diaries and won him an Oscar. But the Madrid-based songwriter is also a physician and an actor – he recently starred in a film called All In, by Argentine writer/director Daniel Burman.
Apparently, he’s a tech nerd, too: for his latest project, the popular app n, he recorded songs with various instrumentation (an orchestra, a choir, different lead singers) and gives listeners the chance to use their smartphones to edit and share their own versions.
MASHROU’ LEILA October 4 at Lee’s Palace
Mashrou’ Leila are a brave bunch. The Lebanese indie rockers boast an openly gay frontman (Hamed Sinno) and lyrics that touch on gender, sexuality, Lebanese politics and the Arab Spring.
The band started at a music workshop in 2008 at the American University of Beirut, and their name, Arabic for “overnight project,” is a reference to those origins. Very popular on Facebook (114,000 likes and counting), Mashrou’ Leila recorded their third album, Raasük, in Montreal. This is their Toronto debut.
Small World on a budget
Want to experience a bit of the fest for free? Hit the opening party featuring Mar Aberto Soundsystem tonight (Thursday, September 26) at Lula Lounge, check out family-friendly Small World In The Square on Saturday (September 28) at Yonge-Dundas Square, or catch punked-up 20-plus-piece marching band What Cheer? Brigade Sunday (September 29) at Pedestrian Sunday in Kensington Market.
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