One of the most culturally diverse cities on the planet, Toronto, Canada hosts its 41st Caribana, one of the biggest and baddest Caribbean Festivals in North America.

Three weeks of partying Carnival style draws in a million festival visitors each year and at least a hundred thousand American tourists come to celebrate culture. Along the festival route vendors line up to serve you food as diverse as the people in attendance so if you like food as much as I do, be sure to go with an empty stomach.

Caribana’s night scene is time to really get live because each night provides another party or three to attend. Machal Montana, a soca artist from Trinidad (the Holy Grail of Carnival) will make an appearance along with Kevin Lyttle, Akon, Estelle, Ludacris, and Kardinall Offishall who will all host parties over the duration of the festival to give you a reason to dance until the next days celebration begins.

Toronto’s Caribana is as close as you’ll get to a Trinidad and Tobago Carnival without having to leave North America to do it.

Caribana kicked off Sunday June 15 and ends August 5.

More event information is available here and here.

Celebration, remembrance and cultural exploration are the prevailing themes of NYC’s second annual Roma Film Festival. The socially conscious fest — also known as the Gypsy Human Rights Film Festival — is set to screen over 25 films from all over the world that explore the conditions, lives and history of the Roma peoples.

One such film, “Searching for the 4th Nail“, engrosses the viewer by seeking to answer the question of what it means to be a gypsy. The film details the journey of filmmaker George Eli as he treks across America in search of the meaning of his people’s traditions so that he may teach his sons what it means to be a gypsy.

The Roma Film Festival runs from July 8th to the 15th. For more on location and screenings, check them out here.

Take your average front man during a band’s period of creative hiatus. Damon Albarn is not that guy. Instead of focusing the pursuits of his off-time on reality variety shows or eco-friendly clothing labels, this lead vocalist of the legendary Britpop band Blur has worked as main man behind the Gorillaz, and the Danger Mouse collaboration The Good, the Bad, and the Queen.

In 2002, he co-founded the Honest Jons Record label which Entertainment Weekly refers to as “the hippest world-music label going.” Their Lincoln Center musical revue promises a swift education in contemporary black music with Cadi Staton performing (remember “Young Hearts Run Free”?) alongside Simone White, Tony Allen, the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, and many others.

More info here.

Saturday, July 12th
8PM
Avery Fisher Hall
Part of the Lincoln Center Festival 2008

If you find yourself in or around London for the next three days, set your radio dial to 87.7FM to catch an aesthetic explosion airing live from Abbey Road Studios. Presented by Showstudio and Swarovski, Fashion DJs emphasizes how fashion and music are constantly interlinked by putting top designers, models, and musicians behind the turntables. A few of the rumored names set to play are Naomi Campbell, Lily Cole and Giles Deacon.

And if that isn’t music to your ears, video footage and live radio content is available online here and here.

After a three-year hybernation period, PPP, formerly known as the Platinum Pied Pipers, is finally back! It is all worth the wait as the new album takes music production to the next level. After a long searching process, the core PPP — consisting of Detroit-bred, now Brooklyn-based duo, Waajeed and Saadiq — found some outstanding musicians to match their talents for this highly-anticipated album.

July 8th marks the release date of On A Cloud, their first single from their new album Abundance. The title track features new vocalist Karma Stewart, a singer whose powerful vocals recall Aretha Franklin’s soul-shaking force, while the beautifully layered instrumentation blends elements of Led Zeppelin-esque rock tunes, soul and gospel-flavored melodies matching Detroit’s Motown legacy with high energy horns and drums into a sound that is super fresh and is so characteristic of PPP’s pioneering musical experiments. On the flip side is Angel, boasting a similarly big sound inspired by another Detroit roots, Funkadelic. Angel features their brilliant St. Louis-based new vocalist-songwriter-poet Coultrain, who wrote the majority of the songs for the album.

Waajeed means both “finder” and “seeker”, and it was probably not accidental that he was given this name by an elder. As he describes the making of Abundance, “this new album is as much about the process as about the outcome” — as much about the process of seeking to realize this new project as about finding the perfect vehicle for it.

You can catch Waajeed doing a DJ set on Thursday, July 10th at Sutra (16 1st Ave, NY), with old-time friends, T3 of Slum Village and Dwele.

Europeans are ahead of the game, PPP have already begun touring the old continent with the album, but if you’re lucky you can catch them live at their home-base on Saturday, July 12th at Southpaw (125 5th Ave, Brooklyn) as they will provide the highlight of the Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival at the Official Afterparty, along with DJ House Shoes, Invincible, and DJ Parler. Not to be missed, people!

Make sure to peep the PPP page for the rest of their concert schedule.

SaLon at WHITEBOX is a testament to the diversity of the UK’s freshest emerging talent. Eight recent graduates of British art schools like the Royal Academy of Art or Goldsmiths were selected to represent what SaLon considers the new wave of British art.

From spraypaint to embroidery, each artist creates a solid impression on the audience despite the collective nature of the exhibit. Although hailed as a the new generation of British art, the artists make it clear that they are more than just a unit, breaking the need for cohesion in the exhibit and favoring screaming voices of independence and change. The ways in which they voraciously attack modern British life only serves to emphasize the frustrations with the lack of societal progression.

Among the illustrious eight is explosive new talent Sarah Maple. Hailed as the new Tracey Emin by The Independent on Sunday, she was recently awarded the “4 Sensations Award” for her controversial work. Maple addresses questions of Islamic identity by placing stereotyped versions of veiled women within a Westernized fashion photography context. Various references to Kate Moss are explicitly made, if only to contrast the liberalism of the Westernized woman with that of the modesty of the Islamic woman. Her artwork is suffused with questions on religious and national identity because of her mixed religious and cultural upbringing.

More here.

When was the last time you witnessed Woody Allen and Public Enemy performing for the same event?! No, no, no this is not a prank or an episode of Flavor of Love…For the past 29 years Montreal has been hosting one of the most prestigious jazz manifestations; an event where up-and-coming talents and established artists give some of their best performances in the heart of the city.

The Montreal Jazz Festival does not only cater to jazz lovers, the array of genres and styles of music (hip-hop, bossa nova, electro-jazz, world-music…) turns the city into an even more colorful and intense cultural mosaic that attracts music lovers from all parts of the world. This year’s edition, dedicated to the memory of Oscar Petterson, had me travel me around the world-literally — in 11 days !

I started my journey, last Thursday, in Bahia with senor Gilberto Gil and his BroadBand, I then attended Reverend Green church service in Memphis on saturday, and eventually spent some time with Me Myself and I on planet rap with De La Soul. On Monday I took a crash-course in social activism with professor Chuck D. Running from venue to the other I couldn’t help but glimpsing at one of the groovy band that would made the crowd get down even in the rain … But wait, I almost forgot my “coup de coeur” Cuban piano virtuoso Roberto Fonseca. Fonseca - who accompanied the legendary Ibrahim Ferrer - and his band mesmerized the audience; I relaxed on Wednesday at McCoy Tyner’s piano recital. Last night, newcomer South African-Israeli Yoav charmed me with accoustic guitar. Unfortunately, as it is often the case with festivals of that caliber, I was not able to stop by Mrs. Franklin’s soulful class, Woody Allen’s jazz lesson; I also missed the double-bill featuring GZA and RZA and The BlindBoys of Alabama, Malian mega-star Salif Keita with Vieux Farka-Toure, or Miss Dee Dee Bridgewater…

Two more days to go and Cassandra Wilson is next!

The 2008 edition is even more special as the city of Montreal has recently undertaken the development of the “Quartier des Spectacles” (Arts District) that should be completed by next year for the Festival 30th anniversary with the opening of the Maison du Festival de Jazz. The festival also offers a variety of activities for children (games, face-painting, music workshops) as well as a guitar salon, a on-site art Gallery and wide range of other excitements!

So folks if you missed this year’s event, start saving up for a trip to the hot’n'humid Montreal summer, you won’t regret it!

More info here!

Remember playing Super Mario Bros when you were little? Fingers pressing, eyes fixated, ears open, all in the hopes of rescuing the Princess – it was intense. Maybe that intensity is what drew Toronto-based Crystal Castles to incorporate the electronic glitchy sound bites of the old Nintendo games into their music.

Ethan Kath and Alice Glass, collectively known as Crystal Castles, hail from Canada but have quickly become an international music force, invading cities from Tokyo to Helsinki with their eclectic-electronic-pop sound. The duo paired up back in 2003, and two years later recorded their first single, “Alice Practice”, which they released through MySpace — they were signed to Merok Records soon after.

Crystal Castles’ characteristic sound is hard to pin point because of its frantic nature. Their synth-based beats coupled with Glass’ distorted vocals merge to create a pop-electronic surge that is offset with an 80’s tinge. Tracks such as “Crimewave” and “Air War” — which are included in their latest self-titled CD (released this March) – embody the duo’s commitment to their vision of futuristic 8 bit based pop.

Crystal Castles is performing on Saturday July 5th at Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre. Check out their MySpace for upcoming tour dates.

The mercury retrograde is over and a fresh breeze of regeneration will be felt by all this Saturday, June 21 with the Avant Yard offering of “Ancient Futures: The DNA of Culture and Civilizations” at MoCADA, the Museum of Contemporary African Diaspora Arts at 5pm.

This multi-media group exhibition will confront socio-political boundaries in “underground” movements with a dynamic blend of painting, photography, installation art, photo-illustration, and music. Featured artists include, Terry Boddie, Fikisha C., Jennifer Crute, Francks Deceus, Joshua Humphries, Dirk Joseph, Laura James, Kip Omolade, William Rhodes, Danny Simmons, Jamel Shabazz, and Malik Yusef Cumbo (Avant Yard).

Live music will be presented by The Essential M.C. (CA), Game Rebellion (NY), The Welfare Poets (NY), Yolanda Zama (SA), Nucomme (TX), and a long awaited Survival Soundz reunion featuring Carla Csharp Gomez (ATL).

Known for giving young artists the stage to speak their voice, Avant Yard will set the day in bloom with a special photographic collaboration from the students of Life Academy High School for Film and Music from 2pm until 5pm.

An opening reception hosted by Defrei of Ahficianados with resident DJ’s, The Majestic Twinsound and Ahficial Music continues on to the main exhibition from 5pm until 9pm, including a dance from LOVESPACE MUSIC Alter-Native Movement.

MoCADA is located at 80 Hanson Place in Ft. Greene.

The entire event is FREE.

“Ancient Futures: The DNA of Culture and Civilization” will be on view at MoCADA through September 7^th, 2008.

For more info, click here

BabyStone – the soulful mash-up of Ms. Novena Carmel and Itai- croon the stage with a gathering of beautiful eccentricity. The sound captures a Jazz, Afro-Funk, Caribbean sensation that caters to cultural enthusiasts. Marcus Brock had the chance to sit down with lead singer, Ms. Novena Carmel. This retro-fitted chanteuse is no stranger to the grittiness of the soul and funk being that her father is Sly, of the revered band Sly and the Family Stone. But, even without the distinction she’s a show stopper! BabyStone’s syncopated rhythms and intuitive - yet fun- lyrical dynamics need be positioned on anyone’s playlist.

If you’re in the Los Angeles area, don’t forget to check out the Record Release Show at Temple Bar tonight. For more info, click here

Trace: How did you and Itai start working together?

Novena Carmel: Itai and I started working together a couple of years ago. He had a track he was producing and when I sang for him, we vibed. Eventually, we had enough material for a show. We didn’t even have a band yet, but I was like – let’s book a date! We then got a band together, booked a date, and rehearsed about five times before our first show.

T: Was the use of live musicians in your band on purpose or a routed intention?

NC: The band was on purpose because we like a BIG sound. I like a real sound, there’s a lot of “fake jewelry” out there so to speak, but BabyStone won’t turn your neck green! We are influenced by funk, soul, and Afro-Beat. So, the use of live sounds and music is very important to us. We are now looking to performing an acoustic set as well in future shows and albums. Itai loves Brazilian music and I have family there so we want to incorporate more of those sounds into our music, like in “Can I Be.”

Me, personally, my vocals will always be soulful but I have a yearning to do some wild, electronic beats. Our live album is many live instruments, similar to a live show but I also want to perform to synthetic sounds like keyboards and talk boxes. Just weirdness, not only sincere heart-to-heart beats. Our next recording will probably have those types of sounds, not completely out there, but different.

T: Some artists try and shy away from their parents’ music – does some of that sound/feel resonate in your music? How has that inspired BabyStone?

NC: As an artist I’m inspired by a lot of modern artists and those that have come before me. One of my favorite genres is the funk/soul of the time period when Sly & the Family Stone was writing their biggest hits. The sound is so influential and amazing to me that there’s no way I could shy away from it. It’s funky, it’s in your face and it’s timeless. That’s a lot of what BabyStone is or at least hopes to be.

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