Fall Highlights: World music

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Place des Arts

This season’s Place des Arts program includes a concert by Italian singer Gigi D’Alessio on Oct. 6 at Théâtre Maisonneuve. On Oct. 8, Iranian pop singer/songwriter Shahram Shabpareh presents The Last Tango at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier. On Nov. 12, the same venue welcomes Iranian artist Alireza Ghorbani, successor to Mohammad Reza Shajarian, the great master of classical Persian singing.

Don’t miss the TEMPÉO Danse et Musique festival, on the Esplanade, from Sept. 14-16 and 21-23. Hosted by Philippe Fehmiu, it will consist of six festive evenings of dance, offering an introduction to different dance styles. The Bollywood music and dance evening, on Sept. 14, will feature choreographer and performer Rameez Karim, his Veils of Bollywood troupe, and DJ Sunpreet Singh Uppal. Sept. 15 will provide an introduction to traditional Haitian dances, with Petwo, Ibo, Yanvaloo and the Ekspresyon troupe. Jonas Attis and his musicians will take over with their unique blend of Haitian traditional dancing and music, vodou, RaRa and pop, followed by DJ Gab Padilla, followed by a disco night on Sept. 16, with artist Nedge “Blak Kat” Valmé, Chanda and The Passengers and DJ Le Monk.

Sept. 21 is slated to be an 1960s evening, featuring the Swing ‘n’ Rhythm troupe, led by dancer Myriam Tétreault, the Baby Boomer’s Band and DJ Lucky Luc. On Sept. 22, the Latin evening celebrates Columbia, with Ballet Raíces, Bumaranga and DJ El Heavy. The festival concludes with Indigenous dance and music on Sept. 22, presented by dancer Barbara Kaneratonni Diabo, Atikamekw Pako, Maten, rapper Shauit and DJ Geronimo.

placedesarts.com

Mundial Montréal

The 13th edition of the Mundial Montréal festival takes place from Nov. 14-17, and will feature over 300 world-music professionals from the four corners of the globe. The program for this major gathering, which features conferences, networking sessions and showcases, includes nearly 30 artists. Among the names announced are the group Mi’gmafrica, whose project links Mi’gmaq and Mandingo musical traditions, songs and sounds; and Simon Denizart and Elli Miller Maboungou, a duo distinguished for their neo-classical cinematic jazz. Also featured are electro R&B artist Sebastian Gaskin from the Tataskweyak Cree Nation and Brazilian Afrofuturist queer bossa-nova artist Bruno Capinan. The festival also features the funky hip-hop ensemble Super Duty Tough Work, Second Moon, an Irish-Korean pansori fusion show, as well as performances by avant-garde experimental electronic composer Lenka Dusilová and blues artist Talibah Safiya.

www.mundialmontreal.com

Nuits d’Afrique

The Cabaret acoustique des Nuits d’Afrique at Club Balattou on Sept. 3 will feature the Algerian group Nesraf, which combines chaâbi and Andalusian music. On Sept. 7, the Brazilian trio Forró de Là will present traditional rhythms such as baião, arrasta pé and xote, alongside compositions by great musicians such as Luiz Gonzaga, Dominguinhos and Anastácia. On Sept. 9, a concert by Zal Sissokho and his band Buntalo will launch their new album, La Source, featuring Mandingo music and Sissokho’s favourite instrument, the kora. On Sept. 10, the CHIÍTO group performs flamenco music with Rocío Vadillo, accompanied by Jheinsen Montalvo on guitar, Hanser Santos on percussion and Mathieu Langlois on winds. On Sept. 14 there will be a concert of progressive jazz funk, by TetraTerium. On Sept. 15, Montreal tropical music group Jab Djab plays. On the menu: reggae, soca, calypso, zouk and more. On Sept. 16, Mandinka artist Michelle Kaniba Traoré performs, and on Sept. 17, Cristian Rosemary, Chilean-born Canadian composer, author, guitarist and writer will take the stage. On Sept. 18, Jully Freitas, an artist from Bahia, Brazil, performs samba, axé, samba-reggae and other fiery rhythms. On Sept. 22, Andy Rubal and his band Son del Sun host a festive evening in the pure Cuban tradition, with music ranging from funk and cha-cha-cha to French, American, Latin and Cuban hits. On Sept. 23, Cabaret Acoustique presents the Reggae Uprising Band, featuring a variety of musical standards: reggae, soul, R&B, jazz, folk, country, rock and more. On Sept. 24, Club Balattou presents an evening of Haitian music with Richemond Messidor Olé Olé.

www.festivalnuitsdafrique.com

And don’t forget Sacré chœur de Gilgamesh at Espace Aline-Letendre (Gesù church) on Oct. 22—a polyphonic tale in three voices, directed by Nadine Walsh. Presented by the Gesù – Centre de créativitém in partnership with the Quartier des Spectacles, this show explores the Sumerian epic of Gilgamesh. Engraved on clay tablets, this epic is considered to be mankind’s first written history.