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A Different Kind of Drummer [Part 1]: Tyshawn Sorey

Published

3 years ago

September 22, 2023

Photograph of Tyshawn Sorey © John Rogers, courtesy of PI Recordings

With much of the music that Tyshawn Sorey has been composing and performing one hardly expected to be confronted by – not one – but two albums that appear as if to reiterate where [in the music continuum] his musical heart began to palpitate in the way that it has. Having advanced concepts of – and interactions between – melody, harmony, and rhythm, Mr Sorey has quickly gained a genius of a sort that makes him musically prescient in the manner of Wayne Shorter. Hyperbole? Hardly so when you consider the kind of music he has been writing lately, to suit the musical character of groups as disparate as The Crossing directed by Donald Nally, the Dutch National Opera the London Sinfonietta, Mike Sopko, Bill Laswell, the Philly DJ and innovator King Britt, to name a few.

Moreover, Mr Sorey has also come to the attention of possibly one of the 21^st century’s most important composers, Anthony Braxton. But as the cultural topography of Mr Sorey’s music has been born of the Blues it seemed almost a given that at some point he would return to his proverbial roots. If for nothing else, he would do so to reevaluate his relationship with the Blues. Almost by an eerie coincidence Mr Braxton once did likewise with a brilliant series of recordings for the Danish label, SteepleChase: In The Tradition [recorded in 1974/released in 1986], In The Tradition Volume 2 [recorded in 1974/released in 1987] and What’s New In The Tradition [recorded in 1974/released in 1991]. Not that Mr Sorey followed suit after the fact, but what he has done between 2022 and 2023 has been to reach for the touchstones of his cultural topography which is similar – one might add – to that of Mr Braxton.

Needless to say, no matter what the idiom in which Mr Sorey indulges his art – traditional or contemporary – the results are spectacular. There is an elemental reason for this. In his hands [and feet] the drum set becomes a symphonic instrument. Cymbals hiss and sizzle, they ring – resonant tempered brass that they are – with the steady, rippling drip-drip-drip, or trinkle, then start to go ‘tick-a-tick-a-tick-a’ as the drummer tattoos part of a melody into the rhythmic line. All this while the rattle and hum of the skin of the snare drum complement the tuned rumbling of floor and other toms, while the rolling thunder of the bass drum and the hi-hat add odd-metre, pulsating rhythmic accents – heavy and slight – entwined into [in this instance, the piano of Aaron Deihl’s] melodic, and harmonic flights. Meanwhile, Mr Sorey can play inside and outside time and still make the poetry of the rhythm sound exactly right, no matter at which interval sticks, mallets thud, or brushes may swish in circular motion as their wires touchdown.

All this while melodically and harmonically too, the music is heartachingly and quintessentially bluesy, yet seeming to break out of the prison that is tradition as the drummer re-evaluates the poetics of his Blues. And so, just like his works for large symphonic orchestras – created in the contemporary vein – so also are the recordings under review here. This series, which includes Mesmerism [PI Recordings, recorded in May 2021/released in July 2022], the seemingly epic 3-disc set The Off-Off Broadway Guide to Synergism [PI Recordings, released in November 2022] and Continuing [PI Recordings released in June 2023]. The repertoire on Mesmerism and Continuing is trio music performed by Mr Sorey, with contrabassist Matt Brewer and pianist Aaron Diehl, but the music on The Off-Off Broadway Guide to Synergism also includes the much-celebrated alto saxophonist, Greg Osby.

There is something uniquely exciting about listening to a group of keen young musicians devouring familiar, sometimes difficult, but exciting music whole, which is precisely what the members of this trio [and quartet, in the case of The Off-Off Broadway… album] do throughout the repertoire on each of the albums. So while Mr Sorey is listed as leader, each of the musicians – pianist Aaron Deihl, bassists Matt Brewer and Russell Hall, and of course, the inimitable alto saxophonist Greg Osby – brings something unique and memorable to each performance. [for example: Mr Deihl in his seemingly unending cascades of melodic inventions on Detour Ahead [on Mesmerism]. Every individual programme is hugely enterprising in every department, with musicianship released in quantum packets of energy, each with so much imagination as to be both surprising and mysterious at the same time. As to some other harmonic and rhythmic elements, just cue into Ask Me Now or let the song Odd Job roll from start to finish [on The Off-Off Broadway… album where the forces of Mr Osby and Russell Hall collide with Messers Deihl and Sorey]. And then there’s the inspired version of Reincarnation Blues [on the album Continuing]. In every instance be prepared to be melodically, harmonically, and rhythmically dazzled by how the performers invoke a savage cut and thrust in their kicking syncopations.

This impressive force is maintained throughout the repertoire and invoked not only by the rhythmists [drums and bass], but also the other performers – the saxophonist, and pianist as well. The music also swings intermittently punctuating the melodic and harmonic lines with [and at] just the right time to replace tedium with ingenuity and yet musical arrythmia [cue Mr Sorey’s rumbling efforts on Muhal Richard Abrams’ Two Over One] is key throughout these sets, the drummer embellishing the music, when you least expect it with gleaming notes played at every turn. Throughout these irrepressibly energetic sets it is not simply Mr Sorey who delivers in spades [for the rumbling sound quality of his instrument is very good too]. From end to end this is not repertoire aimed at making the listener relax. Here the motto is most definitely: None shall sleep…!

Tyshawn Sorey - Mesmerism — ^{Notes fly off the page on the repertoire of Mesmerism by the Tyshawn Sorey Trio}

Tyshawn Sorey Trio: Mesmerism There’s always a feeling when listening to the Tyshawn Shorey Trio that you are listening to notes that fly off the page – the perfect answer to the Urtext method of playing. Perhaps being intrinsically empathetic has brought uniformity of thought and instinct into Tyshawn Sorey, Aaron Deihl and Matt Brewer that allows them to play as a single entity, or maybe their unfussy intellectual approach is particularly compatible with a genre that, if done as skillfully [as these musicians perform], a concentration of all the musical ideas of each of the composers is represented here.

Either way [or more likely, both ways], this Tyshawn Sorey Trio’s playing is nearly always beyond reproach, and this contrasting array of the musicians’ individual styles and personalities brings everything – in every work – to fruition. They [the musicians] bring out with very simple clarity all of the humour and pathos, which can leave you wondering whether the music is rising or falling in the vertical plane or expanding or contrasting in the horizontal one. This makes for a deeply affecting programme. It’s almost as if these pieces were being played for the first time. And even as this isn’t so, the beautifully balanced musical arguments of this disc make it eminently desirable.

^{Greg Osby stars on The Off-Off Broadway Guide to Synergism by the Tyshawn Sorey Trio +1}

Tyshawn Sorey: The Off-Off Broadway Guide to Synergism The epitome of a “collector’s item” of a disc [or, in this case, a multiple-disc] has a few components. One of these is that you hear something so fresh that you feel as if you are hearing the works for the very first time, even though you are sure you’ve heard them before. All of the music on this programme fits that Zen Koan of a definition. The other component is that the music appears to be played in the moment. This is eminently true of this live programme that seems to flow – not ebb and flow, but flow – from one climactic moment to another, one melodic line after another, one harmonic variation after another, one rhythmic pulse after another.

If you think the Trio, which is now augmented by the magnificent Greg Osby on alto saxophones blows the roof off the house with Billy Strayhorn’s Chelsea Bridge, wait till you are held breathless and at the edge of your seats by Thelonious Monk’s Ask Me Now. The experience of pathos will never have felt so preternatural, so like being in an amphitheatre experiencing a monumental drama unfold. The performers pace themselves with almost interminable sanguinity, emphasising musical gestures are eloquent and whereas Mr Sorey and Russell Hall concentrate on forward motion, Mr Osby and Mr Deihl concentrate on the passionate aspects of that [forward] motion. The result is an epic performance with performances so assured, so intelligent and deeply felt that this is a disc to absolutely die for…

Tyshawn Sorey Trio: Continuing When the musicians of the Tyshawn Sorey Trio [now without Mr Osby] place these four classic works under the spotlight of their pooled intelligence, whether playful [on Harold Mabern’s In Which Direction Are You Headed?], thoughtful [on Wayne Shorter’s Reincarnation Blues], or provocative [on Matt Dennis’ Angel Eyes, absent from which is Earl Brent’s lyric] Mr Sorey, Mr Deihl and Mr Brewer eschew the bright lights for a place where mellowness, intimacy and relative refinement are more obvious priorities.

These versions of the songs are among the most svelte, and most beautiful-sounding performances [bar the ones by the composers themselves] to have come my way in recent years, and I could hardly quote a more telling example of their style than the unhurried opening of Reincarnation Blues itself [Mr Shorter’s own rendition notwithstanding]. Mr Deihl’s deliciously liquid cascading arpeggios and glissandos and the gentle tremor of Mr Sorey’s drums and Mr Brewer’s contrabass tell the perfect story of music unfolding. How elegant too are the questing performances of the other pieces on this marvelous disc. This is not simply a trio performance but chamber music playing of the highest order, intense where it should be, outspoken elsewhere [also where it should be], the insolent virtuosity of each of the musicians never getting in the way of making a perfect recording, captured in the warmth of an admirable production on a label with such consistently high standards that you are wanting for the next episode of this trio before the disc is even halfway over.

^{Deo gratis…}

Tyshawn Sorey Trio: Mesmerism

Music – 1: Enchantment; 2: Detour Ahead; 3: Autumn Leaves; 4: From Time to Time; 5: Two Over One; REM Blues.

Musicians – Tyshawn Sorey: drums; Aaron Diehl: piano; Matt Brewer: contrabass.

Released – 2022
Label – PI Recordings/Yeros 7 Music
Runtime – 47:54

Tyshawn Sorey: The Off-Off Broadway Guide to Synergism

Music – Disc One -1: Night and Day; 2: Please Stand By; 3: Chelsea Bridge; 4: Three Little Words; 5: Mob Job; 6: Ask Me Now; Disc Two – 1: Out Of Nowhere; 2: Ashes; 3: Please Stand; 4: Three Little Words; 5: Jitterbug Waltz; 6: Mob Job; 7: It Could Happen To You; Disc Three – 1: I Remember You; 2: We’ll Be Together Again; 3: Contemplation; 4: Out of Nowhere; 5: Solar; 6: Ask Me Now.

Musicians – Tyshawn Sorey: drums; Aaron Diehl: piano; Russell Hall: contrabass. Guest Musician – Greg Osby: alto saxophone.

Released – 2022
Label – PI Recordings
Runtime – Disc One 1:16:25 Disc Two 1:01:06 Disc Three 1:14:11

Tyshawn Sorey Trio: Continuing

Music – 1: Reincarnation Blues; 2: Seleritus; 3: Angel Eyes; 4: In What Direction are you Headed?

Musicians – Tyshawn Sorey: drums; Aaron Diehl: piano; Matt Brewer: contrabass.

Released – 2023
Label – PI Recordings [PI 198]
Runtime – 50:37

Note: Coming shortly – Part Two of A Different Kind of Drummer: Gerry Hemingway

Raul Da Gama

Based in Canada, Raul is a poet, musician and accomplished critic whose profound analysis is reinforced by his deep understanding of music, technically as well as historically.

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Joane Hétu: Building Territory in Québec’s Experimental Music Scene

Published

1 year ago

July 18, 2025

Lawrence Peryer

Composer, Vocalist, Saxophonist Joane Hétu - Photo by Céline Côté

How one composer spent four decades forging a distinctly Québécois path through the experimental music landscape

When Joane Hétu picks up her alto saxophone, she claims territory. At sixty-six, the Montréal composer, vocalist, and saxophonist has spent forty years carving out space for experimental music in Québec, building institutions and communities that define the province’s musique actuelle scene.

Her latest recording, Elle a son mot à dire, captures Hétu leading Ensemble SuperMusique through thirteen of her compositions from across two decades. The album opens with “Elle n’a pas de mot” (She has no words)—a brief ambient piece that stacks wordless singing atop a chorus of “whirly tubes,” ribbed hoses spun above players that pirouette through the harmonic series. An apt introduction to an artist who has spent her career finding new ways to give voice to the unspoken.

Finding Her Voice in the Underground

Hétu’s path began in the early 1980s with avant-pop groups like Wondeur Brass, Justine, and Les Poules. These bands merged the pluralist ethos of New York’s downtown scene with European progressive sensibilities while maintaining something distinctly Québécois. “I was very young, in my twenties, and this fusion happened quite instinctively, without real premeditation,” she recalls. Through connections to figures like Zeena Parkins, Ikue Mori, and Fred Frith, and the Recommended Records network, these groups found their place in an international experimental music community.

Even while performing with these bands, Hétu was thinking beyond individual artistic expression. In 1980, she co-founded SuperMusique with Danielle Palardy Roger and Diane Labrosse. Eight years later, they organized a Festival of Innovative Women Musicians, devoted entirely to women’s groups working in avant-garde music—a radical curatorial gesture that signaled Hétu’s growing interest in building infrastructure alongside making music.

“We were connected to the New York scene,” Hétu explains, “but we wanted to create something here, something that would support the community we were building in Montréal.”

From Performance to Institution

The instinct to support that community would shape Hétu’s career as much as her compositions. By 1998, she had taken on co-direction of Ensemble SuperMusique, transforming the organization into one that explicitly welcomes “emerging artists, mid-career artists, and major figures alike.” Where many experimental music scenes fragment along generational lines, Hétu has consistently worked to bridge those gaps.

“This intergenerational cohabitation is a great richness for us,” she explains. “It opens perspectives, stimulates listening, and provokes essential exchanges.”

On Elle a son mot à dire, this collaborative philosophy becomes musical practice. In “Mot elle a,” vocalist Sarah Albu’s written part interweaves with improvised percussion, creating what Hétu calls “flexible, malleable” pieces that depend on interpretation. “For now, I only have one recording, but I hope it will live through other recordings and interpretations,” she says. “This is one of the objectives of open scores: to encourage multiple and living interpretations.”

Joane Hétu & Supermusique - Photo by Céline Côté — Joane Hétu & Supermusique – Photo by Céline Côté

^{[click on image to enlarge]}

The Economics of Experiment

Running an experimental music organization led Hétu deeper into the infrastructure questions that determine which music gets heard and preserved. As founder and longtime president of DAME Records (Distribution Ambiances Magnétiques Etcetera), she took on the less glamorous work of documenting and distributing Canadian experimental music—a role she maintained for three decades.

“I’ve always had a passion for sound recording,” she reflects. “From 1985, I got involved in Ambiances Magnétiques, then DAME took over.” The work came with unexpected costs. “After my daughter’s birth in 1990, I was looking for a certain stability, knowing that tours would be more difficult. Naively, I believed that having a record label would offer a form of security. It was quite the opposite. This enterprise cost me a lot in creative time. Looking back, it’s perhaps what I regret most: having carried it for so long, for thirty-three years.”

Despite the personal sacrifice, DAME has documented a vital chapter in Canadian music history, providing a platform for artists like Jean Derome, Pierre-Yves Martel, Tim Brady, and dozens of others who might otherwise have remained unrecorded. “DAME documents this precious musical heritage and ensures that these musics are represented, supported, available, and that this artistic history is accessible,” Hétu explains.

Claiming Creative Territory

The questions of space and belonging that drove Hétu’s institutional work find their most direct artistic expression in her concept of territory. The idea runs through much of her work, most explicitly in her piece La femme territoire ou 21 fragments d’humus. For Hétu, territory encompasses everything from the intimate to the political: “the Earth, my room, Quebec, my soul—a woman who becomes vastitude.”

“In it, I take a position, as a woman, on my territory—intimate and collective,” she explains. “I doubted while writing it; I had trouble trusting myself. Today, I’m happy with the path traveled and with this work.”

The territorial thinking extends to her approach to voice and instrumentation. Hétu never formally learned to sing, drawing from influences like Tenko, Phil Minton, Jaap Blonk, and Paul Dutton. “I have a deep love for the voice and its noise-making potential. It’s visceral and fundamental to me,” she says. In her work with La chorale bruitiste JOKER, founded in 2012, she explores what collective vocal improvisation can accomplish using techniques like soundpainting.

^{[click on image to enlarge]}

Seasons of Composition

Hétu’s relationship to place extends to her famous engagement with Québec’s harsh winters. Where others see obstacles to cultural life, she found creative catalysts. Her trilogy Musique d’hiver emerged from the practical reality that “January, February and March are rather quiet in the record industry, which leaves time to compose.” But the relationship between season and creativity runs deeper than scheduling.

“I love winter, I love the sound, the cocoon effect it produces,” she explains. The final piece in the trilogy, Récits de neige, focused specifically on snow’s geometry: “I hoped to compose 30 short pieces that musicians could amalgamate as they want, like snowflakes, which each have a different geometry.”

Building for the Future

Today, as Hétu approaches her fifth decade in music, she remains committed to the experimental principles that have guided her career while grappling with new challenges facing the experimental music community. “I believe the public has the capacity to welcome innovation,” she argues. “But it needs tools, which are becoming scarce: radio broadcasting, interviews, production support, and venues dedicated to new music.”

Her work with Ensemble SuperMusique continues to demonstrate that experimental music can build lasting institutions and communities. Recent projects include ongoing workshops in graphic scores and conducting gestures, international collaborations, and regular concert series that have sustained the musique actuelle community for decades.

“I respond to the call, to the impulse of the moment. I am still, fundamentally, the same composer,” Hétu admits. Viewed across four decades, her work reveals a consistent thread: the understanding that experimental music concerns itself with creating the conditions for a community of artists to flourish.

In an era when funding for experimental music remains precarious and cultural institutions focus on measurable outcomes, Hétu’s approach offers a different model. Her career demonstrates that sometimes the most radical act is creating space for other voices to emerge, building the infrastructure for artistic communities to sustain themselves across generations. After four decades, Joane Hétu still has something to say. She’s still creating spaces for others to find their own voices within the experimental music territory she has helped map. In Québec’s cultural landscape, that may be her most enduring composition.

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Festival International de Jazz de Montréal: A Joyous Celebration of Music

Published

1 year ago

July 17, 2025

Paul J. Youngman

Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue at FIJM

Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue at the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal - Photo: Danilo Navas

“One of the most unforgettable moments of the Festival was the electrifying performance by Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue”

The Festival International de Jazz de Montréal took place from June 26 to July 5, 2025, in the Quartier des Spectacles. The 45th edition of the world’s largest jazz festival was a resounding success, attracting jazz enthusiasts from around the globe.

The Heart of the Festival

Located in the heart of downtown Montreal, the Festival site becomes a meeting place for jazz lovers worldwide for ten days. The area is closed to all vehicular traffic and remains open until midnight, allowing visitors to enjoy close to 150 indoor concerts and more than 350 free, open-air shows presented on the specially redesigned Quartier des Spectacles.

A Personal Journey

As a jazz fan and festival enthusiast, I had always intended to attend the Montreal Jazz Festival. Despite missing several chances, I finally managed to go this year, although for a shorter time than I would have preferred, from June 30th to July 3rd.

Nubya Garcia performing at FIJM - Photo: Danilo Navas — ^{Nubya Garcia at FIJM – Photo: Danilo Navas}

Arrival and First Impressions

I enjoyed a pleasant 5-hour Via Rail train trip from Toronto to Montreal, arriving around 2 PM. After settling into my Airbnb, I found the jazz festival site and met up with Danilo Navas, the editor-in-chief of That Canadian Magazine. We eagerly waited for the first act to perform on the TD Stage, a free concert by UK tenor saxophonist Nubya Garcia.

Garcia and her band delivered an energetic and incredibly enjoyable set that featured music from both of her recordings. This is an artist I will be watching more closely.

One of the most unforgettable moments of the festival was the electrifying performance by Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue. This mind-bending concert had everything thrown into the mix, creating an explosive fusion of world jazz, funk, and New Orleans soul.

The unbridled excitement and energy from the stage were infectious, drawing the audience in and making them an essential part of the show. The crowd danced, cheered, and grooved to the irresistible beats, unable to resist the magnetic pull of Trombone Shorty’s music.

After this exhilarating experience, the only thing left to do was find a chill spot to unwind and bask in the afterglow of this burst of New Orleans magic.

Trombone Shorty performing at FIJM - Photo: Danilo Navas — ^{Trombone Shorty at FIJM – Photo: Danilo Navas}

Canada Day Celebrations

On July 1st, Canada Day, I took a walk to Old Montreal to check out the celebrations. The area, reminiscent of Europe, was closed off to most traffic, allowing visitors to enjoy the numerous restaurants with patios and sidewalk cafes. I indulged in a coffee and biscotti at one inviting cafe before making my way back to the jazz festival area, with a brief stop in Chinatown for some delicious dumplings and soup.

Memorable Performances

This Canada Day was my most active in terms of concerts, with three free shows happening almost consecutively at outdoor venues.

The Sugar Darlings: Miche Love, a key figure in the Montreal blues scene, captivated the audience with her powerful and soulful voice, supported by the electrifying solos of Paul Lucyk on guitar and Kaven Jalbert on saxophone.

Julien Fillion Band: This lively quartet, led by the talented Julien Fillion on saxophone, guitar, and keyboards, delivered an energetic performance to a rain-soaked crowd. The show must go on despite the unpredictable weather challenges.

Endea Owens & the Cookout: Detroit-raised recording artist, bassist, and composer Endea Owens captivated the audience with her soulful singing and jazz and soul-infused playing.

The Sugar Darlings performing at FIJM - Photo: Danilo Navas — ^{The Sugar Darlings at FIJM – Photo: Danilo Navas}

My Last Full Day at the Festival

My last full day at the festival was spent exploring the grounds and soaking in the vibrant atmosphere of the Montreal Jazz Festival, discovering the many facets of this grand celebration.

Christine Jensen Quartet at Le Studio TD

One of the last jazz concerts I attended was at an indoor venue that offered a free performance by the Christine Jensen Quartet, which featured alto saxophonist Christine Jensen. This outstanding group of world-class musicians includes Jim Doxas on drums, Gary Versace on keys, and Adrian Vedady on contrabass. The quartet played tunes from Jensen’s latest recording, “Day Moon,” released in 2023, as well as selections from her other quartet albums.

A Memorable Experience

In summary, the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal is an excellent event held at a captivating venue, offering a wonderful experience with many free concerts and more. I look forward to returning and delving even further into the modern music of our era.

Editor’s Note: We will publish our photo gallery from the 45th Festival International de Jazz de Montréal in a separate post in the next few days.

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Luminato Festival: How to Inhabit the City, in a 24-Hour Period

Published

1 year ago

June 26, 2025

Paul J. Youngman

Luminato Festival 2025 - Somd'agua - Photo by Paul J. Youngman

Luminato at Harbourfront – June 15, 2025

Somd’agua: A Dance Migration Performance

A mesmerizing collaboration featuring Esie Mensah, Alex Oliver, Reimundo Sosa Reinoldes, and Adrianna Yanuziello, Somd’agua provided a profound exploration of Afro-Brazilian culture. The performance artfully depicted the sacred connection between the deities Oxum and Yemanjá through movement and rhythm.

The fusion of powerful singing, chanting, and dynamic Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian percussion created an immersive backdrop for the dancers’ graceful movements.

As the river meets the sea, the performers wove their magic, creating a flowing exchange of energies that stirred deep emotions and evoked memories of distant lands.

The natural setting of Harbourfront Centre enhanced the experience, with the breeze from Lake Ontario and passing tall ships complementing the performance’s aquatic themes. The audience’s enthusiastic participation peaked during the climactic duet, where the dancers achieved perfect harmony.

Santé! By Cirque Kikasse

Quebec’s innovative circus troupe transformed a food truck into an extraordinary performance space.

Their show seamlessly blended fast-food preparation with spectacular acrobatics, showcasing remarkable athleticism and gravity-defying feats both on and above their unique mobile stage.

Cirque Kikasse in Toronto's Harbourfront — ^{Cirque Kikasse in Toronto’s Harbourfront – Photo: Facebook}

Musical Performances and Workshops

Afro-Indigenous roots of Colombia Cumbia workshop with Beny Esguerra

Beny Esguerra, the Juno-nominated multi-instrumentalist, delivered an engaging exploration of Afro-Colombian rhythms. Accompanied by his daughter, who acted as her father’s assistant. She helped distribute percussion instruments.

Esguerra created an interactive experience where the distributed percussion instruments became integral to the musical performance. It featured a fun and engaging demonstration that showcased the communicative power of drumming.

Kombilesa Mi

This vibrant Afro-Colombian ensemble brought the distinctive sounds of San Basilio de Palenque to life. Their dynamic performance merged traditional rhythms (Mapalé, Bullerengue, Son Palenquero) with contemporary hip-hop elements, performing in both Spanish and their native language, Palenque.

Formed in 2011, the group serves as a cultural bridge, connecting young people with their heritage while embracing modern musical expressions. The show was well-attended, and these fantastic entertainers had the crowd singing along, clapping in time, and seemingly having a joyful experience.

The festival experience concluded perfectly with an evening stroll along the Harbourfront paths. The day’s artistic celebrations settled into memory as night descended over Lake Ontario.

Photo Gallery: Adrianna Yunuziello Dance Migration performing Somd’agua
Photos by Paul J. Youngman [click on images to enlarge]