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World music // 3-pack deal // The Trio

1. World music at Guelph Jazz, and a 3-pack concert deal

The Guelph Jazz Festival blends musical styles that can go well beyond jazz. This year's program - both the Festival and the Nuit Blanche special event - feature many artists that might be called "world music". Their influences are multicultural and extend far outside North America. Here are some examples:

• § Tasa with Mark Feldman: We've combined the Toronto ensemble that takes Indian music as its starting point with an premier New York violinist whose work crosses many cultural boundaries. Friday, Sept. 10, 5 pm, Guelph Youth Music Centre, $25/$15. Read more or listen or Buy tickets.
• § Chicago Underground Duo: This pair - Rob Mazurek, a cornet and laptop player, paired with Chad Taylor on drums and vibraphone - hail from Brazil and New York. Their ongoing duo (they performed here in 2001) ranges from free and danceable to ambient and psychedelic. Saturday, Sept. 11, 11:30 pm, Mitchell Hall / St. George's, $25/$20. Read more or Buy tickets.
• § Jaffadeck: This jazz tent performance will mix members of Jaffa Road (Toronto-based world music collective) with Eccodek, the popular Guelph band led by Andrew McPherson, mixing the sounds of Africa, India, the Pacific and beyond. Saturday, Sept. 11, 2:30 pm, Wyndham Street Jazz Tent, free. Read more.
• § Trio Tarana is led by percussionist/composer Ravish Momin who currently resides in New York City. He was born in India and spent his childhood in Mumbai (Bombay), and Bahrain (Middle-East.) As an Asian-American percussionist living in the US, he creates music that combines his Indian musical traditions with his diverse influences. Saturday, Sept. 11, 10:30 pm, Guelph City Council Chambers, free. A Nuit Blanche event: read more.

You can take in two of these concerts (Tasa and Chicago Underground), plus the Montreal turntable virtuoso Kid Koala (read more) as part of incredible 3-pack concert deal at a special low price: $30. Buy tickets. It's your chance to hear three genre-bending performances with a strong world music flavour.

2. Nuit Blanche: A Piano Talking to Itself

There are several dozen Nuit Blanche events happening overnight, Sept. 11-12, mostly in the downtown core. But just across the river at the recently vacated WC Woods plant on Elizabeth Street is a fascinating project called: A Piano Talking to Itself, by Gordon Monahan. It's an outdoor sound installation, mixing a piano, audio recordings, and external piano strings. Integrated into Nuit Blanche in partnership with Musagetes, this special performance will provide an on-the-ground example of initiatives that will feed into discussions held during the Guelph Musagetes Café in 2013.  Read more.

3. The Trio: half of the Saturday double-bill

The second half of the grand Saturday night double-bill show at the River Run Centre Main Stage features The Trio: Muhal Richard Abrams, Roscoe Mitchell and George Lewis. It combines three American legends from the Chicago jazz scene: Abrams on piano, Mitchell on saxophone, and Lewis on trombone and computers. These avant-garde pioneers will round combine with Sangam (another jazz trio) for our super Saturday double-bill at the River Run Centre. Read more or listen or buy tickets.