Al Qahwa’s latest recording Weyn Allah is being released in June 2023 followed by a summer tour across Canada. Each member of the group contributed to the original material inspired by music from North Africa, Greece, Iran, the Middle East, as well as musical influences from jazz, folk and Irish music thrown into the mix. This is the result of the cultural and musical backgrounds of the members of this group.
This concert will showcase uplifting and energetic music with North African and Arabic rhythms and melodies interpreted with the spirit of jazz. Maryem Tollar’s distinct voice has been heard across genres from Bollywood to Canadian TV’s Little Mosque on the Prairie to R. Murray Schafer’s Children's Crusade to Baroque music with Tafelmusik – defying labels and genres. This performance will feature the vocal heavy repertoire from the album Weyn Allah sung by Maryem Tollar and soaring over rich Pan African Arabian grooves by Waleed Abdulhamid and Naghmeh Farahmand, Mediterranean stringwork by Demetri Petsalakis, the sound of the Nile, the Sahara desert and Coltrane’s jazz in Ernie Tollar’s woodwinds, and joyful ecstatic dance by Roula Said.
Limited seating available. Please bring a chair to enjoy an evening of music and entertainment.