Frank Rackow and The Black Sea featuring Aya Mhana
Sunday, March 8, 2020
2:00PM
Klezmer (Jewish music from Eastern Europe and North America) meets Arabic music as Frank Rackow and the Black Sea - featuring vocalist Allan Merovitz - continue a collaboration with rising star Aya Mhana, a young Syrian- Canadian oud player and singer/songwriter. This is a collaboration that began a few years ago as a one-off, but the potential of uniting these musical traditions became immediately apparent to all as there is a commonality and complementarity between the musical languages.
Frank Rackow - clarinet/saxophone/vocals
Frank is active as a music educator and performer. He has played festivals, clubs and theatres across Canada with a variety of jazz and world music ensembles. He is the founding conductor of Vocal Latitudes, a world music community choir in Calgary and of the Jewish Community Centre of Calgary's Klezmer band. He was a founding member of the group KlezMerovitz and has led his own klezmer band, The Black Sea, since 2016.
Allan Merovitz - vocals, percussion
Allan is an award-winning singer and actor and one of this country's finest Yiddish vocalists. He is a former JUNO nominee and a Dora-winning actor and writer. He has toured North America and Europe with The Flying Bulgar Klezmer band, Dutch group Ot Azoy and the Calgary groups KlezMerovitz and The Black Sea. His one man klezmer musical show, If Cows Could Fly, has been presented at Toronto's Ashkenaz Festival and at the Great Canadian Theatre Company in Ottawa.
Andrea Petrity - piano
Andrea has just released her second CD as leader of the Andrea Petrity Trio and it is getting airplay across Canada and around the world. She is the accompanist of choice for many of Calgary's jazz vocalists and also co-leads the MAPL Quintet, a group that gives great Canadian songs a jazzy twist.
Greg Goldenberg - bass
Originally from Moscow, Russia, Greg is a bass player as well as a singer/songwriter and a fine guitarist. He plays regularly with The Black Sea and also with the Middle Eastern fusion band, HYMM, which has been featured at TedTalks YYC at the Jack Singer Concert Hall.
Robin Tufts - drums
One of Calgary's busiest percussionists, Robin can be found playing drum kit and hand percussion with a wide variety of jazz ensembles and with artists in just about any style. He leads his own group, Trio Velocity, and has a recorded a series of improvised duets on his own Music For Soup label. Robin has also been an accompanist in the dance department at the University of Calgary for many years.
Aya Mhana - oud and vocals
Since arriving in Canada four years ago as a refugee from the war in Syria, Aya has garnered attention and acclaim for her skills as a singer, oud player and songwriter. Her work as been featured on CBC Radio's Ideas program and she recently recorded a debut EP, Homeland, featuring four of her original compositions. As well as being a solo artist, Aya performs with the Middle Eastern fusion group HYMM.
about Beyond Borders
Curated by Frank Rackow, the Beyond Borders series features musicians and ensembles reaching across musical styles, traditions and borders to create new sounds and rhythms. From fusing Indian classical music with jazz, to exploring common elements in klezmer and Arabic music, the series offers new discoveries that will delight, surprise and move audiences.