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All design, narrative and photographs on Marys-Creative-Zone, Marys-Scrap-Zone, Marys-Card-Zone are copy written 2009 Mary Chong. Content shared on this site has not been posted for commercial purposes, and should not be used without written authorization. Please contact me for all publication usage requests. Thanks!

Friday, July 03, 2009

Mary [ 3:52 PM ] | 0 comments

It's the summer and that for me means outdoor concerts! Our favorite pastime is discovering new music genres and artists to add to our cd stash and yesterday was fabulous. We were all over town and the weather was perfect!

With all the hustle and bustle of Pride and the Toronto Jazz Fest - we were so glad that we made our way down to the Distillery District for the Toronto City Roots Music Festival. A free event with non stop music in a relaxed setting. They have 2 stages set up and they have great local acts.

We were lucky to catch the group Dala. This is a duet of guitar's and vocals and the girls are just fabulous. They have such a sweet sound to their voices and a new album out. Go check them out! The did a great cover version of "Both Sides Now" by Joni Mitchell AND they are from Scarborough.

Another act we caught was Jaffa Road. The City Roots website says this about them "Jaffa Road’s music looks to the future by blending tradition with innovation and bringing together diverse musical languages that include Jewish roots, jazz, Indian and Arabic music, electronica, and dub. With onstage chemistry as electrifying as it is intense, the band mixes ancient and original poetry in Hebrew, Spanish and English with belly dance rhythms, pulsating dub grooves, exhilarating improvisations, and a global mix of instrumentation."

We didn't understand alot of what they were singing - but do you really have to?? The music and the sound of the lead singer's voice is enough! A great group to see.

The last act we caught was Danny Marks. WOW what a performer. Danny has a radio show on Saturday nights on the jazz station FM91 and is a blues guitarist. Boy can he play! He had 2 guest performers with him on stage but I didn't catch their names.

A great show and a great evening out. Outdoor concerts are the best!! Just bring a cooler bag with drinks and a chair...heaven!

One funny that I just have to share is that the bar right next to the main stage was booked for a private party last night - It was a PRIDE party and everyone was wearing leather (or shall I say partially clad in leather). It was quite the distraction AND quite the juxtaposition. The mellow, granola eating bunch at the Roots concert right next to the disco/leather/S&M garb at the patio bar. During the Danny Marks show the 2 "parties" met on the dance floor in front of the stage for a brief moment....much to the horror of the seniors in the audience!!