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New video from Sultans of String might be the first truly moving piece of COVID art / Roots Music Canada
Posted At : July 9, 2020 12:00 AM
With artists stuck at home these days struggling to make sense of a radically new normal, many are turning to the one thing you can do when everything else is on hold: create. We've had a wonderful smorgasbord of new songs and videos coming out over the past three months – but so far, few artists have tried to create work about the pandemic, and some of the efforts I've seen to date have felt a bit forced.
Let's face it, it's very hard to process something when you're still wildly in the thick of it. But Sultans of String strike just the right chord with this video for their song "I'm Free" featuring Waleed Abdulhamid from their latest album Refuge. The concept is simple and the format well-broken-in: they asked friends and fans all over the world to hold up signs showing what they miss most during lockdown.
READ THE FULL Roots Music Canada ARTICLE & WATCH THE VIDEO
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KCRW: Rhythm Planet likes new Sultans of String album and its pair up with Israeli singer Yasmin Levy
Posted At : April 23, 2020 12:00 AM
The new Sultans of String release; ‘Refuge,' Produced by Chris McKhool and John ‘Beetle' Bailey features; McKhool: violin, viola, ChinCello, vocals, Kevin Laliberté: nylon, steel & electric guitars, vocals Eddie Paton: high strung acoustic guitar, vocals, Drew Birston: electric & acoustic bass, Moog Synth, vocals Rosendo ‘Chendy' León: drums, percussion, vocals Turkish String Session: Gündem Yayli Grubu
KCRW: Los Angeles 'Rhythm Planet' likes the new Sultans of String album with its many styles of music and guest artists, and loves the pair up with Israeli singer Yasmin Levy on the track "Asi Soy (This is Me)."
With lyrics by Yasmin Levy, and Music by Chris McKhool, Kevin Laliberté, Drew Birston, Arr. by Sultans of String, with Levy on vocals, additional Guests include; Gundem Yayli Grubu – Turkish strings, Marito Marques – kalimba.
Yasmin, of Sephardic decent says: "I am proud to combine the two cultures of Ladino and flamenco, while mixing in Middle Eastern influences. I am embarking on a 500-year-old musical journey, taking Ladino to Andalusia and mixing it with flamenco, the style that still bears the musical memories of the old Moorish and Jewish-Spanish world with the sound of the Arab world. In a way it is a ‘musical reconciliation' of history."
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Sultans of String - Chris McKhool says CERB changes offer some financial relief as uncertainty persists / The Star
Posted At : April 17, 2020 12:00 AM
Chris McKhool still has many questions about how the federal government will support Canadian artists in the latest update to the COVID-19 emergency benefits program - but for now he's trying to stay focused on the music.
The violinist in Sultans of String, a three-time Juno nominated act, has spent the past several weeks in a holding position as he wondered if accepting live streaming performance spots that paid a couple hundred bucks might disqualify him from the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB).
He got a somewhat clearer answer on Wednesday after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expanded the reach of CERB to include support for people who are still working, but earning $1,000 or less per month, meaning McKhool could start accepting those gigs with confidence.
"I can still be an artist because of this, that's how I feel," McKhool said.
"It's a huge burden lifted off me, that I don't have to worry about whether or not I can be performing."
But he's still unclear on the specifics around getting paid, including whether the Canada Revenue Agency will claw back more of his earnings than anticipated in the future. Similar questions have echoed across Facebook groups dedicated to musicians and others in the creative community.
Like many workers in the gig economy, an artist's income can fluctuate wildly. Much of a performer's income is driven by unexpected opportunities, delayed payments and quarterly royalty cheques, all which can be a challenge to predict even in a regular economy.
READ THE FULL Toronto Star ARTICLE
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Sultans of String 'The Grand Bazaar' featuring; Bela Fleck & Robi Botos gets IMA nom
Posted At : April 12, 2020 12:00 AM
Sultans of String 'The Grand Bazaar' was written by Chris McKhool, Kevin Laliberté, Drew Birston, Rosendo León, and features Béla Fleck – banjo, Robi Botos – piano, keyboard, Gundem Yayli Grubu – Turkish strings
Béla Fleck reflects: "My family's story involves immigration. Of course, we came in through Ellis Island, my grandparents on my mother's side, Jewish-Russian refugees... I was really fortunate that they were able to get out of a dangerous part of the world, and that America took them in at that time. The banjo is a story of immigration. It's a perfect story of immigration, involuntary immigration. The slaves came to the Americas, not of their own free will, but when they got there, they brought their culture. They built banjos and they played their music, and it got incorporated into what would become American music, and became a major part of it. Yeah, if the banjo isn't going to welcome people from different countries, I don't know who would."
Sultans of String release; ‘Refuge' is produced by Chris McKhool and John ‘Beetle' Bailey. Congrats to Sultans of String as 'The Grand Bazaar' receives an 'Independent Music Award' nomination.
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fyi music news has 5 questions for Chris McKhool
Posted At : April 1, 2020 12:00 AM
Since first appearing on the scene in 2007, Toronto's Sultans Of String has never taken the easy road in terms of crafting their internationally acclaimed hybrid of folk, jazz and world music. Their latest album, Refuge, is their most ambitious yet, a collection of 13 songs that speak to the challenges facing the world's displaced peoples-their stories, their songs, their persistence and their humanity.
It features the group collaborating with over 30 artists, from the renowned banjo player Bela Fleck to Ojibway poet Duke Redbird and a string section from Istanbul, Turkey. However, all plans surrounding the release of Refuge on March 20 were put on hold because of the COVID-19 crisis, putting the band's expected earnings from touring in jeopardy and dampening what was supposed to be a celebration of the year of hard work put into making the album.
It is sadly a common story with many musicians who have had spring album releases scheduled. We spoke with Sultans Of String co-founder Chris McKhool about how he and the band are coping with our current reality, and how it could shape the future of the music industry. Refuge is available to purchase now physically and on all digital and streaming platforms. Find out more at sultansofstring.com.
fyi music news has 5 questions for Sultans Of String's Chris McKhool. Here they are
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Sultans Of String release 'Asi Soy' video / Cashbox Magazine Canada
Posted At : March 20, 2020 12:00 AM
Internationally awarded and honoured Canadian quintet Sultans of String collaborates with over 30 musicians on Refuge, including Yasmin Levy, Béla Fleck, Robi Botos, Ifrah Mansour, Demetrios Petsalakis, Imad Al Taha, Amir Amiri, Sammy Figueroa, Twin Flames, and many others on the wide-ranging treatise on displaced peoples, Refuge.
On this visionary seventh album, Sultans of String bring their unique brand of musical synergy and collaboration to bear on 13 songs that speak to the challenges facing the world's displaced peoples--their stories, their songs, their persistence and their humanity.
On track #11, Asi Soy (This is Me), the band combined songwriting with Yasmin Levy, an acclaimed Israeli artist known for her twist on Sephardic songs. The musical tradition came from her father who recorded and preserved folk songs in Ladino, a Judeo-Spanish language that emerged in the territories of the ancient Ottoman Empire after Jews were exiled from Spain in 1492. "Being able to work with Yasmin Levy on this song was a distinct honour." says composer, bandleader and violinist Chris McKhool. "She is a true artist who pours her passion into every song she sings. We wrote the music and Yasmin wrote the lyrics, which was a great way to combine both our efforts to create a beautiful piece that speaks to the human condition."
Says Yasmin Levy, of Sephardic descent: "I am proud to combine the two cultures of Ladino and flamenco while mixing in Middle Eastern influences. I am embarking on a 500-year-old musical journey, taking Ladino to Andalusia and mixing it with flamenco, the style that still bears the musical memories of the old Moorish and Jewish-Spanish world with the sound of the Arab world. In a way, it is a ‘musical reconciliation' of history."
READ THE FULL Cashbox Magazine Canada ARTICLE & WATCH THE VIDEO
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Sultans of String 'Asi Soy' by Yasmin Levy / folk radio video premeie
Posted At : March 12, 2020 12:00 AM
There is no denying that Internationally awarded and honoured Canadian quintet Sultans of String celebrate diversity and creativity with a warmth and virtuosity. On Subcontinental Drift you could hear influences that included Indian classical, Spanish Flamenco, Arabic folk, Cuban rhythms, and French Gypsy-jazz. In our interview with founding band member Chris McKhool, he said "I feel so lucky to live here in Canada. The music scene here in Toronto provides so much inspiration for me, with music coming here from all around the globe." He added "Both Rosendo ‘Chendy' Leon, our Cuban percussionist and Anwar Khurshid, our sitar player, are immigrants to Canada and very grateful to have found a home here."
For their latest album ‘Refuge', we find them extending that philosophy as they collaborate with over 30 musicians, including Yasmin Levy, Béla Fleck, Robi Botos, Ifrah Mansour, Demetrios Petsalakis, Imad Al Taha, Amir Amiri, Sammy Figueroa, Twin Flames, and many others on a wide-ranging treatise on displaced peoples, Refuge.
On this visionary seventh album, Sultans of String bring their unique brand of musical synergy and collaboration to bear on 13 songs that speak to the challenges facing the world's displaced peoples–their stories, their songs, their persistence and their humanity.
On track #11, Asi Soy (This is Me), the band combined songwriting with Yasmin Levy, an acclaimed Israeli artist known for her twist on Sephardic songs. The musical tradition came from her father who recorded and preserved folk songs in Ladino, a Judeo-Spanish language that emerged in the territories of the ancient Ottoman Empire after Jews were exiled from Spain in 1492.
Sultans of String raise awareness and funds while on tour for the UN Refugee Agency. They have raised over $8000 in 2020 to help provide medical supplies and attention, clean water, and shelter to some of the 70 million displaced peoples around the globe.
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Sultans Of String are ready to hit Dryden and Chris McKhool chats with 92.7CKDR
Posted At : March 2, 2020 12:00 AM
The Centre in Dryden will be experiencing the Sultans of String all in support of the Midtown Stage. The band will be performing on Friday at 7:00pm and tickets are only $25. Band Member Chris McKhool was a guest on the CKDR Morning Show Tuesday and he says their band has grown significantly in the last 11 years. "Started off as just impromptu jams, just having fun, playing music with amazing musicians. And than we've grown these songs to be able to perform them with full bands and even sometimes with orchestras around the globe."
McKhool says the last time they performed at the Centre was 2009 and he says they would like to have a large crowd when they return this week. He stresses the audience will be taken on a musical journey and he's promising an evening of fun.
To hear more from Chris McKhool, visit the Audio link below via 92.7.CKDR Radio
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Chris McKhool is making the world a smaller place with 'Fiddle Fire!' / Regina Leader-Post
Posted At : February 21, 2020 12:00 AM
The Toronto-based musician introduces children to world music through his Fiddle Fire! performances. He's always "adding, adding, adding" to what young audiences will hear when he steps on stage. Over the Rainbow Children's Entertainment Series presents Fiddle Fire! Sunday at 2 p.m. at Sault Community Theatre Centre. "For me, it's just this great opportunity to expose young people to sounds they might not have heard before," McKhool told The Sault Star before a recent show at a school in the provincial capital. "The world's a really big place."
He'll feature about a dozen different styles of music – "at least snippets of them," he promises – during his matinee performance. By getting youngsters to sing, clap and play instruments he's bringing along for a Northern Ontario tour, McKhool is hopeful "they have a really great time and get exposed to sounds from around the world." He's also keen to plant a few creative seeds to encourage concert-goers to remember their experience at his show and take any instrument and "play it in any style." Remembering "how much fun it is to play music" is also another hoped-for outcome McKhool has for his audiences.
READ THE FULL Regina Leader-Post ARTICLE
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Sultans of String releases 'El Bint El Shalabeya' from upcoming REFUGE album / CASHBOX CANADA
Posted At : January 11, 2020 12:00 AM
Over the past dozen years and six albums, McKhool and his bandmates - co-founding guitarist Kevin Laliberté, bassist Drew Birston, Cuban percussionist Rosendo ‘Chendy' Leon and second guitarist Eddie Paton - have excelled at both. Thrilling listeners around North America with their genre-hopping fusion of Celtic reels, flamenco, Gypsy jazz, Arabic, Cuban, and South Asian rhythms, Sultans of String celebrate diversity and creativity with warmth and virtuosity. And they often do it with artists such as Paddy Moloney and The Chieftains, Richard Bona, Benoit Bourque (Bottine Souriante), Nikki Yanofsky, Alex Cuba, Ruben Blades, Crystal Shawanda and Ken Whiteley.
This newly released track "El Bint El Shalabeya" reinvents an ancient traditional Lebanese song, bringing in Syrian refugee Majd Sekkar, Algerian mandole player Fethi Nadjem, and Greek oud player Demetrios Petsalakis, who all now find their home in Canada. It is from the upcoming album REFUGE (releasing March 20, 2020), a project that is "centred around the positive contributions of refugees and new immigrants to U.S.A./Canada," says bandleader Chris McKhool, whose Lebanese grandfather stowed away on a ship bound for North America a century ago. "We are bringing in guests that are newcomers to this land, as well as global abassadors for peace".
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READ THE FULL CASHBOX CANADA ARTICLE
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Sultans of String brings their Christmas Caravan to Cazenovia's Nelson Odeon / syracuse.com
Posted At : December 20, 2019 12:00 AM
Sultans of String create a magical music experience with a blend of international, folk, and jazz. Their songscape pulls from rich cultural music traditions ranging from the Middle East to Cuba to Southeast Asia. Each player of the five-person outfit shines throughout each thoughtfully produced piece. For this performance, The Sultans of String will perform a rousing roundup of Christmas and holiday favorites.
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SOS is set for The Catherine Cummings Theatre, 16 Lincklaen St., Cazenovia NY tonight!! Friday, Dec. 20.
SEE THE syracuse.com PAGE
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Watch Sultans Of String: The Power Of The Land / THE GATE
Posted At : October 27, 2019 12:00 AM
Juno Award nominees Sultans Of String have collaborated to create one of their most powerful tracks to date, bringing their sound together with the wisdom of Ojibway Elder Duke Redbird, and stunning vocals by Indigenous artists Twin Flames. The video is beautiful, with evocative lyrics, and it's inspirational. "The Power Of The Land" was originally written as a poem by Duke Redbird, and the way the artists have worked together is powerful, with a deeper story as well. "This is [part of] a project that is centred around the positive and ignored contributions of Indigenous peoples, refugees and new immigrants to U.S.A. and Canada," said bandleader Chris McKhool, whose Lebanese grandfather stowed away on a ship bound for North America a century ago.
"The Power Of The Land" is an early single from Toronto-based Sultans of String's upcoming seventh album, Refuge, which will arrive March 20, 2020. Sultans of String have tour dates in Ontario and Alberta until the end of 2019, including Toronto on November 8, and Banff on November 28.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE
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Sultans of String play LA's McCabe's Guitar Shop and makes KCRW's Rhythm Planet - 'October Concert Picks'
Posted At : October 4, 2019 12:00 AM
The instrumental group Sultans of String hails from Toronto, Ontario. They play barn hoe-down style as well as flamenco, Arabic folk, and French gypsy-jazz. While you're at McCabe's, be sure to check out all the guitars on their hallowed walls but observe the "refrain from clutching to bosom" signs on them. Click HERE for tickets and more information.
The band performs a timely song in this video (featuring Ifrah Mansour on vocals) that shows their musical reach and empathy:
Sultans of String celebrate diversity and creativity with warmth and virtuosity. They have done that with artists such as Paddy Moloney and The Chieftains, Richard Bona, Benoit Bourque (Bottine Souriante), Nikki Yanofsky, Alex Cuba, Ruben Blades, Crystal Shawanda and Ken Whiteley. With their historic and visionary seventh album Refuge (coming in 2020), Chris McKhool and co. bring their unique brand of musical synergy and collaboration into the studio like never before. Their most ambitious, diverse, inclusive and passionately political album, Refuge puts the Toronto-based Sultans face-to-face with a VIP roster of artists from around the globe - including American banjo master Bela Fleck, Israeli vocalist Yasmin Levy and others, like Iraqi violinst Imah Al Taha and Iranian santur master Amir Amiri, who have fled the peril and persecution of their homelands for the safer shores of North America.
SEE ALL KCRW: Los Angeles Rhythm Planet's 'October Concert Picks'
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Sultans of String brought a lively, international mix of music to Peterborough Musicfest / The Peterborough Examiner
Posted At : July 6, 2019 12:00 AM
Instrumental band The Sultans of String brought a lively, international mix of music to Del Crary Park. Performing on the Fred Anderson Stage, The Juno-nominated instrumental band played Celtic, Cuban, Middle Eastern and flamenco music for the crowd at the park.
3x JUNO nominees and SiriusXM winners Sultans of String create "Energetic and exciting music from a band with talent to burn!" (Maverick Magazine UK). Thrilling their audiences with their genre-hopping passport of Celtic reels, flamenco, Gypsy-jazz, Arabic, Cuban, and South Asian rhythms, Sultans of String celebrate musical fusion and human creativity with warmth and virtuosity. Fiery violin dances with rumba-flamenco guitar, while bass and percussion lay down unstoppable grooves. Acoustic strings meet with electronic wizardry to create layers and depth of sound, while world rhythms excite audiences to their feet with the irresistible need to dance.
READ THE FULL ThePeterboroughExaminer.com ARTICLE
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If you haven't reached your seasonal saturation point, get Sultans of String - Christmas Caravan / The Guardian.pe.ca
Posted At : December 24, 2018 12:00 AM
Christmas is literally just days away. But it's still not too late to add to your holiday music collection if you haven't reached your seasonal saturation point. I add that qualifier because some people - and I'm thinking specifically of those who work in retail - may have already hit their limit. If you do have room for one more seasonal offering I'd like to suggest something a little different from the standard holiday fare commercial radio favours.
Sultans of String, one of this country's most eclectic string ensembles, takes the music of the season in directions you might never have imagined on Christmas Caravan and if you go along for the ride you just might enjoy it. This joyous celebration of the season brings together both familiar music that has long been part of the Christmas canon in North America and music you will be exposed to here for the first time.
Even some of the familiar material has been given a multicultural infusion. A case in point is "Greensleeves". The beloved 16th century British folk song, has been given a true Turkish twist through the use of a traditional Turkish string ensemble and percussion. Consequently, it also has a new name, "Turkish Greensleeves". Recorded and co-produced with Juno award-winning engineer John "Beetle" Bailey, Christmas Caravan, in keeping with its name, takes you all over the world. "We wanted to make a real contribution to the Christmas repertoire, and hopefully create some new standards" says bandleader/violinist Chris McKhool.
READ THE FULL The Guardian.pe.ca ARTICLE
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Sultans of String bring their holiday cheer to Cazenovia / Utica Observer - Dispatch
Posted At : December 20, 2018 12:00 AM
Three times Juno (Canada's Grammy) nominees and three times Canadian Folk Music Award winning Sultans of String are taking their Christmas Caravan CD and show to venues across Canada and the U.S. for a special fundraising Christmas Caravan World Music Tour. Their holiday cheer and goodwill includes a much anticipated stop in Cazenovia as they will perform at 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 23, at the Catherine Cummings Theatre, joined by guest vocalist Rebecca Campbell.
READ THE FULL Utica Observer - Dispatch
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artsfile chats with Sultans of String leader Chris McKhool
Posted At : December 18, 2018 12:00 AM
The Christmas album has almost become a banal cliche. But not to Ottawa native Chris McKhool and his band of merry music makers, the Sultans of String. For these players, it's go big or go home every time out and so this season they have released an 18-song CD with a string of guest artists that includes the Panamanian star Rubén Blades, the a cappella ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock, the patriarch of Celtic music Paddy Moloney of The Chieftains, Alex Cuba, along with an orchestra from the Czech Republic.
The Sultans are currently on their Christmas Caravan tour and will play in a sold out concert in Ottawa Dec. 18 at the NAC. But before the show ARTSFILE had a chance to chat with McKhool about the concert and the album. "We thought it would be really fun to bring the energy and drive of world music rhythms to the Christmas songs that people like to hear" at this time of year, he said.
READ THE FULL artsfile ARTICLE
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Watch Sultans Of String - The Little Swallow (Carol Of The Bells)/Al Vuelo / BGSWraps
Posted At : December 17, 2018 12:00 AM
"This song ‘Shchedryk,' known in English as ‘The Little Swallow,' is a Ukrainian New Year's carol. Many people know it by its later adaption to another song, ‘Carol of the Bells.' Here we created a mashup with our original song ‘Al Vuelo,' arranged in a Spanish bulerias style. We took this song full-circle, back to Europe, to record with the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. The most exciting part of the process was travelling to Prague. I knew that the musicians there would do an incredible job with this song, which we got to record in a Soviet-era studio. And I was praying for snow, so we could create a Christmas feel in the middle of their iconic square in the old town. Finally the snow came and we rushed down to the square to capture the moment!"
–Chris McKhool, Sultans of String
SEE THE BGSWraps PAGE & WATCH THE VIDEO
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89.1KMUW celebrates World Violin Day with Sultans of String & Regina Carter
Posted At : December 12, 2018 12:00 AM
Thursday, December 13, is World Violin Day. 89.1KMUW - Wichita KS Global Village, Strange Currency and Night Train are teaming up to mark the occassion with 5 hours of music, 7 p.m. to midnight.
Global Village gets the special feature underway with music from a number of violinists from around the world. Hear the violin and cello quartet, the Fretless, who just was named Instrumental Group of the Year in the Canadian Folk Music Awards, another Canadian group – the Sultans of String, Mathias Duplessy and the 3 Violins of the World (from China, India and Mongolia), a Paolo Conte song from the Hot Club of San Francisco's new 30th anniversary compilation, the famed Cuban charanga band – Orquesta Aragon, violinist Regina Carter from her Africa-inspired project, Reverse Thread, and more.
SEE THE KMUW PAGE
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Stone Church Arts will present 'Christmas Caravan' / The Keene Sentinel
Posted At : December 10, 2018 12:00 AM
Stone Church Arts will present "Christmas Caravan," a holiday world music concert for all ages on Wednesday, Dec. 19 at 7:30 p.m. featuring Sultans of String and singer Rebecca Campbell. The concert will be held at Immanuel Episcopal Church, the stone church on the hill, 20 Church St., Bellows Falls. Sultans of String have won three Juno awards (Canada's Grammy). They play original songs, world-music inspired classics and seasonal favorites such as "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring," a djembe-driven "Little Drummer Boy," a "Feliz Navidad" ska party, a Turkish twist on "Greensleeves," a Gypsy-jazz inspired "Django Christmas," and a Rumba Flamenca-fuelled "Jingle Bells." Rebecca Campbell has sung alongside such luminaries as Lynn Miles, Ian Tamblyn, Fred Eaglesmith, Alanis Morrisette and many more.
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READ THE FULL Keene Sentinel ARTICLE
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Sultans of String's Christmas Caravan' rolls into N. Vancouver / North Shore News
Posted At : December 2, 2018 12:00 AM
Christmas Caravan with the Sultans of String will be n North Vancouve at the North Shore Celtic Ensemble, Centennial Theatre, on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 7. Bandleader and violinist Chris McKhool loves the musicianship. "The music is just so interesting," McKhool tells the North Shore News. "There's also definitely a virtuosity to a lot of the musicians who are playing prog rock, like if you've ever seen Keith Emerson play Hammond organ …"
The Sultans, who are rounded out by guitarists Kevin Laliberté and Eddie Paton, bass player Drew Birston and percussionist Rosendo Chendy Leon, will largely be taking the traditional part out of Christmas traditions playing cuts from - Christmas Caravan, which celebrates the season with original compositions, classic carols and audience favourites that have been reworked through the lens of world music. "I wanted to make an album that I could be proud of and that would maybe tell a different story than the Christmas music that we hear constantly in the malls – something that comes from the heart, something that's honest and something that reflects the diversity of our country and utilizes all the incredible musicians that we have here and abroad," says McKhool.
The Toronto-based band formed more than 10 years ago have partnered with the United Nations Agency for Refugees in Canada for its current run of shows, an organization that provides shelter, food, water and medical care assistance for refugees around the world. READ THE FULL North Shore News ARTICLE
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Sultans of String bring their Christmas Caravan to The Registry Theatre / OBSERVER
Posted At : November 21, 2018 12:00 AM
While the day after Halloween may have been too soon for the Christmas music – early and often works for retailers – we're probably heading into a more appropriate time, with the big day just a month away. For Chris McKhool and the rest of the Sultans of String, now really is the time, as they kicked off their Christmas Caravan on Thursday in Owen Sound, arriving in Kitchener on Sunday for two shows at The Registry Theatre.
Where the world music aficionados used to throw some carols into the mix as it got closer to Christmas, this marks the second year for a formal holiday tour, coinciding with the release last year of their sixth album, appropriately enough called Christmas Caravan. They'll be on the road in Ontario, B.C. and the U.S. northeast right up until the eve of Christmas Eve.
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READ THE FULL OBSERVER ARTICLE
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Chris McKhool discusses Happy Xmas (War is Over) on MY SPILT MILK podcast / nola.com
Posted At : November 21, 2018 12:00 AM
New Orleans music writer Alex Rawls has a passion for Christmas music in all its heart-tugging, sometimes cheese-dripping glory. For Rawls it's more than wintertime sonic wallpaper, it's a frosty window into pop culture. If you tune into his new podcast "The 12 Songs of Christmas," don't expect sentimentality, expect lively, opinionated conversations with musicians who sometimes find themselves making the stuff. Rawls understands the magnetic attraction and the equal repulsion. It's all in play.
In my favorite episode so far, he and Canadian world music maestro Chris McKhool of the Sultans of String discuss John and Yoko's "Happy Xmas (War is Over), which they decide is the counter culture's one contribution to the yuletide canon.
READ THE FULL nola.com ARTICLE LISTEN TO THE PODCAST
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Sultans of String bring their Christmas Caravan to the Valley / Columbia Valley Pioneer
Posted At : November 20, 2018 12:00 AM
The Sultans of String are taking their Christmas Caravan on the road and making Invermere their first stop. "We're going to be taking people on a world music tour of Christmas songs," said bandleader Chris McKhool. "The idea with Christmas Caravan is to bring the energy and the drive of the world music rhythms that we love to play to Christmas songs that people love to hear."
The Sultans of String will play a Greensleeves collaboration developed with a traditional Turkish string ensemble and will perform Jingle Bells and The Little Drummer Boy like you've never heard them before. Listeners will also be treated to the sounds of a Himalayan sleigh ride, African roots music, Quebecois fiddle tunes, rumba flamenco, ska, the symphony and more.
The Sultans of String caravan will arrive at Pynelogs Art Gallery and Cultural Centre on Thursday, November 29th.
The Pioneer is partnering with Sultans of String for two tickets and a CD giveaway! Enter the contest on our Facebook page, live now. Or drop in and we will add your name to the draw. Contest closes at 10 a.m. Monday, November 26th. See the Pioneer Facebook page for more details: https://www.facebook.com/ColumbiaValleyPioneer/.
READ THE FULL Columbia Valley Pioneer ARTICLE
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Chris McKhool and John 'Beetle' Bailey nominated for Canadian Folk Music Award - Producer of the Year
Posted At : September 20, 2018 12:00 AM
Sultans of String thrill their audiences with their global sonic tapestry of Spanish Flamenco, Cuban rhythms, Arabic folk & Gypsy-jazz, celebrating musical fusion & human creativity with warmth and virtuosity. Fiery violin dances with flamenco guitar, and acoustic strings meet electronic wizardry to create layers and depth of sound. Through this unique blend of global music they tell unbelievable stories of beauty and hope, and try to show the threads of our common humanity. They have performed at U.K.'s Celtic Connections, NYC's Birdland Jazz Club, with Toronto Symphony, as well as live on BBC TV, and SiriusXM in Washington DC.
Co-producers Chris McKhool and John "Beetle" Bailey have been nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award as Producer of the Year on Christmas Caravan !
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Sultans of String set for Asheville's Ambrose West / Mountain Xpress
Posted At : May 6, 2018 12:00 AM
Twice monthly, Mountain Xpress 30 Days Out column spotlights upcoming music shows and events of note, shining a light into some less well-lit corners, where some fascinating artists schedule performances. I do my best to give ample advance notice so that you can adjust your budget and calendar in a way that lets you get to the show. Funky get-down soul, flamenco gypsy jazz, hometown Americana and theatrical, unholy rock: those are the musical styles showcased in this roundup of Asheville concerts.
Sultans of String play Asheville NC's 'Ambrose West' on Thursday, May 31.
Award-winning Sultans of String successfully combine all manner of world music traditions into a densely layered style all their own. The band is massively popular in its home country of Canada, and Sultans of Swing's five albums have earned critical acclaim. The versatile group reinvents itself in a variety of configurations, sometimes adding guest musicians as well. In the group's music, tradition meets modern electronics and a pop sensibility. The Gypsy Swingers open.
SEE THE Mountain Xpress PAGE
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Sultans of String - Christmas Caravan makes SPILL MAGAZINE's rockin around the christmas turntable!
Posted At : December 24, 2017 12:00 AM
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You can blame Bing Crosby, or thank him, it all depends on how much you like Christmas music. In 1928 Bing Crosby provided the vocals for Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra's recording of "Christmas Melodies", and it turned out to be a huge success.
Sultans of Strings bring together many guests to produce this fantastic Christmas album, one of the best Christmas albums released this year. Their playing is top notch, and with the inclusion of singers such as Rebecca Campbell (who does a beautiful version of "Little Drummer Boy"), or Nikki Yanofsky (who takes on the classic "The Christmas Song" and makes it her own) you have a winner. But then you have Paddy Maloney of The Chieftains (and he knows a thing or two about brilliant Christmas albums) playing on a medley, and you know you have found the perfect Christmas album for all occasions and many different audiences. A fantastic album.
Here is the full round-up of some of this year's SPILL MAGAZINE's featured Christmas releases. They are in no particular order.
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IdeaStation: WCVE - Holiday World Music Show features: Sultans of String, Somi and Kat Parra
Posted At : December 22, 2017 12:00 AM
Well, it's that time of year-the time in which I try to think of some cliche that will combine the theme of holidays with world music in order to pique your interest to unwrap this blog-there, there's the cliche. Not that cliche's are that bad-it's just they're so easy during this time of year. Visions of "Unwrapping," or "stockings full of…" or even, "gifts filled with…" are just a tad too easy. However, don't let the lack or overstuffing of cliches on this week's World Music Show (12/23) stop you from continuing. Because I may lapse into a few here and there.
With that, I've got a bunch of treats lined up for your in terms of a Holiday World Music Show. It's always a fun time year for me because I like to think that, if you're like me, you sort of get bombarded with holiday music-many of it good, but many of it, um, say I'll say tiring. This is especially true of when I used to work retail (so, the holiday hits just kept-a-coming!). So being able to assemble a sleigh of different tunes from around the globe is a great challenge and fun to boot.
Now, if you want to dive down the chimney into some real World Holiday Music, then the songs from the Sultans of String will do it for you. This outfit are an instrumental group based in Toronto, Ontario, who combine elements of Spanish flamenco, Arabic folk, Cuban rhythms, and French Gypsy-jazz. They did a holiday album called Christmas Caravan in which they worked some pretty cool people, including a track called "Sing for Kwanza," that features Richard Bond & Waleed Abdulhamid, and the classic "Feliz Navidad," done by the epic voice of Cuban/Canadian Alex Cuba.
In the same vein as that Jewish classic song, we'll also hear the song "Hanukia," by Kat Parra. She takes this song about the Sephardic Jewish people and adds a sort of Afro-Caribbean vibe to it. For the rest of the show, we'll keep it very mellow. With tracks from Michael Kiwanuka, Paul Simon, Alex Cuba and Piers Faccini. We'll also hear from Somi, Zee Avi and Vieux Farka Toure. In this hour, it's all about relaxing by the fire, or sipping a beverage or playing a game on your tablet-anything to relax.
The World Music Show airs Saturday nights from 8-10pm on 88.9 WCVE Richmond VA Public Radio. You can stream the show and get track listings via this website. Plus, you can join the fun on Twitter @wcveworldmusic and on Facebook at The World Music Show on WCVE.
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Sultans of String bring international Christmas flavour to Saskatchewan / CBC News
Posted At : December 18, 2017 12:00 AM
The band The Sultans of String are bringing their eclectic, global-sound to communities across Saskatchewan, with everything from African beats to strains of Arabic music. The Sultans will be making stops in Moose Jaw, Saskatoon, North Battleford and Prince Albert, performing songs from its latest album, Christmas Caravan. "People will really be surprised when they see us, because they do know us as predominantly an instrumental band that will sing a song or two an evening," said band member Chris McKhool. "But in this Christmas Caravan show, everyone sings all the time. It's pretty fun."
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READ THE FULL CBC ARTICLE
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Montreal Gazette: Sound Check - Sultans of String on their Christmas Caravan
Posted At : December 14, 2017 12:00 AM
What: I'm one of those annoying people who has no chill in December. Listening to music? It had better be Christmas music! Watching a movie? It had better be Home Alone or another festive favourite! Wearing clothes? Put some glitter on it! More egg nog! More shortbread! On Dasher, on Dancer! I realize I'm a bit much. If you're a bit much too (or if you just enjoy the holidays and good music), you might want to check out Sultans of String. The Toronto group is on tour in support of its new album Christmas Caravan. Apparently it's not your typical Christmas album. "This is a Christmas album, but approached from the perspective of a world-music band. We explored diverse genres, from Quebecois fiddle tunes to collaborating with a traditional Turkish string ensemble, and jump around from the classic sounds of the Andrews Sisters, to a Himalayan sleigh ride, African roots music, Gypsy-jazz, rumba flamenco, ska, and the grandeur of the symphony," band leader Chris McKhool said in a release.
SEE THE FULL Montreal Gazette PAGE
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Sultans of String - Christmas Caravan makes WorldMusicCentral: 2017 Holiday Gift Guide
Posted At : November 30, 2017 12:00 AM
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The powerhouse band the Sultans of String have put out Christmas Caravan. This is a treasure trove of goodies like "Turkish Greensleeves" with Gundem Yayli Grubu, "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" with Mary Fahl, "Flight of Angels/Hark the Hearld" with Chris McKhool and Rebecca Campbell, "Celebrate the Holydays: with Sweet Honey in the Rock, "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" with Ruben Blades and Luba Mason, "Himalayan Sleigh Ride" with Anwar Khurshid and "Feliz Navidad/Come on People Sing" with Alex Cuba.
SEE ALL REVIEWS ON World Music Central PAGE
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Sultans of String - Christmas Caravan makes New York Times: notable holiday releases
Posted At : November 29, 2017 12:00 AM
For some pop stars, a holiday album is an opportunity to perfect the classics. But for others, it's a chance to dismantle them or make new ones. This year, those left-field Christmas sounds include Gypsy jazz, Atlanta rap, club-pop and Renaissance Faire. Here, the pop and jazz critics of The New York Times select notable releases, familiar and odd.
The world-music group Sultans of String aim for international hybrids on the holiday album "Christmas Caravan."
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Titles like "Turkish Greensleeves," "Jingle Bells/Auyuittuq Sunrise" and "Himalayan Sleighride" signal the global-fusion intentions of the fiddle-centric Canadian folk and world-music group Sultans of String. Nearly every track aims for an international hybrid, and the band's extensive guest list includes Rubén Blades, Paddy Moloney of the Chieftains, Sweet Honey in the Rock and the Cameroonian bassist and singer Richard Bona. While earnest bombast takes over some songs, the tracks with the lightest touch - like "A Django Christmas"; a Gypsy-jazz version of "We Three Kings"; and "Song for Kwanzaa," with jaunty African-style guitars - work best. J. P.
SEE ALL PICKS ON New York Times PAGE
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Sultans of String - Christmas Caravan debuts #6 on billboad: world music chart
Posted At : November 6, 2017 12:00 AM
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2015 JUNO Award nominees Sultans of String celebrate the season with Christmas Caravan, an exuberant performance featuring originals, world-music inspired classics, and seasonal favourites to warm your heart on a cold winter's night. From fiery fiddle tunes to a Caribbean sleigh ride, this surprising and delightful holiday fiesta heats up when Sultans of String bring their signature sound to well known gems such as Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, The Huron Carol (with gorgeous newly-translated Indigenous lyrics), Little Drummer Boy, a Feliz Navidad ska party, a Turkish twist on Greensleeves, A Charlie Brown Christmas, as well as a Gypsy-jazz inspired Django Christmas, and a Rumba-Flamenca fuelled Jingle Bells. Sultans of String are joined by shimmering guest vocalist Rebecca Campbell (Jane Siberry, Emmylou Harris, Alanis Morissette).
Excited that in it's first week ( Nov 4 ) of official release, Christmas Caravan hit #6 on the BILLBOARD World Music Charts!
SEE THE full CHART
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Sultans of String - Christmas Caravan, gets 6th spot on billboard: world chart
Posted At : October 24, 2017 12:00 AM
With Sultans of String's genre-hopping Christmas Caravan disc, these 3x JUNO nominees/3x CFMA winning ambassadors of musical diversity have expanded the traditional notion of Christmas music, injecting it with new-found energy and non-traditional sounds. Recorded and co-produced with JUNO Award winning engineer John ‘ Beetle' Bailey, this isn't your typical holiday album. You may recognize a few titles, but you've never experienced seasonal music quite like this before.
In the first week of its release, Christmas Caravan, grabs the #6 spot on billboard's World Music charts.
SEE billboard's World Chart
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Sultans of String release Christmas Caravan / FYI Music News
Posted At : October 15, 2017 12:00 AM
Highly-regarded Toronto world music group Sultans of String release their Christmas Caravan album today (Oct. 13). Multiple Juno nominees, SoS have upped the ante on this one, recruiting such special guests as Rebecca Campbell (Jane Siberry), Nikki Yanofsky, Alex Cuba, Richard Bona, Chieftains leader Paddy Moloney, a Turkish string collective, and more. The group will support the album with Canadian dates that include a Dec. 2 hometown show at Isabel Bader Theatre. Here's a taste of the new record.
SEE THE FULL FYI Music News PAGE
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Sultans of String set for Bath Maine's - Chocolate Chuch / Lewiston Sun Journal
Posted At : August 3, 2017 12:00 AM
Bath Maine's - Chocolate Church Arts Center will welcome SiriusXM award winners and 3x JUNO nominees, Sultans of String tomorrow, Friday, Aug. 4, on the main stage. This stop on the group's 10th Anniversary Celebration Tour supports its new, special edition vinyl album, "10," celebrating this milestone decade. The band is led by five-string violinist Chris McKhool, who was raised in a Lebanese-Egyptian household just bursting with music and diversity. At the core of the band's sound is his bold and fiery fiddle, melded seamlessly with founding guitarist Kevin Laliberté's rhumba rhythm. Together their musical synergy created Sultans of String's signature sound - the intimate and playful relationship between violin and guitar. The Sultan's are readying their Christmas Caravan reording to celebrate the upcoming holiday season.
READ THE FULL Lewiston Sun Journal ARTICLE
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Sultans of String set for The Arts Station / Fernie Free Press
Posted At : March 27, 2017 12:00 AM
Juno Award nominees and triple Canadian Folk Music Awards winners, Sultans of String, are making their way to The Arts Station in Fernie on April 4, celebrating 10 years together as a band. The string-quintet incorporate many worldly genres into their music such as Spanish Flamenco, Arabic folk, Gypsy-jazz, Cuban rhythms, South Asian and East Coast Celtic. Folk Radio UK has described their music as, "An enthralling, adventurous celebration of the power music has to transcend geographical and cultural boundaries, and Sultans of String wield that power with grace, eloquence and spirit." After performing at the International Celtic Connections Festival in the UK, Sultans of String were described as, "One of Canada's hottest new musical exports, dynamically embodying their homeland's values of tolerance and respect for diverse culture."
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READ Phil McLachlan's - The Free Press ARTICLE
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Sultans Of String - Subcontinental Drift gets JUNO 'World Music Album of the Year' nom.
Posted At : February 8, 2017 12:00 AM
Canada's genre bending string slingers SULTANS OF STRING garner a JUNO nomination for World Music Album of the Year at the celebratory JUNOs Press Conference for their feast of raucous reels ragas ‘n' rumbas, Subcontinental Drift, featuring special guest/sitar master Anwar Khurshid (Oscar winning Life of Pi). "We are honoured to receive this JUNO nomination for our new album! We could not have made this recording without the support of the whole Canadian roots community, and our special collaboration with Anwar", states bandleader/violinist Chris McKhool. He adds, "there is something magical about joining world music rhythms that we often play, but with pop sensibilities and forms and lengths, and blending that with the music of the East."
SEE Juno Awards PAGE
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Sultans Of String violinist - Chris McKhool teams with Syrian-born Miami doctor to help refugees / Miami Herald
Posted At : January 11, 2017 12:00 AM
For Dr. Hadi Yaziji, producing Thursday's concert at the Banyan Bowl in Pinecrest Gardens is a way to bypass bureaucracy and politics to help victims of the violence that has ravaged his native country. For Chris McKhool, leader of Canada's popular, award-winning fusion group Sultans of String, playing the Miami show is not only a way to help a humanitarian cause, but to pay tribute to the contributions that immigrants have made to his band and his country. "I am just a citizen, but I am passionate," says Yaziji, an American citizen who came to the United States from Damascus 27 years ago. "I want to channel my energy to help the cause and hopefully raise awareness. ... I am doing this on a very small scale, but I'm not the only one. Thousands of people across the world are doing this."
McKhool, a violinist whose band includes a percussionist from Cuba and a guest sitar player from Pakistan, both of whom emigrated to Canada seeking political and religious freedom, is passionate about the artistic and human bonds that transcend borders. "One unifying thing about this band is we honor where people come from," McKhool says. "The world is a very small place, and we're all very interconnected."
READ THE FULL Miami Herald ARTICLE
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Sultans of String set for Jacksonville's Mudville Music Room / WJCT Radio
Posted At : January 7, 2017 12:00 AM
The Toronto-based Sultans of String has a new CD hitting No. 1 across Canada on world music charts. They thrill audiences with their genre-hopping passport of Celtic reels, flamenco, gypsy-jazz, Arabic, Cuban and South Asian rhythms, the group celebrates musical fusion and human creativity with warmth and virtuosity. The Sultans of Swing will be throwing a CD release party and performing at the Mudville Music Room on Jan. 11.
LISTEN TO THE WJCT: Jacksonville SEGMENT
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Sultans of String - Subcontinental Drift wins 'World Group of the Year' at Canadian Folk Music Awards / exclaim!
Posted At : December 5, 2016 12:00 AM
Following a reveal of their nominees this past September, the 2016 edition of the Canadian Folk Music Awards were held at Toronto's Isabel Bader Theatre last night (December 3). Now, the names of this year's winners are out and Sultans of String - Subcontinental Drift wins for World Group of the Year. The Sultans beat out nominees, Tio Chorinho - Chora Brazil, Nomadica - Dance of the Infidels, Lenka Lichtenberg & Fray - Live in America and Beppe Gambetta & Tony McManus - Round Trip.
Awards were handed out in 19 different categories at the bilingual gala event. Ontario singer-songwriter David Francey came away with two awards, winning both Solo Artist of the Year and Contemporary Album of the Year. The gala was hosted by musicians Jean Hewson and Benoit Bourque, and featured performances from Bruce Cockburn, Colin Linden, The Ennis Sisters, Sultans Of String, Red Moon Road and Klô Pelgag.
Here is the full list of Canadian Folk Music Awards 2016 Winners & Nominees
Young Performer of the Year:
Jake Vance - Eden
Jessica Wedden - Fiddling is My Passion
Chanelle Albert - How Beautiful We Are
Nick Earle and Joe Coffin - Live at the Citadel House
Keltie Monaghan - Someone Tell Her
New/Emerging Artist of the Year:
Ben Caplan - Birds With Broken Wings
Hillsburn - In the Battle Years
Evening Hymns - Quiet Energies
Old Whiskey Road - Under The Neon Lights
The Small Glories - Wondrous Traveler
The Oliver Schroer Pushing The Boundaries Award:
Ten Strings And A Goat Skin - Auprès du Poêle
Ozere - Finding Anyplace
Kaia Kater - Nine Pin
Jim Bryson - Somewhere We Will Find Our Place
Whitehorse - The Northern South Vol. 1
English Songwriter(s) of the Year:
Royal Wood - Ghost Light
Donovan Woods - Hard Settle, Ain't Troubled
The Strumbellas - Hope
Danny Michel - Matadora
The Small Glories (Songwriters: Cara Luft, JD Edwards) - Wondrous Traveler
French Songwriter(s) of the Year:
Les soeurs Boulay - 4488 de l'Amour
Richard Séguin - Les horizons nouveaux
Safia Nolin - Limoilou
Philippe Brach - Portraits de famine
Sept jours en mai - Songwriters: Mara Tremblay, Michel Rivard, Luc De Larochellière, Éric Goulet, Gilles Bélanger, MountainDaisies (Ariane Ouellet, Carl Prévost) - Sept jours en mai
Aboriginal Songwriter(s) of the Year:
Nadia Gaudet & Jason Burnstick - Dream Big, Little One * Fais de beaux rêves, petit ange
William Prince - Earthly Days
Digawolf - Great Northern Man
Amanda Rheaume - Holding Patterns
Twin Flames - Jaaji and Chelsey June
World Group of the Year:
Tio Chorinho - Chora Brazil
Nomadica - Dance of the Infidels
Lenka Lichtenberg & Fray - Live in America
Beppe Gambetta & Tony McManus - Round Trip
Sultans of String - Subcontinental Drift
World Solo Artist of the Year:
Jocelyn Pettit - Caravan
Kattam - De Tombouctou à Bombay
Élage Diouf - Melokáane
Karim Saada - Mon frère
Willy Rios - Para ti
Traditional Album of the Year:
Auprès du Poêle by Ten Strings And A Goat Skin
Coffee Creek by The Slocan Ramblers
Princes et Habitants by Yann Falquet & Pascal Gemme
Terre Rouge by Vishtèn
Un Canadien Errant by Fásta
Traditional Singer of the Year:
Rowen Gallant from Ten Strings And A Goat Skin - Auprès du Poêle
Chaim Tannenbaum - Chaim Tannenbaum
Shannon Quinn - If All The Young Ladies
Yves Lambert from the Yves Lambert Trio - Laissez courir les chiens
Sophie Lavoie from Fásta - Un Canadien Errant
Contemporary Album of the Year:
Empty Train by David Francey
Hobo Jungle Fever Dreams by Corin Raymond
Hope by The Strumbellas
Just Keep Moving by Big Little Lions
Hard Settle, Ain't Troubled by Donovan Woods
Contemporary Singer of the Year:
William Prince - Earthly Days
Matt Andersen - Honest Man
Jadea Kelly - Love & Lust
Megan Bonnell - Magnolia
Danny Michel - Matadora
Instrumental Group of the Year:
The Andrew Collins Trio - And It Was Good
Tio Chorinho - Chora Brazil
NUA - FLOW
Beppe Gambetta & Tony McManus - Round Trip
The East Pointers - Secret Victory
Instrumental Solo Artist of the Year:
Don Alder - Armed & Dangerous
Duane Andrews - Conception Bay
Daniel Koulack - Frailing To Succeed
Arnie Naiman - My Lucky Stars
Lotus Wight - Ode to the Banjo
Vocal Group of the Year:
Rosie & the Riveters - Good Clean Fun!
Hillsburn - In the Battle Years
Musique à bouches - Jusqu'aux oreilles
Big Little Lions - Just Keep Moving
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Sweet Alibi - Walking In The Dark
SEE exclaim! PAGE
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Sultans Of String - Subcontinental Drift nominated for 2016 Canadian Folk Music Award
Posted At : September 22, 2016 12:00 AM
Canada's genre bending string slingers SULTANS OF STRING earn a nod for World Group of the Year at the 12th Annual Canadian Folk Music Awards for their feast of ragas, reels ‘n' rumbas, Subcontinental Drift, featuring special guest/sitar master Anwar Khurshid (Oscar winning Life of Pi). "We are honoured to receive this nomination from the CFMAs for our new album! We could not have made this recording without the support of the whole Canadian roots community, and our special collaboration with Anwar", states bandleader/violinist Chris McKhool. He adds, "there is something magical about joining world music rhythms that we often play, but with pop sensibilities and forms and lengths, and blending that with the music of the East."
Yet, Subcontinental Drift is more than a genre-hopping passport. It is a musical promise that embraces differences while finding common ground across culture, land, and time. "Together we started writing songs about the freedom and equality we experience living here in Canada, and our hope of creating a better world. I feel in some way that these songs reflect our own personal journeys towards finding a world peace."
The nomination comes on the heels of a whirlwind summer UK Subcontinental Drift tour including a special Canada Day appearanceorganized by the High Commission at London's Trafalgar Square. The album hit #1 in Canada on Earshot's international/world charts, and the top 10 on CMJ in the U.S. It also got picked up there (CEN/SONY) and in Europe (Proper) for distribution. Sultans of String, Bruce Cockburn, The Ennis Sisters, Colin Linden, Klô Pelgag, and Red Moon Road will be the feature performers at the Awards Gala on December 3rd at Toronto's Isabel Bader Theatre. The band has a non-stop Fall/Winter CD Release tour in Canada and the United States, and will make their debut in The Netherlands this summer.
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The Sultans of String set for 'Old Forge at View' / North Country Public Radio interview
Posted At : September 14, 2016 12:00 AM
One of Canada's award-winning ensembles celebrates ten years of making music with a new album and a tour that includes a concert in Old Forge at View on Friday night at 7 pm. The Sultans of String celebrates world musical fusion with fiery violin dances, Latin guitar, and a bass sound that adds a layer of depth. North Country Public Radio's Todd Moe spoke by phone with the group's fiddler, Chris McKhool about their newest CD, "Subcontinental Drift." McKhool, who grew up in Ottawa, also recently earned a Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal for his work teaching music to at-risk youth. And he has a great last name for a musician, right?
LISTEN TO THE North Country Public Radio INTERVIEW
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Sultans Of String collaborate with Shweta Subram / INDIAWEST
Posted At : June 29, 2016 12:00 AM
Indo-Canadian songstress Shweta Subram recently collaborated with Juno Award-winning instrumental group Sultans of String and sitarist Anwar Khurshid on a traditional Sindhi folk song, titled "Parchan Shaal Panhwar," according to a press release. A fusion of East meets West, "Parchan Shaal Panhwar" is a Sindhi metaphor that translates to "A Personal Struggle for Freedom." Subram's soulful voice wonderfully complements the melodic sounds of the Sultans of String, who are known for combining elements of Spanish flamenco, Arabic folk, Cuban rhythms and French manouche gypsy jazz. The music video was released May 3.
Chris McKhool, bandleader and violinist of the Toronto-based Sultans of String, contacted Subram after he came across her successful collaboration with the The Piano Guys on their hit "Don't You Worry Child (Khushnuma)." This upbeat fusion has now crossed over 15 million views online. "We were very excited when Shweta agreed to lend her vocals to the album. We were looking for a voice that is rustic yet unique, and Shwetas' vocal performance in this song is absolutely stunning!" said McKhool.
Watch the "Parchan Shaal Panhwar" video featuring Shweta Subram on India West
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Sultans Of String are 'folk radio uk June: Artist Of the Month'
Posted At : June 1, 2016 12:00 AM
One of Canada's richest national assets is the cultural diversity of its citizens, and in 1971 it was the first country in the world to adopt multiculturalism as an official policy. It's hardly surprising that music would provide one of the finest illustrations of that enlightened policy, in the form of Toronto based ensemble, Sultans Of String, currently on an extensive UK (dates below) and North American tour following the launch of their fifth album Subcontinental Drift.
The list of collaborators continues to expand on Subcontinental Drift, most notably with the inclusion of Sitar Master Anwar Khurshid, whose extensive credits include music for the films Life of Pi, Kama Sutra, and The Love Guru. And it's Anwar's unmistakeable influence that provides the hot, sultry opening for the album, Enter The Gate. Written by Anwar with Montreal blues guitarist Paul DesLauriers; the introduction from sitar, slide guitar and McKhool's six-string violin quickly moves on to a rich, rewarding and lively melody with a delightful call & return between violin and sitar. A multitude of influences permeate the exciting sound as Nashville meets Indian classical, with a wee dash of rumba to spice it all up even more.
READ THE FULL folk radio uk ARTICLE
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Sultans of String play AMP@Strathmore / DC Metro Theatre Arts review
Posted At : May 23, 2016 12:00 AM
The Sultans of String delight and excite. This is World Music as you've never heard it before. The music is, quite simply, a soul satisfying mash-up of European gypsy, classical, punjabi, jazz, and blues, 70s and 80s rock, salsa, and rhumba. It shouldn't work; it does. The group, based in Ontario, has hit #1 on world/jazz charts in North America and received a Sirius XM Award. Violinist Chris McKhool was awarded the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal. The list of nominations and awards goes on and on. Founders Chris McKhool (violin/fiddle) and Kevin Laliberte (guitar) were joined at AMP by Strathmore by their frequent collaborator Anwar Khurshid (sitar). Almost every piece was a stand-alone wonder; the combination is breathtaking.
READ THE FULL DC Metro Theatre Arts REVIEW
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Sultans of String featuring - Anwar Khurshid play New Haven's 'Cafe Nine' / The Middletown Press
Posted At : May 19, 2016 12:00 AM
Get ready for some serious picking at Cafe Nine on Sunday afternoon - and not always in the way you might expect. Canada's Sultans of String are talented musicians - and two-time Juno Award winners - but they're also chameleons. Led by fiddler and bandleader Chris McKhool, they worked with Irish luminaries Paddy Moloney and the Chieftains on their last album. They're working on an album with Moloney, Sweet Honey In The Rock AND Ruben Blades and Luba Mason, among others.
And for their current album, "Subcontinental Drift" - and their current tour - they've hooked up with sitar master Anwar Khurshid, whose music is featured in the Oscar-winning film, "Life of Pi," as well as "The Love Guru" with Mike Myers. Khurshid will be with them when they come to Cafe Nine for a "Fernando Pinto Presents ‘The Sunday Buzz' with Cygnus Radio" matinee at 5 p.m. Sunday.
READ THE FULL Middletown Press ARTICLE
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The Sultans of String set to play the Adirondacks - Blue Mountain Lake / North Country Public Radio
Posted At : May 12, 2016 12:00 AM
One of Canada's award-winning ensembles celebrates ten years of making music with a new album and a tour that includes a concert in Blue Mountain Lake on Saturday night at the Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts at 7 pm. The Sultans of String celebrates world musical fusion with fiery violin dances, Latin guitar, and a bass sound that adds a layer of depth.
North Country Public Radio's Todd Moe spoke with the group's fiddler, Chris McKhool about their newest CD, "Subcontinental Drift." McKhool, who grew up in Ottawa, also recently earned a Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal for his work teaching music to at-risk youth. And he has a great last name for a musician, right? LISTEN TO THE SEGMENT
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Sultans Of String win 2015 International Songwriting Competition
Posted At : April 27, 2016 12:00 AM
Congratulations to Sultans Of String as winners in the 2015 International Songwriting Competition (ISC).
With 18,500 entries from almost 120 countries, this is an outstanding accomplishment. SOS who recently released their fifth album Subcontinental Drift featuring special guest, sitar master, Anwar Khurshid are SiriusXM Independent Music Awards winners and in their eight years together have hit #1 on national radio charts in their native Canada, and have received multiple awards and accolades, including two JUNO nominations, two Canadian Folk Music Awards.
Click here to view the complete list of winners.
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Sultans of String play for Ste. Marie's most dedicated music aficionados / saultonline
Posted At : April 25, 2016 12:00 AM
An intimate gathering of Sault Ste. Marie's most dedicated music aficionados was electrified by the Sault Symphony Orchestra last night at the Kiwanis Community Theatre Centre. The symphony took the audience on an unforgettable musical journey with special guests, the award winning Sultans of String who recently arrived in the Sault after being on the road for weeks in dates from the U.S. and Canada to the U.K. The trio of virtuosos is led by violinist Chris McKhool, and with the symphony's violinists, brass and woodwind performers to complement him, listeners were spellbound. "What a fantastic experience it was with the Sault Symphony," expressed McKhool. "They were so tight. I am really pleased to have been able to play this music with them."
READ THE FULL SaultOnline ARTICLE
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Sultans Of String - Subcontinental Drift / Saathee review
Posted At : April 18, 2016 12:00 AM
Subcontinental Drift is Sultans of String's fifth album further evolving the band's meld of folk, African, flamenco, Celtic, Arabic and roots music. Bandleader Chris McKhool grew up in a Lebanese-Egyptian home in Canada and the other globally-connected musicians in the band include guitarist Kevin Laliberté, bassist Drew Birston, Cuban percussionist Rosendo Chendy Leon, and guitarist Eddie Paton. The new recording also features guest musician and sitar master Anwar Khurshid, adding Hindustani music into the band's multi-ethnic adventurism. Khurshid is a Pakistani heritage sitar teacher and composer in Canada who was featured on the soundtracks of the films Life of Pi and Kama Sutra. "There is something really magical about joining world music rhythms that we often play, but with pop sensibilities and forms and lengths, and blending that with the music of the East," said bandleader/fiddler McKhool in a press release.
READ THE FULL Saathee REVIEW
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Sultans Of String set to play NAC Fourth Stage / Ottawa Citizen
Posted At : April 12, 2016 12:00 AM
Chris McKhool should be the perfect guy to explain what's meant by music being a universal language. After all, the violinist/composer is not just the Ottawa-raised child of a musically inclined Lebanese-Egyptian family but also bandleader of Toronto-based Sultans of String, the award-winning quintet that fuses Celtic reels, flamenco, Cuban rhythms and much more. The Sultans, who this year celebrate their 10th anniversary and last year released Subcontinental Drift with guest sitar master Anwar Khurshid, play the NAC Fourth Stage April 14.
But when McKhool is asked about music's linguistic universality, he's initially bemused. "That's a really hard question," he says by telephone. Then, dipping into his academic background (psychology at McGill University), he suggest that "Music maybe bypasses the super-analytic language centre of the brain and goes to a more primal place where there can be more communication. Obviously the (cerebral) cortex area is involved, but I wonder if it goes more to the limbic area."
READ THE FULL Ottawa Citizen ARTICLE
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Elmore premiers Sultans of String - Snake Charmer video
Posted At : March 12, 2016 12:00 AM
Sultans of String are a two time Juno Award winning group, known for performing a wide array of genres, from Celtic to Gypsy-Jazz. After all, it ain't easy to earn the label, "Canada's ambassadors of musical diversity."
Today, Elmore is premiering the music video for "Snake Charmer," a track that shows off the group's wide reaching influences, as inspired by South Asian rhythms and featuring sitar star Anwar Khurshid, whose music was featured in the Oscar Award winning Life of Pi. As the name hints, the track is also inspired by Indian and Pakistani snake charmers and the traditional tune they play to cobras– the most deadly snake on the subcontinent.
As bandmember Chris McKhool says, "To watch a snake charmer make a cobra weave and bob to their music is always fascinating to watch! Snake charmers are also often regarded as traditional healers and magicians, and they make and sell all manner of potions that purportedly do everything from curing the common cold to raising the dead. This song was very fun to record, to see how much sound we could get with only three people playing. Kevin on guitar is actually playing all the percussive elements by beating on his guitar, as well as the drum pedal he is playing with his foot."
READ THE FULL Elmore ARTICLE WATCH THE VIDEO
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Sultans Of String - Subcontinental Drift makes Global Village February Top 40
Posted At : March 1, 2016 12:00 AM
With their new release, Subcontinental Drift, Sultans of String serve up a blend of ragas, reels and rumbas. Fiery violin dances with rumba-flamenco guitar, atop unstoppable grooves laid down by bass and percussion. Acoustic textures meet electronic wizardry creating deep layers of sound. Exotic rhythms from around the world incite listeners to rise to their feet with the irrestistible urge to dance. Throughout the album they are aided by featured guest, sitar master Anwar Khurshid (whose music appeared in the Oscar winning films Life of Pi, Kama Sutra, and Love Guru). The band was very excited about undertaking this East-meets-West collaboration with Khurshid. "There is something magical about joining the world music rhythms we play, with pop sensibilities and blending that with the music of the East", says bandleader and violinist McKhool.
Subcontinental Drift has been selected for the Global Village - Top 40 for February 2016. Syndicated on over 300 stations in 38 states, Canada, Cambodia and New Zealand, Global Village also reports to CMJ, Roots Music Report, JazzWeek, Living Blues, and the Transglobal World Music Chart. Honored in the 2015 KAB Awards Global Village has received the Readers' Choice Award for Best World Music Radio Show and is a PRX Zeitfunk Award Winner - as one of the Top Three Nationally Distributed Series.
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Sultans Of String - Subcontinental Drift debuts #20 on CMJ-World Top 40 / BroadwayWorld.com
Posted At : February 23, 2016 12:00 AM
Sultans Of String's new album Subcontinental Drift debuts this week on #20 on CMJ-World Top 40 national radio charts. The album was released in the U.S. earlier this month after being released in the Fall in Canada and reaping tons of adulatory press; I attach a small sampling of their early U.S. press below. Subcontinental Drift features special guest, sitar master, Anwar Khurshid. The new album was produced by band co-founder Chris McKhool, recorded at The Drive Shed Recording Studios in Toronto. I'm hoping you'll consider covering via feature or album review; let me know if you'd like a CD or DL. Subcontinental Drift was released on Sultans of String/CEN through RED Distribution, a division of Sony Music.
READ THE FULL BroadwayWorld.com ARTICLE
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Sultans of Strings - Rakes of Mallow/Rogue River Valley video / The Alternate Route
Posted At : February 11, 2016 12:00 AM
To celebrate the release of their album, Subcontinental Drift, the Sultans of Strings, debut attached video for "Rakes of Mallow/Rogue River Valley". Like the band's music, which samples Celtic reels, flamenco, Gypsy-jazz, Arabic, Cuban and South Asian rhythms, the video is playful as it uses Krishna mischief as a signal to have a good time.
Sultans of String - Subcontinental Drift featuring special guest, sitar master, Anwar Khurshid is the band's fifth album. Since forming eight years ago, SOS has hit #1 on national radio charts in their native Canada, and has received multiple awards and accolades, including two JUNO nominations, 1st place in the ISC (out of 15,000 entries), two Canadian Folk Music Awards. Over the years the group has shared stages and recording studios with renowned guests like Paddy Moloney and The Chieftains, David Bromberg, Alex Cuba, Ken Whiteley with other exciting collaborations yet to be announced.
SEE THE The Alternate Route PAGE
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Sultans of String w/Anwar Khurshid - Subcontinental Drift / World Music Report
Posted At : October 28, 2015 12:00 AM
You can attempt to put many labels on the Sultans of String, but ultimately either you will run out of space or none of the labels will fit. The group is genre-bending, a collision of so many artistic cultures that their musical atlas seems infinite. They can do so many musical things and the best thing about that is they get away with it. They are superb musicians, to a man – not just virtuosos but intuitively each is a sublime artist. So it is natural to expect the unexpected and you will never be disappointed. Rousing moments abound in Subcontinental Drift, the varied programme of works that the Sultans of String have put together with the renowned Indian sitar player, Anwar Khurshid. But the moments that truly seize the ear are hushed passages in which the ensemble does a mesmerising job of suspending time (and leaning into musical suspensions with subtle expertise).
READ THE FULL World Music Report ARTICLE
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Sultans of String join Ontario Philharmonic for two concerts / Toronto Star interview
Posted At : November 26, 2014 12:00 AM
It took Chris McKhool three years to write the musical charts for an orchestra to play his original compositions for the Sultans of String CD Symphony.
"It's a beautiful mix of world music and symphonic songs," explains McKhool. "The orchestra sound is very lush."
For the past year, the string group has been travelling across the country playing with different orchestras in each city. This Friday and Saturday, they are performing with the Ontario Philharmonic Orchestra at Oshawa's Regent Theatre and the Flato Markham Theatre. READ THE FULL Toronto Star INTERVIEW
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Sultans of String win 'World Group of the Year'@14th Annual The SiriusXM Indies Awards
Posted At : May 12, 2014 12:00 AM
The SiriusXM Indies Awards acknowledge, promote and honour the achievements of Canadian and international artists in the independent music sector. Canada's own Sultans of String, took home the trophy for World Group of the Year at the 14th Annual Awards for their latest release: Symphony! Bandleader/violinist Chris McKhool commented on the award saying: "Receiving this Award is such a wonderful honour. We love telling stories through our music, and there is no greater inspiration for our songs than the amazing people and places that touch our lives. We feel very fortunate to be able to share these stories with others."
Known for dizzying music jams, poly-rhythms and raucous riffs, the Sultans of String sound can't be pinned down -- it's Sable Island meets the Silk Road, with detours through the Gypsy-Jazz coffeehouses of Eastern Europe, next an East Coast Kitchen Party, then over to the bustling markets of Cuba!
Acclaimed promoter and former A&R man David Wilkes (Emmylou Harris, Joan Baez, Jerry Jeff Walker) states, "Over the decades, I've worked with numerous top ten and #1 Billboard artists. In all that time, I have not worked with composers more talented than Chris McKhool and Kevin Laliberté from Sultans of String. Not only are they a superb writing team, they are also amazing arrangers & musicians. Symphony! is a gigantic leap forward."
Since forming (lucky) 7 years ago, Sultans of String have been on a meteoric rise with an astonishing number of awards and accolades in tow, including a JUNO (Canada's Grammy) nomination, 2 Canadian Folk Music Awards, 1st place in the ISC (out of 15,000 entries), plus invitations to play with such legendary artists as The Chieftains, David Bromberg, and Livingston Taylor. The Chieftains' very own Paddy Moloney guests on Symphony.
The band is performing non-stop on both sides of the border in support of the new offering.
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The Sultans of String Reading PA's 'Building 24 Live' TONIGHT!!
Posted At : December 7, 2013 12:00 AM
2010 JUNO Award nominees and "Canada's ambassadors of musical diversity" Sultans of String thrill their audiences with their global sonic tapestry of Spanish Flamenco, Arabic folk, Cuban rhythms, and French Manouche Gypsy-jazz, celebrating musical fusion and human creativity with warmth and virtuosity. Fiery violin dances with rumba-flamenco guitar while a funk bass lays down unstoppable grooves. Acoustic strings meet with electronic wizardry to create layers and depth of sound, while world rhythms excite audiences to their feet with the irresistible need to dance. THE SULTANS play BUILDING 24 LIVE in Reading PA TONIGHT!! Saturday December 7
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The Sultans of String play NYC's Joe's Pub TONIGHT
Posted At : December 6, 2013 12:00 AM
Canadian Folk Music Award winners/JUNO nominees (Canada's Grammys) SULTANS OF STRING perform a global tapestry of sound, celebrating musical fusion and human creativity with warmth and virtuosity. Known for dizzying roots music jams, poly-rhythms and revved up riffs, Sultans of String can't be pinned down -- it's Sable Island meets the Silk Road, with detours through the Gypsy-Jazz coffeehouses of Eastern Europe, next an East Coast Kitchen Party, then over to the majestic Arctic and vibrant streets of Havana.
THE SULTANS OF STRING WILL PLAY AT JOE'S PUB TONIGHT!! at 9:30pm in NYC, New York.
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The Sultans of String play the Mansion@Strathmore in the Shapiro Music Room TONIGHT!!
Posted At : December 5, 2013 12:00 AM
2010 JUNO Award nominees and "Canada's ambassadors of musical diversity" Sultans of String thrill their audiences with their global sonic tapestry of Spanish Flamenco, Arabic folk, Cuban rhythms, and French Manouche Gypsy-jazz, celebrating musical fusion and human creativity with warmth and virtuosity. Fiery violin dances with rumba-flamenco guitar while a funk bass lays down unstoppable grooves. Acoustic strings meet with electronic wizardry to create layers and depth of sound, while world rhythms excite audiences to their feet with the irresistible need to dance.
THE SULTANS OF STRING play THE MANSION AT STRATHMORE TONIGHT!! at 7:30pm in the Shapiro Music Room in North Bethesda, MD.
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Sultans of String play Boston's Scullers Jazz Club TONIGHT!!
Posted At : December 4, 2013 12:00 AM
2010 JUNO Award nominees and "Canada's ambassadors of musical diversity" Sultans of String thrill their audiences with their global sonic tapestry of Spanish Flamenco, Arabic folk, Cuban rhythms, and French Manouche Gypsy-jazz, celebrating musical fusion and human creativity with warmth and virtuosity. Fiery violin dances with rumba-flamenco guitar while a funk bass lays down unstoppable grooves. Acoustic strings meet with electronic wizardry to create layers and depth of sound, while world rhythms excite audiences to their feet with the irresistible need to dance.
THE SULTANS OF STRING play SCULLERS JAZZ CLUB TONIGHT!! at 8pm in Boston, MA.
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Sultans of String CD Release concert TONIGHT!!@ TORONTO'S Koerner Hall
Posted At : December 1, 2013 12:00 AM
Named Best World Music Group at the 2012 Canadian Folk Music Awards and nominated for a Juno Award, Sultans of String celebrates the release of their new CD, Symphony!, at this performance with Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra. Maestro John Morris Russell from the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra enthuses, "fresh, exotic, and entrancing, and the orchestral arrangements are absolutely first class!"
THE SULTANS OF STRING play KOERNER HALL TONIGHT!! at 7pm in Toronto, Canada.
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Sultans of String: Toronto Star feature to promote Dec. 1: 'Koerner Hall' show
Posted At : November 30, 2013 12:00 AM
The Canadian world music group Sultans of String plays an eclectic mix of music forms from around the world: gypsy, jazz, rumba, flamenco, Celtic and East coast kitchen party. Led by six-string violinist Chris McKhool, who grew up listening to Lebanese music in his Ottawa home, the Sultans began with the bonding of McKhool and guitarist Kevin Laliberté's rumba rhythms.
Named the Sultans of String in 2007, they've added or dropped players for performances as small as duos and as large as quintets with special guests. But their performance Dec. 1 at Koerner Hall adds a new dimension with the Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra.
READ THE FULL Toronto Star PIECE
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Sultans of String to rule the Mansion at Strathmore stage / Gazette.net piece
Posted At : November 29, 2013 12:00 AM
Depending on the gig, the Sultans of String can range from a duo to a 60-member ensemble. "A lot of times, Kevin [Laliberté] and I will jump in the Civic and do a duo tour," said band leader and violinist Chris McKhool. "Sometimes we'll be out as a trio and then, for really big shows, we go out as a quartet. Once in a while we'll perform with a symphony orchestra and add 60 players to the mix." READ THE FULL Gazette.net PIECE.
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Experience the Sultans of String Duo@Buffalo's Sportsmen's Tavern TONIGHT!!
Posted At : November 17, 2013 12:00 AM
THE SULTANS OF STRING WILL PLAY AT THE SPORTSMEN'S TAVERN TONIGHT!!
The performance will start at 6pm in Buffalo, NY.
Experience the Sultans of String Duo show. Chris McKhool (violin) and Kevin Laliberte (guitar), the songwriters behind the music, take you on a musical journey around the world!
McKhool met Laliberte just as the guitarist was coming off the road from touring around the world with Jesse Cook and cross Canada with The Chieftains. When McKhool (who has performed with Jesse Cook, Pavlo, Club Django) first heard guitarist Laliberte's rumba rhythm their musical mind-meld created Sultans of String's sound – the intimate and playful relationship between the violin and the flamenco guitar. Acoustic strings meet with electronic wizardry to create layers and depth of sound, creating soundscapes that seem impossible to be coming from just two people.
Larger than the sum of its parts, this dynamic duo take you on a journey to hear the horses of Sable Island, underwater to hear the calls of Luna the Whale, and on the silk road through Spain and the Middle East, through the Gypsy-jazz cafes of Eastern Europe, and then back to Canada for a trip to the majestic Arctic.
"Chris McKhool (violin) and Kevin Laliberte (acoustic guitar) had the audience eating out of their hands... exhilarating & contagious... ingeniously arranged... creatively fascinating!"
- Danny Gaisin, Halton Arts Review
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Sultans of String, play the Oswego Music Hall TONIGHT!!
Posted At : November 16, 2013 12:00 AM
A Canadian string super-group, Sultans of String include 6-string violinist and 2009 JUNO AWARD nominee Chris McKhool (who has guest starred with Jesse Cook and Pavlo), duelling guitar wizards Kevin Laliberte (Jesse Cook) & Eddie Paton (Robert Michaels), bass masters Drew Birston (Chantal Kreviazuk) & David Woodhead (Loreena McKennitt), and the jaw dropping talent of Cuban percussionists Chendy Leon & Alberto Suarez!
THE SULTANS OF STRING play OSWEGO MUSIC HALL TONIGHT!! at 7:30pm
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The Sultans of String perform at Nelson Odeon tonight, the long-awaited return of a favorite
Posted At : November 15, 2013 12:00 AM
THE SULTANS OF STRING WILL PLAY AT NELSON ODEON TONIGHT!!
The performance will start at 8pm in Nelson, NY.
The long-awaited return of another favorite, we are so glad the Sultans could squeeze us into their crazy schedule. 2010 JUNO Award nominees and "Canada's ambassadors of musical diversity" Sultans of String thrill their audiences with their global sonic tapestry of Spanish Flamenco, Arabic folk, Cuban rhythms, and French Manouche Gypsy-jazz, celebrating musical fusion and human creativity with warmth and virtuosity. Fiery violin dances with rumba-flamenco guitar while a funk bass lays down unstoppable grooves. Acoustic strings meet with electronic wizardry to create layers and depth of sound, while world rhythms excite audiences to their feet with the irresistible need to dance.
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The Sultans of String play at the Black Sheep Inn TONIGHT!!
Posted At : November 10, 2013 12:00 AM
Juno nominees & 2x CMFA winners release their high octane roots-jazz-classical crossover disc, Symphony!. THE SULTANS OF STRING play the BLACK SHEEP INN TONIGHT!! 4:20pm in Wakefield, QC.
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Sultans of String play the Abilene TONIGHT!! / Rochester NY
Posted At : November 7, 2013 12:00 AM
2010 JUNO Award nominees and "Canada's ambassadors of musical diversity" Sultans of String thrill their audiences with their global sonic tapestry of Spanish Flamenco, Arabic folk, Cuban rhythms, and French Manouche Gypsy-jazz, celebrating musical fusion and human creativity with warmth and virtuosity. Fiery violin dances with rumba-flamenco guitar while a funk bass lays down unstoppable grooves. Acoustic strings meet with electronic wizardry to create layers and depth of sound, while world rhythms excite audiences to their feet with the irresistible need to dance. THE SULTANS play the ABILENE BAR AND LOUNGE TONIGHT!! READ THE D&C ARTICLE.
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The Sultans of String play the Mapleview House Concerts TODAY!!
Posted At : November 3, 2013 12:00 AM
2010 JUNO Award nominees and "Canada's ambassadors of musical diversity" Sultans of String thrill their audiences with their global sonic tapestry of Spanish Flamenco, Arabic folk, Cuban rhythms, and French Manouche Gypsy-jazz, celebrating musical fusion and human creativity with warmth and virtuosity. Fiery violin dances with rumba-flamenco guitar while a funk bass lays down unstoppable grooves. Acoustic strings meet with electronic wizardry to create layers and depth of sound, while world rhythms excite audiences to their feet with the irresistible need to dance.
THE SULTANS play MAPLEVIEW HOUSE CONCERTS TODAY! Sunday November 3 at 2pm in Markdale, ON.
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Sultans of String; Audiofile Audition review
Posted At : November 3, 2013 12:00 AM
This big CD production by the Sultans of String was supported by the Canada Council, FACTOR, and the Ontario Arts Council-an agency of the Government of Ontario. The variety of the ten tracks here are almost overwhelming. It starts off with a Hungarian feeling on "Monti's Revenge," then goes to flamenco influences on "Palmas Sinfonia." Group founder Chris McKhool talks about the next tune "Josie," in the above video. The oud is heard in "Road to Kfarmishi," in which McKhool and his father returned to their roots in Lebanon, and the bagpipes and pennywhistle-played by one of the members of The Chieftains-are featured on the Nova Scotia-based "Sable Island." The one vocal on the disc features McKhool and backup singers in ‘Will You Marry Me," and the closing track is a lovely instrumental for only violin and guitar.
(Sultans of String: Chris McKhool – 6-string violin, vocals; Kevin Laliberté – guitars; Eddie Paton – guitar; Drew Birston – acoustic & elec. bass & scat; Rosendo Chendy León – percussion, palmas, drums, jaleo; Guests: Bassam Bishara – oud; James Hill – ukulele; Larry Larson – trumpet; Paddy Moloney – pennywhistle & Uilleann pipes; Dala – vocals; plus 55-piece orchestra led by Jamie Hopkins) READ THE FULL Audiofile Audition Review.
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The Sultans of String bring Flamenco, Arabic, Cuban, Celtic & Gypsy-jazz to the Registry Theatre TONIGHT!!
Posted At : November 1, 2013 12:00 AM
Flamenco, Arabic, Cuban, Celtic & Gypsy-jazz. Chris McKhool violin, Kevin Laliberte guitar, Drew Birston bass, Alberto Suarez percussion, Ernie Tollar sax, Anjelica Scannura dances plus guest vocalist. THE SULTANS play the REGISTRY THEATRE TONIGHT!! Friday November 1 at 8pm in Kitchener, ON.
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The Sultans play OCFF Conference TODAY!! / Mississauga, ON
Posted At : October 18, 2013 12:00 AM
2010 JUNO Award nominees and "Canada's ambassadors of musical diversity" Sultans of String thrill their audiences with their global sonic tapestry of Spanish Flamenco, Arabic folk, Cuban rhythms, and French Manouche Gypsy-jazz, celebrating musical fusion and human creativity with warmth and virtuosity. Fiery violin dances with rumba-flamenco guitar while a funk bass lays down unstoppable grooves. Acoustic strings meet with electronic wizardry to create layers and depth of sound, while world rhythms excite audiences to their feet with the irresistible need to dance.
The Sultans play the OCFF Conference In Mississauga, ON TODAY!! Friday October 18.
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The Sultans of String play the Bancroft Village Playhouse TONIGHT!! & TOMORROW / Bancroft, Ontario
Posted At : October 18, 2013 12:00 AM
JUNO nominees and 2x CFMA winners: SULTANS OF STRING release their high octane roots-jazz-classical crossover disc, Symphony! AND play the BANCROFT VILLAGE PLAYHOUSE TONIGHT!! & TOMORROW@ 7pm in Bancroft, ON. Fri. Oct. 18 & Sat Oct 19th.
Known for dizzying roots music jams, poly-rhythms and revved up riffs, Sultans of String can't be pinned down -- it's Sable Island meets the Silk Road, with detours through the Gypsy-Jazz coffeehouses of Eastern Europe, next an East Coast Kitchen Party, then over to the majestic Arctic and vibrant streets of Havana.
Fiery violin dances with rumba-flamenca guitar while funky bass lays down unstoppable grooves. Throughout, acoustic mastery meets with a symphony of sound, deepened by world rhythms that inspire whole audiences to get up and dance.
Kicking things off as a dynamic duo playing tiny cafes in 2007, this fiercely talented and hardworking indie act has been on a meteoric rise, with an astonishing number of awards and accolades in tow. Invitations to play world stages and with such legendary artists as The Chieftainsand David Bromberg are recent highlights. The Chieftains' very own Paddy Moloney also appears on Symphony!
Symphony! is distributed on SONY/RED though Red River Entertainment. Bob Frank, chairman of Red River (former President of Koch/EI Entertainment) states, "We welcome the opportunity to work with one of Canada's most innovative groups and look forward to expanding their music and footprint in the US."
Sultans of String are also represented in the US by acclaimed promoter David Wilkes (Koch Records, Emmylou Harris, Bela Fleck). "I have worked with numerous top ten chart songs and #1 Pop Billboard and Country music hits", Wilkes says. "In all that time, I have not worked with composers more talented than Chris McKhool and Kevin Laliberté from Sultans of String. Not only are they a superb writing team, they are also amazing arrangers & musicians. Symphony! is a gigantic leap forward."
The band is led by JUNO-nominated 6-string violinist Chris McKhool (Jesse Cook, Pavlo) who grew up in a Lebanese-Egyptian (Makhoul) house bursting with music and diversity. Growing up, Chris was fed a steady diet of delicious musicality alongside Middle Eastern cuisine and violin lessons.
When McKhool first heard founding guitarist Kevin Laliberté's rumba rhythm, their musical synergy created Sultans of String's signature sound – the intimate and playful relationship between violin and guitar. From this rich foundation, the dynamic duo has grown, featuring such amazing musical friends as 2nd guitarist Eddie Paton (Robert Michaels), bass master Drew Birston (Chantal Kreviazuk, Amanda Martinez), and Cuban percussionist Chendy Leon (Parachute Club, Alex Cuba), as well as special guests such as Palestinian oud master Bassam Bishara, Dala, The Chieftain's Paddy Moloney, ukulele giant James Hill, famed producer Ken Whiteley, and others.
Classically-schooled McKhool thought "why stop there?" With Symphony!, Sultans of String have brought the glorious and majestic sound of a full orchestra to their feisty world-jazz compositions, to create the ultimate crossover concert and recording. Due to astronomical costs, orchestral CDs are rarely recorded on Canadian soil, but in such faraway places as Russia or Prague. "But our Canadian musicians are the best on the planet" McKhool asserts, "so we put together an all-star orchestra comprised of our favourite players from the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Canadian Opera Company, Canadian Ballet Orchestra, all with no label support. We are super proud of what we achieved."
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The Sultans of String play Calgary AB's Nickelodeon Music Club TONIGHT!!
Posted At : October 12, 2013 12:00 AM
THE SULTANS OF STRING play Calgary AB's NICKELODEON MUSIC CLUB TONIGHT!! Saturday October 12.
Sultans of String celebrate the release of Symphony! a CD that brings the glorious sound of a full orchestra to their feisty world-jazz compositions. The Sultans are Chris McKhool-violin, Kevin Laliberte-guitar, Eddie Paton-second guitar, Drew Birston-bass and Alberto Suarez-percussion. The Sultans of String were nominated for a 2010 Juno Award for Instrumental Album of the Year and 2012 Canadian Folk Music Awards for Instrumental Group of the Year, World Group of the Year and Pushing The Boundaries. In 2008 and 2009 they were first place winners in the instrumental category in the International Songwriting Competition. Known for dizzying roots music jams, poly-rhythms and revved up riffs, Sultans of String can't be pinned down. Sable Island meets the Silk Road, with detours through the Gypsy-Jazz coffeehouses of Eastern Europe, an East Coast Kitchen Party, then over to the majestic Arctic and vibrant streets of Havana.
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The Sultans of String play Festival Place in Edmonton AB TONIGHT!!
Posted At : October 11, 2013 12:00 AM
THE SULTANS OF STRING play FESTIVAL PLACE TONIGHT!! Friday October 11 at 7:30pm in Edmonton, AB.
2010 JUNO Award nominees and "Canada's ambassadors of musical diversity" Sultans of String thrill their audiences with their global sonic tapestry of Spanish Flamenco, Arabic folk, Cuban rhythms, and French Manouche Gypsy-jazz, celebrating musical fusion and human creativity with warmth and virtuosity. With the success of their 2009 recording Yalla Yalla!and 2011's Move, Sultans of String are looking forward to the release of their newest record Symphony! which features some of the best players from the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Canadian Ballet and the Canadian Opera Company.
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The Sultans of String perform with the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra TONIGHT!!
Posted At : October 5, 2013 12:00 AM
The Sultans Of String will perform with the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra TONIGHT!! Saturday October 5.
2010 JUNO Award nominees and "Canada's ambassadors of musical diversity" Sultans of String thrill their audiences with their global sonic tapestry of Spanish Flamenco, Arabic folk, Cuban rhythms, and French Manouche Gypsy-jazz, celebrating musical fusion and human creativity with warmth and virtuosity. Fiery violin dances with rumba-flamenco guitar while a funk bass lays down unstoppable grooves. Acoustic strings meet with electronic wizardry to create layers and depth of sound, while world rhythms excite audiences to their feet with the irresistible need to dance.
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The Sultans of String perform at the Nighttown Jazz Club tonight
Posted At : September 22, 2013 12:00 AM
The Sultans of String perform at the Nighttown Jazz Club TONIGHT!! Sunday September 22@7pm in Cleveland, OH.
2010 JUNO Award nominees and "Canada's ambassadors of musical diversity" Sultans of String thrill their audiences with their global sonic tapestry of Spanish Flamenco, Arabic folk, Cuban rhythms, and French Manouche Gypsy-jazz, celebrating musical fusion and human creativity with warmth and virtuosity. Fiery violin dances with rumba-flamenco guitar.
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Sultans of String play Eat Lansing's Lake House Music TONIGHT!!
Posted At : September 21, 2013 12:00 AM
The Sultans of String @Lakehouse Music TONIGHT!! Saturday September 21@7:30pm in East Lansing, MI. So Excited!!
2010 JUNO Award nominees and "Canada's ambassadors of musical diversity" Sultans of String thrill their audiences with their global sonic tapestry of Spanish Flamenco, Arabic folk, Cuban rhythms, and French Manouche Gypsy-jazz, celebrating musical fusion and human creativity with warmth and virtuosity. Fiery violin dances with rumba-flamenco guitar while a funk bass lays down unstoppable grooves. Acoustic strings meet with electronic wizardry to create layers and depth of sound, while world rhythms excite audiences to their feet with the irresistible need to dance.
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Sultans Of String: Symphony / #4 on Earshot! Jazz Chart
Posted At : September 17, 2013 12:00 AM
Sultans Of String: Symphony makes #4 Position on Canada's Earshot! Jazz Top 40
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One of Canada's most innovative groups, 'Sultans of String' release: Symphony!
Posted At : September 16, 2013 12:00 AM
Sultans of String are proud to release their brand new CD: Symphony! Distributed by SONY/SONY RED though Red River Entertainment, the Sultans are one of Canada's most innovative groups led by their superb writing team of Chris McKhool and Kevin Laliberté. Not only are they great composers but each member of the quintet are all amazing arrangers & musicians. The disc also includes some very exciting special guests including: Paddy Moloney(The Chieftains) on pennywhistle and uilleann pipes, Bassam Bishara on oud, Dala's Amanda Walther & Sheila Carabine on vocals, James Hill on ukulele, Larry Larson on trumpet and Jamie Hopkings, Conducting.
In conjunction with this release, the Sultans have an extensive tour starting this Saturday September 21. Here is the list of their prrformances:
Sept 21 – Lake House Music, East Lansing MI
Sept 22 --- Nighttown, Cleveland OH
Oct 5 - Performing with Peterborough Symphony Orch, Peterborough ON
Oct 11 -- Festival Place, Edmonton, AB
Oct 12 -- Nickelodeon Music Club, Calgary, AB
Oct 18 -- OCFF Folk Conference - Songwriting Competition Winner Showcase, Mississauga ON
Oct 19 – Bancroft Village Playhouse, Bancroft ON
Nov 1 -- Registry Theatre, Kitchener, ON
Nov 7 – Abilene Lounge, Rochester, NY
Nov 9 -- NERFA Folk Alliance Official Showcase, Kerhonkson, NY
Nov 10 -- Black Sheep Inn, Wakefield, QC
Nov 15 -- Nelson Odeon, Nelson, NY
Nov 16 -- Oswego Music Hall, Oswego, NY
Nov 17 – Sportsmen's Tavern, Buffalo, NY
Dec 1 – Koerner Hall – Symphony CD Release, Toronto ON
Dec 4 – Sculler's Jazz Club, Boston MA
Dec 5 - Mansion at Strathmore, Shapiro Music Room
Dec 6 -- Joe's Pub, New York, NY
Dec 7 - Building 24 Live, Reading, PA
Dec 8 - Live @ Bridge Street Live
A note from the Sultans - We are so excited to share this music with you. For two days in June we brought together the finest musicians from the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, National Ballet Orchestra, Canadian Opera Company Orchestra and others to realize our vision of recording with a full symphony. Having developed the live show under the guidance of conductor John Morris Russell (Cincinnati Pops), we were very excited to try to capture the magic of these incredible arrangements in a studio setting, under the direction of recording conductor Jamie Hopkings. What Jamie, along with orchestral engineer Gary Gray, arranger Rebecca Pellett, the incredible musicians, along with the rest of the team were able to achieve in two days was beyond our expectations. It was a thrill for us to hear the symphony parts in all their intricacies, as well as bring in some special guests we have always wanted to work with. Put on your best set of headphones, sit back, and enjoy!
