Ashkenaz and Small World Music present Israel's Bint El Funk in their Toronto Debut as part of the Polyphonic Ground concert series.

Israel's next breakout world music sensation, Bint El Funk (Daughter of Funk) combines American-style funk with traditional Jewish Yemenite music, influenced by Afro beat, jazz, Mediterranean music, psychedelic-Turkish music and more. Alongside Yemenite texts are love songs, social protest songs, Bedouin nonsense, and poetry. The group's performances evoke a tribal party, with sounds, rhythms, colors, and scents uniting in a feast for the senses that connects Sana’a in Yemen, Harlem in the US, and the Shaariya neighborhood in Petach Tikva, Israel. Over the last few years Bint El Funk has built a loyal following at clubs and music festivals all over Israel and is now poised for breakout success on the world stage. This event is the kickoff party for the 4th Spotlight on Israeli Culture Festival and celebrates International Women's Day.

Opening the night, Shifra Rifka is music producer, sound artist, and DJ, whose sets span all genres from house to industrial to disco, incorporating her own edits, original compositions and improvised material. Her debut EP, "Land of Milk and Honey" probes what it means to miscommunicate and understand, with abstract takes on traditional house that serve as much as social commentary as they do an inventive approach to the classic genre. Quirky samples of household items like pitched down dishwashers are no strangers to these experimental soundscapes. As she puts it, "I enjoy creating things that compositionally might be messy or unappealing to listen to. I like to acknowledge the convention, and deliberately diverge to see what will happen."



ABOUT ASHKENAZ FOUNDATION

The Ashkenaz Foundation is a community-based non-profit organization dedicated to fostering an increased awareness of yiddish and Jewish culture through the arts. Through its biennial festival and an expanding slate of year-round programming, Ashkenaz showcases the work of leading contemporary artists from Canada and around the world working in music, film, theatre, dance, literature, craft, and visual arts.

ABOUT SMALL WORLD MUSIC

Established in 1997, Small World Music Society is a charitable organization that has earned a cherished place within Toronto’s cultural fabric, with a reputation as the city’s premier presenter of culturally diverse music. With its commitment to supporting locally-based artists, fellow presenters, community groups and audiences, Small World uses music to foster understanding and build cultural bridges.

ABOUT POLYPHONIC GROUND

Polyphonic Ground is a collaborative working model that unites 11 small to medium-sized live music presenters committed to building and sustaining Toronto as a global music city. The organizations include Ashkenaz Foundation, Batuki Music Society, Good Kind Productions, Link Music Lab, Lula Music & Arts Centre, MonstrARTity Creative Community, Music Africa, Revolutions Per Minute, Small World Music Society, Uma Nota Culture and World Fiddle Day Toronto.