TBFF LIVE PERFORMANCE SERIES - Day 1

Co-presented by

Music Performance: Waleed Kush African Jazz Ensemble

Waleed Abdulhamid is a Canadian Multi-instrumentalist; Composer; Vocalist; Music and Film Producer, and is known for his striking vocals, innovative bass technique, and his speed and precision on percussion. He has been an active member of the Toronto music scene since his arrival from Sudan in 1992, and is the recipient of the Canadian New Pioneer Award; African Tama Award; Reel World Film Festival Award; Canadian Film Board of Excellence Award; DORA Award; other international awards. He demonstrates his versatility playing 20 instruments: guitar; bass; drums; flute; harmonica; kirin; bass kirin; darabhuka; marimba; balimbo; congas; bongos; djembe; dumbek; aghera; tambour; cajun; denger; ekaa; tama. Waleed has played and recorded with a large number of well-known artists including David Clayton Thomas of the Grammy Award winning band Blood, Sweat & Tears, and with the Motown legend, The Drifters. He is also a Professor in and faculty member of the Music Degree Program at Humber College.

Spoken Word Performance: Luke Reece

In a failed attempt to escape Presto Luke left his hometown of Mississauga under the guise of becoming a Toronto-based artist. He strives to share authentic and engaging stories with audiences through his work as a producer, playwright, poet and educator. He is the Producer for Canada’s leading culturally specific theatre company, Obsidian Theatre. He continually seeks opportunities to empower and support young-in-craft artists with his collective Little Black Afro Theatre, creating spaces for artists to develop work with and for the communities they come from. After becoming the Toronto Poetry Slam (TPS) Grand Champion in 2017, Luke went on to captain the 2017 TPS team that became national champions at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word, and coached the 2018 national champions as well. He competed in Vancouver in April 2018 at the Canadian Individual Poetry Slam and placed 2nd in the country. This spring Luke placed 4th at the 2019 World Cup of Poetry Slam in Paris, France, as the Canadian representative.