In part 1 of this episode, we’ll see how “world music” came to Toronto. We’ll meet some important figures, behind the scenes and on stage, who helped open the door to new sounds and find venues for new audiences. We’ll learn how beer company rivalries helped usher in an era of exciting new rhythms in Toronto, and how innovative promoters and journalists sought out audiences and musical inspiration from the city’s growing immigrant communities, particularly from Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa. We’ll see how Queen Street West became, for a time, the place to be in the city if you wanted to hear the results of all of this cultural musical mixing. We’ll hear about Parachute Club, a hugely popular Canadian band that brought “world music” sounds to mainstream audiences and airwaves.

Latin American and Cuban rhythms were everywhere in this chapter of Toronto’s musical history. But there was barely an actual Cuban to be found, until a couple decades later. In part 1 of this episode, we’re going to speak to music promoter and programmer Derek Andrews, drummer and academic Vince Maccarone, journalist Nick Jennings, singer and activist Lorraine Segato and Cuban-Canadian street poet and hip-hop artist Telmary. The spirit of Billy Bryans is also a big part of this episode.