Jason Wilson - Sumach Roots [CD]

Another folk-reggae epic from award-winning Canadian artist that surveys 400 years of Toronto history. Sumach Roots (album and live play replete with stage actors) takes audiences on a bold and innovative exploration of Toronto's evolution over the past four hundred years. The brainchild of two-time JUNO nominee and best-selling historian Jason Wilson, Sumach Roots draws from a deep well of sounds - from traditional British folk to bebop jazz and classic reggae - in order to tell the stories of those who built Toronto, both literally and culturally. Wilson delves into the late eighteenth century diaries of Elizabeth Simcoe, the great Toronto fires of 1902 and 1904, the building of the CN Tower and other crucial moments that illuminate the host/immigrant experience in Toronto. The album follows Wilson's acclaimed 2016 album Perennials as the second part of his Valley Road Trilogy, a celebration of "place" and an invitation to bridge the various enclaves and ethnic borders that demarcate the city. One half of the Wilson & Swarbrick duo with the late Dave Swarbrick, Jason Wilson has performed and recorded with Jackie Mittoo, Martin Carthy, Pee Wee Ellis, Sly & Robbie, UB40, Ernest Ranglin and Alanis Morrissette.