Toronto Jazz Festival: Arooj Aftab
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**Without a doubt, this might be the World Music concert of Summer 2025?!
Nicely arranged with Small World Music. Folk/Jazz/Punjabi
Ticket link/info is below: $50-$100 (nicely priced for this level of music)
If you've not heard of Arooj Aftab (yet), this is okay--you will! This will be her/band first time in Toronto--which is always special.
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/arooj-aftab-night-reign/
Next time she returns--I suspect tickets will be double/2x the price.
https://torontojazz.com/ticketed-performances/
Declared "the coolest rock star in the world right now," by UNCUT magazine, Arooj Aftab has earned her position at the vanguard of creative music for her embrace of risk and nonconformity. In 2024, she released her fourth solo album, Night Reign (Verve), to universal acclaim, earning a Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Jazz Album, while the song "Raat Ki Rani" was tabbed for Best Global Music Performance. Night Reign's predecessor, Vulture Prince, ushered Aftab into the cultural zeitgeist, including a place on President Barack Obama's Summer 2021 playlist.
Recognition for the record propelled her to a Best New Artist Grammy nomination in 2022 and a win for the song "Mohabbat." Over the last few years, she has delivered "rapturous performances" at major venues and international festivals including Primavera, Glastonbury and Coachella. She has appeared on NPR's Tiny Desk, Later with Jools Holland, Brodie and Mahogany sessions. Aftab has been featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, The Financial Times, The Quietus, and Time, to name a few.
https://torontojazz.com/artists/arooj-aftab/
I would say--sit anywhere, but not so close--Perhaps the sweet spot is the First Balcony!!
Ticket link:
You can Google her on YouTube--this one for me really killed it!
Toronto Jazz Festival: Arooj Aftab