SHAKURA S’AIDA: TWO FOREIGN TOURS, 20 NEW SONGS, AND FOUR FEBRUARY NIGHTS OF PUBLIC REHEARSALS AT A SMALL TORONTO VENUE

Toronto blues and jazz singer Shakura S’Aida leaves in early March for her first Australian appearances, and then heads off for 13 shows in Europe.

Recently chosen Canada’s best female blues singer at the Maple Blues Awards, she also has some 20 new songs. So she and her band, featuring co-writer and guitarist Donna Grantis and piano and B3 player Lance Anderson, will play a series of four Monday night public rehearsals at Joe Mama’s, a small King Street bar and restaurant.

Who: SHAKURA S’AIDA with her band with DONNA GRANTIS and LANCE ANDERSON

What: A weekly chance to hear a band rehearse new songs

Why: Canada’s international blues star needs to get out of the house on Mondays

When: Each Monday in February, EARLY SHOWS @ 7.30 p.m. – 10.30 p.m. month (February 7, 14, 21, 28)

Where: Joe Mama’s, 327 King St. W. Toronto (west of John St. opposite Bell Lightbox) How much: No cover. Dinner reservations suggested at (416) 340-6469

Says S’Aida: “I’ve done this before, a couple of years ago. They really are rehearsals. I don’t dress up, and I sometimes stop the band if it’s not feeling right. But it’s really helpful to do this in public, so we can get a sense of how the audience likes the material and the way we play it.”

S’Aida and her band — thanks to financial assistance from the Canada Council for the Arts — are traveling to Australia for the four-day Port Fairy Folk Festival (March 11-14) held on the southwest coast of Victoria. After that, she and the band continue their round-the-world flights for 13 shows in France, starting March 18.