The WoodChopper’s and Jah are touring Canada this summer 2009!

Joined by special guest Abdoulaye Koné – virtuoso n’goni player traditional singer, song writer – first time ever in Canada! (learn more)

The Woodchoppers Association and Jah Youssouf

Malian Musical Renegade Jah Youssouf Reunites With The Woodchoppers Association for the 2009 Canadian Summer Music Festival Season.

The electrifying instrumental lightning and head-spinning vocal hurricane known as Jah Youssouf of Mali West Africa will once again collide with the thundering, sensual grooves of Canada’s premier improvisers’ orchestra known as The WoodChoppers Association.

Imagine Jimi Hendrix, John Lee Hooker, and Peter Tosh fused together and spirited to Canada via Ali Farke Toure and the Gnawa magic of Tinariwen. This is Jah Youssouf (the kamel n’goni - hunter’s harp/ lead vocalist/ percussionist).   Imagine the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, The Talking Heads, The Congotronics and John Zorn’s Masada filtered through a Funkadelic looking glass.  This is The Woodchoppers Association  (drums / guitars / bass / vocals / keyboards / saxophones / percussion / horns). This volcanic mixture of trancelike ecstatic elements together on stage ripped the roof off and brought the house down at music festivals, in clubs and on radio broadcasts through the summer of 2007.

This unstoppable and unique tempest created by Jah Youssouf and The WoodChoppers has been distilled down to its most powerful essence in all of its hip swinging, sparkling, and soulfilled glory in the form of their debut recording << The WoodChopper’s Association and Jah Youssouf >>. This uplifting recording was made at Dale Morningstar’s legendary Gas Station studio on Toronto Island, Grange Street Sound in Guelph, Ontario and at Bon's Cave in Toronto.