Toronto’s Sultans of String are world music masters. Drawing on influences from Spain and France, Cuba and the Middle East, they weave an intricate tapestry of flamenco and gypsy jazz, rumba and Arabic folk music. With Chris McKhool on violin and occasional vocals, Kevin Laliberté and Eddie Paton on guitar, Drew Birston on bass, and Rosendo “Chendy” León on percussion, they cover an amazing variety of musical styles with grace and aplomb. “The players are each virtuosos on their instruments,” says the website ClassicalCandor.com, “so the music sounds quite accomplished, quite polished, yet quite spontaneous. And quite invigorating.” Maverick Music Magazine describes their sound as “energetic and exciting” and “the very epitome of world music: no boundaries, no rules.”

The band won the Canadian Folk Music Award for World Music Group of the Year in 2012, the Independent Music Award for Instrumental Song of the Year in 2014, and SiriusXM’s award for World Group of the Year in 2014. Earlier this year, they played at the Juno award ceremony, where they received a nomination for Best Instrumental Album, and they’re currently at work on a new album, Subcontinental Drift, with sitar virtuoso Anwar Khurshid, whose music was featured in the Oscar-winning film Life of Pi. For an evening of richly textured, multi-layered music that spans the world, check out Sultans of String at the Freight. 

visit the Sultans of String website