For 27 editions of TD Sunfest, the weekend was simply not complete without the life-affirming energy of Lazo. Now, the ever-popular Mr. Sunfest has a festival sista and her name is Ammoye.

Five-time JUNO Award nominee and winner of the 2015 Reggae Exclusive Recognition Awards, Ammoye is that rarest of things: a powerful female singer/songwriter in the reggae genre – though it’s more like “reggae through a kaleidoscope” as this visionary Jamaican Canadian artist becomes “a soul rebel on a soul path, singing her way to a higher self” (Afropop Worldwide).

That her life – and, by extension, her dazzling original music and unerringly upbeat worldview – is the outcome of tremendous victory over adversity makes Ammoye a performer who both inspires and entertains.   And as the Toronto-based artist makes clear on her sprawling 2017 album The Light (which includes the thoroughly irresistible, keyboard-goosed smash “Sorry”), she is as comfortable singing gospel, soul and R&B as she is soaring above an ace reggae groove.

 The songstress’s latest release is the 13-track album Water which features a who’s who of the contemporary international reggae scene.  Production comes from Jamaica’s Tandra Lytes Jhagroo and Natural High, Toronto’s own DJ Agile and Danny Maestro, The Senior Allstars from Germany, Thomas Blondet from Brooklyn, Adian Hanson Donsome of NYC’s Donsome Records and the legendary Lord SassaFras.