NEW YORK (www.globalfest-ny.org) - Three of the top US presenters of world music-The Public Theater, World
Music Institute, and World Music/CRASHarts, Boston-come together to produce the world music party of the year.
World music-which encompasses traditional and roots sounds from Asia, Africa,
Europe and the Americas, as well as hybrid music that draws from many different cultures-is now established throughout the world as a force to be reckoned with. This broadly defined label ranges from classical to pop with influences from jazz and electronica and its audience has grown tenfold in the past decade.
globalFEST, which sold out its debut last January to wide critical acclaim, showcases world music in all its diversity. This year's festival, which brings thirteen musical acts from five continents to three stages at The Public Theater on January 8, 2005, simultaneously satiates the growing hunger for global sounds, and plants seeds for future touring. A $40 ticket allows all-night access to all three stages, which run from 7:30 p.m. till after midnight at The Public Theater, 425 Lafayette St. (at Astor Place), in New York City. General admission tickets can be purchased in advance from www.telecharge.com or 212-239-6200, or at The Public Theater box office.
GlobalFEST was launched in January 2004 in association with the annual Association of Performing Arts Presenters conference, where performing arts centers and festivals from across North
America seek out new acts and plan future performance seasons. However, globalFEST goes beyond being a trade show-it opens its doors to the public.
"The debut globalFEST filled a void in the market," says
Yusuf Gandhi of Times
Square Records. "Concert presenters outside of the world music circle were exposed to exciting performers, such as Mariza, for the first time, leading to her receiving offers from some mainstream venues and festivals. And our signing of Haitian singer Emeline Michel was a result of the event."
If you have not checked the world music section lately, don't expect to find only field recordings. The world is thriving with living traditions set in modern contexts. World music is fertile ground for experimentation and innovation as musicians cross cultures and redefine their musical roots in new cosmopolitan environs. As the New York Times' Jon Pareles put it in his review of last year's festival, "The music reflected an interconnected world in which ethnographic purity is giving way to multicultural fusions, though a cultural heritage often shines through the international trappings."
Witness globalFEST 2005 performers Juana Molina-Argentina's subtle folktronica chanteuse-or Mali's innovative new star singer-songwriter Rokia Traore. This globalFEST theme of reinvigorating and reviving older forms is also heard in the "hardcore folk" of Poland's Warsaw Village Band that emerged from young players seeking out elders and updating almost-extinct forms with danceable acoustic beats, as well as with Japanese shamisen crossover sensations Yoshida Brothers, and the reimagined rural American roots gospel, country and blues of Ollabelle.
Meanwhile, West African legend Mory Kante finds himself going back to a rootsier sound in what will be his first New York show in fourteen years, with acoustic instrumentation, but the same high energy that made him Afropop's first million-seller. Traveling from less far-away but no less exotic is NYC's powerhouse Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra, which has adopted the Nigerian Afrobeat of Fela Kuti with a Latin-influenced sensibility that can only be from New York City.
While some globalFEST performers like Paris Combo, who perform French cafe and manouche Gypsy swing, and New York's incendiary salsa dura masters Spanish Harlem Orchestra have begun to make the rounds at major performing arts centers, others, like the queen of Afro-Peruvian song Eva Ayllsn, have just begun to broaden their audience base in
America beyond their ex-patriot communities to more general market audiences.
globalFEST 2005 is rounded out by the soaring vocals and sweet guitar of French Congolese Lokua Kanza and the award winning flamenco music and dance of Spain's Noche Flamenca, featuring
Soledad Barrio under the artistic direction of
Martin Santangelo, The festival closes with a DJ party showcasing bhangra, Bollywood, and Asian Underground beats from NYC's pioneering DJ Rekha.
globalFEST is part of the annual Arts Presenters conference, and is a co-production of The Public Theater, World
Music Institute, and World Music/CRASHArts, Boston. globalFEST is sponsored by The Cultural Services of the French
Embassy to the U.S. with additional support from the French
Music Export Office and the AFAA.
Artist participation and schedule subject to change. All exits from globalFEST are final. Ticket does not guarantee admissions for a specific act or venue. Entrance for each venue is first come, first served, and subject to availability. All artists and set times are subject to change.
Doors open at 6:00 p.m., enter through main lobby of The Public Theater. Joe's Pub will have beverage service only. Dining will be available in the Public Theater Lobby.
https://www.globalfest-ny.org 
