Madison World Music Festival Announces Changes

Madison (Wisconsin), USA – The schedule for Madison World Music Festival has changed slightly when Son de la Frontera cancelled its US tour. Sicilian singer-songwriter Carmen Consoli has been booked instead.

All festival performances are free and open to the public. This year’s shows are being held in the Wisconsin Union Theater and the Memorial Union Terrace, with Music Hall serving as a rain location.

The lineup includes the following artists:

Thursday, September 21

Tlen Huicani, 6 pm, Terrace. Hailed as one of the most faithful interpreters of the traditional folk music of Veracruz, Mexico, Tlen-Huicani, which means “the singers” in the indigenous Indian language of Nahuatl, makes the beautiful “harpa jarocha” or folk harp, the centerpiece of their music. Achievements include the title of “Best Folk Group in Mexico” by the Union of Music and Theater Critics.

Rodrigo y Gabriella, 8 pm, Terrace. Originally from Mexico, this duo is perhaps best known for their unique approach to the acoustic guitar. With lightning speed, dynamic range and irresistible rhythmic convention, this pair of musicians redefine the rules of guitar.

Forro for All, 10 pm, Terrace. FFA pulls from traditional forró music, the social and party music of the Brazilian Northeast, and infuses it with copious improvisations, original compositions and harmonic and rhythmic innovation.

Friday, September 22

Gjallarhorn, 4:30 pm, Terrace. This four-piece band from Finland features world music firmly rooted in traditional Swedish folk, with a modern twist. States Folk Roots,
“This is the new image of world music… full-blooded, gutsy beauty.”

Carmen Consoli, 6:30 pm, Terrace. Hailing from Sicily, this singer-songwriter examines themes of women’s rights, love, illness, solitude and friendship from a feminine and feminist perspective. A multiple MTV Italy Music Award winner, she represented her country at the Africa Unite concert in Ethiopia, celebrating Bob Marley’s 60th birth. Through her concerts, this UNICEF ambassador has supported children in war-torn cities and sexually-exploited women.

Culture Musical Club of Zanzibar, 8:30 pm Terrace. CMCZ offers two shows and two
very different genres of music from the Spice Island. Kidumbak is a down-home,
sexually charged, festive dance music, performed on the Terrace on Friday, 9/22. The Contemplative Swahili taarab music results from hundreds of years of musical and poetic exchanges across the Indian Ocean. This serene, traditional orchestral performance is in the Wisconsin Union Theater on Saturday, 9/23, at 9 pm.

Curumin, 10:30 pm, Terrace. From Brazil, this artist’s genre can best be defined as Afro-Brazilian psychedelic swing. Curumin samples 1970s funk, infuses it with Sao Paulo street music, and adds a modern twist.

Saturday, September 23

Aza, 5:30 pm, Terrace. Aza’s music is a stirring journey through northern Morocco’s Berber culture, infused with a modern western influence. The six member ensemble creates a unique and powerful sound filled with gripping melodies, complex harmonies, traditional African instruments and an infectious rhythm section that tips its hat to Rai music while creating its own original sound.

Whirling Dervishes, 7 pm, Wisconsin Union Theater. With religious, trance-inducing dance and music, these Turkish Sufi dancers and musicians can trace their roots to the 13th century. Whirling is one of the tools used by Islamic mystics to bring themselves closer to God.

Alaev Family, 7:30 pm, Terrace. A colorful family ensemble of seven musicians from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Israel, representing three generations and playing an ancient rhythmic blend of Turkish, Persian, Chinese, Russian, Gypsy and Hebrew music. Percussion master Allo Alaev, 74, has toured and performed for 50 years. Using up to nine drums at once, his virtuosity has been herited by his children and grandchildren.

Les Yeux Noirs, 10 pm, Terrace. Equal parts gypsy and Klezmer (with plenty of jazzy flourishes to boot), this French band draws on music from Hungary down to Armenia.

The Madison World Music Festival is sponsored by the Wisconsin Union Theater, the Isthmus, WORT 89.9 FM, WSUM 91.7 FM, the Anonymous Fund, the Evjue Foundation, Associated Students of Madison, Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission, Alliant Energy, the Division of International Studies, the International Student Services Office, the Center for Interdisciplinary French studies and the Wisconsin Union Directorate. Organizers include members of several of these organizations as well as community members.

The festival’s website, www.union.wisc.edu/worldmusic/index.html, is now live online.