¡Globalquerque! has quickly made its mark as a unique event in the Rocky Mountain/Southwest region, and is one of the United State’s fastest-growing world music festivals. The festival’s first confirmed artists demonstrate ¡Globalquerque!’s goals of bringing fresh, frontline musicians from across the globe. Väsen with Darol Anger and Mike Marshall is an exciting new collaboration between Sweden’s premier folk group and the United State’s virtuosic acoustic duo, forging Appalachian fiddle tunes with the nyckelharpa & polskas of Sweden. The frisky band Little Cow, named for frontman László Kollár’s popular animations, churns Balkan, Romani (gypsy), ska and rock into a poetic pop, high-energy mix. Indian Ocean is a visionary ensemble from India that fuses contemporary elements with improvisational Indian classical music.
Many more musicians will be named in the coming months. “Early bird” tickets for ¡Globalquerque! are on sale now through June 27. A variety of vacation packages with excellent hotel deals and rental car discounts will also be available.
“¡Globalquerque! is unique among world music festivals,” says festival co-producer Tom Frouge. “We bring artists that aren’t on the usual festival circuit. And we always have acts from North American roots-music traditions such as blues queen Koko Taylor, or the Hawaiian slack-key guitar supergroup Hapa."
“We’re also in beautiful New Mexico,” continues Frouge, who founded and runs the festival with Neal Copperman, “so we like to feature what makes this state so special. Native American music is a big part of the culture here, and New Mexican Hispanic music, which has its own flavor with flamenco guitar and violins, Mexican and border music, as well as pueblo and Native cultures."
"Oh yeah, and then there is the food!" he adds. This year, ¡Globalquerque! will take place the weekend prior to Albuquerque’s famed International Balloon Fiesta, making it a perfect opportunity for out-of-state visitors to spend a week in New Mexico.
¡Globalquerque! hotel vacation packages will be available at two of Albuquerque’s finest hotels, The Town House Suites and the newly-renovated Fairfield Inn, conveniently located adjacent to each other. Packages will include tickets to ¡Globalquerque! 2009. New this year is special bus service to the festival grounds from directly in front of The Fairfield Inn at select times during the festival days. The festival’s official rental car company, Enterprise, will also be offering special rates for the festival.
For out-of-town visitors, ¡Globalquerque! also shares the last weekend of September with Albuquerque’s Downtown GO! Arts Fest, and will there be shuttle service between the two events. In addition, the Japanese Cultural Festival takes place the day after ¡Globalquerque! at the NHCC.
Over the years, the festival’s line-up of international artists has brought together legendary headliners and exciting new discoveries. Past performers have included Grammy winners Koko Taylor, Global Drum Project (with Grateful Dead Mickey Hart) and Native American flutist Mary Youngblood; Grammy nominee and Latin Grammy winner Lila Downs; and Grammy nominee Rahim AlHaj. Other artists from around the planet in past years have included Canadian Juno Award-winner Kiran Ahluwalia, Thomas Mapfumo, Hassan Hakmoun, Savina Yannatou, Vieux Farka Touré, Oliver Mtukudzi, Mor Karbasi, Les Yeux Noirs, 17 Hippies and many more. In fact past ¡Globalquerque! performers have represented over 16% of the countries in the world.
Buy the CDs of the world music stars scheduled to perform: Mike Marshall & Darol Anger with Väsen, I’m in Love With Every Lady by Little Cow; and Maui, Hapa and Collection by Hapa.
Visit www.globalquerque.com for artist updates and further information.
Author: World Music Central News Room
World music news from the editors at World Music Central
