globalFEST 2015, one of the leading international world music showcases, will take place this week, on January 11, 2015 at Webster Hall in New York City.
The event will feature unexpected and groundbreaking cross-cultural sounds from tour-ready artists from across the global music scene.
The artists of globalFEST 2015
Bixiga70 (US debut; Brazil): Brazil’s brassy Afrobeat orchestra
Emel Mathlouthi (Tunisia/France/US): Electro-inspired voice of Tunisia’s Arab Spring
Emil Zrihan (Morocco/Israel): Soaring Moroccan improvisations and Jewish songs by Israel’s beloved counter tenor
The Jones Family Singers (USA): Hard-driving Gospel funk from Texas
Just a Band (Kenya): Nairobi’s Electronic Music & Art Collective
Kahulanui (USA): Hawaii’s kings of swing
Kevin Johansen + The Nada (Argentina): Sub-tropicalia from Argentina
The Nile Project (USA debut; various): Trans-border collaboration across the Nile Basin
Puerto Candelaria (NYC debut; Colombia): Colombia’s rebellious cumbia experimentalists
Riyaaz Qawwali (various): Pakistani Sufi Music made in the USA
Sam Lee (NYC debut; UK): Unconventional Songs of the British Isles
Zap Mama (Belgium): Polyphonic a capella Afropop pioneers
“Tradition may inform or inspire, but it doesn’t stop very personal and profound expressions of artistry and emotion,” says globalFEST co-producer Shanta Thake.
“We’ve got a number of artists, like Emel Mathlouthi and Sam Lee, who demonstrate how effortlessly and seamlessly contemporary production and traditional roots can work together,” describes co-producer Bill Bragin. “Musicians are coming up with new generational approaches to traditional music, how they speak to their peers.”
“We’ve also invited artists who are really sticking to tradition, who highlight the same kind of cultural fusion, just in a traditional context,” adds co-producer Isabel Soffer. “Emil Zrihan and Riyaaz Qawwali both point to how hybrid even very traditional forms are, to the exchange and give-and-take that musicians have practiced for ages.”
Concert start time: 19:00 (7:00 PM); Doors open: 18:00 (6:00 PM)
Webster Hall is located at 125 E 11th St. in New York City.
Ticket Phone: (212) 353.1600
Author: World Music Central News Room
World music news from the editors at World Music Central
