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GlobalFest: Transcultural Activism in North America
Editorial by Evangeline Kim, Afropop Worldwide Board Member Photos by Banning Eyre, www.afropop.org Senior Editor GlobalFest 2004 was an overwhelming, sold-out, one-night event with strong attendance by members of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP) www.artspresenters.org who were in town for their 47th Annual Conference (January 10-13). The level of infectious enthusiasm among seasoned, connoisseur fans and newcomers to world music was tuned high, as they eagerly raced through 3 floors, or queued up to enter capacity-filled cabaret, dancehall and concert hall venues in the Public Theater during a five-hour marathon session. As they took in a remarkable sampling of 16 musical entries from all over the world, it was clear that world music has begun to make measurable inroads in America's musical booking universe.
Although each intense performance was relatively brief in overlapping 40-minute sets, the impact of the whole line-up was dazzling: Cabaret performances by Vusi Mahlasehla (South Africa), Emeline Michel (Haiti), Susheela Raman (India/UK), Angelique Kidjo (Benin/France/USA), and Savina Yannatou & Primavera in Salonica (Greece). Dancehall performances by Mercan Dede-Secret Tribe (Turkey/Canada), Raul Paz (Cuba/France), Beat the Donkey (Brazil/USA), Forro in the Dark (Brazil/USA), and Les Yeux Noirs (France/Poland/Rom). Concert hall performances by Mariza (Portugal), Marcel Khalife (Lebanon), Diego Amador (Spain), Tania Libertad (Peru/Mexico), and Dervish (Ireland). And lastly, New York's Globesonic DJ Collective dance party to top off the evening.
It's worth noting that such an event did not spring full-blown from the proverbial head of Zeus. The successful launch of the first GlobalFest represents years of valiant background struggle and dedication by the ever-growing support network in the North American world music community (include Canada and Mexico) of musicians, labels, presenters, producers, promoters, publicists, agents, managers, DJs, radio hosts, magazine publishers and journalists, all cultural activists at heart. The festival event was a hard-won symbol of triumph that the trio of producers Bill Bragin, Director of New York's Joe's Pub www.publictheater.org, Isabel Soffer with New York's World Music Institute www.worldmusicinstitute.org, and Maure Aronson, Director of Boston's World Music, Inc. www.worldmusic.org, linked deliberately and strategically with APAP's conference in order to broaden booking potential for the artists towards economically viable tours.
Every January over a four-day period, more than 1500 APAP members and a total of at least 3,500 professionals spanning the entire multidisciplinary cultural network in North America and beyond, converge in the city to take in close to a thousand showcases programmed in the Hilton and sprinkled throughout the city's performance venues and clubs; numerous panels and workshops; and hundreds of talent booths at the hotel where sellers and buyers tie up bookings for the coming year.
Within such a vast conference reflective of so many well-established facets in American performing arts such as classical music, ballet, jazz, theater, performance art and modern dance, world music showcases and panels could be easily missed or overlooked. For this specific reason, the newly forming North American World Music Coalition, comprising world music community constituents in tandem with APAP executives, organized impressive focal events this year, including GlobalFest itself and an additional consolidated array of related world music performances, panel workshops, special interest sessions and meetings. Dynamic world music publicist Dmitri Vietze www.rockpaperscissors.biz managed to cull all APAP world music related events in one rollout schedule that was extremely helpful.
The city's world music clubs and other venues like NYU's Skirball Center hummed merrily with outstanding world music showcases night after night. Joe's Pub hosted packed evening performances by Iranian Sussan Deyhim in an eclectic performance art mode co-billed with the sophistication of Colombian traditional singer Lucia Pulido; soulful Palestinian oud player and violinist Simon Shaheen presented his various modes from classical to modern with his musicians along with special guests, Armenian duduk legend Jivan Gasparyran, Lebanese ethnomusicologist Ali Jihad Racy on buzuq, ney and oud, and Tunisian singer Amina; and South African Vusi Mahlasehla charmed crowds at the conclusion of the conference with his soaring voice of passion and wisdom. The Shanko Group presented one of Ethiopia's star singers, Efrem Tameru at SOB's, and Satalla featured the ever-intriguing Mexican-American singer Perla Batalla from Los Angeles.
APAP's President and CEO, Sandra Gibson and her exceptionally well-organized executive staff worked tirelessly to support GlobalFest organizers and to program an increased number of world music panels and meetings this year, which were heavily attended. Notable panels included a series of discussions dealing with the state of world music in North America - mutual concerns, challenges and successes; a fascinating, educational panel series on Arabic arts and culture; and most significantly, a special meeting for all interested in the formation of the North American World Music Coalition.
The North American World Music Coalition's timely and critical mission www.worldmusiccoalition.org is worthy of urgently needed support: "To provide a North American forum for the advocacy, public awareness, and economic viability of world music in all its forms." The organization's by-laws have been drafted, and www.grandperformances.org serves as interim fiscal agent for contributions and donations as the Coalition gears up for full operations.
With increasingly difficult non-immigrant visa restrictions (see APAP's www.artistsfromabroad.org) that apply to all overseas musicians desirous of touring here and that ultimately impact upon a nexus of frustrated fans and presenters; prohibitively high touring costs for limited tour circuits by international musicians; the xenophobia of American radio; a "niche" world music market compared with mainstream pop; and a corporate marketing machinery that dominates the 9 billion dollar music industry here by force-feeding consumers with an overload of mediocre homogeneity; the Coalition faces serious challenges and imposing tasks ahead.
Major success for the North American Coalition lies in the power of the Internet. Plans for a comprehensive website are underway, where every world constituent will be able to input and access thus far terribly fragmented information about world music presenters, festivals, world music performances, artist booking contacts, new releases and so forth. As mpeg 4 develops, with mpeg 7 and mpeg 21 on the horizon, improved quality downloads and web radio live programs and archived streams will help alleviate the dearth of good world music radio listening. Apart from www.afropop.org archive streams, there are at the very least two other excellent world music radio programs available in the ether: Seattle-based KEXP's www.kexp.org African show, "Best Ambiance," and the station's world music program, "Wo'Pop," all whetting the appetite for world music CDs and more live performances.
By the Coalition's strong sense of purpose; by a call for solidarity among North American world music constituents; by forging transcultural alliances with similar organizations promoting sustainable cultural diversity; and by unflagging perseverance and organizing will power, the Coalition promises to help bring relief and create eventual world music market growth in spite of the dilemmas posed by America's growing cultural isolationism.
Finally, it's to be hoped that the organizers of the next GlobalFest in January, 2005, will expand their programming to at least two nights duration, so that more world music fans and potential presenters will be able attend. And as soon as the festival date is announced, try to reserve tickets early on. If this year's festival was any indication of next year's demand, there won't be any available by show time.
And in case you missed GlobalFest 2004, here's a list of CDs by the various performers:
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