Story and photographs by Sean Barlow

Wandering the halls of the Montreal's Hyatt Regency Hotel at the recent Folk Alliance conference at two or three in the morning felt like being in a party hearty college dormitory. The doors to rooms were wide open and inside, singer-songwriters sang their hearts out as folks flopped on beds to enjoy the music. Music, music everywhere. From old-timey pick-up bands playing in front of clogged elevators to teenagers playing guitar and fiddle under the adoring eyes of their parents in the noisy hotel lobby. I haven't seen so many fiddlers and banjo pickers in one place since my youthful love affair with bluegrass festivals in West Virginia and Virginia.

The scene in Montreal was the 17 th annual International Folk Alliance conference. I was here because this year the North American Folk Music and Dance Alliance (Folk Alliance) joined forces with the European-led Strictly Mundial, attracting representatives of some 48 of the 53 presenters of the European Forum of Worldwide Music Festivals presenters. So there was a healthy share of world artists on the bill--some 40--presented on three stages within brisk walking distance from the Hyatt for those who braved the ten below Montreal night air.

Putting the folk and the world music worlds together? Remember that folkies have a history of arguing over the question "what is folk music?" for over 50 years. And they're not done yet. For the most part, it seemed like the folkies and the world music heads inhabited two different worlds during the conference. But there was some visitation back and forth in the evening showcases, and it seemed there was genuine appreciation on both sides for music they might not often see live. And in the day-time trade fair itself, from one booth to the next you could pick up CDs and visit artist agents booking groups from Madagascar to Mississippi. And the scheduling at the venues put international artists immediately preceeding or following the North American based roots artists such as zydeco ace Geno Delafose & French Rockin' Boogie and sacred steel maestros, The Lee Boys.

Artists that stood out for me were: Dobet Gnaore from the Ivory Coast, Adalberto Alvarez from Cuba, H'Sao from Chad, Vusi Mahlasela from South Africa, Lucia Pulido from Columbia, Joaquin Diaz from the Dominican Republic, and Yerba Buena from the U.S. It was impossible to see everyone so apologies to those missed.

Thanks to our colleagues at the CBC's "Global Village" program who will share their live recordings with us, Afropop Worldwide will air concert highlights from Strictly Mundial 2005 in April.

The biggest revelation was Dobet Gnaore. In my interview with her before her concert, Dobet sang a capela with a rich, warm vibrato. Wow! This is one helluva talented artist. She showed me the sonic and tonal differences between the Fon and Bete and Baule languages. And what poise too. Very sharp with a delightful, friendly personality.

Dobet told me that as a teenager she had immersed herself in African music, dance, theater and languages at the artist village near the capital Abidjan run by the legendary Were Were Liking. She performed in their group Ki Yi Mbock that has played the Kennedy Center in DC and other prestigious venues. You could see the result of this multi-disciplinary, pan-African training on stage at Club Soda in Montreal when Dobet Gnaore performed her North American debut. Powerful singing combined with a charismatic stage presence, original choreography, and a theatricality that reminded me of Marie Daulne of Zap Mama. Dobet performed several different traditional percussion interests too, backed by a very talented pan-African guitar stylist who also studied with Were Were Liking in Abidjan, a backing singer from Tunisia and a percussionist from France. Dobet Gnaore has one international release, "Ano Neko" on Contre Jour (Habib Koite's label). We look forward to seeing Dobet Gnaore and her group in the States!

Another stand-out for me was Adalberto Alavarez y Su Son. Cuban artists have been effectively shut out of the U.S. market by the present administration's policies, so to see Adalberto's classy 12 piece group, moving smoothly through tight, sophisticated arrangements of hook-happy songs was a vivid reminder of what American fans have been missing. And also, it brought home the point of just how damn good you have to be to rise to the top rank in the highly competitive Cuban dance band world. Our interview with Adalberto will appear on the upcoming radio special on Strictly Mundial.

Other vivid memories from the Strictly Mundial showcases are: Lucia Pulido singing in hurricane force voice a cowboy song typically sung at twilight to cows on the eastern plains of Colombia (and it ain't "Git Along Little Doggie"); Vusi Mahlasela solo, singing spine-tingling songs of resistance to apartheid in South Africa in front of a breathless audience; the youthful energy of H'Sao from Chad who are based in Montreal (first time this reporter has ever seen a pop group from Chad); Joaquin Diaz's virtuosic accordion playing of traditional merengue from the Dominican Republic; and the wacky, groovin', lyrics-to-make-you-laugh of U.S. based Yerba Buena (like "Watcha Gonna Do with My Boogaloo")

Turning to the daytime conference itself, I appointed myself the emissary of world music radio to the folk music radio panel where I asked the folk radio hosts in the room if they thought of folk music in a sense of "world folk" (i.e. folkloric, roots based music from anywhere in the world) and if they played "world music" on their programs. The consensus I got back was that most of the folk deejays appreciated international music and included it in their mix as a "texture" but they did not want to stray too far from their mainly English language singer-songwriter programming lest they alienate their core audience.

I was asked to moderate panel called "World Music Radio: Challenges, Resources and Revolutions." Joining me on the lively panel were Berkeley CA based and KPFA presenter Kutay Kugay, Marco Werman of PRI's "The World", Anne McKeigan of the CBC's "Global Village"; Johannes Theurer of Radio MultiKulti in Berlin and a founder of the European Broadcasting Union's World Music Charts.

The challenge many of us on the panel cited was competition from news and talk shows on public radio. At every public radio conference I've been to for the past ten years, the mantra is "how do we fix the weekends?" Moving away from specialized programs and toward magazine style arts and entertainment blocks for the weekend is the plan of some national producers who have secured major funding. Marco and I made the case that the weekends worked fine with quirky, host-driven jewels of long-form, one-hour shows such as "This American Life", "Thistle and Shamrock" and, all modesty aside, "Afropop Worldwide" That's the same point that the super successful Ira Glass of "This American Life" made at the most recent public radio conference. It's called defending the turf.

Anne McKeigan of the CBC's nationally broadcast "Global Village" talked about succeeding in claiming airspace for world music by working within a journalistic-centric context. She puts together 3-5 minute reports from correspondents all over the world. Marco Werman also talked about the importance of the story in crafting pieces that would work within a weekday newsmagazine. Johannes Theurer of the pioneering 24/7 world music station in Berlin, Radio MultiKulti, talked about moving more towards "groove music" from around the world to make more listenable fare that attracts listeners.