Quick time: GlobalFEST concert travels around the world in heady 45-minute sets

NEW YORK -- To a world music fan, it was not a big deal that the Association of Performing Arts Presenters presented a conference in New York this past weekend. Except for one thing.

Timed to coincide with the conference was the second annual GlobalFEST concert, a showcase- style event that featured 13 acts on three stages over about five hours at the Public Theater, Saturday night. The sold-out show drew many of the talent bookers who attended the conference, but was also open to the general public.

Organizers sought to match each artist to an appropriate room. African bandleaders Rokia Traoré and Mory Kanté as well as two big, hard-driving New York-based bands, The Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra and The Spanish Harlem Orchestra, performed in the Martinson Theater, which had a dance floor as well as rows of seats. More sedate acts, such as Argentina's Juana Molina and another New York group, Ollabelle, played for seated listeners only in the Anspacher Theater. Acts that required even more intimacy, like the French retro jazz-pop act, Paris Combo, were in the Public Theater's cabaret, Joe's Pub.

Sets were scheduled for 45 minutes and overlapped, which meant that every 20-25 minutes, a band was starting to play, somewhere. The format could be frustrating -- it was impossible, after all, to hear everything, and the 45-minute time limit made some sets seem rushed. But as a quick, easy way to see some of the best of what is out there in the world-music scene, this show couldn't be beat.

Traoré, who was born and raised in Mali and now lives in France, appeared with seven musicians who played instruments both traditional (the three-stringed n'goni, the xylophone-like balafon) and modern (electric bass guitar). She sang in her native language, Bamanan, conveying warmth and serenity at times, and explosive joy at others. She soared over her band's waves of percussion, making every song seem like an intensely personal statement.

Molina, who established herself as a comic actress in Argentina before moving to Los Angeles a decade ago to pursue a career as a musician, offered one of the most innovative sets of GlobalFEST. Appearing solo, she launched her pretty but mysterious songs with simple keyboard figures that would repeat, over and over, as she strummed an acoustic guitar and sang. Though she established herself as a serious, inventive artist, she also displayed a sense of humor, dedicating "El Perro" to "all those who suffer from a neighbor's barking dog," then barking herself as she played it.

Ollabelle took listeners on a tour of American gospel and blues music, playing traditional songs like "Elijah Rock," "John The Revelator" and "Soul of a Man." The vocal harmonies (everyone except guitarist Jimi Zhivago sang) were precise, and the instrumentation tended to be tasteful and spare, though the band did inject some bar-band grit into its version of Taj Mahal's "Corrina."

The Paris Combo featured charismatic singer Belle du Berry, whose vocals floated over the band's earthy music. David Lewis (trumpet, piano) and Potzi (guitar) proved to be resourceful soloists, and drummer Francois Jeannin and bassist Mano Razanajato anchored the music with their sure sense of swing. Like Molina, the band proved it had an offbeat side, too: du Berry introduced "Aquarium" as a song about people who spend too much of their time in front of their television sets.

While each act went about its business just like it would at any other gig, it was impossible to forget what GlobalFEST was all about. Before each set, the show's co-hosts mentioned that representatives for the musicians were stationed in the building's lobby, in case any bookers wanted to talk business.