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Musical Multiplicity
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The Star Ledger, Musical Multiplicity >>
Public appreciates showcase for arts presenters
Friday, January 13, 2006
BY JAY LUSTIG
Star-Ledger Staff
WORLD
Niyaz merges modern electronic beats with the traditional sounds of the Middle East and medieval Europe. Roxane Butterfly's Worldbeats fuses elements of jazz, African music and tap-dance. Frank London's Klezmer Brass Allstars suggest what would happen if an Eastern European wedding band found itself in Rio de Janeiro during carnival season.
All will be part of GlobalFEST, taking place at New York's Public Theater, Jan. 21 and 22. So will neo-flamenco guitarist Juan Carmona, the mellow French pop minimalist Keren Ann, Senegalese hip-hop group Daara J, and Russian progressive-rock ensemble Auktyon.
"You can't talk about any of these groups, really, without resorting to lots of hyphens," says Bill Bragin, a GlobalFEST producer as well as the director of the Public Theater's cabaret, Joe's Pub. Now in its third year, GlobalFEST showcases world music artists for arts bookers attending the Jan. 21-24 Association of Performing Arts Presenters' members conference in Manhattan. But it is also open to the general public.
Sets are presented, and often overlap, at three Public Theater rooms: the 270-capacity Anspacher Theater, the Martinson Theater (a dance hall whose capacity is also 270), and the 150-seat Joe's Pub. GlobalFEST sold out in advance in both 2004 and 2005, when it was just a one-night event. This year it expands to two nights, with an identical running order.
"We want to get more people in, and we can't make the rooms any bigger," says Bragin, adding that the new format makes it possible for those who regret missing a set at the first show to catch it at the second. "Last year, for example, some of the least well-known acts, like the Warsaw Village Band and the Yoshida Brothers, got an amazing reception," says Bragin, "and there were a lot of people who said, 'I wish I had seen them.' Now you can come back the second day and see more of an artist who you maybe only caught a snippet of, or someone you heard about but missed. You can take the journey twice."
Part industry event, part regular concert -- about half to two-thirds of the crowd will be non-industry, Bragin says -- GlobalFEST works, in theory, to everyone's advantage. The general public gets to see an impressive number of artists, and industry members see the artists in front of a "real " audience.
"A lot of the conference showcases happen at hotel ballrooms where everybody in the room is evaluating, as opposed to just having a good time," says Bragin. "I think what happens is, if you are deciding, 'Can I bring (Cape Verdean singer-songwriter) Lura to my performing arts center in Iowa?', when you see her in a theater, in front of an adoring crowd, it's much easier to say, 'Okay, I can picture this artist in my venue, in front of my audiences.' Or, 'This is what happens when people are listening to (traditional Cajun band) Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys.' "It's really important for it to have the energy of real audiences. And I think, in the end, it's just more fun." 01/13/06 >> go there
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