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Excerpt from Warwick Arts Festival Preview
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New Jersey Herald, Excerpt from Warwick Arts Festival Preview >>
Past meets future at Warwick Arts
-by ELISA D. KELLER
In Warwick, N.Y, the beginning of July is synonymous with music, art and nature. From July 6 to 15, hundreds of people will gather at various sites around the village of Warwick to take part in the eighth annual Warwick Summer Arts Festival, including art workshops and outdoor music concerts from groups as diverse as Jimmy Sturr and his Orchestra, Jose Conde y Ola Fresca, Nation Beat and The Kissers.
"I'm really excited this year," explained festival Director Elizabeth Reese, who originally founded the event through a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts. "Almost all the groups are going to get people up and dancing. That's really quite a thrill, just to watch hundreds of people all up on their feet."
Each year, Reese selects a theme to tie together the various events throughout the 10-day festival. "The artists that we have booked are all roots based," Reese said, summing up this year's theme of "Understanding Our Past/Envisioning Our Future."
"(The groups are) very influenced by traditional music from various cultures, but they're putting in modem flavors. That's the addition of our future," she added. "They arent just playing our past -- they're transforming them."
The Latin-inspired Jose Conde y Ola Fresca blends jazz, rock and funk influences in a 10-piece band including guitar, bass, drums, conga, horns and keyboard. They've recently released "(R)Evolucion," a concept album receiving major praise from media around the world, including The New York Times and Boston Globe.
"It's all original (material)," said band leader, Jose Conde. "It's rooted in Cuban music with influences from a lot of different places. We're looking forward to bringing some of our new music to the (Warwick) area."
"They're trying to break the boundaries of what is very structured music," added Reese, comparing Ola Fresca to salsa rhythms. "They're shaking it up and opening the boundaries, creating their own sound out of that."
****************** 06/29/07
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