World Music Festival: A great soiree sweeps into Chicago
 

Howard Reich Arts critic

3:51 p.m. CDT, September 15, 2011

Now that we’ve endured the dreadful acoustics, poor production values, droning emcees and unacceptable sound-bleed among stages during the Grant Park portion of the Chicago Jazz Festival, it’s time to savor a professional event.

A festival that pushes far outside the Loop and into the city’s many neighborhoods.

A city-sponsored music celebration that brilliantly — and enthusiastically — collaborates with clubs and concert halls and community organizations.

That would be the 13th annual World Music Festival: Chicago, which gets into full gear this weekend and continues through Thursday, with concerts in top-notch listening rooms and unexpected neighborhood gathering spots.

“It’s about showcasing the clubs that we’ve got in our city,” says Brian Keigher, senior program manager for the Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture, which curates and produces the event.

“And it’s about helping some of these bands find a home in some of the venues where we’ve booked them. We’ve booked bands I don’t know how many times at the Old Town School that have been booked there (after the festival) over and over.”

The World Music Festival, in other words, launches new and unfamiliar bands into the Chicago scene; builds audiences for seemingly exotic genres that are otherwise marginalized in the pop-music marketplace; and, best of all, feeds audiences into Chicago clubs and concert halls.

In addition, live-performance broadcasts from the Chicago Cultural Center’s Claudia Cassidy Theater from noon to 2 p.m. Friday and Monday through Thursday on WNUR 89.3 FM (and wnur.org) give listeners a chance to sample bands that will be appearing across the city.

“I wish we could do even more radio,” says Michael Orlove, inventor of the festival and director of music programming for the Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture. “It’s a great way to get the music out there.”

Still, the World Music Festival exceeds most of its Chicago counterparts in that regard. Moreover, because of the festival’s ingenious programming model, the bands perform multiple times in various venues, making it that much easier for listeners to catch ensembles of interest.

Following is a day-by-day guide to festival highlights. For a complete listing, visit WorldMusicFestivalChicago.org.

FRIDAY

Malika Zarra (from Morocco/USA) and Natural Information Society (USA/Chicago). Vocalist Zarra combines a jazz-improvisational spirit with traditional North African musical forms. Chicago avant-garde bassist-composer Joshua Abrams also brings a world-music sensibility to the Natural Information Society. 9 p.m. at the Mayne Stage, 1328 W. Morse Ave.; $15; for audiences 18 and older; 773-381-4554 or maynestage.com

SATURDAY

Wust El Balad (Egypt); Alsarah and the Nubatones (Sudan); Arroj Aftab (Pakistan/USA, New York City). Wust El Balad convenes musicians from Cairo who have enjoyed heightened popularity since the recent Egyptian uprising; Alsarah and the Nubatones offer Nubian music of the 1970s and newer songs; Arooj Aftab draws inspiration from Sufi classical music and American jazz. 7 p.m. Saturday at International House at the University of Chicago, 1414 E. 59th St.; $5-$8; ihouse.uchicago.edu

Chamber Music: Ballake Sissoko and Vincent Segal (France/Mali); Sidi Toure (Mali). Toure makes his Chicago debut with his World Music Festival performances, performing Malian vernacular music. The duo of kora player Sissoko and cellist Segal combines African and European idioms. 8 p.m. at the Old Town School of Folk Music, 4544 N. Milwaukee Ave.; $9-$10; 773-728-6000 or oldtownschool.org

SUNDAY

“Benda Bilili.” This acclaimed documentary film tells the extraordinary story of the title band: disabled musicians from the Democratic Republic of Congo who will be headlining at the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park on Wednesday. 1 p.m. at the Chicago Cultural Center’s Claudia Cassidy Theater, 78 E. Washington St.; free; 312-744-6630 or chicagoculturalcenter.org

Yuri Yunakov (Bulgaria); Steve Gibons Gypsy Rhythm Project with Nicolae Feraru (USA, Chicago/Romania); Black Bear Combo (USA, Chicago). European and American jazz cultures converge in the music of saxophonist Yunakov and Gibons’ gypsy band, featuring the virtuoso Romanian cimbalon player Feraru (who lives in Chicago); Black Bear Combo celebrates the Balkan brass band tradition and updates it. 8 p.m. at Lincoln Hall, 2424 N. Llincoln Ave.; $15; 21 and older; 773-525-2501 or lincolnhallchicago.com