Due to a last-minute cancellation by headlining Colombian salsero Oscar D'Leon, who had been taken ill, a rare appearance by Alfredo De La Fe was offered instead. His sizzling violin was backed by the Mercadonegro band (recruited from Celia Cruz's orchestra) along with vocalist Frankie Morales. For an aggregation thrown together on such short notice, they went from strength to strength and were amazingly tight. The previous evening, Ozomatli's surging pan-Latin hip-hop sound was in full effect. Not only was their music red hot, but they took the opportunity to declare their heated opposition to Bush's oil war in Iraq and the continuing U.S. occupation of that country.

Often an idiom for social critique, hip-hop seems to have definitely come of age lately on the world music festival cir- cuit, and one of the most anticipated events of this festival was Friday, June 27's evening of African rap. Jef Wareef, a band which mixes elements of dance- hall, ragga, hardcore rap and traditional Senegalese music featured an exciting female rapper. Up next was the positive old-school stylings of the Kill Point band from Guinea. Then came the more melodic Wolof crew Pee Froiss. Their mentors, Positive Black Soul, were responsible for the song, "Boul Fale" (don't care what others say about you, do what you think is right), that has become the motto of a whole generation of young African rappers. Finally, from the Congo, came Fresk, rapping in Lari, Kituba, Lingala and French, whose music was deeply indebted to that of MC Solaar.

Similarly, Brazil's DJ Dolores and Orchestra Santa Massa from Recife rocked the house on Sat., June 28 to a dj-activated mangue beat, playing a down-home mixture of musica nordestina-style vocals and gut-bucket fiddle enhanced by Dolores' computer samples. They were followed by headlining fellow Brazilian Carlinhos Brown, whose positive Bahian vibe held the audience spellbound with a winning combination of percussive batucada and lilting grooves alternating with funky beats and one-love singalongs. Another rap-influenced band on Thursday’s bill, coming from New Zealand (Aotearoa), was Moana and the Tribe. Fronted by conscious Maori female vocalist/songwriter Moana Maniapato, the music ranged from uplifting ballads to “chant down Babylon” reggae and from hip-hop breakdance to haka war dance.

Beyond hip-hop, the festival also included such divas as South Africa’s Sibongile Khumalo on the Tropentheater    stage, June 25, and an evening devoted to North African women singers called "Soiree Orientale", on Sunday, June 29. The latter featured chaabi artist Najat Aatabou, of Moroccan Berber heritage, and Samira Said, also Moroccan, but who has made Egypt her adopted home. The "soiree" was held at the Concertgebouw, world renowned for its acoustics, where European classical music is typically the order of the day. This evening, Mozart, whose name is reverently inscribed on the upper box seats, took a back seat to Said's extravagantly romantic Egyptian orchestra, complete with a string section of six violins á la Um Kalthoum. Opening the show, Aátabou's electric band ably supported her stories of heartbreak and loneliness and fervent calls for a relaxation of strict family rules and in favor of the emancipation of women. In addition to the music, the concert hall itself was transformed as young Arab women jammed the aisles to dance in a public display of their freedom from patriarchal constraints. To add to the grandeur of the evening, each diva descended from on high above the stage as if from heaven on a long red-carpeted stairway.   Leaving North Africa and heading southwest, Senegalese mbalax star Omar Pene performed with his band Super Diamono on the 27th, doing a set that, though a bit predictable, was reliably solid.  

For me the highlight was the reunion of Guinea's Bembeya Jazz who performed on Sat. June 28. Unlike a lot of   other revival bands, Bembeya seems as fresh today as they were in their heyday. Having yawned my way earlier through a nostalgia-laden oldies performance of the Son Boricua band, I found Bembeya, by contrast, to still be full of creative vitality. While the whole band shines, much of the credit for its continued spark goes to lead guitarist and bandleader Sekou “Diamond Fingers” Diabaté. Seeing him in performance fulfilled a dream I’ve had ever since hearing him on a Bembeya record long ago. By this time, there should be no question that he is one of the greatest innovators on both electric and acoustic guitar in African music. Living up to his nickname, he can move fluidly from the high kora registers that make his work so distinctive to boldly rollicking guitar outbursts or sensuous dance band grooves. Bembeya lives!  
                                                                                 -Ron Sakolosky