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FIERY BEATS FUEL FEST;
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London Free Press (Ontario, Canada), FIERY BEATS FUEL FEST; >>
FANS SEE BANDS PUSH TRADITIONAL MUSIC BACK TO THE FUTURE.
The past burned and beat its way into the future at Sunfest last night.
Playing at the same time were two bands from Europe who knew how to make old music new again.
Poland's Warsaw Village Band and Italy's Fiamma Fumana may have been on separate stages at Victoria Park on Day 2 of Western Union Sunfest 2004, but they shared a commitment to take traditional music to new audiences.
The Warsaw Village Band tore through a number called Horse Race like moonshiners fired up by whatever they call white lightning in Poland.
With two fiddles, a cello, a hammered dulcimer, a big drum and a little drum all going full throttle, it was an ecstatic race where everybody won.
One reason the Warsaw Village Band is so punk-rock serious about its "ancient to the future" message is that it is clearing up the ugly legacy of "fakelore."
That's one name for the state-imposed "folk music" of many Communist regimes that almost killed off many musical traditions.
Fiamma Fumana is just as committed about old music. It's just more interested in taking it to the clubs.
Last night, you could see that in the subtle touch of its electronica queen, Medhin Paolos, with the samples and programming.
It was also apparent in the hot pink, off-the-shoulder top favoured by bagpiper Lady Jessica Lombardi.
That was just the thing to go with the jigs and reels and old dance tunes Lombardi and accordion player Alberto Cottica kept sending into the fray with the driving electronica beat.
Fiamma Fumana had the fans dancing before closing on a serious and serene note.
"We want to leave you with the most important traditional song for us," singer Fiamma Orlandi said in introducing Bella Ciao, a song "about work in the fields."
It proves the oldest tunes can sound completely new when a band cares about them.
Before the arrival of the Europeans and their new-old equations, there was plenty of other world-beat magic. There were some hot guitarists with ties to Canada's West Coast playing at opposite sides of the park in the early evening.
Brazilian master Celso Machado, now based in Vancouver, gets huge sound from his acoustic instrument.
He tops that off with singing, chanting and tambourine pounding.
Steve Nikleva, a guitarist for B.C. aboriginal singer-songwriter Sandy Scofield, is a Canadian rockabilly original. (Scofield's electric band is roots music at its most raw. She also performs First Nations material in an acoustic style in the same set.)
After creating a little bit of simultaneous six-string heaven last night, Nikleva's rootsy twang and Machado's cascades can be heard this afternoon at 1:15 p.m.
Today, the festival moves to an all-day affair. Among the first-time attractions is a Jazz Village, a temporary stage for Canadian-based performers.
Not to be missed is Cuban pianist Hilario Duran (3 p.m. and 5:15 p.m.), but the whole afternoon's lineup is excellent.
Attendance estimates for last night's crowd were not available. But the park seemed more crowded than on Thursday's opening night, when Sunfest artistic director Alfredo Caxaj estimated there were 30,000-40,000 fans in the park.
IF YOU GO
What: Western Union Sunfest 2004, the 10th annual four-day outdoor festival of world music, dance, food and crafts in downtown London; festival opened Thursday
When: Continues today and tomorrow, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; music starts about noon each day
Where: Victoria Park and a section of Wellington Street east of the park
Details: Free, but donations welcome; programs are $3; more than 100 food and crafts vendors; call 672-1522 or check out www.sunfest.on.ca
Tonight's lineup:
Western Union bandshell --D'Gary, 6 p.m.; Le Vent du Nord, 7 p.m.; Hassan Hakmoun, 8 p.m.; Los de Abajo, 9 p.m.; Besh o droM, 10 p.m.
Via Rail South stage --Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali, 6 p.m.; Chango Family, 7 p.m.; Lazo, 8 p.m.; Horace X, 9 p.m.; Azucar Negra, 10 p.m. 07/10/04
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