|
|
 |
Bio
|
globalFEST 2008 Artist Bios
|
Chango Spasiuk (Argentina)
“Tango isn’t the only accordion music out of Argentina.” – New York Times
Back home, Chango Spasiuk is considered the guardian angel of chamamé, a hybrid folk style from northeastern Argentina. Working from his memories of the down-home polkas of his childhood, Spasiuk colors tradition with experimental shades of rock, jazz, and the avant-garde. His inventive, edgy take on chamamé has breathed new life into the “music with the deepest swing in Argentina.”
Label: Piranha Musik
Website: http://www.piranha.de/records/english/artists/art_chango.htm
Crooked Still (USA)
“…State-of-the-art musical chops with a deep understanding of American traditional music's raw melodic grace." – Boston Globe
Making imaginary history is how Crooked Still approaches bluegrass. In this group’s talented hands, the traditional high lonesome sound transforms into low, toothsome grit, proving that good old American tunes can warp without breaking. Crooked Still’s unconventional line up of voice, fiddle, cello, bass and banjo blends blues riffs, hip beats, and spooky backwoods melodies to reshape bluegrass, thanks to the ethereal vocals of Aoife O'Donovan and the virtuosic banjo-picking of Bruce Springsteen sideman Greg Liszt.
Label: Signature Sounds
Website: http://www.crookedstill.com/
Dulsori (Korea)
“Their drumming was so raw, ferocious, and passionate that it left the audience breathless…” – MTV Asia
The drums of Dulsori (literally, ‘wild beat’) turn contemporary concert venues into age-old festivals. The all-female ensemble draws on the traditions of Korea’s farmers, who would drum to imitate the sounds of nature and to praise natural forces, and creates highly theatrical works that honor and transform old ways. Dulsori’s high energy shows tap into the raw power of human emotions, striving to beat down the barrier between performers and audience.
Label: Independent
Website: http://www.dulsori.com/
Fallou Dieng & Le DLC (Senegal)
“Fallou Dieng has a commanding stage presence. Tall and lean like many Wolof men, he seemed to be near seven feet tall and his arms stretched amazingly wide—as in 8 feet—in a graceful movement that seemed to embrace his fans.” – afropop.org
Singer Fallou Dieng always knew he was destined for greatness, but it took a little help from Senegalese legend Youssou N’Dour to launch his recording career. In gratitude, he named his new group of young musicians after N’Dour’s Dakar Loisir Club. Dieng soon became known for provocative mbalax dances that earned him the title of “Le Roi d’Ambience” (The King of Radiance). With sounds both hard-hitting and sweet, Dieng & Le DLC are the royalty of Senegal’s fresh generation of musicians and performers. This is a beautiful crafted music, where relentless, wandering polyrhythms of mbalax contrast perfectly with Fallou's lyrical, versatile voice.
Label: New Africa Production
Website: http://www.newafricanproduction.com/ArtistPages/FallouDieng.htm
Little Cow (Hungary)
"Pure madness without the mad cow disease." - Kultur Sonntag
Named after the star character of a popular Hungarian animated cartoon, for which band leader László Kollár-Klemencz created the music, Little Cow first got together in 2002 on a lark, for a gig at one of Hungary’s most popular festivals. Now, three albums later, their Gypsy-tinged ska/rock/funk pop songs are underground hits across Europe. Playfully invoking quirky visual imagery, Little Cow takes listeners on a joy ride through the carnivalesque and the lyrical, the melancholic and the whimsical.
Label: East Blok Music
Website: http://www.myspace.com/littlecowband
Lo Còr de la Plana (France)
“Fervent songs invested with a mad energy, a singular passion that goes straight to your head…” – Le Monde
The six men in the hand-clappin', foot-stompin' vocal ensemble Lo Còr de la Plana bring a fresh pulse to the ancient Occitan heritage of southern France. Far from a traditional revival ensemble, the chorus takes the song and chant repertoire that once echoed in the region’s churches, and infuses it with modern sonic life, taking sacred and profane songs to factories, bars, and clubs. Inspired by everything from local pagan tradition to the sound of Marseille’s streets, Lo Còr de la Plana takes a no-holds-barred approach to wrestling Occitan vocal music out of sleepy obscurity.
Label: Buda Musique
Website: http://www.myspace.com/locordelaplana
Nation Beat (US/Brazil)
“The obvious affection for their sources and sheer moxie they bring make Nation Beat’s sound near addictive.” – Time Out Chicago
Nation Beat parades with an audacious, trans-American energy, so audacious they were the first US maracatu band to march in Carnival. At the heart of their music lies the mixture of northeastern Brazil’s maracatu with the sounds of the Deep South: New Orleans second line rhythms, bluegrass, funk, rock, and blues. This bold blend has sparked an unprecedented cultural exchange between the favelas of Brazil and the boroughs of New York City, including the introduction of maracatu into NYC classrooms and international musical collaborations in Recife.
Label: Modiba
Website: http://www.nationbeat.com/
Pistolera (NYC/Mexico)
“Pistolera es fuerte. Pistolera es peligrosa.” – Enlace San Diego
“…a foot-stomping sound that’s one part ranchera and one part indie pop.” - The New Yorker
Imagine what would happen if Joan Jett and the Runaways had picked up the accordion and gotten really into cumbia. That’s not too far from what happens when norteñas and bandas are shot full of attitude by the NYC-based quartet Pistolera. Mexico’s rich folklore meets the indie-infused pulse of urban Latino America in Spanish-language songs delivered with festive intensity. Their positive message and booty-shaking rhythm section are filling dance floors across North America and Europe.
Label: Independent
Website: http://www.pistolera.net/
Puerto Plata (Dominican Republic/US)
“This music is an extraordinary listening experience, in terms of the proficient acoustic guitar work and Puerto Plata's marvelous vocals.” – Billboard
An 84-year old Dominican guitar veteran, Puerto Plata conjures up the golden age of Dominican guitar music, before bachata and merengue dominated the scene. His sones, boleros and serenades recall the days when most guitar music was banished from the airwaves by a brutal dictator, only to flourish in brothels and shady bars. Puerto Plata’s sweet, nostalgic voice brings to life the joys, heartaches, and struggles of the era, introducing the world to forgotten guitar gems.
Label: IASO Records
Website: http://www.iasorecords.com/puerto-plata.cfm
Samarabalouf (France)
“Whether you’re 7 or 77, you can’t keep from swinging the night away with these party animals.” - FrancoFans The trio Samarabalouf started off by experimenting with the French traditions of gypsy jazz. But their virtuosic take on the swinging sounds of jazz manouche and jazz balkanique led the group’s two guitarists and upright bassist further into the fertile history of French popular music, adding French chanson (albeit without the vocals), musette, guitar-driven pompe, and even a rock pulse to their acoustic dance party. Playing a guitar he built himself, François Petit is joined by guitarist Pierre Margarin and bassist Luc Ambry for a rollicking, high-speed update of Django Reinhardt.
Label: Independent
Website: http://www.samarabalouf.com/
Toumast (Niger/France)
“Call it desert blues or Touareg rock’n’roll, it’s the hypnotic, addictive groove which makes it so easily appealing to a mainstream audience unfamiliar with African music. After a few listens, you’ll be hooked…” - BBC
Music is the wind that carries the stories of the Touaregs’ triumphs and tragedies, and Toumast (which means ‘identity’) has harnessed this wind. Gritty or soaring voices, instrumental drones, and rhythmic interplays between electric guitars and clapping hands tell of the precarious existence and conflicts that led to personal loss and exile for Toumast’s musicians. Despite the hardships, their bewitching melodies reveal a desperate longing to recapture the Touaregs’ precious way of life in the desert, no matter what the cost.
Label: Real World
Website: http://www.toumast.com/
Vinicio Capossela (Italy)
"Mr. Capossela is widely described as an Italian Tom Waits, and he embraces the connection. In the course of the set, the music also touched on tarantella, old R&B, chanson, lullaby, honky-tonk, madrigal and movie themes, just for starters…There was desolation in many of the songs, but also a wink, a sense of delight and a broad streak of romance." – New York Times
Musical auteur Vinicio Capossela is at the forefront of a new generation of singer-songwriters reinventing Italian song. With conceptual influences ranging from Martin Scorcese to Jack Kerouac, and sonic influences from tango to swing, Capossela explores the Italian cultural diaspora by way of the big top and the barroom. Well loved in Europe, Capossela’s darkly madcap vision promise to woo American audiences as well.
Label: Warner Music Italy
Website: http://www.viniciocapossela.it/ |
|
 |
|
|
|
