Gwangju World Music Festival Preview
By Doug Stuber
Mark September 7-8 on your calendars for a weekend to be in town, as the Third Annual Gwangju World Music Festival returns, offering an amazing array of world music styles and bands, most of which are free!
Bands from France, Japan, Korea, and multicultural bands formed in the U.S. but who play Balkan folk-hip-hop rock, or formed in Europe and play the very best Latin Jazz on earth will all be here, and the headliner, Daniel Perez, from Panama who is rightfully described as “Panama’s Thelonius Monk,” will lay down some serious piano improvisation in front of his seven piece band. “The band was formed in memory of the 50th year of friendship between Korea and Panama,” Perez’ literature suggests.
From France, La Caravane Passe has been described as a “gypsy-klezmer” band that has a base in Eastern European folk music, and if that isn’t enough to tweak your interest, the younger crowd is sure to enjoy Balkan Beat Box, a band that transforms ancient Balkan folk songs into dance-hall rub-a-dub hip hop with Slavic rhythms and rarely heard instrumentation. This band also categorizes itself as a punk band. Hmm, quite a combination.
For three years running, In Jae Jin “J.J” the musical director who also invented the Korean Jazz Festival, will include salsa-inspired Latin music with the top rated Nueva Manteca making the trek from Europe for the gig.
World music is described by In Jae Jin as music that “refers to ethno-music, folk or traditional music of a country, a race, or an ethnic group”. So how could the festival be complete without some revamped versions of Arirang and other traditional Korean songs (this time performed by jazz band Atman, an all-star Korean jazz unit led by Yim In Geon, and various ponsori singers, and perhaps some traditional instrumentation as well. Another Korean band, AUX will put completely new and hilarious spins on familiar songs, while EasterNox will add a jazz fusion take. If one catches all three of these acts, the head could be spinning to decide which modern version of the traditional music one likes the most.
For my money (or free music time) Daniel Perez is a must see, as he is one of the top, living jazz pianists. After that, Balkan Beat Box can twist my already-danced-out bones into a frenzy and make me move until the next day’s round of physical therapy. But then it’s so hard to not see everything, as Caravane Passe has got to be strong, and who could resist a little mambo/rumba/tango time with Nueva Manteca? If you’ve ever wandered by Buena Vista on your way into Speakeasy and seen how good the salsa dancing is here in town, Nueva Manteca is worth a listen just to watch everyone dance: a night at Bubble Bar this is not.
From Japan, Zaha Torte a trio of Accordion, Cello and Guitar replicate the café scene in Kyoto, the city of arts, a town so brimming with talent in all fields, it makes you think of Leipzig Germany, in the 1800s (or not). Still, this festival is amazing in that it all happens in a two-day stretch, and only the headliners at the Bitgul Art Center cost anything. The rest is free. It’s in prime time this year, and a wonderful way to dry off outside after the monsoon/typhoon season.