Music
STEVE CROWLEY
Festival Essentials
T
he words “World Music,” when used as an all-encapsulating genre of music can often be tricky and misleading. How can so many unique sounds from all over the globe be compartmentalized into one simplified phrase? It doesn’t make sense, and that’s where the “World Music” festival comes in—the showcase of many of these sounds in one place. Take a number of bands whose musical roots lie deep in the nations wherein they reside, put them in the same city for a few days, and you’ll experience something like Cedar Rapids’ Landfall Festival of World Music. The festival celebrates its fifth year this month and features a lineup of headliners from over nine countries. The four day event takes place at a number of different venues in Cedar Rapids including CSPS Hall and Greene Square Park. Festival passes will be available, but there are also ways to experience the world class “World Music” for free and on the cheap. We’ll get into that later. Let’s look at this year’s highlights.
Limited number of $50 full festival passes available at CSPS Wed., Sept. 19 ($10 per band or $20 for all three at door) 6 p.m. | CSPS: Panorama Jazz Band 7 p.m. | Opus Concert Cafe: Trio Brasilerio 8 p.m. | CSPS: Deolinda Thurs., Sept. 20 ($10/20) 6 p.m. | CSPS: JPP 7 p.m. | Opus Concert Cafe: Trio Brasilerio 8 p.m. | CSPS: Movits! Friday, Sept. 21 ($10/20) 6 p.m. | CSPS: Rana Santacruz 7 p.m. | African American Museum of Iowa: Global Blues Summit with Terakaft and Craig Erickson 8 p.m. | CSPS: MC Rai Sat., Sept 22 (free)
Wednesday, Sept. 19 | CSPS Hall DEOLINDA w/ Panorama Jazz Band (New Orleans) and Trio Brasileiro (Brazil)
In Portugal, folk quartet Deolinda are also exploring the boundaries of a genre. Much of Portuguese folk is rooted in the fado style of music. Fado is generally associated with a subject matter relating to poverty, loss, mourning or anything gloomy. The association is loose though, and the genre has been stretched and redefined over the course of the past 200 years. Deolinda puts a refreshingly positive spin on the common perception of fado. For instance,
20 Sept. 5-19 2012 | Little Village
it is traditional for fado players to perform in all black; Deolinda does not. Lead singer Ana Bacalhau sings (in Portuguese), “I am the butterfly, beautiful and graceful / Painting the world the color pink.” You get the idea. Bacalhau is joined onstage by her husband and two cousins and their close relationships shine in their musical chemistry. Their 2010 album, Dois Selos e Um Carimbo reached No. 1 on the Portuguese charts and put Deolinda on the map.
11 a.m. | Greene Square Park: The Beggarmen (Iowa City Celtic) 12 p.m. | Greene Square: Akash Guruaja (CR Indian band) 1 p.m. | Greene Square: Hanggai 2:30 p.m. | Greene Sqaure: Rana Santnacruz 4 p.m. | Greene Square: Terakaft For schedule updates and more information, visit: www.LegionArts.org