Devoted world music fans — and those who just dabble in it via Vampire Weekend — can live it up today and tomorrow when two festivals import sounds from around the globe and our own back yard.
The seventh annual globalFest features 12 bands performing on three stages at Webster Hall tomorrow. Tonight, the Mondo Mundo Festival brings “world music from the fringe” to the Hiro Ballroom.
Both shows are associated with this weekend’s annual Association of Performing Arts Presenters conference, aimed at those who book shows at clubs, venues and festivals. Bands and artists hope to entertain presenters — and eventually get a gig.
For regular fans, the shows will simply be a universal good time, full of eclectic sounds, some lively dancing and perhaps a sneak preview of the next big act.
GlobalFest’s Caravan Palace, for example, is already a platinum-selling act in France. “They’re a gypsy-swing band with an electronic vibe,” says Isabel Soffer, director of programming at the World Music Institute, a co-
producer of globalFest. “No one has heard of them here, but they’ll be playing major arts centers and festivals such as Bonnaroo and Coachella.”
Other bands at globalFest include Siberian punk rock band Namgar and Algerian folk-rock singer Souad Massi. For the full lineup, see globalfest-ny.org.
Artists slated for Mondo Mundo include West African electronica act Burkina Electric and Lebanese-born singer-songwriter Abaji.
Both festivals take advantage of the abundance of world music already in New York and the US, which can be an advantage in times of smaller budgets and tightened visa regulations.
For example, globalFest’s zydeco heir Cedric Wilson hails from Louisiana. New York is home to both La Cumbiamba eNeYé, which plays Afro-Colombian music, and the contemporary salsa orchestra La Excelencia.
Mondo Mundo’s Afro-Latin funksters Ocote Soul Sounds and folk-blues singer Toshi Reagon are also based here.
GlobalFest kicks off at Webster Hall (125 E. 11th St.) tomorrow at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $40 through ticketmaster.com or the World Music Institute box office, 212-545-7536. The Mondo Mundo Festivals hits the Hiro Ballroom (371 W. 16th St.) today at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $15 through TicketWeb (ticketweb.com or 866-468-7619).