World First (a Freelance Software Developer's Guide to Festival)

Warning: This post contains typing and words, skip ahead to the band listings below for links to freeee musique!

The Chicago World Music Festival is coming up (September 19th-25th) - it's one of my favorite local fests for a few reasons. For starters it's in the early Fall, a beautiful time to be in Chicago (not just for the weather but also because it's more homey, the tourists are gone -er, which I realize is an odd thing to admire when talking about embracing the world). Secondly, the events are spread out over seven days in various parks, public spaces and live music venues. This adds to the spirit of diversity and makes it easy to hit something if not everything. Thirdly, the organizers go out of their way to bring in not just different ethnic groups but also groups that fuse ideas wildly or show influences from surprising sources.

It's a great fest although it doesn't always get proper funding. It is one of the few city fests not under the strong arm of the Mayor's office --which helps provide fat corporate funding for giant affairs like the Taste of Chicago (which brought in Stevie Wonder this year).

Etran Finatawa is playing three fest events, evidencing the growing popularity of Desert Blues. I've talked about them more than once here on the NAP so let's forget about them and move on to some of the acts I've researched. I'm presenting here the acts I've looked into that sound great AND for which you can find great download-able music. I figure, why else bore you with the stuff going on in Chicago if you can't be here. But if you can be here you should (we'll go apple picking).

Chicha Libre - I checked them out based purely on their description, Psychedelic Peruvian Cumbia Surf. Based in Brooklyn, they play a free show every Monday night. I'll definitely check it out next time I'm in my third favorite burrough. Chicha Libre has six excellent (download-able!) songs on their myspace page.

Ensemble Al-Kindi - This Arabic classical group should have the finest spectacle of the entire fest. That's because they will be performing with the Whirling Dervishes, a mystical dating back to the 16th Century that is now outlawed in Turkey as a "religious ritual." Whirling Dervish is better seen than described, so here's a YouTube link. Musically speaking, the Al Kindi ensemble is astounding in its own right. The most striking story is that of the group's founder, Jalal Eddine (formerly Julien Weiss), who started out in France playing classical guitar. When he heard a recording of the Iraqi oud master Mounir Bashir, his life changed. He converted to Islam, learned Arabic, became a master zither player, and moved to Syria where he lives in a Mamluck palace he now calls a salon de musique. A very unsophisticated Google search will direct you to a site where you can download an exceptional 2CD set ripped to high quality mp3.

Reelroad - This Russian Folk Rock group based in St. Petersburg is influenced by the Pogues. Their mission is to resurrect traditional Russian music and give it new life. They are doing a great job, although they lack the bitter edge Shane Macgowan gives the Pogues. For me, since I don't speak Russian, the poetry is missing as well. Nevertheless, the music (and the singing) is great - even when they dip their feet into Celtic waters, giving the Pogues a run for their money. Reelroad is generous with downloads on their official site. The first two songs are great. I downloaded everything they let me and I like the whole set.

Calexico with special guests Salvador Duran & Mariachi Luz de Luna - The fest closes in style at the fabulous Pritzker Pavilion with this ultra awesome Tuscon Indie Americana Mariachi extravaganza. Calexico has many live recordings download-able from their site with links to even more. Check them out I say.