Andes Manta
With a mastery of more than 35 traditional instruments, including a dazzling array of panpipes, the four Lopez brothers from the mountains of Ecuador bring vibrant, haunting indigenous music from South America’s Andes Mountains.
Archives: folk festival 2010
Bonsoir, Catin
Honoring their deep family and community roots in Cajun music, the members of this all-women band express the unabashed energy, intensity and raw emotion that is the hallmark and heart of Cajun music.
Boukman Eksperyans
Drawing upon traditional vodou rhythms, compas, rock and R & B to create the Haitian musical movement dubbed mizik rasin (roots music), Boukman Eksperyans has re-emerged on the world stage to take their message of hope and survival in the aftermath of this year’s catastrophic earthquake in Haiti.
Capoeira Luanda
NEA National Heritage Fellow Jelon Vieira leads an ensemble showcasing tradition of capoeira, an exciting Afro-Brazilian fusion of acrobatics, dance and martial arts that developed in slave and Maroon communities in the northern Brazilian state of Bahia.
Donald Harrison & The Congo Square Nation
One of New Orleans’ most celebrated living jazzmen, Donald Harrison merges his two primary musical influences, jazz and the Mardi Gras Indian tradition, to create a resplendent celebration of New Orleans music and culture.
Ensemble Shanbehzadeh
Rarely-heard rhythms, songs and dances from the ancient Iranian port of Bushehr on the Persian Gulf, a crossroads of trade where the meeting of Persian, Sufi, Arab, Indian and, most strikingly, African traditions, created a unique musical culture.
Fiddle Journeys: 400 Years of Tune Migrations
Tracing the movement, transformation and evolution of fiddle tunes – from Europe to colonial America, through westward migrations and immigration to the present day – reveals much about the American experience. Master fiddlers from different regions and musical traditions share tunes and tales in this fascinating time travel.
Dr. Harold Lilly
The soul-stirring sounds of the Hammond B-3 organ have been a fixture in African American churches for decades. Native Richmonder and “minister of music” Dr. Harold Lilly is known for making this instrument sing with his masterful “Lilly touch” in his moving performances of sacred music.
La Excelencia
With one of the most breathtaking live shows in all of Latin music, La Excelencia, a hip, young New York ensemble has become one of the most sought after salsa orchestras in the world.
Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials
Small in stature, but a giant of the Chicago blues. With blistering slide guitar riffs, raw-boned Chicago shuffles, and heartfelt slow blues, Lil’ Ed Williams and his high-octane road tested band have been aptly described as “the world’s #1 house-rocking blues band.”
