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Home , Ancient Future (group), Anita Baker, Armenian folk music, CeCe Peniston, Chimurenga music, Ernest Dawkins

The Garifuna Collective perform Sunday, September 22, in Humboldt Park as part of the Global Peace Picnic. JEREMY LEWIS

The Reader’s guide to World Festival Its 18 free concerts, spread out over 17 venues, provide us with dozens of opportunities to get to know our neighbors better—both across the street and around the globe.

ll SEPTEMBER    - CHICAOREADER 35 Ethiopian singer Mahmoud Ahmed (in white) performs at Pritzker Pavilion during the 2015 Festival. PATRICKLPYSZKA

he World Music Festival is Chica- shrinking since founder Michael Orlove and (they appear as part of a Millennium Park Of course, the World Music Festival can’t go’s best music festival. You can his sta were laid o in 2011. It declined from Latinx showcase called ¡Súbelo!, which can stop the federal government’s campaign of enjoy it without dealing with tens 52 shows to 41 in 2012, then dropped to 36 mean “enjoy!” or “turn it up!”). Other acts cruelty against immigrants, refugees, asy- of thousands of people at once, in 2014. This year it consists of just 18, down carry forward antique traditions more or less lum seekers, and Black and Brown people in or being immobilized by a sweaty from 21 last year. But as the WMF has gotten undiluted: they include many performers at general. But because the WMF encourages Tshoulder-to-shoulder crowd. The WMF lasts smaller, it’s also weaned itself of a disappoint- Ragamala, the marathon of Indian classical curiosity, empathy, and connection, it stands 17 days, so you won’t miss it all if you get ing dependence on local acts that Chicagoans music that opens the festival, and the Yandong in symbolic opposition to a regime that po- sick on the wrong weekend. When it presents can see year-round. In 2012, locals made up Grand Singers, who specialize in the eerily sitions nonwhite cultures as targets for fear, music in a public park, it doesn’t wall o the the majority of its bookings—an all-time gorgeous polyphonic “grand song” of the Dong resentment, and hatred. When we invoke a grounds—everyone is welcome. And many of high—but this year they’re about one in seven. minority in southwestern China. “universal language,” we sometimes mean the festival’s 17 venues are clubs or concert That means the others have all traveled Most notable in the latter category is music—and the rest of the time, we mean love. halls, with all the amenities that implies. to be here—some from as far away as South Gamelan Çudamani, a thrilling, hypnotizing —P M Every one of its shows is free. Korea, , , or Niger. The metallophone orchestra from the Indonesian No other event gives so many of Chicago’s most exciting artists include several who island of Bali. The chance to see a Balinese diverse populations the joy of a concert that play fusions new and old: Congolese group gamelan in Chicago is a rare privilege—and WMFC  Full schedule on the back cover of says “home.” The World Music Festival is full Kokoko!, for instance, combine home-built o ering a warm welcome to an ensemble from this guide. Friday, September , of reminders that our species developed music guitars and scrapyard percussion with slick the world’s most populous Muslim-majority through Sunday, September , various times and locations, all tens of thousands of years before written programmed beats, while venerable Peruvian country is also a fine way for our sanctuary concerts free, many concerts all ages language. Los Wembler’s de Iquitos simmer a brew city to give the fi nger to the white suprema- Founded in 1999, the festival has been of cumbia, surf rock, and 60s psychedelia cists running the country. 36 CHICA OREADER - SEPTEMBER   ll Celebrate Beethoven’s 250th Birthday at Symphony Center! “Music should strike fire from the heart of man.” ludwig van beethoven

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Riccardo Muti Conducts the Complete Symphonies

sep 26–28 Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3, Consecration of the House Overture feb 20–23 Symphonies Nos. 2 & 5

apr 30–may 3 Symphonies Nos. 4 & 7 jun 11–13 Symphonies Nos. 6 & 8, Overture to The Ruins of Athens jun 18–21 Symphony No. 9

The Complete Sonatas

oct 13 Kirill Gerstein nov 6 & 10 Rudolf Buchbinder mar 29 & 31 Sir András Schiff apr 5 Mitsuko Uchida may 10 Evgeny Kissin may 20 Igor Levit may 24 Maurizio Pollini

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Maestro Residency Presenter CSO.ORG/BEETHOVEN Offical Airline of the CSO 312-294-3000

ll SEPTEMBER    - CHICAOREADER 37 Ragamala performer Saraswathi Ranganathan; Francisco Rosada Rosario of Pirulo y la Tribu; Los Wembler’s de Iquitos PATRICKLPYSZKACHARLIEBILLUPSJOSHUACOGAN

by Carnatic musician Bala Skandan (who plays the magnetic stage presence. Her will be pro- musician for infl uential reggaeton label White Lion FRIDAY13 double-headed pitched barrel drum called the mri- pelled by one of the few women mridangam players Records, playing with stars such as Noriega and dangam), shakes up the tradition. Skandan com- in Carnatic music, Rajna Swaminathan (also a com- Tego Calderón—and Calderón hired him as a stu- Ragamala: A Celebration of Indian poses dynamic, creative new works based on the poser), and her ever-evolving vocal line will inter- dio and concert drummer. Before Pirulo left that Classical Music Presented in collaboration foundations of Indian classical music for a blend twine with the violin of Carnatic and performer job in 2012, he’d begun to fi nd success as a produc- with People of Rhythm. This event continues into of Carnatic, Hindustani, and classical and Arun Ramamurthy, a member of the Akshara Music er and musical director in his own right. He formed the morning of Saturday, September 14. Fri 9/13, folk instruments. Akshara’s lineup for this set also Ensemble (see above). Pirulo y la Tribu by gathering a group of musi- 6 PM-8 AM, Preston Bradley Hall, Chicago includes violinists Arun Ramamurthy and Dave cians who could combine gritty bomba rhythms, Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington, all ages Eggar, hammered dulcimer player Max ZT, ban- the call-and-response structure of Cuban son, and suri player Jay Gandhi, and tabla player Nitin Mitta, 4:45–6 PM Samarth Nagarkar with Amit Kavthekar the vivid brass charts of Nuyorican salsa with a If you’ve never seen Indian classical music per- several of whom will perform in other Ragamala and Ramachandra Joshi Hindustani vocalist bit of hip-hop bombast. Pirulo y la Tribu play tight formed live, you should—and Ragamala’s 14 hours sets. Samarth Nagarkar sings with harmonium player but stay loose enough to pull in unexpected sounds: of performances are an ideal introduction. If you’re Ramachandra Joshi and the aforementioned Amit on “Sabe Como E’” (from their second album, already a fan, Ragamala will be a star-studded night Kavthekar, who returns to bring the sun up with his 2017’s Calle Linda 2), they open up a salsa groove to to remember—and it’ll give you the rare chance to 9:30–10:45 PM Jay Gandhi and Nitin Mitta With tabla. introduce a swinging, computerized reggaeton rid- hear ragas performed at the traditional hours for the sky outside now completely dark, the stage will dim. —L G which they were written. You’ll see a sea of hands clear for this duo of Akshara Music Ensemble mem- moving in unison in the audience as they keep tala, bers: New York-based Jay Gandhi (who plays the 6:15–8 AM Saraswathi Ranganathan with GS Rajan, making rhythmic gestures to count meter along Hindustani bamboo fl ute or bansuri) and tabla icon Ravi Iyer, and Ganapathi Ranganathan Ragamala’s In May, state-run company Petroperu ceased deliv- with the musicians. Feel free to join in. Onstage, Nitin Mitta, born in Hyderabad and now living in grand finale sends listeners off into the day with ery of crude to a refinery in Iquitos, Peru, after expect constant variation, exquisite detail, and daz- Rhode Island (he’s also collaborated with visionary local hero and veena player Saraswathi Rangana- locals seized control of tanks at an oil-storage facili- zling speed. Most of the ragas to be performed jazz pianist Vijay Iyer). than. The veena is the ancient ancestor of the sitar, ty in the area. Reuters reported at the time that the are poems in conversation with gods, which will with a range similar to that of the and a tim- region had seen “more than a dozen oil spills from create a sacred vibe. Many of the players come bre like a human singer or slide guitar. Ranganathan Petroperu’s pipeline in recent years.” Tangled in from renowned musical families with long lineag- 11:15 PM–12:30 AM Prasanna, Bala Skandan, and will collaborate with composer and Carnatic fl utist the rain forest and set along the River in es, and they represent both of India’s major tra- Samyuktha Sreeram When midnight arrives, it’ll GS Rajan, -based ghatam player Ravi far northeastern Peru, the village of Iquitos is also ditions: the northern Hindustani, whose smooth, be greeted by the shredding of the trailblazing Iyer, and her younger brother, Ganapathi Rangana- home to Los Wembler’s de Iquitos, an ensemble slow, stretched-out style seems to relish the spac- Prasanna, who adapts Carnatic music to the electric than, on mridangam. founded by Solomon Sanchez and his sons in 1968. es between notes, and the southern Carnatic, char- guitar. He’s joined by New York-based mridangam Despite their distance from a major city, the band acterized by quick dancing melodies with lightning player Bala Skandan of the Akshara Music Ensem- flourished during the 1970s, issuing a long string melisma. This long night’s vibrant performances ble (see above) and by teenage American musician of LPs that infused cumbia (originally a folkloric should provide magical moments of meditation and Samyuktha Sreeram, who’s stunning on the ancient Colombian dance style, characterized by a sort of an ecstatic journey into dawn beneath the Cultural clay-pot called the ghatam. SATURDAY14 on-the-one shuffl e propelled by polyrhythms) with Center’s stained-glass dome. —L  A lysergic guitars and personalized fl ourishes drawn ¡Súbelo!—A Celebration of Pan Latin from life along the river. Los Wembler’s worked to 1–2:30 AM Nandkishor Muley and Ambi Subra- Music and Culture with Pirulo y la localize cumbia—they called their music “Cumbia 6–7:15 PM Josh Feinberg with Kunal Gunjal and maniam with Mahesh Krishnamurthy and Raj Tribu, Los Wembler’s de Iquitos, and Amazonica” or chicha—and on tunes such as “La Amit Kavthekar Hindustani legend Amit Kavthekar Deshmukh Nandkishor “Nandu” Muley, from an Centavrvs Sat 9/14, 3-7 PM, Jay Pritzker Danza del Petrolero” they focused on the region’s plays tabla, a pair of tuned drums that sing surg- established musical family in Gujarat, sustains the Pavilion, Millennium Park, 201 E. Randolph, fractious relationship with the oil industry, which ing vowels like a human voice, harmonize with each night’s energy on santoor, collaborating with Car- all ages provides the potential for economic growth as well other, and mesh in stunning crescendos that blend natic violinist Ambi Subramaniam, mridangam play- as for ecological disaster. Following Sanchez’s death into one long tone. The tabla player’s fi ngers gen- er Mahesh Krishnamurthy, and tabla player Raj Pirulo y la Tribu founder Francisco “Pirulo” Rosa- four decades ago, the band all but ceased record- erate dense and evolving waterfalls of groove out Deshmukh. da Rosario is the son of Frankie Rosada, a Nuyori- ing. The musical brothers kept gigging locally, but it of impossibly subtle movements. Kavthekar will can fl utist active in the city’s salsa explosion of the wasn’t until old material by Los Wembler’s appeared accompany American sitarist Josh Feinberg, as will early 70s. Within a few years, though, he’d settled on the 2007 compilation The Roots of Chicha: Psy- young Maharashtrian virtuoso Kunal Gunjal, who 3–4:30 AM Roopa Mahadevan, Rajna Swamina- in Puerto Rico, where Pirulo was born in 1977. Pirulo chedelic Cumbias From Peru that they resuscitated plays the santoor, a 100-string hammered dulcimer than, and Arun Ramamurthy This set is definite- grew up in a subsection of San Juan’s Oriente bar- their international career. The disc opens with a Los with a warm, bubbling, melodic sound. ly worth staying up late to see. California native rio called San José, where he began studying bass, Wembler’s tune performed by another group, and a Roopa Mahadevan is a master Carnatic vocal- oboe, and percussion at age ten; by 17 he’d started few tracks later “Petrolero” kicks in—a sinuous dance ist, with a voice praised throughout India and the backing Puerto Rican musicians such as Giovanni cut equally indebted to the Ventures’ tuneful surf, 7:45–9 PM Akshara Music Ensemble New York U.S. for its strength, depth, and agility, as well as a Hidalgo, a jazz conguero who’d played with Dizzy Peruvian and Colombian popular music, and pretty City’s long-standing Akshara Music Ensemble, led trained bharata natyam dancer, with a generous, Gillespie. In the 2000s he worked as a session much all of early psychedelia. Beginning in 2016, a

38 CHICA OREADER - SEPTEMBER   ll Centavrvs; Lucibela; Girma Bèyènè (in the hat) with the band Akalé Wubé AIX PERALTA ALEX TOME CYRIL FUSSIEN

few new recordings followed, and on the brand-new that she wants to “carry on the work that Cesária cutions, and deadly famines. Bèyènè found a way became a partner in and artistic director for Loop- long-player Visión del Ayahuasca, the 50-year-old began.” Her music is a gentle amalgam of several to escape: he went on tour with the Walias band based jazz club Rituals. He also makes clothing, and band still reel off uncannily danceable numbers that styles found either in her native islands or in Bra- in 1981, when it became the fi rst modern Ethiopian his bandmates all wear his Afrocentric garb—as did touch on a surfeit of sadness and the capriciousness zil—especially bossa nova, morna, and another Cape ensemble to visit the U.S., and he defected instead Nina Simone, who hired him as a sideman and then of love—all the while declaring “Los Wembler’s para Verdean genre called coladêra, a relatively lively of returning home, settling in Washington, D.C. He discovered his talents as a designer. Outside jazz, el mundo.” —D C  descendant of morna whose bright, fun songs o en disappeared from the public eye for more than 25 though, El’Zabar remains a marginal fi gure, which engage in light social satire. She seems to shine years, but reemerged in 2008 when the seventh inspired writer-director Dwayne Johnson-Cochran, more on material that invokes the latter, including annual Ethiopian Music Festival, organized in part a childhood friend of his, to ask why via the 2014 Centavrvs consider what they play to be rock— “Mi E Dode Na Bô Cabo Verde,” a shuffl ing tribute as a tribute to Bèyènè, invited him to perform. He documentary Be Known—which includes the hushed they’re based in Mexico City, and as front man to the islands (with lyrics partly in Cape Verdean moved back to Addis Ababa, and eventually young “Wish I Knew” from the Ethnic Heritage Ensem- Demián Gálvez explained to Remezcla last year, creole) from her 2018 debut album, Laço Umbilical. French band Akalé Wubé, which had started out ble’s latest album, May’s Be Known: Ancient/Future/ Mexican audiences tend to classify any band that Lucibela has toured internationally since moving to covering Éthiopiques tracks, coaxed him into the Music (Spiritmuse). Joined by Ian Maksin (cello), doesn’t make pop or regional music as rock. “Some- Lisbon in 2012, but she began her career straight studio for what became the 30th volume in the Alex Harding (baritone sax), and Corey Wilkes times we play at world music festivals, especially out of high school in the mid-2000s, singing at beloved series, 2017’s Mistakes on Purpose. Bèyènè’s (trumpet, percussion), El’Zabar explores the med- in the U.S.,” he said. “But here we play at rock fes- tourist hotels in the islands, where she learned to worn but gentle voice fi ts right in with the group’s itative nuances of spiritual jazz; when his voice tivals.” The four-piece band are part of a World reinterpret bossa and jazz standards with her own smoky melodies and tight grooves. —LG  leaps from a tender murmur to a possessed growl Music Festival lineup dedicated to Latinx music, Afro-Caribbean fl avor. Her live shows are an exten- on “Lost in Myself,” the whole band jumps with him. but they could’ve just as easily visited Chicago to sion of the lounge vibe she learned on those jobs, —LG  play Pitchfork or Riot Fest. They also push conven- and she’s usually accompanied by an acoustic four- tional definitions of rock, as a great band should: piece that keeps it mellow. —S C-J their second album, last year’s Somos Uno, com- SUNDAY15 bined an electronified take on Mexican rock with a message of unity. The title translates to “we are Ethiopian singer, pianist, and arranger Girma Girma Bèyènè & Akalé Wubé, Kahil WEDNESDAY18 one,” but sonically Centavrvs are at least several: Bèyènè would probably never have teamed up with El’Zabar Ethnic Heritage Ensemble any given solo might be on guitar, synth, or trom- French band Akalé Wubé if it weren’t for Éthio- Sun 9/15, 7 PM, Constellation, 3111 N. Western, 21+ Englewood/Soweto Exchange, Jeremy bone, and the songs draw from Latin genres such piques. The celebrated compilation series, launched See Saturday, September 14, for Girma Dutcher Wed 9/18, 7 PM, Maurer Hall, Old as salsa and cumbia, themselves born from musical by French label Buda Musique in 1997, has intro- Bèyènè & Akalé Wubé. Town School of , 4544 N. Lincoln, mixing (the name “salsa,” a er all, alludes to com- duced many Western listeners to the lively, flam- all ages bining diff erent ingredients to make a “sauce”). Like boyant sounds of the Ethiopian golden age of the those genres, Centavrvs’s music calls for dancing, ’60s and ’70s, when a generation of musicians fused At age 65, Chicago percussionist and composer The Englewood/Soweto Exchange is a joint which is one way to honor the history the band draw jazz, , soul, and pop with traditional Ethiopi- Kahil El’Zabar is growing into his role as jazz elder. endeavor of Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk from. They’re not trying to account for all of Mexi- an rhythms, modes, and melodies. The eighth vol- He joined the Association for the Advancement Music and the Wits School of Arts at the Universi- can music, of course—it’s too diverse to tackle with ume of Éthiopiques, a various-artists album sub- of Creative Musicians at 18, about six years after ty of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Afri- just one project—but what they do know makes for a titled Swinging Addis, opens with the B side from its founding in 1965; ten years later he became its ca. It creates a platform for young musicians from great ride. Centavrvs member Alan Santos summed a 1969 single Bèyènè released via Ethiopian label chairman, a position he held till 1980. He’s served the township of Soweto and the neighborhood of it up for Remezcla in that same story: “We can’t say Amha, “Ene Negne By Manesh,” where sweltering as a sideman for jazz icons such as Pharoah Sand- Englewood to develop a songbook that articulates we sound like Mexico, we don’t,” he said. “It sounds horns swing with a loose, funky lounge keyboard. ers, Dizzy Gillespie, and Archie Shepp, but since the their shared experiences of city living, and to per- like my Mexico, like Demián’s Mexico, like Paco’s and Bèyènè released just a few singles under his own 1970s El’Zabar’s main musical concerns have been form their work in the northern and southern hemi- Rayo’s.” —JC name, finding more success with the Alem-Girma two bands of his own: the Ritual Trio and the Eth- spheres. Chicago saxophonist Ernest Dawkins, Band, which he founded in 1972 with Alemayehu nic Heritage Ensemble, both of which have passed the Exchange’s musical director, has been bridg- Eshete, a vocalist sometimes called the Ethiopian through many lineups over the decades. He’s stayed ing South African and North American jazz since Lucibela, Girma Bèyènè & Akalé Wubé Elvis (and the focus of Ethiopiques volumes nine active in a variety of creative fi elds, and has devot- 1999, when he first collaborated with reedist Zim Sat 9/14, 7 PM (doors at 6 PM), the Promontory, and 22). Much of Bèyènè’s work during the “Swing- ed much of his energy to educating, promoting, Ngqa wana. In videos of the Exchange’s recent per- 5311 S. Lake Park Ave. West, 21+ ing Addis” era was in support roles, where the spot- and booking other artists. He worked as an associ- formances in , Dawkins fl exes his jazz light didn’t fall on him: he arranged more than 60 ate arts professor at the University of Nebraska at muscle in exuberant exchanges with trumpeter Lucibela is technically a millennial, having been songs and collaborated on at least two dozen more. Lincoln from 1987 till 1999, then at the University of Thabo Sikhakhane; with any luck this concert will born in 1986, but you’d be hard-pressed to guess A er an army coup early in 1974, which led to the at Chicago till 2004; his fi rst book of poet- also feature Sikhakhane’s forceful tone and patient that from her sophisticated, been-through-many- establishment of a military dictatorship, the gov- ry, Mis Taken Brilliance, came out in 1993 via Third postbop phrasing. The Exchange isn’t really a jazz lifetimes voice. The Cape Verdean singer has a tone ernment began requiring all recorded songs to be World Press, the largest independent Black publish- group, though: in another video, Chicago rapper that channels her late countrywoman Cesária Évora, submitted for approval prior to release. Much worse er in the States. In 1996, El’Zabar launched Traffi c, an Artemis and African singer Keo Kolwane fi nd com- a beloved ambassador of morna music, and she has was on the way, and soon the country was wracked interdisciplinary performance series at Steppenwolf mon ground by exchanging self-affirmations over acknowledged the lineage: on her website she says by forced resettlement programs, extrajudicial exe- Theatre that he ran for almost four years; in 1998, he the smooth soul-gospel keyboards of local jazz  ll SEPTEMBER    - CHICAOREADER 39 Kahil El’Zabar of the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble; the Englewood/Soweto Exchange; Jeremy Dutcher SHELDONSHELLYLEVYANDILESIPHAMANDLEMATTBARNES

B pianist Alexis Lombre. Though the Exchange mering long chords drone and waver. Freely flow- nese traditional music, rock, , and more. The plans to release a recording someday, for now the THURSDAY19 ing rhythms resolve into steady, driving patterns. A band’s fi ve members come from Guangxi, a moun- only way you can hear these musicians put it togeth- lone voice erupts in bold, joyous elaborations. These tainous region bordering Vietnam, and front man er is in concert. The group will also perform Satur- Jeremy Dutcher Thu 9/19, 7 PM, American are the sounds of “grand song,” a folk-singing tra- Hong’gang Ye sings in the Mandarin dialect Guili- day, September 21, at 2:55 PM as part of the free Indian Center, 3401 W. Ainslie, all ages dition that has shaped and sustained the lives of uhua, rooted in the area. Known as a cultural melt- Englewood Jazz Festival in Hamilton Park, 513 W. See Wednesday, September 18. farmers in southwestern China for centuries. Choirs ing pot, Guangxi is home to the highest concentra- 72nd. —B M in each village of the Dong ethnic minority typical- tion of China’s largest ethnic minority, the Zhuang, ly perform grand song at the drum tower (the hub and is infl uenced heavily by Cantonese culture from Lankum, Yandong Grand Singers of of local social life) or informally in the home, and the bordering Guangdong. The group’s most recent Singer and ethnomusicologist Jeremy Dutch- China Thu 9/19, 7 PM, Beverly Arts Center, 2407 singers pass down this tradition to their children or full-length release, whose title translates to Break- er, based in , belongs to the Wolastoqi- W. 111th, all ages disciples. Grand song requires no conductor and no ing Out, is a 2018 reworking of a self-titled album yik people of Canada’s First Nations, specifical- instruments. It’s used to transmit history and culture, from a few years prior—cut down and rearranged, ly the Tobique Reserve. His self-released debut, You don’t have to dig too deeply into the Irish folk because the Dong do not have a written language of with a few new songs. After seven tracks of lively Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa (“The Songs of the canon to fi nd tales of destruction, riots, and love tri- their own. The Yandong Grand Singers, composed backbeats, reggae guitar rhythms, arena-size cho- People of the Beautiful River”), places the swoops angles that end violently, and fortunately Lankum of women and men from farming families from ruses, echoing dub excursions, and deftly lyrical and glides of his powerful operatic tenor in dia- embrace the eeriest and most disturbing aspects southwestern China, perform music that resounds solos on the group’s various folkloric instruments, logue with the songs and stories of his elders, of this legacy. Lankum are a four-piece tradition- with Dong ancestral voices but also strikes sparks Breaking Out ends on a lighters-up : on recorded on wax cylinders in 1907. Those antique al Irish group who got their start in 2012 playing with contemporary listeners around the world. The “I Understand,” Ye is accompanied only by meander- recordings had languished, forgotten in a muse- punk squats and dive bars around Dublin, and as singers are represented by Michigan-based inter- ing, meditative acoustic guitar and a mixed chorus um, until Dutcher’s mentor, Passamaquoddy song they’ve moved to bigger halls they’ve retained their national-music agency Alma Artist Booking, and of backup singers, his soaring vocals cracking with carrier Maggie Paul, recommended he seek them grit. On 2017’s Between the Earth and Sky (Rough they’ve performed at festivals throughout China and passion. It’s a beautiful way for Mabang! to point out. In attempting to learn the old songs, Dutcher Trade), they play a mix of original tunes and tradi- in Germany and Japan. The Yandong Grand Singers’ out that they can connect with audiences even with- began to compose pieces that interwove his voice tional material such as “Sergeant William Bailey,” performances include exuberant theatricality and out the kaleidoscopic genre fusion that makes their with those of the elders and supported both with an anti-enlistment song written during the 1916 Eas- humor as well as moments of quiet refl ection, and music stand out. —J C his piano playing—and the resulting album won the ter Rising that depicts the slow, lonely, self-infl icted some of their material—“Cicada Song,” “The Swal- 2018 , a 2019 , and demise of a despised army recruiter. Lankum’s lows Are Back”—calls to life the natural soundscapes See Thursday, September 19, for the many other accolades. Dutcher will perform these sound sometimes recalls that of Fairport Conven- of their native Yandong township. Other songs Yandong Grand Singers of China. breathtakingly beautiful pieces here in a solo set- tion, with beautiful vocal harmonies by all four mem- address love, relationships, or the interconnected- ting, accompanying his charismatic singing on bers. Singer, uilleann piper, and play- ness between people and the environment. Grand piano. The counterpoint he’s written illuminates the er Ian Lynch and his guitarist brother Daragh (who song is not just beautiful music but also an encyclo- Lankum Fri 9/20, 7 PM, Irish American Heritage artistry of the ancient songs, fulfi lling Dutcher’s aim gave Lankum their original name, Lynched), are pedia maintained by oral tradition, and in 2019 UNE- Center, 4626 N. Knox, all ages (explained in an NPR Music interview) of placing joined by singer and harmonium player Radie Peat, SCO offi cially proclaimed it an Intangible Cultural See Thursday, September 19. First Nations music on the same level as European who sings like Sandy Denny, and violinist and violist Heritage of Humanity. —L A  “high art.” Dutcher identifi es as queer, and his activ- Cormac Mac Diarmada. They changed the band’s ism extends to that part of his identity as well—he’s name in 2016, sending around a press release that become a spokesperson for an indigenous futur- made plain their intentions: “We will not continue ism that foregrounds First Nations perspectives, to work under our current name while the system- SATURDAY21 including their regard for “two-spirit” people such ic persecution and murder of in the FRIDAY20 as himself (the term refers to a wide variety of tra- USA continues.” The band’s current name comes Mabang! Sat 9/21, 7 PM, Mary Patricia Gannon ditional, ceremonial “” roles in indig- from the Irish Traveller ballad “False Lankum,” a cau- Mabang!, Yandong Grand Singers of Concert Hall, Holtschneider Performance Center, enous American cultures). His songs also help pre- tionary tale about a child murderer, and the Lan- China Fri 9/20, 5 PM, Ping Tom Memorial Park, DePaul University, 2330 N. Halsted, all ages serve the nearly extinct language of his people— kum original “The Granite Gaze” maintains this tra- 300 W. 19th, all ages See Friday, September 20. fewer than 100 native speakers of Wolastoq survive. dition of mining horror for wisdom with its moving —C M J lyrics: “We are the ones le behind / In swaddling Mabang! o en look the part of a Chinese folk-music bound with baling twine / They stole the marrow group: their instruments include bamboo flute, Ikebe Shakedown, Ana Ewerling from our very bones / And we in turn, turned on our suona (a piercing double-reed horn), erhu (a two- Sat 9/21, 8 PM, Martyrs’, 3855 N. Lincoln, 21+ own.” —SC-J  string violin), and sanxian (a fretless three-string lute). And many of their songs begin with just that Ikebe Shakedown fuse funk, soul, , , fl ute, perhaps, or some light strings. But then the scores to movie westerns, and more into sleek, Rooted group melodies split into eerie harmo- drums and electric guitar kick in, the volume jumps horn-driven grooves. The foundation of the seven- nies and then recede into unison. Catchy phrases up, and it becomes suddenly clear that you’re listen- piece instrumental band was laid at Bard College engage in polyphonic darting and hocketing. Shim- ing to something else: Mabang! fuse southern Chi- in Red Hook, New York, where several members

40 CHICA OREADER - SEPTEMBER   ll Lankum; the Yandong Grand Singers of China; Mabang! COURTESY THE ARTIST COURTESY ALMA ARTIST BOOKING POLLUX MUSIC OFFICIAL

met as students, and the full lineup took shape in project Afrotronix in 2014, he’d spent the bulk of their members is French electronic musician Xavi- Collective have continued his mission, touring and 2008 a er they relocated to . The airy, joy- his career in the band H’Sao, formed in Montreal in er Thomas, aka Débruit. The resulting synthesis releasing material that draws from traditional songs ous energy of the band’s music makes it feel like a 2001 with a couple brothers and a childhood friend of DIY bricolage and up-to-date tech on Kokoko!’s and modern sensibilities—including 2013’s breath- sunset drive down a winding west-coast highway, from their hometown of N’Djamena, the capital of 2019 debut, Fongola (Royal Mountain), makes for taking tribute to Palacio, Ayó. Where that album is far from the oppressive grind of the big city (which Chad. H’Sao foregrounds the harmonies of their scratchy, raw, cosmopolitan , primed for contemplative in tone, the brand-new Aban feels might be part of why the group has become a favor- massed voices, blending in popular Western genres international consumption but retaining a scruffy more celebratory and lighthearted. Focusing on ite at outdoor festivals such as Bonnaroo and Aus- such as R&B, gospel, and , but Rimtobaye was grassroots vibe. On “Azo Toke,” lead vocalist Love the unity and resilience of the Garifuna people over tin City Limits). Ikebe Shakedown recently released eager to fi nd a new idiom—partly because the pub- Lokombe sing-shouts “Ko ko ko!” halfway between time, it combines an even deeper dive into tradition the full-length Kings Le Behind (Colemine), record- lic pigeonholed H’Sao’s work. “H’Sao was perceived a rap and a chant, while on “L.O.V.E.” the harsh one- with elements of dub and stripped-down electron- ed at Brooklyn studio Hive Mind, which is partially as world music,” he told Teller Report in January. string guitar of Dido Oweke seesaws over a junk- ics. The collective sing in the Garifuna language owned by two Shakedown members, bassist Vince “I wanted to make music less community and more yard full of wheezing and clattering while a chorus (spoken by fewer than 200,000 people), but you Chiarito and saxophonist Michael Buckley. The stu- universal.” Afrotronix is his vehicle for exploring of female guest singers (or just one, heavily pro- don’t have to understand it to absorb their passion. dio has given the band space to collaborate and electronic music outside the group: he’s brought cessed) repeats the title of the song, creating a dis- —J L experiment over the past couple years, and its together the sweltering guitar of Tuareg blues, the tinctively Congolese take on the Shangri-Las’ girl- casual creative environment has served them well: melismatic melodies of Senegalese , the spry group garage. The mix of smooth grooves and rust- See Saturday, September 21, for Kokoko! every member of the group contributed to the writ- polyrhythms of Afropop, and the ground- shaking ed, serrated beats is weirdly accessible and accessi- ing process for Kings Left Behind, shaping some- beats of EDM. On 2017’s Nomadix (Productions bly weird—a soundtrack for a hole-in-the-wall party thing fresh and fun in a subgenre fraught with retro Sia), Rimtobaye makes sparing use of the blaring with guests from everywhere. —N B  Born in 1959 in Newark, New Jersey, to parents of re-creations. —J L bass and power-up synths of stadium-ready - the Puerto Rican diaspora, Hermán Olivera quick- ern dance music, mostly relying on the half dozen ly made a name for himself in the New York salsa other genres that inform his animated production. scene of the 1980s. His gift for vocal improvisa- Born in Chisinau, Moldova, in 1987, Ana Ewerling He delivers his euphoric vocals mostly in one of the tion enlivened several essential hits by the famous (formerly Muntaneau) began studying music at age dozen languages of the Sara people, and he’s got SUNDAY22 Conjunto Libre, co-led by percussionist Manny seven—including solfege, piano, and jazz perfor- positivity for days. Drummer Lionel Kizaba reinforc- Oquendo—including the smokily sensuous mid- mance—and moved to Chicago in 2010. For the past es Afrotronix’s muscular dance rhythms for live per- Global Peace Picnic with the tempo “Decidete” and the barn burner “Elena four or five years, she’s been involved in a series formances, where Rimtobaye consistently wears a Garifuna Collective, Kokoko!, and Elena,” where Olivera’s brash, rapid-fire singing of local musical projects, including self-described large white helmet that looks like a cross between Hermán Olivera y Su Orquesta Sun 9/22, functions almost as another brass instrument. He “global dance music” band Beats y Bateria. Ewer- a chambered nautilus and a Slinky—he says it’s a 2-6 PM, Humboldt Park Boathouse, 1301 N. went on to record with most of the big names in the ling sings in Portuguese, Spanish, and English as futuristic version of the mask that Sara boys wear Sacramento, all ages genre, including Johnny Pacheco and Ray Barretto. well as her native Moldovan, but for this show she’ll during the male initiation ceremony called yondo. In recent years he’s been the lead for the legendary collaborate with Chicago pianist and arranger Pat- As he told OkayAfrica in 2016, the headgear helps The Garifuna people trace their origins to the Eddie Palmieri’s band, where he negotiates the pro- rick Donley on a set of predominantly Moldovan him focus on his music onstage (probably because early 1600s, when two slave ships sank near the gressive arrangements as eff ortlessly as he handles music scored for quintet—the vocals and piano will it restricts his peripheral vision), and in turn that Caribbean island of Saint Vincent and the surviv- traditional material. Olivera has mostly recorded be accompanied by guitar, violin, (a Romanian focus benefi ts his fans—he clearly wants every per- ing West Africans assimilated with the local Car- with other bandleaders, but he fi nally released an fl ute), and percussion. That’s not to say the perfor- son in the crowd to spend the entire show dancing. ibs and Arawaks. Today the Garifuna primarily live album under his own name in 2014: La Voz del Cari- mances will be traditional or folkloric, however: —LG  in coastal communities in Central America, though be (Salsaneo) is about what you’d expect from a vet- though the material Ewerling has chosen from her a significant population has immigrated to the eran professional, which is to say it’s a crash course homeland includes what she characterizes as peas- . Their total number is only around in salsa. The title track in particular is an impres- ant songs, she and her ensemble will treat it as jazz, Congolese popular music has been dominated by 600,000, and as a consequence many people don’t sive showcase, with Olivera’s polished vocals riding adding touches from bossa nova, fado, and Bal- imported Cuban rumba for decades now. But an know they exist. The Garifuna Collective aim to a sashaying groove. In live performance, Olivera’s kan dance music. Blessed with a potent, crystalline alternative tradition of gritty electronica has thrived change that. A multigenerational ensemble found- voice has lost a bit of its old razor sharpness, but voice and a striking stage presence, Ewerling deliv- as well, stretching back to Bony Bikaye’s new age ed in the late 90s by Belizean musician Andy Pala- he can still pack a lot of quivering emotion into a ers her unusual fusion with the utmost delicacy and clatter in the 80s and most famously exemplified cio, they’ve toured widely enough to bring the cul- phrase and slide his way around a melody with inge- elegance. —C   M  J by Konono No. 1’s blaring “congotronics.” Kinsha- ture and sounds of the Garifuna people to more nuity and soul. —N B  sa band Kokoko! belong to this scruff y parallel lin- than 30 countries. Their 2007 debut album, Wátina, eage, creating a jarringly novel sound out of home- gave its gently percolating Garifuna rhythms, deli- Afrotronix, Kokoko! With video mixing by built guitars, old synths, and percussion instruments cate guitars, and soulful, understated songwriting Giroscopio. Sat 9/21, 9 PM, Chop Shop, 2033 W. made from recycled plastic bottles, barrels, and a contemporary feel with gorgeous studio produc- North, 21+ scrap metal. Much as Bikaye teamed up with French tion; it became a breakthrough success, earning composer Hector Zazou and Konono No. 1 part- Palacio the 2007 WOMEX award (along with Wáti- Before Chadian guitarist, vocalist, and produc- nered with Belgian label Crammed Discs, Kokoko! na producer Ivan Duran). Palacio died at age 47 in er Caleb Rimtobaye launched Afrofuturist dance have benefi ted from European connections: one of 2008 from stroke and heart attack, but the Garifuna  ll SEPTEMBER    - CHICAOREADER 41 Ikebe Shakedown; Kokoko!; Les Filles de Illighadad ABIGAILGILLARDICOURTESYTHEARTISTCOURTESYPOWERLINEAGENCY

B er Thomas de Hartmann from 1924 to 1927: he dic- traditional goat-skin drum and the accompanying WEDNESDAY25 tated roughly 300 compositions based on that folk group dance, performed by young girls at court- FRIDAY27 music to de Hartmann, who transcribed them in ing rituals (or just for fun). Tende parties include HaitianDansCo, Gurdjieff Ensemble Western notation. Eskenian and company wanted yodeling chants and, judging by this recording, a Gamelan Çudamani Tickets required Wed 9/25, 7 PM, Maurer Hall, Old Town School of to reintroduce the sounds that inspired Gurdjieff via lot of delighted laughter and mutual encourage- for entry; reservations encouraged via Folk Music, 4544 N. Lincoln, all ages a modern interpretation of his work, which result- ment. Les Filles de Illighadad’s second album, 2017’s harristheaterchicago.org. Walk-up tickets ed in the 2011 album Music of Georges I. Gurdjieff Eghass Malan (Sahel Sounds), is full of songs that available only on a fi rst-come, fi rst-served basis. Haiti is by far the most populous country in the (ECM). For their next project, the Gurdjieff Ensem- combine the two styles. Ghali switches to electric Fri 9/27, 6 PM, Harris Theater for Music and Caribbean with a dominant French cultural influ- ble honored another giant of Armenian folk music: guitar, which she plays over tende, hand claps, and Dance, 205 E. Randolph, all ages ence, but that’s not the only thing that makes it priest, scholar, ethnomusicologist, and composer background harmonies provided by Akrouni and a unusual in the region: its deeply rooted African Soghomon Soghomonian, better known as Komitas. third woman (unfortunately unidentifi ed in publici- American international-music festivals have been religious influence is more Dahomey than Yoru- He fi rst studied music in the 1880s at the Etchmi- ty materials). The result is a joyfully meditative cel- criticized for their reliance on what Reader crit- ba, which in large part accounts for the diff erences adzin Cathedral, the heart of the Armenian Apostol- ebration whose mood dri s between the poles of ic Peter Margasak has called “pan-stylistic per- between Vodou and closely related faiths such as ic Church, and became an expert in khaz, the nota- blissed-out psychedelic trance and rambunctious formers whose sound rarely suggests anything Santería and Candomblé. Cultural and religious tra- tion system used in Armenian religious music. He block party—it sticks closer to the fi rst on the title more specific than ‘world music.’” This strategy ditions shaped by the African diaspora, whether in also translated thousands of folk songs into West- song, and pushes toward the second on the rhyth- is encouraged by issues of cost and accessibili- , Puerto Rico, Brazil, or elsewhere, all ern notation, though his work all but ended with the mically intense “Jori.” This Chicago concert by Les ty—artists advancing specifi c, rooted traditions in give music and dance a central place in the worship profound trauma he suff ered during the Armenian Filles de Illighadad is a rare chance to see one of other parts of the world are often more difficult of the sacred, and none of the dances is purely sec- genocide in 1915. The state-owned college of music the most quietly cutting-edge performers on the and expensive to book than stateside acts pushing ular. The founder of this group, Dieufel Lamisere, a in the Armenian capital, , is named after globe. —N B vague, crowd- pleasing fusions. Those issues are native of Port-au-Prince, has studied dance in many him—the Komitas State Conservatory is where Eske- especially salient with gamelan music, which orig- forms, among them jazz, modern, and ballet. His nian earned his master’s degree in piano. The Gurd- inated on the Indonesian island of Bali: it’s played current ensemble, HaitianDansCo, combines those jieff Ensemble’s smoldering, somber 2015 album, Kim So Ra plays the janggu, an hourglass-shaped by large ensembles using heavy, idiosyncratical- infl uences with folkloric and traditional dance, and Komitas (ECM), brings detail, patience, and nuance drum that’s been part of Korean music for more ly tuned metallophones, gongs, and other percus- has presented Haitian culture all over the Americas. to already powerful traditional sounds, amplifying than a thousand years. Played with bare hands, sive instruments and o en accompanied by elab- The company is part of a larger organization called their emotional resonance. —L G with sticks, or with one of each, it’s constructed orately costumed dancers, so the logistical chal- Dance to Save Lives, which teaches Haitian youth, with opposing heads so that it can simultaneous- lenges of touring are formidable. Because many raises money for infrastructure and , and ly produce different pitches; in some settings, a major American cities and college towns have at offers food, shelter, and career opportunities to drummer will also dance to encourage listeners to least one homegrown gamelan ensemble, it can be young dancers in need. —M K get on their feet and do the same. Kim is an offi- hard for organizers to justify the immense expense THURSDAY26 cially designated ambassador of Korean folk music, of bringing over a group from Indonesia. Fortu- but she’s not a rigid preservationist. During a visit nately this year Chicago’s World Music Festival In 2008 Lebanese-born Armenian pianist and com- Les Filles de Illighadad, Kim So Ra to Chicago in 2014, she collaborated in turn with a has secured a singular Balian company, Gamelan poser Levon Eskenian launched the Gurdjieff Thu 9/26, 7 PM, Sleeping Village, 3734 W. group of dancers (as part of Links Hall’s Collision Çudamani, by serving as an anchor for its U.S. Ensemble to create “ethnographically authentic” Belmont, 21+ Theory series), classical guitarist Tim Johnson, jazz tour and encouraging other stateside presenters arrangements of his country’s folk music. Eskenian saxophonist Jeff Chan, and experimental rock trio to book it as well. Founded in 1997 and based in filled its ten-piece lineup with virtuosos on tradi- To Western listeners unfamiliar with the music of Kwaidan—and no matter the setting, she found ways the village of Pengosekan, Gamelan Çudamani has tional Armenian and Middle Eastern folk instru- Niger and the Sahel, Les Filles de Illighadad may to assert the intensity of her alternately stark and distinguished itself from the many Balian gamelan ments, including the (a double reed made sound like traditional performers. In fact, they’re frenetic playing. This time, though, Kim will present troupes that exist mainly to entertain tourists: it’s from apricot wood, with a full, slightly nasal tone), adventurous innovators. The band’s cofounder, a set of relatively traditional material called “A Sign a nonprofi t organization that emphasizes the con- the kamancheh (a bowed stringed instrument of Fatou Seidi Ghali of the village of Illighadad, is one of Rain,” which shares its name with her most recent tinuity between traditional culture and contem- Iranian origin, also called the spike , whose of only two professional female guitarists in Niger. album. She’ll be accompanied by Lee Hye Joon on porary artistic practice. Çudamani has commis- sharp, grainy sound can cut through dense arrange- She picked the instrument up from her brother piri (a bamboo double-reed instrument similar to sioned the manufacture of special instruments ments), and the (a hammered dulcimer wide- around eight years ago, and by practicing in secret the oboe), Lim Ji Hye on kayagum (a zither related with a wider-than-usual pitch range, which allows spread in the Middle East and western , which she taught herself to play in the dreamy, bluesy to the guzheng and koto), and fellow drummer Hyun it to play older compositions as well as contempo- can pack dozens of pinprick notes into a couple Tuareg style made famous by artists such as Tinari- Seung Hun, but the program also provides plenty of rary pieces from around Bali, and it stores an extra seconds). Eskenian took the ensemble’s name from wen and Mdou Moctar. Half of her fi rst album, the room for Kim’s rousing solo playing. —BM set in Los Angeles to cut down on shipping costs. 20th-century Armenian author, mystic, and compos- 2016 Sahel Sounds release Les Filles de Illighadad Many of the 19 current ensemble members grew er G.I. Gurdjieff , who spent two decades traveling (“The Girls of Illighadad”), consists of intricate, liq- up being taught by older members in communi- through the Middle East, central Asia, and northern uid acoustic performances with her cousin, vocal- ty-based schools, and they’ve learned not only a Africa studying folk music. Gurdjieff owes much of ist Alamnou Akrouni. The other half is a rousing virtuosic command of their instruments but also a his legacy to his collaboration with Russian compos- 18-minute tende party—“tende” here referring to a light-handed dynamism that makes their perfor- 

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OLDTOWNSCHOOL.ORG ll SEPTEMBER    - CHICAOREADER 43 Kim So Ra (at far right) and her ensemble; a dancer with Gamelan Çudamani; Chief Boima COURTESYSORIOSCARSMITHCOURTESYTHEARTIST

B mances especially thrilling. Çudamani has just ers that be in music patterned a er the sounds he On their most recent album, 2008’s self-released released its fourth album, Bhumi, through the non- heard growing up in the Zimbabwean countryside. Yo Baba, they incorporate nimble West African SUNDAY29 profi t Foundation for World Arts. —B M —B M guitars, loose-limbed salsa congas, and ebullient hip-hop breakbeats—and that’s just on one song, World Music Festival meets the “Crash da Party.” Yo Baba also detours into lean, World Dumpling Fest with Fidel Nadal Born in 1982 to human-rights-activist parents in straightforward blues (“Lonely Road”) and fea- featuring Mr. Pauer, Alsarah & the Khartoum, Sarah Mohamed Abunama Elgadi was tures an appearance by rapper Anacron (“Galsun”). Nubatones, and Lowdown Brass Band SATURDAY28 forced to fl ee Sudan with her family during a 1989 Vocalist-percussionist Kwame Steve Cobb has per- Sun 9/29, noon-7 PM, Navy Pier, 600 E. Grand, military coup, and spent a few years in Yemen formed in 70s funk group Boscoe and with Roy all ages Thomas Mapfumo & the Blacks before civil war there prompted them to relocate Ayers and (and released one of Chi- Unlimited, Alsarah & the Nubatones, to the United States in the mid-90s. She went on to cago’s earliest hip-hop recordings, the 1983 12-inch Afro-Argentine reggae veteran Fidel Nadal, a Funkadesi, Chief Boima Sat 9/28, 9 PM, study at Wesleyan University, and “Mastermind”), while guitarist-vocalist Abdul descendant of Angolan slaves, was born into an aca- Concord , 2047 N. Milwaukee, 21+ a er graduating in 2004 made her way to Brooklyn Hakeem has worked with the likes of Sly & Rob- demic family and has become a spokesperson for to pursue a career in music. There she met Egyptian bie, Herbie Hancock, and Philip Glass. Funkadesi’s the lesser-known population of Black Argentines— Born in 1945, Thomas Mapfumo began his musi- American percussionist Rami El-Aasser, and their genre blending would probably be disorienting if approximately 5 percent of the population. Heavily cal career singing covers of American rock and discussions about migration patterns and cross- the band weren’t so tight—they’ve built a coherent, infl uenced by Peter Tosh and , he dove soul tunes in nightclubs around Harare, the capital cultural exchanges inspired them to start a band. hard-to-pin-down sound that celebrates their cul- into music in the early 80s and practically creat- of (during those years, the country was She created the stage name “Alsarah” by attaching tural commingling. —LG  ed Argentina’s reggae scene. In 1985 he cofound- called Rhodesia or Southern Rhodesia, and it was the Arabic defi nite article to “Sarah,” and questions ed the legendary band , which embroiled in a long transition away from British of identity, home, and migration flavor the music mixed reggae, ska, and punk, and in the mid-90s he colonial rule). In the early 1970s, Mapfumo made a she makes with Alsarah & the Nubatones. She calls Chief Boima, born Boima Tucker, grew up in Mil- launched the more straightforward reggae group choice that would help transform the future of his what they do East African retro-pop, and on their waukee in the 80s in a close-knit community of Lumumba. Since 2000, though, he’s pursued a high- country: he began playing original material that 2014 debut album, Silt, they explore traditional East immigrants from Sierra Leone and elsewhere in ly successful solo career. A charming, charismatic drew upon his roots, singing in Shona rather than African sounds via original songs and classic mate- southwest Africa. He’s traveled the world as a writ- vocalist steeped in Rastafarian spirituality, he uses English and setting his words to cycling, single- rial, in part to help the multinational cast of players er and DJ, focusing on digital music from all over his lyrics to address the oppression and discrimina- string fi gures that transposed melodies traditional- learn more about Nubian music. On 2016’s Manara, Africa and the African diaspora, and his DJ sets tion suff ered by the descendants of Africans in the ly played on mbira (thumb piano) onto electric gui- they expand beyond those parameters, infusing reflect the dizzying variety of mixes, beats, and Americas—his tunes never lose sight of the diaspo- . He dubbed his style music (after their sophisticated songwriting with melodies and modes of production that he’s come across in his ra, particularly the island sounds of . Sharing the Shona word for a liberation struggle), and his textures from jazz, hip-hop, dub, and more. Alsarah is research. Given the size of his musical vocabu- Nadal’s set is Miami-based, Venezuela-born DJ and metaphorical lyrics protested the white-dominated a charismatic front woman, and her vocal harmonies lary, it’s almost impossible to guess exactly what producer Toto González, aka Mr. Pauer. He calls power structure. Mapfumo attained such popu- with her sister, Nahid, help give the band’s songs an sounds you might hear in a Boima set, but you his multicolored tropical-pop dance music “elec- larity and authority that the colonial government earthy, organic feel—though considering that both could prepare by listening to the releases on his trópico,” taking cues from Latin American meren- attempted to ban his more confrontational songs Nubatones albums have been remixed by dance Intl Blk label, which he started in 2015 to distribute gue and cumbia, Angolan , and island beats and in 1979 jailed him without charge—though a er producers, it’s safe to say they’re also chic enough his own work and that of like-minded DJs. Judg- such as Guadeloupean zouk and Jamaican reggae. three months of popular demonstrations in his sup- for the hippest urban lounges. —J L  ing by the latest from Intl Blk—the three volumes His shining, shimmering blend is just plain fun, and port, the regime was forced to let him go. After of Cali Quilombo, an eclectic compilation of Afro- for this performance he’ll augment it with live per- Zimbabwe became independent in 1980, Mapfumo Caribbean remixes of recent California rap—Boi- cussion and fi ve backup multi- instrumentalists and fi xed his criticism upon Robert Mugabe’s new gov- Chicago ten-piece Funkadesi are perfect for the ma’s quest for musical knowledge hasn’t slackened vocalists. This is a set “pa los bailaores,” as the say- ernment and its growing corruption. Unfortunate- World Music Festival: many of their members a bit. The remix of Tyga’s “Taste” he did with Los ing goes: “for the dancers!” —C M  ly, Mugabe proved a more formidable and intrac- come from far-flung countries, and since form- Angeles DJ Foreigner (aka Adam Cooper) gives J table foe (he ruled the country till his ouster in ing the band in 1996 they’ve sought out creative it a dancing-in-the-streets-of-Bahia flair—it even 2017), and “the Lion of Zimbabwe” went into exile ways to incorporate folk and pop from those plac- makes me like Tyga for a second. As a DJ, Boima See Saturday, September 28, for in the late 1990s, eventually settling in Eugene, es. Rahul Sharma, who plays sitar, tabla, acous- has absorbed the distinctive rhythms and sounds Alsarah & the Nubatones. Oregon. Mapfumo wouldn’t return to his home- tic guitar, and bass, was born in the U.S. to East of the places he’s lived and traveled: a er Milwau- land till 2018, when he visited for the first of a Indian parents who’d been raised in Kenya, while kee, he spent years in Oakland and Brooklyn, all series of concerts, and he’s still based in the Unit- vocalist-percussionist Valroy Dawkins grew up in the while making lengthy trips to Africa and South Lowdown Brass Band started in the early 2000s, ed States. Though he’s open to input from Ameri- rural Jamaica, about an hour west of Kingston in America and performing and collaborating with around the time southern rappers ushered crunk can sources—in 2000 he made a record with impro- the parish of Manchester. Funkadesi use reggae other producers influenced by the global south, into the mainstream, and on Facebook the Chica- visers Wadada Leo Smith and Henry Kaiser, and in and bhangra as a foundation for their immersive most notably DJ/Rupture. Boima now lives in LA, go group say they play “brass,” “street funk,” and 2015 he jammed with Chicago blues harmonica grooves, frequently reinforcing reggae riddims and his appearances in Chicago have been rare— “crunk”—an adequate shorthand for their earthy, player Billy Branch at Rosa’s Lounge—he contin- with gentle, cycling tabla ornamentation while the opportunity to hear him mix live shouldn’t be danceable music, which embeds hip-hop, funk, ues to sing mostly in Shona and call out the pow- panoplies of disparate sounds zoom by overhead. brushed off lightly. —SC-J  soul, and R&B into the traditional New Orleans

44 CHICA OREADER - SEPTEMBER   ll Never miss a show again.

Fidel Nadal; Lowdown Brass Band FERNANDO MESSINO RENTAUSKAS EARLY

second-line street-parade style. Their lineup usual- arrive in concise, precisely repeated patterns that when they’re absent. Midway through “2nd Line WARNINGS ly consists of two drummers and a sousaphonist in replicate the feel of looped samples, and on “Don’t Hop,” the trombones mimic the booming brass sam- the rhythm section, plus three trombonists, two sax- Wait! Right Now!” the horns briefly lock in with a ple that anchors Pharoahe Monch’s “Simon Says,” ophonists, and two trumpeters up front. About four boom-bap breakbeat. Billa Camp’s group the Dread a clever nod that demonstrates the band’s deeply Find a concert, buy a years ago they recruited local rapper Billa Camp, and veteran rapper Ang13 are among the guests rooted aff ection for the genres they’re combining. ticket, and sign up to who’s nudged Lowdown closer to hip-hop for 2018’s on the mike, though Lowdown’s instrumental parts Even better, they sound like they’re having a blast self-released Lowdown Breaks: rounded brass notes bump so hard that you don’t really miss the vocals doing it. —L G v get advance notice of Chicago’s essential music shows at please recycle this paper chicagoreader.com/early.

LIVE MUSIC IN URBAN WINE COUNTRY 1200 W RANDOLPH ST, CHICAGO, IL 60607 | 312.733.WINE

9.23 Roger Clyne Acoustic UPCOMING SHOWS 10.17 TEEDRA MOSES DON’T MISS... WITH GUEST MILES NIELSEN 10.18 ROBBIE FULKS 10.6 AMY BLACK’S HEART & SOUL: A Ross Mathews Dragtastic 10.20 JON MCLAUGHLIN WITH SAWYER 9.15 9.25 Greg Laswell CLASSIC RHYTHM & BLUES REVUE Bubbly Brunch FEAT. SHEA COULEÉ 10.6 PAULA COLE 10.21 JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE 9.30 Toronzo Cannon WITH THE CERNY BROTHERS 9.15 Smells like Nirvana AND THE CHICAGO WAY 10.7 ERIC HUTCHINSON 10.22-23 MADELEINE PEYROUX PERFORMS MTV UNPLUGGED 10.8-9 KEVIN GRIFFIN 10.27 CHICAGO PHILHARMONIC FALL Radney Foster & OF 9.17 Glenn Jones 10.2 SERIES: QUEENS OF JAZZ Kim Richey 10.11 VIVIAN GREEN 10.26-27 RHIANNON GIDDENS 9.18 David Cook 10.3 Chicago Farmer 10.13 BILAL 10.30-11.1 JOHN HIATT WITH LOGAN LEDGER WITH ALTHEA GRACE 10.14-15 HIROMI 11.3 WILLIAM DUVALL 9.22 EIGHT NIGHTS: A Staged OF ALICE IN CHAINS 10.16 TYRONE WELLS Reading to Benefit HIAS 10.4-5 lee ann womack 11.7 EDWIN MCCAIN sep sep sep sep 16 20 22 29

Rhett Miller of Old 97s Ronnie Baker Brooks CeCe Peniston Billy Cobham feat. Randy Brecker & Fareed Haque ll SEPTEMBER    - CHICAOREADER 45 The complete schedule of World Music Festival Chicago

FRIDAY13 SUNDAY15

Ragamala: A Celebration of Girma Bèyènè & Akalé Indian Classical Music This Wubé, Kahil El’Zabar Ethnic event continues into the morning of Heritage Ensemble 7 PM, Saturday, September 14. 6 PM-8 AM, Constellation, 3111 N. Western, 21+ Preston Bradley Hall, Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington, all ages WEDNESDAY18 6–7:15 PM Josh Feinberg, Kunal Gunjal, and Amit Kavthekar The Englewood/Soweto Exchange, Jeremy Dutcher 7:45–9 PM Akshara Music 7 PM, Maurer Hall, Old Town School of Ensemble Folk Music, 4544 N. Lincoln, all ages

9:30–10:45 PM Jay Gandhi and Nitin Mitta THURSDAY19

11:15 PM–12:30 AM Prasanna, Jeremy Dutcher 7 PM, American Bala Skandan, and Indian Center, 3401 W. Ainslie, all ages Samyuktha Sreeram Lankum, Yandong Grand 1–2:30 AM Nandkishor Muley Singers of China 7 PM, Beverly and Ambi Subramaniam with Arts Center, 2407 W. 111th, all ages Mahesh Krishnamurthy and Raj Deshmukh FRIDAY20 3–4:30 AM Roopa Mahadevan, Rajna Swaminathan, and Arun Mabang!, Yandong Grand Ramamurthy Singers of China 5 PM, Ping Tom Memorial Park, 300 W. 19th, all ages 4:45–6 AM Samarth Nagarkar with Amit Kavthekar and Lankum 7 PM, Irish American Ramachandra Joshi Heritage Center, 4626 N. Knox, all ages

6:15–8 AM Saraswathi Sarah Mohamed Abunama Elgadi of Alsarah & the Nubatones NOUSHASALIMI Ranganathan with GS Rajan, SATURDAY21 Ravi Iyer, and Ganapathi Ranganathan Mabang! 7 PM, Mary Patricia y su Orquesta 2-6 PM, Humboldt Gannon Concert Hall, Holtschneider Park Boathouse, 1301 N. Sacramento, FRIDAY27 SUNDAY29 Performance Center, DePaul University, all ages SATURDAY14 2330 N. Halsted, all ages Gamelan Çudamani Tickets World Music Festival meets required for entry; reservations the World Dumpling Fest ¡Súbelo!—A Celebration of Ikebe Shakedown, Ana WEDNESDAY25 encouraged via harristheaterchicago. with Fidel Nadal featuring Pan Latin Music and Culture Ewerling 8 PM, Martyrs’, 3855 N. org. Walk-up tickets available only on Mr. Pauer, Alsarah & the with Pirulo y la Tribu, Los Lincoln, 21+ HaitianDansCo, Gurdjieff a fi rst-come, fi rst-served basis. 6 PM, Nubatones, and Lowdown Wembler’s de Iquitos, and Ensemble 7 PM, Maurer Hall, Old Harris Theater for Music and Dance, Brass Band Noon-7 PM, Navy Pier, Centavrvs 3-7 PM, Jay Pritzker Afrotronix, Kokoko! With video Town School of Folk Music, 4544 N. 205 E. Randolph, all ages 600 E. Grand, all ages v Pavilion, Millennium Park, 201 E. mixing by Giroscopio. 9 PM, Chop Lincoln, all ages Randolph, all ages Shop, 2033 W. North, 21+ SATURDAY28 Lucibela, Girma Bèyènè & THURSDAY26 Akalé Wubé 7 PM (doors at 6 PM), SUNDAY22 Thomas Mapfumo & the the Promontory, 5311 S. Lake Park Ave. Les Filles de Illighadad, Blacks Unlimited, Alsarah & West, 21+ Global Peace Picnic with Kim So Ra 7 PM, Sleeping Village, the Nubatones, Funkadesi, the Garifuna Collective, 3734 W. Belmont, 21+ Chief Boima 9 PM, Concord Music Kokoko!, and Hermán Olivera Hall, 2047 N. Milwaukee, 21+

46 CHICA OREADER - SEPTEMBER   ll