FREE Volume 2 Number 5 September/October 2002 A BI-MONTHLY NEWSPAPER ABOUT THE HAPPENINGS IN & AROUND THE GREATER LOS ANGELES FOLK COMMUNITY “Don’t you know that Folk Music is illegal in Los Angeles?” –Warren Casey of the Wicked Tinkers 16 Days of music and more WORLD FESTIVAL OF SACRED MUSIC RETURNS TO L.A. he 2002 World Festival of Sacred Music - well as the high holy days of the Jewish year. and a wide array of other traditions that, separately Los Angeles (WFSM-LA) is a 16-day, 55 The Festival is designed to encourage people to and together, will transport you to an “inner sacred event, multi-faceted festival committed to travel to sites throughout Los Angeles, crossing not place.” promoting ethical values and bringing the only neighborhood borders, but also cultural, reli- So many of the problems in the world come from community together. The Festival opens gious, and ideological boundaries. It encourages peo- a lack of understanding. The WFSM is one is an on September 14, 2002 continues until ple to see / hear the city they live in; to hear music in umbrella under which artists and venues share cul- T September 29th. Events will take place in places sacred, secular, public and private. There are tures and beliefs to transcend our differences. churches, temples, community centers, theaters, muse- many opportunities to also experience a cross pollina- One way to think about this Festival is that when ums, parks and universities. The artists involved are cul- tion of cultural practices as many of the events occur you to see/feel these events, remember: it is not enter- turally and ethnically diverse and represent a wide array in spaces that do not share the performers faith and tainment. You are there to be a part of it, to bring your- of styles. They bring music, movement, spoken word and visual art to the Festival. The Festival does not promote or endorse any political or religious agen- da, nor is it a commercial entertainment event. It pro- vides an opportunity for people to come together to artistically consider the spiritual, ethical, and eco- logical questions of our time and city. Broadly defining “sacred” to encompass a wide range of traditional and modern music, dance and other forms or artistic expression, the World Festival of Sacred Music is founded on the belief that sacred music has the ability to bring forth the shared human values on many of the artists involved are performing with peo- self to it and learn about the different ways to express which humanity’s future depends: peace, understand- ple of other faiths or ethnicities. Salam/Shalom brings music and dance – to find ecstacyecstasy in the gospel ing and respect for all living things. The Festival is a together middle eastern music and Jewish choral at AME, and the Whirling Dervishes, and even the collaborative project that encourages people to work music at the Eagle Rock Community Center; and A jazz of Duke Ellington. Learn about the city you live with others outside their normal community and pres- Universal Harmony of Souls brings together music in and the people who populate it. Celebrate our dif- ent messages that grow out of deep social concerns. and dance from Cambodia and Bali, songs from the ferences! And in the process you will find our com- Following in the footsteps of the first World Baha’i choir and a Hindu choir and recitations from a mon humanity. Festival of Sacred Muslim Imam and a Music in 1999, this Jewish Cantor at the www.festivalofsacredmusic.org years festival is also a Self-Realization grass roots effort, with- Fellowship Lake out a board of direc- Shrine. tors, built on a self-suf- The Opening Gala ficient structure, rely- Concert on the 14th of IN THIS ISSUE ing largely on volun- September at Royce EDITORIAL...............................................................2 teer efforts, individual Hall on the UCLA INTERVIEW..............................................................3 MICHAEL DOUCET - Cajun Fiddler donors, and communi- campus will celebrate KEYS TO THE HIGHWAY ................................... 4 ty partners. The artists from the moun- The Tritone Paradox & Other Mysteries of the Musical Interval Festival was developed tains of Tibet and the THE VOICES IN MY HEAD...................................5 as a project that would island culture of Puerto BANDS FOR HIRE ..................................................5 bring our city together Rico, from Pakistan’s CD REVIEWS .......................................................... 6 for a common cause, great qawaali improvi- DICK HOLDSTOCK FINDS CALIFORNIA encourage people to sational tradition and GOLD..........................................................................7 cross boundaries, and the elegant technique ROADHOG’S LAUNDRY ........................................7 develop greater under- of the West African DAVE’S CORNER ................................................... 8 standing across race, kora to our own nation- ON-GOING STORYTELLING EVENTS ..............8 culture, class and reli- al treasure Duke ON-GOING MUSIC HAPPENINGS.......................9 gion. ZHENA CHORUS Ellington. SEPTEMBER EVENTS CALENDAR .................10 For 2002, WFSM- The Closing Night OCTOBER EVENTS CALENDAR ......................11 LA will reunite many of the community partners and Concert will be at the Greek Theatre, September ON-GOING DANCE HAPPENINGS....................12 artists whose commitment, enthusiasm, and hard work 29th. It will be marked with the calm countenance of FOLK FESTIVALS & FREE CONCERTS..........13 made the 1999 Festival a success. Choosing the Sufi and Buddhist ritual alongside the brilliant SQUEEZE ME GENTLY .......................................14 AN INTRODUCTION TO THE CONCERTINA September 2002 for the next Festival marks one year sound of bronze Balinese gamelan. It will mirror the FEATURED ORGANIZATION ........................... 15 after the tragic events of the Twin Towers, the diversity throughout the 16 days of the Festival as we CAL TECH FOLK MUSIC SOCIETY Pentagon, and Pennsylvania. The year 2002 also will sit as one world. THE SONG OF THE LOOM.................................16 marks the ten-year anniversary of the L.A. Riots. And And in between are all the wonders of the diversi- DONOR SUPPORT & RECOGNITION ............. 17 to further put world events in perspective, September ty in our city: from Korean and Middle Eastern dance, SPECIAL EVENTS .................................................20 ushers in the harvest moon, the autumn equinox, as to African drumming, Native American flute songs, Page 2 FolkWorks September-October 2002 EDITORIAL n the past few issues of of your mind will remind you that PUBLISHERS & EDITORS IFolkWorks we have had a this will soon be coming to the end Leda & Steve Shapiro page dedicated to festi- and that, come Monday, it is back LAYOUT & PRODUCTION vals and camps. You may or to the grind. What you take home Alan & Terry Stone may not have had the experi- from the experience varies. If you ence of attending a festival or a are an experienced musician, you FEATURE WRITERS Joanna Cazden camp. Choosing which festi- will have learned some new tunes The Voices in my Head vals to go to or whether or not or songs. Perhaps you will have Roger Goodman to go to a camp depends on tried something that you had never Keys to the Highway your interests and the nature of tried before, but had an interest in. Gaili Schoen, Interviews the event. Being a casual fan of Or, perhaps you listened to some Dave Soyar, Dave’s Corner folk music and dance will lead great music, enjoyed some great Dennis Stone. CD Reviews you to making different choic- dancing, and met some interesting Mike Tackett, Zookman es than if you are an avid fan. folks. Being a musician at any level Festivals, on the other hand, EDITORS will lead you to yet different are usually a day or weekend long Valerie Cooley choices. event. Festivals generally have a Chuck Galt Nicole Galland Perhaps you’ve never focus but often encompass a wide heard of such an event as a variety of music, dance and even CONTRIBUTING WRITERS music and/or dance camp. folk arts. Most have one or more Ken Coles Anne Dinsdale Typically this is a weeklong BYPHOTO SONYA SONES performance stages that are run Gus Garelick experience that is in a location BY LEDA & STEVE SHAPIRO simultaneously. There is often a Bill Howard that is relatively isolated from dance area or two and booths Fred Starner cities. You drive there, park your car and leave the “real” where vendors sell their wares. The events are usually tight- world behind. ly scheduled and you follow the matrix to figure out what DISTRIBUTION At the beginning of August we went to Lark in the you want to do. Some, like the Topanga Banjo Fiddle Karen Andrews • Jeff Foster Chuck Galt • Cliff Gilpatric Morning camp in the Mendocino Woodlands. This is a Contest and Folk Music Festival are centered around a par- Sue Hunter • Gretchen Naticchia camp for lovers of eclectic world music, with a heavy ticular event. Others like the CTMS Summer Solstice Folk Bea Romano • Daria Smolke emphasis, though certainly not limited to Irish and Music, Dance and Storytelling Festival have an educational Stan Smith • Dennis Stone American music and dance. There are hourly workshops focus. Classes taught by experienced practitioners are given Lynn Worrilow • John Wygonski included everything from Tex/Mex and Tololoche Mexican all day long. Most of the larger festivals have areas where LOGO DESIGN music to African drumming to Chinese music to Uilleann folks get together and jam. Tim Steinmeier Pipe reed making. There are also dance workshops cover- In the September / October timeframe, there are several Thanks to all those who have supported and ing everything from Irish step and set dancing, to clogging, festivals which look very interesting. There is a Tall Ships inspired us, especially Warren Casey of the Cajun and Zydeco, Swing and Balkan. For early birds, there Festival and a Train Song Festival and a Festival of Wicked Tinkers. are even yoga exercises at 7:00 in the morning.