Exploring used to be such a bother. Years of raising cash, months sailing across uncharted seas, only to find something other than what you were looking for.¡Globalquerque! lets you explore an entire world, and you don’t even have to leave town. Just hie yourself over to the National Hispanic Cultural Center.With the legendary blues singer Koko Taylor and the pioneering World Music group Global Drum Project headlining the two-day festival of world music and culture, you’re all but guaranteed to enjoy the hell out of yourself even if you wouldn’t know a sintir (a three-stringed lute) from a yelli (a predawn song by women of the Baka tribe).Chances are, though, that you’ll hear something of them, too, and like it.“The best festivals are about discovery. That’s what makes festivals like ours exciting,” says Tom Frouge, who, along with Neal Copperman, founded ¡Globalquerque! two years ago.“People who are coming out to hear Koko are going to get what they expect—a kick-ass blues show by a legend,” says Copperman. “So they’re going to go, ‘Man, Koko was great, but we also saw this Italian hip-hop electronica traditional band that was like nothing we had ever seen before.’ That’s where you get the excitement.”The official New Mexican event marking the 25 th anniversary of the NEA National Heritage Fellowships, ¡Globalquerque! offers two nights of music, dance and puppetry, featuring 15 to 20 different artists on three stages with very distinct ambiences.Plus, on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., ¡Globalquerque! Community Day offers free activities and workshops created in collaboration with the National Hispanic Cultural Center’s Education Department. Geared to both adults and children, activities include dance workshops, a drumming circle, instrument making, a Q&A on Tibetan culture, a demonstration of traditional Dominican music, Chinese puppet performances, a workshop and discussion on New Mexican traditional music, a Kulintang performance, and Renaissance street performers.Also on site is the Global Village, where 25 to 30 vendors offer food and crafts from New Mexico and around the world.
¡Globalquerque! Artists!
Assane Kouyate An extraordinarily charismatic dancer and singer, the Senegalese griot Assane Kouyate heads a band that fans a white-hot groove with traditional and modern instrumentation.
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Marta Gómez This Colombian native, whose sweet expressive voice bypasses language, creates a beguiling pan-American sound.
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Anjani’s Kathak Dance of India
Raj Nartaki
Anjani’s Kathak Dance of India Anjani Ambegaokar tells traditional and sometimes very modern stories with this 4,000-year-old Indian dance form.
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Puerto Plata
José Cobles
Puerto PlataAt 83, guitarist Puerto Plata carries an infectious rhythmic message from the Dominican son tradition.
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Chango SpasiukChamamé, Argentina’s soulful convergence of musical influences, swings irresistibly in this accordion master’s hands.
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Shelley Morningsong
Shelley Morningsong Tolerance, respect and love are the message from this Native American songstress, who seamlessly combines rock and native elements.
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Hassan HakmounThis Moroccan master of Gnawan trance music and dance mesmerizes with a blend of ancient and modern.
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Yungchen Lhamo Fleeing on foot from Tibet in 1989, Lhamo brings an angelic, unaccompanied voice, a devotional tradition and a powerfully peaceful presence to the stage.
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Baka Beyond Celtic and African musicians weave their traditions together, drawing heavily on the music of the Baka, for whom even the river is an instrument.
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Ilgi
Ilgi Straddling six centuries of Latvian music, Ilgi brings a rock ’n’ roll touch to Baltic traditions while preserving folkloric sensibilities.
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Kevin Locke Using his Lakota traditions as a foundation, hoop dancer, story teller and Northern Plains flutist Kevin Locke celebrates a sensibility that embraces all cultures.
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Dragon Art Studio
Dragon Art Studio Building on 1,000 years of tradition, America’s only professional Chinese puppet theater tells ancient and modern stories.
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La Familia Vigil
La Familia Vigil This trio covers a territory as big as its native New Mexico, from traditional Spanish colonial folk songs to originals in the Nueva Canción style.
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Lankandia Cissoko This djele, a blood member of the Mande musician caste, plays the kora as only a descendant of its inventor could.
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Anexo al Norte
Anexo al Norte The new wave of norteño, a hybrid sound that mixes German accordion music and Mexican ranchera, this sextet is based in the most exotic place of all: Albuquerque.
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Fiamma Fumana This mostly female Italian group plays hip-hop electronica built on traditional songs—like nothing you’ve ever seen before.
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Global Drum Project The Grateful Dead’s Mickey Hart (USA), Zakir Hussain (India), Giovanni Hidalgo (Puerto Rico) and Sikiru Adepoju (Nigeria) will drum you into ecstatic union with the universe.
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Koko Taylor and Her Blues Machine The Queen of the Blues. ’Nuff said.
