“It used to be world music was somethingthat was regarded as quote-unquote ‘pure expressions’ of specific cultures andregions,” explains David Ravel, director of Milwaukee’s annual Global Union festival.“But we don’t live in that world anymore. We live in a world that has Internetand shortwave radio. Our idea of what world music is in the 21stcenturyis that it’s really a form of fusion, drawn not just from one culture, butmany.”
All the acts in this year’s two-dayGlobal Union festival are the result of that cultural crossbreeding. Mexico’s Los deAbajo, for instance, spikes its salsa with splashes of ska and reggae, drawingas much from the politics and trans-global outlook of The Clash as the playbookof traditional Latin music. Likewise, the Mediterranean electronic act WatchaClan not only incorporates rhythms from around the world, but also languages,piecing together songs from Hebrew, Arabic, French and English. Ethiopiansinger and dancer Minyeshu updates the traditional music of her native countrywith the contemporary sounds of Western Europe, while Chicago’sMucca Pazza brings an American marching band pomp to the gypsy music of Eastern Europe.
Ravel says that Global Union, now in itsfourth year, has always tried to draw artists from all the major continents,but programming acts from Asia has always beenparticularly challenging. So he’s excited that this year’s program features twoAsian acts: Red Baraat, an Indian brass band that puts a funk spin ontraditional Bhangra music, and Hanggai, the first Chinese band Global Union hasever booked.
“Hanggai is a band that exists in areally unusual context that some Western audiences may need a little backgroundon to understand,” Ravel explains. “The lead is a punk rocker from Beijing, but he began torediscover the Mongolian music of the grasslands, and started this band withthese throat singers and traditional musicians. They dress in traditionalcostume, even though he’s from the city of Beijing. I liken them to indie-rockers from Brooklyn who discovered Bill Monroe and started doingbluegrass music with a distinct, alt-country sensibility. It’s the same wayBrooklyn rockers might dress in cowboy hats and boots and shirts with snapbuttons, but when we watch those guys in Brooklyn,we understand what they’re paying homage to. The musicians in Hanggai are doingthe same thing, but since the cultural context isn’t as clear to Westernaudiences, we may just see them in these costumes and think that’s how theyalways dress.”
Context can help American listenersunderstand these bands better, Ravel says, but it’s certainly not required toappreciate them.
“If you get a little background on whothese artists are, it can make the experience a little bit richer, and we tryto make that stuff available on our Web site, but you don’t need a dissertationto help you have a good time at this festival,” Ravel says. “All this music isbeautiful and immediate on its own terms.”
Global Union runs for free this weekendin Humboldt Park. The lineup is as follows:Saturday, Sept. 19
1 p.m. Mucca Pazza
2:30 p.m. Los de Abajo
4 p.m. Watcha Clan
Sunday, Sept. 20
1 p.m. Red Baraat
2:30 p.m. Hanggai
4 p.m. Minyeshu
