Hi, this is Gemma Dempsey and welcome to another edition of The Global
Gig Guide - this week we’ll check out London’s La Linea Latin
festival, Dallas’ Deep Ellum arts event and finally to Paris France for
the Festival of Imagination.
London’s La Linea Latin Music Festival April 13 – 30
London may not be the place you would immediately associate with latin rhythms, but since 2000 it has played host to La Linea - a two week celebration of latin influenced music, from progressive Argentinian electronica to classic Brazilian ballads. This year’s line up is nothing short of spectacular, with a number of KCRW favourites to boot, such as Ozomatli, Caetano Veloso, and the Bajofondo Tango Club. Barcelona natives The Pinker Tones are also on the bill and I just saw them DJing at an event in Beverly Hills. They were a lot of fun to watch and dance to – check out my blog and photos from that evening on our brand new KCRW myspace page.
Dallas’ Deep Ellum Arts Festival April 6,7,8
The name Deep Ellum is derived from the name Elm Street and is in an area of downtown Dallas with a long and colourful musical history. In the 1920’s and 30’s Deep Ellum was known as the place for great jazz and blues performed by the likes of Blind Lemon Jefferson, Bessie Smith and Robert Johnson.
During the 1970’s and 80’s the industrial spaces in this area became home to a number of artists and punk bands such as The Dead Kennedys. The main music venue was Theatre Gallery attracting bands such as The Flaming Lips, Edie Brickell and New Bohemians and the sound engineer being none other than the Rev. Horton Heat. Deep Ellum was gentrified in the late 80’s and 90’s, which lost some of its bohemian chic vibe, but also attracted a lot of new residents and businesses. The Deep Ellum Arts Festival is an event to celebrate the area’s rich musical and artistic heritage. Free for the taking, its a three day street party, with 65 local and national bands performing and a number of visual artists and the ever popular pet parade!
Festival of the Imagination March 6 – April 6
Maison des Cultures du Monde, Paris France
The Festival of the Imagination in Paris is an annual event devoted to the music and cultural styles of peoples across the globe, and is held at the appropriately named Maison des Cultures du Monde.
The event prides itself on introducing new and traditional talent to an inquisitive audience with many artists making this festival their French debut. The festival’s wide ranging programe explores and exposes a huge array of fascinating work from the four corners of the earth. Mixing the old and the new, grand masters of the tradition perform side-by-side with young artists who attempt to enrich and renew what are sometimes very old art forms.
Alongside the performances, screenings and round table discussions on cultural themes take place, with the aim of enlarging our vision of the world.
This years festival includes Nadira Pirmatova from Uzbekistan, Curro and Carlos Pinana from Spain and the Mozambique xylophone orchestra Timbali des Chopi.
That’s it for this week– for more information about these events, go to KCRW.com/globalgigguide… I’d love to hear about festivals in your neck in the woods so why not send me an email – Gemma.Dempsey@kcrw.org
Otherwise check back with us next week for more information on Global Gigging.
Other festivals around the world for you to check out…
Festival de México March 15- 31
Featuring music by Brazilian instrumentalist Hermeto Pascoal,
Spanish pianist Chano Dominguez, The Tiger Lillies, Shen Wei Dance Arts and Athol Fugard’s play ‘Sizwe Banzi is Dead’ amongst many other events!