Considering the broad critical and popular success of the first World Music Festival, which made its debut in Chicago last fall, it probably was inevitable that the event would be back.
This time, though, the city’s most ambitious music fest — which is set to run from Sept. 21 through Oct. 1 — will be considerably more expansive than the first time around. Roughly a dozen new venues have joined the fray, among them Symphony Center, the DuSable Museum of African American History and the Mexican Fine Arts Museum. Having seen a great idea take flight, the city’s major cultural institutions clearly are jumping into the mix.
It’s not difficult to guess why. With last year’s unveiling of the World Music Festival, the City of Chicago finally had come up with a vibrant alternative to the acoustically challenged, dubiously programmed music soirees in Grant Park. Though events such as the Chicago Blues Festival, Jazz Festival and Viva Chicago have their fans, these antiquated festivals ultimately serve civic and political needs more than musical ones.
The World Music Festival, by contrast, presented exotic musical attractions in venues worthy of them. To hear global musicians performing in intimate spaces such as HotHouse and the Museum of Contemporary Art, as well as stunning outdoor locales such as the steps of the Field Museum, was to realize anew that great music requires comparably fine venues.
The lineup for this year’s event — the official title is World Music Festival: Chicago 2000 — is as eclectic as ever, with performers from Azerbaijan to Zimbabwe sharing the spotlight with their Chicago-based counterparts.
As before, many of the concerts will be free, but the ticketed events will cost no more than $10. The event is staged jointly by the Mayor’s Office of Special Events and the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. For information, phone the festival hotline at 312-742-1938.
Following is the schedule, as it now stands:
Sept. 21
Noon: Plena Libre (from Puerto Rico), at the Richard J. Daley Center; Antibalas (New York City), Borders Books & Music.
12:30 p.m.: Steve Coleman (NYC), Kanenhi:io Singers (Canada), Museum of Broadcast Communications.
6 p.m.: Steve Coleman & the Mystic Rhythm Society, Field Museum.
9:30 p.m.: Kanenhi:io Singers, Oliver Mtukudzi & Black Spirits (Zimbabwe) and Plena Libre, Field Museum.
9:30 p.m. Antibalas, HotHouse.
Sept. 22
Noon: Antibalas at Daley Center; Lenine (Brazil) at Borders.
Noon-5 p.m.: Native American Equinox Celebration Part I (U.S.) at Welles Park.
12:30 p.m.: Oliver Mtukudzi solo, Bill Miller (Nashville) at Museum of Broadcast Communications.
5 p.m.-7 p.m.: Native American Equinox Celebration Part II at American Indian Center.
5:30 p.m.-12 a.m.: Native Equinox Celebration, Kanenhi:io Singers, Bill Miller at Old Town School of Folk Music.
6 p.m.: Plena Libre at Chicago SummerDance.
7 p.m.: Steve Coleman & the Mystic Rhythm Society at Field Museum.
9:30 p.m.: Boubacar “Kar Kar” Traore (Mali), Oliver Mtukudzi & Black Spirits at HotHouse.
10 p.m.: Funkadesi (Chicago), Slavic Soul Party (NYC), Antibalas at Double Door.
10 p.m.: Vezhliviy Otkaz (Russia), Lenine at Metro.
Sept. 23
9 a.m.-5 p.m.: Drepung Gomang Monks (Tibet), Steve Coleman & the Mystic Rhythm Society, Natyakalalayam Dance Company (India/Chicago) at Field Museum.
10 a.m.-8 p.m.: Pow Wow (U.S.), University of Chicago Midway Plaisance.
2 p.m. Boubacar “Kar Kar” Traore at Borders.
6 p.m.: Zlatne Uste (NYC) at Chicago SummerDance.
7 p.m.: Natyakalalayam Dance Company, Music from China (China/NYC) at Field Museum.
7:30 p.m.: Chico Cesar (Brazil) at Old Town School.
8 p.m.: Eddie C. Campbell (Chicago), Willie “Big Eyes” Smith (Chicago), Boubacar “Kar Kar” Traore at Museum of Contemporary Art.
9 p.m.: Miyumi Project (Chicago), Steve Coleman & the Mystic Rhythm Society at HotHouse.
10 p.m.: Isotope 217 (Chicago), Lenine at Double Door.
Sept. 24
10 a.m.-8 p.m.: Pow Wow at University of Chicago Midway Plaisance.
2 p.m.: Omar Faruk Tekbilek & His Ensemble (Turkey) at Borders; Shirim (Boston) at Chicago SummerDance.
3 p.m.: Music From China at 57th Street Children’s Book Fair; Drepung Gomang Monks at Chicago Cultural Center; Zlatne Uste at Museum of Contemporary Art.
7 p.m.: Omar Faruk Tekbilek & His Ensemble, Chico Cesar at HotHouse.
7:30 p.m.: Wimme (Finland), Hedningarna (Finland/Sweden) at Old Town School.
Sept. 25
Noon: Zlatne Uste at Daley Center.
12:30 p.m.: Sivan Perwar (Turkey) at Museum of Broadcast Communications.
5:30 p.m.: Tony Vacca & Gokh-Bi System (Senegal/United States) at University of Chicago Harper Court.
6:30 p.m.: Hamza El Din (Nubia), Omar Faruk Tekbilek & His Ensemble at Chicago Cultural Center.
8 p.m.: Wimme, Sivan Perwar at HotHouse.
9:30 p.m.: Naftule’s Dream (Boston), Hedningarna at Empty Bottle.
Sept. 26
Noon: Lo’Jo (France) at Daley Center. Alim Qasimov (Azerbaijan) at Borders.
12:30 p.m.: Hamza El Din, Hassan Hakmoun (Morocco/United States) at Museum of Broadcast Communications.
5:30 p.m.: Lo’Jo at University of Chicago Harper Court.
6:30 p.m.: Debjyoti Bose (India), Samar Saha (India) & Sangeeta Kumar (India/Chicago), Sivan Perwar at Chicago Cultural Center.
7 p.m.: Hamza El Din, Alim Qasimov at Museum of Contemporary Art.
8 p.m.: Hassan Hakmoun, Adam Rudolph & Hamid Drake (Los Angeles/Chicago), Tony Vacca & Gokh-Bi System at HotHouse.
Sept. 27
12:30 p.m.: Alim Qasimov at Museum of Broadcast Communications. Lila Downs (Mexico) at Museum Fine Arts Center Museum.
6 p.m.: Lila Downs at Borders.
6:30 p.m.: Ajoy Chakraborty (India), Samar Saha & Jyoti Goho (India), Alim Qasimov at Chicago Cultural Center.
6:30 p.m.: Adam Rudolph’s Moving Pictures, Lo’Jo at HotHouse.
7:30 p.m.: Tony Vacca & Gokh-Bi System with Mr. Greenweedz (Chicago) at Garfield Park Conservatory.
8:30 p.m.: Mono Blanco (Mexico) at Old Town School.
Sept. 28
12:30 p.m.: Savina Yannatou & Primavera en Salonico (Greece) at Museum of Broadcast Communications.
3 p.m.: Mary Jane Lamond (Canada), Lila Downs at Old Town School.
6:30 p.m.: Mary Jane Lamond featuring Liz Carroll (Chicago) at Chicago Cultural Center.
8 p.m.: Lila Downs, Savina Yannatou & Primavera en Salonico at HotHouse.
9:30 p.m.: Matapat (Quebec), Mono Blanco at The Hideout.
Sept. 29
12 p.m.: Savina Yannatou & Primavery en Salonico at Borders.
12:30 p.m.: Lila Downs, Sussan Deyhim (Iran/NYC) at Museum of Broadcast Communications.
7:30 p.m.: Mary Jane Lamond, Lila Downs at Old Town School.
8 p.m.: Funkadesi, Savina Yannatou & Primavera en Salonico at Field Museum.
9:30 p.m.: Nass Marrakech (Morocco/Spain), Trevor Watts Moire Music Group (England) at HotHouse.
9:30 p.m.: Andrew Bird’s Ball of Fire (Chicago), Guillermo Anderson & Ciebana (Honduras) at The Hideout.
10 p.m.-4 a.m.: TS Soundz (Chicago), DJ Badawi (NYC), DJ Sultan 32 (NYC), U-Cef (Morocco/England), Karsh Kale (NYC) with Sussan Deyhim (Iran/NYC) at Metro.
10 p.m.: Comifo (France), Los de Abajo (Mexico) at Double Door.
Sept. 30
9 a.m.-3 p.m.: Chicago Samba, Casolando (Chicago), WOFA Percussion & Dance (Guinea) at Field Museum.
2 p.m.: Korean Sinawi Ensemble: Sikim (Korea) at Garfield Park Conservatory.
7:30 p.m.: Guilermo Andreson & Ceibana (Honduras), Nass Marrakech at Old Town School.
8 p.m.: Sussan Deyhim, U-Cef at Museum of Contemporary Art.
10 p.m.: WOFA Percussion & Dance, Comifo at HotHouse.
10 p.m.: Trevor Watts Moire Music Group at Empty Bottle.
10 p.m.: Los de Abajo, Sergent Garcia (France) at Double Door.
Oct. 1
2 p.m.: Guillermo Anderson & Ceibana at Garfield Park Conservatory.
2:30 p.m.: Aashish Khan & Swapan Chaudhuri (India) at Old Town School.
3 p.m.: WOFA Percussion & Dance at DuSable Museum of African American History.
3 p.m.: Korean Sinawi Ensemble: Sikim at Chicago Cultural Center.
4 p.m.: Aashish Kahn & Swapan Chaudhuri at Old Town School.
7:30 p.m.: Susana Baca (Peru), Chava Alberstein (Israel) at Symphony Center.
8:30 p.m.: Bobby Conn (Chicago), Sergent Garcia at HotHouse.
