Chicago Folk & Roots Festival 2011
Press Release
OLD TOWN SCHOOL OF FOLK MUSIC presents...
The 14th ANNUAL
CHICAGO FOLK & ROOTS FESTIVAL
SATURDAY JULY 9th & SUNDAY JULY 10th
Noon to 10:00pm in WELLES PARK 4400 North Lincoln Avenue between Montrose and Sunnyside in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood
Admission: $10 suggested donation for adults / $5 suggested donation for seniors and children Chicago Folk & Roots Festival is sponsored by WXRT.
For more information, contact the Old Town School of Folk Music:
oldtownschool.org
chicagofolkandroots.org
773.728.6000
Lineup subject to change - Rain or Shine - All Ages Welcome
Main Stage Artists
It s that time again! Round up your friends, grab your kids, pack a blanket and sunscreen, and wear some comfortable shoes. Grab a spot on the fine grass of Welles Park and set up camp for the long haul because you re not going to want to miss a minute of this year s 14th Annual Chicago Folk & Roots Festival!
All year long at Old Town School of Folk Music we focus on educating, learning, honoring, and presenting American and International artistic traditions and styles. Folk & Roots is our opportunity to give that some commitment some fresh air and fun in the sun.
Quintessential Texas blues rocker, DELBERT MCCLINTON, will close Saturday night s MAIN STAGE. Other luminaries on Saturday include Louisiana s favorite Cajun sons LOST BAYOU RAMBLERS, the Austin's rockabilly queen ROSIE FLORES, and New Orleans brass band sensation, GLEN DAVID ANDREWS. Sunday night s MAIN STAGE will find us swaying to the sounds of the new Sahara with Tuareg guitar great BOMBINO, grooving to Congolese rumba-meets-hip hop and soul with BALOJI, and finishing the Fest on our feet with the sounds of salsa and Latin jazz wih MARACA!
Folk & Roots is not simply about the Main Stage music. Be sure to bring your offspring, nieces, nephews and neighbors by our KIDS TENT. Shimmy and shake with us at our very popular and eclectic DANCE TENT. Come watch our talented faculty strut their stuff on the STAFF STAGE then show off yourself at the open jams and sing-a-longs at the GAZEBO. Of course Lincoln Avenue will also be lined with a diverse sampling of Chicago's finest food vendors offering a vast array of tasty multi-cultural delights.
Saturday, July 9th
9th Annual Midwest Invitational Fiddle Contest - 12:30pm
The Schticklers - 1:40pm
Aloha Lives - 2:10pm
Los Condenados Huastecos - 2:40pm
Mountain Heart - 3:15pm
Glen David Andrews - 4:30pm
Lost Bayou Ramblers - 5:45pm
Rosie Flores & Friends - 7:00pm
Delbert McClinton - 8:30pm
Sunday, July 10th
Wiggleworms - 12:00pm
Special Music By Special People - 12:45pm
Megitza Quartet - 1:20pm
Grupo Rebolú - 2:05pm
Bombino - 3:05pm
The Abyssinians - 4:05pm
BélO - 5:05pm
Soul Sonic Sirkus - 6:10pm
Baloji - 7:15pm
Maraca - 8:30pm
MAIN STAGE ARTIST DESCRIPTIONS
SATURDAY, JULY 9th
9th Annual Midwest Invitational Fiddle Contest - 12:30pm Plans for the 9th Midwest Fiddle Championship will be announced soon. All contestants must compete as part of a fiddle team. The full event will include: Youth Division - date in June and location T.B.A. Open Division & Youth Finals - Friday, July 8 at 7pm in Giddings Plaza (location may be subject to change). Invitational Division & Open Finals - Saturday, July 9 at 12:30pm, Chicago Folk & Roots Festival main stage. Presented by the Fiddle Club of the World (Chicago Chapter).
The Schticklers - 1:40pm The Schticklers, America's Premier Jewish-flavored jug band, perform rollicking versions of Jewish Folk songs and country classics. The group is comprised of several multi-talented teachers from the Old Town School and is led by the irrepressible Barbara Silverman. Permanent members include fiddler and mandolin player Stuart Rosenberg, slide guitar ace Jon Spiegel, guitar maestro Joel Frankel, and the washboard playing, clogging vocalist, and fearless leader Barb Silverman. Often joined by guest artists, the Schticklers offer their fun-filled renditions of musical favorites interspersed with plenty of humor. Recent winners of the Regional Battle of the Jug Bands, their trophy is prominently displayed in the café of the Old Town School of Folk Music. Just look for the antique sausage grinder with the current champs name on it!
Aloha Lives - 2:10pm Aloha Lives! Is the newest production by Pacific Soundz. Lanialoha Lee combines the influences of her musical paths and passions to revive the old and new cultural traditions of the Pacific. The voices of Lanialoha & Czerina perform a seamless and memorable concert of melodies, harmonies and rhythmic sounds that are truly inspirational!
Los Condenados Huastecos - 2:40pm Los Condenados Huastecos (the condemned huastecos) are a Chicago-based trio that specialize in the son huasteco musical tradition of Mexico's central gulf coast region. Son Huasteco is but one of many variants of the greater son genre, a Mexican regional folk music whose distinctive elements include the use of stringed instruments, the lyrical conventions of Spanish poetic forms, and verbal-musical improvisation. Los Condenados Huastecos' members include Alex Chávez (guitarra, quinta, huapanguera), Carlos García (jarana), and Juan Rivera (violin) from Sones de México.
Mountain Heart - 3:15pm Youthful bluegrass greats Mountain Heart are continually redefining the boundaries of acoustic music with their musical virtuosity, unmatched energy and keen sense of dynamics. From large outdoor folk music and bluegrass festivals, to sold-out arena shows opening for Southern Rock icons, to co-headlining concerts with the acoustic guitar legend, Tony Rice, Mountain Heart always makes an undeniable connection to an audience, leaving them on their feet. What better way to spend a lovely summer afternoon in Welles Park than to listen to these young roots players while basking in the sun!
Glen David Andrews - 4:30pm Glen David Andrews has a lanky 6-foot-4-inch body and a mercurial personality. Born and bred in New Orleans, the brass band music and traditional jazz he was raised on are still his greatest loves. After stints in the New Birth, Lil Rascals and Tremé brass bands, he fronts his own high-powered ensemble that veers from traditional jazz to gospel, rock, blues and funk, all in the same concert. His unique mix of genres and the entrancing quality of Andrews performances was bred at venues like Jazzfest, Lincoln Center, Preservation Hall, Tipitina's, and most powerfully of all, on the streets, where it all began. Glen David has appeared in HBO's Treme TV series as well as appearing in documentaries, such as Faubourg Tremé: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans and Spike Lee's two epics about Katrina, When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts and If Da Creek Don't Rise.
Lost Bayou Ramblers - 5:45pm Over the past 300 years, a cultural amalgam has been percolating in south Louisiana. The resulting cultural distillate gave rise to both Bayou Country's world famous cuisine and a musical concentrate that conveys the passions, tribulations and elations of the Cajun people. At the dawn of the 21st century, the Lost Bayou Ramblers are the keepers of the flame, champions of Cajun music's cultural past.
Rosie Flores & Friends - 7:00pm Rosie Flores whips the best of rock and roll, honky tonk, early rockabilly, blues and jazz with the traditional sounds of her roots in San Antonio, Texas. Rosie's reputation as a high-octane rockabilly and country star is well established, and continued accolades only make her musical bouquet fuller. Damn good songwriter, award-winning guitar player, and break your heartstrings singer, Rosie regularly receives critical raves worldwide and was recently voted as one of the "Top 75 Greatest Female Guitarists of All Time" by Venuszine. She was also the first female Latina country artist to ever enter the Billboard country charts. With her ripping lead guitar and charismatic croon, Rosie Flores is sure to kick start our Saturday night!
Delbert McClinton - 8:30pm The quintessential Texas blues rocker, Delbert McClinton is a living breathing juke joint who bleeds country soul, infused with blues, rock and jazz. He is a three-time Grammy Award winning artist and is often considered one of the greatest living vocalists of Americana. He received his musical education playing harmonica with The Straightjackets, the house band at a local R&B club backing artists such as Jimmy Reed, Howlin' Wolf and Sonny Boy Williamson. McClinton was first known for his outstanding harmonica skills and reportedly gave John Lennon a few lessons in the early 1960s! We are thrilled to have him tear the roof off of our Saturday night!
SUNDAY, JULY 10th
Wiggleworms - 12:00pm Get ready to dance and sing your sillies out and celebrate in the sun with a Main Stage family concert hosted by Old Town School's very own Wiggleworms teachers who will lead a parade to the Kids Tent directly after their Main Stage performance!
Special Music By Special People - 12:45pm Let's welcome back Special Music By Special People to the Main Stage! S.M.S.P. allows children and adults with developmental disabilities the opportunity to record, compose and perform their own music. Through this process, skills such as verbal, mnemonic, musical and social are nurtured in an atmosphere emphasizing self-esteem, teamwork, accomplishment and fun. Be sure to come out early and welcome them back!
Megitza Quartet - 1:20pm "Local Eastern European folk and gypsy act The Megitza Quartet's debut album, Boleritza was one of the most impressive instrumental compilations to come out of Chicago recently. The secret weapon is Malgorzata Babiarz's sensual voice that sounds as authentic as the Polish Highlander tradition of the village from which she originally hails. Acoustic guitar prodigy Andreas Kapsalis adds elements of flamenco, while violin virtuoso Roby Lakatos and Marke Lichota's accordion evoke the pathos of klezmer. Wrapped around this highly sophisticated blend of genres is a devotion to passionate rhythm and heart-rendering vocals, even if you can't understand them. One part mournful, the other joyous, yet infectious all around, this is the kind of music people can't help but get up to dance to. "Seeing them live is reminiscent of a gypsy performance chaotic, soulful and stirring." - New City
Grupo Rebolú - 2:05pm Directly from New York City, Grupo Rebolú specializes in the traditional sounds of the Carribean coast of Colombia. Founded by childhood friends Moris Cañate and Ronald Polo, both of the Grammy-nominated N.Y.C. based Folklore Urbano, Rebolú features original compositions set to traditional rhythms as well as a repertoire of songs hundreds of years old. Rebolú does not limit itself to folklore however. They are able to effortlessly incorporate other genres of Colombian and Latin American music such as Vallenato, Salsa and even Calypso into their sound. The final result when Rebolú is firing on all cylinders is a musical and cultural experience like absolutely no other.
Bombino - 3:05pm Omara "Bombino" Moctar, a young Tuareg guitarist and songwriter, was raised during an era of armed struggles for independence and violent suppression by government forces. His electrifying jams capture the spirit of resistance and rebellion while echoing with guitar riffs reminiscent of fellow Africans Tinariwen and Ali Farka Touré not to mention rock and blues icons such as Jimi Hendrix, John Lee Hooker and Jimmy Page. Already a superstar in the Tuareg community, with the recent release of Agadez on Cumbancha Discovery, Bombino's stature as one of Africa's hottest young guitarists has been revealed to the world.
The Abyssinians - 4:05pm Expect an uplifting Sunday afternoon at Folk & Roots with one of reggae's premier, authentic roots groups from Jamaica - the Abyssinians. This long running harmony vocal trio first hit the scene in 1968 with Satta Massagana, a Rastafarian hymn about Ethiopia recorded for Coxsone Dodd's infamous Studio One record label, which became an international reggae anthem. More than 40 years since their inception, the Abyssinians are still in top form representing the true roots of reggae music worldwide.
BélO - 5:05pm Born in Haiti in 1979, BélO is a young author, composer, guitarist and singer creating quite a buzz on the World Music circuit. His musical style, known as "Ragganga," combines reggae, jazz, rock, worldbeat and "rara" traditional Vodou rhythms, and he sings in his rich and colorful native language, Haitian Creole. BélO is a sensitive messenger who, with his melodies, knows how to touch audiences all over the world from North America to Africa to Europe to South America.
Soul Sonic Sirkus - 6:10pm The Soul Sonic Sirkus is an extremely unique, spectacular collaborative between two Chicago arts institutions The Midnight Circus and genre-defying saxophonist Mars Williams of Liquid Soul fame. The Soul Sonic Sirkus premiered at the esteemed Moers Jazz Festival in Moers, Germany in 2003. The highly anticipated show took the festival by storm with its groundbreaking collision of jazz, hip-hop, circus acrobatics, and a performing Pit Bull. Festival headliner and saxophone player extraordinaire Mars Williams assembled a wildly eclectic band to take the stage with Chicago's Midnight Circus, a daring ensemble of highly skilled acrobats and eccentrics and for a solid hour created a fully improvised, high-flying, music and theatrical explosion. The Soul Sonic Sirkus was born! Joining the one of a kind, high-flying, genre-defying Soul Sonic Sirkus at the Folk &am; Roots Festival will be guitarist Jeff Parker (Tortoise), cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm and others.
Baloji - 7:15pm Where the lyrical edge of hip hop's pioneers meets classic Congolese rumba and 1960s soul lies the amazing Baloji! Baloji means "sorcerer,"" a fitting name for a man who has transformed himself from one of the most successful MC's from the French scene into a producer, musician, rapper and all-round musical wizard. On his acclaimed first solo-album Hotel Impala he told the personal story of his return to Africa to find his mother, who he hadn't seen since childhood and finding a more intense experience of joy, guilt, confusion and insight than he bargained for. In 2009, he was invited by Damon Albarn to join the Africa Express project alongside Amadou & Mariam and Baaba Maal. His 2010 album Kinshasa Succursale is a re-imagining of Hotel Impala in the style of Soulwax Nite versions with local, Congolese musicians.
Maraca - 8:30pm World class virtuoso Orlando "Maraca" Valle is arguably the most famous contemporary Cuban flutist in the world. Maraca was a child prodigy who started his musical career at the age of 16 as flute player in the group Irakere, led by Chucho Valdez. He has grown to become one of the most popular names in Latin and Afro-Cuban music. His music is a cocktail of fusion and energy that stems from the jazziest improvisations to the most danceable elements of Caribbean and popular Cuban music.
For any PRESS & MEDIA inquiries (HI-RES photos, interview requests, music samples) please contact (but DO NOT publish):
Nick Macri
Concerts and Events Marketing Manager
Old Town School of Folk Music
4544 N. Lincoln Ave.
Chicago, IL 60625
773.751.3352
nmacri@oldtownschool.org
2011 Chicago Folk & Roots Sponsors:
The 14th Annual Chicago Folk & Roots Festival is supported by WXRT, The Chicago Community Trust, Louis Glunz Beer, Inc., Great Lakes Brewery, Time Out Chicago and Time Out Chicago Kids, High Sierra Sport Company, Northwestern University Program of African Studies, Aon Foundation, Chicago Park District,DoubleTree Hotel and Conference Center Chicago North Shore, Fiddle Club of the World Chicago Chapter, Shirts Our Business, and American Airlines. Thanks to Jon Langford for the t-shirt design. Special thanks to Alderman Gene Schulter and the 47th Ward office.