The Brotherhood Singers are passionate and joyous practitioners of the deeply spiritual art of unaccompanied gospel harmony singing. The group has emerged onto the national gospel scene during a revival of interest in this venerable vocal tradition, and one listen to its glorious harmonies makes it clear that this renewed popularity is long overdue.
When Cajun accordionist and bandleader Donny Broussard makes his Richmond debut at this year’s festival, audiences will enjoy a rare opportunity to see a master musician who seldom performs outside his home state. Some of the world’s best traditional musicians dedicate their whole lives to the community in which they live, rarely recording or touring, but rather putting all their energy into cultural preservation and communal joy in their home place. Count Donny among this group. Joined by his longtime band, the Louisiana Stars, Donny is a musical hidden gem with deep roots in southwest Louisiana, long deserving of greater attention.
Two-time world champion hoop dancer Jasmine Bell is a carrier of a Lakota tradition with roots that go back millennia. The hoop dance is traditionally performed by a solo dancer who uses a dozen or more hoops to create complex shapes symbolizing elements of the natural world and the circle of life. One of only a handful of women performing this traditionally male dance, Bell is a celebrated performer and ambassador of her ancestral tradition, sharing its message of interconnectedness with audiences across the nation.
Over their 36 years as one of America’s most heralded Irish ensembles, Cherish the Ladies have won the hearts of audiences worldwide for their rousing blend of traditional music with captivating vocal interpretations and propulsive step dancing. Now bandleader Joanie Madden has won much-deserved recognition from the National Endowment for the Arts as one of this country’s most important tradition bearers; in presenting her with a 2021 National Heritage Fellowship, the nation’s highest honor for folk and traditional artists, the NEA hailed her as: “One of the great flute and whistle players of her generation … [and] a leading presence in the advancement of traditional Irish music, from its community grassroots to its modern presentation in the international concert hall.”
Sourena Sefati is a virtuoso player and composer on the Iranian santour, heir to a heritage of Persian music that stretches back to 700 BCE. A trapezoidal box with 72 metal strings and a three-octave range, the santour is the likely ancestor of many related plucked and struck instruments, including the Chinese yangqin, the Greek santouri, the Eastern European cimbalom, and the hammered dulcimer now popular in America, as well as the probable predecessor of the clavichord and the piano. While Sefati is deeply rooted in this ancient tradition, he carries it into the modern era with stunning original compositions that reveal the extraordinary breadth of expression concealed in this ancient instrument’s small wooden frame.
With impeccable musicianship, a sophisticated stage presence, and a repertoire that moves seamlessly from the genre’s roots in the traditional orquesta típica to the jazz-inflected tango nuevo, New York’s celebrated Pedro Giraudo Tango Ensemble exemplifies the emotional vitality of the elegant, subtle, and intensely passionate Argentine music and dance called tango.
In the Cuban-rich region of South Florida, Plena Es has carved a space for Puerto Rican music by emphasizing the island’s distinctive bomba y plena musical traditions, percussion-driven sounds that reflect the island’s African heritage. Founded by Pierre Ramos in 2004, the band—featuring percussion, trombones, piano, bass, and two dancers—stirs up a high-energy dance music that is a touchstone for Puerto Rican identity. Their name, seemingly simple and straightforward, is in fact a deeply spiritual and philosophical statement embodying that essential connection: Plena Es, or “Plena is ….”
Dubbed “the wickedest band alive” by old-school rap hero Doug E. Fresh, the legendary go-go band Rare Essence has honed its sound to near perfection. Together since the mid-1970s, the group has performed thousands of times. Unable to properly celebrate their 45th anniversary in 2020 due to the pandemic, Rare Essence is ready to make their triumphant return, and share this major milestone with generations of devoted fans who each have their own favorite past Rare Essence show. As Christopher Richards of the Washington Post once explained, no matter which show you experience, “it’s easy to believe you’re seeing the best one.”
Rosa Tatuata’s recent debut CD, Sotto le Stelle, translates to “under the stars.” The album name reflects their musical philosophy: singer and bandleader (and garden party hostess) Michela Musolino says the recording focuses on beloved folk songs of Sicily that were sung outdoors, whether fishing, washing clothes, or at celebratory festas: “The cornerstone of our music is, it’s interactive. Our daily lives had a soundtrack—that’s how we passed the time. Music didn’t just belong to the performers, everybody participated.” The inimitable Rosa Tatuata brilliantly emphasizes the continuing relevance of Sicilian folk music for both the Italian diaspora and music lovers everywhere.
Describing their immersive, expansive, and evolving performance “Dizzy Spellz,” trumpeter Sean Jones and tap dancer/chanteuse Brinae Ali explain, “We’re looking at Dizzy Gillespie as this spirit guide, an ancestor that helped us along our journey, and can help us figure out our path as we heal ourselves from trauma as a people.” With jazz legend Gillespie as an avatar of perseverance and transcendence, “Dizzy Spellz” traces a spellbinding throughline woven through African American vernacular expression, connecting jazz and tap and hip hop as expressions of protest, healing, and hope.
Standing 6’5”, and with the frame and commanding bearing of a man who spent a decade serving in the Marine Corps, blues singer Sugaray Rayford is an imposing presence. His voice, too, has been described as “a force of nature.” What comes through in his music, however, is a rich and soulful emotional vitality that has made him a rising star among American blues artists, with recent accolades at the Blues Music Awards that include two-time Soul Blues Male Artist of the Year and 2020 BB King Entertainer of the Year.
Reggae was created and taken around the world by outspoken iconoclasts. Taj Weekes is right at home in that tradition as he upholds the music’s deep roots while expanding its topical reach. A prolific songwriter and activist, he explains, “We as reggae artists are supposed to be the town criers, the ones informing the people of what is happening, and I try to be as true to the art form as I can be.”
Trío romántico, a gorgeous music tradition from northern Mexico and the Rio Grande Valley, is often performed by groups with tres in their name, since the style is performed by three musicians. Tres en Punto, a trío romántico from Mission, Texas, adds a cheeky layer to this naming tradition, using a phrase with an everyday meaning of “three o’clock on the dot” to suggest that their trio is exactly on time as well. In their stylish attire—whether sharp traje suits or pressed white guaybera shirts and crisp slacks—and with their impeccable harmonies and fingerings, trio Tres en Punto are precisely the band to carry on the impassioned tradition of this elegant and romantic music.
Dubbed “The Biggest Little Band in the Land,” powerhouse western swing quartet the Western Flyers serve up the irresistibly hot, unmistakably Texas-style sound popularized by fiddle legend Bob Wills in 1930s and ’40s dance halls with an electrifying energy all their own. Featuring a fresh, all-star lineup led by group founder and master of western swing and Texas fiddle Joey McKenzie on rhythm guitar, they are guaranteed to have even the shyest of wallflowers swinging and stomping on the dance floor.
