French from Britany, French Algerians, French Moroccans, French who suddenly discover that they are Algerians, jazz musicians who suddenly discover a passion for the Maghrebian 6/8... and begin to sing in Arabic, Berber and Turkish and to dance like the Gnawa... These funny boasters make up the Fanfaraï  band, a Rai UFO matured in the copper sun of North Africa which breathes intercultural harmony and offers a sensory journey - without a visa, we might add – to the southern shores of the Mediterranean, Turkey and elsewhere. " Great Happines, indeed!

The vivid and moving flamenco production Memoria Antigua explores music and dance from the far reaching corners of Spain and Andalusia, and it strives to present flamenco styles that have fallen into disuse, including the seguiriya de Frijones from Jerez, the cantiñas de Pastora and Lebrija, and the Trilla and the Zángano of Puente Genil. Through live music and dance, award-winning dancer/choreographers Patricia Ibáñez and Abel Harana take a look back at flamenco’s origins and pay homage to their ancestors who toiled in the fields, but who also created a varied artistic body of work rich in emotion and cultural relevance.

Karolina Cicha and Bart Pałyga will present “Many Languages,” which is built on the innovative style of the two performers, their charisma, and their experience in musical expression from folk, ancient and rock music projects. Many Languages features songs in the minority languages of the Podlasie region of northeast Poland, bordering Russia, Lithuania and Belarus: Ukrainian, Lithuanian, Russian, Romani, Belarusian, Yiddish, Polish, Tatar and Esperanto. Traditional folk instruments, such as the morinhuur, dorar, drumla, duduk, accordion, pipe and mandolin are joined by modern samplers and loopers, as well as ancient overtone singing. Karolina Cicha is a vocalist, composer, actor and multi-instrumentalist. Her latest project, “Poland – Pakistan: Music Without Borders” is a collaboration between Karolina Cicha and Shafqat Ali Khan, a songwriter and master of the ghazal.
 

The Zedashe ensemble is based in the medieval fortress city of Sighnaghi, Eastern Georgia. Directed by Ketevan Mindorashvili, the current incarnation of the ensemble was founded in the mid 1990s to sing repertoire consisting of ancient three-part harmony chants from the Orthodox Christian liturgy, folk songs from the Kiziqian region as collected from village song-masters and old publications, and folk dances from the region. The Zedashe Ensemble also sings repertoire from other regions in Georgia. Folk song genres include field-songs, love songs, historical ballads, war dance songs, and ritual circle dances, and are accompanied by the chunir (Svan lute), panduri (Kiziq lute), chonguri (Gurian lute), doli (drum), chiboni (goat-skin bagpipes), and accordion. Zedashe has toured internationally with appearances at major festivals and Universities in the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Lithunia and the US.

www.zedashe.com

The Romany (Gypsy) musical legacy is most notably characterized by its clever synthesis of known musical genres with the lesser known or unknown. Via Romen is the embodiment of this legacy, of lacing tradition with novelty. Founded in 2004, Via Romen has performed to glowing reviews across North America and has established itself as the continent’s premier Russian-Romany (Gypsy) group. Nuevo Russian–Romany Music is a new style, the original creation of Via Romen members. Drawn from a vast repertoire originating in Eastern and Western Europe and enriched by jazz, Jewish, and Latino styles, this music is modern, innovative, fresh and often deeply emotional. The Via Romen band consists of Vadim Kolpakov (Russian seven-string guitar, dance and vocals), Eugenia Zolotariova (vocals), and Alex Kolpakov. Vadim Kolpakov was also part of Madonna’s “Sticky & Sweet” 2008/2009 world tour as members of the Kolpakov Trio. 
 

Frank London is a New York City-based trumpeter, bandleader, and composer active in klezmer and world music. He also plays various other wind instruments and keyboards, and occasionally sings backup vocals. With The Klezmatics, he won a Grammy award in Contemporary World Music for "Wonder Wheel. London is best known for his role as trumpeter in the New York City-based klezmer band The Klezmatics. He is also a member of Hasidic New Wave and leads Frank London's Klezmer Brass Allstars.

http://www.franklondon.com

Fiery Balkan brass, throbbing funk grooves, Roma (Gypsy) accordion wizardry, and virtuoso jazz chops: Slavic Soul Party! is just what it says. These nine musicians have created an acoustic mash-up of Balkan and Gypsy sounds with North American music, weaving the gospel, funk, dub, jazz, and Latin influences of New York’s neighborhoods seamlessly into a Balkan brass setting and always "delivering a great time." (New York Times)

www.slavicsoulparty.com

Cocek! Brass Band is the brainchild of trumpet player Sam Dechenne. The band performs original music by Dechenne based on the sounds of Eastern European brass bands. They are a 5-piece group (2 trumpets, trombone, tuba and bass drum) that rocks the house on a very regular basis. The band's members come from internationally touring ensembles like John Brown's Body and Itzhak Perlman and bring a blend of dance music with stellar improvisation and melodies that evoke crazy dancing, contemplative thoughts and good times.

www.cocekbrassband.com 

Defying boundaries between world, folk, and jazz, the evolving collective of TriBeCastan is an exuberant collaboration by some of New York’s finest jazz and world musicians. TriBeCaStan’s fifth studio album, Goddess Polka Dottess, serves up a feast of sonic flavors. Diverse elements of world music abound, with myriad styles and sounds skillfully woven together with great innovation. The band hops gleefully from India to Ethiopia, to Jamaica and Eastern Europe and back to New York with remarkable ease and characteristically sly wit. Bluegrass meets circus music and exotic desert vibes, and dervish dance meets ska, and such influences as 1920s-style swing, Looney Tunes cartoon music, ‘70s Quincy Jones, and East African dance music are evoked in the band’s eclectic sound.

www.tribecastan.tv

Since 2008 Raya Brass Band has energized clubs, international festivals, rooftop parties, and subway cars with its hard-driving, original brass band music. The six members of the band bring their unique voices to the group, creating a sound informed as much by their love for the fierce and seductive music of the Balkans as it is by New Orleans brass bands, punk rock, and global music. Featuring trumpet, sax, accordion, tuba, and percussion, this band wails, sweats, and shouts alongside its audience.

www.rayabrassband.com

What happens when you cross the charm of Balkan Romani Cabaret, world funk and punk-rock? Bad Buka! An uplifting musical and theatrical family centered band that unifies crowds, cultures and ages. For the past 7 years they have developed a reputation of being a tight, original and dynamic tour de force.  Playing big electric shows as well as draw listeners into smaller more intimate acoustic performances. The old world meets the new in Bad Buka's music.

http://www.badbuka.com 

Underground Horns is a Brooklyn based brass band playing Afro, Funk, Bhangra New Orleans grooves and beyond. AllAboutJazz called their 2009 debut record FUNK MONK "kick-ass dance music…that brushes up against psychedelia…with shots of funky brass juice." In 2010 they recorded their second album BIG BEAT “an unapologetic party band with brains...with tonal inflections from the Big Easy, central Africa, the Maghreb and the Baltic states." (The New York Jazz Record). Underground Horns performed internationally in Egypt, Germany and most recently at Tudo é Jazz in Brazil, stateside at the Lowdown Hudson Blues Festival, NYC Winter Jazz Festival, Lincoln Center and various Jam Band Festivals, sharing the bill with Rebirth Brass Band, Big Sam's Funky Nation and B.B. King. In the big city they make people dance in subway stations, parks and at their club dates at nublu, the Blue Note and Brooklyn Bowl, among others. They also have been playing as a marching band, namely at the spectacular NYC Village Halloween Parade.

www.undergroundhorns.com

Hungry March Band, NYC’s award-winning brass ensemble and performance group, has a well earned reputation for mythical revelry with almost two decades of mermaid and Halloween parades, rural raves, subway parties, eccentric weddings, processionals for punk rock patron saints, and many other forays into the territories of the free spirit.  Their music is a melting-pot of world brass traditions, encompassing music from New Orleans second line, Balkan gypsy, New York punk, Bollywood brass, Detroit funk, Latin American samba, and more.

www.hungrymarchband.com