For its 15th installment, Chicago’s World Music Festival has recovered from its nadir last year—a hastily assembled and underwhelming lineup that was just one by-product of a clumsy administrative overhaul that left the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events basically rudderless at the start of 2012. Festival founder Michael Orlove and his three-person team were laid off in December 2011, and though Orlove’s colleagues Carlos Tortolero and Jack McLarnan were eventually rehired, they had to organize the event in just a few short months.
Those are minor quibbles, though, especially in light of the five formidable shows at Pritzker Pavilion. They include a high-octane bill of Latin music from Eddie Palmieri and Plena Libre on Thu 9/12, the Indian classical showcase on Fri 9/13, and a fantastic Asian program featuring Indian classical violinist L. Subramaniam, Pakistani qawwali greats Qawal Najmuddin Saifuddin & Brothers, and Iranian/Azeri duo Pejman Hadadi & Imamyar Hasanov on Fri 9/20 (see below). As usual the WMF winds up with the mini fest One World Under One Roof at the Cultural Center, this year held on Sun 9/22—though Boston-based Ethiopian-soul outfit Debo Band will play what’s technically the last show at Martyrs’ later that night. —Peter Margasak
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DEBASHISH BHATTACHARYA Debashish Bhattacharya isn’t the first to develop a slide-guitar practice within the Indian classical tradition—that distinction belongs to his principal mentor, the great Brij Bhushan Kabra—but he’s certainly doing his bit to bridge musical cultures. Earlier this year he released Beyond the Ragasphere (Riverboat), an intriguing fusion project that includes jazz guitarist John McLaughlin, country Dobro master Jerry Douglas, and flamenco guitarist Adam del Monte—and it only goes south when kit drums and noodly electric bass enter the picture. For this show Bhattacharya brings a family band with his brother, Subhasis Bhattacharjee, on tabla and his daughter, Anandi, on vocals—the same group that supports him on his terrific new traditional album, Madeira (Tridev). The stripped-down setting foregrounds the lyrical beauty of his meditative, meticulously pitched solos. Bhattacharya’s Pritzker Pavilion performance is part of the all-night program RagaMala, which moves into the Cultural Center’s Preston Bradley Hall at 9 PM. —Peter Margasak
Friday, September 13, 9 PM, Mayne Stage, 18+ (with Sidi Touré, below)
MAMADOU KELLY After years of playing under the leadership of Malian guitar greats Ali Farka Touré and Afel Bocoum, singer and guitarist Mamadou Kelly (from the village of Niafunke, like both of them) has stepped out on his own. His recent U.S. debut, Abidar (Clermont Music), is gentler and subtler than Touré’s or Bocoum’s music—he softly intones his lyrics, his hypnotic guitar arpeggios tickle and float, and his solos seem to whisper—but the total effect is equally powerful. Supported by electric bass, a gourd fiddle called a njarka, and sparse calabash percussion, Kelly casts his spells as if he were singing lullabies, with a soulful intensity in his restraint. Abidar is one of the most exciting new records I’ve heard come out of Mali in years. —Peter Margasak
Sunday, September 15, 6 PM, Hideout, 21+ (with Mamadou Kelly, above)
Monday, September 16, 8 PM, Schubas, 18+ (with Kardemimmit, above)
Thu 9/12 through Sun 9/22 Various venues and timesworldmusicfestivalchicago.org All shows free and all-ages unless noted
