The Lotus World Music and Arts Festival will be taking place this weekend, Sept. 28 to Oct. 1. Every year, community radio station WFHB hosts sessions with some of the festival's artists for Lotus Live. These sessions are aired on the radio before an artist’s performance at the festival, as a preview for their show. Recordings of these sessions will also be available on WFHB’s annual Lotus Live CD next fall. WFHB’s world music director Adriane Pontecorvo spoke about the artists who will be featured in this year’s Lotus Live sessions.
Sahba and Nagmeh
On WFHB: 1 p.m. Friday
At the festival: 7:30 p.m. Friday at First United Methodist Church; 3:15 p.m. Saturday at Waldron, Hill and Buskirk Park (Third Street Park) and 7:15 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church
Sahba Motallebi and Naghmeh Farahmand are a duo originally from Iran, according to the Lotus Festival’s website. Pontecorvo said the two women primarily perform string and percussion instrumentals.
“They do some really kind of complex, frenzied melodies,” Pontecorvo said. “So I’m definitely excited about them.”
Lo’Jo: Fonetiq
On WFHB: 2 p.m. Friday
At the festival: 7:15 p.m. Friday at the Pictura Gallery/Old National Bank Tent and 10:45 p.m. Saturday at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater
Hailing from France, Pontecorvo said Lo’Jo has performed at Lotus in the past.
“They’re old favorites,” she said. “Their album has done some really interesting kind of electronic, folk combinations. So that’s going to be very exciting.”
Trio da Kali
On WFHB: 4 p.m. Friday
At the Festival: 10:45 p.m. Friday at the Ivy Tech Community College Tent and 9 p.m. Saturday at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater
The trio comes all the way from Mali, and Pontecorvo said the group recently released an album with the Kronos Quartet.
“It’s really beautiful,” she said. “It’s these sort of lovely, mostly soft melodies most of the time, but the album is a great mix of traditional Malian string music and, of course, classical Kronos Quartet music. On their own too, they do just amazing music and all of them are descended from these long lineages of griots and other musicians.”
According to Trio da Kali’s website, a griot is a hereditary musician.
Pascuala Ilabaca Fauna
On WFHB: 6 p.m. Friday
At the festival: 10:45 p.m. Friday at the Picture Gallery/Old National Bank Tent
Singer-songwriter and accordion player Pascuala Ilabaca’s music is rooted in Chilean folk traditions, but incorporates jazz pop and other influences, according to the festival’s website. Pontecorvo said WFHB will be conducting an on-air interview with her.
“For 'Hola Bloomington,' we’re going to have Pascuala Ilabaca so that’s going to be a Spanish-language interview which will be great to have one our Spanish language section of Friday,” she said. “So the lineup is definitely a variety.”
The Outside Track
On WFHB: 11 a.m. Saturday
At the festival: 9 p.m. Friday at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater; 1p.m. Saturday at Waldron, Hill and Buskirk Park (Third Street Park), 6 p.m. at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater and 10:45 p.m. at First United Methodist Church
Pontecorvo said the group does a Celtic mix, incorporating traditions from Scotland, Ireland and the United States.
Kaia Kater
On WFHB: Noon, Sunday
At the festival: 9 p.m. Friday at First Presbyterian Church; 4 p.m. Saturday at Waldron, Hill and Buskirk Park (Third Street Park) and 7:45 p.m. at First Christian Church
Born in Québec and of African-Caribbean descent, Kater’s songs explore themes of the realities faced by people of color in North America, according to the festival’s website.
“She is the Lotus Dickey Artist,” Pontecorvo said. “She is doing an interesting mix of Appalachian and Caribbean and Canadian folk music. So it’s very rootsy and I think she primarily just does solo stuff, so it’s going to be, I think, a really interesting set.”
According the festival’s website, the Lotus Dickey Artist honors the late Quinten “Lotus” Dickey, and is a selected musician whose love of music from around the world embodies the spirit of the Lotus World Music and Arts Festival.
Giri and Uma Peters
On WFHB: 1 p.m. Saturday
At the festival: 6:30 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. at First Christian Church
Giri and Uma Peters, from Nashville, Tennessee, are a brother and sister bluegrass duo, according to the Lotus Festival website.
“They're doing some acoustic kind of blues music,” Pontecorvo said. “So Saturday is pretty acoustic-themed I think.”
