WOMAD USA
Redmond, WA, July 31-August 2, 1998
Take 32 of the best acts in the world, put them on a beautiful park site 15 miles outside Seattle for a weekend, and you’ve got WOMAD USA. Marymoor Park, where the festival was held, is a lovely place: plenty of shade and excellent separation between the different stages while still keeping everything close at hand. Add to that some amazingly co-operative weather, the type of thing that’s perfect for being outside, with only one day (Sunday) veering on the hot side.
It was simply impossible to see everything. Ayub Ogada, from Kenya, was every bit as hypnotic and magical as he is on record, his nyatiti lulling, his voice so wonderfully warm and open. The Terem Quartet played the mainstage with their manic, precise, and often whimsical versions of the classics. They’re worth seeing not just for the music, but for the sheer sight of the massive bass balalaika. Baaba Maal hit the stage toward dusk, and it was an all-singing, all-dancing show, highlighting material from his new record, and joined for a couple of songs by the venerable Ernest Ranglin. In between there was a quick dash over to the Under a Tree Stage to hear Billy Bragg talk about his Woody Guthrie project.
The finale for the night was a band that proved to be the hit of the festival, as they’d been at WOMAD UK the week before — Lo’Jo. From France, they mixed Gallic music, North and West African, some cheesy cocktail touches, and dub into a completely intoxicating mix. Fronted by two Berber sisters, and led by a man with a strong dose of Serge Gainsbourg in his veins, they knocked everyone sideways. Performing all three days, they just kept drawing larger and larger crowds.
Muzsikás and Márta Sebestyén were the first mainstage acts on Saturday. Live, her voice is even more lovely than on record, and Muzsikás are the consummate musicians, accompanied by a pair of very charming dancers. On the village stage, Tanzania’s Hukwe Zawose brought the jungle to Seattle with his ilima (thumb piano) and two-string fiddle, but mostly with his voice. Using techniques not too dissimilar from the throat singers, his range of tone was remarkable, and he used every part of his body to make music.
Béla Fleck tore up the mainstage, while Waldemar Bastos from Angola proved to be another highlight, gentle, lulling, with Portugal and Brazil in his musical blood. Ayub Ogada played again, with Tibet’s Yungchen Lhamo on the same stage. She’s acquired a reputation that’s more than justified. Truly one of the world’s great singers.
King Sunny Ade and his African Beats always satisfy the appetite, and this was no exception. The size of the mainstage perfectly suited the band, and the pedal steel player really got a chance to cut loose. Wilco played on the mainstage, and I really don’t know what people see in them. Ordinary and boring. Bragg joined them for one song, then brought on his own band, performing mostly Woody Guthrie material. Better live than on the CD.
The final day opened with the excellent Tuatara, from Seattle, including REM’s Peter Buck and Screaming Trees’ Barrett Martin. Eva Ybarra was in the dance tent playing some fiery norteño while Zakir Hussein, in the sun, offered some entrancing Indian percussion, showing just exactly why he is a master. Basque accordionist Kepa Junkera joined Madagascar’s Justin Vali for a stunning set that highlighted the talents of both people, while Spearhead and Joan Osborne lumbered away on the mainstage. They helped bring in the crowds, even if they offered nothing new or different musically. Thomas Mapfumo played the village stage, and I was curiously unmoved. Sky Cries Mary, another Seattle band, brought space-rock to WOMAD, and drew in more locals. It all culminated in a grand jam, which, as jams go, was, um, okay, but good fun for all the musicians. And that was it. The first annual WOMAD USA Festival. Superb, and boding well for the years to come.
