By Laura Kebede
The Richmond Folk Festival, now in its eighth year, will flood the downtown riverfront with music, dance, food and craft vendors from Oct. 12 to 14. Here’s a preview of some performers with origins around the world. Read more about these performers on the festival’s website.
New Orleans native Dr. Michael White & The Original Liberty Jazz Band will bring a thick history with jazz. White, a clarinetist is an advocate for New Orleans musicians in need of cultural revitalization after Hurricane Katrina.
Fendika is a young Ethiopian group that brings together backgrounds in jazz, rock and hip hop to fuse creativity and traditional Azmari music and dance. The group has toured Ethiopia, Europe and the U.S. in its short four-year history.
Fred Wesley specializes in funk music. He started out playing trombone for Ike and Tina Turner and later influenced Janet Jackson and Nas. His bold sound cannot go unnoticed.
Joshua Nelson combines Jewish tradition with gospel music to make his own “kosher gospel.” Born and raised a black Jew in New Jersey, Nelson spent two years on a kibbutz in Israel and realized his Jewish faith could be integrated into the music form he loved.
After a 76-year hiatus due to political tensions, Cuban band Septeto Nacional de Ignacio Piñeiro was allowed back to the U.S. in 2009. The group is in its fourth generation, started in 1927 by Ignacio Piñeiro, and has shows no sign of slowing down. Their African-Latin rhythm showcases a unique blend that has upheld the group’s fame.
