Report & photos by D. Misha Turner


Afropop Worldwide travels the globe to bring the best of global music to your ear, and with our latest visit to Detroit for the 14^th Annual Concert of Colors Diversity Festival was no exception. This year, the internationally heralded music festival was transplanted to a new location for its 3-day extravaganza: The Max Fisher Music Center!  The lush venue, provided by the esteemed Detroit Symphony Orchestra, treated festival goers with a sumptuous, spacious and—thankfully—air-conditioned spot to sample 3 stages (both indoor and outdoor) worth of music, activities, food and fellowship.

The festival presents artists hailing from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, South America and throughout North America. Festival director Steve Heath testifies, “When the artists return home, they report on Detroit's celebration of the world's music and culture. They also describe how visitors from around the world and from Detroit and Southeast Michigan get together to celebrate the arts and each other's company.” And indeed that sentiment was echoed by more than most of the artists featured this year—many who’ve made their U.S. performance debut at Concert of Colors.

LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!

Opening this years festival, New Detroit and the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS), organized a half day forum on “Community, Culture and Race” with our very own Georges Collinet as the keynote speaker. More than 200 specially invited metro Detroit arts & cultural institutions, artists and community activists gathered to participate in dialogue examining the role of arts and culture in overcoming racial and ethnic barriers.

Later, the festival was truly in swing with the opening day kick-off party featuring an Afropop Worldwide dance party co-sponsored with WDET. Georges, on the wheels of steel, got the party started right with hours of festive Afropop favorites, with the crowd on their feet throughout the night! Live performances opened with New Orleans Mardi Gras favorite, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux and the Golden Eagles leading cultural dancers and drummers parading throughout the Max Fisher Music Center. A special set with Latin jazz superstar Poncho Sanchez and his band, accompanied by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, pulled out all the stops enlivening the crowd with their sizzlin’ salsa grooves!

INDOORS OR OUTDOORS…IT’S ALL GOOD WHEN THE MUSIC’S HOT!

With more than 40 acts presented at this years’ festival, hard-core music lovers had their pickings of diversity: from Caribbean mainstay Trinidad Tripoli Steel Band, Japanese percussion from the Kaiju Daiko Ensemble, Latin Jazz with Tumbao Bravo, Detroit rockin’ with the Detroit Cobras, and a visit with the Indigo Girls. There was something for everyone—and more!

From the Main Stage festival goers were treated to the mesmerizing sounds of Abdelli. Arriving fresh a performance in Canada the Algerian international music star and his accompanying troupe of musicians weaved the musical history of the Kabyl people, an ethnic Berber group of North Africa. A mandol virtuoso, Abdelli has performed with Peter Gabriel, Ravi Shankar and Loreena McKinnet. With such history the flavor of his performance was masterfully blended.

Senegalese hip-hop and rap artists Daara J returned to Concert of Colors, where they wowed audiences with a high-energy performance and dance set—yes sir, they definitely brought it! We sat down this year with Fadda Freddy to get an update on Daara J, and the guys have been mixing it up. With a new album on the way and a new studio based in Senegal, the band have been fostering collaborations on an international scope—in Jamaica with reggae greats Morgan Heritage, Mali’s Salif Keita and rap icons Public Enemy—African hip hop is in the house.  “Being hip hop, for me, means to open your heart and spirit wide for whatever may come up...” says Fadda, “and [being] focused in positivity, because hip hop music is positivity.” And soon, look for Daara J on the big screen. “Tarenga Blues,” film to be produced in Senegal, features Al-Aliji in the starring role; with Fadda Freddy and Ndongo D as Baye Fall mystics. You heard it here first!

The highly anticipated performance for Concert of Colors on Saturday featured Ladysmith Black Mambazo.  Situated on the sumptuous Main Stage located in the Detroit Symphony Orchestra Hall, Ladysmith Black Mambazo performed to a packed crowd in the hall and standing room only audiences throughout the Max Fisher Center atrium.

Making their U.S. debut, the musically explosive and dynamic band Bombolesse came loud and proud: “from the favela to the world”! Band leader Julian Thornet describes their brand of Brasillianized Music as a blend of samba, Cuban and African percussion, rock, reggae with a dash of political wit.  “[Our] music is very lively, but [lyrically] we bring about consciousness,” offers Julian. Now based in Montréal, the band includes a cultural melting pot of members with backgrounds in Brazil, Canada, Cuba. This band is demonstrative of self determination and collaboration.  “[Although] we’re all from different backgrounds,” leads band member Patrick Dugas, “we’re all different, but we can be all together,” finished Julian. Look for their independently produced album Pucha Pucha.

MORE FIRE, DETROIT-STYLE!

“From Chile to the world”, Joe Vasconcellos and his band also had their Detroit debut at COC. Fusing his Brazilian/Chilean family heritage to create a unique sound that ranges from samba to reggae and all hot points in between, Joe Vasconcellos definitely had the space jumpin’! With rapid-fire rapping on his congas and rustic voice reminiscent of Chico Cesar, Joe and his band got the recipe for making the body move and groove. When a travel visa was denied for a band member, Vasconcellos contacted JoVia Armstrong, a Detroit born and raised percussionist, to fill in on the tour schedule. The two musicians met up at the Latin America Music Festival in Milwaukee in 2005. And the party doesn’t stop on stage—you’d want to hang out with the Joe Vasconcellos crew—look for them at a music festival near you!

“Hello hello, bon jour bon jour, hola hola, konichiwa konichi-wa-wa,” echoes on the Main Stage for Michael Franti & Spearhead’s close-out performance at Concert of Colors. No stranger to music lovers out west, Michael Franti & Spearhead treated the Detroit crowd of a hundred or more fans to an hour long set of socially influenced reggae-funk! World-renowned musician, filmmaker and human rights worker—Michael Franti’s documentary “I Know I Am Not Alone (A Musician's Journey Through War in the Middle East)” premiered in Detroit for a screening sponsored by ACCESS. The film follows Franti during his travels to Iraq, Palestine and Israel to explore the human cost of war with a group of friends, video cameras and his guitar. And that’s what the scene was like when Spearhead was on the stage: a spirited pow-wow celebrating life, liberty, love and freedom. Ever down-to-Earth and present, Michael Franti engaged the crowd with allegorical tales of his travels and experiences—even bringing up children onstage to dance.

But we’re not done yet: Detroit’s got the final word with Amp Fiddler! Former George Clinton sideman Joseph “Amp” Fiddler walks his own middle ground with a keyboard-heavy blend of styles incorporating house, funk and R&B that's both airy and rooted in deep groove. Detroit was feelin’ the vibe of his Waltz of a Ghetto Fly. The Detroit native has a musical pedigree—having played alongside such artists as Ramsey Lewis, the P-Funk All-Stars, and Was (Not Was)—and a music sensibility that rounded out the festival on Sunday on a mellow note. Invited to perform with Amp was Prince Sowandé Keita, son of the legendary African drummer and cultural Detroit icon King Sundiata Keita, who reinforced the African presence in the place—much respect! The opinionated Fiddler was featured with Mary Ramirez of the Detroit Cobras (who also performed at the festival) in the Detroit weekly “The Metro Times” speaking on musical diversity in the 313. Alas, Amp summarizes best: "Conversation and not segregation needs to be the focus for people to have an understanding of each other and look at situations unconditionally". Speak on brother, speak on!

DETROIT SHOUT-OUTS

Special thanks to Ishmael Ahmed & crew of ACCESS, Steve Heath of Concert of Colors, Njia Kai, Dave Shelly, Marshalle Montgomery & crew from New Detroit, and countless others for being Afropop fans. Be on the lookout for Detroit events listings on Afropop.org with Kannette Worlds. One!













CONCERT OF COLORS 2006 PHOTO GALLERY

First published: www.afropop.org