By Olivia Laramie
On Saturday, February 27, GlobalFest was hosted by the Fine Arts Center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. GlobalFest began as an artist showcase in New York City. This year was the Creole Carnival Tour. This performance was created to honor the roots of African music and revolve around the celebration of Carnival. Carnival is the after-Lent festival that is celebrated around the world. It is commonly referred to, “everyone’s favorite excuse to party.” This year GlobalFest introduced the world to a trio of international artists.
Casuarina represented Brazil, the “superpower of the celebration.” The quintet, a musical group of five men, performed traditional samba music. They pride themselves on mixing modern pop and urban sound with their traditional and rich samba music. Casuarina was formed 12 years ago in Lapa, a self-described “bohemian Rio neighborhood.” They perform original songs as well as remakes of classic arrangements. The quintet enriched the audience with music from a variety of instruments including the tambourine, vihuelas, drums and vocals.
Emeline Michel represented Haiti. She and her band graced the audience with their upbeat and positive presence. Many of her songs were performed in the traditional language of Haiti, Creole. She began by thanking the audience for coming. “We live in a world with so many choices, and you chose to be here. Thank you.” Michel is known globally for combining traditional Haitian music with social, political, and inspirational messages and she certainly did not disappoint.
“Wherever you’re from, your tears are the same color, you feel the same pain, but you feel the same joy too. We absolutely need more joy.” Michel prefaced her song, “Ban ‘m La Jwa” with this speech. In Creole, “ban, la jwa” means “give me joy”.
She encouraged the audience to dance and they listened. In the far corners of the concert hall were groups of people dancing with seemingly no care. There were couples, children, mothers and their babies, college students...everyone appeared empowered by the music. “This is for you to dance, please feel free!”
Bushy One-String represented Jamaica with a one-string guitar. Bushy’s origin story goes as follows “One night, rural Jamaican musician Bushy dreamed of the guitar under his bed. He knew, suddenly, that if he picked it up and dedicated himself to playing it, he’d get to see the world. The instrument in question- a battered but resonant acoustic guitar- had only one string.”
Bushy first became popular on YouTube with his song, “Chicken in the Corn” reaching almost eight million views. Bushy, like Michel, enhanced his music with socio-political messages. “It doesn’t matter our color or creed. We are the same people; same eyes to see, same feet to run, walk, stand...same global world.”
GlobalFest was a beautiful and moving reminder that there is still joy in our global world.