Barbès in the Woods 2021

Bartlett farm, near the center of Montague, Massachusetts, again hosted Barbès in the Woods, the post quarantine edition of annual music event. For those not familiar, Barbès is a club in Brooklyn that supports music that might be found in the Paris neighborhood of the same name, known for its immigrant population. Barbès (Brooklyn) has been a locus of creative energy for over 20 years, supportive of local artists and international artists.

That mission now extends to western Massachusetts via Laudable Productions. They are bringing touring and New York City based artists the area year round but this show may be the highlight of their schedule. The musicians, joined by local restaurants, food trucks, micro-breweries, crafts people and artists contributed to a day of challenging listening with a communal vibe.

It really felt as if there was no place you would rather be than seated on the sloped grove of trees, that faced the stage as Mamie Minch’s music landed softly in the ears.

Nine hours later as the northeast braced for Hurricane Henri, Son Rompe Pera raged through a dizzying set of garage-marimba-cumbia-punk beneath a full moon. Co-headlining with the Mexico City rockers was retro Persian electro-pop star Liraz, who was also making her US debut.

Inspired by the Brooklyn club Barbès it aimed to expand the audiences musical horizons and delivered. New York City’s musical diversity leading the way. Artists have long been drawn to New York, others find themselves here due to circumstances beyond their control. Much of the music Mamie Minch, Bigyuki, Los Cumpleanos, Arooj Aftab, and Kaleta and the Super Yamba band created in the city has roots elsewhere. Mamie Minch will be at Barbès, October 7th. Kaleta and Super Yamba will be doing a Wednesday night October residency at Baby's All Right. Their first release together, Mèdaho was released in 2019.

Son Rompe Pera, the garage-marimba-cumbia-punk band were a whirlwind from the moment they bounced onto the stage, led by brothers Jesús Ángel and Allan Gama (Kacho and Mongo) on marimbas they tore into their set with a ferocity that cast the traditionally based compositions in a new light. “Never going to buy the bullshit” lyrics from their song “El Palo Poste” sums up their uncompromising musical approach.

The marimba as lead instrument was limited to folk traditions, until Son Rompe Para flipped preconceptions introducing it into the Mexico City punk scene. it is integral to the band’s music. Their knowledge of the instrument and the traditional music it is associated with was instilled as youths performing with their father at parties and in the streets of their town.

Kaleta first appeared on stage with the Super Yamba Band as a guest vocalist at a Paste show in Bryant Park August 2017 four years before the Barbes in the Woods show, almost to the day. Their collaboration began via a shared reverence for the psychedelic music of 1970’s West Africa, a meeting across generations and an improbable one. Kaleta was introduced to Fela’s music and to the raw psychedelic music coming out of Benin at a young age by his older brother Ligan-Ozavino Pascal.

The Super Yamba bandmembers, who had played in a number of groups in Greensboro began casually exploring the Afro funk music of Benin.Like Kaleta they discovered the same, now vintage discs. In particular the Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou who melded modern psychedelic innovations with traditional Vodun rhythms caught their attention. Bandmembers Evan Frierson and Daniel Yount met Mamadou Sarr Mbengue, a musician and recent immigrant to North Carolina who introduced them to the talking drum. Next was their move to New York where they found kindred spirits including Antibalas who they toured with. Setting the stage for their collaboration with Kaleta who similarly first heard the music via his brother’s record collection. He started out perfoming as a teen, and after decades of touring with the great artists of the continent including Fela, he too found himself in New York.

Bigyuki (Masayuki Hirano) is a keyboardist in demand, working with A Tribe Called Quest and Talib Kweli among others. He performed in the trio format with longtime collaborator Randy Runyon on guitar and Tim "Smithsoneon" Smith on drums. Bigyuki produced low-end rumbling bass lines with his left hand while playing keyboard with his right. The compositions were delineated by cold cut shifts in direction keeping listeners alert while the music, all instrumental, moved at times, with the intensity of an aural car chase. At one point repeating phrases of classical piano which became the base of an extended funk riff. At another, the drum and bass pad created a space for an exhilarating Runyon guitar solo, enhanced by notes processed by effects pedals.

Bigyuki’s musical training began with classical music while growing up in Japan. His move to New York at 18 opened his mind to jazz, classical, funk, hip hop, dance and electronica which are elemental within his playing now. Hirano said in a video interview from Good Music Company headquarters in Rotterdam “I want to keep surprising people with the freshest ideas”.

Liraz explores her Persian roots in songs based on the stories told by women in her family on Zan, her latest, released in November 2020. Liraz strengthened the connection and made a political point by collaborating remotely with Iranian musicians on the music that harkens back to pre-revolutionary days. This show is her US debut, on stage was backed by a band which included Nadav Peled on guitar Ran Livneh, bass, and Erán Fink on drums all members of the Anbessa Orchestra.

Mamie Minch played an acoustic set innspired by rural blues filtered through her contemporary sensibility. She was joined by Dean Sharenow on drums. One selection “Big Bad Maddie” from her recently released EP “Slow Burn” is inspired by a R.L. Burnside song but featuring a heroine, big bad Maddie, a woman “In charge of her own life”.  Another “Wee Midnight Hour” updated a Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell song and featured Mamie’s whistling.  She performs regularly in New York City, including at Barbes

The ZZK artists (https://zzkrecords.com/artist/Son-Rompe-Pera)  tell their story in these words: “The basics of Son Rompe Pera have been developing since we were kids, and the music and streets are in our blood. We found the markets flooded with old, forgotten folk music, and so as kids we decided to carry the marimba with us and create this musical project from our own roots, mixing in rhythms which we thought would never be musical brothers, like cumbia, punk, and the sounds of our barrios and our everyday lives.”

Antennae Cloud Farm co-presented  Bigyuki and Arooj Aftab. Aftab, is a Pakistani-born singer currently based in Brooklyn. Like Bigyuki she melded a very personal expression through her music that defies categorization. Her singing enveloped the audience with feeling of calm and attentiveness. The lyrics of “Mohabbat” (Love) from her latest release “Vulture Prince” written by Hafeez Hoshiarpuri are well known in Pakistan. Aftab’s voice singing in Urdu, holds the notes longer than one expects which emphasizes the meditative quality and contributes a melancholy tinge to the poetry. Eliminating percussion instruments, also emphasizes peace and calm intentions of the words. She was accompanied by bass, guitar played by Gyan Riley, and Darian Donovan Thomas on violin.

New York based Los Cumpleaños play classic era Colombian Cumbia, Porro, Son Caribeño, Salsa Criolla and Bullerengue with the energy of a rock band washed in a sea of cutting-edge psychedelic, new wave synths & wild style retro organ sounds

https://laudable.productions/

https://www.barbesbrooklyn.com/

Antennae Cloud Farm is acommunity-building organization located in Western Massachusetts. They present and support a vibrant array of multidimensional world-class artists.

http://www.antennacloudfarm.com/