An Afrobeat orchestra from Brazil, an American ensemble devoted to music of the Sufi mystics, a Moroccan-Israeli singer of Jewish and Arabic songs and a Hawaiian swing band are among the lures of Globalfest 2015, an immersion in hybrid forms of world music and pop. The one-day festival, now in its 12th year, will be presented on three stages at Webster Hall on Jan. 11.
Bill Bragin, one of the producers, said in a statement that the festival’s performers “demonstrate how effortlessly and seamlessly contemporary production and traditional roots can work together.”
“Musicians are coming up with new generational approaches to traditional music, how they speak to their peers,” Mr. Bragin added.
Among the more intriguing performers on the bill are the Belgian singer Zap Mama, who performs a blend of African traditional vocal styles and hip-hop, and the Nile Project, an ensemble of 12 East African musicians who combine the instruments and vocal styles of the 11 countries in the Nile Basin.
Riyaaz Qawwali, an American-based octet from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, specializes in qawwali, the Sufi music of South Asia. Emil Zrihan, an Israeli countertenor born in Morocco, is known for his performances of both Sephardic song and North African Arabic music. And the Jones Family Singers, from Texas, specialize in gospel funk.
Also among the 12 groups on the bill are Bixiga70, the Brazilian Afrobeat orchestra; Emel Mathlouthi, who mixes Tunisian vocal styles with electronica; Just a Band, an electronic music band from Nairobi; and Kahulanui, which specializes in the Hawaiian swing style that was popular in the 1920s and 1930s.
The full lineup will be available on Globalfest’s website.