Folk Fest Redux

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Brian Marshall and His Tex-Slavik Playboys

Brian Marshall & His Tex-Slavik Playboys came together to play a distinctive blend of swing, polka and country-western music from all over the cosmos – a universe called Texas, to be precise.

Band members sported cowboy hats as they belted out traditional polka tunes, and Marshall, whose family name is Marszalek, played his fiddle with the ease of a gunslinger twirling his six-shooter.

Dance halls are scarce in northern New England these days and dance bands even rarer, so it was a double delight to hear tunes with a great beat that were impossible not to dance to.

– Judy Harrison

Hula Halau ‘O Lilinoe

The slow-moving hula of grass-skirt fame is not a true representation of traditional Hawaiian dance. Hula Halau ‘O Lilinoe, led by Sissy Kaio, stormed the stage like young warriors.

Nine young men and women stomped their bare feet and slapped their goose-bumped flesh as they chanted tributes to the volcano goddess, Polynesian gods and important chiefs in Maine’s chilly summer night air.

Their syncopated moves using gourd rattles, pebbles and sticks as accompaniment mesmerized the audience. The short lessons the troupe offered charmed children and adults – and pointed out how little most Mainers know about our 50th state.

– Judy Harrison

Chaksam Pa

The Tibetan group Chaksam Pa took its name from a seventh-century architect who built bridges throughout the mountainous Asian nation. Exiled from their homeland, the group says its goal is to preserve Tibetan performing arts.

The strains of the musical instruments and high-pitched nasal singing provided a shocking jolt to Western ears. Yet the colorful costumes and masks donned for the short excerpt from the usual 12-hour-long opera were eye-poppingly beautiful.

Chaksam Pa’s performance epitomized the essence of the National Folk Festival – crashing through cultural barriers with a battering ram called the arts.

– Judy Harrison

Aziz Herawi

A soothing stringed instrument similar to a long-necked guitar, the long-necked lute belonging to Aziz Herawi provided a blend of resonant tones as the Afghan musician danced his fingers across the instrument’s neck Saturday afternoon.

With a mix of harmonics and exuberant rhythms, Herawi made the lute sing in full-bodied pitch. His gentle plucks on the gourd-shaped instrument cut through the gaps in the beat kept by percussionist Saleiman Azizi.

Working two hand-played drums independently, Azizi drilled his fingertips for staccato pop on the small drum while the slap and massage of his palm across the larger drumhead gave a water-drop bass effect.

Accompanying the music were a fluid pair of Afghan dancers, Nilou-far Talebi and Shar-lyn Sawyer. Wearing brilliant green and red robes trimmed with gold, they took turns dipping their torsos and arms in majestic waves as they shuffled across the stage with minute toe movements.

On the last tune, Herawi began with a slow bouncing round on the 14-string dutar. Herawi broke into full strums, working up to a fevered pitch. The audience responded in kind, erupting in frenzied claps as the dancers spun about in wild circles like maestros to the orchestra.

– Anthony Saucier

Trio Chalchihuecan

Many people experience Mexican songs only as backdrop for ethnic restaurants, but close to 500 people felt the festive pop of traditional jarocho music from the Veracruz group Trio Chalchihuecan.

The three-piece, all-string band featured two small guitars and a large upright harp, making for an hour-long set of lively picked and percussive twang.

Strumming full chords on his jarana, guitarist Marcos Ochoa Reyes provided the hearty rhythmic backing for the group. Jose Gutierrez served as the melody maker on his chirping four-string requinto.

Hands down, harpist Felipe Ochoa Reyes owned the show with his lightning quick plucking of high-pitched notes and simultaneous strokes of the lower notes to give the group its bass sounds.

Although the Spanish lyrics probably weren’t understood by most, the rousing back-and-forth lyrical style was well received. Gutierrez’s robust vocal melodies about a man looking for his lost appetite were tight and punchy, almost seeming like they came from a stream of conscience. The Ochoa brothers offered a recognizable chorus, down just an octave from the previous verse.

While the songs remained lively and brisk, Trio Chalchihuecan provided its dynamic side with “El Torrito Jarocho.” The trio switched tempos smoothly on the song, also known as “the little bull,” beginning with a swift dance that melted into an almost serene three-step waltz.

The sit-down crowd listened with open eyes until being urged to take part in the “grito,” the joyful yelp the trio injected into the music during the solos. What started as a few lone shouts turned into an enthusiastic holler, much to the amazement of the performers and a smiling audience.

Anthony Saucier

N.B.S. (Nothing But Skill)

“I’ve heard Bangor, Maine, only has about 30,000 people and they look like they’re all here today,” joked one of the members of Nothing But Skill, the New York City hip-hop group that wooed a swelled-to-bursting crowd during a performance Saturday evening on the midway.

Packed tightly on the street near the entrance to the Bangor landing and stretching high onto the hill above, excited festival-goers were hot with anticipation for the troupe. This could have been for two reasons: first, the inclusion of the group and the culture it represents stretches (and perhaps breaks) the idea of anything considered “folk” as being stodgy or static; second, experiencing black urban street culture in Bangor seemed somehow exotic.

Despite a late start and copious technical problems the group succeeded in bringing its busker bravado to a captivated audience.

The NBS’ flips and acrobatics were amazing. The dancing, which was essentially break dancing, and the bucket drumming were entertaining but not awe-inspiring. But the NBS street-performer charm and abounding enthusiasm – and the audience’s reciprocation – made the experience of watching the group nothing short of amazing.

In fact, because of the group’s popularity its Sunday afternoon performance had to be moved to a later time slot and from the street to the festival’s Heritage Stage.

– George Bragdon