Folk Festival brings musical geography to town

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Cultural diversity will waft into Bangor on the wings of music during the American Folk Festival, Friday through Sunday, Aug. 24-26. The music of Poland, Ireland, Jamaica, Arabia, Haiti, Tibet, the Dominican Republic and Finland will turn the Bangor Waterfront into a geographical melange of song, rhythm and dance.

The blues, Cajun tunes, Gospel music, Appalachian ballads, klezmer, Blue Ridge piano, throat singing, Texas fiddling and Atlantic sea chanteys will round out the festival offerings.

. Tibetan Monks from the Drepung Loseling Monastery will present “The Mystic Arts of Tibet” featuring singing and masked dances.

. Elizabeth LaPrelle, with her mother, Sandy LaPrelle, and Jim Lloyd on guitar and banjo, will sing Appalachian ballads and songs.

. The Quebe Sisters Band returns to the American Folk Festival by popular demand. They first appeared in Bangor at the National Folk Festival in 2004. They play Western swing, vintage country and traditional Texas fiddle tunes.

. Frank London’s Klezmer Brass Allstars. Klezmer is a traditional and celebratory music of Eastern Europe’s Jewish community that has roots in the Middle Ages.

. Nukariik, Inuit throat singers Karin and Kathy Kettler learned the art from elders and friends. Nukariik is the Inuit word for sisters.

. Morgan Heritage is a family of musicians raised in Brooklyn. They carry on their family’s commitment to the Rastafarian reggae music tradition.

. In Wilho Saari’s family, kantele playing goes back five generations. The stringed instrument similar to a lap harp, or zither, is the national instrument of Finland.

. Francisco Ulloa y su Grupo Tipico, who plays accordion, will present the national music of the Dominican Republic, featuring the merengue style.

. Eileen Torres, dance instructor, will teach festival goers to dance the merengue at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 25, and noon Sunday, Aug. 26, at the dance pavilion.

. Songs and Stories of Atlantic Watermen will feature Jim Payne and Fergus O’Byrne from Newfoundland; Bobby Quinn, lobsterman and poet from Eagle Island, Maine; Janice Marshall, crab picker and cook from Maryland; and Northern Neck Chantey Singers, menhaden fisherman from Virginia, sharing the stage to tell the tales of life upon the water.

. Big Chief Monk Boudreaux and the Golden Eagles have paraded in the black neighborhoods of New Orleans during Mardi Gras for 30 years.

. Jeff Little and Friends, Steve Lewis and Josh Scott, will play Blue Ridge piano. The piano does not play much of a part in Appalachian music, but Jeff Little is changing that. Their style is influenced by the flat-picked guitar tradition.

. The Dixie Hummingbirds are a gospel quartet that has influenced the Temptations, James Browns and Stevie Wonder. They backed Paul Simon’s 1973 hit, “Love Me Like a Rock.”

. The Green Fields of America Reunion started the renaissance of traditional Irish music. It was the first group to bring together Irish vocal, instrumental and dance traditions on concert and festival stages.

. Nadeem Dlaikan and Friends bring traditional Arabic music to the American Folk Festival. He plays the nye, a handmade reed flute.

. Nadia Dieudonne and Feet of Rhythm, a rara parade band based in Brooklyn, are dedicated to Haitian dance and culture.

. Gary Sredzienski, accordion master, performs Polish village music he learned from his grandparents.

. Bernard Allison learned to play the blues from his father, Luther Allison.

. Eddie and Alonzo Pennington are all thumbs when it comes to guitar picking. It requires the thumb to keep the rolling rhythm while the fingers pick the lead melody.

. Raz de Maree brings French Canadian contradance music of Quebec and New England. The group plays Acadian jigs, reels and waltzes at dances throughout North America.

. The Bruce Daigrepont Cajun Band features accordionist Daigrepont, who writes French-language songs in traditional settings.

. Larry Johnson, acoustic blues, has been described as one of the great elder statesmen of the Southern acoustic blues tradition.

. Men in Black, a barbershop quartet, was named the 2005 International Collegiate Barbershop Quartet Champions.

While music and dance are the headliners of the American Folk Festival, the Folk Art Marketplace also is a major attraction. Look for handmade baskets, fleece products, floral wreaths, jewelry, herbal products, knitted items, leatherwork, paper craft, quilts, braided rugs, food, American Indian arts, stained glass and wood crafts.

Folk craft demonstrations include wood carving, whittling, snowshoe making, decoy making and root club carving.

Special events for children attending the festival will take place in Pickering Square where the younger set can enjoy dance, face painting, music, song and the sweet treat artistry of candymaker Masaji Terasawa.

Karen Montanaro of Casco, who is both a principal dancer of the Portland Ballet and a mime, will bring her program “Tranzspiel” to the children’s area at 1 p.m. Saturday and 3:45 p.m. Sunday. Montanaro does extensive work with schoolchildren around the state.

Food at the folk festival also will reflect the cultural geography of the world, including the flavors of Greece, Thailand, India, the Maine coast and Coney Island.