ICYMI, globalfestNYC & NPR Music Collab Knocks It Out Of The Park
22 February, 2022The beginning of 2022 was dealt a crummy hand this past January when the Omicron variant took hold of the Big Apple and most live events were canceled out of caution. Among those making the pivot from live event to virtual were globalFEST and NPR Music.
Though it was intended for in-person at Webster Hall, Tiny Desk meets globalFEST, hosted by Angelique Kidjo, was virtual for the second year in a row.
The concerts, which are streaming indefinitely on NPR Music’s YouTube channel, included a couple Latinx bands – Colombia’s Kombilesa Mi and Mexico’s Son Rompe Pera.
The series also featured artists from around the world, from Syria via France’s Bedouin Burger to New York’s Kiran Ahluwalia (watch those performances here). Tiny Desk founder and host Bob Boilen said, “For the past dozen years, the globalFEST team has meant so much to me, curating memorable nights of brilliant discoveries from around the world. Last year, we teamed up to bring those magical moments to people’s homes all over our planet. I think this tradition will have a long life and a meaningful one to artists and audiences.”
The lineup was curated by globalFest co-founder Bill Bragin, Isabel Soffer (co-founder and co-director) and Shanta Thake (co-director), plus guest curator Gabrielle Davenport.
Afro-Colombian hip hop outfit Kombilesa Mi and garage-marimba-cumbia punk rockers Son Rompe Pera contributed high energy sets, as we expected. We also enjoyed Northern Cree (Canada), a powwow and Round Dance drum and singing group from Maskwacis, Alberta. Founded by the Wood brothers of Saddle Lake Cree Nation, most members also come from the Treaty 6 and are part of Cree Nation.
Watch below and over on YouTube. There’s also an exclusive Spotify playlist.
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