Edition: U.S. / Global


Published: October 27, 1994

International Rhythms From Brooklyn Musicians Prospect Park

Toward the end of its last piece, the Ramiz Islami orchestra from Albania moved into a modal, droning stretch that allowed Mr. Islami, a clarinetist, to improvise circular patterns with cracked and peeling notes. Abruptly he changed key, and the band followed, the accordion letting a few notes hover and the drummer slapping away at his snare while the guitarist, playing the bass line, interrupted his one or two notes with a hiccup of syncopation. It was trance music, aimed at a release that could be heard from many of the performers at the Ethnic Folk Art Center's all-day Brooklyn Ethnic Music Festival in Prospect Park on Sunday.

The festival came alive with the V.R.A.N.A. Cultural Troupe, a mostly Ghanian drum and dance ensemble based, as were most of the groups involved in the festival, in Brooklyn. Its compositions, built around clearly delineated rhythmic patterns, became increasingly complicated, with the dozen or so musicians splashing geometrically precise figures, played by three or four drums, over the basic beat. The group, playing for its own dancers, found the groove that makes an audience leave its problems at home.

The day ended with a gloriously relaxed performance by Los Majaderos, a Cuban group that included the percussionists and singers Carlos (Patato) Valdez and Virgilio Marti along with Paquito Pastor on keyboard. The band never raised its voice; instead it used chants, call-and-response singing and the interplay of piano and percussion, with Mr. Pastor's rhythmic figures setting the music's pulse.

The festival also included a mariachi band, a chorale dedicated to black Spirituals, a Lebanese band and dance workshops. The audience, smaller than expected because of the daylong driving rain, was nonetheless protected under a tent, where food and drink was available. People wandered around blissfully, taking in all the glories of Brooklyn and its talented populace. PETER WATROUS