World music host Jeff Spitzer-Resnick recently interviewed Simone Bottasso, an Italian accordion/flute player and half of the music group Duo Bottasso. They met virtually during WOMEX, the Worldwide Music Expo, and Simone explained the fascinating trajectory of the music and art he makes with his brother Nicolò Bottasso, from very traditional Italian Alpine dance music […]
WORT Goes To WOMEX
WOMEX-the Worldwide Music Expo-was forced to go virtual this year instead of its planned live presentation in Budapest. There were advantages and disadvantages with this decision. While the personal connections and ability to see musicians perform live were significantly diminished (though not completely eliminated,) the greatly reduced admission fee and elimination of travel costs allowed […]
From Virtual WOMEX: Exclusive WORT interview with FOKN BOIS
WORT world music programmer Jeff Spitzer-Resnick (co-host of PanAfrica and Diaspora) joined three other hosts: Gloria Hays, Ankur Malhotra and Dan Talmo at WOMEX-the Worldwide Music Expo, which was conducted virtually due to COVID. All four hosts are bringing music they discovered at WOMEX to WORT listeners, and they have also arranged for a number […]
WORT at WOMEX 2017 Part 5 by Dan Talmo
Here’s one last installment from WOMEX 2017 in Katowice, Poland. For me, the networking dimension of WOMEX was much bigger this year than the past two years. The trade show hall comfortably fit all 300 trade stands. One could easily roam from stand to stand, make new connections, or stumble onto old friends. • Madison […]
WORT at WOMEX 2017 Part 4, by Dan Talmo
In a previous post, I said that the bulk of our evenings were spent running among five stages which totaled 15 bands each night. Of the 45 bands presented over the three evenings of the conference, we managed to hear at least one tune from just 15 of the bands. Let’s recap the best of […]
WORT at WOMEX, Part 2, By Dan Talmo
We arrived in Katowice in southern Poland for the first day of the WOMEX World Music Expo. Katowice is an industrial town, noted for coal mines and steel works. Not the most charming city we every visited, but these days Katowice is experiencing a renaissance. Arts and entertainment are taking center stage with the construction […]
