World Music Club Nites In Your Area

Hello! this is a beautiful post, very incouraging! Michelle and I are trying to get a night going in Miami and at the moment things are at a bit of a stand still (we haven't gotten a date yet). what kind of marketing tactic would you recommend for promoting this kind of night?

I'm in Singapore this weekend for WOMAD and just got back from the opening party at Bar None for Temple of Sound, one of the headlining acts for this year's WOMAD S'pore.

The venue is the site of the much-missed former Fabrice World Music Bar in the basement of the Marriott (ex-Dynasty hotel). It is my first visit back in the space that used to house THE World Music Club in S.E. Asia; many a night was spent dancing to DJ's mix of Khaled, Bally Sagoo, and other world music hits of the 90s.

In between the live performances was dj on duty, Andrew Chang, who spun a wicked World House set, heavy on the African and Brazilian influences. Heard tonite were Salome de Bahia's rework of Kaoma's (Fugir) Outro Lugar, MAW feat. soca diva Denise Belfon's Work!, Bob Sinclar/Africanism's remix of preeminent Afro-Caribbean Cadence-lypso band Exile One's Viel Ou La.

Last weekend I was in San Francisco and took some time to explore some of the world music/worldtronica club scene there. On Thursday nite, we had wanted to explore one of the popular venues, but to our surprise, found the place quite deserted. A local insider told us that the main dj responsible for the signature event was still out of town. We instead got a suggestion for another event/venue which would have been our second choice, so it worked out perfectly.

That venue was Studio Z and the event was the premiere party for the documentary Short Cut To Nirvana

www.studioz.tv/

melafilms.com/pages/sfparty.html

We'd heard of Studio Z before from previous event listings such as the Dances of Ecstasy screening party and this, the SCTN party had also been listed on Tribe by DJ Amar.

By the time we arrived at the venue, it was midnight, and Cheb I Sabbah was already into his bhangra set. There was also a choreographed dance performance by the Dhol Rhythms dance troupe

www.dholrhythms.com/

Our first impression was a nice, comfortable venue with an eclectic crowd. As we started to move, we sensed the nice hardwood floors, very conducive to dancing! This, even after having spent the day walking thru endless airport terminals.

I've caught Cheb I Sabbah twice on tour this past year, and had a feeling it's a distinct experience when he's playing for the home crowd. He was soon joined onstage by tabla artist Ferhan Qureshi for a dj meets live tabla set, accompanied by a bellydancer. That's when the party kicked into hi gear.

This was the first time I'd seen Ferhan Qureshi's performance and it was awesome. The highpoint was when Cheb dropped Khaled's El-H'mam to Ferhan's furious tabla beats--the meeting of tablas and rai never sounded so good! (Which made me think Khaled needs to have Nitin Sawhney produce more tracks for him a la El Harba Wine from the Kenza album).

The fusion of different world sounds continued much to the delight of the crowded dancefloor. Bhangra dancehall, Asian Massive, Turkish hiphop reverberated thru Studio Z that night. There were the signature tracks from Cheb's playlist such as Hasna and the remix of Mitwa from Lagaan, but there were also the new sounds from Juggy D and Oojami.

Toward the end of the nite, Cheb invited the two filmakers to take their bow onstage. Later, as the crowd filed out of the venue, co-producer/co-director/cinematographer Maurizio Benazzo graciously thanked the guests. All in all, we felt some major positive vibes at this event and it was a great warm-up for our next event, Worldly at 1015 Folsom

www.dhamaalsf.com/mailer/worldly.htm

Arriving at the famous SF club at midnite, we headed straight into the main room where the dancefloor was already rocking to Cheb I Sabbah. And good thing considering only half an hour later, it fully packed with dancing bodies bumper to bumper!

Even tho we'd been to a Cheb show 24 hours prior, this was a totally different experience where bhangrahop and big-room Indotronica ruled the sound sytem. He was joined from across the dancefloor by dhol drummer Mitch Hyare and the sonic result of dj beats and live dhol was pure heaven! Not to mention hearing and dancing to Marsoul Il Hob in a mega club setting for us was worth the price of admission alone! :D

Many a time we have wondered how world beat/worldtronica would sound in a huge club, as opposed to the typical resto-bar-lounge, smaller-type venues it is normally relegated to. Well this was it, and kudos to the promoters for putting the "Asian" into this "Massive" event.

Note that 1015 Folsom has multiple rooms, both upstairs and downstairs. Upstairs was the live lounge where the live acoustic set was going on with Sukhawat Ali Khan and Riffat Sultana

www.riffatsultana.com/

We did check it out, albeit belatedly, and found it to be the perfect chilled-out sanctuary from the other rooms. There were ample ottomans for lounging and appreciating the wonderful traditional sounds of the Northern Indian subcontinent.

Back on the main floor, at 12:45 am, Cheb was joined onstage by DJ Janaka and special guest Karsh Kale. At 1:15 Karsh took over the decks for a brief one-hour set, but what a magnificent one it was! A thrilling roller-coaster sonic ride thru trippy tablatronica and uptempo ethnotrance. The crowd on the floor had loosened up somewhat, but by the time he dropped Ryukyu Underground, it had filled up to capacity again. Since this was the first time I'd heard a Karsh Kale dj set, it was definately a bonus for what was proving to be a wonderful weekend exploring world beats in the Bay Area.

At 2:15, Janaka came on and started off his set with ragga jungle, dub, and drum n bass. He was joined by two MCs doing a live PA with two contrasting styles. I'd heard a lot about the Dhamaal sound, mainly thru reviews and a dj set they did on BBC UK. It was evident they have an underground following in the Bay Area judging by the dancing crowd in the main room. The second hour of Janaka's set saw more dnb infused with the Worldly sounds of dhol, tumbi, and even bossa.

At 4:15 the main room events were concluded, and the crowd moved to the front room where DJs Amar and Ameet were still spinning Eastern breaks and Indo-Arabo-Turkish house. There was also a basement room that was playing commercial trance.

All in all, it was a great night--three djs in the main room, each a major worldtronica artist in his own right, and each with a remarkedly distinct dj style. Fantastic! And considering this is only the first of what the promoters promise to be a series of regular world music-themed events in a mega club setting, fans in the Bay Area have a lot to look forward to in the new year.

On Saturday, our last nite in SF, we decided to explore a smaller venue for some salsa dancing. It was El Rincon, a Mexican restaurant and club that used to be Ganesh Indian restaurant and world beat club. The band was Quimbombo, one of the Bay Area's newer salsa bands

www.oyeproductions.com/bio/quimbombo.htm

Arriving at midnite, our first impression was of stepping on to a party scene straight out of the movie Wild Orchid :D It was a smallish venue with a decent crowd. The band was very good--Cuban vocalists and one mean bass player! There were Brazilian flags draped all around, traces of the Brazilian nite they host on Fridays. Recognizing that it was a newer venue (since the changeover) and relatively new band, we're putting this down on the books to check out again the next time we're in town.

So that was it--60 hours in San Francisco, two Cheb I Sabbah events (a must!), and the pure pleasure of seeing Dhamaal Soundsystem--djs and live musicians take over 1015 Folsom! :D And the great thing--there's even more world beat venues we didn't get to cover like El Rio in the Mission and other Latino clubs which we're saving for the next trip.

Hope this makes you wanna go out in your own city and check out some of the fine artists and djs playing world music-themed events in your locality :)