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Also this issue: Trading on Tragedy? New York Philharmonic The Illadelph Xperiment Broken Hips Angelica Sanchez Quartet |
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May 16-22, 2002
music
A West Philly church champions world music from around the corner.
World music as component for community unification -- it’s a strong concept that’s sadly under-utilized in Philly. But judging from the monthly concert series that the Renaissance Arts Network (RAN) has debuted this spring at the Calvary Center for Culture and Community, this is changing. At the corner of 48th and Baltimore, Calvary Church is at the fulcrum of West Philly -- where University City’s international student/faculty population and old-school West Philly energies meet and exchange, surrounded on both sides by an ever-growing West African immigrant community.
A self-described artist-based initiative, RAN subscribes to the theory that if you want it done, you have to do it yourself. They are just one of the many groups that use the Calvary space, helping to keep this fine old pile and its Tiffany windows maintained for both the secular and sacred communities. Working with the Cherry Tree Music Co-op, RAN has put on monthly world music concerts -- with two local bands on each bill -- since the beginning of the year.
The 18th brings both Turkish and Brazilian sounds, both from groups with essential members living not far from Calvary. The Turkish duo, Yaren (which roughly translates to "compadre" or "buddy") features West Philly's dumbek artist extraordinaire, Gerardo Razumney. Razumney is Russian by ancestry, Argentine by birth, West Philadelphian by choice and a great lover of all the drums and rhythms of the Middle East. His buddy is Cagri Haksöz, who sings in his native Turkish and plays the saz (a stringed instrument tuned for the quarter tones typical of this music).
The Brazilian percussion group Demais goes a bit further afield. They describe it thusly: "a single piece might include both a four hundred-year-old African song and a rhythmic groove invented last week." The group is led by Elizabeth Sayre, who notes that she is better known in the Cuban music community. That's putting it modestly. Do an Internet search for her and find that she is recommended on a national website for people wishing to learn bata drumming. She has been a frequent contributor to Philadelphia Folklore Project publications with articles examining the Afro-Caribbean scene.
RAN's idea is not only to let the bands be heard, but to make the experience affordable, with a sliding scale on the ticket prices so that those on fixed incomes can enjoy the magic of live music along with the rest of the neighbors.
Yaren and Demais, Sat., May 18, 7:30 p.m., $5-$15, Calvary United Methodist Church, 48th St. and Baltimore Ave., 215-724 1702, www.renaissanceartsnetwork.org.
