World-Music Festival Coming To Redmond

Even with the increasing variety of imported music available to consumers, for years American world-music fans have accepted seeing their favorite artists only once in a blue moon. Still, rumor of a festival that brought some of the best musicians in the world together in one place floated like a zephyr across the sea, making us hope that one day we'd get our fill of foreign strains.

Well, dream no longer. Between July 31 and Aug. 2, the World of Music and Dance (WOMAD) festival will turn Redmond's Marymoor Park into a way station for intercontinental grooves. WOMAD USA has confirmed 19 musicians to articipate in the festival's only North American stop. The completed program will host more than 40.

This is the 16th year for the WOMAD festival, which originally kicked off in Shepton Mallet in the United Kingdom in 1982. Today WOMAD hosts three annual festivals in the U.K. in Reading, Morecambe and at the Barbican Centre in London.

Founded by musician Peter Gabriel, magazine publisher Thomas Brooman and Bob Hooton, WOMAD originated as a means of exposing listeners to a wide variety of global sounds. Gabriel's love of world music is the driving force behind the festival; after leaving Genesis in 1975, Gabriel went on to explore new sounds by immersing himself in world music, particularly the music of West Africa.

His popular album, 1986's "So," and his later experimental work, "Passion," were both augmented by the vocal stylings of

Senegalese artist Youssou N'Dour. A pop star in his own right, N'Dour's exposure on a Western artist's hit album introduced his music to another part of the world, and helped WOMAD grow in legend and popularity.

So far the WOMAD USA program will include a number of significant African artists including South African jazz pianist Abdullah Ibrahim and compatriots N'Debele Artists and Shikisha; Senegal's Baaba Maal, who marries the traditional Yela style with rock riffs; Tanzania's Hukwe Zawose; Ricardo Lemvo from the Democratic Republic of the Congo; Kenyan musician Ayub Ogada; Madagascar's Justin Vali, and Zimbabwe's Thomas Mapfumo.

The lively rhythms of Argentine musician Cesar Stroscio & Esquina, and Brazilian group Passo a Passo are thus far the festival's South American contingent. You'll also hear music from Tibet's Yungchen Lhamo, Russia's Terem Quartet, Spain's Kepa Junkera and France's Lo'Jo.

North America is also well-represented with jazz klezmer music from the Klezmatics, Bela Fleck & The Flecktones, Ulali's Native American strains and the pop musings of Joan "What if God was one of us" Osborne. Tuatara, featuring REM's Peter Buck, Barrett Martin of the Screaming Trees and Skerik of Critters Buggin, is also on the bill.

At this morning's WOMAD press conference in the Port of Seattle building, Brooman announced that Wilco and Billy Bragg are the latest additions to the growing bill.

Live performances will grace three main stages in the 15-acre park. When festival-goers aren't jamming to the music, they can busy themselves with traditional ethnic arts and crafts, master classes, demonstrations and workshops. And it wouldn't be a world music festival without a global village, where concertgoers can feast on international fare and shop for crafts.

A complete festival lineup, ticket prices and workshop information will be announced in mid-April.