Music gathering Wobeonfest is set to return to Ironwood Hall in Downtown Austin (Texas) in September 2015. This year, along with the World Music Festival, the organizers have added a Jazz Fusion Festival to the 2-day event that will include drum icon Billy Cobham (Mahavishnu Orchestra) and guitar master Scott Henderson on Sunday, September 13th. Malian guitarist Vieux Farka Toure will head the World Music Festival on Saturday, September 12th.
Billy Cobham will bring his Spectrum 40 quartet with jazz greats Dean Brown and Ric Fierabracci to the inaugural Jazz Fusion Festival. The band celebrates the music of Cobham’s first solo album, Spectrum (1973), and performs in the spirit of the rich 1970s Fusion era. Cobham’s new album Spectrum 40 Live captures the essence of this new lineup.
Scott Henderson and his new trio with Travis Carlton and Alan Hertz will also appear at Wobeonfest. Henderson is best known for his innovative work with fusion band Tribal Tech, and for his role with Joe Zawinul and The Zawinul Syndicate.
“We are always looking at breaking new ground with the kind of music we curate,” says Wobeonfest founder Jakes Srinivasan about the fusion addition. “If you see the many, many shows and artists we’ve promoted and presented over the last 3 years, you’ll see that you can’t necessarily put these bands in neat boxes. All music is world music, as they say, and there’s a huge pool of great artists – even right here in our own backyard that are incredibly exciting to watch and hear, but for whatever reason don’t get the same share of voice or airplay as we think they deserve. World Music falls in that category, so does Jazz Fusion.”
Jazz fusion is a progressive mix of Rock and Jazz that blossomed in the 1970s and 1980s with acts such as Return to Forever, Mahavishnu Orchestra and Weather Report, and continues to have a tremendous global following. Recently, Grammy-winning Snarky Puppy are bringing new fans to this exciting genre. In 2014, Wobeon introduced Dallas-based jazz fusion band Funky Knuckles to festival fans and received great feedback.
Local jazz guitarist Glenn Rexach, rising fusion stars Curious Android, and local group Collin Shook Quintet round out the lineup.
Wobeonfest is supported by KUTX Radio Austin, the City of Austin Cultural Affairs Division of the Economic Development Department, Texas Folklife, Ironwood Hall and others.
Full Program
Saturday Evening – Sept 12, 2015
Austin World Music Festival
(Ticketed Event)
Doors open: 5PM
Live music: 5:30PM To 1AM
Lineup
Vieux Farka Toure
Kinobe & Global Junction
Naga Valli
Mente Clara
Hardproof Afrobeat
Atlas Maior
Agni The Dance Company
The Sunray Project
Sunday Sept 13, 2015
Austin Jazz Fusion Festival
(Ticketed Event)
Doors open: 3:30PM
Live music: 4:15PM To 10PM
Lineup
Billy Cobham Spectrum 40
Glenn Rexach Group
Scott Henderson Trio
Collin Shook Band
Curious Android
More information at wobeonfest.com