American root musical troupe Laura Cortese and the Dance Cards and Bangladeshi folk ensemble Joler Gaan performed at the Bangladesh National Museum Auditorium on February 26 as a part of the American Music Abroad programme. The US Embassy in Dhaka brought the public concert to the city denizen.
This was the first performance of the American group in Dhaka and they opened their presentation with a song titled I can hold the wind and the trio then performed from Laura’s recent album Into the Dark including tracks For Catherine, Lay Me Low and Hill to Toe. They laid vibrant pulsing grooves beneath a mixture of original songs, contemporary covers and reworked traditional numbers, delivered in a voice that mingled with shades of blues, gospel, country, blue jazz and dance.
The theme of their songs varied from Richmond, California’s gender based violence to the story of the daydreaming street child. Mariel Vandersteel, another fine and emergent fiddle player of the trio thrilled the attending crowd with an instrumental piece composed by herself.
Earlier Joler Gaan, a Bangladeshi popular band who are celebrated among the fans for using various instruments and folk flavored lyrics, caught the audience’s attention with an exclusive opening instrumental. They started with their popular love song Bokul Phul, the band mesmerised the audience with their popular songs Chithi, Ei Pagoler Bhalobasa, Kagojer Nouka and Ektu Boshiya Thako.
At the end, both bands from the US and Bangladesh brought an astonishing joint performance with a Joler Gaan song Ghorer Vitor Ghor and a gospel song This Little Light of Mine in the memory of recently deceased American folk music legend Pete Seegar.
Laura Cortese and the Dance Cards is an all-female Boston based string group brought together by the love of traditional American music and the myriad of ways it can be expressed in a chamber-folk setting. With their feet solidly grounded in traditional fiddle styles, they reach for the sky with their original compositions, arrangements and interpretations of Old-Time, Bluegrass, Country, and Celtic music. The ensemble includes Laura Cortese (fiddle, vocal), Mariel Vandersteel (fiddle, vocal) and Valerie Thompson (cello, vocal). This trio goes from hard-driving tunes to heart-breaking songs of Americana deftly and with the sensitivity of players beyond their years.
The American Music Abroad program is designed to communicate America’s rich musical contributions to the global music scene as it fosters cross-cultural communication and people-to-people connection to global audiences.