Over one million people jammed into the Plaza of the Revolution to hear the music of Colombia’s Juanes this afternoon. Also slated to take the stage were Spanish guitarist Miguel Bose, Cuban legends Silvio Rodriguez and  Los Van Van, Olga Tanon from Puerto Rico and several others. Juanes organized the concert as a statement of peace, but there was a fair amount of negative talk leading up to the event, including death threats against Juanes. Cuban-American performers like Gloria Estefan, who is critical of the Cuban government,  were invited to perform, but declined.

I understand that when things like this happen, they become political just by their very nature… but why can’t it just be about the music? Boggles the mind….

World Music Festival Chicago 2009 is set to take place at venues all over the Chicago Area between September 18-24, 2009. This is the eleventh installment in this weeklong celebration of global sounds, and people will have an opportunity to hear music from Japan, Mali, India, Algeria, Bosnia, France, Ghana, Israel, Ireland, Morocco, Hungary, Brazil… and many others! There will be a good contingent of international sounds from the many bands right there in the Chicago area as well. Many of the events are free, so it’s certainly worth making the trip to Chicago if you are interested in such things… for more information, take a look at the festival web site.