Edition: U.S. / Global   Published: October 27, 1994
International Rhythms From Brooklyn Musicians Prospect Park
Toward the end of its last piece, the Ramiz Islami orchestra
from Albania moved into a modal, droning stretch that allowed
Mr. Islami, a clarinetist, to improvise circular patterns with
cracked and peeling notes. Abruptly he changed key, and the band
followed, the accordion letting a few notes hover and the
drummer slapping away at his snare while the guitarist, playing
the bass line, interrupted his one or two notes with a hiccup of
syncopation. It was trance music, aimed at a release that could
be heard from many of the performers at the Ethnic Folk Art
Center's all-day Brooklyn Ethnic Music Festival in Prospect Park
on Sunday.  The festival came alive with the V.R.A.N.A. Cultural
Troupe, a mostly Ghanian drum and dance ensemble based, as were
most of the groups involved in the festival, in Brooklyn. Its
compositions, built around clearly delineated rhythmic patterns,
became increasingly compli