Vancouver folk festival covers all the bases

When is a musical category no longer useful?

With a lineup that ranges from 1990s hip-hop combo Arrested Development and resurgent soul belter Mavis Staples, to Jamaican dub poet Mutabaruka and the Mexican norteño band Los Misioneros del Norte, you could certainly argue that the Vancouver Folk Music Festival stretches the definition of "folk music" past all recognition.

Then again, consider the enduring wisdom of Louis Armstrong, who once noted: "All music is folk music. I ain't never heard a horse sing a song."

Running today through Sunday on multiple stages set up throughout Jericho Beach Park, the Vancouver Folk Music Festival presents a dazzlingly diverse roster of artists representing some 14 countries and dozens of styles. Clearly, the festival embraces Satchmo's notion of folk.

"I don't think there are any rules any more," says Linda Tanaka, who took over as the festival's artistic director last year. "Folk includes anything."

Looking south, she sees U.S. folk festivals as falling in more traditional parameters, focusing on acoustic acts. But since emerging in the 1970s, the Canadian festival scene has taken a more expansive view.

"In Canada, the folk festivals have really evolved," Tanaka says. "But it's still more focused on acoustic-based artists, and there's a gentler feel to the whole thing, a family-oriented, friendly atmosphere."

Among the festival's numerous highlights are the ravishing Polynesian vocals of Hawaii's HAPA, the female-centric Garifuna grooves of Umalali from Belize, and the trance-blues of guitarist Justin Adams and Gambian string wizard Juldeh Camara. (Artists routinely combine appearances at the north-of-the-border festival with Seattle shows; HAPA plays the Hawaii Music Festival at the Triple Door on Monday, while Adams and Camara perform at Seattle's Jazz Alley on Wednesday.)

In many ways, no artists better represent the way in which traditional musical styles can evolve into a contemporary form than fiddler Darol Anger and mandolinists Mike Marshall's collaboration with the amazing Swedish string trio Väsen, who take the concert main stage at 6 p.m. Sunday.

Marshall and Anger have been close associates ever since the late '70s when they helped open up new territory for progressive string band with the original Dave Grisman Quintet. Since turning on to Väsen in the late 1990s, they've played a key role in introducing the Swedish group's intricately constructed music into the string-band lexicon, releasing a stellar eponymous collaboration with the trio in 2007 for Adventure Music.

"Väsen just grabbed us right from the first sound," Marshall says. "They've got that feeling of history. They play a lot of fairly old tunes, but clearly they're doing something else with it, referencing all different kinds of music. They're as influenced by Beatles and jazz today as by the traditional music they grew up on. We saw them as kindred spirits. The new music they're writing echoes what we've been doing for years, but they're pulling from a different well."

For Tanaka, part of the fun of booking the festival is the juxtaposition of well-known acts — such as Staples, who closes the festival Sunday night — with unheralded artists making their debut at the event. Wandering around Jericho Beach Park, concertgoers curate their own festival.

"I don't necessarily look for artists that people don't know," Tanaka says. "People come because they want to hear certain musicians, but they end up discovering people they haven't heard of. The element of surprise is what people really enjoy."

Andrew Gilbert: jazzscribe@aol.com