Fun won't include fireworks

Prepare for more than toe-tapping at this year's Piccolo Spoleto Festival Finale today. The music pulsating through Hampton Park will have you up and on your feet, predicts Ellen Moryl.

"It is very, very upbeat, energetic music that will make you want to get up and dance," said the festival's executive director. "It will be a fitting conclusion to our festival."

Four groups will perform during the free event, themed "A Global Village of World Music."

Expect funky, upbeat versions of Jewish tunes when Mount Pleasant-based Sababah takes the stage. The instrumental group takes the melodies of traditional Jewish songs and infuses them with funk, blues, jazz and reggae, making them appealing to a larger audience, said drummer Adam Chase.

"We've put them together in a way that would be fun even if you didn't know the melody lines," he said, adding that those familiar with the tunes will still recognize and enjoy them.

The Carolina Klezmer Project will play modern and traditional klezmer music along with reggae, jazz and blues. Bill Averbach, who founded the Charlotte-based group, defines klezmer as "Yiddish jazz."

Carolina Studios will bring hip-hop and rap created by Charleston's urban youth. The nonprofit, formed in 2001 by Mark Bryan of Hootie and the Blowfish among others, aims to give children a safe after-school and summer environment that promotes productive use of time through music technology and enhance creative, educational and career-focused initiatives, according to its Web site.

Another group of children, The Daniel Island School Taiko Drum Group, will kick off the finale with its traditional Japanese style drumming. The students have been studying Japanese music and culture for the past year and a half, and incorporate showy visuals into their performance.

"This is a way to make the whole village of Charleston get up and dance together," Moryl said of the finale. "It creates a feeling of community when people together in the public realm hear music like this and get very enthused for being in that moment."

This year's finale promises plenty of excitement on the stage, but none in the sky.

For the first time there will be no fireworks show. Moryl said the decision was made out of respect for the park's web-footed inhabitants.

"It has bothered me for a number of years that when the fireworks go off, all of the ducks that are on the island in the middle of the lagoon take off and they're absolutely frightened to death," Moryl said.

The city's parks department reported that the ducks were stressed out for at least a month after previous fireworks shows, Moryl said.

Though the finale is today, Piccolo Spoleto and its events continue through Sunday.

Reach Kristen Hankla at 937-5548 or khankla@postandcourier.com.