Program February 13, 2019

I have a bunch of new releases and new reissues from West Africa in hand this week, and I'll feature them in this week's first two sets.  You'll hear kora players Dawda Jobarteh (illustrated above) from The Gambia and Senegal's Sourakata Koite, vintage salsa Senegalaise by Star Band De Dakar, juju from Nigeria's Sir Shina Peters and more.

You'll also hear a track from Lobo Marino's wonderful new live album set among related artists working in Indo-Pakistani devotional music, and we'll finish up with a set of what Brazilians call MPB: musica popular brasileira or Brazilian pop music.

Charts February 10, 2019

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 LE VENT DU NORD | Territoires | Borealis
2 DAKTARIS, THE | Soul Explosion [Remastered] | Desco / Daptone
3 SALIF KEITA | Un Autre Blanc | Naive
4 COMBO CHIMBITA | "Testigo" [Single] | ANTI-
5 BERES HAMMOND | Never Ending | VP
6 THIRD WORLD | "Loving You Is Easy" [Single] | Ghetto Youths International
7 CLAUDE FONTAINE | "Cry For Another" [Single] | Innovative Leisure
8 STEP FORWARD YOUTH | various artists | Greensleeves
9 JAAKKO LAITINEN AND VAARA RAHA | "I Taget Finns En Restaurangvagn" [Single] | self-released
10 LEYLA MCCALLA | The Capitalist Blues | Jazz Village

Le Vent Du Nord | Territoires

ARTIST: Le Vent Du Nord
TITLE: Territoires
LABEL: Borealis
Le Vent Du Nord (The North Wind), arguably the finest Quebecois trad group currently working, blows back in with their tenth album.

Program February 6, 2019

Bob Marley (left, with Wailers Peter Tosh and Bunny Livingston) would have been 74 years old today, and it's fitting that we pay him tribute here on Global A Go-Go.

I'll do so by spinning a set from my favorite Marley era: the years between 1970 and 1973 when roots reggae was in ascendance, the Wailers were beginning to break out internationally, and the core trio (they started as a vocal harmony group) was still intact.  Everyone has their own Marley favorites -- you'll hear mine on this week's program.

Also this week: a visit to The Great White North, eh?; lovers rock by the ladies; and the Daktaris -- it is all a big hustle.

Charts February 3, 2019

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 ME AND MY FRIENDS | Look Up | Ear Trumpet
2 SALIF KEITA | Un Autre Blanc | Naive
3 JOHNNY CLARKE | Creation Rebel | 17 North Parade
4 UMUT ADAN | Bahar | Riverboat
5 MDOU MOCTAR | "Kamane Tarhanin" [Single] | Sahel Sounds
6 BASSEKOU KOUYATE AND NGONI BA | Miri | Out Here
7 TARTIT | Amankor / The Exile | Riverboat
8 VAUDOU GAME |  Otodi | Hot Casa
9 TE'AMIR | Abyssinia Rise [EP] | Tru Thoughts
10 DAWDA JOBARTEH | I Met Her By The River | Sterns Africa

Umut Adan | Bahar

ARTIST: Umut Adan
TITLE: Bahar
LABEL: Riverboat
As American and British rock spread across the world in the 1960s, Turkish musicians like Erkin Koray, Baris Manco and Cem Karaka energized and modernized folk and traditional music by adding the new sounds of garage and psychedelic rock.

Program January 30, 2019

For me, one of the great pleasures of hosting a radio show is the opportunity to hear musicians I've never heard of, and then find out that I love their music.  That's what happened to me this week -- the artist in question is Umut Adan (pictured above) from Turkey.

Adan's debut international album Bahar (Spring) will be released on February 22.  He's working in a genre called Anatolian rock that back in the 60s and 70s melded Turkish folk music with garage and psych rock, kind of like what bands like the Byrds or Fairport Convention were doing with American and British folk.

I'll play a track this week from Bahar alongside some of my Anatolian rock favorites, plus one from Richmond's own Yeni Nostalji, who are mining a similar vein.  Also this week: a continuation of last week's exploration of Malian music -- this time, three classic Malian female singers plus artists who'll be at the Soiree Nomade in this year's Festival Sur Le Niger.  Plus some disco boogie African style to send you out dancing.

Charts January 28, 2019

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 MDOU MOCTAR | "Kamane Tarhanin" [Single] | Sahel Sounds
2 BASSEKOU KOUYATE AND NGONI BA | Miri | Out Here
3 JUANECO Y SU COMBO | El Gran Cacique | Infopesa
4 VAUDOU GAME | Otodi | Hot Casa
5 SARAZINO | Mama Funny Day | Cumbancha
6 DUR-DUR OF SOMALIA | Volume 1, Volume 2 & Previously Unreleased Tracks | Analog Africa
7 ATERCIOPELADOS | Claroscura | Sony Colombia
8 DAKTARIS, THE | Soul Explosion | Desco / Daptone
9 SALIF KEITA | Un Autre Blanc | Naive
10 BABA COMMANDANT AND THE MANDINGO BAND | Siri Ba Kele | Sublime Frequencies

Mdou Moctar | Kamane Tarhanin

ARTIST: Mdou Moctar
TITLE: Kamane Tarhanin
LABEL: Sahel Sounds
Tamasheq guitarist Mdou Moctar from Agadez, Niger is one of the most prominent second generation musicians playing what the Tamasheq call tishumaren or assouf or la guitare; in English, we typically call it “desert blues.”

Program January 23, 2019

Richmond, Virginia, USA and Segou, Mali have been sister cities since 2009.  And WRIR's relationship with Segou started even earlier -- in the winter of 2006, a Richmond delegation featuring several WRIR volunteers visited Segou, made an alliance with that city's Radio Sikoro, and attended and even performed at Segou's second annual Festival Sur Le Niger.

Fast forward to 2019, and WRIR's relationship is getting even deeper.  WRIR volunteers and filmmakers Cameron Kit and Andee Arches are about to depart for Segou to begin filming Sister Radio, a documentary film following the partnership between WRIR and Radio Sikoro as they build a program to educate women in Segou on radio broadcasting and radio production.  And they'll be in Mali during the 15th annual Festival Sur Le Niger.

Cameron Kit joins me in the studio this week to talk about her trip and the Sister Radio project.  She and I will also spin the music of some of the famous musicians Segou has produced, many of the artists who'll be performing at this year's Festival Sur Le Niger, and some of Mali's most popular female singers.

For more information about Sister Radio:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/sister-radio-documentary#
https://www.facebook.com/sisterradiodocumentary
http://www.wrir.org/sister-radio

And for more information about Festival Sur Le Niger:
http://www.festivalsegou.org
http://www.festivalsegou.org/index.php/download_file/view/2150/441

Charts January 21, 2019

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 BASSEKOU KOUYATE AND NGONI BA | Miri | Out Here
2 MDOU MOCTAR | "Kamane Tarhanin" [Single] | Sahel Sounds
3 TARTIT | Amankor / The Exile | Riverboat
4 JUANECO Y SU COMBO | El Gran Cacique | Infopesa
5 VAUDOU GAME | Otodi | Hot Casa
6 BARRO | Somos | self-released
7 DANIEL KAHN AND THE PAINTED BIRD | The Butcher's Share | Oriente Musik
8 SUPERFONICOS | Suelta [EP] | Discos Fonicos
9 COMPLETE CUBAN JAM SESSIONS, THE | various artists | Craft Recordings / Concord
10 IVAN "MAMAO" CONTI | Poison Fruit | Far Out Recordings

Program January 16, 2019

Andy McGraw from the University of Richmond joins me this week to discuss a fascinating concert he's involved in next Wednesday at U of R's Camp Concert Hall.

Andy's group Gamelan Raga Kusuma and the Richmond Symphony will team up under the direction of Indonesian master musicians Sumarsam and Darsono to premiere a reconstruction of the Javanese music that Claude Debussy heard at the 1889 Paris Universal Exposition.  The ideas Debussy got from gamelan music -- cyclicality, stasis, new ways of using counterpoint, and the unique harmonies of Java -- became key elements of his compositions and, through him, were integrated into 20th and 21st century Western classical music.

Andy and I will talk about the concert, about Debussy and gamelan, and we'll listen to some related recordings, possibly even transcriptions of 1889 wax cylinders.

Also this week: Bassekou Kouyate's new album, a wide variety of Latin American sounds from Andean pipes to Mexican banda, and some socially conscious klezmer.

Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba | Miri

ARTIST: Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba
TITLE: Miri
LABEL: Out Here
At this point in his career, Bassekou Kouyate is synonymous with his instrument, the Malian proto-banjo lute called ngoni.

Charts January 14, 2019

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 DAKTARIS, THE | Soul Explosion | Desco / Daptone
2 STEP FORWARD YOUTH | various artists | Greensleeves
3 TARTIT | Amankor / The Exile | Riverboat
4 SALIF KEITA | Un Autre Blanc | Naive
5 JUANECO Y SU COMBO | El Gran Cacique | Infopesa
6 ALBOROSIE MEETS ROOTS RADICS | Dub For The Radicals | Greensleeves
7 IBIBIO SOUND MACHINE | "Tell Me (Doko Mien)" [Single] | Merge
8 STEEL PULSE | "Stop You Coming And Come" [Single] | Rootfire Cooperative
9 STRICTLY THE BEST VOL. 58 | various artists | VP
10 MAURICE LOUCA | Elephantine | Northern Spy

Program January 9, 2019

We're back to our normal programming on Global A Go-Go after reviewing the best releases of 2018 for the last three weeks.  And we'll feature a version excursion into "Uptown Top Ranking," Althea & Donna's 1977 proto-feminist dancehall classic, which was conceived as an answer record to a 1975 single by Trinity.  You'll hear both of them plus another answer record (see jacket above) -- in total, six releases all based on the same blueprint.

Also this week: the women of the Sahara Desert; chicha from deep in the Peruvian selva; Salif Keita returns to his Afro-pop roots; and the Daktaris, straight outta Nigeria Brooklyn.