Charts September 23, 2018

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 SUPERFONICOS | Suelta [EP] | Discos Fonicos
2 DUR-DUR OF SOMALIA | Volume 1, Volume 2 And Previously Unreleased Tracks | Analog Africa
3 MICHI SARMIENTO Y SU COMBO BRAVO | Salsa Con Monte | Vampisoul
4 TWO NILES TO SING A MELODY: THE VIOLINS AND SYNTHS OF SUDAN | various artists | Ostinato
5 LA REDADA | "Abrete Sesamo / Africa Bom" [Single] | Vampisoul
6 PEREGOYO Y SU COMBO VACANA | Mi Buenaventura | Vampisoul
7 AFRO-CUBAN ALL STARS | A Toda Cuba Le Gusta | World Circuit
8 RED BARAAT | Sound The People | Rhyme & Reason
9 NICOLA CONTE AND SPIRITUAL GALAXY | Let Your Light Shine On | MPS
10 SEKOU BAH | Soukkabe Mali | Clermont Music

Dur-Dur Of Somalia | Volume 1, Volume 2 & Previously Unreleased Tracks

ARTIST: Dur-Dur Of Somalia
TITLE: Volume 1, Volume 2 & Previously Unreleased Tracks
LABEL: Analog Africa
Five years ago, Awesome Tapes From Africa introduced the rest of the world to the Dur-Dur Band, a supremely danceable combo from 1980’s Somalia that brought together disco, funk and local rhythms from the Horn of Africa; four distinctive singers backed by a well-drilled seven-piece ensemble.

Newpoli | Mediterraneo

ARTIST: Newpoli
TITLE: Mediterraneo
LABEL: Beartones
Even though I’m of Southern Italian heritage, I’m a newcomer to the swirling, energetic, hallucinatory traditional music of Apulia, the heel of Italy’s boot and the birthplace of my father’s mother.

Peregoyo Y Su Combo Vacana | Mi Buenaventura

ARTIST: Peregoyo Y Su Combo Vacana
TITLE: Mi Buenaventura
LABEL: Vampisoul
When you think of Colombian music, what comes to mind? Maybe cumbia, champeta and the other Afro-Colombian styles of the Caribbean coast. Or maybe salsa, since Cali is now arguably the world capital of that pan-Latin genre.

Michi Sarmiento Y Su Combo Bravo | Salsa Con Monte

ARTIST: Michi Sarmiento Y Su Combo Bravo
TITLE: Salsa Con Monte
LABEL: Vampisoul
Vampisoul’s Discos Fuentes reissue series continues with this dancefloor filler. Michi Sarmiento is part of the Discos Fuentes family: his father Climaco was an in-house arranger there after playing in Lucho Bermudez’s legendary porro orchestra.

Superfonicos | Suelta

ARTIST: Superfonicos
TITLE: Suelta
LABEL: self-released
Here’s the debut EP from Superfonicos, a band organized by four players active in the Austin TX scene who are of Colombian heritage and wanted to start a combo that focused on Afro-Colombian rhythms like cumbia and merengue.

Program September 19, 2018

Rachid Taha (pictured above) passed away last week.  If there's a "most Global A Go-Go" musician of all time, it would have to be this son of Oran, Algeria who came with his parents to France at age 10.

He was a punk rocker and a dance-music DJ, he was inspired by political artists like The Clash and Linton Kwesi Johnson, and his music always spoke to the universal immigrant experience.  He was even the same age as me.  Losing Rachid Taha is a real kick in the stomach.

This week on Global A Go-Go, I'll curate a set-long tribute to Rachid Taha -- five crucial songs from across his career, some of my favorites and ones that highlight his significance as a cultural figure.  Also this week: some deeply spiritual jazz, funk from East Africa, and Latin music al y con monte.

Charts September 16, 2018

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 JUPITER AND OKWESS | Kin Sonic | Everloving
2 NICKODEMUS | A Long Engagement | Wonderwheel
3 TANNAHILL WEAVERS, THE | Orach | Compass
4 DIZZY MANDJEKU AND ALE KUMA | De Palenque A Matonge | Zephyrus
5 DOCTOR NATIVO | Guatemaya | Stonetree
6 DIALI CISSOKHO AND KAIRA BA | Routes | Twelve | Eight
7 BOMBINO | Deran | Partisan
8 LOS TEXMANIACS | Cruzando Borders | Smithsonian Folkways
9 MINYESHU | Daa Dee | ARC
10 DE'ANZA | Cosmic Dream | self-released

Program September 12, 2018

Ivan Duran (pictured above) is one of the most important producers in world music today.  He spearheaded the international recognition of Garifuna music, he's responsible for what Amazon.com's editors named the best world music album of all time (Watina by Andy Palacio & The Garifuna Collective), and he also helmed the first European platinum record ever by a Trinidadian artist (Calypso Rose's Far From Home).  And he does it all from his label and studio in his hometown of Benque Viejo Del Carmen, Belize, population 8,000.

This week on Global A Go-Go, you'll hear a sampler of music produced by Ivan Duran and Stonetree Records, including the two albums mentioned above and his latest find, Guatemalan singer Doctor Nativo.  Also this week: norteno music from the Texas-Mexico border, more rockin' sounds out of Africa, and Nickodemus takes it to the house.

Charts September 9, 2018

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 AFRO-CUBAN ALL STARS | A Toda Cuba Le Gusta | World Circuit
2 DOCTOR NATIVO | Guatemaya | Stonetree
3 JUPITER AND OKWESS | Kin Sonic | Everloving
4 GRUPO CONTROLE DIGITAL | A Festa É Nossa | Soundway / Phoenix Spink
5 ALBA GRIOT ENSEMBLE | The Darkness Between The Leaves | Riverboat
6 BLACK MASALA | Trains And Moonlight Destinies | self-released
7 TWO NILES TO SING A MELODY: THE VIOLINS AND SYNTHS OF SUDAN | various artists | Ostinato
8 LEMON BUCKET ORKESTRA | If I Had The Strength | Six Degrees
9 ORLANDO 'CACHAITO' LOPEZ | Cachaito | World Circuit
10 ORQUESTA AKOKAN | Orquesta Akokan | Daptone

Afro-Cuban All Stars | A Toda Cuba Le Gusta

ARTIST: Afro-Cuban All Stars
TITLE: A Toda Cuba Le Gusta
LABEL: World Circuit
World Circuit continues its reissues of the famous 1996 Buena Vista Social Club (BVSC) sessions with this title.

Black Masala | Trains And Moonlight Destinies

ARTIST: Black Masala
TITLE: Trains And Moonlight Destinies
LABEL: self-released
Here’s the third studio album from Washington DC’s Black Masala, hands down one of the most exciting live bands anywhere.

Program September 5, 2018

Ellie Mannette (pictured above), the father of the modern steel drum, died last week at age 90.  More than anyone else in the world, Mannette made the steel pan, the national instrument of his native Trinidad & Tobago, into a serious musical instrument.

He was the first to fabricate a drum out of Trinidad's ubiquitous 55-gallon oil barrels, he was the first to make the drum surface concave, and he built the first pan with all the notes in the chromatic scale so it could play any melody in any key.

Mannette spent most of his career in the USA: he helped develop the US Navy Steel Band in the 1960s, he began teaching steel pan tuning at West Virginia University in 1991, and his foundry in Morgantown produces most of America's steel drums.  

In honor of Ellie Mannette, this week on Global A Go-Go you'll hear a few of my steel pan favorite, and some calypsonians singing in praise of the pan.  Also this week: Turkish pop, folk and rock; Cuba from tumbao to timba; and some Balkan beats to get you moving.

Charts September 2, 2018

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 JOHNNY CLARKE | Creation Rebel | VP
2 ALBA GRIOT ENSEMBLE | The Darkness Between The Leaves | Riverboat
3 DOCTOR NATIVO | Guatemaya | Stonetree
4 TWO NILES TO SING A MELODY: THE VIOLINS AND SYNTHS OF SUDAN | various artists | Ostinato
5 ALPHEUS | Light Of Day | Liquidator
6 ANGELIQUE KIDJO | Remain In Light | Kravenworks
7 ORQUESTA AKOKAN | Orquesta Akokan | Daptone
8 DACTAH CHANDO | "Africa Is My Roots" [Single] | Boomrush Productions
9 MALOU BEAUVOIR | "Rasenbleman" [Single] | self-released
10 JAH9 | "Field Trip" [Single] | VP

Program August 29, 2018

Have you (like me) been waiting eleven years for a new studio album from Manu Chao?  I've got just the thing to tide you over: the superb debut recording by Guatemala's Doctor Nativo (pictured above).  And I'll play some other musica mestiza stalwarts, including Chao his own self.

Also this week: when British folk meets West Africa, more of the mindboggling music of Sudan's golden age, and a set of roots reggae featuring two tracks from 17 North Parade's excellent new Johnny Clarke compilation.