Ramon Goose | Long Road To Tiznit

ARTIST: Ramon Goose
TITLE: Long Road To Tiznit
LABEL: Riverboat
Ramon Goose is an English guitarist whose interest in American pre-war Delta blues has gradually expanded to include the blues-related styles of North and West Africa.

Oumar Konate | Oumar Live In America

ARTIST: Oumar Konate
TITLE: Oumar Live In America
LABEL: Clermont Music
Malian guitarist Oumar Konate and his trio toured the USA coast-to-coast in 2014 – one of their stops was at Balliceaux here in Richmond.

Umoja | 707 & "Om" Alec Khaoli | Say You Love Me

ARTIST: Umoja                                        "Om" Alec Khaoli
TITLE:   707                                             Say You Love Me
LABEL: Awesome Tapes From Africa
With global interest in the disco era peaking right now, people ought to be checking out bubblegum, South Africa’s local answer to disco.

Program July 19, 2017

Rick James (pictured above) on Global A Go-Go?  No, and he better not grind his dirty boots into my new suede couch.  Actually, it's bass player and producer "Om" Alec Khaoli, whose music was as popular in South Africa in the 80's as Rick James' was in the USA in the same decade.

This week on Global A Go-Go you'll hear a selection of Khaoli's best from his bands The Beaters, Harari and Umoja, including a couple of new reissues from the Awesome Tapes From Africa label.

Also this week: Meklit and a few other globally-minded singer-songwriters, new sounds from Gogol Bordello and Peyoti For President, and two species of West African guitarists: delta bluesmen and arena-rock shredders.

Charts July 16, 2017

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 POP MAKOSSA: THE INVASIVE DANCE BEAT OF CAMEROON 1976-1984 | VARIOUS ARTISTS | Analog Africa
2 OUMOU SANGARE | Mogoya | No Format
3 ELZA SOARES | End Of The World Remixes | Mais Um Discos
4 LOBO MARINO | The Mulberry House | self-released
5 NINA MIRANDA | Freedom of Movement | Six Degrees
6 KONDI BAND | Salone | Strut / INTL BLK
7 JERRY CANS, THE | Inuusiq | Aakuluk
8 JUANA MOLINA | Halo | Crammed
9 CAMILLE | Oui | Balulalo
10 L'ORCHESTRA AFRISA INTERNATIONAL | Melanie | Colomotion

Program July 12, 2017

(Photo above by the legendary Malick Sidibe of Mali: "Regardez-moi?" [1962])

Great to be back after a week away from the studio; thanks to the Haberdasher for sitting in for me last week.

It's time for a mid-summer African music dance party on Global A Go-Go.  No filler, just killer: two hours of music for your listening and dancing pleasure from Mali, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria and Ghana.  Tracks released this summer and stuff from back in the 70s and 80s, all in one steamy, sensual mix.

Charts July 9, 2017

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 Omar Souleyman | To Syria, With Love | Mad Decent
2 Mamadou Kelly | Politiki | Clermont Music
3 Lobo Marino | The Mulberry House | self-released
4 Nina Miranda | Freedom Of Movement | Six Degrees
5 Juana Molina | Halo | Crammed
6 Afous D'Afous | Tenere | Sahelsound
7 Fruko Y Sus Tesos | Tesura | Vampisoul
8 L'Orchestre Afrisa International | Melanie | Colomotion
9 various artists | Uzelli Psychedelic Anadolu | Uzelli
10 Tamikrest | Kidal | Glitterbeat

Program June 28, 2017

Time to fire up your cigarette lighter -- it's 70s rock Turkish style this week on Global A Go-Go.  You'll hear Kardaslar (pictured above) fronted by Unol Buyukgonenc (he's on the left in the snazzy plaid blazer), Ersen with Dadaslar, Mazhar & Fuat and more luninaries of the Anatolian rock scene.

Also this week: the latest from the Sahara, contemporary Colombian bands rockin' the gaita (cane flute), and some North African and Middle Eastern dance floor bangers.

Charts June 25, 2017

WRIR's World Music Top Ten
1 Fruko Y Sus Tesos | Tesura | Vampisoul
2 Oumou Sangare | Mogoya | No Format
3 Mamadou Kelly | Politiki | Clermont Music
4 Juana Molina | Halo | Crammed
5 Professor Wouassa | Grow Yes Yes! | Matasuna
6 Afous D'Afous | Tenere | Sahelsound
7 Alemayehu Eshete | "Alteleyeshegnem" / "Temar Ledje" | Philophon
8 Rafiki Jazz | Har Dam Sahara | Riverboat
9 Omar Souleyman | To Syria, With Love | Mad Decent
10 L'Orchestre Afrisa International | Melanie | Colomotion

Program June 21, 2017

Mali's Oumou Sangare (pictured above), the Wassoulou Songbird, is probably the most influential African female musical artist today.

She's a feminist activist fighting against polygamy, arranged marriage and other traditions that cement women's place on the bottom rung of African society.  She's a successful business person with interests in the agriculture, tourism and automobile industries.  You could say that she actually is what Beyonce pretends to be.

Sangare's new album Mogoya, the eighth in her 30-year recording career, was released on May 19.  This week on Global A Go-Go, you'll hear a brief survey of Oumou Sangare's musical career, from her 1989 debut Moussolou to today.

Also this week: British and Irish folk-rock, qawwali meets jazz and rock, and some stunning new Afrobeat from Switzerland.

Charts June 18, 2017

WRIR's World Music Top Ten
1 Lobo Marino | The Mulberry House | self-released
2 Meklit | When The People Move The Music Moves Too | Six Degrees
3 Professor Wouassa | Grow Yes Yes! | Matasuna
4 Afous D'Afous | Tenere | Sahelsound
5 Alemayehu Eshete | "Alteleyeshegnem" / "Temar Ledje" | Philophon
6 Dona Onete | Banzeiro | Mais Um Discos
7 Vieux Farka Toure | Samba | Six Degrees
8 Ondatropica | Baile Bucanero | Soundway
9 Ani Cordero | Querido Mundo | self-released
10 Hard Proof | Stinger | Modern Outsider

Afous D'Afous | Tenere

ARTIST: Afous D’Afous
TITLE: Tenere
LABEL: Sahelsound
Most of the Saharan desert blues I get to hear is produced with a first-world audience in mind.

Meklit | When The People Move The Music Moves Too

ARTIST: Meklit
TITLE: When The People Move The Music Moves Too
LABEL: Six Degrees
You can’t pin Meklit Hadero down. Born in Ethiopia, educated at Yale, living in Oakland, she lectures around the world as a TED Senior Fellow and she co-founded The Nile Project.

Professor Wouassa | Grow Yes Yes!

ARTIST: Professor Wouassa
TITLE: Grow Yes Yes!
LABEL: Matasuna
An American or European Afrobeat band today is working in a crowded space: the genre has become so popular you need a gimmick or special talent to stand out from the crowd.

Program June 14, 2017

Meklit Hadero (pictured above) is an Ethiopia-born, San Francisco-based singer-songwriter whose first three albums highlighted the folk, jazz and rock sides of her personality.  On her new release When The People Move The Music Moves Too (due on June 23), Meklit musically embraces her Ethiopian identity, to stunning effect.  You'll hear a track from it on this week's edition of Global A Go-Go.

Also this week: cool and hot sounds from Brazil; the most celebrated young desert blues band within the Tuareg community; and Global A Go-Go's tribute to Adam West (seriously).