Program October 18, 2017

WRIR's Fall 2017 Fund Drive is now underway. Thank you if you've donated previously to Richmond Independent Radio; I'm writing to encourage you to make a donation this fall.

You can make it happen in two minutes by clicking this link: http://wrir.org/station/donate. Or you can call or visit us between 9 AM and 9 PM during the drive, now through October 25. Our phone number is 804-622-9747; our address is 1621 W. Broad Street, 2nd floor.

Richmond Independent Radio is a one-of-a-kind project: airing 115 different programs of news, public affairs and music; staffed by 150 volunteers contributing their own time, money and enthusiasm; providing a soapbox for all the people of our community to get their ideas, passions and knowledge out to the broader populace. I don't know of another radio station in the USA that combines professionalism, idealism and raw energy the way WRIR does.

I'm proud to produce "Global A Go-Go" on Richmond Independent Radio. I'm even prouder to be one of the people who helped this station get on the air in 2005. And I'm no ways tired -- I'm on the station's board of directors once again, helping guide it through this most interesting period for all media outlets.

As a board member I'm not only an active volunteer, I'm also a generous donor. How generous? Well, I will match every donation made this week during "Global A Go-Go," up to a total of $500. So if you donate during my show, your contribution will be doubled.

I have another incentive for you to tune in to "Global A Go-Go" this week. The band Hotel X (pictured above, a long time ago) will mark its 25th anniversary playing Afrodelic jazz with a live performance on my program this Wednesday. Join us as we celebrate both community radio in Richmond and the silver anniversary of Richmond's ambassadors of the avant-groove.

To donate either now or on Wednesday between 3 and 5 PM, just click this link: http://wrir.org/station/donate. Or you can call or visit us any time between 9 AM and 9 PM during the drive, now through October 25. Our phone number is 804-622-9747; our address is 1621 W. Broad Street, 2nd floor.

Thank you so much for your support in the past, and I hope WRIR can count on you once again in Fall 2017. Long live Richmond Independent Radio!

Charts October 15, 2017

WRIR's NACC World Music Top Ten
1 EXPANDERS, THE | Old Time Something Come Back Again, Vol. 2 | Easy Star
2 LOS CAMAROES | Resurrection Los | Analog Africa
3 LA MISA NEGRA | La Misa Negra | NAM Entertainment
4 SON PALENQUE | Kutu Prieta Pa Saranguia | Palenque
5 CHOPTEETH AFROFUNK BIG BAND | Bone Reader | self-released
6 BETSAYDA MACHADO | Loé Loá - Rural Recordings Under the Mango Tree | Odelia
7 BOMBAY ROYALE, THE | Run Kitty Run | HopeStreet
8 OM ALEC KHAOLI | Say You Love Me [EP] | Awesome Tapes From Africa
9 DA CRUZ|  Eco Do Futuro | Boom Jah / Broken Silence
10 SAZ'ISO | At Least Wave Your Handerchief At Me: The Joys And Sorrows Of Southern Albanian Song | Glitterbeat

Program October 11, 2017

It's my favorite weekend of the year: the weekend of the annual Richmond Folk Festival, three days of great music in the great outdoors, right here in downtown Richmond.

On this week's program, you'll hear six artists who'll be playing the festival: the psychedelic cumbia of Peru's Los Wembler's (pictured above), on their first American tour since they were founded in 1968; the drums and voices of Betsayda Machado & La Parranda El Clavo from Venezuela; Iranian tar virtuoso Sahba Motallebi; Romanian gypsy cimbalom player Nicolae Feraru; accordionist Bitori, who made the very first album of traditional Cape Verdean funana; and the Moroccan Sufi music of Innov Gnawa.

This week's show is the perfect way to figure out which international artists you need to check out at the festival.  I'm thinking you're going to want to see all six of them.

Charts October 8, 2017

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 MDOU MOCTAR | Sousoume Tamachek | Sahel Sounds
2 LOS CAMAROES | Resurrection Los | Analog Africa
3 KRIES | Selo Na Okuke / Village Tracks | Riverboat
4 LA MISA NEGRA | La Misa Negra | NAM Entertainment
5 BETSAYDA MACHADO AND LA PARRANDA EL CLAVO | Loe Loa: Rural Recordings Under The Mango Tree | Odelia
6 GOGOL BORDELLO | Seekers And Finders | Cooking Vinyl
7 RAMON GOOSE | Long Road To Tiznit | Riverboat
8 MYRKUR | Mareridt | Relapse
9 LADAMA | LADAMA | Six Degrees
10 THE EXPANDERS | Old Time Something Come Back Again, Vol. 2 | Easy Star

Los Camaroes | Resurrection Los

ARTIST: Los Camaroes
TITLE: Resurrection Los
LABEL: Analog Africa
With all the recent years’ crate-digging activity, one might think that he’d heard all the great African records of the 60s, 70s and 80s.

The Expanders | Old Time Something Come Back Again, Vol. 2

ARTIST: The Expanders
TITLE: Old Time Something Come Back Again, Vol. 2
LABEL: Easy Star
The Expanders are a Los Angeles-based reggae quintet that seems entirely uninterested in the reggae-rock hybrid that dominates the current West Coast sound.

Kries | Selo Na Okuke / Village Tracks

ARTIST: Kries
TITLE: Selo Na Okuke / Village Tracks
LABEL: Riverboat
Folk music played differently can be the most radical act there is. Kries (“Bonfire” in a Croatian dialect) plays traditional music from their country and region in a manner like no one else.

Program October 4, 2017

Gumboot (pictured above), a dance style originally developed by gold miners, is one of the true symbols of the black working class experience in South Africa.  Gumboot dancers stamp, slap, clap and kick their heels in perfect synchronization while wearing wellingtons.

Jazz musician Darius Brubeck described a gumboot dancer as "looking and sounding like Fred Astaire only with 10 pairs of shoes on!"  If you've seen African-American stepping, that's a dance derived from gumboot.

The Festival of South African Dance is bringing gumboot and pantsula (another South African vernacular dance style) to Richmond's Carpenter Theatre on Thursday.  On this week's program, you'll hear a gumboot performance recorded by Janet Topp Fargion, lead curator for world and traditional music at the British Library (my summary for this week's show is adapted from her liner notes).  You'll also hear maskanda, the music that usually accompanies gumboot.

Also this week: the music of Mdou Moctar, who's performing at the University of Richmond on Friday; Central African dance hits from the 70s and 80s; and Balkan folk-rock with the emphasis on "rock."

Charts October 1, 2017

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 BETSAYDA MACHADO & LA PARRANDA EL CLAVO | Loé Loá - Rural Recordings Under the Mango Tree | Odelia
2 LOS CAMAROES | Resurrection Los | Analog Africa
3 SON PALENQUE | Kutu Prieta Pa Saranguia | Palenque
4 CHOPTEETH AFROFUNK BIG BAND | Bone Reader | self-released
5 GOGOL BORDELLO | Seekers and Finders | Cooking Vinyl
6 RIO MIRA | Marimba Del Pacifico | AYA
7 SWEET AS BROKEN DATES: LOST SOMALI TAPES FROM THE HORN OF AFRICA | various artists | Ostinato
8 RUBEN GONZALEZ | Introducing... Rubén González | World Circuit
9 OM ALEC KHAOLI | Say You Love Me [EP] | Awesome Tapes From Africa
10 BUYEPONGO | Tumbalo | self-released

Program September 27, 2017

I'm digging deep into older Cuban music on this week's program -- we're talking charanga, cha-cha-cha, son montuno, tumbao; recordings from the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s.  Plus a track from the recently reissued debut as bandleader of Ruben Gonzalez (pictured above), whose career went all the way back to those days.

Also this week: percussion from South America's Pacific coast; now that Chad has been added to Trump's travel ban, let's hear some music from that threatening (?) country; and more dancefloor gems from South Africa.

Charts September 24, 2017

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 MEKLIT | When the People Move, The Music Moves Too | Six Degrees
2 TRIO DA KALI AND KRONOS QUARTET | Ladilikan | World Circuit
3 JOEY LE SOLDAT | Barka | Tentacule
4 LA MISA NEGRA | La Misa Negra | NAM Entertainment
5 OUMOU SANGARE | Mogoya | No Format!
6 EMETERIANS | The Magic Touch | Stingray
7 ANTIBALAS | Where the Gods Are in Peace | Daptone
8 MACKA B | "Wha Me Eat" [Single] | Greensleeves
9 J-P PIIRAINEN | Twined | Bafe's Factory
10 PABLO MOSES | The Itinuation | HS Roots

La Misa Negra | La Misa Negra

ARTIST: La Misa Negra
TITLE: La Misa Negra
LABEL: NAM Entertainment
Cumbia is probably more popular today than it’s ever been, and that’s saying something since it’s been around for nearly 200 years.

Trio Da Kali & Kronos Quartet | Ladilikan

ARTIST: Trio Da Kali & Kronos Quartet
TITLE: Ladilikan
LABEL: World Circuit
Classically-trained Western musicians like the Kronos Quartet are schooled in centuries-old tradition. Mande musicians like Trio Da Kali are heirs to a practice that dates back to Europe’s medieval period; this album’s track 10, the story of the Malian empire’s founding, is about 800 years old.

Program September 20, 2017

Cumbia is probably more popular now than it's ever been.  And that's saying something when you're talking about a style of music almost 200 years old.

La Misa Negra (pictured above) from Oakland CA is part of the latest generation of musicians to embrace the idiom.  You'll hear a track from their brand-new album this week on Global A Go-Go, alongside sounds from the 1950s that inspire them.

Also this week: the best reggae songs I heard this summer; when Meklit says "I want to sing for them all," who's she talking about?; and a beautiful new recording from Mali's Trio Da Kali and the Kronos Quartet.

Charts September 17, 2017

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 GWYNETH GLYN | Tro | Bendigedig
2 ZAIRE '74: THE AFRICAN ARTISTS | various artists | Wrasse
3 RUMPUT | Rumput | self-released
4 SON PALENQUE | Kutu Prieta Pa Saranguia | Palenque
5 LEILA GOBI | 2017 | Clermont
6 GOGOL BORDELLO | Seekers and Finders | Cooking Vinyl
7 OFFA REX | The Queen of Hearts | Nonesuch
8 ANTIBALAS | Where the Gods Are in Peace | Daptone
9 TRIO DA KALI AND KRONOS QUARTET | Ladilikan | World Circuit
10 BANDA MAGDA | Tigre | GroundUP / Verve