Charts July 28, 2013

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 GOGOL BORDELLO | Pura Vida Conspiracy | ATO
2 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Stand Up, People: Gypsy Pop Songs From Tito's Yugoslavia 1964-1980 | Vlax
3 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Delicious Peace: Coffee, Music, And Interfaith Harmony In Uganda | Smithsonian Folkways
4 CHICO TRUJILLO | Gran Pecador | Barbes
5 BIO RITMO | "Picaresca" [Single] | Paris DJs
6 ALPHA BLONDY | Mystic Power | VP
7 JIMMY CLIFF | The KCRW Session | Universal
8 FAT FREDDY'S DROP | Blackbird | The Drop
9 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Saoco! Vol. 2: Bomba, Plena And The Roots Of Salsa In Puerto Rico 1955-1967 | Vampisoul
10 PIERRE AKENDENGUE | Destinée | Lusafrica

August 2013 Concert Calendar

 August's Global A Go-Go picks:

1. Crossroads Coffee has five of Richmond's finest world music aggregations (all of whom have performed live on Global A Go-Go, incidentally) on their August weekend calendar: My Son The Doctor on Saturday the 3rd, Happy Lucky Combo on Friday the 9th, Rattlemouth (pictured above) on Saturday the 10th, Hotel X on Friday the 16th, and Quatro Na Bossa on Friday the 23rd
2. The Krayolas, a San Antonio-based band that will remind you of the Sir Douglas Quintet and Joe "King" Carrasco & The Crowns, visit the Virginia Museum on Friday August 2 and DC's Tropicalia on Sunday August 4
3. The Richmond Jazz Festival at Maymont has a few international acts on its extensive roster: Cuban trumpeter Arturo Sandoval on Saturday August 10, and Cuban combo Tiempo Libre along with reggae greats The Wailers on Sunday August 11

Have an event you'd like me to include, or a suggestion for the concert calendar?  Just drop me a line at globalagogoradio [at] gmail [dot] com, or leave me a message right here.

Click "Read more" to see the entire August calendar.

Program July 26, 2013

A week after recapping my favorite releases of 2013's first half, I'm back to get you caught up on some of the cool stuff I'm hearing already in the second half of the year.  The selection is anchored by a track from the outstanding new album Blackbird by Fat Freddy's Drop (pictured above) -- another killer disc by Wellington, New Zealand's kings of reggae, soul and improvisation.

This week's program also features new releases from Gogol Bordello, Jimmy Cliff, Alpha Blondy and Richmond's own Bio Ritmo, With plenty of vintage selections in the mix as usual, including one from the new Saoco! Vol. 2 collection of historic Puerto Rican salsa.

Alpha Blondy | Mystic Power

ARTIST: Alpha Blondy
TITLE: Mystic Power
LABEL: VP
Reggae has been popular in Africa since the mid 70’s, when the roots rhythms and conscious lyrics of Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Jimmy Cliff resonated across the continent. Africa has since developed its own crop of reggae stars; none shines brighter than Cote D’Ivoire’s Alpha Blondy, whose new album is a fine African reggae primer for the uninitiated.

Chico Trujillo | Gran Pecador

ARTIST: Chico Trujillo
TITLE: Gran Pecador
LABEL: Barbes
Cumbia is the current common language for South and Central American popular music -- this rural, retro rhythm is being retrofitted in various ways by urban hipsters across the continent and isthmus. In Chile, Chico Trujillo are the kings of nueva cumbia and perhaps the country’s most popular band right now.

Jimmy Cliff | The KCRW Session

ARTIST: Jimmy Cliff
TITLE: The KCRW Session
LABEL: Universal
Jimmy Cliff’s comeback album Rebirth was one of 2012’s most pleasant surprises – at age 65, Cliff’s voice is still in fine form and he’s writing quality songs to boot. This short album is a follow-up to Rebirth, a live session from KCRW’s "Morning Becomes Eclectic" program with Cliff’s voice and guitar accompanied by Ben Peeler (The Mavericks, The Wallflowers) on guitar and lap steel.

Gogol Bordello | Pura Vida Conspiracy

ARTIST: Gogol Bordello
TITLE: Pura Vida Conspiracy
LABEL: ATO
Gogol Bordello has a well-deserved reputation for their killer live shows, full-bore performances of authentic energy that are equal parts punk-rock and theatre. With their last two albums, 2010’s Trans-Continental Hustle and this new one, they’ve now come up with a studio approach that complements their gigs.

Charts July 21, 2013

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 BIO RITMO | "Picaresca" [Single] | Paris DJs
2 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Saoco! Vol. 2: Bomba, Plena And The Roots Of Salsa In Puerto Rico 1955-1967 | Vampisoul
3 THE GARIFUNA COLLECTIVE | Ayo | Cumbancha
4 NOEL MCLOUGHLIN | Home Is The Rover | ARC
5 VARIOUS ARTISTS | The Rough Guide To Psychedelic Bollywood | World Music Network
6 VARIOUS ARTISTS | The Ladies At Joe Gibbs | 17 North Parade
7 VIEUX FARKA TOURE | Mon Pays | Six Degrees
8 ORCHESTRE POLY-RYTHMO DE COTONOU | Volume 3: The Skeletal Essences Of Afro Funk 1969-1980 | Analog Africa
9 DANNY MICHEL WITH THE GARIFUNA COLLECTIVE | Black Birds Are Dancing Over Me | Cumbancha
10 BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERS | Legend Remixed | Tuff Gong-UME-Island

Bio Ritmo | Picaresca

ARTIST: Bio Ritmo
TITLE: Picaresca
LABEL: Paris DJs
Here’s the first single from Bio Ritmo’s currently-in-process album.

Fat Freddy's Drop | Blackbird

ARTIST: Fat Freddy’s Drop
TITLE: Blackbird
LABEL: The Drop
Wellington, New Zealand-based Fat Freddy’s Drop is one of the most unique bands you’ll ever hear. They’re a seven-piece ensemble with no drummer (percussion and bass parts are created on Akai MPC sampler and other electronics by DJ Fitchie, who has more ideas than any 10 hip hop producers combined), one of the world’s finest soul singers, a skanking guitar/keyboards rhythm section, and a horn section that can honk like an R&B combo and solo like free-jazzers.

Program July 19, 2013

We're just past 2013's midpoint, so I thought I'd give world music releases a mid-year review.  They definitely get a high grade thus far.  I've heard plenty of good ones; in fact, I'd say that the reissues are earning an "A" at this point.

I'll play tracks from 18 or so of my favorite 2013 releases on this week's program.  Maybe you'll hear a few of your favorites too, or better yet, something new that becomes a favorite.

Charts July 7, 2013

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 THE GARIFUNA COLLECTIVE | Ayo |Cumbancha
2 GOGOL BORDELLO | "Malandrino" [Single] | ATO
3 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Saoco! Vol. 2: Bomba, Plena And The Roots Of Salsa In Puerto Rico 1955-1967 | Vampisoul
4 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Daora: Underground Sounds Of Urban Brasil - Hip-Hop, Beats, Afro & Dub | Mais Um Discos
5 FEMI KUTI | No Place For My Dream | Knitting Factory
6 VARIOUS ARTISTS | The Ladies At Joe Gibbs |17 North Parade
7 ORCHESTRE POLY-RYTHMO DE COTONOU | Volume 3: The Skeletal Essences Of Afro Funk 1969-1980 | Analog Africa
8 BASSEKOU KOUYATE AND NGONI BA | Jama Ko | Out|Here
9 KOBO TOWN | Jumbie In The Jukebox | Cumbancha
10 ALPHA BLONDY | Mystic Power | VP

July 2013 Concert Calendar

July's Global A Go-Go picks:

1. This year's Smithsonian Folklife Festival features a host of Hungarian tanchaz (dance-house or folk-dance) bands; the festival runs June 26-30 and July 3-7 on the National Mall and is entirely free of charge
2. Romania's Fanfare Ciocarlia (pictured above), the titans of gypsy brass, will blow down the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage on Tuesday July 16
3. Kobo Town, an exciting Toronto-based new-calypso project, also has a two-part DC gig: Monday July 8 at Millennium Stage (early), and Tropicalia (late) along with The Garifuna Collective
4. Global A Go-Go faves Quatro Na Bossa at VCU's Guitar And Other Strings series, Friday July 19 at the Singleton Center's Vlacevic Concert Hall

 Have an event you'd like me to include, or a suggestion for the concert calendar?  Just drop me a line at globalagogoradio [at] gmail [dot] com, or leave me a message right here.

Click "Read more" to see the entire July calendar.

Saoco! Vol. 2: Bomba, Plena And The Roots Of Salsa In Puerto Rico 1955-1967

ARTIST: various artists
TITLE: Saoco! Vol. 2: Bomba, Plena And The Roots Of Salsa In Puerto Rico 1955-1967
LABEL: Vampisoul
While Cuban rhythms are the root source material for contemporary salsa, it was the Puerto Rican combos of the 1950s and 60s that really put together the ingredients we today call salsa dura. That’s the key idea behind Vampisoul’s Saoco! series, curated by French journalist Yannis Ruel.

Program July 5, 2013

The United States of America is a nation of immigrants -- indeed, if Native Americans had had a stricter anti-immigration policy, few of the people who want to "complete the dang fence" would be here to do so.

(By the way, did you know that the Dang Fence has its own Twitter feed?  Right here: https://twitter.com/TheDangFence.  You're welcome.)

The week of the USA's Independence Day (also the week of Monticello's annual naturalization ceremony, pictured above), seems like a great time to celebrate this country's world musicians -- folks who have come here to further their musical and other life dreams, folks who have woven their native or inherited musical traditions into the American fabric, and born-and-bred Americans whose music taps into that of other cultures.

So this week on Global A Go-Go: World music made in the USA.