Alsarah & The Nubatones | Silt

ARTIST: Alsarah & The Nubatones
TITLE: Silt
LABEL: Wonderwheel
More or less out of the blue, here’s one of the best albums you’ll hear this year. Alsarah is a native of Sudan who grew up in Yemen, relocated to the USA and studied ethnomusicology at Wesleyan.

Imarhan Timbuktu | Akal Warled

ARTIST: Imarhan Timbuktu
TITLE: Akal Warled
LABEL: Clermont Music
Imarhan Timbuktu isn’t a newcomer to the desert blues scene – this band, whose core is two brothers on guitar and two sisters on hand-drums, has been active since 1993. The four siblings are also members of Tartit, a better-known Tamashek band whose music leans more to the traditional side.

The Souljazz Orchestra | Inner Fire

ARTIST: The Souljazz Orchestra
TITLE: Inner Fire
LABEL: Strut
The sixth album by Canada’s Souljazz Orchestra cements their status as one of the world’s top multicultural dance bands.

Program February 28, 2014

Global A Go-Go kicks off Mardi Gras weekend 2014 with a set of carnival tunes from the Crescent City, everything from Professor Longhair to Gypsyphonic Disko.  Hey, how about a Gypsyphonic Disko / Professor Longhair mash-up?  Coming right up.

The remainder of today's program will be devoted to North African music: "la guitare" from the Sahara, including a new album by Imarhan Timbuktu (who'll be performing in Richmond in March); soulful Ethio-jazz, featuring the latest by Canada's Souljazz Orchestra; and a brilliant new album by Alsarah (pictured above) & The Nubatones, playing what they call "East African retro pop."

Charts February 23, 2014

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Rough Guide To Latin Rare Groove | World Music Network
2 FLACO JIMENEZ AND MAX BACA | Legends And Legacies | Smithsonian Folkways
3 TINARIWEN | Emmaar | Anti-
4 BIO RITMO | "Se Les Olvido" [Single] | Locutor
5 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Haiti Direct: Big Band, Mini-Jazz And Twoubadou Sounds 1960-1978 | Strut
6 BORIS KOVAC AND LA CAMPANELLA | Eastern Moon Rising | Riverboat
7 MANU CHAO | Siberie M'Etait Conteee | Because
8 AZIZA BRAHIM | Soutak | Glitterbeat
9 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Strictly The Best Vol. 48 | VP
10 WILLIAM ONYEABOR | World Psychedelic Classics 5: Who Is William Onyeabor? | Luaka Bop

Flaco Jimenez & Max Baca | Flaco & Max: Legends & Legacies

ARTIST: Flaco Jimenez & Max Baca
TITLE: Flaco & Max: Legends & Legacies
LABEL: Smithsonian Folkways
Accordionist Flaco Jimenez, the son and grandson of conjunto musicians from San Antonio, has probably done more to increase Anglo awareness of norteno music than any other person.

The Rough Guide To Latin Rare Groove

ARTIST: various artists
TITLE: The Rough Guide To Latin Rare Groove
LABEL: World Music Network
World Music Network kicks off its new Rare Groove series of Rough Guides with this collection of Latin-soul deep cuts selected by Pablo Yglesias, aka DJ Bongohead.

Program February 21, 2014

Leonardo (Flaco) Jimenez (pictured above endorsing Hohner accordions) has probably done more than any other living musician to popularize Tex-Mex norteno music in the English-speaking world.

At age 74, Flaco has a wonderful new album coming out next week; you'll hear a track from it, and a brief sampler of his illustrious career, this week on Global A Go-Go.

Also on this week's program: roots reggae including one from Culture, who'll be here in Richmond Friday night; funky, funky Latin soul; and more killer music from Haiti.

Charts February 16, 2014

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 WILLIAM ONYEABOR | World Psychedelic Classics 5: Who Is William Onyeabor? | Luaka Bop
2 MANU CHAO | Siberie M'Etait Conteee | Because Music
3 JUANA MOLINA | Wed 21 | Crammed
4 SOUSOU AND MAHER CISSOKO | Africa Moo Baalu | ARC
5 TINARIWEN | Emmaar | Anti-
6 FEEDEL BAND | Ethiopian Ocean | self-released
7 MAMANI KEITA | Kanou | World Village
8 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Angola Soundtrack, Vol. 2: Hypnosis, Distortions And Other Sonic Innovations 1969-1978 | Analog Africa
9 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Haiti Direct: Big Band, Mini-Jazz And Twoubadou Sounds 1960-1978 | Strut
10 LIBERATORS | Power Struggle | Record Kicks

Sousou & Maher Cissoko | Africa Moo Baalu

ARTIST: Sousou & Maher Cissoko
TITLE: Africa Moo Baalu
LABEL: ARC
Maher Cissoko is the youngest son of a griot family from the Casamance region of southern Senegal. His wife and musical partner Sousou is from a Swedish musical family and took up playing the kora as a young woman. They’ve made three albums together; this new one is just beautiful.

Tinariwen | Emmaar

ARTIST: Tinariwen
TITLE: Emmaar
LABEL: Anti-
Tinariwen is the band that invented the “desert blues” genre (Tamasheqs simply call it la guitare) back in 1979 – in those days, possession of a Tinariwen cassette tape could land a Tuareg in prison.

Program February 14, 2014

Tinariwen (pictured above) are the undisputed heavyweight champions of what the Tamasheq people simply call "la guitare"; we usually call it "desert blues."  Due to the recent unpleasantness in Mali, their new album Emmaar (roughly "the heat on the breeze") was recorded in Joshua Tree, California where the climate is to their liking.  The album is quite wonderful and you'll hear a song from it on this week's program, part of a full set of desert blues from across Northwest Africa.

Also this week: a Caribbean-African connection, French and Spanish folk-rock; the sounds of Casamance; and a track by Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba, who'll be performing in Richmond on Saturday.

Charts February 9, 2014

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 FEEDEL BAND | Ethiopian Ocean | self-released
2 BIO RITMO | "Se Les Olvido" [Single] | Locutor
3 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Haiti Direct: Big Band, Mini-Jazz And Twoubadou Sounds 1960-1978 | Strut
4 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Angola Soundtrack, Vol. 2: Hypnosis, Distortions And Other Sonic Innovations 1969-1978 | Analog Africa
5 ZE LUIS | Seranata | Lusafrica
6 LIBERATORS | Power Struggle | Record Kicks
7 JUANA MOLINA | Wed 21 | Crammed
8 RAY LUGO & THE BOOGALOO DESTROYERS | "El Ritmo De Nueva York" / "Let Me Tell Ya 'Bout The Boogaloo" | Freestyle
9 SYSTEMA SOLAR | La Revancha Del Burro | Sambumbia
10 ABELARDO CARBONO | El Maravilloso Mundo De Abelardo Carbono | Vampisoul

Program February 7, 2014

This week, Global A Go-Go takes you to the party -- it's two hours of music to get you warmed up and psyched up for the ninth annual Party For The Rest Of Us, which gets started on Friday at 7 PM at the Renaissance Ballroom, 107 W. Broad Street.

Here's the schedule for the pre-party: a set of Ethiopian jams, some champeta and terapia from Colombia, vintage boogaloo circa 1968, and some Afrobeat to send you on your way.  See you at the party!

Charts February 2, 2014

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 WILLIAM ONYEABOR | World Psychedelic Classics 5: Who Is William Onyeabor? | Luaka Bop
2 MAMANI KEITA | Kanou | World Village
3 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Angola Soundtrack, Vol. 2: Hypnosis, Distortions And Other Sonic Innovations 1969-1978 | Analog Africa
4 FEEDEL BAND | Ethiopian Ocean | self-released
5 BIO RITMO | "Se Les Olvido" [Single] | Locutor
6 BORIS KOVAC AND LA CAMPANELLA | Eastern Moon Rising | Riverboat
7 PENNY PENNY | Shaka Bundu | Awesome Tapes From Africa
8 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Haiti Direct: Big Band, Mini-Jazz And Twoubadou Sounds 1960-1978 | Strut
9 JOSEPH KABASELE | Le Grand Kalle: His Life, His Music | Sterns
10 OMAR SOULEYMAN | Wenu Wenu | Ribbon Music

February 2014 Concert Calendar

February's Global A Go-Go picks:

1. DC-based Feedel Band, featuring legendary Ethiopian saxophonist Moges Habte, visit Balliceaux on Friday February 7
2. Two of Mali's hottest acts, Fatoumata Diawara and Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba (pictured above) together at the University of Richmond's Camp Concert Hall on Saturday February 15
3. Brave Combo, the world's grooviest polka band, plays The Canal Club with like-minded Happy Lucky Combo on Thursday February 20 
4. Los Lobos' 40th anniversary tour makes a stop in Alexandria at the Birchmere on Thursday February 27

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 February calendar.