June 2014 Concert Calendar

June's Global A Go-Go picks:

1. Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 (pictured above), Fela's old band and still the baddest Afrobeat ensemble on the planet, stop in at the Howard Theatre in DC on Wednesday June 11
2. Black Masala, a gypsy brass band from DC, performs live on Global A Go-Go on Friday June 20, then plays later that night at Balliceaux
3. The Ethiopian music event of the year: Debo Band and DC's own Feedel Band at Artisphere in Arlington on Friday June 27; then Debo Band comes to Richmond's Broadberry on the following night, Saturday June 28
4. The record release party for Bio Ritmo's brand-new album Puerta Del Sur happens Sunday June 29 at the Broadberry

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 June calendar.

Sia Tolno | African Woman

ARTIST: Sia Tolno
TITLE: African Woman
LABEL: Lusafrica
The third international album by Sierra Leonean-Guinean singer Sia Tolno sees her collaborating with Afrobeat legend Tony Allen, who Brian Eno has called “perhaps the greatest drummer who has ever lived.”

Bobby Valentin | El Mensajero

ARTIST: Bobby Valentin
TITLE: El Mensajero
LABEL: Andale
Bobby Valentin is one of the unsung heroes of the fertile New York City salsa scene of the 1960s and 70s. He’s probably best known today for his boogaloo hits (“Use It Before You Lose It,” “Bad Breath”) and for his work in the Fania All Stars.

Program May 30, 2014

I've been thinking recently about summer jams -- you know, those songs that sound good coming out of a portable radio at the beach or the pool, as much confections as songs.  I've collected a few that are doing it for me this summer, and this week I'll share them with you on Global A Go-Go.

Also on this week's program: deeply dubby reggae; Latin swing, salsa and soul; and a roundup of today's hottest Afrobeat.

Charts May 25, 2014

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 OUMAR KONATE | Addoh | Clermont Music
2 LA MISA NEGRA | Misa De Medianoche | NAM Entertainment
3 BIO RITMO | Puerta Del Sur | Vampisoul
4 RAY LUGO AND THE BOOGALOO DESTROYERS | Que Chevere! | Freestyle
5 DEXTER JOHNSON AND LE SUPER STAR DE DAKAR | Live A L'Etoile | Teranga Beat
6 NOURA MINT SEYMALI | Tzenni | Glitterbeat
7 SIERRA LEONE'S REFUGEE ALL STARS | Libation | Cumbancha
8 SOULJAZZ ORCHESTRA | Inner Fire | Strut
9 TOUMANI AND SIDIKI DIABATE | Toumani And Sidiki | World Circuit
10 SONIDO GALLO NEGRO | Sendero Mistico | Glitterbeat

Program May 23, 2014

My cup runneth over with great new music, and I'll share it with you this week on Global A Go-Go.  First up is a set of new kora duets by the father-son team of Toumani & Sidiki Diabate.  I also have a fabulous historic recording of very early (1969) salsa Senegalaise by Dexter Johnson & Le Super Star De Dakar.

Sonido Gallo Negro (Mexico's answer to Chicha Libre) and Noura Mint Seymali (Mauritanian singer whose album is my favorite African release so far this year) make their international debuts in June; I'll spin a track from each.  Oh, and some Richmond band called Bio Ritmo (pictured above) has a new album coming out on June 24 -- I think they play salsa or something like that?

Bio Ritmo | Puerta Del Sur

ARTIST: Bio Ritmo
TITLE: Puerta Del Sur
LABEL: Vampisoul
Now 23 years and eight albums into their career, Bio Ritmo have hit the jackpot with Puerta Del Sur (Door To The South), their best work yet. Tired of being asked “what’s a salsa band doing in Richmond, Virginia?), the album embraces their unlikely home town – its skyline is pictured on the cover and the video for “La Via” (track 2) makes a pretty good guided tour of hipster Richmond.

Toumani & Sidiki Diabate | Toumani & Sidiki

ARTIST: Toumani & Sidiki Diabate
TITLE: Toumani & Sidiki
LABEL: World Circuit
This is only the third album of kora duets ever recorded, and all three have featured members of Mali’s Diabate clan: Sidike Diabate in 1970, Sidiki’s son Toumani in 1997, and now this one with Toumani and his son Sidiki (named after his grandfather).

Dexter Johnson & Le Super Star De Dakar | Live A L'Etoile

ARTIST: Dexter Johnson & Le Super Star De Dakar
TITLE: Live A l’Etoile
LABEL: Teranga Beat
If you’re Senegalese and of a certain age (about my age, in fact), salsa is probably your music, especially the salsa Senegalaise of the late 70’s made famous by Orchestra Baobab.

Noura Mint Seymali | Tzenni

ARTIST: Noura Mint Seymali
TITLE: Tzenni
LABEL: Glitterbeat
Noura Mint Seymali is steeped in Mauritanian musical tradition – she is from a griot family, her father invented Moorish melodic notation and adapted the country’s national anthem, and her stepmother, Dimi Mint Abba, was probably the country’s most famous singer.

Son Palenque | Afro-Colombian Sound Modernizers

ARTIST: Son Palenque
TITLE: Afro-Colombian Sound Modernizers
LABEL: Vampisoul
The members of the Colombian conjunto Son Palenque chose the perfect name. “Son Palenque” has three meanings in Spanish that, seen together, describe the music, the artists and the innovation.

Sonido Gallo Negro | Sendero Mistico

ARTIST: Sonido Gallo Negro
TITLE: Sendero Mistico
LABEL: Glitterbeat
Mexico’s answer to Chicha Libre is Sonido Gallo Negro (Black Rooster Sound), a nine-piece instrumental combo from Ciudad De Mexico that’s pushing the psychedelic cumbia revival one step further.

Charts May 18, 2014

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 HASSAN HAKMOUN | Unity | Healing
2 RODRIGO Y GABRIELA | 9 Dead Alive | ATO
3 BIO RITMO | Puerta Del Sur | Vampisoul
4 OUMAR KONATE | Addoh | Clermont Music
5 RAY LUGO AND THE BOOGALOO DESTROYERS | Que Chevere! | Freestyle
6 LA MISA NEGRA | Misa De Medianoche | NAM Entertainment
7 BLACK MASALA | Black Masala | self-released
8 GAROTAS SUECAS | Feras Miticas | Vampisoul
9 SOULJAZZ ORCHESTRA | Inner Fire | Strut
10 SON PALENQUE | Afrocolombian Sound Modernizers | Vampisoul

Charts May 11, 2014

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 OUMAR KONATE | Addoh | Clermont Music
2 SIA TOLNO | Mouka Mouka [EP] | Lusafrica
3 VARIOUS ARTISTS | The Rough Guide To Psychedelic Cambodia | World Music Network
4 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Let's Boogaloo, Vol. 6: Explosive Deep Funk, Northern Soul And Dancefloor Jazz En El Barrio | Record Kicks
5 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Rough Guide To Latin Rare Groove | World Music Network
6 THIEVERY CORPORATION | Saudade | ESL Music
7 LA MISA NEGRA | Misa De Medianoche | NAM Entertainment
8 GAROTAS SUECAS | Feras Miticas | Vampisoul
9 ALSARAH AND THE NUBATONES | Silt | Wonderwheel
10 TINARIWEN | Emmaar | Anti-

Oumar Konate | Addoh

ARTIST: Oumar Konate
TITLE: Addoh
LABEL: Clermont Music
Times are tough in Mali, just two years removed from the fundamentalist takeover of its northern region, but nothing seems able to slow down the flow of top-notch music from that country. The latest case in point is Oumar Konate, a young guitarist from Gao.

Sia Tolno | Mouka Mouka EP

ARTIST: Sia Tolno
TITLE: Mouka Mouka EP
LABEL: Lusafrica
Sia Tolno, the Sierra Leonean-Guinean singer, will have her third international album released later this year. In advance of that, here’s a splendid five-song EP where she’s collaborating with Afrobeat legend Tony Allen, who Brian Eno has called “perhaps the greatest drummer who has ever lived.”

Program May 9, 2014

I love me some Afrobeat, but I have to admit it isn't always the most woman-friendly genre.  So this week a bit of an antidote -- women fronting Afrobeat bands.  You'll hear how Merrill (tUnE-yArDs) Garbus, Angelique Kidjo and Akua Naru turned Fela's "Lady" into a feminist anthem, and I'll spin a killer new collaboration between Sia Tolno (pictured above) and Fela's old drummer Tony Allen.

Also this week: sweet soul music from Brazil; another visit to the Sahara, including new music by Oumar Konate, who'll be visiting Richmond in two weeks; and garage and psych from Cambodia.

Charts May 4, 2014

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 BOULPIK | Konpa Lakay | Lusafrica
2 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Let's Boogaloo, Vol. 6: Explosive Deep Funk, Northern Soul And Dancefloor Jazz En El Barrio | Record Kicks
3 RAY LUGO AND THE BOOGALOO DESTROYERS | Que Chevere! | Freestyle
4 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Rough Guide To Latin Rare Groove | World Music Network
5 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Haiti Direct: Big Band, Mini-Jazz And Twoubadou Sounds 1960-1978 | Strut
6 HASSAN HAKMOUN | Unity | Healing
7 LA MISA NEGRA | Misa De Medianoche | NAM Entertainment
8 GAROTAS SUECAS | Feras Miticas | Vampisoul
9 ALSARAH AND THE NUBATONES | Silt | Wonderwheel
10 TED SIROTA'S HEAVYWEIGHT DUB | The Scientist Meets Ted Sirota's Heavyweight Dub | Liberated Zone

May 2014 Concert Calendar

 May's Global A Go-Go picks:

1. Kokanko Sata (pictured above) is a musician from the Wassoulou region of Mali who may be the only woman in the world who plays the kamele ngoni (youth harp, something like a small kora); see her at The Haven in Charlottesville on Thursday May 1 and at Sub Rosa Bakery in Richmond (with Hotel X) on Friday May 2
2. Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars set up camp at Artisphere in Arlington on Friday May 2
3. Israeli-American hipsters Balkan Beat Box visit DC's Howard Theatre on Saturday May 10
4. Northern Mali guitar hero Oumar Konate performs at Tropicalia in Washington on Friday May 23 and at Balliceaux in Richmond on Saturday May 24

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 May calendar.

Program May 2, 2014

We have another special guest this week on Global A Go-Go.  I'll be joined in the studio by Kokanko Sata Doumbia (pictured above), a singer from the Wassoulou region of southern Mali who is one of the few women who plays the kamale ngoni (youth harp, similar to a small kora).

I'll chat with Kokanko Sata and she'll perform a few songs in WRIR's Live Room.  Then she'll head over to Church Hill to perform at Sub Rosa Bakery (620 N. 25th Street) -- Hotel X will open for her, and the show there starts at 7:00 PM.

After the interview and performance I'll play some other artists from Wassoulou, including that region's most famous export, Oumou Sangare.  In the second hour of the program, we'll dig into Caribbean country music: twoubadou from Haiti, Jamaican mento and Dominican bachata.  And we'll finish up with boogaloo and Latin soul, some old and some brand new.