July 31, 2014

Program August 1, 2014

I'm back after two weeks on vacation -- thank you to Otto Konrad and Eric Walters for holding down the fort in my absense.  And that's my back above, perusing the miles of "Weltmusik" (German for "world music") at Dussmann das KulturKaufhaus in Berlin.  Who says the music mega-store is dead?

On this week's show, you'll hear two bands I saw live in Berlin: Chile's Chico Trujillo and local cumbiamba La Mula Santa.  I'll also offer a belated tribute to Charlie Haden, play salsa Africana circa 1969 and today, and wrap things up with a set of Afro-funk.

August 2014 Concert Calendar

August's Global A Go-Go picks:
  1. Mauritanian singer Noura Mint Seymali (pictured above) tours the USA supporting her new album Tzenni, one of the year's best; she and her band (led by amazing guitarist Jeiche Ould Chighaly (also pictured) perform at Artisphere in Arlington on Friday August 1
  2. Omar Souyleman, the king of Syrian dabke wedding music, plays the Howard Theatre on Tuesday August 5
  3. Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars, still on tour, return to DC at the Black Cat on Friday August 22
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.

July 29, 2014

Charts July 27, 2014

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 NOURA MINT SEYMALI | Tzenni | Glitterbeat
2 SON PALENQUE | Afrocolombian Sound Modernizers | Vampisoul
3 RICARDO LEMVO AND MAKINA LOCA | La Rumba SoYo | Cumbancha
4 DEXTER JOHNSON AND LE SUPER STAR DE DAKAR | Live A L'Etoile | Teranga Beat
5 CUMBIA ALL STARS | Tigres En Fuga | Harmonia Mundi
6 SIA TOLNO | African Woman | Lusafrica
7 BIO RITMO | Puerta Del Sur | Vampisoul
8 OUMAR KONATE | Addoh | Clermont Music
9 BOULPIK | Konpa Lakay | Lusafrica
10 RAY LUGO AND THE BOOGALOO DESTROYERS | Que Chevere! | Freestyle

July 10, 2014

Ricardo Lemvo & Makina Loca | La Rumba SoYo

ARTIST: Ricardo Lemvo & Makina Loca
TITLE: La Rumba SoYo
LABEL: Cumbancha
Here’s the latest from American-based Congolese singer Ricardo Lemvo (he’s made Los Angeles his home since the ‘80s), and it’s a beauty.

Program July 11, 2014

Karikatura (pictured above) is a band that sounds like an amalgam of all the music you hear if you spend a day walking around New York City neighborhoods: the sounds coming out of apartment windows, shops, passing cars and even the subway.  It's Afrobeat, cumbia, klezmer, hip hop and more rolled up into one young, very enegetic sextet.

Speaking of the subway, one of their longest-running gigs is in the Union Square subway station, as part of the Music Under New York program.  They've also toured the world, and Ropeadope Records just released their first full-length album.  They're making a stop in Richmond on Friday night at Balliceaux; before that happens, they'll do a live set on this week's edition of Global A Go-Go.

July 9, 2014

July 2014 Concert Calendar

July's Global A Go-Go picks:
  1. The Smithsonian Folklife Festival continues on the mall in DC with free shows of music from Kenya and China on Wednesday July 2, Thursday July 3 and Saturday July 5
  2. Gogol Bordello returns to central Virginia after a long absence: they're at the Jefferson Theater in Charlottesville on Thursday July 17
  3. Cesar "Pupy" Pedroso and his band Los Que Son Son (pictured above), maybe the hottest aggregation in Cuba, make a rare stateside visit to the Howard Theatre in DC on Friday July 25
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.

July 6, 2014

Charts July 6, 2014

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 RICARDO LEMVO & MAKINA LOCA | La Rumba SoYo | Cumbancha
2 BIO RITMO | Puerta Del Sur | Vampisoul
3 BOULPIK | Kompa Lakay | Lusafrica
4 QUANTIC | Magnetica | Tru Thoughts
5 HASSAN HAKMOUN | Unity | Healing
6 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Ola Cabo Verde | Lusafrica
7 KASAI ALLSTARS | Beware The Fetish | Crammed
8 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Putumayo Presents: Australia | Putumayo
9 MERIDIAN BROTHERS | Salvadora Robot | Soundway
10 MELAZA | Melaza | Chulo/Daptone

July 3, 2014

Program July 4, 2014

It happens that I live in a Congressional district (Virginia's 7th) where the key issue in the recent Republican primary was immigration -- not the economy, not unemployment, not healthcare.  Here's a quick summary: the incumbent disliked immigration and wanted to make it more difficult, the challenger disliked it even more.

As the grandson of Italian immigrants (some of them illegal, even under the relatively relaxed laws of the early 20th century), I find both of those candidates' points of view repugnant.  I think immigration is one of the main things that makes America great, and I think we ought to encourage more of it.

Since I've got the floor for two hours on the 4th of July, I'll use it to do a radio show on this subject -- two hours of great American music made by people who emigrated to America.  Or if you prefer, you can call it two hours of music Dave Brat doesn't want made in America.