July 28, 2015

Amadou Balake | In Conclusion

ARTIST: Amadou Balake
TITLE: In Conclusion
LABEL: Sterns
Amadou Balake is certainly the most famous singer that the small landlocked West African country of Burkina Faso (Upper Volta when it was a French colony) has so far produced.

Brian Chilala & Ngoma Zasu | Vangaza!

ARTIST: Brian Chilala & Ngoma Zasu
TITLE: Vangaza!
LABEL: SWP
First-world African music fans don’t get to hear enough music that’s made specifically for an in-country market. And we certainly don’t get to hear much current music from Zambia.

Pat Thomas & Kwashibu Area Band

ARTIST: Pat Thomas & Kwashibu Area Band
TITLE: Pat Thomas & Kwashibu Area Band
LABEL: Strut
65-year-old Pat Thomas of Ghana has been called “The Golden Voice of Africa;” certainly his singing is one of the quintessential elements of highlife music of the 1970s and 80s, a classic period for this venerable, mutable genre.

Western Standard Time | A Big Band Tribute To The Skatalites, Vol. 2

ARTIST: Western Standard Time
TITLE: A Big Band Tribute To The Skatalites, Vol. 2
LABEL: self-released
Have you ever listened to the Skatalites’ original 1964-65 ska sides and wondered what they’d sound like with twice as many musicians in the band? Here’s your answer.

Program July 29, 2015

Pat Thomas, "The Golden Voice of Africa," is one of the great singers of Ghanaian music.  Pat is back with a new recording, and it's like he's right back in the jazzy, funky highlife scene of the late 70s and early 80s.  You'll hear a track from it, surrounded by vintage highlife of the same classic vintage.

Also this week: the final recordings of Burkina Faso's Amadou Balake; Western Standard Time, a new ska big band from Los Angeles; and karindula music from Zambia by Brian Chilala & Ngoma Zasu.

July 27, 2015

Charts July 26, 2015

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 BOMBA ESTEREO | Amanecer | Sony Music Latin
2 CIA DM | "Mon Afrique" [Single] | self-released
3 VARIOUS ARTISTS | The Rough Guide To Psychedelic Cumbia | World Music Network
4 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Big Box Of Afrosound | Vampisoul
5 GINGER JOHNSON AND HIS AFRICAN MESSENGERS | African Party | Freestyle
6 MIDDLE EAST'S REVOLUTIONARY ARTISTS | "Zombie" [Single] | Freemuse
7 LILA DOWNS | Balas Y Chocolate | Sony Music Latin
8 OLA FRESCA | Elixir | PiPiKi
9 SK KAKRABA | Songs Of Paapieye | Awesome Tapes From Africa
10 HAILU MERGIA | "Hailu" / "Yegle Nesh" | Philophon

July 21, 2015

Program July 22, 2015

Makossa from Cameroon is on this week's menu -- it's one of the world's most infectious dance musics.  You'll hear Big Benji Mateke, Sam Fan Thomas (pictured above) and the man who popularized makossa around the world, Manu Dibango.

Also this week: Tromboranga, a fabulous trombone-driven salsa band from Barcelona, visits Global A Go-Go; highlife time; and new Latin electro-roots music from Colombia's Bomba Estereo and Peru's Novalima.

July 20, 2015

Charts July 19, 2015

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 AMARA TOURE | 1973-1980 | Analog Africa
2 GINGER JOHNSON AND HIS AFRICAN MESSENGERS | African Party | Freestyle
3 LILA DOWNS | Balas Y Chocolate | Sony Music Latin
4 KHAIRA ARBY | Gossip | Clermont Music
5 FATOUMATA DIAWARA AND ROBERTO FONSECA | At Home: Live In Marciac | Jazz Village
6 FLAVIA COELHO | Mundo Meu | Mr Bongo
7 ELIDA ALMEIDA | Ora Doci Ora Margos | Lusafrica
8 OLA FRESCA | Elixir | PiPiKi
9 TIPSY OXCART | Upside Down | self-released
10 THOMAS MAPFUMO | Lion Songs: Essential Tracks In The Making Of Zimbabwe | Lion Songs

July 13, 2015

Charts July 12, 2015

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 LES AMBASSADEURS | Rebirth | World Village
2 AMARA TOURE | 1973-1980 | Analog Africa
3 NOZINJA | Lodge | Warp
4 LILA DOWNS | Balas Y Chocolate | Sony Music Latin
5 BOMBA ESTEREO | Amanecer | Sony Music Latin
6 VARIOUS ARTISTS | The Rough Guide To Psychedelic Cumbia | World Music Network
7 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Big Box Of Afrosound | Vampisoul
8 CHICO TRUJILLO | Reina De Todas Las Fiestas | Barbes
9 GINGER JOHNSON AND HIS AFRICAN MESSENGERS | African Party | Freestyle
10 TIPSY OXCART | Upside Down | self-released

July 7, 2015

Program July 8, 2015

The album pictured above has just been reissued by Analog Africa Records, as part of their Amara Toure collection simply entitled 1973-1980.  This is noteworthy because:
  • It's one of the best but least-heard African LPs of the 70s and 80s, and
  • You no longer need to spend $350.00 to buy a copy
Nope, in fact you can hear a track from it for free on this week's show, along with some other artists of similar vintage: Etoile De Dakar, Bembeya Jazz and Les Ambassadeurs.

Also this week: sounds of the Maghreb, mo' cumbia, and Balkan jazz.

July 6, 2015

Charts July 5, 2015

equipoplastico.com
WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 VARIOUS ARTISTS | The Rough Guide To Psychedelic Cumbia | World Music Network
2 AMARA TOURE | 1973-1980 | Analog Africa
3 LES AMBASSADEURS | Rebirth | World Village
4 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Big Box Of Afrosound | Vampisoul
5 LETTA MBULU | In The Music The Village Never Ends | Be With
6 BASSEKOU KOUYATE AND NGONI BA | Ba Power | Glitterbeat
7 KHAIRA ARBY | Gossip | Clermont Music
8 LE VENT DU NORD | Tetu | Borealis
9 DAYME AROCENA | Nueva Era | Brownswood
10 VISHTEN | Terre Rouge | self-released

July 2, 2015

July 2015 Concert Calendar

July's Global A Go-Go picks:
  1. The Smithsonian Institution's 2015 Folklife Festival features the music and culture of Peru, including a performance by Susana Baca on the National Mall on Thursday July 2 and chicha legends Los Wembler's De Iquitos at the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage on Friday July 3 and on the National Mall on Saturday July 4
  2. It's the Richmond Summer Reggae Jam on Saturday July 18 at the Broadberry with the Itals, Mighty Joshua, New Kingston, Buddha Council and Ricochet Red
  3. Bomba Estereo (pictured above), Colombia's hottest band, are touring the world in support of their new album Amanecer; they visit the Howard Theatre in Washington on Saturday July 25
  4. Desert blues superstar Bombino from Niger plays DC's intimate The Hamilton on Friday July 31
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.