July 19, 2016

Mamadou Barry & Afro Groove Gang | Tankadi

ARTIST: Mamadou Barry & Afro Groove Gang
TITLE: Tankadi
LABEL: Label Bleu
Saxophonist Mamadou Barry is one of those West African golden age musicians who keeps going like the Energizer bunny.

San Lazaro | La Despedida

ARTIST: San Lazaro
TITLE: La Despedida
LABEL: HopeStreet
San Lazaro is a band from Melbourne, Australia that’s making some of the most multifaceted, sophisticated Latin music I’m hearing right now.

Kristi Stassinopoulou & Stathis Kalyviotis | NYN

ARTIST: Kristi Stassinopoulou & Stathis Kalyviotis
TITLE: NYN
LABEL: Riverboat
Kristi Stassinopoulou and Stathis Kalyviotis have been working in some of the most intriguing niches of world music for two decades.

July 18, 2016

Program July 20, 2016

Miramar, the old-fashioned bolero combo led by Marlysse Simmons, Rei Alvarez and Laura Ann Singh (pictured above in their home away from home, Kuba Kuba, photo by Chris Smith) is Richmond's latest buzz band.

Their debut album, Dedication To Sylvia Rexach, was released on June 17 and just hit #3 on CMJ's New World chart; they were featured on NPR's "All Things Considered" and on CNN en Espanol; they finished a six-city tour in support of the album; and they're about to play NYC's Lincoln Center Out Of Doors on a bill with Puerto Rican superstars Richie Ray and Bobby Cruz.

They'd probably like to take a nap.  But instead they'll be joining me this week on Global A Go-Go to talk about the album, the whirlwind of activity around it, and all their new and old projects.  We'll play some Miramar music and some other stuff as well.

Also this week: fabulous new music from Greece by Kristi Stassinopoulou and Stathis Kalyviotis, and the ultra-danceable sounds of Haiti.

July 17, 2016

Charts July 17, 2016

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 JOE BATAAN | Call My Name | Vampisoul
2 MONEY CHICHA | Echo En Mexico | Vampisoul
3 JON RENBOURN AND WIZZ JONES | Joint Control | Riverboat
4 ELIAS ALEXANDER AND BYWATER BAND | Bywater | Fresh Haggis
5 MIRAMAR | Dedication To Sylvia Rexach | Barbes
6 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Rich Medina Presents Jump N Funk | BBE
7 BACAO RHYTHM AND STEEL BAND | 55 | Big Crown
8 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Rough Guide To Peru Rare Groove | World Music Network
9 ANTHONY JOSEPH | Caribbean Roots | Heavenly Sweetness / Strut
10 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Space Echo: The Mystery Behind The Cosmic Sound Of Cabo Verde Finally Revealed | Analog Africa

July 13, 2016

Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band | 55

ARTIST: Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band
TITLE: 55
LABEL: Big Crown
When they first appeared on disc in 2007, the Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band were said to be an obscure Trinidadian combo, known only to their immediate families and to crate-diggers, who dabbled in funk and soul covers.

Joe Bataan | Call My Name

ARTIST: Joe Bataan
TITLE: Call My Name
LABEL: Vampisoul
Well, I guess I’ve now been at this long enough to see my favorite new releases become reissues. Joe Bataan’s comeback, Call My Name, was one of my top albums of 2005, the year Global A Go-Go was first broadcast.

Money Chicha | Echo En Mexico

ARTIST: Money Chicha
TITLE: Echo En Mexico
LABEL: Vampisoul
Money Chicha is a new band from Austin led by bassist Greg Gonzalez of Grupo Fantasma and Brownout and featuring several members of those two bands.

July 11, 2016

Program July 13, 2016

Steelpan, the national musical instrument of Trinidad & Tobago, is a tuned percussion instrument made from industrial waste: a 55 gallon industrial drum that formerly held oil or chemicals.  And steelpan's use has spread far and wide: on this week's program you'll hear a new record from Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band (pictured above), a funk band from Hamburg, Germany that features four pannists.

Also this week: highlife from Ghana and Nigeria; new Peruvian-style psychedelic cumbia by Money Chicha and Bareto; and Latin soul straight outta the barrio.

Charts July 10, 2016

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 SYSTEMA SOLAR | Systema Solar | Nacional
2 GABRIELLA GHERMANDI | Ethiopia: Celebrating Emperor Tewodros II | ARC
3 ADNAN OTHMAN |Bershukor: A Retrospective Of Hits By A Malaysian Pop Yeh Yeh Legend | Sublime Frequencies
4 FANFARE CIOCARLIA | 20 | Asphalt Tango
5 YENI NOSTALJI | 2016 EP demo (final mix) | unreleased
6 QUANTIC PRESENTA FLOWERING INFERNO | 1000 Watts | Tru Thoughts
7 ANTHONY JOSEPH | Caribbean Roots | Strut
8 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Space Echo: The Mystery Behind The Cosmic Sound Of Cabo Verde Finally Revealed | Analog Africa
9 MIRAMAR | Dedication To Sylvia Rexach | Barbes
10 AUGUSTUS PABLO | Original Rockers | Greensleeves

July 6, 2016

Fanfare Ciocarlia | 20

ARTIST: Fanfare Ciocarlia
TITLE: 20
LABEL: Asphalt Tango
Fanfare Ciocarlia, the Romanian 12-piece brass band who play sirbas, horas and the like with military precision at Ramones-like tempos, celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.

July 5, 2016

Program July 6, 2016

Romania's Fanfare Ciocarlia (pictured above) has been traveling the world, pumping out the loudest, fastest Balkan brass band music for twenty years now.

Their label and booking agency, Asphalt Tango, is commemorating the occasion with a new double LP simply called 20, a look back at some of the band's greatest performances.  You'll hear a previously unreleased track from Fanfare Ciocarlia: 20 on this week's program.

Also this week: let's do the rocksteady; Ethio jazz from swingin' Addis to Boston; old and new Turkish pop; and once again it's cumbia time.