April 25, 2017

Program April 26, 2017

We're in the middle of WRIR's Spring 2017 Fund Drive, and I'd love to see you make your donation to Richmond Independent Radio right now.

We're planning to raise at least $40,000 in this drive, 100% of which will enable WRIR to keep broadcasting and webcasting 24 hours a day, 365 days a year's worth of underrepresented music, news and views, most of it produced in our very own studios by our 150 volunteers.

We need the support of about 500 folks just like you in order to keep community radio strong in Richmond.  I hope you'll choose to be one of those 500.  We have three easy ways for you to donate:
  1. By visiting our secure online sites at https://wrir.wufoo.com/forms/zt8de5l0zy2s68 (for a one-time contribution) or https://wrir.wufoo.com/forms/rv9ju9k11dt0c0 (for a monthly recurring donation)
  2. By calling 804-622-9747
  3. Or by visiting us in person at 1621-B W. Broad Street (2nd floor)
I'm putting my own money where my mouth is for this fund drive.  This week during Global A Go-Go, I'll personally match the first $500 of donations.  So if you give $50 (and get our latest limited edition T-shirt) I'll throw in another $50; if you ante up $150 (and receive both the T-shirt and the first-ever WRIR baseball cap), I'll see your $150.  Tune in Wednesday April 26 between 3 and 5 PM on 97.3 FM or http://wrir.org/listen and let me double your contribution to WRIR.  If you can't listen and donate at that time, there's no need to wait -- you can make your contribution right now, or any time until May 2.

As usual, I have some special programming lined up for Global A Go-Go listeners during the fund drive.  I'll be joined in WRIR's Studio C this week by the Afro-Zen Allstars (pictured above), Richmond's multicultural, multi-generational little big band playing groove-based music from around the globe.  Their debut album Greatest Hits is one of the best recordings I've heard in 2017 -- not just one of the best from Richmond, one of the best from anywhere on the planet.  They'll be playing selections from bandleader George Lowe's vast book of arrangements: music of Ethiopia, Rajasthan, Zimbabwe, Lebanon, Cameroon, Cuba, Richmond and many other places.

Thank you for your support in the past, and thank you for considering a donation during WRIR's Spring 2017 Fund Drive.  Long live Richmond Independent Radio: providing a voice to the voiceless since 2005 and reminding you that the public airwaves belong to the public.  They're your airwaves, we're your radio station, and we can't do it without your support.

April 23, 2017

Charts April 23, 2017

WRIR's World Music Top Ten
1 Orchestra Baobab | Tribute To Ndiouga Dieng | World Circuit
2 Dona Onete | Banzeiro | Mais Um Discos
3 L'Orchestre Afrisa International | Melanie | Colomotion
4 Oumou Sangare | Mogoya | No Format
5 Ondatropica | Baile Bucanero | Soundway
6 Orquesta El Macabeo | La Maldicion Del Timbal | Peace & Rhythm
7 Fruko Y Sus Tesos | A La Memoria Del Muerto | Vampisoul
8 various artists | Synthesize The Soul: Astro-Atlantic Hypnotica From The Cape Verde Islands 1973-1988 | Ostinato
9 Girma Beyene & Akale Wube | Ethiopiques 30: Mistakes On Purpose | Buda Musique
10 Afro-Zen Allstars | Greatest Hits | self-released

April 18, 2017

Dona Onete | Banzeiro

ARTIST: Dona Onete
TITLE: Banzeiro
LABEL: Mais Um Discos
Dona Onete is the stage name of singer Ionete da Silveira Gama, who didn’t really need a stage name until 2014, when she released her first album at the young age of 73.

Program April 19, 2017

Dona Onete (pictured above) got around to her recording career at age 73, after she had been a history teacher, union organizer and Municipal Secretary of Culture in Igarape-Miri, her home town near the mouth of the Amazon in northern Brazil's Para state.  Her second album will be released on May 19 and it's a blast; you'll hear a track from it on this week's program.

Also this week: the varied sounds of Cabo Verde; summer weather means it's time for Congolese music; and Girma Beyene sings it twice, 48 years apart.

April 16, 2017

Charts April 16, 2017

WRIR's World Music Top Ten
1 Oumou Sangare | Mogoya | No Format
2 Vieux Farka Toure | Samba | Six Degrees
3 Juana Molina | Halo | Crammed
4 Dona Onete | Banzeiro | Mais Um Discos
5 L'Orchestre Afrisa International | Melanie | Colomotion
6 Mamadou Kelly | Politiki | Clermont Music
7 Meta & The Cornerstones | Hira | Metarize
8 various artists | Synthesize The Soul: Astro-Atlantic Hyponotica From The Cape Verde Islands 1973-1988 | Ostinato
9 Girma Beyene & Akale Wube | Ethiopiques 30: Mistakes On Purpose | Buda Musique
10 Awa Poulo | Poulo Warali | Awesome Tapes From Africa

April 12, 2017

L'Orchestre Afrisa International | Melanie

ARTIST: L’Orchestre Afrisa International
TITLE: Melanie
LABEL: Colomotion
Afrisa International was the last band led by Tabu Ley Rochereau, one of the handful of people who stood at the pinnacle of Congolese music, the pop music lingua franca of the African continent.

Oumou Sangare | Mogoya

ARTIST: Oumou Sangare
TITLE: Mogoya
LABEL: No Format
Oumou Sangare, Mali’s “Wassoulou Songbird,” is back with her first solo album in eight years.

April 11, 2017

Program April 12, 2017

It's all the usual great music plus a couple of guests this week on Global A Go-Go.

At 3:30, Morgan Niles of WRIR's News & Public Affairs Committee (and of Zodiac Audio Almanac, Friday at 1 AM) stops by to talk about Local Voices Live, WRIR's semi-annual event where you get to see radio made right in front of your own eyes.  We'll be at Gallery 5 (200 W. Marshall St.) Wednesday evening starting at 6:30.  Admission is free; if you can't be there in person make sure to tune in from 7 to 9 PM tonight and hear it broadcast live on 97.3 FM.

I'll also be joined by Mari Elysian, a new volunteer who's finishing up her DJ training.  Mari and I will split the show in half this week; that means you get to hear a whole new perspective on music from around the world in the universal language of groove.

On my half, you'll hear from some of the songbirds of Mali, including new releases by Oumou Sangare and Awa Poulo, and reggae inspired by the 40th anniversary of Culture's Two Sevens Clash album, which is being celebrated Wednesday night at the Broadberry.  On Mari's half: tune in and she'll tell you herself.

April 9, 2017

Charts April 9, 2017

WRIR's World Music Top Ten
1 Vieux Farka Toure | Samba | Six Degrees
2 Ondatropica | Baile Bucanero | Soundway
3 Ibibio Sound Machine | Uyai | Merge
4 Cilantro Boombox | Shine | self-released
5 Oumou Sangare | Mogoya | No Format
6 Mamadou Kelly | Politiki | Clermont Music
7 various artists | Uzelli Psychedelic Anadolu | Uzelli
8 Orquesta El Macabeo | La Maldicion Del Timbal | Peace & Rhythm
9 Mokoomba | Luyando | Out|Here
10 Jaakko Laitinen & Vaara Raha | Naennainen | Playground Music

April 4, 2017

Mamadou Kelly | Politiki

ARTIST: Mamadou Kelly
TITLE: Politiki
LABEL: Clermont Music
Guitarist Mamadou Kelly is one of the stalwarts of the Songhai blues idiom that was popularized by Ali Farka Toure.

Vieux Farka Toure | Samba

ARTIST: Vieux Farka Toure
TITLE: Samba
LABEL: Six Degrees
Ali Farka Toure didn’t want Boureima, his second child, to become a musician.

Uzelli Psychedelic Anadolu

ARTIST: various artists
TITLE: Uzelli Psychedelic Anadolu
LABEL: Uzelli
In recent years, there’s been a bunch of reissues of Turkish pop and rock music from the 60s, 70s and 80s.

Program April 5, 2017

Malian guitarist Vieux Farka Toure (pictured above) is an incendiary live performer, kind of a cross between his father Ali Farka Toure and Jimi Hendrix.  If you saw him at the 2008 Richmond Folk Festival, or on any of his frequent USA tours, you know what I'm talking about.

April 2, 2017

Charts April 2, 2017

WRIR's World Music Top Ten
1 Orquesta El Macabeo | La Maldicion Del Timbal | Peace & Rhythm
2 Fruko Y Sus Tesos | A La Memoria Del Muerto | Vampisoul
3 various artists | Synthesize The Soul: Astro-Atlantic Hypnotica From The Cape Verde Islands 1973-1988 | Ostinato
4 Tinariwen | Elwan | Anti-
5 Tamikrest | Kidal | Glitterbeat
6 Ondatropica | Baile Bucanero | Soundway
7 Mokoomba | Luyando | Out|Here
8 Aurelio | Darandi | Real World
9 Systema Solar | Rumbo A Tierra | Nacional
10 Andres Landero | Yo Amaneci | Vampisoul