November 28, 2017

Program November 29, 2017

Classically-trained Western musicians like the Kronos Quartet (pictured above) are schooled in centuries-old tradition. Mande musicians like Trio Da Kali (also pictured above) are heirs to a practice that dates back to Europe’s medieval period.

This week on Global A Go-Go, you'll hear another track from the new collaboration by those two bands, an album that will be on many critics' best-of-2017 lists.  You'll also hear three other examples of Kronos playing African music, in collaboration with Malian Rokia Traore, Kevin Volans of South Africa and Zimbabwe's Dumisane Maraire.

Also this week: Asian sounds from Indonesia, Mongolia and Tuva; a cumbia-salsa mashup; and the propulsive sounds of Colombian champeta.

November 26, 2017

Charts November 26, 2017

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 HAMAD KALKABA AND THE GOLDEN SOUNDS | 1974-1975 | Analog Africa
2 STRICTLY THE BEST, VOL. 56 | various artists | VP
3 GILI YALO | Gili Yalo | Dead Sea
4 LES FILLES DE ILLIGHADAD | Eghass Malan | Sahel Sounds
5 BOUBACAR TRAORE | Dounia Tabolo | Lusafrica
6 EXPANDERS, THE | Old Time Something Come Back Again, Vol. 2 | Easy Star
7 LA MISA NEGRA | La Misa Negra | NAM Entertainment
8 BANDA MAGDA | Tigre | GroundUP / Verve
9 RUMPUT | Rumput | self-released
10 LEILA GOBI | 2017 | Clermont

Les Filles De Illighadad | Eghass Malan

ARTIST: Les Filles De Illighadad
TITLE: Eghass Malan
LABEL: Sahel Sounds
The music we refer to as desert blues and Touregs call la guitare or assouf is a modern construct – it was invented by exiles in Algeria and Libya in the 1970s.

Hamad Kalkaba & The Golden Sounds | 1974-1975

ARTIST: Hamad Kalkaba & The Golden Sounds
TITLE: 1974-1975
LABEL: Analog Africa
This album contains the complete recorded output of Hamad Kalkaba Malboum, who led Cameroon’s Republican Guard Orchestra as a young man and left music to focus on his military career and on athletics.

November 14, 2017

Program November 15, 2017

Desert blues from the Sahara is music that has been played almost exclusively by men -- until now.  Les Filles De Illighadad (pictured above) are an all-female band playing in the style Tuaregs call assouf or la guitare.  You'll hear a track from their new album this week on Global A Go-Go.

Also this week: Hamad Kalkaba, a new addition to the West African authenticite pantheon; the sound of Colombia's Pacific coast; and remixers take on Latin dance classics.

November 12, 2017

Charts November 12, 2017

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 various artists | SWEET AS BROKEN DATES: LOST SOMALI TAPES FROM THE HORN OF AFRICA | Ostinato
2 BOUBACAR TRAORE | Dounia Tabolo | Lusafrica
3 DA CRUZ | Eco Do Futuro | Boom Jah/Broken Silence
4 LOS CAMAROES | Resurrection Los | Analog Africa
5 EXPANDERS, THE | Old Time Something Come Back Again, Vol. 2 | Easy Star
6 CHOPTEETH AFROFUNK BIG BAND | Bone Reader | self-released
7 PROFESSOR WOUASSA | Grow Yes Yes | Matasuma
8 LES FILLES DE ILLIGHADAD | Eghass Malan | Sahel Sounds
9 MISTA SAVONA | Presents Havana Meets Kingston | 17 North Parade
10 M.D. AND THE HEALERS | Welcome To Babylon [EP] | Rebel Sound

November 7, 2017

Program November 8, 2017

Bouger bouger!  I'm getting warmed up for the Afropop Dance Thang, where WRIR's DJ Graybeard and I will be throwing down this Saturday at Studio Two Three.  To inspire you to come out for the event, I'll play a set of Afropop dancefloor fillers on this week's show.

Also this week: reggae from the former Soviet Union via Brooklyn, Afrobeat that's not from Nigeria, new music by the man who was the soundtrack of Malian independence in 1960, and the rediscovered sounds of Somalia.

Boubacar Traore | Dounia Tabolo

ARTIST: Boubacar Traore
TITLE: Dounia Tabolo
LABEL: Lusafrica
75 year old Boubacar Traore has been playing his blues-inflected music since Mali gained its independent in 1960.

November 6, 2017

WRIR's Afropop Dance Thang, Saturday November 11

Hey, if you're in Richmond this weekend here's an event you might want to check out: a rare public sighting of the Global A Go-Go Sound System.

DJ Graybeard of WRIR's The Other Black Music and The Motherland Influence and I will be spinning an evening's worth of our favorite African dance music. We're calling the event the Afropop Dance Thang -- it's happening Saturday November 11 at Studio Two Three, 3300 W. Clay Street in Scott's Addition. Here's our Facebook Event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/178133479408937

November 5, 2017

Charts November 5, 2017

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 DA CRUZ | Eco Do Futuro | Boom Jah/Broken Silence
2 LA MISA NEGRA | La Misa Negra | NAM Entertainment
3 RUMPUT | Rumput | self-released
4 CANZONIERE GRECANICO SALENTINO | Canzoniere | Ponderosa
5 KRIES | Selo Na Okuke/Village Tracks | Riverboat
6 TRIO DA KALI AND KRONOS QUARTET | Ladilikan | World Circuit
7 BANDA MAGDA | Tigre | GroundUP / Verve
8 LEILA GOBI | 2017 | Clermont
9 OFFA REX | The Queen Of Hearts | Nonesuch
10 BOMBAY ROYALE, THE | Run Kitty Run | HopeStreet