GLOBAL A GO-GO: August 2018

August 27, 2018

Program August 29, 2018

Have you (like me) been waiting eleven years for a new studio album from Manu Chao? I've got just the thing to tide you over: the superb debut recording by Guatemala's Doctor Nativo (pictured above). And I'll play some other musica mestiza stalwarts, including Chao his own self.

Also this week: when British folk meets West Africa, more of the mindboggling music of Sudan's golden age, and a set of roots reggae featuring two tracks from 17 North Parade's excellent new Johnny Clarke compilation.

Alba Griot Ensemble | The Darkness Between The Leaves

ARTIST: Alba Griot Ensemble
TITLE: The Darkness Between The Leaves
LABEL: Riverboat
Mark Mulholland is a Scottish singer-songwriter-guitarist who keeps his passport handy: he’s lived and worked in most of Western Europe, Haiti and now Bamako, Mali, where he connected with ngoni player Yacouba Sissoko of the Afrocubism project.

ARTIST: Johnny Clarke
TITLE: Creation Rebel
LABEL: 17 North Parade
VP Records, the group of labels started by Vincent “Randy” Chin, owns the deepest catalog in Jamaican music. From this wellspring comes a selection of 30 collaborations between singer Johnny Clarke and producer Bunny “Striker” Lee.

ARTIST: Doctor Nativo
TITLE: Guatemaya
LABEL: Stonetree
Ivan Duran of Stonetree Records is the producer who put the Garifuna sound of Andy Palacio, Aurelio Martinez, the Garifuna Collective and Umalali on the world music map.

ARTIST: various artists
TITLE: Two Niles To Sing A Melody: The Violins And Synths Of Sudan
LABEL: Ostinato
Once upon a time, there was a golden age of pop music in Sudan. It was the years between 1969, when Gafaar Nimeiry came to power, and 1983, when Nimeiry’s government swung from socialism to Islamism and imposed Sharia law, which essentially made music illegal.

Charts August 12, 2018

Lemon Bucket Orkestra | If I Had The Strength

ARTIST: Lemon Bucket Orkestra
TITLE: If I Had The Strength
LABEL: Six Degrees
Toronto’s Lemon Bucket Orkestra (LBO) is an 11-piece ensemble that describes itself as “guerrilla-folk party-punks imprisoned and liberated by Eastern European folklore.”

Red Baraat (pictured above) is a living embodiment of Duke Ellington's notion that the best music is "beyond category." They're inspired by Indian bhangra and brass bands; their music also incorporates funk, go-go, rock and jazz.

They're one of the most exciting live acts anywhere, which you'll be able to see for yourself when Red Baraat plays the Richmond Jazz Festival on Sunday evening and a Plan 9 Records in-store that afternoon. Their latest album, Sound The People, was released in June, and you'll hear a track from it this week on Global A Go-Go.

Also this week: one from Ladysmith Black Mambazo, who will also be at the Richmond Jazz Fest; a reggae set including my all-time favorite song about road kill; two cuts from Ostinato Records' current Sudanese projects; and Balkan brass that matches Red Baraat's white-hot energy.

Charts August 5, 2018

GLOBAL A GO-GO

August 27, 2018

Program August 29, 2018

August 26, 2018

Alba Griot Ensemble | The Darkness Between The Leaves

Johnny Clarke | Creation Rebel

Doctor Nativo | Guatemaya

Two Niles To Sing A Melody: The Guitars And Synths Of Sudan

Charts August 26, 2018

August 12, 2018

Charts August 12, 2018

August 7, 2018

Lemon Bucket Orkestra | If I Had The Strength

Program August 8, 2018

August 5, 2018

Charts August 5, 2018

GLOBAL A GO-GO'S HOST