Ethiopian tradition, 21st century improvisation

Violinist Kaethe Hostetter got interested in Ethiopian music when she became a founding member of Boston's Debo Band.  Then she took a deep dive into the subject -- she moved to Addis Ababa in 2009.

There she formed a new band, Qwanqwa ("Language" in Amharic) with a group of players who are virtuosi on traditional instruments like krar (harp), masenko (1-stringed fiddle) and kebero (hand drum) and also fluent in contemporary improvisational strategies.

Qwanqwa's third album, Volume 3, will be released on September 11 (New Year's Day in Ethiopia this year).  It's one of the most rewarding listens I've had this year, and I'll share three tracks with you on this week's Global A Go-Go.

Also this week (Monday August 31, 3:00-5:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards at wrir.org/listen, check your local listings for airing on other radio stations, and any old time at my podcast site): un poquito mas de la cumbia, folk-rock from both ends of Europe, African electronica, the rarely-sighted Afrobeat ballad, and some Latin soul to wrap things up.

Charts August 18-24, 2020

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 A GUIDE TO THE BIRDSONG OF MEXICO, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN | various artists | Shika Shika
2 EVA CORTES | Todas Las Voces | Blue Fern
3 SONGHOY BLUES | Optimisme [Advance Tracks] | Fat Possum
4 LA LOCURA DE MACHUCA 1975-1980 | various artists [Advance Tracks] | Analog Africa
5 CADENCE REVOLUTION: DISQUES DEBS INTERNATIONAL VOL. 2 | various artists | Strut
6 PETE RODRIGUEZ | I Like It Like That (A Mi Me Gusta Asi) | Fania/Craft/Concord
7 ALHOUSSEINI ANIVOLLA AND GIRUM MEZMUR | Afropentatonism | Piranha
8 JUAN PINA CON LA REVELACION | Juan Pina Con La Revelacion | Vampisoul
9 GROUPE RTD | The Dancing Devils Of Djibouti | Ostinato
10 KEITH HUDSON | "Nuh Skin Up" [Single] | Greensleeves

We're making history

There's a lot of music I listened to in 1978 that I'm no longer interested in.  And there are a few things that are as timely and compelling now as they were then.

Linton Kwesi Johnson's poems of the 70s and 80s written about England's National Front, the Brixton Uprising and the death of Blair Peach could just as easily have been about USA 2020's Unite The Right, the Black Lives Matter movement and George Floyd.  If you're personally or emotionally involved in the movement today, when you listen to Johnson perform his poems you'll think he was forecasting your present.

This week (Monday August 24, 3:00-5:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards at wrir.org/listen, check your local listings for airing on other radio stations, and any old time at my podcast site) Global A Go-Go presents a two-hour special on the poetry and music of Linton Kwesi Johnson, on the occasion of his 68th birthday and his recent award of the 2020 PEN Pinter Prize.

Charts August 11-17, 2020

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 KELEKETLA | Keleketla! | Ahead Of Our Time
2 MOONLIGHT BENJAMIN | Simido | Ma Case
3 MODOU TOURE | Touki | ARC
4 BUDOS BAND, THE | "Long In The Tooth" [Single] | Daptone
5 NATION BEAT | "Forro De Dois Amigos" [Single] | NBM
6 NOBLEZZA | "Coletera" [Single] | Codiscos
7 ACID COCO | "Yo Bailo Sola" [Single] | El Palmas
8 JAAKKO LAITINEN AND VAARA RAHA | Borek | Playground
9 GUY BUTTERY AND THE BANDURA EXPRESS MARIMBA ENSEMBLE | Guy Buttery & The Bandura Express Marimba Ensemble [EP] | self-released
10 SOCA GOLD 2020 | various artists [Advance Tracks] | VP

Crossroads can't hold me

She has released two albums since 2018 and she's already being compared to Angelique Kidjo, Patti Smith, PJ Harvey, the White Stripes, the Alabama Shakes and Rokia Traore.  Sounds like good company to be in.  Who is she?

The answer is Moonlight Benjamin, a Haitian singer-songwriter now based in Toulouse, France and working with a four-piece band led by guitarist Mattis Pascaud.  I'm a little late in getting to Benjamin's music, but I'm really into it now.  I'll play a set of her songs this week on Global A Go-Go; maybe that will get you into it as well.

Also this week (Monday August 17, 3:00-5:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards at wrir.org/listen, check your local listings for airing on other radio stations, and any old time at my podcast site): some American renditions of northeast Brazil's "music for maids and taxi drivers," Balkan sounds with an emphasis on the singers rather than the brass, a cumbia-tronica dance party, Afropop from Senegal, and music from the far edge of Afrobeat.

Charts Aug 4-10, 2020

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 SANTROFI | Alewa | Out Here
2 VOZ DI SANICOLAU | Fundo De Marê Palinha | Analog Africa
3 HABIBI FUNK 14: SOLIDARITY WITH BEIRUT | various artists | Habibi Funk
4 BUDOS BAND, THE | "Long In The Tooth" [Single] | Daptone
5 GROUPE RTD | The Dancing Devils Of Djibouti | Ostinato
6 NICO GOMEZ AND HIS AFRO-PERCUSSION INC | "Baila Chibiquiban" [Single] | Matasuna
7 KELEKETLA | Keleketla! | Ahead Of Our Time
8 PEDRO LIMA | Maguidala | Bongo Joe
9 SITI MUHARAM |  Siti Of Unguja | On The Corner
10 BANDE-GAMBOA | Horizonte: Revamping Rare Gems From Cabo Verde And Guine-Bissau |  Heavenly Sweetness

Uhuru special

It's an all-African edition of Global A Go-Go this week (Monday August 10, 3:00-5:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards at wrir.org/listen, check your local listings for airing on other radio stations, and any old time at my podcast site).  In the first hour, I'll play female singers from Cabo Verde; sounds from the Horn of Africa featuring music of Ethiopia, Somalia and Djibouti; and two multicultural takes on Afrobeat.

The second hour will be entirely dedicated to modern highlife -- the amazing sounds of Ghana since 1970, based on Akan traditional music played on Western instruments and incorporating a full slate of outside influences from foxtrot, calypso and big band jazz to rock and funk.  You'll hear from seminal figures like Ebo Taylor and Alhaji K. Frimpong, new music by Santrofi (pictured above) who are revitalizing highlife for the current generation, and more.

Charts Jul 28 - Aug 3, 2020

WRIR's NACC World Top Ten
1 ANDRE ABUJAMRA | "Alma Nao Tem Cor - Multi 25" [Single] | Tratore
2 KELEKETLA | Keleketla! | Ahead Of Our Time
3 MINYO CRUSADERS AND FRENTE CUMBIERO | From Tokyo To Bogota [EP] | Mais Um
4 DZAMBO AGUSEVI ORCHESTRA | "Old Bazaar Groove (DJ Branski remix)" [Single] | Asphalt Tango
5 LA DAME BLANCHE | "Cogelo Con Calma" [Single] | Nacional
6 FRANCK BIYONG FEAT CRISTINA VIOLLE | Trouble [EP] | Hot Casa
7 K FRIMPONG AND SUPER COMPLEX SOUNDS | Ahyewa Special | Hot Casa
8 WU FEI AND ABIGAIL WASHBURN | Wu Fei & Abigail Washburn | Smithsonian Folkways
9 LINGO SEINI ET SON GROUPE | Musique Hauka | Sahel Sounds
10 AKSAK MABOUL | Figures | Crammed

The king of Sudanese jazz

In Sudan, as in many African countries, if you made music in the 1960s with electric guitars and electric keyboards and a drum trap kit (all newly introduced on the continent), you probably called it "jazz."  You might have been playing rock 'n' roll or R&B or Cuban rumba or local styles on the new instruments -- didn't matter, it was all jazz.

Sharhabil Ahmed, still with us at age 84, is the King of Sudanese Jazz, crowned in a 1970s contest and never dethroned.  His sound, a unique mixture of traditional Sudanese music with early 60s rock, surf, funk, Congolese music and East African harmonies, is the soundtrack of the the swinging 60s in Khartoum.  Sharhabil has been anthologized for the first time ever, by Berlin's Habibi Funk Records, and you'll hear one of his tracks this week on Global A Go-Go.

Also this week (Monday August 3, 3:00-5:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards at wrir.org/listen, check your local listings for airing on other radio stations, and any old time at my podcast site): throat-singing Hank Williams; trippy cumbia; more IPM (intelligent pop music) from Brazil; two great central African guitar tracks; and John Lee Hooker crashes a Balkan beats dance party.