There's a lot of competition for this title, but I think Baba Commandant & The Mandingo Band is my favorite African ensemble right now. They're based in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, and as bandleader Mamadou (Baba Commandant) Sanou says, "we have chosen to make Afrobeat groove in our Mandingo tongue."
Baba plays donso ngoni, the hunter's harp, an instrument that until recently was only used for ceremonial music. In combining traditional music and instruments with the modern, they're in alignment with the Authenticité movement of post-colonial Africa. But they sound like 2022, not 1972: always aggressive, sometimes dissonant, they're like West African post-rock.
This week (Sunday September 18, 1:00-3:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards on the wrir.org archive player, check your local listings for airing on other radio stations, and any old time at my podcast site) you'll hear a track from Baba Commandant's brand new album Sonbonbela alongside a new reissue from one of the bands that inspire them, the Super Djata Band. Also this week: Bomba Estéreo meets Manu Chao, outstanding new Afropop from DC's Dogo Du Togo, a deep dive into South African township music, mbalax thunder and Middle Eastern Afrofunk.
Podcast: radio4all.net/program/113511
All the podcasts: radio4all.net/series/Global%20A%20Go-Go
Artist | Country | Song | Recording | Label | Year
Oliver Lake | USA | Separation | Matador Of 1st & 1st | Passin' Thru | 1997
Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros | England UK | Global A Go-Go | Global A Go-Go | Hellcat | 2001
Manu Chao | France-Spain | La Primavera | Próxima Estación... Esperanza | Virgin | 2000
Manu Chao | France-Spain | Me Gustas Tú | Próxima Estación... Esperanza | Virgin | 2000
Bomba Estéreo & Manu Chao | Colombia-France-Spain | Me Duele | Me Duele - Single | Elegancia Tropical | 2022
Bomba Estéreo | Colombia | Sintiendo | Elegancia Tropical | Soundway | 2013
Fatoumata Diawara | Cote D'Ivoire-Mali-France | Nterini | Fenfo - Something To Say | Shanachie | 2018
Rokia Traoré | Mali | Kènia | Né So | Nonesuch | 2016
Dogo Du Togo | Togo-USA | Zonva | Dogo Du Togo | self-released | 2022
Bil Aka Kora | Burkina Faso | Fulu | Fulu | Shamar Empire | 2019
Lorraine Klaasen & Mongezi Ntaka | South Africa-Canada-USA | Sekusile (Kikirikiki) | Ukubonga (Gratitude) | Justin Time | 2022
Dark City Sisters | South Africa | Ngiboniseleni | Vulelani / Ngiboniseleni - Single | His Master's Voice | 1959
Miriam Makeba | South Africa | Into Yam | The World Of Miriam Makeba | RCA Victor | 1963
Mahotella Queens | South Africa | Mama Thula | Mama Thula - Single | Gumba Gumba | 1968
Izintombi Zesimanjemanje | South Africa | Awufuni Ukulandela Na? | Next Stop. . . Soweto: Township Sounds From The Golden Age Of Mbaqanga | Strut | 2010-1974
The Movers | South Africa | Phukeng Special | Volume 1: 1970-1976 | Analog Africa | 2022-197x
Super Djata Band De Bamako | Mali | Farima | Authentique 80 | Numero Group | 2022-1980
Baba Commandant & The Mandingo Band | Burkina Faso | Serejugu | Sonbonbela | Sublime Frequencies | 2022
Etoile De Dakar | Senegal | Thiely | Absa Gueye | Sterns | 1993-1979
Omar Pene & Super Diamono | Senegal | Mouride | Direct From Dakar | Real World | 2022-1995
Etoile 2000 | Senegal | Boubou N'Gary | Dakar Sound Volume 1 | Dakar Sound | 1993-1981
Shotnez | Israel | Contagious | Contagious - Single | Batov | 2022
Zion80 | USA | Wandering Stone | Warriors | Chant | 2017
The Apples | Israel | Kings | Kings | Freestyle | 2010
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