Charts July 15-21, 2024

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 ORQUESTA AKOKAN | Caracoles | Daptone

2 SUPERFONICOS | Renacere | Spaceflight

3 LOS GAITEROS DE SAN JACINTO | Orgullo Colombiano | OM Producciones/Bad Vibes Good Friends

4 MODESTO DURAN | Fabulous Rhythms Of Modesto | Numero Group

5 NGOZI FAMILY | 99% Confusion | Now-Again

6 COMBO DAGUERRE | Fracassines | Barbes

7 MANU CHAO | "São Paulo Motoboy" [Single] | Because

8 ETRAN DE L'AIR | "Ighre Massina" [Single] | Sahel Sounds

9 SATURNO 4000 | "Ma Belle Fille" b/w "Solar Heart" [Single] | Batov

10 ZANJA ALL STARS | Cuban Jam Session, Vol. 1 | Zanja

I will be reborn

A band's second album is supposed to be the hard one -- it's the one you write after you've spent your whole life on the first album's songs.  For Superfónicos though, the first album was the hard one.

 

Maybe it's because of the pandemic.  Maybe it's because they changed producers.  Maybe it's because four children were born to members of the band while the album was gestating.  Whatever it was, it took Superfónicos more than four years to make Renaceré ("I will be reborn").  You'd never guess that the process was so grueling -- this brassy, soulful, life-affirming record is one of the best things I've heard so far in 2024.  Tune in to Global A Go-Go this week to hear the album's title track.

Also this week (Sunday July 21, 1:00-3:00 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): Manu Chao is sounding like the old Manu Chao, new music from Orquesta Akokán and old music from the Cuban bandas gigantes who preceded them, Tete Mbambisa's updated South African marabi, a new single from desert blues heroes Etran de L’Aïr, and a fabulous anthology of África Negra from São Tomé & Príncipe.

Colombian pride

Bill Lupoletti of Global A Go-Go will be subbing for his WRIR colleague DJ Maiya on the first hour of the program she co-hosts, Head Empty Radio, Friday July 19 at 1 PM.

 

That's the same day that Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto, Colombia's original sound of cumbia, will be playing at Richmond's Get Tight Lounge (more information here: facebook.com/events/831676748322907), so you'll hear some of Los Gaiteros' music plus that of Colombian artists who have been inspired by Los Gaiteros in various ways, and some new sounds from around the world with a cumbia twist to them.

Head Empty Radio's regular co-host DJ Orangina will be at the controls and keeping the party going for hour number two.  Check both of us out this Friday afternoon!

Charts July 8-14, 2024

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 LOS GAITEROS DE SAN JACINTO | Orgullo Colombiano | OM Producciones

2 ORQUESTA AKOKAN | Caracoles | Daptone

3 CHICHA LIBRE | Tequila Y Aguardiente [EP] | Barbes

4 ANGELICA GARCIA | Gemelo | Partisan

5 MIGHTY JOSHUA | Dreaducation | self-released

6 ETANA | Nectar Of The Gods | Freemind

7 UNDERCOVER COCKNEY | "Am I Good Enough (feat. Coco Malone & Horseman)" [Single] | Double Double

8 JOY, THE | The Joy | Transgressive

9 DOBET GNAHORE | Zouzou | Cumbancha

10 CHEO | Refresco Vol. 1: Cheo Goes Latin | Nacional

The original sound of cumbia

Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto are the original sound of cumbia.  Founded in 1940, they're a multigenerational band playing gaita music, which is performed on the reed flute of the same name that was introduced to the Spanish colonials and to the Africans they enslaved by the Kogi natives of Colombia's Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains.

 

It's the collision of these three cultures (Native, African and Spanish) that makes Colombian music what it is; Los Gaiteros are maybe the foremost living embodiment of that collision.  Los Gaiteros will be performing here in Richmond at the Get Tight Lounge on Friday July 19.  This week on Global A Go-Go, you'll hear a sampling of Los Gaiteros' music, including tracks from their brand new album Orgullo Colombiano, the Grammy-winning 2006 album Un Fuego De Sangre Pura and more.

Also this week (Sunday July 14, 1:00-3:00 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): The South African a cappella singing of The Joy; what's new in reggae featuring Mighty Joshua, Prince Fatty, the Hempolics and more; Qwanqwa is where Ethiopian tradition meets free jazz; and the latest from Cote D'Ivoire's Dobet Gnahoré.

Charts Jun 24 - Jul 7, 2024

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 IBIBIO SOUND MACHINE | Pull The Rope | Merge

2 COMBO DAGUERRE | Fracassines | Barbes

3 PROTOJE | "Mariposa" [Single] | Ineffable

4 KANKOU KOUYATE | N'Darila | One World

5 AFRICA NEGRA | Antologia Vol. 2 | Bongo Joe

6 SEUN KUTI AND EGYPT 80 | "Dey" feat. Damian Marley [Single] | Record Kicks

7 NEGAH SANTOS | Ensaio Do Forro | Percussah Sessions

8 ANGELICA GARCIA | Gemelo | Partisan

9 ESY TADESSE | Ahadu | FPE

10 ROLANDO BRUNO Y EL GRUPO AREVALO | Cosas Raras | Peace & Rhythm/Electric Cowbell/DJ Cajon

Global A Go-Go Classico: Independence Day Special

I'm the grandson of immigrants from one of the sh*thole countries of the early 20th century: Italy.  For my grandparents, the 4th of July was the best holiday of the year.  That was the day they celebrated the nation that took them in, let them make something of themselves, and gave their children and grandchildren the opportunities their homeland couldn't provide.

 

It seems like a lot of Americans have lost touch with their immigrant roots, or maybe they're just in denial.  As a public service to the many Americans who've forgotten that their families too were immigrants, this special 4th of July edition of Global A Go-Go (Sunday July 7, 1:00-3:00 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) will feature two hours of great American music made by people who chose to come to this country.  These are the people, like my grandparents, who have made America great always.  Today's the right day to celebrate them, and us.

 

This episode of Global A Go-Go was originally broadcast on WRIR on July 4, 2018.

Charts June 17-23, 2024

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 HERMANOS GUTIERREZ | Sonido Cósmico | Easy Eye Sound/Concord

2 AFRICA NEGRA | Antologia Vol. 2 | Bongo Joe

3 JOY, THE | The Joy | Transgressive/PIAS

4 ATSE TEWODROS PROJECT | Maqeda | Galileo

5 NEW REGENCY ORCHESTRA | New Regency Orchestra | Mr Bongo

6 ZAWOSE QUEENS, THE | Maisha | Real World

7 ANGELICA GARCIA | Gemelo | Partisan

8 BEAUTIFUL NUBIA AND THE ROOTS RENAISSANCE BAND | Sonso | EniObanke

9 BONBON VODOU | Afrodiziak [EP] | Heavenly Sweetness

10 FRANCK BIYONG | Radio Masoda | Tangential

Hard-to-pronounce Turkish banjos

 

It's a very special edition of Global A Go-Go this week because I'm doing something I haven't done on my show since 2017: I'm hosting a live band in WRIR's Studio C.  The band in question is Zarove from right here in Richmond.  It's the new project of Pippin Barnett and Gary Kalar who have been playing together for years, and they've invited Steve Williams into the mix to make it a trio.

 

Pippin Barnett is the legendary Richmond drummer who's a founding member of Idio Savant, The Orthotonics, Famous Actors From Out Of Town, The Ululating Mummies, Boom, Ruckus Watusi, The Richmond Indigenous Gourd Orchestra and Happy Lucky Combo (I'm sure I'm forgetting something), and has toured the world playing in the bands Curlew, Nimal and No Safety with stars of the avant-garde like Fred Frith, Tom Cora, George Cartwright, Zeena Parkins, Wayne Horvitz and Amy Denio.

Gary Kalar is a Minneapolitan and Chicagoan who lives for several months a year in Bulgaria, which has made his playing more deeply enmeshed than ever in the sounds of the former Ottoman Empire and the Balkans.  He's a guitarist by trade and is fluent on a wide number of what he refers to as "hard-to-pronounce Turkish banjos."  Gary's Chicago bands Lamajamal and Mucca Pazza recorded and toured widely, and here in Richmond he's currently a member of the bolero supergroup Miramar and plays with composer/keyboardist Curt Sydnor.  And Steve Williams is best known to Richmond music fans as the guitarist in the Ululating Mummies; in Zarove he shifts over to bass guitar.

 

Zarove's first public performance was at Plan 9 Music a couple of weeks ago; I was there and was dazzled.  They play long, deeply psychedelic jams based on Turkish, Balkan and Middle Eastern motifs, with Gary's electrified banjos snaking their way in and around Pippin's complex driving rhythms while Steve propels the whole thing forward and ties the low end down, at least to the extent that you can tie down an 11/4 meter.  I can assure you that you haven't heard anything quite like Zarove.

Their first venue gig will be on June 29 at Reveler, and you'll get a full length preview of what they'll be doing on stage if you tune in to Global A Go-Go this week (Sunday June 23, 1:00-3:00 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).

Charts June 10-16, 2024

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 ANGELICA GARCIA | Gemelo | Partisan

2 ZAWOSE QUEENS, THE | Maisha | Real World

3 LOS GAITEROS DE SAN JACINTO | Orgullo Colombiano | OM Producciones/Bad Vibes Good Friends

4 JACOB F. DESVARIEUX AND GEORGES DECIMUS (KASSAV') | Yelele | Heavenly Sweetness

5 SEXTETO FANTASIA | Estamos En Algo | El Palmas

6 SUPERFONICOS | "La Semilla" [Single] | Spaceflight

7 LA LOM | "Danza De LA LOM" [Single] | Verve

8 FRANCK BIYONG | Radio Masoda | Tangential

9 ROLANDO BRUNO Y EL GRUPO AREVALO | Cosas Raras | Peace & Rhythm/Electric Cowbell/DJ Cajon

10 MERIDIAN BROTHERS | Mi Latinoamerica Sufre | Ansonia/Bongo Joe

Wagogo a go-go

Leah and Pendo Zawose have been making Wagogo music in Tanzania all their lives.  But always in the background -- women's jobs in Wagogo music has always been drumming and harmony singing, not songwriting or lead singing or playing the crucial tuned instruments illimba (thumb piano), chizeze (spike fiddle) and marimba (same as in English).

 

With the release of Maisha by the Zawose Queens, Wagogo women are finally out in front of the band.  Leah and Pendo's eleven original songs, backed by traditional instruments and unusually sensitive electronics and production from Englishmen Tom Excell and Oli Barton-Wood, are going to turn a lot of people on to a sound they've never heard before.  You'll hear three of them this week on Global A Go-Go.

Also this week (Sunday June 16, 1:00-3:00 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): Classic zouk béton from the French Antilles in the 80s; LA LOM takes on Peruvian chicha; the original sound of cumbia from Colombia's Los Gaiteros De San Jacinto, who will be performing in Richmond on July 19; the latest from Austin's Superfónicos; and two sets of Colombian champeta featuring a new track from Meridian Brothers and some unlikely covers.

Charts June 3-9, 2024

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 KUMBIA BORUKA | Santa Suerte | self-released

2 MDOU MOCTAR | Funeral For Justice | Matador

3 FRANCK BIYONG | Radio Masoda | Tangential

4 KIKI VALERA | Vacilon Santiaguero | Circle 9

5 BASSEKOU KOUYATE AND AMY SACKO | Djudjon: L'Oiseau De Garana | One World

6 LOS DAYS | Dusty Dreams | Too Good

7 MIGHTY JOSHUA | Dreaducation | self-released

8 IBIBIO SOUND MACHINE | Pull The Rope | Merge

9 DELROY WILSON | The Cool Operator | Gorgon

10 MERCI YAYA BONGO: LES GROUPES D'ANIMATION FEMININS DU GABON, 1982-1989 | VARIOUS ARTISTS | Secousse

To be enjoyed without moderation

How is it possible that one of the best cumbia bands in the world is based in Lyon, France?  Well, that's where Hernán Cortés landed after touring the world with Monterrey, Mexico's el rebelde del acordeón Celso Piña and his band Su Ronda Bogotá.

 

Cortés' ensemble Kumbia Boruka is a well-oiled 8-person party machine with over 400 gigs under their belt.  As their booking agent says, Kumbia Boruka is "to be enjoyed without moderation!"  The band's latest album Santa Suerte is their best calling card to date -- I'll feature it this week on Global A Go-Go.

Also this week (Sunday June 9, 1:00-3:00 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): Richmond reggae by Mighty Joshua with guest James "Plunky" Branch, Kiki Valera's son cubano, Malian standard-bearers Bassekou Kouyaté & Amy Sacko, Franck Biyong brings the pan-African dance party, and les groupes d'animation feminins du Gabon.

Charts May 27 - Jun 2, 2024

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 ROLANDO BRUNO Y EL GRUPO AREVALO | Cosas Raras | Peace & Rhythm/Electric Cowbell/DJ Cajon

2 DIZZY MANDJEKU AND ODEMBA OK ALLSTARS | Odemba Nostalgie [EP] | Zephyrus

3 FANIA ALL-STARS | Latin-Soul-Rock | Fania/Craft

4 BOBBY VALENTIN | Young Man With A Horn | Fania/Craft

5 NORTEC: BOSTICH Y FUSSIBLE | "TSM 2024" [Single] | Nacional

6 OKWY OSADEBE AND HIGHLIFE SOUNDMAKERS INTERNATIONAL | Ifunanya | Odogwu/Palenque

7 MASTER PLUS | Va En Serio | Nacional

8 LES BELGICAINS: NA TANGO YA COVADIA 1964-1970 | various artists | Covadia

9 EMEL | MRA | Little Human

10 RAIL BAND | Rail Band | Mississippi

Cumbia trash

What would have happened if The Cramps played cumbia instead of rockabilly?  Something like Rolando Bruno Y El Grupo Arévalo from Buenos Aires, Argentina, I think.

 

Bruno's previous band, Los Peyotes, played punk and garage rock, and of course cumbia is extremely popular throughout South America, so for him putting those things together are like combining peanut butter and chocolate.  This week on Global A Go-Go, you'll hear two tracks from Grupo Arévalo's forthcoming album Cosas Raras, and a few other Latin American bands working with similar ingredients.

Also this week (Sunday June 2, 1:00-3:00 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): Dizzy Mandjeku plays Franco, two generations of Igbo highlife with Stephen and Okwy Osadebe, funk and rapso from Trinidad & Tobago, Mexitronica by Bostich + Fussible and MIS, and the world's fastest salsa is made in Colombia.

Charts May 20-26, 2024

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 TIDIANE THIAM | Africa Yontii | Sahel Sounds

2 AJATE | Dala Toni | 180g

3 ORQUESTA AKOKAN | "Con Licencia" [Single] | Daptone

4 COMBO DAGUERRE | "Les Assassins" [Single] | Barbes

5 GHANA SPECIAL 2: ELECTRONIC HIGHLIFE AND AFRO SOUNDS IN THE DIASPORA, 1980-93 | various artists | Soundway

6 SAIGON SOUL REVIVAL | Moi Luong Duyen | Saigon Supersound

7 ASMAA HAMZAOUI AND BNAT TIMBOUKTOU | L'bnat | Ajabu

8 BAB L'BLUZ | Swaken | Real World

9 KIKI VALERA | Vacilon Santiaguero | Circle 9

10 SAHRA HALGAN | Hiddo Dhawr | Danaya

Afro-hayashi

What happens when you take Japanese traditional ohayashi festival music, add African grooves to it and play it on homemade bamboo instruments?  You get the band Ajate, whose superb new album Dala Toni is the latest in global music made in Japan.  Hear it for yourself this week on Global A Go-Go.

Also this week (Sunday May 26, 1:00-3:00 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): Olivier Conan's new Combo Daguerre project, great new music from Sahra Halgan and Delgrès, Orquesta Akokán's modern mambo, Tidiane Thiam says "Africa, it's time" and the latest from female gnawa pioneers Asmâa Hamzaoui & Bnat Timbouktou.

Charts May 13-19, 2024

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 MERIDIAN BROTHERS | Mi Latinoamerica Sufre | Ansonia/Bongo Joe

2 OKWY OSADEBE AND HIGHLIFE SOUNDMAKERS INTERNATIONAL | Ifunanya | Odogwu Entertainment/Palenque

3 QWANQWA | Live | self-released

4 ASMAA HAMZAOUI AND BNAT TIMBOUKTOU | L'bnat | Ajabu

5 GHANA SPECIAL 2: ELECTRONIC HIGHLIFE AND AFRO SOUNDS IN THE DIASPORA, 1980-93 | various artists | Soundway

6 MYRIAM GENDRON | Mayday | Thrill Jockey

7 BAB L'BLUZ | Swaken | Real World

8 MIGHTY JOSHUA | Dreaducation | Mighty

9 LES BELGICAINS: NA TANGO YA COVADIA 1964-1970 | various artists | Covadia

10 FRANCK BIYONG | "Lipanda (feat. Mary May)" [Single] | Tangential

Beyond Bogotá

I've been playing a lot of Colombian music lately.  La Perla played live in WRIR's Studio C on May 4 before their performance at Get Tight Lounge; when they were here I spun another 40 minutes of music by other current Bogotá bands.  Then Meridian Brothers, also from Bogotá, played Get Tight on May 13 and you heard their music on Global A Go-Go as well.

 

But the Colombian musical scene extends way beyond Bogotá.  This week on Global A Go-Go you'll hear four more current Colombian bands from across that big country, including Rancho Aparte from Cali who will be headlining the Richmond Folk Festival this fall.

 

Also this week (Sunday May 19, 1:00-3:00 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): The unique Ethio-jazz of Qwanqwa; the latest from Dutch-Indonesian hipsters Nusantara Beat; probably the two best American Congolese bands right now: Occidental Brothers Dance Band and Loboko; a great new juju single from Franck Biyong; and burger highlife, the sound of the Ghanaian diaspora.

Charts May 6-12, 2024

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 MIGHTY JOSHUA | Dreaducation | Mighty Music

2 MDOU MOCTAR | Funeral For Justice | Matador

3 MYRIAM GENDRON | Mayday | Thrill Jockey

4 MERIDIAN BROTHERS | "En El Caribe Estoy Triste" [Single] | Ansonia/Bongo Joe

5 IBIBIO SOUND MACHINE | Pull The Rope | Merge

6 AMADOU AND MARIAM | "Mogolu" [Single] | Because

7 YELLOWMAN | Zungguzungguguzungguzeng | Greensleeves

8 LOS BITCHOS | "La Bomba" [Single] | City Slang

9 BONGO HOP, THE | Satingarona Pt. 1 | Underdog

10 RAIL BAND | Rail Band | Mississippi

Those confusing nooks & crannies of self-improvement

It was great to meet so many Global A Go-Go listeners at the La Perla show at Get Tight Lounge last Saturday night!  And the Colombian takeover of Richmond continues on Monday May 13, once again at Get Tight (Richmond's Colombian embassy, I guess?), with a performance by another one of Bogotá's hottest bands, Meridian Brothers.

 

I've seen them before and they're not to be missed.  Meridian Brothers' forthcoming album Mi Latinoamérica Sufre takes a characteristically off-center approach to champeta, the uniquely Colombian mixture of traditional rhythms with African highlife, soukous and Afrobeat.  If you want to get an idea of what they sound like, I'll play Meridian Brothers' brand new single this week on Global A Go-Go alongside other Colombian artists past and present working in the champeta groove.

Also this week (Sunday May 12, 1:00-3:00 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): The new album from Richmond's own Mighty Joshua; new Afro sounds by Amadou & Mariam, Aboubacar Traoré and Afla Sackey; Eastern European roots music including the latest from Russia's Otava Yo; Get in the Garage presents current garage rock from Yiddishland, Turkey via Israel, London and Brooklyn; and the latest guitar heroics of Mdou Moctar, who will be playing Richmond's Friday Cheers on June 7.

Charts Apr 29 - May 5, 2024

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 LOS BITCHOS | "La Bomba" [Single] | City Slang

2 LES BELGICAINS: NA TANGO YA COVADIA 1964-70 | various artists | Covadia

3 MDOU MOCTAR | Funeral For Justice | Matador

4 CEU | Novela | Urban Jungle

5 LINDIGO | Oye Maloya | Helico

6 YEMAYA LA BANDA | Asimetricas | Cultur'el

7 MEKLIT | Ethio Blue [EP] | self-released

8 BROOKLYN SOUNDS | Brooklyn Sounds! | Vampisoul

9 BLACK ROOTS | Roots | Nubian

10 LUCIANA DEMINGONGO | Une Plume Une Voix Une Guitare | Une Plume Une Voix Une Guitare

Las tres brujas del tambor

La Perla, las tres brujas del tambor (the three witches of the drums) from Bogotá Colombia, are coming to Richmond this week.  They will be performing at the Get Tight Lounge, 1104 W. Main Street, on Saturday May 4.  Doors open at 7:30 PM; La Perla goes on stage at 9:00.

They will also be performing live on WRIR this Saturday afternoon between 1 and 3 PM.  I'll be hosting a special edition of the WRIR program "Cause & Effect," featuring the music of La Perla, their influences, and some of the many bands in the very hip current Bogotá scene.  And La Perla will join me in WRIR's Studio C for a live performance and conversation.

La Perla is a band of three young Bogotanas whose 21st century feminist global perspective on traditional Afro-Colombian rhythms is adding a new dimension to contemporary Latin music.  Using just voices and drums, and maybe a little bit of electronics, their music encompasses Afro-Colombia (genres like cumbia, chalupa and mapalé), the broader Latin world (samba, guaguancó, chicha) and the ever-present North (rap, punk rock).  They are the folk process in action, in real time.

Charts April 15-28, 2024

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 CONGO FUNK! SOUND MADNESS FROM THE SHORES OF THE MIGHTY CONGO RIVER |various artists | Analog Africa

2 MULATU ASTATKE | Mulatu Of Ethiopia | Strut

3 LASS | Passeport | Chapter Two

4 SAM MANGWANA AND ORCHESTRE VOX AFRICA | 1967 Kinshasa [EP] | SAM Productions

5 TETE MBAMBISA | African Day | As Shams/The Sun

6 SABRI BROTHERS | Jami | Piranha

7 FLORENCE ADOONI | "Uh-Ah Song" [Single] | Philophon

8 FRANCO LUAMBI MAKIADI | Presents Les Editions Populaires | Planet Ilunga

9 WAGADU GROOVES: THE HYPNOTIC SOUND OF CAMARA 1987-2016 | various artists | Hot Mule

10 ALPHEUS | Unify | Liquidator

La Perla from Bogotá, live in Richmond Saturday May 4

La Perla, las tres brujas del tambor (the three witches of the drums) from Bogotá Colombia, are coming to Richmond this week.

 

They will be performing at the Get Tight Lounge, 1104 W. Main Street, on Saturday May 4.  Doors open at 7:30 PM; La Perla goes on stage at 9:00.  You can get your tickets here: https://dice.fm/event/g8rpb-la-perla-at-gtl-4th-may-get-tight-lounge-richmond-tickets

They will also be performing live on WRIR this Saturday afternoon between 1 and 3 PM.  I'll be hosting a special edition of the WRIR program "Cause & Effect," featuring the music of La Perla, their influences, and some of the many bands in the very hip current Bogotá scene.  And La Perla will join me in WRIR's Studio C for a live performance and conversation.  You can listen on 97.3 FM in Richmond or at wrir.org anywhere.

African day

Pianist Tete Mbambisa is one of the South African jazz greats who stayed in his home country in the 1970s, when many of his peers like Abdullah Ibrahim, Hugh Masekela and Miriam Makeba were beating apartheid by going into exile.  It was hard to get international recognition (not to mention make a living) as a South African jazzman in the 70s, but there's some fabulous music from that period that we're only started to hear.

 

The As Shams label has just issued previously unreleased recordings from 1976 featuring Mbambisa, his stellar quartet and guest soloists Basil Coetzee, Barney Rachabane and Dennis Mpale.  These sessions are right up there with Ibrahim's best work of that period.  Hear it for yourself this week on Global A Go-Go.

Also this week (Sunday April 28, 1:00-3:00 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): Mali's Soninke sound of the 1990s; Afrofunk from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Togo and Ghana; more from Colombia's La Perla, who will be at the Get Tight Lounge on Saturday May 4 (and live on WRIR that afternoon); what's new in the world of reggae; and the reissue of a qawwali classic by the Sabri Brothers.

Ritmo realidad

WRIR's Spring 2024 Fund Drive is now underway -- we're hard at work toward raising $45,000 by Saturday April 27th to power Richmond's community radio station for another six months.   Thank you for your previous donations to Richmond Independent Radio and for your continuing support if you're a monthly donor!  I'm writing to encourage you to make a contribution once again this spring, if you can.  Become a monthly donor by clicking this link: https://bit.ly/3QnrP5H.  Or make a one-time donation to WRIR here: https://bit.ly/3FnagN1.

Charts April 8-14, 2024

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 JEMBAA GROOVE | Ye Ankasa/We Ourselves | Agogo

2 CONGO FUNK! SOUND MADNESS FROM THE SHORES OF THE MIGHTY CONGO RIVER | various artists | Analog Africa

3 SINKANE | We Belong | City Slang

4 DELE SOSIMI AND THE ESTUARY 21 | The Confluence | Wah Wah 45s

5 PROJECT GEMINI | Colours & Light | Mr Bongo

6 FLORENCE ADOONI | "Uh-Ah Song" [Single] | Philophon

7 LIRAZ | "Haarf" [Single] | Batov

8 AUSECUMA BEATS | Dakar Bamako | Music In Exile

9 EMAHOY TSEGE MARIAM GEBRU | Souvenirs | Mississippi

10 AZIZA BRAHIM | Mawja (Wave) | Glitterbeat

O Lord, increase my bewilderment

If you saw the late, great Baba Commandant & The Mandingo Band last fall at the Richmond Folk Festival or last spring at Get Tight Lounge -- Hisham Mayet made that happen.

 

Hisham produced all three of Baba's albums for Sublime Frequencies, the record label Hisham co-founded, and he was Baba's road manager for that epic American tour.  Hisham also produced the first recording of Omara Moctar aka Bombino, the Tamasheq desert blues guitarist who's now an international star.

 

Along with his audio work, Hisham Mayet is also a film maker and photographer who describes his ouevre as "folk cinema."  This year the James River Film Festival is screening two of Hisham's movies: The Divine River, a record of music, ritual, life and landscape along the Niger River in Mali and the Republic of Niger, and Oulaya's Wedding, which takes you inside the week-long wedding of the daughter of Western Sahara's most famous family band, Group Doueh.

The films will be shown at the Byrd Theatre on Saturday April 20 at 11:30 AM.  This week, one lucky Global A Go-Go listener will win a pair of tickets to the screening, and all Global A Go-Go listeners will get to hear a set of music from the two documentaries.

Also this week (Sunday April 14, 1:00-3:00 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): New Ghanaian music from Jembaa Groove and Florence Adooni, the South Bronx's fabulous Ghetto Brothers, brand new singles by Altın Gün and Liraz, more sounds of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, and Senegal and Mali meet Australia in Ausecuma Beats.

Charts April 1-7, 2024

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 SAHRA HALGAN | Hiddo Dhawr | Danaya

2 MERCI YAYA BONGO: LES GROUPES D'ANIMATION FEMININS DU GABON, 1982-1989 | various artists | Secousse

3 NEWEN AFROBEAT | Grietas [EP] | Lichens Family

4 CONGO FUNK! SOUND MADNESS FROM THE SHORES OF THE MIGHTY CONGO RIVER | various artists | Analog Africa

5 LA YEGROS | Haz | X-Ray

6 TOGO SOUL 2 | various artists | Hot Casa

7 DYNAMQ | "Khamsa Degiga" [Single] | River Nile

8 JOY, THE | "You Complete Me" [Single] | Transgressive

9 ORQUESTA AKOKAN | "Con Altura" b/w "TKN" [Single] | Daptone

10 OLUKO IMO | Glory Of Om | Soundway

Keep the culture

Sahra Halgan's back story is so compelling that it can be a distraction from her brilliant music.  She was a nurse on the front lines of Somalia's civil war when her own country's air force dropped bombs on her home town of Hargeisa in Somaliland, driving her and thousands of others into exile.

 

Then she was a faceless refugee in France for 24 years, working as a cleaner and a cafeteria worker, raising five children, and playing music as a side hustle.  In Lyon, Halgan connected with a couple of open-eared local musicians and this trio (now a quartet) has honed a remarkably organic sound that you could call East African post-rock: They're muscular, angular and soulful, recognizably Somalian yet unlike anything else from there or anywhere else.

Halgan's new album Hiddo Dhawr (Keep The Culture) is named for the music venue she opened in Hargeisa in 2013.  You'll hear three songs from the album, my favorite album so far in 2024, this week on Global A Go-Go.

Also this week (Sunday April 7, 1:00-3:00 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): South African a cappella, Gabonese singing in praise of maximum leader Omar Bongo, a ticket giveaway to see the twangy soul-cumbia band LA LOM at Richmond Music Hall on Tuesday night, Oluko Imo's Trini Afrobeat and new dancehall South Sudanese style from Dynamq.

Charts March 18-31, 2024

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 AFRICAN BROTHERS BAND INT. OF GHANA | Locomotive Train (Keteke): Meko Tarkwa! Meko Tarkwa!! Meko Tarkwa!!! | BBE

2 ADAMA YALOMBA | Tanou | Remote/Studio Mali

3 OMAR SOULEYMAN | Erbil | Mad Decent

4 MERCI YAYA BONGO: LES GROUPES D'ANIMATION FEMININS DU GABON, 1982-1989 | various artists | Secousse

5 AUSECUMA BEATS | Dakar Bamako | Music In Exile

6 MEKLIT | Ethio Blue [EP] | self-released

7 JEMBAA GROOVE | "Makoma" [Single] | Agogo

8 SAMI GALBI | "Rruina" [Single] | Bongo Joe

9 PAT THOMAS | "Gye Wani" [Single] | Soundway

10 AZIZA BRAHIM | Mawja (Wave) | Glitterbeat

Hold your lover tight

It's highlife time once again on Global A Go-Go.  We'll dig into more than a half-hour of the genre on this week's program, starting with a new single from Berlin's Jembaa Groove that quotes Kwame Nkrumah, the first prime minister and first president of Ghana.  You'll also hear a track from Soundway's forthcoming Ghana Special 2 compilation and one from a new reissue of the African Brothers Band led by a great friend of WRIR, the late Nana Kwame Ampadu.

 

Also this week (Sunday March 31, 1:00-3:00 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): New Sahrawi music by Aziza Brahim, some unlikely ska versions, the French Caribbean roots-rock of Delgrès and new Arabic electronic dance music by Sami Galbi and Omar Souleyman.

Charts March 11-17, 2024

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 ABDALLAH OUMBADOUGOU | Amghar: The Godfather Of Tuareg Music, Vol. 1 | Petaluma

2 BACAO RHYTHM AND STEEL BAND | BRSB | Big Crown

3 BIDAIDE | "Batua" b/w "Love Me And Give Me Up" [Single] | Matasuna

4 MARCO FLORES Y LA JEREZ | "El Botecito" [Single] | Nacional

5 MARK LEGGETT | "Road To Mali" [Single] | Earthsonix

6 BARIS MANCO | Sakla Samani Gelir Zamani | Turkishvinyl

7 CEM KARACA | Nem Kaldi? | Turkishvinyl

8 MEXICAN INSTITUTE OF SOUND | Algo-Ritmo: Mexican Institute Of Sound Hits 2004-2024 | Soy Sauce

9 ANA TIJOUX | Vida | Victoria Producciones

10 OKAVANGO AFRICAN ORCHESTRA | Migration | self-released

Introducing La Perla

La Perla is a voice-and-percussion trio from Bogotá Colombia, home of one of the most organically interesting music scenes in the world right now.  Their music is rooted in traditional Afro-Colombian rhythms like cumbia, chalupa and mapalé, but it's written and performed by 21st century women who also have their ears on punk, rap and EDM.

 

La Perla is coming to Richmond this spring: They'll be performing at the Get Tight Lounge on Saturday May 4 (I recommend putting that on your calendar right now), and earlier that afternoon they'll be playing live in WRIR's Studio C during our Cause & Effect radio program.  This week on Global A Go-Go I'm going to introduce you to La Perla's music, with two songs from their 2022 debut album Callejera and some related sounds.

Also this week (Sunday March 17, 1:00-3:00 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): Anatolian rock chestnuts from the 70s, a set of cumbia that will get you moving, guitarist Mark Leggett channels Ali Farka Touré and Baaba Maal, rockin' desert blues including the wonderful new compilation of Abdallah Oumbadougou, and the cinematic psychedelic soul of Barcelona's Bidaide.

Charts March 4-10, 2024

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 MEKLIT | Ethio Blue [EP] | self-released

2 ARY LOBO | 1958-1966 (Limited Dance Edition No. 19) | Analog Africa

3 DAYME AROCENA | Alkemi | Brownswood

4 NGWAKA SON SYSTEME | Iboto Ngenge | Eck Echo

5 FOREST LAW | "Ooo, I" [Single] | Bongo Joe/Total Refreshment Centre

6 KOKOKO | "Mokili" [Single] | Transgressive

7 FRANCO LUAMBI MAKIADI | Presents Les Editions Populaires | Planet Ilunga

8 AZIZA BRAHIM | Mawja | Glitterbeat

9 LES AMAZONES D'AFRIQUE | Musow Danse | Real World

10 CONJUNTO GUANTANAMO | "Guitarra, Tabaco Y Ron" [Single] | Nganga

Music for maids & taxi drivers

Forró is the country music of Brazil's northeast region; it's been called "music for maids and taxi drivers."  It's classically played in the trio format: Sanfona (diatonic button accordion), zabumba (bass drum) and triangle (yeah, triangle).  If this reminds you of a Louisiana Cajun or zydeco band -- yes, the styles of music are closely related.  To urbanize your forró, maybe add a horn or two.

This week on Global A Go-Go (Sunday March 10, 1:00-3:00 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) you'll hear a whole set of forró, including a couple of tracks from the terrific recent Analog Africa compilation of the recordings of Ary Lobo.

Also this week: Currulao from Colombia's Pacific coast including the debut recording of De Mar Y Rio, new Cuban son montuno from Conjunto Guantánamo, the Brazilian psychedelic groove of London's Forest Law, and new Afro-dance music from Kokoko! and Ngwaka Son Système from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Charts Feb 19 - Mar 3, 2024

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 TIKEN JAH FAKOLY | Acoustic | Chapter Two

2 LONDON AFROBEAT COLLECTIVE | Esengo | Canopy

3 BLACK TRUTH RHYTHM BAND | Ifetayo | Soundway

4 ABDALLAH OUMBADOUGOU | Amghar: The Godfather Of Tuareg Music, Vol. 1 | Petaluma

5 SHAZALKAZOO | Chorba | Asphalt Tango

6 DELGRES | Promis Le Ciel | Discograph

7 AKAE BEKA | Living Testament | Before Zero/Trinity Farm

8 SORCERERS, THE | I Too Am A Stranger | ATA

9 FRANCK BIYONG | "Oladipo (feat. Chief Udoh Essiet & Tony Allen)" [Single] | Afrolectric

10 MARCO FLORES Y LA JEREZ | "Mi Jerez" [Single] | Nacional

Fakoly koumba, Fakoly daaba

The new releases are coming fast and furious in the first quarter of 2024, and I've been out of the office a lot so far this year for travel.  So it's time to catch you (and me) up on some of the best new music of the young year.

 

This week on Global A Go-Go (Sunday March 3, 1:00-3:00 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), it's nothing but new releases: I've got reggae, Caribbean and Latin groovers, international brass bands, Mande music from West Africa (including two songs from Tiken Jah Fakoly's new unplugged album Acoustic), new sounds from East and North Africa, and Afrobeat lined up for your listening pleasure.

Charts February 12-18, 2024

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 AFRIKA MUYE MUYE! TANZANIAN RUMBA AND MUZIKI WA DANSI 1968-1970 | various artists | Recordiana

2 OTAVA YO | Loud And Clear | ARC

3 NATHALIE JOACHIM | Ki Moun Ou Ye | Nonesuch

4 FRANCK BIYONG | "Oladipo" (feat. Chief Udoh Essiet & Tony Allen) [Single] | Afrolectric

5 NEWEN AFROBEAT | "Es La Vida" [Single] | Lichens Family

6 MAMA SISSOKO | Live | Mieruba

7 WAGADU GROOVES: THE HYPNOTIC SOUND OF CAMARA 1987-2016 | various artists | Hot Mule

8 ORGONE | Chimera | 3 Palm

9 DIEUF-DIEUL DE THIES | Dieuf-Dieul De Thies | Buda

10 SUPER BITON DE SEGOU | Afro Jazz Folk Collection Vol. 2 | Mieruba

Platinum anniversary

Believe it or not, this week marks the 20th anniversary of the first episode of Global A Go-Go.  This radio show started on February 23, 2004 on WRIR's webstream, almost a year before we began broadcasting on 97.3 FM, and it's the longest running program on our station.

 

I wish I had a recording of that first show, but I first started archiving Global A Go-Go about six months later: radio4all.net/series/Global%20A%20Go-Go?page=30

 

I do have a copy of the first tracklist, though.  We couldn't add our playlists on the WRIR website yet, so the DJs were instructed to post them on LiveJournal (remember them, the Russian-owned competitor to Facebook?).  Somehow my account is still up there: global-a-go-go.livejournal.com/?skip=35

 

To mark the anniversary, I've gone back to that tracklist and selected a few songs to play once again.  Fortunately they're still good!  Of course, I have some new stuff for you as well (Franck Biyong from Cameroon, Chile's Newen Afrobeat and Russian folk-rockers Otava Yo), plus a listener request for Hugh Masekela.

And I'm giving away a pair of tickets to see a band that I played quite a bit back in 2004: the great Celtic punk band Flogging Molly, who will be at the National on Wednesday February 21.  So tune in, enjoy the reminiscences, and win tickets!

Charts February 5-11, 2024

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 LAGOS THUGS | Chaos | Immensum

2 MAMA SISSOKO | Live | Mieruba

3 WAGADU GROOVES: THE HYPNOTIC SOUND OF CAMARA 1987-2016 | various artists | Hot Mule

4 SAHRA HALGAN | "Sharaf" [Single] | Danaya

5 JEMBAA GROOVE | "Dabia" [Single] | Agogo

6 GHETTO BROTHERS | Power-Fuerza | Vampisoul

7 EXTRA MUSICA NOUVEL HORIZON | Conduite A Tenir | Universal Africa

8 AFCON 2023 | various artists [EP] | CAF

9 AZUKA MOWETA AND HIS ANIOMA BROTHERS BAND | Nwanne Bu Ife | Odogwu Entertainment/Palenque

10 DIEPKLOOF UNITED VOICES | Harmonizing Soweto: Golden City Gospel & Kasi Soul | Ostinato

Let it be known

An internet image search for "Lagos thugs" will bring up dozens of press photos of young Nigerian men carrying improvised weapons in the streets of West Africa's largest city, above stories decrying their uncivilized behavior.  No matter whether they're looting or protesting police violence, it seems like they're all called Lagos thugs.

 

A young Afrobeat ensemble has co-opted this dismissive pejorative for their band name.  It's their way of tweaking the powers that be: The real thugs in business suits and uniforms, Nigeria's ruling elite who in the last six decades have managed to turn their country into Africa's wealthiest failed state.

 

On their debut album, Chaos, Lagos Thugs are made as hell and they're not going to take it anymore, just like their forefather Fela Kuti.  You'll hear both the Thugs and Fela this week on an all-African episode of Global A Go-Go (Sunday February 11, 1:00-3:00 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), along with new music from Sahra Halgan (Somaliland), Jembaa Groove (Ghana via Germany), Mama Sissoko (Mali) and much more.

Charts Jan 22 - Feb 4, 2024

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 WAGADU GROOVES: THE HYPNOTIC SOUND OF CAMARA 1987-2016 | various artists | Hot Mule

2 LONDON AFROBEAT COLLECTIVE | "Freedom" [Single] | Canopy

3 MAMA SISSOKO | Live | Mieruba

4 IBIBIO SOUND MACHINE | "Got To Be Who U Are" [Single] | Merge

5 LAGOS THUGS | Chaos | self-released

6 CHERRY BANDORA | Back To The Taverna | Rebel Up/Rumi Sounds

7 ANA TIJOUX | Vida | Victoria Producciones

8 GHETTO BROTHERS | Power - Fuerza | Vampisoul

9 MOHAMED ERREBBAA AND TAGNA GROOVE | Hali | self-released

10 TP ORCHESTRE POLY-RYTHMO | Le Sato 2 | Albarika Store

Orgasmatron

Richmond loves throat singing.  I know this to be true because there's usually a throat singing band at the Folk Festival, and they're always the band everybody is talking about during and after the Festival.

 

Well, throat singers aren't just for the Folk Festival.  The Alash Ensemble (Richmond Folk Festival class of 2013), from the Republic of Tuva in Russia, will be back here on Monday February 12 performing live at In Your Ear Studios (more info here: jaminc.org/the-other-worldly-sounds-of-alash-the-tuvan-throat-singers).  You'll hear Alash's music this week on Global A Go-Go along with some other like-minded polyphonic singers.  And one of you will win a pair of tickets to the Alash show that I'll be giving away during this week's program.

 

(What's throat singing, you might be asking?  It's the production of two or more notes in a single vocalization.  Probably the part of the world that's most famous for its throat singing tradition is northeast Asia, specifically Mongolia, China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Russia's Republic of Tuva.  Canada's Inuits, Japan's Ainu, Buddhist monks in Tibet and India, and Sardinians also practice throat singing.  And Popeye the Sailor Man's speaking and singing voice is produced with throat singing techniques.)

Also this week (Sunday February 4, 1:00-3:00 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): New Anatolian rock from Berlin's Cherry Bandora, the latest from the beyond-category Hazmat Modine, and a very funky second hour featuring new music by London Afrobeat Collective and great new reissues of Benin's Orchestre Poly-Rythmo and the South Bronx's Ghetto Brothers.

Charts January 8-21, 2024

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 SOFIA KOURTESIS | Madres | Ninja Tune

2 ADAMA YALOMBA | Tanou | Remote/Studio Mali

3 MITO Y COMADRE | Guajirando | ZZK

4 EL BUHO | Ton Ton [EP] | Shika Shika

5 CHICAS! VOLUME 3 1963-1982 | various artists | Vampisoul

6 MAMA SISSOKO | Live | Mieruba

7 KOSMO SOUND | "Yomala (feat. Imane Geumssy)" [Single] | Zephyrus

8 MARVIN GAYE AND KIM WESTON | "It Takes Two (Boomrush Backup remix)" [Single] | Boomrush

9 FRANK LONDON'S KLEZMER BRASS ALLSTARS | Chronika | Borscht Beat

10 ANTONIO GAVRILA | Tango Suite Buenos Aires | Zoho

Tango can not exist without fantasy

Antonio Gavrila is a 27-year-old pianist from Romania who is obsessed with the music of Astor Piazzolla, the person who invented nuevo tango in the 1950s by bringing improvisation, counterpoint and dissonance to the Argentine tango tradition.  Gavrila went to Buenos Aires to record his first band album Tango Suite Buenos Aires with the members of Pablo Ziegler's combo; Ziegler was Piazzolla's long-time pianist.

 

You'll hear the spectacular results on this week's edition of Global A Go-Go, along with music by Piazzolla, Ziegler and Evan Lurie, the last of whom will be performing his nuevo tango compositions for the first time in 30 years at the Big Ears Festival this March.

 

Also this week (Sunday January 21, 1:00-3:00 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): A whole lot of new music, including gnawa-rock from Kosmo Sound and Shay Hazan, the Afro sounds of Newen Afrobeat, Oliver Nayoka, Afriquoi and Adama Yalomba, a reggae remix of Marvin Gaye, Locobeach's cumbia, Toco's samba-soul and the Balkan and klezmer brass of Džambo Aguševi and Frank London.