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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.
Podcast: radio4all.net/program/117651
All the podcasts: radio4all.net/series/Global%20A%20Go-Go
Note: The recording of this show had a tech glitch so I've reconstructed the failed section, with the exception of a mic break between Mau Gatiyo and Amral's Trinidad Cavaliers, which apparently is gone for good
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
Miriam Makeba | South Africa | Nongqongqo (To Those We Love) | An Evening With Belafonte / Makeba | RCA Victor | 1965
Ladysmith Black Mambazo | South Africa | Halo My Baby | Ezinkulu | Ezom Dabu | 1979
The Joy | South Africa | You Complete Me | You Complete Me - Single | Transgressive | 2024
Diepkloof United Voice | South Africa | My Brother | Hamonizing Soweto: Golden City Gospel & Kasi Soul From The New South Africa | Ostinato | 2023
Sahra Halgan | Somaliland-France | Hooyalay | Hiddo Dhawr | Danaya | 2024
Sahra Halgan | Somaliland-France | Som Hanyari | Hiddo Dhawr | Danaya | 2024
Sahra Halgan | Somaliland-France | Diiyoohidii | Hiddo Dhawr | Danaya | 2024
Groupe D'Animation Kakoula Djele De Bongoville | Gabon | Yaya Omar Bongo | Merci Yaya Bongo: Les Groupes D'Animation Féminins Du Gabon, 1982-1989 | Secousse | 2024-1986
Maître Gazonga, L'International Challal | Chad-Cote D'Ivoire | Les Jaloux Saboteurs | L'International Challal D'Hamed Gazonga | Tangent | 1983
LA LOM | USA | Llorar | Llorar - Single | self-released | 2024
Ry Cooder & Manuel Galban | USA-Cuba | Drume Negrita | Mambo Sinuendo | Nonesuch | 2002
Grupo Kual? | México | Kumbia En La Soledad (feat Aurelio Pedraza Y Su Acordeón Sabanero) | Konexiones | Discos Rolas | 2022
Mau Gatiyo Y Los Años Maravillosos | Colombia | Poder Militar | 420, Reloj / Poder Militar - Single | Names You Can Trust | 2024
Amral's Trinidad Cavaliers Steel Orchestra | Trinidad & Tobago | 90% Of Me Is You | Heat | Calypan | 1975
Oluko Imo | Trinidad & Tobago-Nigeria-USA | One Afrika | Glory Of Om | Soundway | 2024-1995
Newen Afrobeat | Chile-Nigeria | Mare Mare (feat. Dele Sosimi) | Grietas EP | Lichens Family | 2024
Dynamq | South Sudan-USA | Khamsa Degiga | Khamsa Degiga - Single | River Nile Entertainment | 2024
Emmanuel Jal | South Sudan-Canada | Rakaboom | Shangah | Gatwitch | 2022
Comrade Fatso & Chabvondoka | Zimbabwe | Korokoza (feat. Outspoken & Lassana Diabaté) | Korokoza - Single | Nomadic Wax | 2011
K'naan | Somalia-Canada-USA | ABCs (feat. Chubb Rock) | Troubadour | A&M Octone | 2009
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