Charts July 22-28, 2024

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 SEUN KUTI AND EGYPT 80 | "T.O.P." [Single] | Record Kicks

2 GEORGE DEKKER | Right To Be Here | Blue Beat

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

4 AFLA SACKEY AND AFRIK BAWANTU | Destination | Wah Wah 45s

5 ETANA | Nectar Of The Gods | Freemind

6 LAIZ AND THE NEW LOVE EXPERIENCE | Carcaru [EP] | Besser-Samstag

7 HERETIER WATA | Chemin De La Gloire (Edition Deluxe) | Obouo Productions

8 ORQUESTA OLIVIERI | Orquesta Olivieri | Vampisoul

9 ANGELICA GARCIA | Gemelo | Partisan

10 YEISY ROJAS | A Mis Ancestros | self-released

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.