Golden Afrique, Vol. 1

ARTIST: various artists
TITLE: Golden Afrique, Vol. 1
LABEL: Network
What a pleasant surprise: the reissue of one of my favorite African music compilations of all time.

Program November 21, 2014

Global A Go-Go visits southern Africa this week with a set of music from South Africa (naturally), Zimbabwe, and Madagascar (that's Malagasy singer Jean Emilien pictured above).

Also this week: the Senegalese tinge, Afrobeat meets rap, and the glorious global sound of brass-rock circa 1972.

Charts November 16, 2014

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Peru Bravo: Funk, Soul & Psych From Peru's Radical Decade | Tiger's Milk
2 SLAVIC SOUL PARTY | Five Albums | self-released
3 VARIOUS ARTISTS | 25 Years Of Mr Bongo | Mr Bongo
4 DJESSOU MORY KANTE | River Strings: Maninka Guitar | Sterns
5 ANTONIO CASTRIGNANO | Fomenta: Ilenu De Taranta | Ponderosa Music & Art
6 BUDOS BAND | Burnt Offering | Daptone
7 ORLANDO JULIUS WITH THE HELIOCENTRICS | Jaiyede Afro | Strut
8 TINARIWEN | Amassakoul | Modern Classics
9 LES AMBASSADEURS | Les Ambassadeurs Du Motel De Bamako | Sterns
10 JUNGLE FIRE | Tropicoso | Nacional

Program November 14, 2014

That arrow above is pointing to the frog's external hearing structure or tympanum.  My guest co-host this week is Jacobi (J.R.) Harris, who hosts one of WRIR's newest music programs, Tympanum Effect, every Thursday morning (or Wednesday night, if you prefer) at 3 AM.

If you haven't heard Tympanum Effect yet, I recommend that you check it out via broadcast or by using WRIR's new listening portal at wrir.org/tunein.  And if you'd like a taste of what J.R. brings to the airwaves, tune in this week to hear his take on "music from around the world in the universal language of groove."

I'll spin a few this week too: Ukrainian "ethno-chaos" by DakhaBrakha (who are performing in Richmond on Sunday), new Italian folk by Antonio Castrignano, golden age Malian Afropop by Les Ambassadeurs, and more.

Charts November 9, 2014

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 VARIOUS ARTISTS | 25 Years Of Mr Bongo | Mr Bongo
2 ALMA AFROBEAT ENSEMBLE | Life No Get Dublicate | Slow Walk Music
3 TONY ALLEN | Film Of Life | Jazz Village
4 KHUN NARIN | Khun Narin's Electric Phin Band | Innovative Leisure
5 VARIOUS ARTISTS | The Craig Charles Funk & Soul Revue, Vol. 3 | Freestyle
6 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Glitterbeat: Dubs & Versions I | Glitterbeat
7 DJESSOU MORY KANTE | River Strings: Maninka Guitar | Sterns
8 BUDOS BAND | Burnt Offering | Daptone
9 KIRAN AHLUWALIA | Sanata : Stillness | Magenta
10 ARUN RAMAMURTHY TRIO | Jazz Carnatica | self-released

25 Years Of Mr Bongo

ARTIST: various artists
TITLE: 25 Years Of Mr Bongo
LABEL: Mr Bongo
Mr Bongo got started as a London record shop in 1989, focusing on indie hip hop, Brazilian and Latin music. They soon started their own record label so they could reissue deserving out-of-print material and release original material by related artists.

Alma Afrobeat Ensemble | Life No Get Dublicate

ARTIST: Alma Afrobeat Ensemble
TITLE: Life No Get Dublicate
LABEL: Slow Walk Music
This is the second studio album by this Barcelona-based, highly international (members hail from four different continents) combo that was originally founded by guitarist Aaron Feder in the USA, his home country.

Glitterbeat: Dubs & Versions I

ARTIST: various artists
TITLE: Glitterbeat: Dubs & Versions I
LABEL: Glitterbeat
Glitterbeat Records, WOMEX’s 2014 Label Award winner, is primarily focused on North and West African music, especially contemporary music from Mali. For its first various-artists compilation, the label invited some of their favorite remixers to take swings at deep cuts from the catalog.

Program November 7, 2014

Alma Afrobeat Ensemble (pictured above) is a band that got started in Chicago, is now based in Barcelona, and is the only Afrobeat band I know that has a bassoon player.  You'll hear a track from their excellent new album on this week's edition of Global A Go-Go.

Also this week: more Asian psychedelia; deep, dubby blues from Mississippi to the Sahara; and Indian music meets jazz.

November 2014 Concert Calendar

November's Global A Go-Go picks:

1. Yeni Nostalji, who wowed the Global A Go-Go audience with their in-studio performance on October 24, have two dates in November: Sunday November 2 at Balliceaux and Sunday November 23 at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, both times with Miramar sharing the bill
2. The Budos Band (pictured above), Staten Island's best Afrobeat band and so much more, visits DC's 9:30 Club in support of their new album Burnt Offering on Friday November 7
3. Ukrainian "ethno-chaos" (their description, not mine) combo DakhaBrakha makes their first trip to the USA, including a stop at Richmond CenterStage's Gottwald Playhouse on Sunday November 16, part of the Modlin Center's current season
4. Brazilian legend Milton Nascimento plays at George Washington University's Lisner Auditorium on Thursday November 20

Have an event you'd like me to include, or a suggestion for the concert calendar?  Just drop me a line at globalagogoradio [at] gmail [dot] com, or leave me a message right here.

Click "Read more" to see the entire November calendar.

Charts November 2, 2014

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 BUDOS BAND | Burnt Offering | Daptone
2 ABELARDO BARROSO WITH ORQUESTA SENSACION | Cha Cha Cha | World Circuit
3 BANG DATA | Mucho Poco | Futuro Sonico-Rockolito Music
4 HOLLIE COOK | Twice | Mr Bongo
5 DJESSOU MORY KANTE | River Strings: Maninka Guitar | Sterns
6 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Funk, Soul & Psych From Peru's Radical Decade | Tiger's Milk
7 TONY ALLEN | Film Of Life | Jazz Village
8 OSAKA MONAURAIL | Riptide | Shout!
9 BOMBAY ROYALE | The Island Of Dr. Electrico | Hope Street
10 KHUN NARIN | Khun Narin's Electric Phin Band | Innovative Leisure

Program October 31, 2014

Here at Global A Go-Go we can't let Halloween pass without a bite at the apple -- no razor blades please.

So this week you'll hear a supernatural Child ballad from Scotland, some Caribbean songs about duppies and jumbies (ghosts to you), music influenced by Santeria and vodoun (two religions where the dead remain among us), and a track by Ghana's Ebo Taylor that's one of the most chilling I know.

Plus plenty of what makes Global A Go-Go tick every week, including new music from Kevin Kinsella, Bang Data and Djessou Mory Kante, and an amazing 1955 reissue of the Caruso of Cuba, Abelardo Barroso.

Program October 17, 2014

WRIR's Fall '14 Fund Drive gets underway today at 5:00 PM on Global A Go-Go.  The Richmond Indigenous Gourd Orchestra, the only band I know that grows and builds its own musical instruments, will perform on-air in our Live Room.  This event kicks off 12 days of some of the best radio you'll ever hear, including 26 live performances from our studios.

You can hear the kickoff event on the radio at 97.3 FM in the Richmond area, or you can listen anywhere in the world that has an internet connection by browsing over to:

http://wrir.org/tunein

Our fund drive runs through October 28.  If you'd like to make a donation to support this remarkable project, you can do so by calling 804-622-9747, by visiting us in person at 1621-B West Broad Street, or via our secure online donation site at:

bitly.com/Donate2Wrir

Thank you for your support in the past, and thank you for considering making a donation during the Fall 2014 Fund Drive!

Follow me below the fold, if you'd like, for more motivation ....

Bang Data | Mucho Poco

ARTIST: Bang Data
TITLE: Mucho Poco
LABEL: Futuro Sonico / Rockolito Music
Bang Data is an Oakland-based urban-Latin combo led by singer-rapper Deuce Eclipse and drummer-producer Juan Manuel Caipo. Their 2012 debut La Sopa had some fine moments and they’ve topped them on this sophomore effort, which is strong from beginning to end.

Abelardo Barroso With Orquesta Sensacion | Cha Cha Cha

ARTIST: Abelardo Barroso With Orquesta Sensacion
TITLE: Cha Cha Cha
LABEL: World Circuit
Cha cha cha was the musical sensation of Cuba during the revolutionary era, from the mid-50s until 1959. Rolando Valdes’ Orquesta Sensacion popularized that sound, and Abelardo Barroso, “el Caruso de Cuba,” was the voice of cha cha cha.