Boubacar Traore | Mbalimaou

ARTIST: Boubacar Traore
TITLE: Mbalimaou
LABEL: Lusafrica
Before Ali Farka Toure, Tinariwen and the desert blues explosion, there was Boubacar Traore. Arguably the original Malian bluesman, his unique fusion of American blues, North African and Mande music was popular at the end of the era of colonial occupation; his song “Kar Kar Madison” was virtually the soundtrack of Malian independence.

January 2015 Concert Calendar

January's Global A Go-Go picks:

1. The University of Richmond's Gamelan Raga Kusuma will perform a Balinese wayang kulit (shadow puppet play) with master puppeteer Gusti Sudarta at Balliceaux on Thursday January 8; they'll perform it again in DC at the Indonesian Embassy on Saturday January 10
2. The Spanish Harlem Orchestra, America's number one salsa repertory ensemble, visits the University of Richmond;s Alice Jepson Theatre on Thursday January 22, as part of the Modlin Center's performance series
3. Zap Mama and Antibalas (the latter is pictured above) are on tour together: they visit Richmond's Carpenter Theatre (in another Modlin Center event) on Wednesday January 28 and DC's Lisner Auditorium on Friday January 30
4. George Lowe (ex-Rattlemouth) premieres his new 7-piece Ethio-funk-jazz band Afro-Zen Allstars at Balliceaux on Thursday January 29

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 January calendar.

Charts January 4, 2015

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 BUDOS BAND | Burnt Offering | Daptone
2 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Feedback Madagascar | ARC
3 VARIOUS ARTISTS | 25 Years Of Mr Bongo | Mr Bongo
4 VARIOUS ARTISTS | The Afrosound Of Colombia, Vol. 2 | Vampisoul
5 HAILU MERGIA AND THE WALIAS | Tche Belew | Awesome Tapes From Africa
6 VERCKYS ET L'ORCHESTRE VEVE | Congolese Funk, Afrobeat And Psychedelic Rumba 1969-1978 | Analog Africa
7 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Golden Afrique, Vol. 1 | Network
8 ABELARDO BARROSO WITH ORQUESTA SENSACION | Cha Cha Cha | World Circuit
9 VARIOUS ARTISTS |  Peru Bravo: Funk, Soul & Psych From Peru's Radical Decade | Tiger's Milk
10 ALMA AFROBEAT ENSEMBLE | Life No Get Dublicate | Slow Walk Music

Program January 2, 2015: Best of the Rest of 2014

Global A Go-Go kicks off 2015 with one last look back at 2014.  This week, the focus is on individual songs: my favorite singles of the year, top tracks from albums that didn't quite make my best-of lists, and great songs hidden on otherwise forgettable long-players.

This annual "Best of the Rest" show invariably turns out to have just as much great music as the two program ("Best New Releases" and "Best Reissues/Compliations") that precede it -- like it or not, we're living in a singles era again, so recapping my favorite albums of the year misses a lot of top-shelf material.  Check it out for yourself and see.

Program December 19, 2014: Top Ten Compilations of 2014

This week on Global A Go-Go, I'll run through my favorite compilations and reissues of 2014.  For ten years, this category has been a consistent source of great material for my radio program, and it remains the fastest and cheapest way to build a great music collection.

The boom in global cratedigging has led to a plethora of excellent compilations and reissues, and 2014 continued this trend.  Classic recordings from Turkey, southeast Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, Brazil, and all parts of Africa: all these and more are represented on my list, and on this week's show.  Tune in and find some new old music to love.

Click "Read more" to see my 2014 Top Ten (compilations and reissues division).

Program December 12, 2014: Top Ten New Releases of 2014

Just for the record, world music artists, promoters and labels sent 544 recordings to WRIR in the last year.  On my next two programs, I'll feature the top 7%: my 40 favorites amongst them.  (Oh, there are a few items in there that I bought on my own -- but as you can imagine, most of my new-music-listening time is dedicated to stuff that arrives at WRIR.)

This week, you'll hear tracks from my top ten new releases of 2014, plus as many honorable mentions as I can fit in.  Next week, it will be time for my favorite compilations, reissues and historic recordings of 2014.

And two weeks after that, on January 2, I'll wrap up my look at 2014 with the best of the rest: all the great stuff that didn't fit on the two previous programs.  I love doing these year-end wrap-ups -- it gets me in the mood for the new year and all the great new music that it's likely to include.  Happy listening!

Click "Read more" to see my 2014 Top Ten (new releases division).

Charts December 7, 2014

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 HAILU MERGIA AND THE WALIAS | Tche Belew | Awesome Tapes From Africa
2 VARIOUS ARTISTS | The Afrosound Of Colombia, Vol. 2 | Vampisoul
3 VERCKYS ET L'ORCHESTRE VEVE | Congolese Funk, Afrobeat And Psychedelic Rumba 1969-1978 | Analog Africa
4 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Feedback Madagascar | ARC
5 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Golden Afrique, Vol. 1 | Network
6 VARIOUS ARTISTS |Glitterbeat: Dubs And Versions I | Glitterbeat
7 ALMA AFROBEAT ENSEMBLE | Life No Get Dublicate | Slow Walk Music
8 TONY ALLEN | Film Of Life | Jazz Village
9 BUDOS BAND | Burnt Offering | Daptone
10 ORLANDO JULIUS AND THE HELIOCENTRICS | Jaiyede Afro | Strut

Program December 5, 2014

This week's program starts with a tribute to Cayman Mooney (pictured above), who died on Monday.  Cayman was a former WRIR volunteer (co-host of The Odyssey Hours, part of WRIR's stable of amazing late-night shows), a hell of an accordion player (with My Son The Doctor, Richmanian Ramblers, busking on the street, or in any situation), a man equally passionate about Eastern European music and social justice.

I'll try to reflect all of those characteristics in a set of music that I think Cayman would have approved of, including several songs from his personal library and a never-before-heard performance of his own.  The world's a poorer place without you, my friend.

Also on this week's program: cumbia power, elegancia tropical; sounds from the Sahara and Ethiopia; and soukous lives.

December 2014 Concert Calendar

December's Global A Go-Go picks:

1. Mexico's tribal sound (aka the music behind the pointy boots craze) comes to DC -- 3bal MTY visits the Fillmore in Silver Spring on Thursday December 11
2. Fulton's own Corey Harris has a rare hometown show at the Camel on Friday December 12 with his band the Rasta Blues Experience, Mighty Joshua and Lost Dreads
3. Gogol Bordello (Eugene Hutz's guitar pictured above) returns to DC to rock the 9:30 Club on Saturday December 27 and Sunday December 28

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 December calendar.

Charts November 30, 2014

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Feedback Madagascar | ARC
2 PERUQUOIS | The Original Essence | self-released
3 HAILU MERGIA & THE WALIAS | Tche Belew | Awesome Tapes From Africa
4 VERCKYS & L'ORCHESTRE VEVE | Congolese Funk, Afrobeat & Psychedelic Rumba 1969-1978 | Analog Africa
5 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Golden Afrique, Vol. 1 | Network
6 DONA ONETE | Feitico Cabloco | Mais Um Discos
7 MESTRE CUPIJO E SEU RITMO | Siria | Analog Africa
8 MARIACHI EL BRONX | III | ATO
9 ANTIBALAS | "Tattletale" [Single] | Daptone
10 BIO RITMO | Puerta Del Sur | Vampisoul

The Afrosound Of Colombia, Vol. 2

ARTIST: various artists
TITLE: The Afrosound Of Colombia, Vol. 2
LABEL: Vampisoul
DJ Bongohead, aka Pablo Yglesias, your go-to guy for all sounds Latin, has curated a gem in this collection of dusties from the archives of Discos Fuentes, Colombia’s largest record label.

Hailu Mergia & The Walias | Tche Belew

ARTIST: Hailu Mergia & The Walias
TITLE: Tche Belew
LABEL: Awesome Tapes From Africa
Here’s a classic recording from 1977, the very end of Ethiopia’s golden age. Hailu Mergia is a keyboard player, arranger and bandleader working in a similar Ethio-jazz mode as the better known Mulatu Astatke – the music is simultaneously thoroughly Ethiopian (those pentatonic modes) and also heavily influenced by the soul jazz and spiritual jazz of the 60’s and 70’s.

Verckys & L'Orchestre Veve | Congolese Funk, Afrobeat & Psychedelic Rumba 1969-1978

ARTIST: Verckys & L’Orchestre Veve
TITLE: Congolese Funk, Afrobeat & Psychedelic Rumba 1969-1978
LABEL: Analog Africa
In the 1970s, Congolese music was in transition from one golden age to another, already gearing up for yet another and another.

Charts November 23, 2014

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 VARIOUS ARTISTS | 25 Years Of Mr Bongo | Mr Bongo
2 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Feedback Madagascar | ARC
3 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Golden Afrique, Volume 1 | Network
4 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Glitterbeat: Dubs & Versions I | Glitterbeat
5 ALMA AFROBEAT ENSEMBLE | Life No Get Dublicate | Slow Walk Music
6 DJESSOU MORY KANTE | River Strings: Maninka Guitar | Sterns
7 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Peru Bravo: Funk, Soul & Psych From Peru's Radical Decade | Tiger's Milk
8 TONY ALLEN | Film Of Life | Jazz Village
9 BUDOS BAND | Burnt Offering | Daptone
10 LES AMBASSADEURS | Les Ambassadeurs Du Motel De Bamako | Sterns

Feedback Madagascar

ARTIST: various artists
TITLE: Feedback Madagascar
LABEL: ARC
Madagascar was the subject of several excellent world music releases back in the 80s and 90s. More recently the outside world has heard little from the island nation, which has been wracked by political crises and economic stagnation, so this new compilation is a welcome addition to the all-too-small Malagasy catalog.