Konono No. 1 | Konono No. 1 Meets Batida

ARTIST: Konono No. 1
TITLE: Konono No. 1 Meets Batida
LABEL: Crammed Discs
Konono No. 1, founded in Kinshasa by the late Mingiedi Mawangu in 1966, is the most famous practitioner of the Congotronics sound. The band features two electric likembes (thumb pianos or mbiras) and percussion instruments made from junkyard salvage, played through a homemade PA system.

Program May 4, 2016

First of all, a big Global A Go-Go thank you to the more than 360 people who donated over $33,000 during WRIR's Spring 2016 fund drive -- you're the folks who make possible this remarkable experiment in community media access.  And an extra thank you to the 25 donors who named Global A Go-Go as one of their favorite programs -- I'm honored and flattered.

I've got a great new record here from Konono No. 1, the kings and queens of Congotronics, collaborating with Angolan-Portuguese producer Batida (pictured above).  You'll hear a track from it on this week's program, along with some of the other Congotronics stars.

Also this week: singer-songwriters from France, Mali and Brazil; the real mofos of Afro-Colombian champeta criolla; and what's new this spring in Saharan desert blues.

Charts May 1, 2016

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Tanbou Toujou Lou: Meringue, Kompa Kreyol, Vodou Jazz & Electric Folklore From Haiti 1960-1981 | Ostinato
2 GABRIELLA GHERMANDI | Ethiopia: Celebrating Emperor Tewodros II | ARC
3 DEBO BAND | Ere Gobez | FPE
4 LAKOU MIZIK | Wa Di Yo | Cumbancha Discovery
5 CALYPSO ROSE | "Abatina" [Single] | Because
6 KONONO NO. 1 | Meets Batida | Crammed
7 ALMA AFROBEAT ENSEMBLE | It's Time | Slow Walk Music
8 BOMBINO | Azel | Partisan
9 VARIOUS ARTISTS | The Rough Guide To South African Jazz (Second Edition) | World Music Network
10 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Czech Up! Vol. 1: Chain Of Fools | Vampisoul

Gabriella Ghermandi | Ethiopia: Celebrating Emperor Tewodros II

ARTIST: Gabriella Ghermandi
TITLE: Ethiopia: Celebrating Emperor Tewodros II
LABEL: ARC
Gabriella Ghermandi is an Italian-Ethiopian singer who’s probably better known as a fiction writer and a performer of oral narratives which frequently incorporate music. This is her first album, and it’s just stunning.

Tanbou Toujou Lou: Meringue, Kompa Kreyol, Vodou Jazz & Electric Folklore From Haiti 1960-1981

ARTIST: various artists
TITLE: Tanbou Toujou Lou: Meringue, Kompa Kreyol, Vodou Jazz & Electric Folklore From Haiti 1960-1981
LABEL: Ostinato
There’s an upswing of interest in vintage Haitian music these days, with crate-diggers unearthing material that rivals West Africa’s best, and old and new bands like RAM and Lakou Mizik introducing themselves to a world music audience.

Program April 27, 2016

After two weeks of live bands (thank you, Rumput & Friends and Lobo Marino) and fundraising (thanks as well to everyone who donated in WRIR's Spring 2016 fund drive), we're back to our usual format this week on Global A Go-Go.

I'm featuring a fabulous new compilation of Haitian music from the 60s, 70s and 80s called Tanbou Toujou Lou (that's a photo from the album's booket above) that will be released in June, in a set of music from Haiti and elsewhere in the Caribbean.

Also this week: a tribute to a great soulman who died unexpectedly this week (no, not the one you're thinking of), contemporary music from the Ethiopian diaspora, and the swank sounds of Brazilian samba-soul.

Charts April 24, 2016

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 YENI NOSTALJI | "Hem Bal Hem Aci" | demo
2 FELA RANSOME KUTI AND HIS KOOLA LOBITOS | Highlife-Jazz And Afro-Soul (1963-1969) | Knitting Factory
3 BAMBA WASSOULOU GROOVE | Farima | Label Bleu
4 FANFARE CIOCARLIA | Onwards To Mars! | Asphalt Tango
5 AZIZA BRAHIM | Abbar El Hamada | Glitterbeat
6 KARIKATURA | Speak Now | Ropeadope
7 ALMA AFROBEAT ENSEMBLE | It's Time | Slow Walk Music
8 SYSTEMA SOLAR | Systema Solar | Nacional
9 LOS TERRIFICOS | Go South: Vaya Pa'l Sur | Peace And Rhythm
10 LAKOU MIZIK | Wa Di Yo | Cumbancha Discovery

Program April 20, 2016

Richmond Independent Radio's Spring 2016 Fund Drive is underway; it continues through Tuesday April 26.  Our objective is to raise $35,000 in this spring's drive, which will keep WRIR doing everything it does for Richmond and our listener base, 24/7 for the next six months.

We'd appreciate your support in keeping community radio strong in Richmond -- WRIR is celebrating its eleventh anniversary this year, and you all know about eleven:
​

​You can make a donation in one of three ways:

1. By visiting our secure online donation site at http://bitly.com/Donate2Wrir
2. By calling 804-622-9747
3. Or by visiting us in person at 1621-B W. Broad Street (2nd floor)

As always, I have something special lined up for my listeners during the fund drive.  I'll be joined in WRIR's Studio C on Wednesday between 3 and 5 PM by Lobo Marino, the remarkable Richmond-based duo of Laney Sullivan and Jameson Price whose elegantly eerie chant-like voices soar over drone-vibing world-fused folk music built primarily on harmonium, bass drum and various other unique instruments.  Their music is unique, impossible to describe, and it makes you feel good all over.  If you haven't heard them yet, you're in for a treat.

And I have two special incentives to motivate you to donate.  In honor of 4/20, there will be a $420 challenge during Global A Go-Go -- the first $420 that's contributed during my program, starting on Wednesday at 3 PM, will be matched by a generous (and humorous) anonymous donor.

If that challenge is met, all contributors during my show at the $50 member level (or $10 per month level) or higher will be entered into a drawing for a free house concert by Lobo Marino.  That's right, Jameson and Laney will come to your home, anywhere in the state of Virginia, and play a private show for you and your friends.  Or how about for your yoga class?

Don't forget to tune in, on the airwaves at 97.3 FM or online at http://wrir.org/listen.  Thank you for your support in the past, and thank you for considering making a donation during WRIR's Spring 2016 Fund Drive!

Follow me below the fold, if you'd like, for a little more inspiration ...

Charts April 17, 2016

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 FELA RANSOME KUTI AND HIS KOOLA LOBITOS | Highlife-Jazz And Afro-Soul (1963-1969) |  Knitting Factory
2 SYSTEMA SOLAR | Systema Solar | Nacional
3 GEPE | Estilo Libre | Quemasucabeza
4 SIDESTEPPER | Supernatural Love | Real World
5 VARIOUS ARTISTS | The Rough Guide To South African Jazz (Second Edition) | World Music Network
6 AZIZA BRAHIM | Abbar El Hamada | Glitterbeat
7 MARTA REN AND THE GROOVELVETS | Stop Look Listen! | Record Kicks
8 BAMBA WASSOULOU GROOVE | Farima | Label Bleu
9 BOMBINO | Azel | Partisan
10 FANFARE CIOCARLIA | Onwards To Mars! | Asphalt Tango

Debo Band | Ere Gobez

ARTIST: Debo Band
TITLE: Ere Gobez
LABEL: FPE
The ten year old Boston-based Debo Band is back with their third recording of Ethiopian-influenced music, and they’re rocking harder than ever.

Karikatura | Speak Now

ARTIST: Karikatura
TITLE: Speak Now
LABEL: Ropeadope
Karikatura is a band that sounds like an amalgam of the music you’d hear if you spent a day walking around New York City neighborhoods: it’s Afrobeat, cumbia, klezmer, hip hop and more rolled up into one young, energetic, politically engaged quintet.

Fela Ransome Kuti & His Koola Lobitos | Highlife-Jazz & Afro-Soul (1963-69)

ARTIST: Fela Ransome Kuti & His Koola Lobitos
TITLE: Highlife-Jazz & Afro-Soul (1963-69)
LABEL: Knitting Factory
Before he was radicalized, converted to the church of James Brown and ended up inventing Afrobeat, Fela Kuti played jazz and highlife.

Program April 13, 2016

Photograph by Ash Daniel

Rumput (pictured above) & Friends will be my guests on Global A Go-Go this week -- they'll be performing live in WRIR's Studio C starting at about 4:00 PM on our live broadcast.

Orkes Kroncong Rumput is Richmond's first, only, and therefore best Indo-Appalachian string band.  They play a style of music called kroncong, the result of local traditions and aesthetics rubbing up against the activities of the countries that have exercised political and economic sway over Indonesia since the 16th century: Portugal, the Netherlands, China and Japan.  And as Virginians, they can't avoid being influenced by string band traditions that are all around us in the Appalachian and Piedmont regions.

Charts April 10, 2016

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 SYSTEMA SOLAR | Systema Solar | Nacional
2 BAMBA WASSOULOU GROOVE | Farima | Label Bleu
3 FANFARE CIOCARLIA | Onwards To Mars! | Asphalt Tango
4 ADNAN OTHMAN | Bershukor: A Retrospective Of Hits By A Malaysian Pop Yeh Yeh Legend | Sublime Frequencies
5 LOS TERRIFICOS | Go South: Vaya Pa'l Sur | Peace And Rhythm
6 DOS SANTOS ANTI-BEAT ORQUESTA | Dos Santos | Alebrije
7 LA MAMBANEGRA | La Galeria | self-released
8 KARIKATURA | Speak Now | Ropeadope
9 DEBO BAND | Ere Gobez | FPE
10 SIDESTEPPER | Supernatural Love | Real World

Alma Afrobeat Ensemble | It's Time

ARTIST: Alma Afrobeat Ensemble
TITLE: It’s Time
LABEL: Slow Walk Music
Guitarist Aaron Feder started Alma Afrobeat Ensemble in Chicago in 2003; he moved to Barcelona in 2006 and put together a new band there.