Global A Go-Go Classico: Ukraine with Vlad Cuiujuclu

I’m coming to you from my home studio since I’m currently laying low with a virus.  Rather than coming in to Studio A this week and infecting everyone in my path, I stayed home and dug into the vaults for a Classico edition of Global A Go-Go.

 

The last time I did a Classico program, it was a show I co-hosted with Vlad Cuiujuclu for the independence day of Moldova, the country where Vlad was born.  Today I’m presenting another one of Vlad’s co-productions, this one going back to August 29, 2014.

 

That was the month when Russia sent troops, tanks and artillery into eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region.  Arguably this was the precursor of Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022, a war that continues today.

 

And that’s the backdrop for the show Vlad and I did about the music of Ukraine, which is as timely now as it’s ever been.  I hope you enjoy this week (Sunday April 16, 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)’s presentation of Global A Go-Go.

Charts Mar 27 - Apr 9, 2023

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 ALTIN GUN | Ask | ATO

2 SON ROMPE PERA | Chimborazo | AYA

3 PLU CON PLA | Pura Actitud | self-released

4 FRUKO Y SUS TESOS | Fruko Power Vol. 1: Rarities & Deep Album Cuts 1970-1974 | Vampisoul

5 KALA JULA AND GANGBE BRASS BAND | Asro | Buda

6 REGGADICTION | Ganja Harvest | NuFunk

7 ELIO VILLAFRANCA | Standing By The Crossroads | ArtistShare

8 AHL NANA | L'Orchestre National Mauritanien | Radio Martiko

9 ELIDA ALMEIDA | Di Lonji | Lusafrica

10 MILPA | Soulaso | Tropicalifas

Calling England home

I don't follow poetry nearly as closely as I follow music, but I know enough to realize the T.S. Eliot Prize is a big deal.  It's given annually to the author of the best new poetry collection published in the UK or Ireland.  And this year it was awarded to Anthony Joseph, who you've heard on Global A Go-Go many times, for his collection Sonnets For Albert.

 

Joseph is a poet and novelist, lecturer in English at King's College London and a recording artist with ten albums to his name where his voice interacts with the melodies and rhythms of calypso, soca, jazz, Afrobeat and funk.  On this episode of Global A Go-Go you'll hear three selections from those albums, going back as far as 2011 and up to his most recent release, 2021's The Rich Are Only Defeated When Running For Their Lives.

Also this week (Sunday April 9, 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): Immy Owusu's "Afrodelik lo-fi highlife"; Benin's Gangbé Brass Band, the world's most valuable collaborators; the funky sounds of Somalia; what's new in reggae; and cumbia, gradually then suddenly.

Charts March 20-26, 2023

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 SOLOMANE DOUMBIA |  Segou To Lagos | Mieruba

2 SONA JOBARTEH | Badinyaa Kumoo | Africa Guild

3 MERIDIAN BROTHERS AND EL GRUPO RENACIMIENTO | Meridian Brothers And El Grupo Renacimiento | Ansonia

4 FRUKO Y SUS TESOS | Fruko Power Vol. 1: Rarities & Deep Album Cuts 1970-1974 | Vampisoul

5 DJ BLACK LOW | Impumelelo | Awesome Tapes From Africa

6 BALI GAMELAN SOUND | Gong Kebyar, Vol. 1 | self-released

7 DIANA BURCO | "Mal Amores" [Single] | Codiscos

8 MOREIRA CHONGUICA | Sounds Of Peace | Morestar Entertainment

9 MDOU MOCTAR | Niger EP Vol 2 | Matador

10 KALA JULA AND GANGBE BRASS BAND | Asro | Buda

Big Ears, Simon Emmerson

I'm making my first trip ever to the Big Ears Festival next weekend (Albert Green will sit in for me then) -- now I'm just trying to figure out how much left-of-center music I can cram into a four day visit.  They have an outstanding international lineup this year, and I'll preview that part of the festival this week on Global A Go-Go (Sunday March 26, 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).

 

Included will be a couple of tracks from Bogotá's Meridian Brothers, who will go directly from Big Ears to Richmond and perform Monday April 3 at Richmond Music Hall with Miramar opening (more info here: thebroadberry.com/event/meridian-brothers-miramar/richmond-music-hall/richmond-virginia).  I saw the Meridian Brothers in New York in January and they are a fabulous live act -- I don't know if I'll be back in time from Knoxville to catch this show, but you certainly should.

Also this week Global A Go-Go pays tribute to Simon Emmerson, the British musician, producer and pioneer of world music, who passed away on March 13 at age 67.  You'll hear from his Afro Celt Sound System and Imagined Village projects, plus one of his amazing productions for Malian singer Baaba Maal.

Charts March 13-19, 2023

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 OKWY OSADEBE AND HIGHLIFE SOUNDMAKERS INTERNATIONAL | Igbo Amaka | Odogwu Entertainment / Palenque

2 LES ABRANIS | Amazigh Freedom Rock 1973-1983 | Bongo Joe

3 BORGA REVOLUTION, VOLUME 2: GHANAIAN DANCE MUSIC IN THE DIGITAL AGE, 1983-1996 | various artists | Kalita

4 HELEN NKUME | And Her Young Timers Band | Dig This Way

5 SOLOMANE DOUMBIA | Segou To Lagos | Mieruba

6 CAPTAIN YOSSARIAN | "Zombie" [Single] | Echo Beach

7 MOKOOMBA | "Nzara Hapana" [Single] | Out Here

8 BASSIDI KONE | Kaira | Remote

9 SHIKAMOO JAZZ | East African Legends Live | RetroTan

10 IFTIN BAND | Mogadishu’s Finest / The Al-Aruba Sessions | Ostinato

Les jaloux saboteurs

It's highlife time once again on Global A Go-Go with a new album from Okwy Osadebe, son of one of the biggest stars of 1960s and 70s Nigerian Igbo highlife, plus a track from a new compilation of Burger-Highlife made by Germany's Ghanaian immigrants in the 80s and 90s.  And we'll expand from there into Cameroon and Chad, turning the whole second hour into a giant African guitar music dance party.

 

In this week (Sunday March 19, 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) 's first hour, you'll hear the pioneers of Berber rock, a new single from Zimbabwe's Mokoomba, a dub version of one of Fela Kuti's most famous songs, and of course much more.

Charts March 6-12, 2023

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 OF TROPIQUE | Buster Goes West | Electric Cowbell

2 SUSANA BACA | Confidencias | Pregon Producciones

3 MAALEM MAHMOUD GANIA | Colours Of The Night | Hive Mind

4 MONSTRUOS DEL MANANA | Espejos | self-released

5 HELEN NKUME | And Her Young Timers Band | Dig This Way

6 KIMI DJABATE | Dindin | Cumbancha

7 STAR FEMININE BAND | Star Feminine Band In Paris | Born Bad

8 MOONLIGHT BENJAMIN | Wayo | Ma Case

9 ALICE | L'Oiseau Magnifique | Bongo Joe

10 GOOD SAMARITANS, THE | No Food Without Taste If By Hunger | Analog Africa

Buster goes west

"World music" is a silly name for a genre.  To paraphrase Louis Armstrong, all music is world music -- I ain't never heard a Martian sing a song.  Anyway, it's not a genre at all, more like a point of view: That my culture isn't the sun around which everything else orbits.

 

Maybe my favorite definition of world music is this one from journalist and musician Ian A. Anderson: "Local music from somewhere else."  What does world music sound like from a Japanese perspective?  Global A Go-Go looks at that question on this episode through the eyes of three Japanese bands: Ajate, Minyo Crusaders and of Tropique (the latter is pictured above).

Also this week (Sunday March 12, 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): A repressing of the best gnawa album I've ever heard, the sci-fi psychedelia of Mexico City's Monstruos Del Mañana, the rediscovery of Helen Nkume, new Afropop from Kimi Djabaté and Black AD, and some post-Mas soca.

Charts Feb 27 - Mar 5, 2023

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 SON ROMPE PERA | Chimborazo | AYA

2 OGASSA | Ogassa Original (Vol. 1) | Acid Jazz

3 HELEN NKUME | And Her Young Timers Band | Dig This Way

4 EMMANUEL JAL | Shangah | Gatwitch

5 KALA JULA AND GANGBE BRASS BAND | Asro | Buda

6 KING AYISOBA | Work Hard | Glitterbeat

7 REGGADICTION | Ganja Harvest | NuFunk

8 DUR-DUR BAND INT | The Berlin Session | Out Here

9 JEMBAA GROOVE | "Sweet My Ear" [Single] | Agogo

10 DAVID WALTERS | Soul Tropical | Six Degrees

Cumbia is the new punk

I've seen Son Rompe Pera perform four times in the last year, and I'm here to tell you they're one of the most compelling live acts right now in any genre.  If you saw them at the Richmond Folk Festival last year, you know what I'm talking about.

 

Their second album Chimborazo (presumably named for the mountain in Ecuador not the hill in Richmond, although it's a nice thought) will be released on March 10.  It really captures what the band sounds like right now, although nothing can prepare you for seeing their mosh-pit marimba madness in person.  You'll hear two songs from Chimborazo on this week's edition of Global A Go-Go alongside other like-minded disruptors of cumbia orthodoxy.

Also this week (Sunday March 5, 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): reggae versions of the great American (and Canadian) singer-songwriters, Manu Chao's mestizo sound meets Cabo Verdean funaná, West African psychedelia, Colombia takes on Cuban songo and timba, and a little African dance party.

Charts February 20-26, 2023

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 KALA JULA AND GANGBE BRASS BAND |  Asro | Buda

2 SOLOMANE DOUMBIA | Segou To Lagos | Mieruba

3 FENDIKA AND K-SANCHIS | Gojo | 121234

4 PALENQUE RECORDS BEST OF PART 2: DESDE COLOMBIA HASTA NIGERIA - VIAJES TRANSATLANTICOS | various artists | Palenque

5 KING AYISOBA | Work Hard | Glitterbeat

6 POLOBI AND THE GWO KA MASTERS | Abri Cyclonique | Real World

7 MOUSSA TCHINGOU | Tamiditime [EP] | Sahel Sounds

8 SUNBORN | "Dancing In The Dusk" b/w "Mankind?" & "Night Sweats" [Single] | Tramp

9 ORCHESTRA GOLD | Medicine | self-released

10 MOONLIGHT BENJAMIN | Wayo | Ma Case

The Platonic ideal of a West African garage band

Here's a news flash: one of Africa's best (IMHO) bands is coming to Richmond this spring, and they'll be playing in a small club, probably their ideal venue.  The band is Baba Commandant & The Mandingo Band from Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso.  The place is the Get Tight Lounge, and the date is Wednesday May 24.  You might want to put that date on your calendar, just sayin' ....

 

Baba plays the traditional donso ngoni and sings like the brother of Howlin' Wolf or Captain Beefheart, guitarist Issouf Diabaté sounds like Mark Ribot meets Zani Diabaté, and the funky rhythm section propels the whole thing inexorably forward.  To me, they're the Platonic ideal of a West African garage band.

You'll hear one of my favorite Baba Commandant tracks this week (Sunday February 26, 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) on an all-Afro edition of Global A Go-Go along with new music from Niger's Moussa Tchingou, Fendika & K-Sanchis from Ethiopia and the Netherlands, Oakland's Orchestra Gold, Solomane Doumbia from Mali, Danish band Sunbörn and the team of Kala Jula & Gangbé Brass Band from Mali and Benin, plus much more.

Charts February 13-19, 2023

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 WHO WANTS SOME? | various artists | Gorgon

2 SOLOMANE DOUMBIA | Segou To Lagos | Mieruba

3 DUR-DUR BAND INT | The Berlin Session | Out Here

4 AYIZAN | Dilijans | Comet

5 JEMBAA GROOVE | "Sweet My Ear" [Single] | Agogo

6 LA BOA | La Bestia [EP] | Mambo Negro

7 KIMI DJABATE | Dindin | Cumbancha

8 TP ORCHESTRE POLY-RYTHMO | Singles & EPs | Acid Jazz

9 MA STUDIO | Futuro Niche | Discos Pacifico

10 GRUPO KUAL | Konexiones | Discos Rolas

A Haitian version of Bitches Brew

"Dark, mystical, lyrical and abstract, with its otherworldly shifting rhythms, Dilijans came off like a Haitian version of Bitches Brew."  That's how journalist Uchenna Ikonne describes the one and only album by Ayizan, a Haitian-American band led by Alix "Tit" Pascal.

 

And that's no hype -- Dilijans, which has just been reissued by the French Comet label, is a remarkable listen, and you'll hear a track from it this week (Sunday February 19, 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) on Global A Go-Go's first hour alongside other mind-expanding sounds from the French Caribbean and West Africa.

In the second hour, we'll get into some Jamaican sounds circa 1968-70, when rocksteady was giving way to reggae and England's skinheads and suedes were turning on to it, followed by some more new cumbia from Colombia and México, and finishing with the funky sounds of Somalia including the first new studio album of this music since the golden days of Mogadishu more than 30 years ago.