To sing is to listen

My favorite weekend of the year, the one that includes the Richmond Folk Festival, is coming up shortly: It's Friday October 10th through Sunday October 12th.  And that means it's also time for Global A Go-Go's annual Folk Festival preview show, where I fill you in on the international artists I'm excited about seeing there.

 

This year that list starts with Ustad Naseeruddin Saami & the Saami Brothers from Karachi, Pakistan.  The Saamis are probably the very last singers in the world of the 49-note surti microtonal octave scale (FYI, conventional Western notation has 12 tones per octave), which they employ in the performance of qawwali music and its predecessor, khayal.  They'll presents programs of both styles of music at the Folk Festival.

 

I'm also stoked to see one of my favorite reggae singers active today, Meta Dia, originally from Senegal and now living in New York City, with his band the Cornerstones.  And one of the most interesting new African acts anywhere, Dogo du Togo & the Alagaa Beat Band, led by Serge Massama Dogo, who lived for 20 years in Washington DC but is now based back in his hometown of Lomé, Togo.

 

Also on the Folk Festival schedule and on this week's program (Sunday October 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): Richard Hagopian, America's foremost oud player, who will be accompanied at the Festival by two additional generations of his family; Raiatea Helm who will introduce you to Hawaiian leo ki'eki'e (falsetto singing); Villa 5, a young all-siblings música norteña band from southern California; and Son Qba, Cuban son specialists from Miami.

Charts September 22-28, 2025

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 MEKLIT | A Piece Of Infinity | Smithsonian Folkways

2 BONGO DISTRICT | Motelito Flores [EP] | 90DB

3 COCHEMEA | Vol. III: Ancestros Futuros | Daptone

4 MULATU ASTATKE | Mulatu Plays Mulatu | Strut

5 IBIBIO SOUND MACHINE | Anyone Like You [EP] | Merge

6 UMUT ADAN AND ZEBANIS | "Bogota" [Single] | Six Degrees

7 ME AND MY FRIENDS | "Tell Me" [Single] | Split Shift

8 ANTIBALAS | "La Ceiba" [Single] | Daptone

9 AFRICAN STEEL | various artists  | Olvido

10 AMADOU AND MARIAM | "Sonfo" feat. Fally Ipupa [Single] | Because

Bongo bong

The folks at Secret Planet Richmond are back with two more live shows at the beginning of October.  First of all, Yeison Landero y su Conjunto return to Richmond from Colombia for the third time this year.  If you're a Global A Go-Go listener and you haven't seen them yet, I'm not sure what you're waiting for, because this is as good as cumbia gets.  And if you know you know, in which case you'll probably be back for more.  That's happening at Révéler Experiences on Wednesday October 1.

 

Then on Thursday October 9, Secret Planet Richmond presents Bongo District, also at Révéler.  They're a band of immigrants based in the District of Columbia who call their sound ritmos nómadas: It's cumbia, reggae, funk, rock, ska and more.  If that sounds a little like Manu Chao, you're in the right neighborhood.  You'll hear the music of Bongo District and Yeison Landero on this week's edition of Global A Go-Go.

 

Also this week (Sunday September 28, 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): More twangy South and East African guitar music off of 78 rpm discs, courtesy of three new compilations; brassy Colombian sounds from Bandejas Espaciales and Colectro; new Anatolian rock from Umut Adan & Zebânis; the return of America's finest Afrobeat band, Antibalas; and England's surprisingly funky Me and My Friends.

Charts September 15-21, 2025

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 ORCHESTRA GOLD | Dakan | self-released

2 BALIMAYA PROJECT MEETS DISCOS PACIFICO ALLSTARS | Calima | Jazz Re:freshed/Discos Pacifico

3 MULATU ASTATKE | Mulatu Plays Mulatu | Strut

4 OMARA PORTUANDO | Eternamente Omara | Warner Spain

5 ANTIBALAS | "La Ceiba" [Single] | Daptone

6 MEKLIT | "Abebayehosh" [Single] | Smithsonian Folkways

7 AL CAMPBELL | "Declaration Of Rights" [Single] | 17 North Parade

8 YALLA MIKU | "Alemuye" [Single] | Bongo Joe

9 LOS CALIGARIS | "Mi Vida Sin Tu Vida" [Single] | PopArtDiscos

10 PEKI MOMES | Peki Momés | Mocambo

A spell cast in rhythm & reverie

Orchestra Gold is an ensemble from Oakland that doesn't sound like any other American band.  They play a sludgy, heavy kind of psychedelic rock -- it's almost stoner metal.  They also have a full horn section.  And underlying all of it are the traditional melodies and rhythms of Mali's centuries-old Mandé culture.  Band leaders Mariam Diakité and Erich Huffaker met in Mali almost 20 years ago, and they've build this project patiently and organically since then.

 

That process has led to the album Dakan (Destiny), which will be released on October 2.   It's massive, noisy and abrasive, also beautiful and thrilling, and one of the best rock or African records I've heard in 2025.  I'll play you three songs from Dakan on this week's program so you can hear it for yourself.

 

Also this week (Sunday September 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): Sly & Robbie, the producers, including a previously unreleased digital roots single voiced by Al Campbell; a wonderful new collaboration between England's Balimaya Project and musicians from Colombia's Pacific region; Bio Ritmo, salsa celebrities in Colombia, play a hometown gig at Get Tight Lounge on Thursday September 25; and new Ethiopian sounds from Mulatu Astatke, Meklit, Yalla Miku, Trio Kazanchis + 1 and Trio Mokili.

Charts September 8-14, 2025

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 2015-2025: LES DISQUES BONGO JOE - 10 YEARS OF SONIC EXPLORATIONS | various artists | Bongo Joe

2 LOS ZHEROS | Psychedelic Cumbia Party | Vampisoul/Rey

3 BALIMAYA PROJECT MEETS DISCOS PACIFICO ALLSTARS | Calima | Jazz Re:freshed/Discos Pacifico

4 AMADOU AND MARIAM | "Sonfo" feat. Fally Ipupa [Single] | Because

5 EJE EJE | "Oyun Corbasi" [Single] | Batov

6 RANIL Y SU CONJUNTO TROPICAL | Sonido Amazonico | Vampisoul

7 QAP BAND AKA SWIN BATUKA | "La Picosa (Remix)" [Single] | Club Coco

8 TRIO TERNURA | "A Gira" [Single] | Vampisoul

9 STAR FEMININE BAND | Jusqu'au Bout du Monde | Born Bad

10 K FRIMPONG AND HIS CUBANO FIESTAS | Blue Album | Soundway

Our man in Iquitos

Iquitos, the capital of the Peruvian Amazon with half a million residents, is the largest city in the world that can't be reached by road.  It's been a hotbed of chicha and Peruvian cumbia since the 1960s, and on this week's edition of Global A Go-Go you'll hear four bands that originated in Iquitos, including Ranil y su Conjunto who are the subject of a new compilation album from Vampisoul Records.

 

Also this week (Sunday September 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): An all-South American first hour with Brazilian samba-soul including a newly reissued single of Trio Ternura, and Colombian champeta highlighted by a deeply-dug 1992 track by Q.A.P. Band; more music from the Anatolian rock revival like the new single from Eje Eje; the latest in Afropop by Habib Koité's Mandé Sila, Amadou & Mariam and Star Feminine Band; and some Afrobeat to close out the show, including a new cover of Fela Kuti's "Zombie" by Kotoa, an Afrobeat-dub band from South London.

Charts September 1-7, 2025

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 GOOD ONES, THE | Rwanda Sings with Strings | Glitterbeat

2 2015-2025: LES DISQUES BONGO JOE - 10 YEARS OF SONIC EXPLORATIONS | various artists | Bongo Joe

3 MULATU ASTATKE | Mulatu Plays Mulatu | Strut

4 SCIENTIST AND DUBITERIAN FEAT. JOSEPH COTTON | Signed and Sealed | Scientist

5 JUNIOR MURVIN | Cool Down the Heat | Greensleeves/Jammy's

6 T.P. ORCHESTRE POLY RYTHMO DE COTONOU | Trop Parler C'est Maladie | Acid Jazz

7 ABIJAH STONE | Ashes in the Offering | From Babylon to Zion

8 MUSIC FOR A REVOLUTION, VOL. 1: GUINEA'S SYLIPHONE RECORDING LABEL (1967-1973) | various artists | Radio Martiko

9 MADALITSO BAND | Ma Gitala | Bongo Joe

10 GRUPO PILON | Nu Sta Li | El Palmas

¡Sonido Amazonico!

I've got a special Global A Go-Go event coming up this weekend.  It starts on the radio on the afternoon of Sunday September 7, and continues that evening at Révéler Experiences.  Olivier Conan, the founder and leader of the band Chicha Libre, will take over Global A Go-Go this week (Sunday September 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).

 

Olivier has selected a whole show's worth of music to spin, and he and I will talk about the band, their influences, how they've gotten to where they are and where they're going from here, and a whole lot more.  Other Chicha Libre members might join us in the studio for this live on-air event.  Now, the band is on the road right now, so arrival times are always subject to change.  If Olivier isn't in Richmond by 1:00, you'll hear his musical selections and my own commentary instead.

 

Then Chicha Libre will perform at Révéler (3108 W. Cary Street in Carytown), where the doors will open at 6:00 PM and their first set starts at 7:00.  It's a unique opportunity to see this band not in a rock club but in an intimate (100 seats) cabaret setting that still has plenty of room for dancing.  Not surprisingly, this show is a production of Secret Planet Richmond.

 

Chicha Libre is the band that introduced the rest of the world to the marvels of Peru's psychedelic cumbia called chicha.  Founder Olivier Conan, a native of Paris, was turned on to this music by his travels in Peru, and came home to Brooklyn with the ideas of issuing the first ever international compilation album of the genre, and of creating a band to play the music.

 

Olivier was a veteran of several bands and already ran a wildly eclectic music venue in Park Slope called Barbès.  He started Barbès Records to release The Roots of Chicha in 2007, which is one of those albums that's so influential that it's now hard to imagine a time before it existed.  Chicha Libre's debut ¡Sonido Amazonico! followed the next year, then The Roots of Chicha 2 in 2010 and Chicha Libre's Canibalismo in 2012, which for my money is one the best albums of the 21st century so far.

 

Fast forward to today, where DJs all over the world are spinning vintage chicha in their tropical music sets, dozens of chicha revival bands are gigging and recording in the USA and Europe, and chicha original gangsters like Los Mirlos and Los Wembler's de Iquitos have reunited and played for adoring crowds at home and across the globe.  None of this would have happened without Olivier and Chicha Libre.

 

Chicha Libre went on hiatus in 2016, but last year they decided to get back together for some recording and touring.  They've been on the road quite a bit in 2025, including a stop at Richmond's Get Tight Lounge in July.  And now they're coming back to Richmond, the hometown of their keyboard player Joshua Camp, on their way home to Brooklyn after playing at the Hopscotch Music Festival in Raleigh.

 

Please join Olivier and me on the radio this Sunday between 1 and 3 PM, and catch Chicha Libre live at Révéler that evening, if you are so inclined.

Charts August 18-31, 2025

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 MAHOTELLA QUEENS | Buya Buya: Come Back | Umsakazo

2 GOOD ONES, THE | Rwanda Sings with Strings | Glitterbeat

3 ALICK NKHATA | Radio Lusaka | Mississippi

4 SKIP MARLEY | "In Our Sight" [Single] | Tuff Gong International/Def Jam

5 JAAKKO LAITINEN AND VAARA RAHA | "Lapis Philosophorum" [Single] | Playground

6 T.P. ORCHESTRE POLY RHYTMO DE COTONOU | Trop Parler C'est Maladie | Acid Jazz

7 GROUP INERANE | Marjahan Bianou | Sublime Frequencies

8 K. FRIMPONG AND HIS CUBANO FIESTAS | Blue Album | Soundway

9 PACHYMAN | Another Place | ATO

10 ZULU GUITAR BLUES: COWBOYS, TROUBADOURS AND JILTED LOVERS 1950-1965 | various artists | Matsuli

The indestructible beat of Mahotella Queens

Mahotella Queens, South Africa's greatest mbaqanga singing group, are now in their 60th year.  Led by Hilda Tloubatla, their last remaining original member, they've just released their first album, Buya Buya: Come Back, in almost 20 years, and it's a beaut.  You'll hear two songs from it this week on Global A Go-Go, plus a recording of the Queens from their first UK-USA tour in 1988-89, a tour that brought them to Richmond.

Also this week (Sunday August 31, 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): Acoustic music from southern Africa by the Good Ones, Alick Nkhata and Cowboy Sweethearts; a reissue of one of my favorite highlife recordings, the Blue Album of K. Frimpong & His Cubano Fiestas; a new version of the "Westbound Train" riddim by Skip Marley; Finland's Jaakko Laitinen & Väärä Raha go Anatolian rock; and the sizzling desert blues of Group Inerane, recorded live.

Charts August 11-17, 2025

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 TERROR/CACTUS | "La Pantera" [Single] | Names You Can Trust

2 SAHA GNAWA | "Baba Mimoun" [Single] | Pique-nique

3 ORCHESTRA GOLD | "Baye Ass N'Diaye" [Single] | self-released

4 OUSMANE KOUYATE | Ousmane Kouyate (Analog Africa Limited Dance Edition No. 18) | Analog Africa

5 MUSIC FOR A REVOLUTION, VOL. 1: GUINEA'S SYLIPHONE RECORDING LABEL (1967-1973) | various artists | Radio Martiko

6 ADRIAN QUESADA | Boleros Psicodélicos II | ATO

7 MINYO CRUSADERS | Tour of Japan | 180g

8 QUITAPENAS | ¡Retumba! [EP] | Nepantla

9 TRIO MOKILI | Trio Mokili | Nsango Nini

10 LA BANDA CHUSKA | Basic Bichos | self-released

Rebeldía y twist

Global A Go-Go welcomes Romperayo to Richmond -- they're playing at Révéler Experiences on Saturday August 23.  Here's how bandleader Pedro Ojeda describes them: "As if Colombian tropical music from decades past traveled to the city on an acid discharge."

 

Ojeda is no more than one degree of separation from every cool project that's coming out of Bogotá Colombia right now.  If you saw Frente Cumbiero in May, that was Ojeda behind the drum kit.  You can also find him there with Los Pirañas, his cooperative trio with Mario Galeano (who leads Frente Cumbiero) and Eblis Alvarez (who leads Meridian Brothers).

 

All of those other bands have toured the USA multiple times, and all but Los Pirañas have played here in Richmond.  But this is Romperayo's first American tour, and it is long overdue.  Check out a whole set of Romperayo music this week on Global A Go-Go, if you're thinking about checking them out at Révéler next weekend.

 

Also this week (Sunday August 17, 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): Moroccan gnawa meets jazz via Saha Gnawa; three distinctive takes on Afrobeat from Trio Mokili, Bejuco and Ousmane Kouyaté; the blistering Mande rock of Orchestra Gold; new cumbia variants by Terror/Cactus, Minyo Crusaders, La Banda Chuska and Quitapenas; and music from Chicha Libre and its offshoots, since Chicha Libre will be back in Richmond, also at Révéler, on Sunday September 7.

Charts Jul 21 - Aug 10, 2025

WRIR World's NACC Top Ten

1 MULATU ASTATKE | Mulatu Plays Mulatu | Strut

2 STORY OF NACIONAL RECORDS, THE, VOL. UNO Y DOS | various artists | Nacional

3 MIRAMAR | Entre Tus Flores | Ansonia

4 SORCERERS, THE | Other Worlds and Habitats | ATA

5 HABIBI FUNK 031: A SELECTION OF MUSIC FROM LIBYAN TAPES | various artists | Habibi Funk

6 TAKESHI TERAUCHI AND BLUE JEANS | Let's Go Eleki Bushi | 180g

7 NANA BENZ DU TOGO | Sé Nam | Komos

8 EDNA MARTINEZ PRESENTS PICO: SOUND SYSTEM CULTURE FROM THE COLOMBIAN CARIBBEAN | various artists | Strut

9 NEBA SOLO | Tuma Duma | Blanc Manioc

10 BIO RITMO | "Largos Caminos" [Single] | Locutor

The Big BW & the Sun of Latin Music

I've never wanted Global A Go-Go to be "that show that's always talking about musicians who died," but sometimes you just have to stop and pay your tribute.  Tribute is certainly due in the case of Eddie Palmieri, who passed away on Wednesday at the age of 88.

 

By any reasonable reckoning one of the most important musicians of the 20th century, Palmieri is responsible for many of the innovations that have made Latin music such a dynamic cultural force.  When you listen to salsa today, or Latin jazz, or Latin soul, almost everything you're hearing builds on his ideas, compositions and recordings.  The whole second hour this week will be devoted to Palmieri's music of the 1960s and 70s.

 

Also this week (Sunday August 10, 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), I'll resume the tribute I started three weeks ago to Chris "Mu" Faiumu of the pioneering New Zealand band Fat Freddy's Drop with selections from their four most recent albums.

 

Plus you'll hear from Mulatu Astatke, who's blessedly still with us at age 81 and will soon release Mulatu Plays Mulatu, a valedictory statement that Mulatu calls "the culmination of my work bringing [Ethio-jazz] to the world," and more new Ethio-jazz from The Sorcerers.