Charts August 21, 2016

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 VARIOUS ARTISTS | This Is Kologo Power! | Sahelsounds/Makkum/Red Wig
2 YENI NOSTALGI | 2016 EP demo (final mix) | unreleased
3 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Quiero Creedence | Concord Picante
4 JOE BATAAN | Call My Name | Vampisoul
5 FANFARE CIOCARLIA | 20 | Asphalt Tango
6 MONEY CHICHA | Echo En Mexico | Vampisoul
7 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Rough Guide To Peru Rare Groove | World Music Network
8 ANTHONY JOSEPH | Caribbean Roots | Heavenly Sweetness/Strut
9 IMARHAN | Imarhan | City Slang
10 FELA RANSOME KUTI AND HIS KOOLA LOBITOS | Highlife-Jazz And Afro-Soul (1963-1969) | Knitting Factory

Program August 17, 2016

More new music from the Sahara Desert this week on Global A Go-Go -- I'll play a great acoustic track from the recent debut album by Algeria's Imarhan, and the first official release by Afous D'Afous (pictured above) also of Algeria.

Also this week: the brassy sounds of Macedonia, Creedence en Espanol, and kologo power straight outta Ghana's Northeast.

Charts August 7, 2016

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 VIEUX KANTE | The Young Man's Harp | Sterns Africa
2 MAMADOU BARRY AND AFRO GROOVE GANG | Tankadi | Label Bleu
3 SAN LAZARO | La Despedida | HopeStreet
4 QUANTIC PRESENTA FLOWERING INFERNO | 1000 Watts | Tru Thoughts
5 LICKSHOTS | The Lickshots | Rockers International
6 MIRAMAR | Dedication To Sylvia Rexach | Barbes
7 AUGUSTUS PABLO | Original Rockers | Greensleeves
8 KONONO NO. 1 | Konono No. 1 Meets Batida | Crammed
9 OMAR | I Want It To Be | Freestyle
10 STICKY JOE | Good Day | Kingston Express

Vieux Kante | The Young Man's Harp

ARTIST: Vieux Kante
TITLE: The Young Man’s Harp
LABEL: Sterns Africa
The kamale ngoni, or young man’s harp, is a young instrument: a smaller, secular version of the donso ngoni (hunter’s harp), it wasn’t invented until the 1960s and it quickly became a staple in the Wassoulou music of southwestern Mali.

Program August 3, 2016

When you're a fan of African music like I am, one of the things you learn is that for every world-famous artist like Salif Keita or Youssou N'Dour, there are a hundred obscurities who are just as worthy of international attention.

Maitre Mamadou Barry (far right in picture above) is this week's case in point.  His band Kaloum Star (pictured above) was one of Guinee Conakry's national orchestras (Bembeya Jazz National is the most famous of their peers) yet they released only eight songs in that time.  He's gone on to be chef d'orchestre for Les Amazones De Guinee and worked with Sekouba Bambino, the aforementioned Bembeya Jazz and just about everybody who's anybody in Francophone West African music of the last 50 years.

Barry released his second solo album in June, so now's a great time to give the man his due.  On this week's program you'll hear a track from his new album, one by Les Amazones and an unreleased live recording of the amazing Kaloum Star, courtesy of the music blog Worldservice: http://wrldsrv.blogspot.com/2009/03/kaloum-star-live.html.

Also this week: Mali's hunter's harp and youth harp; mo' Latin soul; and what's new in reggae, summer 2016 edition.

Charts July 31, 2016

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 YENI NOSTALJI | 2016 EP demo (final mix) | unreleased
2 JOE BATAAN | Call My Name | Vampisoul
3 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Rough Guide To Peru Rare Groove | World Music Network
4 MIRAMAR | Dedication To Sylvia Rexach | Barbes
5 ELIAS ALEXANDER AND BYWATER BAND | Bywater | Fresh Haggis
6 BACAO RHYTHM AND STEEL BAND | 55 | Big Crown
7 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Space Echo: The Mystery Behind The Cosmic Sound Of Cabo Verde Finally Revealed | Analog Africa
8 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Tanbou Toujou Lou: Meringue, Kompa Kreyol, Vodou Jazz & Electric Folklore From Haiti 1960-1981 | Ostinato
9 ELZA SOARES | The Woman At The End Of The World | Mais Um Discos
10 KRISTI STASSINOPOULOU AND STATHIS KALYVIOTIS | NYN | Riverboat

Mamadou Barry & Afro Groove Gang | Tankadi

ARTIST: Mamadou Barry & Afro Groove Gang
TITLE: Tankadi
LABEL: Label Bleu
Saxophonist Mamadou Barry is one of those West African golden age musicians who keeps going like the Energizer bunny.

San Lazaro | La Despedida

ARTIST: San Lazaro
TITLE: La Despedida
LABEL: HopeStreet
San Lazaro is a band from Melbourne, Australia that’s making some of the most multifaceted, sophisticated Latin music I’m hearing right now.

Kristi Stassinopoulou & Stathis Kalyviotis | NYN

ARTIST: Kristi Stassinopoulou & Stathis Kalyviotis
TITLE: NYN
LABEL: Riverboat
Kristi Stassinopoulou and Stathis Kalyviotis have been working in some of the most intriguing niches of world music for two decades.

Program July 20, 2016

Miramar, the old-fashioned bolero combo led by Marlysse Simmons, Rei Alvarez and Laura Ann Singh (pictured above in their home away from home, Kuba Kuba, photo by Chris Smith) is Richmond's latest buzz band.

Their debut album, Dedication To Sylvia Rexach, was released on June 17 and just hit #3 on CMJ's New World chart; they were featured on NPR's "All Things Considered" and on CNN en Espanol; they finished a six-city tour in support of the album; and they're about to play NYC's Lincoln Center Out Of Doors on a bill with Puerto Rican superstars Richie Ray and Bobby Cruz.

They'd probably like to take a nap.  But instead they'll be joining me this week on Global A Go-Go to talk about the album, the whirlwind of activity around it, and all their new and old projects.  We'll play some Miramar music and some other stuff as well.

Also this week: fabulous new music from Greece by Kristi Stassinopoulou and Stathis Kalyviotis, and the ultra-danceable sounds of Haiti.

Charts July 17, 2016

WRIR's CMJ New World Top Ten
1 JOE BATAAN | Call My Name | Vampisoul
2 MONEY CHICHA | Echo En Mexico | Vampisoul
3 JON RENBOURN AND WIZZ JONES | Joint Control | Riverboat
4 ELIAS ALEXANDER AND BYWATER BAND | Bywater | Fresh Haggis
5 MIRAMAR | Dedication To Sylvia Rexach | Barbes
6 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Rich Medina Presents Jump N Funk | BBE
7 BACAO RHYTHM AND STEEL BAND | 55 | Big Crown
8 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Rough Guide To Peru Rare Groove | World Music Network
9 ANTHONY JOSEPH | Caribbean Roots | Heavenly Sweetness / Strut
10 VARIOUS ARTISTS | Space Echo: The Mystery Behind The Cosmic Sound Of Cabo Verde Finally Revealed | Analog Africa

Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band | 55

ARTIST: Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band
TITLE: 55
LABEL: Big Crown
When they first appeared on disc in 2007, the Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band were said to be an obscure Trinidadian combo, known only to their immediate families and to crate-diggers, who dabbled in funk and soul covers.

Joe Bataan | Call My Name

ARTIST: Joe Bataan
TITLE: Call My Name
LABEL: Vampisoul
Well, I guess I’ve now been at this long enough to see my favorite new releases become reissues. Joe Bataan’s comeback, Call My Name, was one of my top albums of 2005, the year Global A Go-Go was first broadcast.

Money Chicha | Echo En Mexico

ARTIST: Money Chicha
TITLE: Echo En Mexico
LABEL: Vampisoul
Money Chicha is a new band from Austin led by bassist Greg Gonzalez of Grupo Fantasma and Brownout and featuring several members of those two bands.

Program July 13, 2016

Steelpan, the national musical instrument of Trinidad & Tobago, is a tuned percussion instrument made from industrial waste: a 55 gallon industrial drum that formerly held oil or chemicals.  And steelpan's use has spread far and wide: on this week's program you'll hear a new record from Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band (pictured above), a funk band from Hamburg, Germany that features four pannists.

Also this week: highlife from Ghana and Nigeria; new Peruvian-style psychedelic cumbia by Money Chicha and Bareto; and Latin soul straight outta the barrio.