7 April 2010, World Cafe

This show is dedicated to Charlie Gillet – the grand uncle of world music djs - who died a few weeks ago. Links to his website are available on this blog.

1 Oumou Sangare – Wele wele wintou (World Circuit)

Off Oumou Sangare’s great 2009 album entitled “Seya” that was the tune “Wele wele wintou”. A song against forced marriages. The album is thick with luminaries from the Mali scene, and that track features the legendary guitarist, Djelimady Tounkara.

2 Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou – Se ba ho Composed by Amoussou William – legendary trad singer (Analog Africa)

The opening track on Analog Africa’s collection of Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou material “From the vaults of Albarika Store, 1969 to 1979” had label head Samy Redjeb and his Beninese sound team’s jaws dropping to the floor. It dates from the early 70s and is set to a “sato” rhythm, which draws heavily on traditional vodoun rhythms from the region. Vodoun rhythms were strongly present in Beninese daily life at the time. You can watch a movie of that song being performed on Analog Africa’s blog – check out the link.

3 Franco – Quatre Boutons (Sheer Sound)

From 1965, that was Franco and TPOK Jazz with the song “Quartre Boutons”. It’s a comic, slightly racy ditty about a woman who attracts many men, including lovers of her friends and has sassy answers for all. She asks her detractors to ask the men about why they are attracted to her. The four buttons refer to a certain item of men’s apparel which is unfastenable, although we are not sure about which precise item she is referring to.

One of Franco’s long-time guitarists, Simaro (or Simon Lutumba Ndomameuno) played guitar – reverb-drenched, with a very smeary, shimmering break – all utterly fresh sounding to our ears. Simaro was with TPOK Jazz from 1963 until Franco’s death in 89.

The tune comes off a quite magnificent collection “African Classics – Franco” locally released by Sheer.

4 Christy Azuma & Uppers International – Din Ya Sugri (Soundway)

Christy Azuma and Uppers International played music strongly influenced by the music of the upper regions of Ghana – in 1974 a backwater, but a backwater earmarked for tourist development. The Uppers International were drawn from all over Ghana as the house band of a hotel in the upper regions gearing up for the tourist onslaught. Their residency, however, banished them, more or less, to obscurity. Soundway, on their collection, “Ghana Special”, have dug them out.

5 Ali Farka Toure – Cherie (World Circuit)

Speaking of obscurity, in 1984, when the track we’re about to hear was released by French Sonodisc on the album entitled “Red”, Ali Farka Toure was basically languishing in it. Some years after its release, the godfather of world music DJs, Andy Kershaw, came across the album in a bargain basement bin in Paris. He managed to convince World Circuit to get Ali Farka Toure into their stable on the strength of this album and another released more or less at the same time, “Green”. From “Red”, this is the song “Cherie”.

6 Mahlathini Indoda & the Mahlathini Band – Kudala Besibiza (Soweto label)

From 1975, that was the famous Zulu groaner Mahlathini without the Mahotella Queens, when he called himself Mahlathini Indodo. Mahlathini, or Simon Nkabinde, was very proud of his rural heritage – “mah” refers to someone who was just emerged from the bush. On this track he plays with the groundbreaking Makgona Tsohle Band – his backing band for many years – which basically pioneered the classic mbaqanga sound, and were probably mbaqanga’s best players. They were the backing band for many mbaqanga hits.

You can download the whole of this Mahlatini album from the Electric Jive blog – check out the link. Electric Jive’s sister site, Matsuli, is also worth a visit. Our next two tracks come from either Electric Jive or Matsuli.


7 Soweto Boys – Loading Zone (Soweto label)

A year before the Mahlatini track came out, the Soweto Boys released an extremely catchy bunch of sax jive tunes on the Soweto Label. Sax jive grew out of the penny whistle jive, and by the mid 60s had evolved into mbaqanga, having added electric bass and guitar to the line-up.


8 Abafana Be Nala – Wesayoni (Mabob Records)

This track comes from 1976.


9 Akli D – Tabrats (Le Message) (Because UK)

Akli Dehlis is a Berber. A few years ago he produced a lavish album with Manu Chao under the moniker Akli D. This is “Tabrats” from that album.


10 Oum Kalsoum – Wehakkak ental mona waltalab (Mantego) Composed by Abu Al, El Sheik, Mohamed, Ola, Shabrahi, Elham Abdullah El)

We got this from the Mantego collection “The Legend: the Arab World’s Greatest Singer,” which sums up Oum Kalsoum’s reputation quite neatly.

11 Natasha Atlas – Wahashini (N Atlas, N Sparkes, Dubulah – co-ordinator of Dub Colossus (Mantra Recordings)

Although born in Belgium and making her name in England as the singer in Jah Wobble’s Invaders of the Heart, Natasha Atlas is steeped in Oum Kalsoum’s tradition of voice-led orchestral music. Wahashini was co-written by Dubulah, the coordinator of the Dub Colossus project of ethiojazz and vintage Addis music fused with dub that we’ve explored in past programmes…


12 Jump to Addis – Abebayehush (traditional arr Dawit Guebreab) (Buda Musique)

… a neat lead to our next song – “Abebayehush” by Jump to Addis – a collection of European musicians from the Amsterdam Conservatory and Addis’s finest from the “azmaribat” scene. Azmaribat are traditional minstral cabarets in Ethiopia. The song, in all its live ragged glory, celebrates the arrival of spring, which Ethiopia is experiencing round about now.

13 Ashkabad - From the station to the mill (World Music Network)

14 Adulkhamit Rayimbergenov - Sary Arqa (World Music Network)

Two tracks from Central Asia – from the Rough Guide collection to the Music of Central Asia.

15 Wareika Hill Sounds – Africa Freedom March (Honest Jon’s)

Soul, blues and rock have all left their mark outside their places of origin – and so have reggae and dub. But we’ll start our mini crossover reggae segment in the foothills of Kingston with the nyabinghi-infused sounds of veteran trombone player, Calvin “Bubbles” Cameron and his collective “Wareika Hill Sounds”. Another veteran of the Kingston scene accompanies Cameron – sax player Deadley Headley Bennet. This comes from a 2007 album on the label Honest Jon’s.

16 Kalahari Surfer – Leka-leka (trad arr W Sony) (African Dope Records)

In the early 90s South African multi-instrumentalist and producer, Pops Mohamed, headed off to the Kalahari with a sound and camera crew, to record the music of Khoisan people living in the area – the primary impulse being preservation. Some of the resultant recordings were released in 1995 by Melt 2000 as “Bushmen of the Kalahari”. Instead of remaining pristinely preserved behind glass, these recordings have provided the basis for two rounds of quite fundamental remixes in which layers of electronic and reprocessed analog sounds have been added – “Sanscapes” 1 & 2. Warrick Sony of Kalahari Surfer also did a remix of the song, “Leka-leka”, which came out on his 2001 album “Akasic Record” – and that was what we just heard …

Tonight, over the course of this show, we’ve actually heard all the musicians featured in this year’s African Soul Rebels tour which took place in the UK in February and early March – Oumou Sangare, Orchestre Poly-Rhythmo and Kalahari Surfers. More information about the musicians and the tour is contained in a podcast you can find on the Jam Magica blog – check out the link.

17 Amsterdam Klezmer Band – Sadagora Hot Dub (World Music Network)

Klezmer-inspired reggae from Amsterdam …

18 Bentho Gustave Titou & l’International Poly Rythmo – Gbe sou ve gnin (Libert)

Orchestre Poly-Rythmo played just about every style including reggae. The song we’ve just heard was written by their bass player, Bentho Gustave Titou, and the whole LP is credited to Bentho Titou & l’International Poly Rythmo. To distribute composition credits and revenues that flowed from them more evenly, Orchestre Poly-Rythmo got different members to compose whole albums. The album was released in 1980 and you can download it from the Oro blog – check out the link.


19 Jack Rose – Everybody ought to pray sometime (Thrill Jockey)

Jack Rose was a guitar player who died late last year. His old-timey, blues ragas are reminiscent of John Fahey’s – an acknowledged inspiration. This is something in the ragtime vein he also liked to play, from this latest album just released – “Luck in the valley”. It’s called “Everyone ought to pray sometime”.

20 Mawkin Causley – Botany Bay (Navigator Records)

From the 2008 EP “Cold Ruin”.

21 The Imagined Village – Cold Haily Rainy Night (Real World)

The Imagined Village are a collection of English musicians from all kind of traditions who usually take an English ballad as a starting point and interpret it in all kinds of interesting ways. Chris Wood and Eliza Carthy did the vocals, and Johnny Kalsi from Dhol Foundation played the dohl – a huge Indian double-headed drum strapped to the front of the body and played with curved sticks.

22 Cheb I Sabbah – Lagi Lagan (6 Degrees)

Cheb I Sabbah is an Algerian-born, San Francisco based DJ, or more correctly coordinator and producer of electronically reinforced recordings of traditional music mainly from North Africa and India. We’re going to hear the north Indian tune “Lagi Lagan”. Bill Laswell, no stranger to this show, supplies the bottom end, and South African Deepak Ram plays the bansuri – an Indian bamboo flute.