6 October 2010, World Cafe

1 Mahotella Queens - Vuka Uzibuke (Gumba Gumba/African Music Publishers, Beatrice Ngcobo)

Mahotella Queens with Makhona Tsohle Band circa 1975, this time without Mahlathini. The Mahotella Queens were one of the pioneers of the vocal style of mbaqanga called mqashiyo - which was cultivated by one of the heroes of South African music, Robert Mopape. Mopape was a producer, songwriter, arranger and talent scout who really started to get up to some interesting stuff in the mid 60s. The Mahotella Queens have played with a number of "groaners" over their careers. There's no information about who the groaner is here.

2 Hallelujah Chicken Run Band - Ngoma Yarira (Analog Africa) (Dube /Mapfumo)

The Hallelujah Chicken Run Band was one of the first bands to play a Zimbabwean pop style rooted in traditional Shona music which became known as Chimurenga - which means "liberation war" - and which was often used to conceal messages of liberation within "deep proverbs". "Ngoma Yarira" from 1972 is the Chicken Run Band's first single.

By as early as 1972, the Chimurenga sound was more-or-less fully formed with Thomas Mapfumo's high yodelling vocals, the buffed guitar rhythmic figures interlocking with mbira and the shuffling triple-time drum groove emulating Shona shaker percussion.

3 Patrick Mkwambe and the Four Brothers - Mombe Yeumai (Earthworks - Atlantic/Wea)

Jit Jive grew out of Chimurenga. Post liberation, the mbiras were thrown out in favour of a total guitar sound, and things were speeded up. The Four Brothers were one of the best jit bands. They consciously chose their name to keep rivalry between members at bay.

A track each from three great African albums released during 2009.

4 Staff Benda Bilili - Moto Moindo (Crammed Discs) (Cubain Kabeya Tshimpanglia - published: Les Editions de la Bascule/Strictly Confidential

From Kinshasa here is Staff Benda Bilili with a tune "Moto Moindo" heavily infused with a Cuban feel - perhaps some kind of a "son". The lead instrument here is a one-string electric tin can - played with astonishing ability by a teenage member of the band - an ex-street kid.

5 Bassekou Kouyate - Saro (Outhere) - published by World Circuit

"Saro" features Vieux Farka Toure, Ali Farka Toure's son, and is dedicated to Kouyate's younger brother, Saro, who was killed in a motorbike accident a few days after the song was recorded. Ironically, the song is a prayer that nothing may happen to those you love.

6 Tony Allen - Alutere (Nonesuch)

Tony Allen, the great veteran Afrobeat drummer, put out a great album last year called "Secret Agent" which draws seamlessly from a bunch of Nigerian traditions including praise singing. From that album, here is "Alutere", a Yoruba word which means "the message the drums transmit". What is that message? Allen says: "It's a message of 'get into the groove', you know".

7 Mulatu Astatke - The way to nice (Strut)

Mulatu Astatke off his very fine 2010 release "Mulatu Steps Ahead" with "The Way to Nice" - a very lush production with heavy shades of the James Bond Theme - although it stops short of the "dum di di dum dum" surf guitar bit.

There's an interesting story behind that little bit. John Barry is often credited with writing the music and he certain arranged it, but it seems that at least the signature bit was written by Monty Norman, who based it on a song from his musical version of the VS Naipaul novel "A House for Mr Biswas".

8 Im Ling and the Silvertones - Oh no! (Sublime Frequencies)

"Oh no!" comes from the Seattle-based Sublime Frequencies' collection "Singapore A-Go-Go Vol 1", of 1960s beat, pop and off-beat cha-cha, all with a heavy Singaporean twist, and sung in dialects of Mandarin and Hokkien.

Two tracks from Thailand, each from different collections of Thai pop music on the Sublime Frequencies' label.

9 Phet Potarum - Koh Phuket (Phuket Island) (Sublime Frequencies)

10 The Son of PM - Cho Cho Chan (Sublime Frequencies)

The PM here is Payong Mukda, a very well known promoter of Thai folk music, who died earlier this year at the age of 83. The style of music is called "shadow music" and its name comes from the British surf rock pop instrumental band, the Shadows. Basically, traditional Thai melodies girded by a standard Ventures or Shadows rock rhythm section - although there's also some Hank Marvin surf guitar in there too.

11 Ian King - Ah Robin, Gentle Robin (Fledg'ling) William Cornyish - 1468 to 1523 arr A wing and a prayer ltd MCPS

Ian King is from England and a part-time stonewaller, part-time singer. The tune is from the 13th century and written by William Cornyish. Adrian Sherwood produced King's album, "Panic Grass & Fever Few".

12 The Heptones - Guiding Star (L Sibbles, E Morgan, B Llewellyn) (Trenchtown)

Over the last few months we've being listening to a number of the classic vocal roots reggae groups - the Abyssians, the Congos, the Gatherers. Here is another, the Heptones, with a more updated version of a song they wrote in the late 60s - "Guiding Star".

13 The New Age Steppers - Guiding Star (On U Sound)

A number of people have covered "Guiding Star" over the years, including Horace Andy and Freddie McGregor. The New Age Steppers' version comes from their 1981 album "Action Battlefield".

The New Age Steppers were a rather short-lived collective of Jamaican and British reggae players brought together by Adrian Sherwood at the beginning of the 80s, together with singer Ari Up, who had previously been with punk band, the Slits. A number of punk musicians in the 1970s were enamoured with reggae, most famously Johnny Rotten, and there have been nice reggae-punk clashes over the years - excuse the terrible pun. The Slits' album, "Cut", produced by Dennis Bovell, is a classic example.

14 Ras Michael and the Sons of Negus - Truth and Right (RIOR)

We've also been profiling dub producers - Tommy Cowan is a lesser known producer, but produced a fabulous dub version of nyabhingi drummer Ras Michael and the Song of Negus's "Rastafari".

There seems to be some debate about when this first came out - it's been re-issued a number of times. The most likely story was that the dub was done at the same time as the album - 1972 - and released as singles etc in dribs and drabs, up until 1979. There are some great players in the band - including Tommy McCook, Robbie Shakespeare, Earl Chinna Smith and Peter Tosh.

15 Unknown artist - unknown title (Sublime Frequencies)

The singer there is unknown and the song unknown - but in typical style, this didn't stop Sublime Frequencies from releasing it. It comes off quite possibly their best release "Choubi Choubi Folk and Pop Sounds from Iraq", and much of the music comes from the time of Sadam Hussain's reign. Baghdad was actually the hot spot of Arabic music under Hussain - the Ba'ath party encouraged music albeit within the confines of cultural institutions. Baghdad music from the era continues to played across the Arabic world.

16 Omar Souleyman - Atabat (Sublime Frequencies)

Omar Souleyman is a massively popular singer from Syria, whom Sublime Frequencies has brought to the Western world in a number of releases. "Atabat" comes from "Highway to Hassake" - an overview of Souleyman's career. "Atabat" means "threshold" in Arabic.

17 Etran Finatawa - Naanaaye (trad arranged Bammo Agonla (Riverboat Records)

Sticking with desert regions, Etran Finatawa is a mixed Touareg-Wodaabe group from Niger, with a traditional Wodaabe healing song - "Naanaaye".

18 Rossy and Rokoto Frah - O isa (Sanatchie)

From Madagascar, Rossy is a multi-instrumentalist superstar who plays a variety of styles. Here he is being very folksy on the marovany together with sodina flute player, Rokoto Frah.

19 Dizzy Mandjekou - Mady motema (Papa Disco)

Over the last few months, we've also been exploring grittier 2nd generation soukous which started in the late 70s following on from the ultra smooth and sumptuous sounds of Franco's generation. Dizzy Mandjekou was the guitar wizard from Tabu-Ley Rochereau's band. The tune is from around 1980, and from the LP "Saila".

Some more from the history of groaners in South African pop music - all based around a bunch of tracks culled from a stunning collection that Electric Jive Blog posted a few months ago called "Classic South African Jive, volume 2" put together by Nick Lotay.

20 Mahlathini and Izintombi Zomgqashiyo - Okwamadoda Kuya Bhikwa (Motella, Simon Nkabinde)

21 Big Voice Jack - Vala Izwe (Smanje Manje/Gold Music)

"Big Voice Jack" (Aaron Jack Lerole), the sax player, with the tune "Vala Izwe" from the mid 60s. Aaron Lerole is, in fact, quite a significant figure in South African music. He took up playing sax in the mid-60s after he had basically destroyed his vocal chords groaning for Alexandra Black Mambazo. But his groaning had not been to no avail - he passed on his style to Zeph Nkabinde in the group, the older brother of Simon Nkabinde, or Mahlathini. Lerole teamed up with Robert Bopape in the late 60s who had set up Mavuthela Productions, part of Gallo, which mqashiyo release.

In the late 50s, Lerole had played a very important role in putting kwela on the international map. His reworking of a 1927 tune by British Theatre giant Herbert Farjeon "I've danced with a man, who's danced with a girl, who's danced with the Prince of Wales", became the theme song for a British series set in SA, "The Killing Stones". He called the tune "Tom Hark" (apparently a corruption of "tomahawk"). The tune ended up at number 2 in the UK charts, being covered by a bunch of people and being adopted by the Barmy Army.

22 Gaiteiros de Lesboa - Se eu soubesse que voando (Farol Musica)

Some fusion peasant vocal polyphony from Portugal. It comes from Gaiteiros de Lesboa's live recording "Dancahamas" recorded in Belem, October 2000.

23 Savina Yannatou - O onda (Sounds True) - G P Lanfranchi

Savina Yannatou is Greek and that tune was based on a traditional Corsican polyphony. "O wave, your silence is deeper than the grave, white as a knife blow".

24 Richard Thompson - So ben mi ca bon tempo (Cooking Vinyl)

Richard Thompson with a kind of madrigal from the 14th century Italian composer Orazio Vecchi - "I know who is carefree". Vecchi was a priest and musical director in a number of cathedrals. The track comes from Thompson's "1000 years of Popular Music".

Musicians from a number of generations of the folk revival have done versions of the ballad "Spencer the Rover". Going back in time and starting with Irish singer Cara Dillon, here is a medley of three.

25 Cara Dillon/John Martyn/The Copper Family - Spencer the Rover ( xxx /Island/Topic) --- xxx /Warlock Music Ltd

26 Utah Phillips - Hallelujah, I'm a bum (Righteous Babe Records)

Another group who had been "much reduced" and "started to roam" as a result, were the train hoppers of the Depression, although according to Utah Phillips this was not a cause for "confusion", but rather celebration. Labour activist and singer Utah Phillip's fabulous version of an Industrial Workers of the World (or Wobblies) anthem, "Hallelujah, I'm a bum".

24 Frazey Ford - Firecracker (Nettwork Records) (Ford) - Nettwork Song Publishing)

Frazey Ford, off duty from the Be Good Tanyas, with one of her own songs - "Firecracker", off her 2010 album, "Obadiah".

25 Eliza Carthy - Child amongst the weeds (Topic) -- published by Celtic Music

Lal Waterson was one of the most idiosyncratic songwriters in the English folk tradition. In 2002, a few years after Lal's death, a bunch of folk luminaries, many of them her relations, put together a tribute to the album "Bright Phoebus", which she and her brother Mike composed and performed in 1972. Eliza Carthy was Lal's niece.

26 Ditt Ditt Darium - Min Gud och Fader kare (My beloved God and Father) trad after Ander Hoas, Gammelsvenskby, Ukraine

Ditt Ditt Darium was a joint project of young Swedish and Northumbrian musicians circa 2002/2003. The song is a Ukrainian hymn-like folk song.