2 January 2013, World Cafe

1 Andra Kouyate and Seke Chi – I Yele (feat. Salimata Kouyate) (Studio Mali)

Andra Koyate plays the ngoni, an ancient fretless lute from West African Bambara tradition. He’s the younger brother of Bassekou Kouyate, who is the probably the world’s most famous ngoni player, having taken the instrument from the background to right up front through virtuosic playing and innovative arrangements (with his band Ngoni Ba).  Andra is no slouch, and he’s also taken ngoni-fronted arrangements to a new place.  His wonderful backing band includes balafon ace Lassana Diabate.  “I Yele” has some stunning interplay between ngoni and kalabash and features the jelimousso (or woman griot), Salimata Kouyate.

2 Super Djata de Bamako – Konadou (Musique Mondiale)

Super Djata de Bamako is one of the great innovating groups in the Bambara tradition of southern and central Mali.  They started in the 1969 and peaked in the 1980s, incorporating rhythms and melodies from the Wassoulou region. At the centre of the band was Zani Diabate, a guitarist, percussionist, kora and balafon player.  He died in at the end of 2010. “Konadou” is from a classic release in 1983, “Super Djata de Bamako Volume 2”. 

3 Zani Diabate & Les Heritiers - Ni Zani Mana (Sterns)

From Zani Diabate’s last release, “Tientalaw”, recorded just before he died and which got a European release this year.  He’s backed by “Les Heritiers”, “The Heirs”, made up this own son, the sons of the singers from Super Djata, Flani Sangare and Alou Fane. 

4 Ballake Sissoko – Badjourou (No Format/Universal)

Ballake Sissoko is one of the great kora players and composers in other musical tradition of the southern Mali and surrounds, the Mandinka.  He’s played with Toumani Diabate in the past, but his last couple of albums have been with the French cellist, Vincent Segal.  His latest is “At Peace”.  Accompanying him on “Badjourou” is Segal, Aboubcar Diabate on 12 string guitar, Moussa Diabate on guitar and Fassery Diabate on balafon.

5 Vinicius Cantuaria – Purus (Naïve)

The ultra-relaxed samba-based sounds of Brazilian singer/songwriter Vinicius Cantuaria off his album “Indio de Apartamento”.   

6 Caetano Veloso – O Leaozinho (Nonesuch)

Cantuaria is often compared that veteran of Brazillian music, singer/songwriter Caetano Veloso, who started out in Tropicalia movement of the 1960s and was forced into exile in the 70s by the military government in Brazil.  This is a stripped down version of one of his all-time classic songs from a concert he gave with David Byrne at the Carnegie Hall in 2004, that was only released this year.

7 Cachimbinho & Geraldo Mousiho --- Se trava a Lingua e assim (Beverly)

Cachimbinho and Geraldo Mousiho play a Brazilian style called “Coco-de embolada”: two tambourines and two voices trying to out-compete each other with speed, word plays and tougue-twisting dexterity, much like rap.  It’s from a record called “Cantar Coco e Assim”.

8 Leilia – A voz das EVAS (Fol Musica)

Coco de embolada I’m pretty sure has strong affinities with tambourine-based peasant music of southern Europe, often played by solely by women.  Leilia are a Spanish group that’s been performing for 20 years preserving and popularizing songs the Galician oral tradition.  This is off their album “Consentimento”. 

9 Yasmin Levy – Shoef K’mo Eved (World Village)

Isreali singer Yasmin Levy is known for combining Sephardic music sung in Ladino with flamenco, tango and fado.  On new her album, “Libertad”, she’s introduced more middle-eastern sounds, thanks to a wonderful Istanbul-based string section.  That veteran of the restrained world music production, Ben Mendelson, and I only used that term “world music” because he helped invent it, does the knob twiddling and mic placement on “Libertad”. 

10 John Zorn - Back to Bokhara (Tzadik)

John Zorn has been extended the oeuvre of Jewish music in all kinds of directions and for decades now – as the owner of the Tzadik label, a composer and through his own sax playing.  He recently released a set of compositions called “The Concealed Esoteric Secrets and Hidden Traditions of the East” for a combination of the Nova Quartet, a piano and vibe lead quartet, with cellist Erik Friedlander and violinist Mark Feldman. 

11 Elina Duni Quartet – Ere pranverore  (ECM)

Albanian born and raised and now Swiss-based, singer, Elina Duni, with her quartet creating the most amazing fusion of impressionistic and subtly detailed jazz with music from her home country.  It’s from her very fine new album just out on ECM, “Matane Malit”.

12 Otaak Band – Ogbil (Self-released)

The Bejan people from eastern Sudan, parts of Eritrea and southern Egypt are not well known, and neither is their music and I doubt Ahmed Said Abuamna from Sudan and his American collaborator, Miguel Merino, together Otaak Band, will change that – but in an ideal world, they would.  Abuamna plays a masankop, an ancient type of lyre related to the Ethiopian krar.  But it’s his singing that really fantastic.  Miguel Merino is on bass and percussion.  Their album, “Bejawiya”, is self released.  “Ogbil” is a love song: “O god, let me see this beautiful creature”.

13 Krar Collective – Ende Eyerusalem (Riverboat)

Speaking of the Ethiopian krar, the London-based trio, Krar Collective started out playing at weddings in the Ethiopian community and over the years developed their own style driven by electric, acoustic and bass krars.

14 Dub Colossus – Tringo (Real World Music)

We’ve played Dub Colossus on this programme many times.  Some months back part of the Ethiopian core of the band released an EP of undubbed and unplugged azmari versions of stuff from “Addis through the looking glass”.  An azmari  is a traditional Ethiopian singer-musician, like the griots of West Africa.  “Tringo” features the massinqo (an old single stringed bowed lute), krar and handclaps.

15 King Tubby – 95 North Dub (Roots Records)

A King Tubby and Scientist mix of a Jah Thomas produced rhythm track made by the Roots Radics Band and recorded some time in the early 80s.  It’s out on the collection “King Tubby’s Classics: The Lost Midnight Rock Dubs Chapter 3”.

16 Delroy Butler – Oppression (Pressure Sounds)

Speaking of lost dubs, 2012 saw another effort by Pressure Sounds to make rare recordings from Lee Perry’s sessions in the Black Ark available to the public.  This year’s collection is called “The Sound Doctor: Black Ark singles and Dub Plates (1972-1978)”. 

17 Ondatropica – Libya (Soundway)

Last month we heard a tune by the Columbian collective, Ondatropica, which recorded an epic tribute to classic Afro-Caribbean music of the 60s and 70s in the historic Discos Fuentes studio.  “Libya” is from the same collection also called “Ondatropica”.

18 Quantic y Su Conjunto Los Miticos De Ritmo – Cumbia de Mochilla (Strut)

Will Holland aka Quantic was one of the producers behind the Ondatropica project.  He’s pretty active in the Columbia cumbia revival scene.  This is something he put together for a 2011 collection of gritty tropical dance sounds compiled by the DJ collective, Sofrito, called “Tropical Discoteque”. 

19 Hot 8 Brass Band – Ghost Town (Tru Thoughts)   --- Jerry Dammers

One of the relatively new stalwarts New Orleans marching brass band music with the tune that the British ska band, the Specials, put out in the 80s”.

20 Mama Rosin – Parait Qu’y a Pas l’Temps (Moi J’Connais/Proper)

 

Mama Rosin is a Swiss trio living in NYC into basically punking-up Louisianan cajun and zydeco music.  They’ve got noisier and more roll n rockish on their new album produced by punky-blues guy, Jon Spencer, called “Bye bye Bayou”. 

21 Iris DeMent – The Kingdom has already come (Flariella)

Iris DeMent has come up with one of my favourite Americana albums of 2012 called “Sing the Delta” – her first one of original songs in 16 years.  She plays some wonderful rolling piano on this track. 

22 Kelly Joe Phelps – Goodbye Sorrow (Black Hen/Planet)

Another favorite of 2012 is Kelly Joe Phelps’s “Brother Sinner and the Whale” – his stripped-down, voice and guitar only mono recordings of traditional and self-penned gospel songs based on the Old Testament Book of Jonah. 

23 Koo Nimo – Owusuwaa (Riverboat/World Music Network)

In his late 70s now, Ghanaian Koo Nima, one of the last veterans of Highlife and Palm Wine music wrote this beautiful song for his wife, who died in 1973 shortly after giving birth to and losing a child.  It comes off an album recorded recently by Ben Mandelson in Nimo’s backyard in Accra.  It’s called “Highlife Roots Revival”.

24 Peacocks International – Awu Adada Mi (EMI)

Peacocks International Band where a Nigerian band active in the 70s and heavily influences by Ghanaian Highlife.  Their leader, Raphael Amarabem had spent quite a few years playing in Ghana.  They were pretty popular in both Ghana and Nigeria – which might explain the “international” part of their name.  They also sang in a bunch of different languages: English, Efik, Ewe and Igbo.

25 Tunji Oyelana – Omoba D’eru Ri (Soundway)

Tunji Oyelana is an institution in Nigeria, a bit like Fela Kuti although not as famous.  They actually both come from the same hometown.  Oyelana’s been actor, bandleader, singer-songwriter, dramatist, comedian and academic.  Soundway have put out a double album respective of his music called “A Nigerian Retropective 1966-79”. 

26 Bellowhead – Old dun Cow (Navigator)

Having peddled big-band interpretations of the English folk canon for around 10 years now, for their fourth album called “Broadside”, Bellowhead ratchet up the amps and deliver even punchier sound than usual.  I think this might actually be their best album. 

27 The Big Eyes Family Players – Farewell Lovely Nancy (Static Caravan)

Scottish singer James Yorkston with Sheffield-based experimental instrumental band off their second collective effort called “Folk Songs II”. “Farewell Lovely Nancy” was first collected by Cecil Sharp and published as sheet music in 1909.  There’re a bunch guest singers in there too.      

28 Eivind Aarset – The Beauty of Decay (ECM)

Norwegian guitarist Eivind Aarset is aided and abetted by Jan Bang on samples, dictaphone and programming.  Aarset builds on trumpeter Jon Hassell’s sort-of ambient, global fusion sound – what Hassell calls “Fourth World”.  “The Beauty of Decay” is off Aarset’s first headline album for ECM, called “Dream Logic” which is just out.