7 August 2013, World Cafe

1 Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino - Nu Te Fermere (Puglia Sounds/Discovery)
Album: Pizzaca Indiavolata

Canzoniere Grecanico Salentina, as the name suggests, are from Salentina which is in the Puglia region of southern Italy on the Salento peninsula where a Greek dialect called Griko is spoken.  The group has been going since 1975 and one of the best exponents of pizzica, a trance like style of folk music and dance said to cure tarantula and snake bites. 

The group is run by fiddler and drummer Mauro Durante the son of Daniele Durante who established the group.  Off their fine 2012 release. 

2 Ghetonia – Quandu camini tie (Anima Mundi)

Album: Krifi

Another long standing cultural group from the same tradition as Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino

3 Banda Olifante – Barab (Felmay)

Album: Banda Olifante

Sticking in Italy, but from another tradition – the bande – which started in the 1800s with brass bands performing for funeral and religious processions in towns and villages, often in Puglia and Sicily it seems.  The bands’ mission was to bring the music of high culture to villagers and workers, but grew from there.  Over the last 10 years or so, it’s been taking in all kinds of other musical influences. Banda Olifante is a 15 piece based in Romagna in the north, and “Barab” has a Maghrebi influence.  It doesn’t seem like an accident that the band gets its name from a medieval carved ivory horn often made by Arab craftsman, the olifante. 

4 Fanfara Tirana and Transglobal Underground – Aferdita (World Village)

Album: Kabatronics

The current batch of bande often looks to Balkan brass band for inspiration, and Albania being only about 100 km across the Adriatic Sea from Puglia, I dare say is an important source.  Fanfara Tirana which is actually some kind of a offshoot from Albania’s military band recently teamed up with the British global fusion dance band, Transglobal Underground, to come up with a particularly in your face mix they call “Kabatronics”. 

5 A Hawk and a Hacksaw – Witch’s Theme (L.M. Duplication)

Album: You have already gone to the other world

A Hawk and Hacksaw have redone the entire soundtrack to Georgian director Sergei Parajanov’s 1964 movie “Shadows of Our Forgotten Ancestors”, about Ukrainian mountain villagers.  They’ve called their project “You have already gone to the other world”, and in my book it’s up there with the best of 2013.  From 1965 onwards all Parajanov’s movies were banned in USSR and he ended up in prison between ‘73 and ‘77 for his trouble.

6 Okay Temiz – Dokuz Sekiz (Bouzouki Joe Records)

Album: Turkish Freakout: Psych Folk Singles 1969 – 80

Let’s head across the Black Sea to Turkey.  The fusion jazz percussionist and drummer, Okay Temiz played with a huge number of musicians over the early 70s, including in Johnny Dyani and Mongezi Feza.  “Dokuz Sekiz” is a single from 1975.

7 Selda Bagcan – Yuh yuh (Turkuola)

7” single

Selda Bagcan is one of the greats of Turkish folk and rock music, singer, songwriter baglama -ist and guitarist.  Bagcan started her musical career in 1971 while studying engineering physics at Ankara University and is still going strong running a music production company in Istanbul. 

8 Timur Selcuk – Pireli Sarki (Yonca)

7” single

Timur Selcuk comes from a musical family and studied in Paris in the 60s and perhaps early 70s. After returning from Paris he reeled off a string of songs that turned out to be hits, like this one, from 1975, sounding like some kind of a Russian folk ditty.   

9 Ilaiyaraaja feat P. Susheela – Poo Poo Kkum (Finders Keepers)
Album: Ilectro Euphoric electronics and robotic funk

Ilaiyaraaja is a legendary composer for the Tamil film industry often called Kollywood and based in Chennai. In fact, he may be the only composer for the Tamil film industry.  “Poo Poo Kkum” features the wonderful vocals of P. Susheela and comes from Finders Keepers brand new collection of Ilaiyaraaja culled from stuff he put out in the 80s.

10 Debashish Bhattacharya – Kirwani One 5 + 8 Five (World Music Network / Riverboat Records)

Album: Beyond the Ragasphere

Along with VM Bhatt, whom I hope you saw playing in Cape Town recently, Debashish Bhattacharya is probably most famous slide guitarist in India.  He turns up the fusion on his latest, “Beyond the ragasphere”, with dobra player Jerry Douglas and guitarist John McLauglin enlisted on a few tracks.  “Kirwani one 5 + 8 five” features Battacharya’s teenage daughter, Anandi, doing some great singing. 

11 Dawanggang – Four Ways (JARO)

Album: Wild Tune Stray Rhythm

Thanks to the specialist music mag, “Folk Roots”, I discovered Chinese folk experimentalists, Dawanggang.  Their album, out on the German label Jaro, is called “Wild Tune Stray Rhythm” - which more or less says it all.  Song Yuzhe, who’s played in a bunch of punk bands over the years, and his crack sidemen from inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Tibet and central China have  mixed Chinese opera, with a bunch of Asian folk and good old fashioned rock n rock.  It’s not for the faint hearted, that’s for sure. “Four ways” is probably the most user friendly track.

12 Takashi Hirayasu & Bob Brozman – Uruku Tumi Gushiku (Riverboat Records)
Album: Jin Jin/Firefly

Takashi Hirayasu and Bob Brozman with a traditional Okinawan song off their classic collaboration.  Brozman was an inveterate collaborator and had keen fascination for slide guitars of shapes and vintages – which explains his work with Debishish Bhattach over the years -  and music produced on islands which took him all around the world.  He died a few months ago under very tragic circumstances connected to him not being able to play guitar the way he thought he ought to able to.  I think of no better tribute than the music of Jin Jin which is deceptively simple, but incredibly dynamic, textured and heartfelt.  More from Brozman’s later in the show.

13 Shoukichi Kina and Champloose – Shimaguwa Song (Globe Style)

Album: The Music Power from Okinawa

Takashi Hirayasu used to play guitar with Champoose, one of the best rock bands of Okinawa, and incompassing the island’s fiercely independent spirit and its ability to absorb all kinds of culture, including Chinese, Japanese and American.  At centre of Champoose is Shokichi Kina, apparently a pretty erratic fellow, but he’s totally on form on “Shimaguwa Song” from a live set recorded in Okinawa in 1977 which goes under the name “The Music Power from Okinawa”.

14 Phonophani – Gubijinso (Rune Grammafon)

Album: Kreken

Norwegian electronic musician Espen Sommer Eide, aka Phonophani, teamed up with Japanese sound artist, Haco, to produce the tune “Gubijinso”.  It’s from Phonophani’s 2010 set.

15 Cyclopean – Fingers (Mute/Spoon)
EP: Cyclopean

Recently some of the core members of Krautrock group Can i.e. drummer Jaki Liebezeit and keyboadist Irman Schmidt got together with Burnt Friedman and Jono Podmore, called themselves Cyclopean and produced a spacey, dubby slice of ethnological forgery.  So far an EP has emerged, but there’s an album in the making I believe. 

16 Dennis Bovell – Flood of Tears (Pressure Sounds)
Album: Mek It Run

The veteran dub producer and bass player, Dennis Bovell, with something he cooked up recently in the Mad Professor’s studio post neck surgery when he was banned from bass playing and took to finishing off pieces that have long languished in the vaults.  The resulting album is pretty potent.

17 Kobo Town – The War between Is and Ought (Cumbancha)

Album: Jumbie in the Jukebox

Kobo Town takes it name from the old neighbourhood of Port-of-Spain where calypso was reputedly born, even though they all live in Toronto.  Drew Gonsalves was born in Trinidad and came to Canada as a teenager and the calypso he’s come up is infused with dancehall, ska, reggae and a touch of soca, and some nice, heavyish brass.  “Jumbie in the Jukebox” is their debut album.   

18 Bob Brozman – Strange Mind Blues (Ruf/Only Blues Music)
Album: Fire in the Mind

Bob Brozman off the last album he ever made, 2012’s “Fire in the mind”, and a self-penned song.  One the greatest, if not the greatest, Hawaiian guitarists, and one of the most generous collaborators.  The world is a much depleted place without him.

19 Valerie June – The Hour (Sunday Best)

Album: Pushin’ Against a Stone

Valerie June Hockett is from Jackson, Tennessee, and has been paying her dues for a number of years now, brewing up one hell of a concoction of old timey blues, Appalachian folk and classic 60s and 70s soul.  She teamed with the now indomitable Dan Auerbach to flesh some of songs out, and her resultant debut album is a winner

20 Sam Amidon – As I Roved Out (Nonesuch)
Album: Bright Sunny South

Sam Amidon, from Vermont originally, has been working a kind of old Appalachian folk seam for a while, cutting it with lashings of jazzing strings and woodwinds and some off kilter guitar.  He’s sounding more Appalachian these days – perhaps since he’s relocated to Blighty having married Beth Orton.  “As I roved out” is a reworking of a traditional song.  Another classic of 2013, I think.

21 Beth Orton – Magpie (Anti)
Album: Sugaring Season

And speaking of Beth Orton, I did enjoy her album of last year – just on the right side i.e. the rootsy and darker side - of singer-song writer indie folk-rock.  That’s maybe because of collaborations and lessons with Bert Jansch.  Recorded in Portland, by Tucker Martine, whose name seems to be coming up here quite often of late.

22 Bella Hardy – Through Lonesome Woods (Noe)

Album: Battleplan

Bella Hardy specializes in writing new songs that echo traditional songs, and “Through Lonesome Woods” is a very fine example of one of these.  Off her 2013 album, “Battleplan”.

23 Mukunguni – Bamba (Honest Jon’s Records)

Album: New Recordings from Coastal Province, Kenya

From field recordings of the Mijikenda tribes from the coast Kenya.  Bamba is the Mijikenda name for a metal guiro – a percussive scraper.  The music evolved in the early 20^th century based on older forms and is mainly for healing. 

24 Sambe Toure – Awn Be Ye Kelenye (Glitterbeat)

Album: Albala

Sambe Toure is one of the new generation of Songhai guitarists and songwriters emerging after Ali Farka Toure from the around the Timbuktu area of Mali.  His new record is terrific, a real advance on his previous stuff.  Another recorded last year round about when the military coup was occurring.  It’s called “Albala” which is the Songhai word for danger or risk.  “Awn be ye kelenye” is Songhai for “We are all Malian” – a plea for ethnic unity.

25 Rokia Traore – Kouma (Nonesuch)

Album: Beautiful Africa

Something from another classic of 2013. 

26 Segun Bucknor – Adanri Sogbasogba (Strut Records)

Album: Poor Man No Get Brother

Segun Bucknor was one of many great highlife musicians that operated in Nigeria in the late 60s and 70s.  He also had a passion of American soul and funk, and for protesting corruption in Nigeria and singing in English, but his best stuff is in Yoruba and decidedly laidback and funky.  “Adanri Sogbasogba” is culled from a collection of his stuff made between ‘69 and ‘75. 

27 Vicky et OK Jazz – En memoire de Bayon (EMI 1971/1976)

Album: Vicky et OK Jazz

Vicky Longomba, the great Congolese singer associated with Franco.  It seems to have been recorded in 1971.   

28 Bill Frisell – We all love Neil Young (Okeh Records) (Songtone LLC)
Album: Big Sur     

A statement I think we can all endorse.

5 June 2013, World Cafe

One of the heroes of this show, slide guitarist, collaborator, ethnomusicologist extraordinaire Bob Brozman, died tragically in late April.  We’ll have some kind of a tribute for him in August.  But check out these moving obituaries in the meantime:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/02/arts/music/bob-brozman-guitarist-is-dead-at-59.html?_r=0

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2013/apr/28/bob-brozman

 

The first five tunes are off more or less brand new albums, most of them uniformly great.  The first four are produced by two Brits, a Canadian and an American, all with hefty rock n roll chops. 

1 Rokia Traore – Tuit Tuit (Nonesuch)

Album: Beautiful Africa

Off the inimitable, boundary pushing Rokio Traore’s brand new album, “Beautiful Africa”.  The tune has a pumping soukous back bone but breaks down into something much more in the Malian Bambara tradition from time to time, with Mamah Diabate’s wonderful n’goni playing coming to the fore.  The album was produced by John Parish, most well known for this work with PJ Harvey, with another genre defining musician, Seb Rochford on drums.  Rochford is behind Polar Bear and Acoustic Ladyland, amongst others. 

2 Rachid Taha – Ana (Wrasse)

Album: Zoom

Algerian rocker who’s been around for a long time – in fact 30 years.  His ninth album is a stunning return to form, and this probably has a lot to do with Justin Adams, who we’ve heard a lot here with Juldeh Camara, Tinariwen, Jah Wobble and more.  Check out “Ana” with its middle-eastern surf guitar infusion.

3 Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba – Mali Koori (Out Here)
Album: Jama Ko

A stunning track off a stunning album – perhaps the best of the year so far.  “Mali Koori” is a paean to the cotton farmers of Mali, with the griot Zoumana Tereta doing the praising.  “Jama Ko” was recorded in Bamako in March 2012 as the military coup was taking place.  There’s a noisier and angrier sound than before, as Bassekou plugs his ngoni into a wah wah pedal and cranks up the amps. Howard Bilerman, who’s produced Arcade Fire and Godspeed you! Black emperor, recorded the album, and co-produced it with Bessekou.
 

4 Bombino – Her Tenere (Nonesuch)

Album: Nomad

Bombino, the nick name of their leader, guitarist, singer and songwriter Ghoumour Oumara Moctar, are from Agadez in Niger.  We’ve played them here a few times, but they’ve never sounded as fat and noisy as this, probably in no small part thanks to production ace, Dan Auerbach.  He was behind last year’s Dr John album “Locked Down”.  “Nomad” is a real crowd-pleaser, as they say in my household.

5 Monoswezi – Ndinewe (Riverboat Records) (Hope Masike)

Album: The Village

Monoswezi is a joint project of musicians from Norway, Mozambique and Zimbabwe and “The Village” is their second album.  Singing is courtesy of Zimbabwean Hope Masike, who also wrote the song and plays the mbira. The lyrical sax playing is from Norweigan Hallvard Godal.

 

Here’s a bit of a thematic insert: music from countries of the formerly Celtic world – a mouthful, I know, but I’m not sure there is such a thing as Celtic music.  There is definitely a modern day cross pollination of sounds and ideas – but is this really rooted in some real ancient past or some notion of what the past was?  Anyway, to say there’s damn fine music coming out Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany and Galicia is an extravagant understatement.  Cornwell, I’m afraid, doesn’t feature here.

6 Dolina Maclennan – Port a beul
Album: Bonny Lass Come O’Er the Burn

Folk revivalist of the 50s, 60s and 70s Dolina MacLennan is from a small village of Marvig on the east coast of the island of Lewis off Scotland.  “Port a beul” simply means “mouth music”: the voice being used for want of pipes, the words being nonsense. 

7 Sorcha Ni Ghuairim -  D-tegeas O Deabhasa (Children’s Game Song) (Smithsonian Folkways)

Album: Classic Celtic Music from Smithsonian Folkways

Irish Sorcha Ni Ghuairim was a sean nos singer, journalist and teacher.  She recorded “Children’s Game Song” for Smithsonian Folkways in 1945 while visiting her brother in the US.

8 June Tabor, Iain Bellamy, Huw Warren – As I Roved Out (ECM)

Album: Quercus

The authoritative voice of June Tabor giving an object lesson in bridging the gaps between traditional, folk and jazz singing on her 2013 release.  She seems to get better and better.  “I roved out” is an old Irish song.  On piano is Huw Warren, someone she’s played with for a quite a while, and on sax is Ian Bellamy.  They first played together as part of bigger band in 2005 on Tabor’s fantasic “At the Wood’s Heart”.   
 

9 Yann-fanch Kemener & Aldo Ripoche – Gwerz Dom Yabb Derrian (Buda Misique)

Album: An Dorn

Yann-Fanch Kemener has been around on the folk revival scene in Breton since the 1970, a contempory of Dan Ar Brau and Alan Stivell.  He often seeks out the linkages with Medieval music, especially in his playing with cellist and gamba player Aldo Ripoche.  A “gwerz” is a type of ballad from Breton. 
 

10 Mercedes Peon – Aiche (Discmedi)

Album: Siha

Mercedes Peon is definitely my favourite Galician musician.  “Siha” is a fabulous record from 2007 which I didn’t know about until a few months ago.  It’s probably her best.  Not only does Peon sing, play bagpipes and a bunch of agricultural implements, she also teaches music across Galicia, hosts TV programme about early Galician music, collects songs and publishes her field research.

11 Fernhill – Dawns o Gwmpas (Beautiful Jo Records)

Album: Whilia

Julie Murphy is a larger than life figure from the Welsh revival scene, although she’s English and so are a bunch of fellow musicians in Fernhill, including diatonic button accordionist, Andy Cutting.  “Dawns o Gwmpas” means “dancing around”.

12 Macy Gray – Off to sea once more (Anti)

Album: Sons of Rogues Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs & Chanteys

From Blighty we’ve “Off to sea once more” bound for the West Indies … with Macy Gray of all people.  “Son of Rogues Gallary: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs & Chanteys” is a follow up to the 2006 “Rogue’s Gallery” – a collection of cruel and unusual versions of chanteys and such put together by maverick producer Hal Willner with aid from Johnny Depp.

13 Da Grynch – Possessed Dub (Necessary Mayhem)

Album: Release the Hounds

Curtis Lynch aka Da Grynch started off deejaying jungle music at the age of 15 and since then has steeped himself in the techniques of the great dub producers, especially King Tubby and Scientist.  “Possessed Dub” is a dub version of a song by Tarrus Riley, and on his fine 2012 CD “Release the hounds” which he brought out on his own label.

14 The Lions – This Generation (Malik Moore & Black Shakespeare) (Stones Throw)

Album: This Generation

The Lions are 18 piece band from LA, who are keen on that 70s reggae sound.  The title track off their new album, “This Generation”, has quite ska-ish, not a little like The Specials or The Beat. Black Shakespeare, Robbie Shakespeare’s son, does the vocal honours with Malik Moore. 

15 The Gladiators – Bongo Red (Soul Jazz)

Studio One Ironsides

A wonderful tune from some time in the 70s.    

16 Clinton Fearon – Bless Your Heart (Dulce)

Album: Mi an’ mi guitar

Clinton Fearon was a long time member of the Gladiators, their bassist and one of their singers. For the last while he’s been putting out albums of stripped down versions of classic songs.  This tune is from an album that came out a while ago called “Mi an mi guitar”.  We’ll listen to something from brand new record soon.

17 Chris Smithers – What they say (Signature Sounds)

Album: Hundred Dollar Valentine

Chris Smither was raised in New Orleans although probably lived most of this life on the East Coast of the US – no doubt some NOLA influences remain, though.  This tune is off his fine 2012 album “Hundred Dollar Valentine”.

18 Wolf Krakowski – Tife Griber, Royter Laym (Deep pits, red clay) (Tzadik)

Album: Goyrl: Destiny

Wolf Krakowski’s revelatory version of the Emil Gorovets song.  Emil Gorovets was born in the Ukraine in 1923 and died in NYC in 2001.  Famous for a string of his own songs in Russian, Ukranian and Yiddish, but also for singing well known European and American songs in Russian.  Wolf is a friend of this show – check out his comments.  His album was produced by Frank London of The Klezmatics.

19 Hasidic New Wave – Debka (Tzadik) (trad/arr)

Album: The Complete Recordings (originally from “Jews and the Abstract Truth” (1997))

Hasidic New Wave is another one of trumpeter Frank London’s projects, this time with sax player Greg Wall.  Hasidic melodies infused with free jazz, rock and funk – and vice versa. 

 

20 A Hawk and a Hacksaw – Marikam, Marikam (Hungary) (Traditional) (L.M. Dupli-Cation)

Album: You Have Already Gone to the Other World

A Hawk and a Hacksaw with a jews harp led “Marikam, Marikam”, a traditional tune.  A Hawk and a Hacksaw is Jeremy Barnes, ex-drummer for Neutral Milk Hotel, and violinist Heather Trost and they’re from Albuquerque, New Mexico.  It’s on their absolutely fabulous new album.  There’ll more about that project in the August show.   

21 Alexander Turnquist – Standing at the Entrance of a Hidden City (Tompkins Square)

Album: Imaginational Anthem vol. 5

The label Tompkins Square has become a home for new guitarists taking forward John Fahey’s American Primitive acoustic guitar ragas.  Alexander Turnquist is an Idaho guitarist and composer who brings minimalism into the guitar raga fray. 

22 Inle Myint, Yi Yi Thant – A Huntsman Enchanted (Smithsonian Folkways)

Album: Mahagita: Harp and Vocal Music of Burma

From the Mahagita, a Burmese collection of great songs based on the Indian classical tradition, harpist Inle Myint Maung, who plays a 16-string arched harp, and vocalist Yi Yi Thant, who also plays percussion. 

23 Unknown Artist – Sabaithong Powpuri/ Broken Heart So Let’s Dance (Sublime Frequencies)

Album: Molam: Thai Country Groove from Isan

Heading south to the rural areas of Laos and Isan region of Thailand, for some molam.  Molam, which means “master singer”, is an umbrella term for many regional singing styles usually accompanied by a free-reed bamboo mouth organ and various lute-like instruments.  The late 70 early 80s saw the introduction of electric instruments into the area and a fantastic array of responses. 

24 Fatimah Amin & the Clans – Oh Teruna (Oh young bachelor) (Sublime Frequencies)
Album: Pop Yeh Yeh: Psychedelic Rock from Singapore and Malaysia 1964-1970: vol 1

Even further south to Singapore and Malaysia, from the “Pop Yeh Yeh” era spanning from the mid 60s to 1970.  Who would have thought surf music could travel so far?

25 T.K. Ramamoorthy – Ranjani (EM Records)
Album: Fabulous Notes & Beats of the Indian Carnatic-Jazz

T K Ramamoorthy was a brilliant composer in the Carnatic tradition who also made forays into jazz. In 1969 he released a really fabulous record called appropriately called “Fabulous Notes and Beats of the Indian Carnatic Jazz”. I’ve mentioned this encapsulation I found on the web before, but I like it so much here it is again – “a syncretic combination of Carnatic raga and bachelor-pad lounge”.

26 Jan Bang & Erik Honore – The Ruminative Gap (SamadhiSound)

Album: Uncommon deities

Norweigan musicians Jan Bang and Erik Honore on various kinds of samples and processors, together with trumpeter Arve Hendriksen and vocalist Sidsel Endresen.  “Uncommon deities” out on David Sylvian’s label SamadhiSound.