7 January 2015, World Cafe

A review of some of the musical highlights of 2014.  There’ve been many: recorded, live and commemorative and historical, and some invariably originating in 2013.  And there’ll be more in the next show too.   

1 The Bhundu Boys – Foolish Harp/Waerera (Cooking Vinyl Records)

Album: Friends on the road

A collaboration between Zimbabwe’s the Bhundu Boys and Scottish harpist Savourna Stevensen from 1993.  Probably my main reason for playing this is that the Bhundu Boys where a favourate of the great British DJ John Peel who died 10 years ago this year – in fact this appeared as part of one of John Peel’s legendary Festive Fifties.  Found it on collection brought out by Uncut some years ago.

2 Julie Fowlis – Puirt A Beul Set  - Fodor Dha Na Gamhna Beaga (Fodder for the small stirks) (Machair)

Album: Gach Sgeul: Every Story

Julie Fowlis released an album in 2014 with some great goes at puirt a beul or mouth music.  Like a lot of Scottish trad songs its about a specific farm animal, this time a yearling bullock or heifer.

3 The Gloaming – Song 44 (Real World)

Album: The Gloaming

The Gloaming came up with a fantastic re-imagining of Irish music – improvy, textural with the treated piano to the fore.  The Gloaming is fiddle player Martin Hayes and guitarist Dennis Cahill (a magnificent duo I hope you’re all heard) and hardanger fiddler Caoimhim O’ Raghllaigh, pianist Thomas Barlett and singer Iarla O’Lionaird.

4 Mamani Keita – Djigihia (World Village)

Album: Kanou

Mamani Keita produced one of my favourite albums of 2014. After spending a good deal of her career supplying backing vocals and spice to fusionist, electronic and jazz settings with others at the helm, she’s now writing her own stuff and has some players of serious pedigree and grit in her band – Rail Band guitarist Djeli Moussa Kouyate and ngoni player Moriba Keita.

5 Tinariwen – Emajer (Pias)

Album: Emmaar

The Touareg group has been making great albums for the last 13 years starting out in Libyan refugee camp.  Their latest, Emmaar, was recorded in Joshua Tree in the Mojave Desert, and has quite a relaxed, natural sound.  Nothing obviously incendiary or spiky, but very pleasant all the same. 

6 Adrian Raso & Fanfare Ciocarlia – Swing Sagarese (Asphalt Tango)

Album: Devil’s Tale

Something more obviously thrilling, although you might only be able to take this in limited doses, is Toronto guitarist Adrian Raso’s collision of French manouche and Romanian brass, in the form of Fanfare Ciocarlia.  

7 Rob Heron and the Tea Pad Orchestra – Crazy Country Fool (Tea Pad Recordings)

Talk about the weather

More gypsy swing, this time cut with western swing and old time Americana courtesy of a band from Newcastle, in the UK.  BTW this bunch get quality assurance from Pokey LaFarge. 

8 Russo Passapusso – Paraquedas (Mais Um Discos)

Album: Role: New Sounds of Brazil

Russo Passapusso is from the Brazilian State of Bahia and its capital city, Salvador, and this is his fantastic updating of the MPB with added grit.  

9 Rodrigo Amarante – Tardei (Mais Um Discos)

Album: Role: New Sounds of Brazil

Hardly surprising that there’re a bunch of great Brazilian releases this year, I suppose.  One of the best is a collection out on the Mais Um Discos label called "Role: New Sounds of Brazil".  The Russo Passapusso track was from that collection, and so is this distinctly laid back and folky one.  Rodrigo Amarante is from Rio.

10 Quantic – Muevelo Negro (feat Nidia Gongora) (Tru Thoughts)

Album: Magnetica

DJ, producer and musician Quantic aka Will Holland put out one of the grooviest albums of the year – dance music for the well-listened, perhaps.  It draws mainly on a cross section Colombian music, but there are other sounds in there too – from the Caribbean and South America, Angola and even Ethiopia.  The singer and songwriter Nidia Gongora guests.  She comes from the jungle river areas of the Pacific coast of Columbia – Timbique, to be precise.

http://www.okayplayer.com/news/quantic-plays-new-music-live-in-session-kcrw-video.html

 11 Felix Martinez y sus Chavales – La Gallina (Tiger’s Milk Records)

Album: Peru Maravilloso: Vintage Latin, Tropic and Cumbia

2014 was certainly not bereft of collections exhuming vintage music from very localized scenes.  Tiger’s Milk Records Peruvian collection covered the rich hybrid scene in the 60s and 70s heavily spiked with psychedelia,  As one write-up I read puts it, La Gallina by Felix Martinez y sus Chavales is a “briskly bitter kiss-off to an unfaithful woman”.

12 Aurelio – Nafagua (Real World)

Album: Landini

Aurelio Martinez, who took over the mantle of champion and stalwart of Garifuna music and culture from Andy Palacio, put out a new record in 2014. He says it draws more heavily on the village based, traditional music of his mother’s generation, to whom the album is dedicated.

13 Steve Tilston Trio – Courting is a pleasure (Hubris Records)

Album: Happenstance

Martha Tilston put out a great record of traditional English stuff in 2014, but instead of that, here’s something from a recent album her father, Steve Tilston.  (Steve actually plays on Martha’s record which we'll sample in the next show).  It’s a song that the great traditional guitarist and singer, Nic Jones, used to play – and may still play, aided by his son on guitar now.  And to labour things even more, we can also dedicate this song to the traditional singer and flautist Maggie Boyle, who died in November 2014 – she was also Steve Tilston’s wife and stepmother to Martha …

14 The Rails – William Taylor (Island)

Album: Fair Warning

Channeling the sound and spirit of Richard and Linda Thompson, the Rails, daughter of Richard and Linda, Kami Thompson, and her husband James Walbourne, put out fabulous album, on Island Records’ specially revived pink label.  This is a traditional song The Rails wrote.

15 Willy Mason – Pickup Truck (Fiction/Polydor)

Album: Carry On

2014 saw some great concerts in Cape Town.  There was Cat Power and Willy Mason at the Baxter.  Cat Power is way too chilled for this show.  A fun fact about Willy Mason gleaned from Wikipedia: he’s a direct descendant of the 19th-century philosopher William James, the brother of novelist Henry James, on his mother’s side.

16 Vieux Farka Toure – Borei (Six Degrees)

Album: The Secret

A live high point of live music in Cape Town, was definitely Vieux Farka Toure’s scorching blow out at Cape Town World Music Festival at the City Hall. 

17 Derek Gripper – Bokoye (New Cape)

Album: One Night on Earth: Music from the strings of Mali

At the CTWMF, Vieux Farka Toure’s slot was directly followed by an incredible show by Derek Gripper on the City Hall’s rooftop tented stage in the middle of rain storm.  Derek played his wonderful transcriptions of kora music for classical 6 string guitar.  “Bokoye” was written by Ali Farka Toure, Vieux’s father.

18 Toumani & Sidiki Diabate – Bagadaji Sirifoula (World Circuit)

Album: Toumani & Sidiki

One of Derek Gripper’s his top musical heroes is Toumani Diabate, and it seems that in 2015 someone (actually Mats Hjelm) is making a documentary of Derek going to Mali to meet Diabate and hopefully actually meeting him.  Anyway, Toumani and his son Sidiki, put out an album of kora duets in 2014.  “Bagadaji Sirifoula” is a district in Bamako with the main market and Mosque in the city.  According to Toumani, the religious families in the area did a great job in keeping things calm during the crisis in Mali.

19 National Wake – Time & Place (Light in the Attic)

Album: Walk in Africa

2014 also saw the thirtieth anniversary of SA indie label, Shifty Records, which meant a lot to me in my teenage years and early twenties.  One of the founders of Shifty was Ivan Kadey, who had formed National Wake in the late 70s – a punky reggae band born out of commune in Jo’burg.  The band split in ‘82, and two of its members, brothers Gary and Punka Khoza have died since.  Their sole release was the album, “Walk in Africa”.  Only 500 copies were pressed apparently, but luckily “Light in the Attic” reissued the thing in 2013, I think.

http://electricjive.blogspot.com/2013/10/greetings-from-africa-michael-lbs-and.html

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/oct/03/national-wake-south-africa-punk-apartheid

http://mg.co.za/article/2014-08-29-rebooting-shifty-recordss-mighty-rebel-yell/

20 Hollie Cook – Twice (B Corbelet, M Pelanconi, G Toto) (Mr Bongo)

Album: Twice

Totally love Hollie Cook and Prince Fatty’s reinvention of lovers rock. 

21 Lee “Scratch” Perry – Words Re-Vision (Dubplate) (Upsetter Music)

Album: Back on the controls

The indomitable Lee Perry was back in the studio in 2014 multiple times it seems – but by far the best of his forays was orchestrated by English producer Daniel Boyle, who tried to create the ambient and technological conditions of the Perry’s legendary Black Ark Studio active between 73 and 79 until Perry supposedly burnt it down.  In the mix there is veteran drummer Style Scott who died in October 2014.  Scott was part of the Root Radics and on loads of On-U recordings as part of the Dub Syndicate, the New Age Steppers and Singers and Players.  This is Perry's new take on the Congo’s classic “Words”.

22 Dennis Bovell – Itous (Glitterbeat)

Album: Glitterbeat: Dubs and Versions I

Dennis Bovell’s stupendous dub version of Tamikrest’s Itous which came out on a new label called “Glitterbeat”, an off-shoot of the Glitterhouse label, and concentrating on West African music.

23 Dub Colossus – Family Man (Independent)

Album: Addis To Omega

And speaking of collisions of African music and dub, Dub Colossus put out what the Financial Times called “probably the first dub concept album about the banking crisis”.  It has less Addis than Kingston, apparently because of high airfares and visa costs. Dub Colossus did manage to enlist the talents of the Horns of Negas and singer PJ Higgins – who is just the best … 

24 Woima Collective – The Castle (Kindred Spirits)

Album: Frou Frou Roko

German Afro-jazz funk aces Woima Collective released another great collection of tight, inventive tunes in 2014 called “Frou Frou Roko”. 

25 Driss El Maloumi – Intidar (Contre-Jour)

Album: Makan

Morrocan oud player Driss El Maloumi put out a massively impressive album in 2014 with two percussionists, one his brother, Said, the other Lahoucine Baquir. 

26 Thepporn Petchubon - Fang Jai Viangjan (Soundway)

Album: The Sound of Siam vol 2: Molam & Luk Thung 1970-82 from North-East Thailand

Thepporn Petchubon from Soundways terrific collection of 70s and early 80s Molam and Luk Thung music from Northeastern Thailand, although I’m not sure that “Fang Jai Viangjan” would qualify as either molam or luk thung.

3 December 2014, World Cafe

1 Preservation Hall Jazz Band – That’s it! (Sony)

Album: That’s It!

The newly revived Preservation Hall Jazz Band from New Orleans under the directorship of bassist and tuba player Ben Jaffe carrying on the legacy of his parents who co-founded the band 50 years ago. 

2 Fats Domino – Bo Weevil (Proper Records)

Album: The Cosimo Matassa Story vol 2

The cultural and musical blender that is New Orleans is not only the birth place of jazz, but also probably rock n roll, and one of the midwives was surely Cosimo Matassa, who died in September 2014 at 88.  Since the 40s Matassa owned a number of small recording studios and was the sound engineer on a huge volume of sides bearing that very unique NOLA sound.  This is one from 1955.

3 Dave Bartholomew – Shrimp and gumbo (Proper Records)

Album: The Cosimo Matassa Story vol 2

Another from 1955.  Dave Bartholomew was more than a singer and songwriter; he also ran a very influential band at the time and had links with Imperial Records, which released a good deal of the stuff recorded by Matassa.  He was also central in kicking of Fats Domino’s career, and co-wrote a bunch of songs with him, including “Bo Weevil”

4 Earl King – Street Parade (Soul Jazz)

Album: New Orleans Funk Volume 2

The guitarist and songwriter Earl King recorded a bunch of stuff with Matassa.  Here’s something he did a bit later on, in 1972, with Allen Toussaint and the Meters also in the mix, which is clearly a celebration of the second line parades which occur before Mardi Gras.  The tune is pretty typical of New Orleans’s own distinctive funk sound, with its laid back jazzy swagger. 

5 T. P. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo - Alissa We Dje Gbe (Badmas)

Album: Single: BB118

Funk of a slightly more urgent kind than Earl King – more like James Brown.  From the Beninese band we love to play here.  It’s from a series of singles recorded in the Ivory Coast in 1976 on the Badmas label.

6 Aby Ngana Diop – Yaye Penda Mbaye (Awesome Tapes From Africa)

Album: Liital

Turning forward the dial to mid 90 and heading north to Dakar – a top griot in Senegal at the time, Aby Ngana Diop recorded the first fusion of taasu and  mbalax – taasu being a form of praise poetry performed by Wolof woman during family events like naming ceremonies.  She did this with backing singers, a battery of pounding percussion and synthetic marimba sounds courtesy of the Yamaha DX7 and brought it out as cassette-only release destined for obscurity.  And the blog now label, Awesome Tapes from Africa, have reissued it.  One of the only tracks thankfully without the DX7 marimba.

7 Orlando Julius with The Heliocentrics – Jaiyede Afro (Strut)

Album: Jaiyede Afro

Julius with his brand of highlife infused Afrobeat aided and abetted by a very on-form Heliocentrics, who hail from Blighty, and some very spacey production.  Julius has been going since the late 60s, evolving the fusion on r’n’b and funk with Nigerian music, and giving Fela Kuti a few ideas apparently.      

8 Ibibio Sound Machine – Got to move, got to get out! (Soundway)

Album: Ibibio Sound Machine

Stripped down Afro-electro funk from Britain.

9 Thiago Franca / Meta Meta and Tony Allen – Sao Paulo no shakin’ (Mais Um Discos)

Album: Compacto

This tracks bares the unmistakable drumming of one of the inventers of Afrobeat, Nigerian Tony Allen.  He teams up with Sao Paulo based group Meta Meta for this outing, alluding to his tune from 2006, “Lagos no shaking”.  Although they live in Sao Paulo Meta Meta draw their style from the state of Bahia, further to the north.

10 Morena Veloso – Um Passo a Frente (Quito Ribeiro/Mereno Veloso) (Luaka Bop)

Album: Coisa Boa

Morena Veloso, the son of Cataena, was so taken with the music of the Bahia that he relocated to Salvador, its capital.  Most of his new album, “Coisa Boa”, was recorded there too.  A samba that turns into mini carnival.

11 Dona Onete – Moreno morenado (Mais Um Discos)

Album: Role: New Sounds of Brazil

Dona Oneta is from the state of Para, quite a lot further north of Bahia in the heart of the Amazon, and is known as the diva of carimbo chamegado which she invented, adding “spice”, as she puts it, to the traditional rhythms of Para.  Besides being a singer, Oneta has also been a professor of Amazonian Studies and the municipal secretary of culture in her hometown. She’s 75.

12 Mia Doi Todd – Memina, Amanha de Manha (Tom Ze) (City Zen)

Album: Floresta

Mia Doi Todd, from Los Angeles, does a mean Portuguese accent. Here she plays with Maurico Takara, the drummer/percussionist from the Rob Mazurek Octet amongst other Mazurek outfits, and 7-string guitarist, Fabiano do Nascimento.  The tune is by Tropicalia veteran Tom Ze, and from Todd’s somewhat too tasteful 2014 album.

13 Aurelio – Funa Tugudirugu (Unborn Child) (Real World)

Album: Landini

  

Aurelio Martinez is a great preserver of the Garifuna tradition, a Carribean tradition descendent from shipwrecked slaves.  “Unborn Child” is his kind-of warning song about teenage pregnancy.  It’s from his 2014 album dedicated to his mother, Maria, who always wanted to be a professional singer and used to write her songs based on community events and personal experience in the Garafuna tradition.  “Landini” means landing.

Here are three flamenco hybrids:

14 Ramonet y sus Rumberos - Bacalao Salao (Soul Jazz Records) (Derechos Reservados/Ramon Reyes) (Sonoplay – 1966)

Album: Gipsy Rhumba The Original Rhythm of Gipsy Rhumba in Spain 65-74

This first one is cut heavily with Caribbean music.  The style is often called gipsy rhumba and came out of the Catalan region of Spain.  Ramonet or Ramon Reyes was one of pioneers and inventors of the style of playing called “ventilador” – basically strumming with palms drumming the rhythm on the body of guitar.  This is his 1966 tune. 

15 Aynur – Tobedar Im (Network)

Album: Hevra/Together

Turkish Kurd or Kurdish Turk, Aynur, together with Spanish composer, producer and flamenco guitar whiz, Javier Limon from Aynur’s 2014 album. 

16 Adnan Joubran – Signs of Madness (World Village)

Album: Borders Behind

Adnan Joubran is probably most well known as one the three brothers in the Palestinian power folk string band, Le Trio Joubran, with lots of ouds to the fore.  For his 2014 release he links up with Prabhu Edouard on tabla, Valentine Moussou on cello, and Javier Sanchez on cajon and palmas

17 Paolo Angeli – Athena Mina (Angeli) (ReR)

Album: Tessuti: Angeli plays Frith & Bjork

Paolo Angeli on something he calls prepared Sardinian guitar, a giant guitar which is bowed for the lead part, plucked on the bass strings and tapped for percussion and has something like 14 different direct outputs.  Angeli, who grew up in Sardinia, but went off to avantguard music school in Bologna, ended up taking lessons with Giovanni Scanu, a very old traditional player in Northern Sardania. 

18 Bessie Jones (and The Georgia Sea Island Singers) – O Death (Global Jukebox)

Album: Join the band

Sticking to island music, here’s something from the other side of the world, the Georgia Sea Islands, off the coast of the State of Georgia in Uthe S.  The Georgia Sea Island Singers was formed in early 1900s, a group of freed slaves and their descendents aimed at preserving the islands’ special brand of gospel hymns and field songs.  This recording was made by Alan Lomax in about 1960, when Bessie Jones, one of the top singers and song collectors of the Georgia Sea Islands Singers was in full cry.

19 Pokey LaFarge – Day After Day (Third Man)

Album: Pokey LaFarge

Pokey LaFarge, originally from Bloomington, Illnois, with his potent mix of ragtime, country, jazz and swing.  Off his and now, actually, their (go figure) 2013 outing. 

20 Old crow medicine show – Mean enough world (ATO)

Album: Remedy

The Pokey LaFarge album was co-produced by Ketch Sector from another great Americana revival band, Old Crow Medicine Show, and they have a new album out in 2014. 

21 Alice Gerrard – Wedding Dress (Tompkins Square)

Album: Follow the music

Alice Gerrard, has been playing Appalachian music since 60s, often with Hazel Dickens.  She turned 80 in July and has a great new album out produced by MC Taylor from Hiss Golden Messenger.  “Wedding Dress” is a traditional tune.

22 Rachael Dadd – The Distance (Broken Sound Records)

Album: Bite the Mountain

The wonderful poly-rhythms of Rachael Dadd produced on voice, ukulele, prepared piano, clarinet and very various kitchen sink percussive objects.  Dadd is from Bistol but produced her 2011 album in Japan with a bunch of Japanese guest musicians. 

23 Rachel Newton featuring Adam Holmes – The Fairy Man (Shadowside/Cadiz)

Album: Changeling

Harpist, viola and fiddle player, and singer Rachel Newton has a new album out about fairies and changelings.  Adam Holmes, quite a fine singer in his own right, guests brilliantly on her version of "The Fairy Man" based on a poem by Sidney Goodsir Smith, a Scottish poet who died in 1975.  There’s some musical saw in there too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB4t0haKiKQ

24 Naomi Bedford (with Alastair Roberts) – The Watches of the Night (Dusty Willow/Proper)

Album: A History of Insolence

Naomi Bedford’s fiery song off her new album.  The seriously wonderful Scottish singer songwriter, Alasdair Roberts, is the other singer there.

25 Brushy One String – Boom Bang Deng (Rise Up)

Album: The King of One String – Acoustic 

Brushy One String plied his singer-songwriter trade in Jamaica in the shadows for a long time, discovering a string guitar style of playing along the way.  Luckily the doccie producer, Luciano Blotta, through his movie “RiseUp” exposed Brushy (whose real name is Andrew Chin) to the world.  RiseUp Entertainment has managed to get an album of his stuff out. 

26 Dubblestandandart feat Lee Perry Adrian Sherwood – Chase the Devil (Echo Beach)

Album: In dub

Lee Perry with his classic song “Chase the Devil” – you might remember Max Romeo’s 1976 version, which still sounds fresh actually.  This new version is backed by Dubblestandart, an Austrian band, and mixed by dub guru Adrian Sherwood.  If you're wondering where you can find some recent Adrian Sherwood dubs (they seem to be quite rare these days since On-U Sound went into abeyance), the Dubblestandard album “In dub” has six of them.

27  The Rudamentals – Sound Boy Killa (David Platz Music (Pty) Ltd)

Album: Blaze Up the Fire

Cape Town’s own Rundimentals from their new EP “Blaze Up the Fire” which came out in September this year with their own song.

28      Marcia Griffiths – Steppin’ out of Babylon (Penthouse Records)

Single

Marcia Llyneth Griffiths is probably most well known has being part of the I Threes who backed Bob Marley.  But she’s also a fantastic singer and song writer in own right, as this slice of roots reggae from 1979 bares testament to.

29 Daniel Lanois – Frozen (Anti/Epitaph)

Album: Belladona

Something from ultra famous producer and guitarist Daniel Lanois 2005 solo album. 

30 Maggie Bjorklund – Missing at sea (Bloodshot Records)

Album: Shaken

Maggie Bjorklund taking the pedal steel to exquisite new places on her tune.  Bjorklund is from Denmark although she seems to be living in the US now and plays with a bunch of American luminaries on her 2014 album, which is a fabulous thing it has to be said.

31 Building Instrument – Klokka Sju (Hubro)

Album: Building Instrument

Building Instrument are a trio from Bergen, Norway, with the wonderful singer and multi-instrumentalist Mari Kven Brunvoll probably their most famous member.  They released an eponymous album in 2014.  Apparently Brunvoll sings in heavily accented Norweigan from her home region of Molde.

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/building-instrument-building-instrument-hubro-records-review-by-eyal-hareuveni.php#.VF3woHIaInU

8 October 2014, World Cafe

1 DakhaBrakha – Sho Z-Pod Duba (DakhaBrakha)

Album: Yahudky

           

DakhaBrahka from Ukrainian capital, Kiev, have been going since 2004 starting out as a theatrical project.  They use the vocal traditions of the Ukraine as a departure point, and build things from there using cello, concertina and percussion.  From one of their early albums.

2 Forabandit – Mum Olduk (Buda Musique)

Album: Port

Something from another bunch fusionists.  Forabandit are Sam Karpienia from Marseille and Ulas Ozdemir from Istanbul who both explore the troubadour traditions of their home regions, Karpienia singing in Occitan.  They are also great string players – on mandocello and baglama.  Joining them is Iranian percussionist, Bijan Chemirani, who lives in Marseille.  Something from their 2014 release. 

http://www.budamusique.com/infos/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/ForabanditEngPres.pdf

3 Avi Avital – Bucimis (Bulgarian Traditional) (Deutsche Grammaphon)

Album: Between Worlds

The virtuoso mandolin player with a traditional Bulgarian tune.

4 Sondorgo – Drago Kolo (Riverboat)

Album: Tamburocket Hungarian Fireworks

Sticking in that neck of the woods, here’s a tambura brother band from Hungary.  The tambura is a mandolin-type instrument and in band on the three Eredics brothers and their cousin  - the bass tambura player being the only non-family member.  Here’s a traditional dance tune, a duet with only two of the members one of them on some kind of whistle – so only one tambura in evidence here, originally collected quite a long time ago by the great Hungarian composer, Bela Bartok.

5 Rachid & Fethi – Habit en Ich (Sublime Frequencies)

Album: 1970s Algerian Folk and Pop

One of the great Algerian pop bands of the 70s and 80s, who were also brothers.  Rachid was murdered in 1995, and the story goes that his brother has never performed again. 

6 Hijaz – Desert Dancer (Zephyrus Records)

Album: Nahadin

Hijaz seem to be a Belgium based group centred on the interplay of the oud played by Tunisian Mofadhel Adhoum and piano by Niko Deman.  On their 2014 outing, they’re joined by Italian Carlo Rizzo on percussion.  .

7 John Zorn/Rashanim – Zidon (Tzadik)

Album: Masada Rock

Rashanim is a trio with Jon Madof on guitar, and that was their version of the John Zorn composition.  It’s from their CD called Masada Rock which came out in 2005 – one of a number released to mark the label Tzadik’s tenth anniversary.

8 Majid Bekkas – Bania (Igloomondo / Igloo Records)

Album: Al Qantara

Moroccan Majid Bekkas has been playing the guembri for 40 years, plying his special kind of gnawa jazz fusion.  On this new album, he plays with Khalid Kouhen on percussion and Manuel Hermia on flutes and saxophones.

9 Abana Ba Nasery – Omwana Wa Mberi Nesiekhoira (Globe Style)

Album:!Nursery Boys Go Ahead! The Guitar and Bottle Kings of Kenya

Abana Ba Nasery or Nursery Boys were around first in 60s and 70s in Kenya, and whose career was revived in the early 90s by the British label Globe Style via a collection of their pre-90s material.  Globe Style went onto the release of an album of new stuff We heard the tune “Omwana Wa Mberi Nesiekhoira”.  In the mix are number of members of the 3 Mustaphas 3 and the Oysterband, believe it or not.

10 Malawi Mouse Boys – Zochita Zanu (Your Deeds) (IRL)

Album: Dirt is good

With the same kind of exuberance as Abana, but with a more DIY feel are the Malawi Mouse Boys, who also have a great, almost mythological back-story – they came to the attention of semi-famous American producer Ian Brennan when he passing through a Malawian truck-stop at which they were playing guitars and singing while flogging their principle wares, grilled mice on sticks.  Here’s Zochita Zanu from their second album “Dirt is good”.

11 Tabu Ley Rochereau, Afrisa International - Aon Aon (Stern’s Music) 
Album: The Voice of Lightness 1961-1977 – Congo Classics

One of the absolute greats of Congalese Rhumba, singer and songwriter Pascal-Emmanuel Sinamoyi Tabu or as he’s known Tabu Ley Rochereau, and the band he lead for many year, Afrisa International.  Tabu Ley died late in 2013. Over his 5 decade career he sang with all the other greats like Le Grand Kalle and Franco.  He’s said to have written 3000 songs and produced 250 albums. 

12 Kasai Allstars – Down and Out (Crammed Discs)

Album: Beware the Fetish

A more contemporary great of Congolese Music is the Kasai All Stars who concoct something radically different from rhumba or soukous.  They’re collective of 5 different musical groups from the Kasai Province in the DRC – 15 musicians altogether representing 5 different ethnic groups who have not tended to play together in the past to put it mildly. 

Their second album “Beware of the Fetish” is a double CD out on Crammed Disc and is seriously wonderful and quite epic – there’re an extra 24 guest musicians, and producer Vincent Kenis does an incredible job of burrowing deep into the wall of voices, drums, guitars, marimbas and electrified likembes or mribas. 

Sheer Music is bringing Crammed Discs into SA, so you’ll be able to get the Kassai All Stars and other Crammed Discs disks in good Music Stores

13 Family Atlantica – Manicero (Soundways Records)

Album: Family Atlantica

It’s the night of the fusionists – this time from Hackey, London.  Family Atlantica Family exist somewhere between Europe, South America and Africa.  At the core of the band is Heliocentrics member Jack Yglesias (we’re heard the Heliocentrics here a few times) and his Venezuelan wife Luzmira Zerpa.  Their tune “El Manicero” which is definitely hovering over Latin America.

14 Chancha Via Circuito – Jardines (ft Lido Pimienta) (Crammed Discs)

Album: Amansara

Heading to Argentina for some digital cumbia.  Chanca Via Circuito is basically Pedro Canele.  Lido Pimienta is on vocals on this track. 

15 Las Hermanas Caronni – Chiche Pempe (Snail Records)

Album: Baguala de la Siesta

We’ve had a couple of brother bands tonight, here’s a sister band from Argintina.  Laura and Gianna Caronni are both classically trained – on cello and clarinet – and play folk songs with some refinement. 

16 Los De Abajo – Cicatrices (Flowfish Records GbR)

Album: Mariachi Beat

Los de Abajo started out as a four piece Latin ska band in Mexico City in the early 90s, but they’ve more than doubled in size with constantly changing personnel and broadened their sound a lot since then.  Their latest album draws heavily on traditional Mexican music. 

17 Petrona Martinez – La Petronica Martinez (Tambora Golpia) (ft Martina Camargo) (Chaco World Music)

Album: Las Penas Aleges

A living legend of Colombian folk music, Petrona Martinez, is well into her 70s now.  The style she plays is called bullerengue and it’s from the Caribbean coast of Colombia.  A lead singer or cantadora improvises the verses while a choir responds – and it’s driven by drumming and clapping.  The particular rhythm here is tambora, and the tune was kicked off by Martina Camargo, with Petrona Martinez coming in later.  Martinez covers a lot of musical bases and we’ll be more in the future.  Thanks to Fred Salles for showing the way on this on.

18 Frente Cumbiero Meets Mad Professor – Cumbietrope (Dub) (Vampi Soul)

Album: Frente Cumbiero Meets Mad Professor

The band Frente Cumbiero is an innovative force in Colombian cumbia at the moment.  One of its members is Eblis Alvarez, the guy behind the Meridian Brothers.  In 2009 they teamed with the Mad Professor, one of the great second generation British dub producers, in Bogota.  The album Frente Cumbiero meets Mad Professor resulted. 

19 Althea and Donna – Uptown Town Ranking (Virgin Records/Music) (A Forrest/D Reid)

Album: Freedom Sounds (A Celebration)

Like all musicians, reggae musicians often have conversations across songs and decades with a fair amount of musical scavenging and cannibalism taking place in the process.  One of the great examples of this is the evolution of Althea and Donna smash 1978 hit “Uptown Top Ranking”

20 Alton Ellis – I’m still in love

Album: I’m still in love

Uptown Top Ranking has its roots in one of the great innovators of rocksteady, the singer Alton Ellis.  The song is “I’m still in love with you” which dates from the early 70s.  In this version Ellis duets with his sister Hortense Ellis.

21 Trinity – Three Piece Suit (Belmont Records)

Album: Three Piece Suit (Special edition)

That was Trinity’s Three Piece Suit drew heavily on Anton Ellis rhythm – Uptown Ranking was Althea and Donna’s direct response to this tune.

22 DJ Dawn and the Ranking Queens – Peace Truce Thing (Soul Jazz Records) / Jamrec Music

Album: Studio One Dancehall – Sir Coxone in the Dance: The Foundation Sound

At the dawn of what became known as Dancehall– the sub-genre that gained dominance after reggae in the late 70s – DJ Dawn and the Ranking Queens did a disco remix of Uptown Top Ranking. 

23 Jah Wobble presents PJ Higgins – Inspiration (Sonar Kollectiv)

Album: Inspiration

A couple of month’s ago we listened to something off Dub Collossus’ latest album “Addis to Omega”  and mentioned their current singer, PJ Higgins, was on a roll and on some kind of a career high and that I’d be playing more.  This is a collaboration with Jah Wobble – the title track of their album, Inspiration.  PJ Higgins has been around for ages – she started out in the mid 90s singing another of Wobble’s collaborators, Natasha Atlas.  There’s more of her stuff out worth listening to, and we’ll be doing that …

24 Nancy Kerr – The Priest’s Garden (Little Dish Records)

Album: Sweet Visitor

Sticking in Blighty, the traditional fiddle player, Nancy Kerr, has just released her first solo album.  It’s called “Sweet Visitors” and all the tunes on it are her own. 

25 Martin and Eliza Carthy – The Queen of Hearts (Topic)

Album: The Moral of the Elephant

Eliza Carthy is another great English trad fiddle player, and she’s actually played with Nancy Kerr – they have album together.  A trad tune from a 2014 release with her father Martin Carthy. 

26 Richard Thompson – Beeswing (Beeswing/Proper)

Album: Acoustic Classics

Richard Thompson has a new album out – a collection of some of his great songs played anew in utterly stripped down form by Thompson alone.  It’s embarrassment of riches.   

27 Gambangan, Gamelan Semar Pegulingan (Smithsonian Folkways)

Album: Music for the gods: The Fahnestock South Sea Expedition, Indonesia

We don’t often listen to Indonesian gamelan music here, but recent fusionist explorations reminded about how great it can be.  Let’s start with something old – field recordings made in 1941 in Indonesia archipelago by Bruce and Sheridan Fahnestock and available on a Smithsonian Folkway’s release. 

28 Glenn Kotche 7 Gamelan Galak Tika – The Travelling Turtle (Canteloupe)

Album: Adventureland

Glen Kotche, the drummer from Wilco, with a gamelan collective from his new album.

29 OOIOO – Jesso Testa (Thrill Jockey)

Album: Gamel

The Japanese experimental psych collective

Gjendines Badnlat (Gjendine’s Cradle Song) (Ozella Music)

Album: Hjemklang

Norwegian singer Gjertud Lunde with trumpeter, Arve Hendriksen, guesting.

August 6 2014, World Cafe

1 Mamani Keita – Kanou (World Village)

Album: Kanou

Mamani Keita together with guitarist Djeli Moussa Kouyate (from the Rail Band) and ngoni player Moriba Koita (who’s played with the greats like Salif Keita and Kandia Kouyate).  That’s from Mamani Keita’s latest, which is very good. 

2 Anansy Cisse – Aigouna (Riverboat)

Album: Mali Overdrive

Continuing with new releases from Mali, here’s something from Anansy Cisse off his debut international release.  Cisse is based on Bamako now, but up until recently ran his own recording studio in Dire in the north of the country which churned out pop music – autotuned ‘n all.  He was forced out in late 2012 by the militant Islamist incursion.  Luckily for us, he managed to put together some his own stuff, which is based on traditional Fulani and Songhai music, and came to the attention of the label via an online “Battle of the bands” competition.  This is his celebration of all things Fulani. 

3 Tamikrest – Tisnant an Chatma (Glitterbeat)

Album: Chatma

A magnificent Tuareg rock band with “Tisnant an Chatma” (The suffering of my sisters) off their 2013 album.

4 Kankou Kouyate – Yamore (Transgressive)

Album: Africa Express Presents Maison des Jenues

Kankou Kouyate is a young singer from Mali, the niece of ngoni whiz Bassekou Kouyate, which I guess is why she gets to be backed by power ngoni trio called Groupe Gambari.  Here she is doing a Salif Keita tune, “Yomore”.  Love those subtle jazzy chords in there – such this side of good taste. 

5 Toumani Diabate and Sidiki Diabate – Lampedusa (World Circuit)

Album: Toumani & Sidiki

 “Lampedusa” is an Italian island and a target destination for African emigrants usually coming on overloaded, rickety boats.  Toumani & Sidiki wrote the tune to commemorate the death of 300 people in one accident round about the same time as the insurgency crisis was breaking in Mali.

Sheer Music is distributing the “Toumani & Sidiki” album in South Africa, and they tell me it’s in all good record stores now.  So you know where to get it – and get it, you must.

6 Aziza Brahim – Espejismos (Glitterbeat)

Album: Soutak

Aziza Brahim is a Sahawari from the Western Sahara who is now based in Spain, and on her album, Soutak (Your Voice) she combines Sahawari traditional music with music from Mali, Spain and Cuba, where she lived as a teenager. “Espejismos” is Spanish for mirages.

7 Noura Mint Seymali – Hebebeb (Zrag) (Glitterbeat/Shellshock)

Album: Tzenni

The absolutely stunning Noura Mint Seymali from Mauritania from her exuberant, estatic album.  She started out backing probably the greatest Mauritanian singer of modern times, Dimi Mint Abba, who was her stepmother.  She backs herself on the ardine, a 9-stringed harp, and the blistering guitar is courtesy of husband, Jeiche Ould Chighaly, who also plays the tidinet, a traditional guitar-like instrument. 

8 Nashaz – Khartoum (Ziryab Records)

Album: Nashaz

Nashaz is the brain child of New Orleans born and Brooklyn based oud player, Brian Prunka, who studied with Palestinian oud master Simon Shaeen. It’s said that his style is too subdued and respective even though he clearly knows his Arabic scales.  Personally, I think Nashaz conjure up a great fusion of Arabic classical music and trad jazz. 

9 Haggai Cohen-Milo – The Garden (Tzadik) 

Album: Penguin

Sticking in Brooklyn, a composition by Israeli born bassist Haggai Cohen-Milo.

10 Seu Jorge – Carolina (Mr Bongo)

Album: Carolina

Carrying on from last month’s Brazillian mini-focus, the gruff eminence of Seu Jorge, as usual surrounded by the sweetest of Brazillian sounds, the samba.  Luckily there’s a funky undercarriage to prevent us going totally nuts – in fact, in turns out to sound not unlike Jorge Ben on his samba funk classic, Africa Basil, which we sampled last month.  Hardly an accident, as Jorge Ben co-wrote the tune.  Carolina, released in 2001, was Seu Jorge’s international debut. 

11 Arnaldo Antunes – Ela E Tarja Preta (Mais Um Discos)

Album: Role: New Sounds of Brazil

Another great of Brazillian pop and rock music, maybe not that well-known.  His career goes back to the 70s and he’s actually also a well known poet, and here’s a happy connection, he’s released an album with Toumani Diabate about two years ago.  The tune is on a collection out on “Mais um discos” or “Another label” – a fantastic label rooted in classic Brazillian 60s and 70s, but driving it forward in all kinds of interesting ways.

12 Mestre Cupijo – Caboclinha do Igapo (Atracao Fongrafica)

Album: Sons da Amazon: Siria

Siria is a relatively obscure style of Brazillian music that comes from northern state of Para.  It’s a kind of street parade music that combines music from the quilombos, which were settlements of escaped African slaves, with Amazonian music.  Alto sax player Mestre Cupijo is one of the most well known exponents. 

13 Karol Conka – Boa Noite (Mr Bongo)

Album: Batuk Freak

Karol Conka with producer Nave and their combination of rap and baile funk.  Apparently the song is mixed into some FIFA video game soundtrack developed by EA Sports.  Despite that, it’s pretty fantastic.

14 Meta Meta – Alakoro (Mais Um Discos)

Album: Role: New Sounds of Brazil

Meta Meta is a Sao Paulo based group heavily influenced by Candomble music from Bahia.  Here they combine forces with the Afrobeat master drummer, Tony Allen, for some typically exploratory stuff.  It’s on the Mais Um Discos label – won’t you know.

15 Woima Collective – Marz (Kindred Spirits)

Album: Tezeta

Ten piece German based Woima Collective play some potent Ethio Jazz.  “Tezeta” is from their 2010 album, but they have a new one out. 

16 Tsegue-Maryam Guebrou – Tenkou! Why feel sorry (Buda Music)

Album: Ethiopia Song Piano Solo     

90 year old Jerusalem-based Ethiopian nun Tsegue-Maryam Guebrou has become quite a cult figure since Ethiopiques released a collection of her compositions for solo piano in 2006.  The tune “Tenkou! Why feel sorry!” was recorded in 1996.

17 Dub Collossus – Addis to Omega (IRL)

Album: Addis to Omega

On its latest outing Dub Collossus has been forced by economic circumstances to press ahead without their Ethiopian contingent given the cost of airfares and visas, but still a tincture of Ethiopian pentatonic-ness in there – the wonderful Horns of Negus are still them too. PJ Higgins is on vocals – “From Ethiopia to Londonium, from Adam and Eve to Armaggidion”.  As the Financial Times has observed “probably the first dub concept album about the banking crisis”.  More from PJ Higgins in later shows … she’s on a roll at the moment.

18 Trinity meets Dillinger – Jesus Dread (Blood and Fire) 

Album: Yabby You ‎– Jesus Dread 1972-1977

DJ and producer Trinity and toaster Dillinger – Jesus Dread in the mid 70s, produced by one of the greats of dub, Yubby You.

19 Rico Rodriguez – This Day Dub (Ghetto Rockers PRE 1)

Album: Man from Wareika Dub

The composer and trombonist Rico Rodriguez from a dub version of his landmark 1976 album “Man from Wareika” in which he took jazz into the heart of reggae – before jazz had only really been brought into 60s ska.  Someday we’ll listen to the straight version of “This Day”. 

20 Little Axe – Come Here Dog and Get Your Bone (On U Sound) 

Album: If you want loyalty buy a dog

Little Axe is the incarnation of singer and guitarist Skip McDonald that fuses blues, reggae and dub - strongly aided and abetted by producer Adrian Sherwood.  Here’s a short contemplation of what it’s like to be a young musician. 

21 Willie Watson – Mexican Cowboy (Acony)

Album: Folk Singer Vol 1

One of the founders of the Old Crow Medicine Show, Willie Watson, went solo some time ago and has just released this first album – a truly wonderful collection of old time classics, some more well than others.  You have to love that claw-hammer banjer there.

22 The McIntosh County Shouters – Sign of the Judgement (Smithsonian Folkways)

Album: Wade in the Water: African American Sacred Music Traditions Vol I-IV

According some very serious notes on the Smithsonian Folkways website: “The southeastern ring shout is probably the oldest surviving African American performance tradition on the North American continent”.  Anyway, it was thought to have totally died out until it was rediscovered in 1980s in McIntosh County on the coast of Georgia.  “Shout” actually describes the movement while singing and not the singing – deriving from the Afro-Arabic saut which refers to the movement around the Kabaa in Mecca.  Here, thanks largely to the HBO series “True Detective”.

23 tUnE-yArDs – Rocking Chair (4AD)

Album: Nikki Nack

“Rocking Chair” is Merrill Garbus’ uncanny channeling of sounds the Georgia Islands and the Carribean.  Got more than a couple of critics somewhat queasy. 

24 Hurray for the Riff Raff – Good Times (An Outlaw’s Lament) (ATO)

Album: Small Town Heroes

New Orleans based Hurray for the Riff Raff off their 2014 release.   

25 1982 – 02:01 (Hubro Music)

Album: A/B

1982 is an improvisional trio from Norway with hardanger fiddler Nils Okland, harmonium player, organist and pianist, Sigbjorn Apeland and drummer Oyvind Skarbo.

26 Benedicte Maurseth and Asne Valland Nordli – Ales (ECM)

Album: Over Tones

Benedicte Maurseth who plays the Hardanger fiddle and sings and vocalist Asne Valland Nordli are both from the Hardanger fjord in Norway.  Their improvisations are heavily inspired by traditional music from the area.