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