3 August 2016, World Cafe

1 Fanfare Ciocarlia – Crayfish Hora (Asphalt Tango)

Album: Onwards to Mars!

Fanfare Ciocarlia have been going for 20 years this year – and are still largely intact from their early days when came up to storm the world from a tiny village in the NE Romania. A hora is a Romanian round dance. 

2 The Spike Orchestra – Hakha (Tzadik)

Album: Cerebus: Book of Angels, Vol 26

Since the early 90s, John Zorn has, so far, written 3 multi-volume books of tunes– the Masada songbook – 613 tunes in total.  He gets great bands to play them and usually records them on his label Tzadik.  The Spike Orchestra is an 18 piece group from London, and they’ve done a version of volume 26 of the Zorn songbook called Cerebus: Book of Angels.  10 tunes, each named after an angel. 

3 Debo Band – Blue Awaze (FPE)

Album: Ere Gobez

Ethiojazz band Debo Band from Boston have a new release out which translates roughly as “Call of the lionhearted”. It’s up there with there with their first release from 2012 – which I’ve been going on about of late.  “Blue Awaze” is their imagining of what it would have sounded like if Duke Ellington, on his African tour in 1973 when he actually visited Ethiopia, had played with the legendary Addis Ababa Police Orchestra.

(http://tdwaw.ellingtonweb.ca/1973StateDeptCablesReAfricanTour.html)

 4 Mulatu Astatke & The Heliocentrics – Chik Chikka (Strut)

Album: Inspiration Information 3

On the subject of classic sounds from the golden age of Ethio jazz and pop, a few years ago Mulatu Astatke, one of the great composers, pianists and band leaders of the golden age and beyond, teamed up with the London-based collective, The Heliocentrics.  The wonderful sax player, Shabaka Hutchings, was in the mix. 

Hutchings did an extended, blistering version of the Astatke tune, Chik Chikka, with the Kyle Shepherd Band at Straight No Chaser in January this year.  You can catch this on youtube, and you should definitely do that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChdwENHpf9M

And then check out this preview of Shabaka’s new album recorded with SA musicians in Johannesburg recently – Shabaka & the Ancestors – The Wisdom of Elders (Brownswood Recordings) slated for release in September.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuNID7KviuQ&feature=youtu.be

5 Dieuf-Dieul de Thies – Rhumba Para Parejas (Taranga Beat)

Album: Aw Sa Yone Vol. 2

The very excellent Dieuf-Dieul de Thies is from Senegal, and the vinyl re-issue label Taranga Beat has just released volume 2 of Dieuf-Dieul’s stuff made in the early 80s.  The singer on this slice of Afro-Cubism is Assane Camara.  BTW Dieuf-Dieul are back together again and touring after more than 30 years.

6 Adama Yalomba – Harkas (Allah’s Blessing/Personal Happiness) (Studio Mali)

Album: Waati Sera

Adama Yalomba is a big star in Mali, but not really known outside although he’s played with Ali Farka Toure, and plays with Rokia Traore, Oumou Sangare and others.  “Waati Sera” (The time has come) is his seventh album. 

7 Imarhan – Assossamagh (City Slang)

Album: Imarhan

Imarhan, from southern Algeria, are part of the second wave of Tuareg rock.  Their name means “posse” and they have ties to the first generation, wouldn’t you know.  Frontperson Moussa Ben Abderahmane is cousin to Eyadou Ag Leche, the bass player and a core member of veteran Tuareg rockers, Tinariwen.  Leche produced the album. 

8 Derek Gripper – Miniyamba (New Cape)

Album: Libraries on Fire

Capetonian Derek Gripper has a new album out and as you’d expect, it’s seriously great. Miniyamba is a tune by Toumani and Sidiki Diabate originally played two koras – about 40 strings – now played on 6 strings.

Check out this article about Gripper’s trip to Bamako earlier this year:

http://www.dontparty.com/2016/04/africa/bamako-calling-guitarist-derek-gripper-goes-to-mali/

9 Guy Buttery – Two Chords and the Truth (Guy Buttery)

Album: Guy Buttery

Another SA guitarist has a nice new album out which seems to be called Guy Buttery.  Derek Gripper is in there, as well as Shane Cooper from Kyle Shepherd’s band. 

10 Carlo Mombelli – Picasso’s Dove (Mombelli Music)

Album: I press my spine to the ground

And while we’re on SA string instrumentalists, here’s something by one of bass player Carlo Mombelli’s many ensembles - pianist Kyle Shepherd, drummer Kesivan Naidoo and vocalist Mbuso Khoza who learnt his music in the mountains of KZN herding cattle, and from Zionist churches and Shembe songs. 

11 Luther Dickinson – Ain’t no grave (New West)

Blues & Ballads: A Folksinger’s Songbook

Luther Dickinson is son of the great US producer and generally amazing singer, musician and songwriter Jim Dickinson, and this song was written just after Jim died in 2009 and was recorded recently in one take with the equally awesome Mavis Staples.

12 Leyla McCalla – Les Plats Sont Tous Mis Sur la Table (Jazz Village)

Album: A Day for the Hunter, A Day for the Prey

Leyla McCalla, the cello, tenor banjo and guitar player from Carolina Chocolate Drops has a new album out – it’s a collection of Haitian folk songs and stuff from the Louisianan creole tradition.  Here’s one from the Louisianan side.  Louis Michot from the The Lost Bayou Ramblers (from Pilette, Louisiana) is on fiddle. 

13 The Reveler – Juste Un Tit Brin (Audio & Video Labs Inc/The Revelers)

Get Ready

Sticking in Louisiana, The Revelers, from New Orleans, with a song written by band member Blake Miller.  Tres cajun with a tincture of swamp rock. 

14 Kia Kater – White (Kingswood Record)

Album: Nine Pin

Heading to Appalachia, well actually Canada.  Kia Kater is such a great banjo player, singer and song writer.  “Nine Pine” is her second album.  I went nuts about her first which came out the other day, and I’m going nuts about her second one.

http://www.kaiakater.com/video

15 Robbie Fulks – America is a hard religion (Bloodshot)

Upland Stories

Off his new Steve Albini produced album. 

16 Hackensaw Boys – Ol’ Nick (Free Dirt Records)

Album: Charismo

Sticking with the old timey music and religion of the American kind kind-of.  That rattling percussion is courtesy of a strange tin can arrangement they call the charismo

17 Rant with Julie Fowlis – Thug thu chonnlach as an t-sabhal (Make Believe Records)

A strathspey from the seriously wonderful all fiddle band, whose members hail the Shetland Islands and the Highlands.  A strathspey is a dance in 4.4 time similar to a hornpipe only slower, and the singing there is from Julie Fowlis.

18 9Bach – Brain (Real World)

Album: Anian

The Welsh band produced a pretty great record last year, and this year’s one is quite a lot better.  It’s called Anian (which translates as Nature).  The song, Brain, is told from a crow’s point of view – the crow is asking a child to accept the gifts it’s bringing.  Not as sinister and ominous as the set up suggests though …

19 The Heliocentrics – Into the vortex (Now-Again)

Album: From the deep

A record that came out earlier this year

20 Fahir Atakoglu – Trapped (Far&Here)

Album: Live at Umbria Jazz

Turkish pianist Fahir Atakoglu recorded live at Teatro Morlachi in the Italian city of Umbia in 2010.  Backing him are Canadian bassist Alain Caron and Cuban drummer, Horacio Hernandez. 

21 Natasha Atlas – Nafs El Hikaya (Decca/Universal)

Album: Myriad Road

Belgian Egyptian singer Natasha Atlas has being heading off into more jazzy territory of late, with quite sizable Arabic inflections.  She continues this on Myriad Road her collaboration with Lebanese-born trumpet player Ibrahim Maalouf. 

22 Melt Yourself Down – Yazzan Dayra (Leaf)

Last Evenings on Earth

Unhinged, brass-heavy and off their new record.  And yes, the blow-out, post Ayler sax towards the end is from Shabaka Hutchings.  The bonkers singer is Kushai Gaya.

23 Los Chapillacs – Marcha de Chullachaqui (Deltatron Remix) (Tigers Milk Records)

Album: Peru Boom! Bass, Bleeps and Bumps from Peru’s Electronic Underground

In June I played some Peruvian Tropical Bass.  Here is some more.  A bass-heavy retread done by Deltratron of a cumbia originally by Los Chapillacs, who tend to be quite rooted in the sound of the 60s and 70s. 

24 La Yegros – Atormentada (Soundway)

Album: Magnetismo

Mariana Yegros or La Yegros with her wonderful infusion of folky Argentinean and Columbian music into dancy stuff, I guess. 

25 Elza Soares – Firmeza (Mais Um Discos)

Album: The woman at the end of the world

In a similar, but more radical vein is the latest thing by veteran samba singer and songwriter, Elza Soares, from Rio. Her style of samba is called samba sujo or dirty samba.  Soares has had an epic life and career dating back to the 50s, which included being exiled by the military junta in mid 60s after she became a widow and then got involved with some soccer legend.  She teamed up with some of the best musicians is Sao Paulo for this new album, including guys from Meta Meta and Bixiga 70.

26 Victor Rice & Bixiga 70 – 100% (Victor Rice Dub)

Album: The Copan Connection: Bixiga 70 Meets Victor Rice

Speaking of Bixiga 70 their producer Victor Rice recently did a limited edition dub version of their third album for Record Store Day.  I’ve been struggling to find something to play off the third album – for some reason it lacks spark.  The dub album is much better, though.

27 Dub Specialist – Roots Dub (Soul Jazz)

Album: Soul Jazz Records Presents Studio One Dub Fire Special

Some dub from one of the many rough and ready pick-up bands that Studio One put together to back their singers in the 70s.  Some of Jamaica’s finest musicians ended up playing in these bands, and the dub versions often came out uncredited on B sides.  Soul Jazz Records specialize in rooting out this stuff.

28 New Age Steppers – Some Love (On U-Sound)

Album: Foundation Steppers

From 1983, a version of a Chaka Khan song “Some Love” which came out in 1978 at the height of disco.  Singer Ari Up really made this song her own. 

Here is the Chaka Khan original.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8l27jG70kc0

29 Fabes de Mayo – Vaqueiros (Fabes de Mayo)

Album: Fabes de Mayo

From the small town of Villaviciosa in Austurias, Northern Spain. 

https://fabesdemayo.bandcamp.com/releases