1 Thomas Mapfumo - Mukadzi wangu (My wife) (Real World Records)
Thomas Mapfumo more or less pioneered the chimurenga sound in the mid- to late-70s during the liberation war in Zimbabwe. Mapfumo has been exiled from Zimbabwe for a number of years. "Mukadzi wangu" was recorded in Oregon, in the US, about 5 years back. The tune comes from the album "Rise Up", which although not uniformly brilliant, has lots of great moments.
Chimurenga is often referred to as "electric mbira". Its tunes and rhythms are built on traditional songs, but instead of using just mbiras, chimurenga interlocks mbiras with electric guitars and electric guitars with themselves to sound like mbiras - and has a kind of yodeling vocal style and distinctive drumming based on traditional shakers.
2 Hallelujah Chicken Run Band - Kare nanhasi (Analog Africa)
The Hallelujah Chicken Run Band operated during the time that chimurenga was being developed, and Thomas Mapfumo passed through their ranks at some point. But so did quite a few other Zimbabwean players, who added their influences - Shona traditional, benga, Congolese rumba. "Kare nanhasi" is pretty unclassifiable. Just exuberant Southern African music, despite its dismal subject matter: high prices and unaffordable basics, including, horrifyingly, beer; and perhaps, unintentionally, the theme of history repeating itself.
3 Enzo Avitabile and Bottari - Tarantella bruna (Wrasse Records)
Barrels, tubs and sickles are the main instruments of Enzo Avitabile and Bottari. Avitabile originates from Naples and is a veteran of the Italian pop scene, albeit on the jazzy, crossover side. About 10 years back he started to get into 14th century peasant music. It's music based on processional rhythms and legend has it that it comes from farmers banging on barrels to chase away evil spirits from the dark corners of the cellars. Avitabile did more - he added biggish-name African musicians into the mix. On "Tarentella Bruna" Baba Sissoko supplies the ngoni. A trivial point: Parts of the album from whence this track comes were recorded in the CSR Studio in Bryanston, Jhb.
4 Gaitieros de Lesboa - Nem fraco nem forte (Sony BMG)
More music from Southern Europe - this time, Portugal. Gaitieros de Lesboa fuse rustic vocal polyphony, bagpipe music from Galicia and other parts of the old Celtic world, and medieval processional rhythms mostly on instruments they've invented or subverted.
They have a great website, where they explain why they called themselves "Bagpipes of Lisbon", when there are no bagpipes in Lisbon. From that website: "Maybe it's because in Portugal the word "gaita" has many meanings. Our bagpipes are everything we grab in search for a sound, reinventing hurdy-gurdies, finding harmonies which were until now unknown to our throats, stretching animal skins, trying to make percussion out of whatever others step on, detuning bagpipes and tuning electrical conduit pipes."
5 Orchestre Zaiko Langa Langa - Katshi (African)
Orchestre Zaiko Langa Langa is another well known Congolese rumba band - really the second wave of soukous after TPOK jazz and their followers made it big. They play music influenced by rock and the shanty town music of Kinshasa and have a slightly edgier sound. "Katshi" was record in 1978.
6 Konono No 1 - Konono wa wa wa (Crammed Discs)
Definitely from the rawer side of the current Kinshasa scene - in fact from the streets and the shanty towns - off Konono No 1's latest album "Assume the Crash Position". One of Zaiko Langa Langa's founding guitarists, Pepe Feli Manuaku, guests on the album.
Here is an apt quote from a review in fROOTS magazine about "Assume the Crash Position": "violently amplified, wildly distorted likembes - bass, middle, tremble - reverberating over a killer percussion section uniting the intricate detail of Congolese village music with the power of Tesla."
7 Kathryn Tickell - Tiger's first bird (Park)
One of Northumbrian piper, fiddle player and composer, Kathryn Tickell's, own tunes.
8 Kris Drever - The Banks of the Nile (Concord)
Kris Drever, a young Scottish traditional singer-guitarist released his second album, "Mark the Hard Earth", a few months back. Most of it I find a bit soggy on first listen, but it does have a sublime arrangement of the traditional ballad, "The Banks of the Nile". John McCusker produces and plays the fiddle and Irish singer Heidi Talbot is the other voice.
9 Ba Cissoko - On veut se marier (Totolo)
From Guinea, Ba Cissoko plays an electric kora. "On veut se marier" comes off "Electric Griot Land". No guessing who one of Cissoko's main heroes is. He teams up with probably the most popular modern African reggae star, Tiken Jah Fakoly, from the home of African reggae, Abidjan, in Cote d'Ivoire. Not afraid of speaking his mind on corruption and anti-democratic behaviour, Fakoly now lives in exile (in fact he's been exiled again from his first country of exile). But he's not exactly uncontroversial; he's been a participant in the reggae wars between rival political factions that is a feature of the broader civil war in Cote d'Ivoire. Recently, however, he seems to have mellowed and is now singing about tolerance and peace.
10 Page One and the Observers - Observers style (Carib Gems Music)
Winston "Niney" Holness, in his guise as Page One and the Observers, with a tune from 1976. He apparently calls himself The Observer to rival Lee Perry's moniker, The Upsetter. He's definitely up there with the greats.
11 King Tubby & the Upsetters - Chant down rub a dub (Live and Love)
King Tubby dubbing up the Upsetters in 1981.
12 The Gatherers - Words of my mouth (Trojan)
A Lee Perry production of the short-lived teenage vocal trio, The Gatherers, circa 1973. Lee Perry would recycle that song and its rhythm a number of times.
13 Super Eagles - Sock it to me (Decca)
14 El Rego et Ses Commandos - Feeling you got (Analog Africa)
15 Orchestre Poly-Rhythmo de Cotonou - Gbeti Madjro (Analog Africa)
I was reading the sleeve notes to Analog Africa's collection "African Scream Contest" the other day. It lays out a sort of sonic history of Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou's first hit in Benin which was called "Gbeti Madjro". "Gbeti was a "jerk" tune - and jerk is basically American 60s soul and funk, given an African workover. The story starts in Gambia with the Super Eagles' massive 1969 hit, "Sock it to me" - which is a more or less straight imitation of blues and soul-based Western pop.
El Rego basically ripped off that track for Benin with the help of Ghanaian singer Eddy Black Power, calling it "Feeling you got", and providing the template for many jerk tunes in Benin, including those by Poly-Rhythmo. It would be the launch pad for Poly-Rhythmo's distinctive sound. Poly-Rhythmo speeded things up with some funky drumming and lifted a frenetically spiky guitar to the front of the mix. Lorento Eskill's spirited singing was the final ingredient.
Those last two tracks come off two different Anolog Africa collections, "African Scream Contest" and "Legends of Benin".
16 The Mellotone Sisters - Kudude Kulezontaba (King Label)
17 Mahotella Queens - Asambeni bafana (Earthworks)
Two great vocal groups from the golden age of mbaqanga that we've heard on this show before, The Mellotone Sisters (with, strangely enough, ne'er a sisterly voice to be heard) and the Mahotella Queens.
18 Busi Mhlongo - The Crocodile (EMI)
Busi Mhlongo with an alternative to the "Click Song" - "The Crocodile".
19 Twins Seven-Seven and his Gold Carbretas - Totobiroko (Soundway)
Twins Seven-Seven got his name from being the sole survivor in a line of seven sets of twins from the Oshogbo royal family in Nigeria. He's also an actor, poet, writer and painter and a musician who is very tied up in the Yoruba culture. Probably the only xylophone player we are ever going to have on this show - and when I say xylophone, I am talking the real item. This come from the newish Soundway compilation - "Nigeria Special: Vol 2".
20 Tony Allen - Ijo (World Circuit)
Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen from Nigeria, trying to lay out a case for how great Afrobeat is. Claude Dibonque from Cameroon, who is Allen's regular guitarist, supplies one of the guitars, and keyboardist and co-producer Fixi the stellar horn arrangements. Orobiyi Adunni (AYO) is on vocals and lyrics - perhaps the element that gels the least - but the other elements more than compensate.
This is off a fabulous 2009 album, "Secret Agent", and like Bousseka Kouyate's "Speak Fula", you need to go out and get it.
21 Martin Simpson - Swooping Molly (Topic)
Martin Simpson is a finger-style guitarist, following about a half step chronologically (but not in ability) behind the guitar greats of the English folk revival: Davey Graham, Bert Jansch, Martin Carthy, Nic Jones. He has an extremely dexterous, fluid approach with an arsenal of American blues and old time techniques. Here he is with the traditional piece "Swooping Molly" off last year's "True Stories" album.
22 Julie Fowlis - Brogan ur agam a-nochd (I have new shoes tonight) - The cat and dog - Mu chuacheg's laghach thu (Spit and Polish)
Julie Fowlis, a bright singer on the Scottish folk scene, with a medley of three traditional tunes.
23 Mary Gauthier - Another day borrowed (Proper)
New Orleans-raised Mary Gauthier's new album, "The Foundling", draws on her early life story before she opened a restaurant and then became a singer-songwriter. It's about abandonment, adoption, and finding an identity without the guidance of blood parents.
Thanks to Cathy Hutchings for telling me about and letting me listen to all the Americana and Anglocana featured up to this point on this show. Much appreciated.
24 Seasick Steve - Happy to have a job (Atlantic)
Seasick Steve from his 2009 album, "Man from another time".
25 Robert Johnson - If I had possession of judgement day (Columbia)
This is a slower version than you would have normally heard. Blogger Moos from Global Groove has deliberately slowed it down, because he's of the school of thought that thinks that somehow in production, the original recording got speeded up. Could be a crock, who knows? You can weigh into the debate on the Global Groove blog.
26 Paban das Baul - Modena (Riverboat)
Earlier this year Paban das Baul released an album of stripped down spiritual songs of the Bauls, as the mystic minstrels of Bengal are called. This music features jew's harp pretty centrally.
27 Tran Quang Hai - Memories of Norway (Playa Sound)
Jew's harps are found around the world. The one found in Norway is called the "munnharp" and is metallic. Tran Quang Hai, the Vietmanese ethnomusicologist demonstrates it with the piece he calls, with much imagination, "Memories of Norway".
28 Hednigarna - Bulldog (East Side Inc)
Still in Scandanavia, Hednigarna here sound quite uncharacteristically straight up acoustic, with an arrangement of a traditional tune.
29 Christian Wallumrod Ensemble - Jumpa (ECM Records)
Christian Wallumrod is a Norwegian pianist and composer. Here he explores the linkages between early music, Scandinavian dance music and jazz. "Jumpa" comes off his 2009 album "Fabula Suite Lugano".
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Saturday, July 3, 2010
7 July 2010, World Cafe
Imagined Village – The handweaver and the factory maid (ECC records)
The Imagined Village with the traditional song, “The handweaver and the factory maid”, which comes from their new CD, “Empire and Love”. The Imagined Village is a teaming of the producer musician, Simon Emmerson, of The Afrocelts, a bunch of luminaries on the English folk scene, including Martin and Eliza Carthy and Chris Wood, and some other worldish types, like Johnny Kalsi of the Dohl Foundation and the sitar player, Sheema Markerjee, and some electronica types too.
Cara Dillon – P stands for Paddy (Lament for Johnny) (Charcoal Records)
Cara Dillon is a pure-voiced Irish singer, who’s been on the scene for the last 10 years. She’s just set up her own label, Charcoal Records, and this tune comes from the first album on that label, “Hill of Thieves”.
Bassekou Kouyate – Musow for our women (Out here records)
I’ve just got the new Ngoni Ba album, “I speak Fula”, that all the world music mags have been making a big fuss over. And I see why. This is the most perfectly layered and arranged album, built around an ensemble of ngonis of various sizes and the astonishing voice of Amy Sacko, a griot who happens to be married to Kouyate. Kouyate pioneered the sound, taking what is normally an accompanying instrument, the ngoni, and assembling a number of them together for ensemble and solo playing. He also invented a bass ngoni along the way. The style has grown in popularity in Mali over the last few years to the extent that everyone is setting up ngoni bands. You don’t need much, just a bunch of acoustic ngonis. The ngoni has a stick-like neck and hollowed-out, elongated, bowl-shape body covered with skin and some gut strings – a forerunner of the banjo, many believe.
Youssou N’dour – Baay Faal (Nonesuch)
Bassekou Kouyate has also been a guest musician of choice for some time. He features on Youssou N’dour’s “back-to-basics” mbalax album of 2007, “Rokku mi rokka (give and take)”.
Etoile de Dakar featuring Youssou N’dour – Tu Veras (Sterns)
N’dour has been at the forefront of mbalax since its beginning – mbalax is a combination of Cuban horns, Congolese rumba guitar styles, traditional rhythms played on the “mbang mbang” drum and some local singing styles, sung in Wolof instead of Spanish. All this was coming together in the late 70s. Sterns have released a collection of very rare recordings from that period, a number of which were only ever available on cassette. The Spanish is still in evidence on “Tu Veras”.
Orchestre TPOK Jazz – Cheri Desi (Eva Corporation)
Speaking of the Afro-Cuban, the great Orchestre TPOK Jazz continued to perform and record after the death of Franco in the late 80s. “Cheri Desi” is from a tribute LP to Franco, “Les Mayeno a Gogo”. The track really starts to cook hypnotically at minute 3 and then takes off after the “sebene” – or the pivot point between the vocal section and the instrumental dance section – a defining part of the Congolese rumba of the 70s and 80s. Long-time TPOK vocalist, Josky (Kiambukuta Londa), who composed that track, really shows that he learnt a thing or two from the maestro.
Lobi Traore – Tiekoroba (World Village)
I’m sad to report that Lobi Traore, the great Malian adventurous blues guitarist, died unexpectedly a few weeks ago. Although from central Mali, in fact near Segu, where Bassekou Kouyate hails from, Traore collaborated with a number of guitarists from the north, including Ali Farka Toure. He helped create what is called Bambara Blues – Bambara being the language of central Mali, which has more linkages to the culture of north Mali than to the languages of Maninka and Mandinka in the south west – allowing those mixings to happen. “Tiekoroba” comes off the collection “Mali Blue”, which is a kind of best of compilation of four Traore albums made in the 90s.
Kalahari Surfers – Fish Effect (Microdot Music)
From the Kalahari Surfers’ latest, “One party state”.
Tommy McCook & the Skatalites – Freedom Sounds (Heartbeat)
Last month I played some mid 70s stuff from the saxist, Tommy McCook. McCook has been around since the dawning of reggae. He helped found one of the all time great Jamaican ska bands – the Skatalites. He wrote “Freedom Sounds”, and recorded it in the early 60s, for the great label and studio of the time, Studio One, owned by entrepreneur-producer, Clement “Coxsone” Dodd. Listen out for more sounds from Studio One in months to come.
King Tubby and Lee Perry are probably the two most famous names in dub.
King Tubby – Bottom Dub (Jigsaw Music)
King Tubby’s main method was to strip tracks right down to the bass and drums and then conjure up new rhythms and moods through adding effects to the beats like reverb and echo using an effects unit often of his own invention. Bottom Dub comes from the album “Herb Dub, Collie Dub”, which is a dub of a Skatalites’ LP – utterly changed from its ska original (thanks to Mario Pissarra for telling me about this LP).
Harry Mudie meets King Tubby – Dub with a difference (Moods)
King Tubby’s collaboration with a veteran record producer, Harry Mudie, probably best known for producing Gregory Isaacs, the super star of lovers’ rock. The string section of the original has been kept.
Lee Perry and the Upsetters – Three in one (Island/Mango)
On his album “Super Ape”, Lee Perry adopted almost the opposite approach to King Tubby – adding layers and layers to the murky sonic soup – instead of stripping down and accentuating beats and bass pulses.
Staff Benda Bilili – Sala Mosala (Crammed Disc)
From the streets of Kinshasa with a very infectious reggae lope.
Getachew Mekuria and the Ex and guests – Musicawi silt (Terp)
The mighty blast of veteran Ethiopean sax player, Getachew Mekuria, with Dutch punk band, the Ex. Mekuria helped invent that style of playing – called shelelle - in the sixties. It’s derived from war chants, if you had any doubts.
Fela Kuti – Jeun ko ku (Strut)
From the raucous, to the uber-precise – here is Fela Kuti’s The Africa 70 – circa 1971 – from The Abbey Road studio, London. This is Kuti’s rerecording of his 60’s Nigerian hit “Jeun Ko Ku” or “Chop N Quench” – proto Afro-beat with the legendary drummer, Tony Allen, laying down those ultra-controlled, insistent rhythms – never losing his cool.
Steely Dan – Rikki don’t lose that number
You probably know that Steely Dan didn’t come up with the bass figure and drum pattern at the beginning of “Rikki don’t lose that number”. They lifted it from the Horace Silver tune, “Song for My Father”, which came out in the mid 60s. But they weren’t the only ones doing heavy lifting.
Horace Silver – Song for my father (Blue Note)
Mulatu Astatke – Yekermo Sew (Strut)
Seyfrou Yohannes – Yekermo Sew (Buda Musique)
Mulatu Astatke – a music student in NYC round about when “Song for my father” came out, also lifted the tune in a way that was remarkable. He converted the song, blobs and staves and all, into a pure-bred Ethiojazz tune.
Malombo – Motshile (Kijima Records)
From Phillip Thabane and Malombo’s release in the early 80s, called “Malombo”.
Trembling Bells – Adieu, England (Honest Jons Records)
Trembling Bells, built around Alex Neilson, the multi-purpose, multi-directional drummer, and trained soprano, Lavinia Blackwall, emerged last year from the Glasgow folk scene – a wonderful throwback to 70s folk rock. Neilson wrote all the songs on their new LP “Abandoned Love” – and that was one of the them, “Adieu, England”. Are you reminded of Richard Thompson circa Fairport? I definitely am – “Crazy Man Michael” for the post-oughties or whatever decade we’re living in now.
Mary Hampton – Island (Navigator)
Mary Hampton is another UK songwriter up to her neck in tradition.
Sam Amidon – How come that blood (Bedroom Community)
Amidon draws on the same well of songs as Hampton and Neilson – English and Scottish ballads – this time filtered through the Appalachians. He’s deployed a really fabulous NY based percussionist, Shahzad Ismaily, on his new album “I see a sign”.
Mari Boine – In a blanket of warmth (Jazzland)
Mari Boine, from Norway, also works with great percussionists. From her 2003 LP “Eight Seaons”.
Kalahari Surfers and Greg Hunter – What is she saying to me? (Electric Melt)
The great maskanda star and tradition-breaker, Busi Mhlonga, provides the vocals. Amapondo providing backing vocals. UCT string quartet is also in the mix. Mhlongo died on the 15th June, after battling breast cancer. Hopefully her fiesty spirit will live on.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
2 June 2010, World Cafe
1 TP Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou – Les djos (Soundway)
TP Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou palpably demonstrates their affinity for James Brown and the JBs by turning an introductory bridge typical of the JBs into a whole song. Lorhento Eskill shows off his James Brown imitation shouts and screams – which he admitted he spent an inordinate amount of time honing. Check out the downloadable Poly Rythmo mix that Jam Magica put out in the second half of May.
You can also watch this...
2 Hedzoleh Soundz – Omusus da fe m’musu (Soundway)
3 African Brothers International Band – Oyonko brebo (Happy Bird, 1970)
5 L’orchestre Congolais Les Bantous – Paris-Brazza (Papa Noel) (SV 13001) – Soukous - Vogue
Les Bantous were probably the best known band from the Congo Republic and a large amount of the reason for their fame was their wizard guitarist, Papa Noel. Noel adds more than a dash of twist and twang to the Congolese rumba here. Also available on the World Service blog. The LP was recorded in Paris, although it’s not clear when, and came out in the mid 70s.
6 Mulatu Astatke – I faram gami I faram (Strut) (Ichabod Music)
7 Bassekou Kouyate and Ngoni Ba – Segu Tonjon (Outhere Records)
8 Tartit – Tabey Tarate (Crammed Disc)
9 Jah Wobble’s Chinese Dub Orchestra – L1 (30 Hertz)
17 Sunny Ade and his Green Spot Band (African Songs Ltd)
18 Mahotella Queens – Ihlokohloko
19 The Mellotone Sisters - Jabulani Bazali
20 Theodore Bikel & Socalled – (Rock the) Belz (Label Bleu) – trad arr SoCalled
22 Dirty Projectors – Two Doves
24 Pentangle – Springtime Promises (Shanachie)
TP Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou palpably demonstrates their affinity for James Brown and the JBs by turning an introductory bridge typical of the JBs into a whole song. Lorhento Eskill shows off his James Brown imitation shouts and screams – which he admitted he spent an inordinate amount of time honing. Check out the downloadable Poly Rythmo mix that Jam Magica put out in the second half of May.
You can also watch this...
2 Hedzoleh Soundz – Omusus da fe m’musu (Soundway)
3 African Brothers International Band – Oyonko brebo (Happy Bird, 1970)
Franco often stepped back and let the vocalists and guitarists from his completely fantastic band take centre stage. The singer Ndombe Opetum wrote that song, “Youyou”, and that terrific arrangement comes off the LP “A Paris volume 1”, which came out in 1980. The whole of this LP can be downloaded from the World Service site.
5 L’orchestre Congolais Les Bantous – Paris-Brazza (Papa Noel) (SV 13001) – Soukous - Vogue
Les Bantous were probably the best known band from the Congo Republic and a large amount of the reason for their fame was their wizard guitarist, Papa Noel. Noel adds more than a dash of twist and twang to the Congolese rumba here. Also available on the World Service blog. The LP was recorded in Paris, although it’s not clear when, and came out in the mid 70s.
6 Mulatu Astatke – I faram gami I faram (Strut) (Ichabod Music)
Over the last two years we’re been extremely lucky as he’s given us two treasures – one with the British collective the Heliocentrics and now one under his own name, with the album “Mulatu Astatke Steps Ahead” - featuring the Heliocentrics and the Either/Orchestra from Boston which he’s played with over the years.
7 Bassekou Kouyate and Ngoni Ba – Segu Tonjon (Outhere Records)
8 Tartit – Tabey Tarate (Crammed Disc)
9 Jah Wobble’s Chinese Dub Orchestra – L1 (30 Hertz)
Jah Wobble’s frantic funky Chinese dub.
10 The Congos - La la bella (Cedric Myton and Rhoyde Johnson - publishers)
Tommy McCook was an original member of the Skatalites, a ska-rock steady band of star musicians set up in the mid-60s. Ernest Ranglin was probably the Skatalites’ most famous member.
17 Sunny Ade and his Green Spot Band (African Songs Ltd)
18 Mahotella Queens – Ihlokohloko
19 The Mellotone Sisters - Jabulani Bazali
20 Theodore Bikel & Socalled – (Rock the) Belz (Label Bleu) – trad arr SoCalled
22 Dirty Projectors – Two Doves
24 Pentangle – Springtime Promises (Shanachie)
Monday, May 3, 2010
5 May 2010, World Cafe
1 Orchestra Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou – Minkou E So Non Moin (Analog Africa)
The soaring 6-voice chorus, the precision drumming, the deft guitar playing of Papillon, driving brass section and the hugely powerful tenor voice of Lohento Eskill are just typical of songs that Orchestre Poly-Rhythmo recorded in the mid 70s. Poly-Rhythmo went over the border to Lagos to make those recordings in state-of-the-art studios for the Beninese label Albarika Store – and they still sound fabulous today. Lohento Eskill, who wrote that tune, is known in Benin as “Le Rossignol” – “the nightingale” – which can only refer to his fluency and agility, rather than delicacy. There’s much more of that kind of stuff on Analog Africa’s Orchestra Poly-Rhythmo’s collection, “Echos Hypnotiques” which came out last year.
2 Rail Band – Sinsimba (Styllart)
The Rail Band was home to three of the greatest modern Malian musicians: Salif Keita, Mory Kante and Djelimady Tounkara. In 1977, Mory Kante was singing for the band; Tounkara has been their lead guitarist all along. The song is a tribute to Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat – but instead of the tight and super tuned brass typical of afro-beat, the brass section is bracingly ramshackle and flat. The message of the song is celebratory – “When things go well, why we should we hide our happiness?”
3 Celestine Ukwu & His Philosophers National – Okwukwe Na Nchekwube (Soundway)
Nigerian Celestine Ukwu has an achingly soulful voice, very apt for what his songs are usually about – this song is titled “Faith and Trust” and was extremely popular when it came out in 1974. His Philosophers National was his backing band – a name that also echoes his concerns. The style of music is Highlife – and in this song you heard the Palmwine roots of Highlife strongly. Palmwine was a much earlier guitar and percussion based style that evolved in drinking holes of various kinds, as the name suggests, along the west coast of Africa. Celestine’s promising career was cut short in 1977 when he died in a car accident. The song comes off the Soundway collection “Nigeria Special: Modern Highlife, Afro-sounds and Nigerian Blues 1970-6”.
4 The Sweet Talks – Akumpaye (Soundway)
The Sweet Talks were one of the most popular bands in Ghana in the mid 70s. In short the song comments “the chief is in a position to grant the requests of his subjects, but mostly he doesn’t”. Perhaps it is a critique of chiefly power, but it sounds too joyful for that. The really swingingly inventive drumming was supplied by one J Y Torty – according to those in the know the best drummer in Ghana at the time. The song comes from another Soundway compilation – “Ghana Special: Modern Highlife, Afro-sounds & Ghanian Blues 1968-81”.
Benga is a regional guitar-based music style from western Kenya. The style came to prominence in Kenya during the political and economic malaise of the 70s. Here are two fine examples - one over 20 years old, the other a little over a year old.
5 Daniel Owino Misiani and Shirati Jazz Band – Honourable Horace Owiti Ongili (Earthworks)
Daniel Misiani and his band, Shirati Jazz, are considered the kings of the Benga style. They played “Honourable Horace Owiti Ongili”, which was dedicated to a murdered MP from Western Kenya. The song comes from the Earthworks collection, “Benga Blast”, which came out in the mid-80s. The whole album can be downloaded from the Global Groove blog – and you can get there by following the links from this show’s blog.
6 Extra Golden – Ukimwi (Thrill Jockey)
The band, Extra Golden, is a mix of Kenyans and Americans who play and record in both countries. They’re on their third album now – “Thank you very quickly” – out on the American post-rock label “Thrill Jockey”. The band is saying thank you to American fans for helping its Kenyan members who couldn’t perform during the 2008 post-election violence in Kenya and thus couldn’t earn a living.
Back to the 70s. Last month we played you a bunch of tunes from mbaqanga’s golden age. Here are two more which are followed by a maskanda track. All the tunes come from either the Electric Jive blog or its sister blog, Matsuli – both accessible from this show’s blog.
7 Indoda Mahlatini & Mahlatini Band – Siyekeleni (Soweto Records)
The B-side of the single we heard last month, called “Siyekeleni”.
8 Makgona Tsohle Band – Diperekisi (Mohotella)
I love the tight jerky intertwining of mouth organ, guitar, bass and sax.
9 Abalandeli – Unogwaja (Rashid’s Red Label)
I know nothing about Abalandeli other than that they recorded that for Rashid’s Red Label. Matsuli blog are planning a bunch of vinyl re-issues from Rashid’s Red Label starting very soon. I’ll keep you posted.
There is a fine tradition of spiritual singing within reggae – vocal groups like the Abyssinians and the Congos moved away from a US soul style to a more sombre, hymnlike feel.
10 Abyssinians – Tenayistillin (Clinch Records)
From the 12 inch orginally released on their Clinch Records label.
11 Yabby U – Homelessness (Blood and Fire)
Jamaican producer Yabby U developed a particularly stripped down dub sound.
A committed Christian, he disputed the divinity of Haile Salassie, and for that reason was known as “Jesus Dread”. I guess Yabby U is getting to know something about his maker – sadly for us still in the land of living, he died a few weeks ago.
12 Ian King – Black Eyed Susan (Fledg’ling)
Ian King has teamed up with the great English dub producer, Adrian Sherwood, to come up with a concoction of traditional balladry and dub. Not exactly unprecedented – Sinead O’Connor and Sherwood did something similar for Irish music some years back. Ian King is also a dry stonewaller who plies his trade in Yorkshire. There’s a whole album of the stuff called Panic Grass and Fever Few – and it’s mostly fabulous.
13 Davy Graham & Shirley Collins – Proud Maisrie (Fledg’ling)
No less innovative is Shirley Collins – one of Ian King’s champions, as it happens. With Davy Graham she created one of the touchstone albums of the early folk revival – “Folk roots, new routes”. Combining rhythmically and harmonically inventive guitar playing with unaffected, unadorned traditional singing, the album set the template for generations of singer-guitarists working the seam of tradition – like Martin Carthy, Bert Jansch, Nic Jones, Dick Gaughan, Martin Simpson.
14 Fairport Convention – Genesis Hall (Rykodisc)
In 1969 Fairport Convention brought out “Unhalfbricking”, a breakthrough album on the English folk scene, maybe the first one to seamlessly join folk and rock without any trace of feyness or rumpty tum tum tum ness. Richard Thompson, Fairport’s guitarist, also started writing killer songs on that record. “Genesis Hall” is one.
15 Darko Rundik & Cargo Orkestar – Ista Slika (Piranha)
In the 90s Darko Rundik, a Croatian singer, actor and theatre director, emigrated from Zagreb to Paris to escape the Balkan wars. His 2004 concept album involves inter alia a cargo ship, Cuba, French theatre, and immigration …
16 Albert Kuvezin & Yat-Kha – In a gadda da vida (Yat-Kha Recordings)
Iron Butterfly’s troglodyte bash – “In a gadda da vida” – as done by Yat-Kha - sounding only slightly more elegant than the original.
17 Uyghur Musicians from Xinjiang – Mudan Khan (Globe Style)
Just south of Tuva, Yat-Kha’s homeland is the Xinjiang region of China. From a great record by a collective calling themselves “The Uyghur Musicians from Xinjiang”, this is Mudan Khan. According to the sleeve notes, it’s a tragic love song.
18 Mulatu Astatke – Mulatu (Strut)
The biggest name in Ethio-jazz is probably pianist, vibes player, composer and band leader - Mulatu Astatke. Coming up is one of his most classic tunes, “Mulatu”, from the 1972 album, “Mulatu of Ethiopia”. Strut Records have re-issued this and other Astatke tracks from the period on the collection “
19 Maurice El Medioni – Ahla Ouassala (Piranha Musik (GEMA))
Maurice El Medioni’s astonishing fusion of latin and algerian rai – that was called “Ahla Ouassala”. El Medioni was the first to introduce the piano into rai, but he always did it with more than just a tinge of latin, betraying his musical rights of passage - playing to American soldiers and learning American styles from them in the 40s in the coastal town of Oran. The track comes from the relatively recent album Oran Café produced for Piranha Records.
20 Kalahari Surfers and Greg Hunter – Garuda Express (Electric MELT)
From a 2009 Kalahari Surfers album, “Turntabla”, which is co-credited to Greg Hunter who is part of the electronica experimentalists, the Orb. All kind of things bubbling up from the mix there – including a massed pizzicato onslaught from the UCT string quartet.
21 Bask – Arabiskan (X Source)
Bask are from Sweden – and as you’ll hear they like to explore the resonance between fiddle, sax, flute and percussion. “Arabiskan” is a “springlek” – a kind of Swedish dance tune.
22 Hoven Droven – Myhrpolska (North Side)
Sweden is home to pretty unhealthy sounding heavy metal – that was decidely more wholesome, founded as it is on a folk dance tune – “Myhrahalling”. Recorded live on Hoven Droven’s tour of the US a few years ago, it is on the record “Jumping at the Cedar”. The Cedar is in Minneapolis, in case you’re wondering.
23 Imagined Village – Rosebud in June (Proper Records)
The Imagined Village have moved their sound on from a multi-cultural re-invention of traddish ballads to something perhaps a little less contrived. Their latest album “Empire and Love” has just been released; from it we’ll listen to “Rosebud in June” – a traditional song which was given a recent airing by Steeleye Span – recent in traditional terms being about 40 years ago.
The soaring 6-voice chorus, the precision drumming, the deft guitar playing of Papillon, driving brass section and the hugely powerful tenor voice of Lohento Eskill are just typical of songs that Orchestre Poly-Rhythmo recorded in the mid 70s. Poly-Rhythmo went over the border to Lagos to make those recordings in state-of-the-art studios for the Beninese label Albarika Store – and they still sound fabulous today. Lohento Eskill, who wrote that tune, is known in Benin as “Le Rossignol” – “the nightingale” – which can only refer to his fluency and agility, rather than delicacy. There’s much more of that kind of stuff on Analog Africa’s Orchestra Poly-Rhythmo’s collection, “Echos Hypnotiques” which came out last year.
2 Rail Band – Sinsimba (Styllart)
The Rail Band was home to three of the greatest modern Malian musicians: Salif Keita, Mory Kante and Djelimady Tounkara. In 1977, Mory Kante was singing for the band; Tounkara has been their lead guitarist all along. The song is a tribute to Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat – but instead of the tight and super tuned brass typical of afro-beat, the brass section is bracingly ramshackle and flat. The message of the song is celebratory – “When things go well, why we should we hide our happiness?”
3 Celestine Ukwu & His Philosophers National – Okwukwe Na Nchekwube (Soundway)
Nigerian Celestine Ukwu has an achingly soulful voice, very apt for what his songs are usually about – this song is titled “Faith and Trust” and was extremely popular when it came out in 1974. His Philosophers National was his backing band – a name that also echoes his concerns. The style of music is Highlife – and in this song you heard the Palmwine roots of Highlife strongly. Palmwine was a much earlier guitar and percussion based style that evolved in drinking holes of various kinds, as the name suggests, along the west coast of Africa. Celestine’s promising career was cut short in 1977 when he died in a car accident. The song comes off the Soundway collection “Nigeria Special: Modern Highlife, Afro-sounds and Nigerian Blues 1970-6”.
4 The Sweet Talks – Akumpaye (Soundway)
The Sweet Talks were one of the most popular bands in Ghana in the mid 70s. In short the song comments “the chief is in a position to grant the requests of his subjects, but mostly he doesn’t”. Perhaps it is a critique of chiefly power, but it sounds too joyful for that. The really swingingly inventive drumming was supplied by one J Y Torty – according to those in the know the best drummer in Ghana at the time. The song comes from another Soundway compilation – “Ghana Special: Modern Highlife, Afro-sounds & Ghanian Blues 1968-81”.
Benga is a regional guitar-based music style from western Kenya. The style came to prominence in Kenya during the political and economic malaise of the 70s. Here are two fine examples - one over 20 years old, the other a little over a year old.
5 Daniel Owino Misiani and Shirati Jazz Band – Honourable Horace Owiti Ongili (Earthworks)
Daniel Misiani and his band, Shirati Jazz, are considered the kings of the Benga style. They played “Honourable Horace Owiti Ongili”, which was dedicated to a murdered MP from Western Kenya. The song comes from the Earthworks collection, “Benga Blast”, which came out in the mid-80s. The whole album can be downloaded from the Global Groove blog – and you can get there by following the links from this show’s blog.
6 Extra Golden – Ukimwi (Thrill Jockey)
The band, Extra Golden, is a mix of Kenyans and Americans who play and record in both countries. They’re on their third album now – “Thank you very quickly” – out on the American post-rock label “Thrill Jockey”. The band is saying thank you to American fans for helping its Kenyan members who couldn’t perform during the 2008 post-election violence in Kenya and thus couldn’t earn a living.
Back to the 70s. Last month we played you a bunch of tunes from mbaqanga’s golden age. Here are two more which are followed by a maskanda track. All the tunes come from either the Electric Jive blog or its sister blog, Matsuli – both accessible from this show’s blog.
7 Indoda Mahlatini & Mahlatini Band – Siyekeleni (Soweto Records)
The B-side of the single we heard last month, called “Siyekeleni”.
8 Makgona Tsohle Band – Diperekisi (Mohotella)
I love the tight jerky intertwining of mouth organ, guitar, bass and sax.
9 Abalandeli – Unogwaja (Rashid’s Red Label)
I know nothing about Abalandeli other than that they recorded that for Rashid’s Red Label. Matsuli blog are planning a bunch of vinyl re-issues from Rashid’s Red Label starting very soon. I’ll keep you posted.
There is a fine tradition of spiritual singing within reggae – vocal groups like the Abyssinians and the Congos moved away from a US soul style to a more sombre, hymnlike feel.
10 Abyssinians – Tenayistillin (Clinch Records)
From the 12 inch orginally released on their Clinch Records label.
11 Yabby U – Homelessness (Blood and Fire)
Jamaican producer Yabby U developed a particularly stripped down dub sound.
A committed Christian, he disputed the divinity of Haile Salassie, and for that reason was known as “Jesus Dread”. I guess Yabby U is getting to know something about his maker – sadly for us still in the land of living, he died a few weeks ago.
12 Ian King – Black Eyed Susan (Fledg’ling)
Ian King has teamed up with the great English dub producer, Adrian Sherwood, to come up with a concoction of traditional balladry and dub. Not exactly unprecedented – Sinead O’Connor and Sherwood did something similar for Irish music some years back. Ian King is also a dry stonewaller who plies his trade in Yorkshire. There’s a whole album of the stuff called Panic Grass and Fever Few – and it’s mostly fabulous.
13 Davy Graham & Shirley Collins – Proud Maisrie (Fledg’ling)
No less innovative is Shirley Collins – one of Ian King’s champions, as it happens. With Davy Graham she created one of the touchstone albums of the early folk revival – “Folk roots, new routes”. Combining rhythmically and harmonically inventive guitar playing with unaffected, unadorned traditional singing, the album set the template for generations of singer-guitarists working the seam of tradition – like Martin Carthy, Bert Jansch, Nic Jones, Dick Gaughan, Martin Simpson.
14 Fairport Convention – Genesis Hall (Rykodisc)
In 1969 Fairport Convention brought out “Unhalfbricking”, a breakthrough album on the English folk scene, maybe the first one to seamlessly join folk and rock without any trace of feyness or rumpty tum tum tum ness. Richard Thompson, Fairport’s guitarist, also started writing killer songs on that record. “Genesis Hall” is one.
15 Darko Rundik & Cargo Orkestar – Ista Slika (Piranha)
In the 90s Darko Rundik, a Croatian singer, actor and theatre director, emigrated from Zagreb to Paris to escape the Balkan wars. His 2004 concept album involves inter alia a cargo ship, Cuba, French theatre, and immigration …
16 Albert Kuvezin & Yat-Kha – In a gadda da vida (Yat-Kha Recordings)
Iron Butterfly’s troglodyte bash – “In a gadda da vida” – as done by Yat-Kha - sounding only slightly more elegant than the original.
17 Uyghur Musicians from Xinjiang – Mudan Khan (Globe Style)
Just south of Tuva, Yat-Kha’s homeland is the Xinjiang region of China. From a great record by a collective calling themselves “The Uyghur Musicians from Xinjiang”, this is Mudan Khan. According to the sleeve notes, it’s a tragic love song.
18 Mulatu Astatke – Mulatu (Strut)
The biggest name in Ethio-jazz is probably pianist, vibes player, composer and band leader - Mulatu Astatke. Coming up is one of his most classic tunes, “Mulatu”, from the 1972 album, “Mulatu of Ethiopia”. Strut Records have re-issued this and other Astatke tracks from the period on the collection “
19 Maurice El Medioni – Ahla Ouassala (Piranha Musik (GEMA))
Maurice El Medioni’s astonishing fusion of latin and algerian rai – that was called “Ahla Ouassala”. El Medioni was the first to introduce the piano into rai, but he always did it with more than just a tinge of latin, betraying his musical rights of passage - playing to American soldiers and learning American styles from them in the 40s in the coastal town of Oran. The track comes from the relatively recent album Oran Café produced for Piranha Records.
20 Kalahari Surfers and Greg Hunter – Garuda Express (Electric MELT)
From a 2009 Kalahari Surfers album, “Turntabla”, which is co-credited to Greg Hunter who is part of the electronica experimentalists, the Orb. All kind of things bubbling up from the mix there – including a massed pizzicato onslaught from the UCT string quartet.
21 Bask – Arabiskan (X Source)
Bask are from Sweden – and as you’ll hear they like to explore the resonance between fiddle, sax, flute and percussion. “Arabiskan” is a “springlek” – a kind of Swedish dance tune.
22 Hoven Droven – Myhrpolska (North Side)
Sweden is home to pretty unhealthy sounding heavy metal – that was decidely more wholesome, founded as it is on a folk dance tune – “Myhrahalling”. Recorded live on Hoven Droven’s tour of the US a few years ago, it is on the record “Jumping at the Cedar”. The Cedar is in Minneapolis, in case you’re wondering.
23 Imagined Village – Rosebud in June (Proper Records)
The Imagined Village have moved their sound on from a multi-cultural re-invention of traddish ballads to something perhaps a little less contrived. Their latest album “Empire and Love” has just been released; from it we’ll listen to “Rosebud in June” – a traditional song which was given a recent airing by Steeleye Span – recent in traditional terms being about 40 years ago.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
7 April 2010, World Cafe
This show is dedicated to Charlie Gillet – the grand uncle of world music djs - who died a few weeks ago. Links to his website are available on this blog.
1 Oumou Sangare – Wele wele wintou (World Circuit)
Off Oumou Sangare’s great 2009 album entitled “Seya” that was the tune “Wele wele wintou”. A song against forced marriages. The album is thick with luminaries from the Mali scene, and that track features the legendary guitarist, Djelimady Tounkara.
2 Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou – Se ba ho Composed by Amoussou William – legendary trad singer (Analog Africa)
The opening track on Analog Africa’s collection of Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou material “From the vaults of Albarika Store, 1969 to 1979” had label head Samy Redjeb and his Beninese sound team’s jaws dropping to the floor. It dates from the early 70s and is set to a “sato” rhythm, which draws heavily on traditional vodoun rhythms from the region. Vodoun rhythms were strongly present in Beninese daily life at the time. You can watch a movie of that song being performed on Analog Africa’s blog – check out the link.
3 Franco – Quatre Boutons (Sheer Sound)
From 1965, that was Franco and TPOK Jazz with the song “Quartre Boutons”. It’s a comic, slightly racy ditty about a woman who attracts many men, including lovers of her friends and has sassy answers for all. She asks her detractors to ask the men about why they are attracted to her. The four buttons refer to a certain item of men’s apparel which is unfastenable, although we are not sure about which precise item she is referring to.
One of Franco’s long-time guitarists, Simaro (or Simon Lutumba Ndomameuno) played guitar – reverb-drenched, with a very smeary, shimmering break – all utterly fresh sounding to our ears. Simaro was with TPOK Jazz from 1963 until Franco’s death in 89.
The tune comes off a quite magnificent collection “African Classics – Franco” locally released by Sheer.
4 Christy Azuma & Uppers International – Din Ya Sugri (Soundway)
Christy Azuma and Uppers International played music strongly influenced by the music of the upper regions of Ghana – in 1974 a backwater, but a backwater earmarked for tourist development. The Uppers International were drawn from all over Ghana as the house band of a hotel in the upper regions gearing up for the tourist onslaught. Their residency, however, banished them, more or less, to obscurity. Soundway, on their collection, “Ghana Special”, have dug them out.
5 Ali Farka Toure – Cherie (World Circuit)
Speaking of obscurity, in 1984, when the track we’re about to hear was released by French Sonodisc on the album entitled “Red”, Ali Farka Toure was basically languishing in it. Some years after its release, the godfather of world music DJs, Andy Kershaw, came across the album in a bargain basement bin in Paris. He managed to convince World Circuit to get Ali Farka Toure into their stable on the strength of this album and another released more or less at the same time, “Green”. From “Red”, this is the song “Cherie”.
6 Mahlathini Indoda & the Mahlathini Band – Kudala Besibiza (Soweto label)
From 1975, that was the famous Zulu groaner Mahlathini without the Mahotella Queens, when he called himself Mahlathini Indodo. Mahlathini, or Simon Nkabinde, was very proud of his rural heritage – “mah” refers to someone who was just emerged from the bush. On this track he plays with the groundbreaking Makgona Tsohle Band – his backing band for many years – which basically pioneered the classic mbaqanga sound, and were probably mbaqanga’s best players. They were the backing band for many mbaqanga hits.
You can download the whole of this Mahlatini album from the Electric Jive blog – check out the link. Electric Jive’s sister site, Matsuli, is also worth a visit. Our next two tracks come from either Electric Jive or Matsuli.
7 Soweto Boys – Loading Zone (Soweto label)
A year before the Mahlatini track came out, the Soweto Boys released an extremely catchy bunch of sax jive tunes on the Soweto Label. Sax jive grew out of the penny whistle jive, and by the mid 60s had evolved into mbaqanga, having added electric bass and guitar to the line-up.
8 Abafana Be Nala – Wesayoni (Mabob Records)
This track comes from 1976.
9 Akli D – Tabrats (Le Message) (Because UK)
Akli Dehlis is a Berber. A few years ago he produced a lavish album with Manu Chao under the moniker Akli D. This is “Tabrats” from that album.
10 Oum Kalsoum – Wehakkak ental mona waltalab (Mantego) Composed by Abu Al, El Sheik, Mohamed, Ola, Shabrahi, Elham Abdullah El)
We got this from the Mantego collection “The Legend: the Arab World’s Greatest Singer,” which sums up Oum Kalsoum’s reputation quite neatly.
11 Natasha Atlas – Wahashini (N Atlas, N Sparkes, Dubulah – co-ordinator of Dub Colossus (Mantra Recordings)
Although born in Belgium and making her name in England as the singer in Jah Wobble’s Invaders of the Heart, Natasha Atlas is steeped in Oum Kalsoum’s tradition of voice-led orchestral music. Wahashini was co-written by Dubulah, the coordinator of the Dub Colossus project of ethiojazz and vintage Addis music fused with dub that we’ve explored in past programmes…
12 Jump to Addis – Abebayehush (traditional arr Dawit Guebreab) (Buda Musique)
… a neat lead to our next song – “Abebayehush” by Jump to Addis – a collection of European musicians from the Amsterdam Conservatory and Addis’s finest from the “azmaribat” scene. Azmaribat are traditional minstral cabarets in Ethiopia. The song, in all its live ragged glory, celebrates the arrival of spring, which Ethiopia is experiencing round about now.
13 Ashkabad - From the station to the mill (World Music Network)
14 Adulkhamit Rayimbergenov - Sary Arqa (World Music Network)
Two tracks from Central Asia – from the Rough Guide collection to the Music of Central Asia.
15 Wareika Hill Sounds – Africa Freedom March (Honest Jon’s)
Soul, blues and rock have all left their mark outside their places of origin – and so have reggae and dub. But we’ll start our mini crossover reggae segment in the foothills of Kingston with the nyabinghi-infused sounds of veteran trombone player, Calvin “Bubbles” Cameron and his collective “Wareika Hill Sounds”. Another veteran of the Kingston scene accompanies Cameron – sax player Deadley Headley Bennet. This comes from a 2007 album on the label Honest Jon’s.
16 Kalahari Surfer – Leka-leka (trad arr W Sony) (African Dope Records)
In the early 90s South African multi-instrumentalist and producer, Pops Mohamed, headed off to the Kalahari with a sound and camera crew, to record the music of Khoisan people living in the area – the primary impulse being preservation. Some of the resultant recordings were released in 1995 by Melt 2000 as “Bushmen of the Kalahari”. Instead of remaining pristinely preserved behind glass, these recordings have provided the basis for two rounds of quite fundamental remixes in which layers of electronic and reprocessed analog sounds have been added – “Sanscapes” 1 & 2. Warrick Sony of Kalahari Surfer also did a remix of the song, “Leka-leka”, which came out on his 2001 album “Akasic Record” – and that was what we just heard …
Tonight, over the course of this show, we’ve actually heard all the musicians featured in this year’s African Soul Rebels tour which took place in the UK in February and early March – Oumou Sangare, Orchestre Poly-Rhythmo and Kalahari Surfers. More information about the musicians and the tour is contained in a podcast you can find on the Jam Magica blog – check out the link.
17 Amsterdam Klezmer Band – Sadagora Hot Dub (World Music Network)
Klezmer-inspired reggae from Amsterdam …
18 Bentho Gustave Titou & l’International Poly Rythmo – Gbe sou ve gnin (Libert)
Orchestre Poly-Rythmo played just about every style including reggae. The song we’ve just heard was written by their bass player, Bentho Gustave Titou, and the whole LP is credited to Bentho Titou & l’International Poly Rythmo. To distribute composition credits and revenues that flowed from them more evenly, Orchestre Poly-Rythmo got different members to compose whole albums. The album was released in 1980 and you can download it from the Oro blog – check out the link.
19 Jack Rose – Everybody ought to pray sometime (Thrill Jockey)
Jack Rose was a guitar player who died late last year. His old-timey, blues ragas are reminiscent of John Fahey’s – an acknowledged inspiration. This is something in the ragtime vein he also liked to play, from this latest album just released – “Luck in the valley”. It’s called “Everyone ought to pray sometime”.
20 Mawkin Causley – Botany Bay (Navigator Records)
From the 2008 EP “Cold Ruin”.
21 The Imagined Village – Cold Haily Rainy Night (Real World)
The Imagined Village are a collection of English musicians from all kind of traditions who usually take an English ballad as a starting point and interpret it in all kinds of interesting ways. Chris Wood and Eliza Carthy did the vocals, and Johnny Kalsi from Dhol Foundation played the dohl – a huge Indian double-headed drum strapped to the front of the body and played with curved sticks.
22 Cheb I Sabbah – Lagi Lagan (6 Degrees)
Cheb I Sabbah is an Algerian-born, San Francisco based DJ, or more correctly coordinator and producer of electronically reinforced recordings of traditional music mainly from North Africa and India. We’re going to hear the north Indian tune “Lagi Lagan”. Bill Laswell, no stranger to this show, supplies the bottom end, and South African Deepak Ram plays the bansuri – an Indian bamboo flute.
1 Oumou Sangare – Wele wele wintou (World Circuit)
Off Oumou Sangare’s great 2009 album entitled “Seya” that was the tune “Wele wele wintou”. A song against forced marriages. The album is thick with luminaries from the Mali scene, and that track features the legendary guitarist, Djelimady Tounkara.
2 Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou – Se ba ho Composed by Amoussou William – legendary trad singer (Analog Africa)
The opening track on Analog Africa’s collection of Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou material “From the vaults of Albarika Store, 1969 to 1979” had label head Samy Redjeb and his Beninese sound team’s jaws dropping to the floor. It dates from the early 70s and is set to a “sato” rhythm, which draws heavily on traditional vodoun rhythms from the region. Vodoun rhythms were strongly present in Beninese daily life at the time. You can watch a movie of that song being performed on Analog Africa’s blog – check out the link.
3 Franco – Quatre Boutons (Sheer Sound)
From 1965, that was Franco and TPOK Jazz with the song “Quartre Boutons”. It’s a comic, slightly racy ditty about a woman who attracts many men, including lovers of her friends and has sassy answers for all. She asks her detractors to ask the men about why they are attracted to her. The four buttons refer to a certain item of men’s apparel which is unfastenable, although we are not sure about which precise item she is referring to.
One of Franco’s long-time guitarists, Simaro (or Simon Lutumba Ndomameuno) played guitar – reverb-drenched, with a very smeary, shimmering break – all utterly fresh sounding to our ears. Simaro was with TPOK Jazz from 1963 until Franco’s death in 89.
The tune comes off a quite magnificent collection “African Classics – Franco” locally released by Sheer.
4 Christy Azuma & Uppers International – Din Ya Sugri (Soundway)
Christy Azuma and Uppers International played music strongly influenced by the music of the upper regions of Ghana – in 1974 a backwater, but a backwater earmarked for tourist development. The Uppers International were drawn from all over Ghana as the house band of a hotel in the upper regions gearing up for the tourist onslaught. Their residency, however, banished them, more or less, to obscurity. Soundway, on their collection, “Ghana Special”, have dug them out.
5 Ali Farka Toure – Cherie (World Circuit)
Speaking of obscurity, in 1984, when the track we’re about to hear was released by French Sonodisc on the album entitled “Red”, Ali Farka Toure was basically languishing in it. Some years after its release, the godfather of world music DJs, Andy Kershaw, came across the album in a bargain basement bin in Paris. He managed to convince World Circuit to get Ali Farka Toure into their stable on the strength of this album and another released more or less at the same time, “Green”. From “Red”, this is the song “Cherie”.
6 Mahlathini Indoda & the Mahlathini Band – Kudala Besibiza (Soweto label)
From 1975, that was the famous Zulu groaner Mahlathini without the Mahotella Queens, when he called himself Mahlathini Indodo. Mahlathini, or Simon Nkabinde, was very proud of his rural heritage – “mah” refers to someone who was just emerged from the bush. On this track he plays with the groundbreaking Makgona Tsohle Band – his backing band for many years – which basically pioneered the classic mbaqanga sound, and were probably mbaqanga’s best players. They were the backing band for many mbaqanga hits.
You can download the whole of this Mahlatini album from the Electric Jive blog – check out the link. Electric Jive’s sister site, Matsuli, is also worth a visit. Our next two tracks come from either Electric Jive or Matsuli.
7 Soweto Boys – Loading Zone (Soweto label)
A year before the Mahlatini track came out, the Soweto Boys released an extremely catchy bunch of sax jive tunes on the Soweto Label. Sax jive grew out of the penny whistle jive, and by the mid 60s had evolved into mbaqanga, having added electric bass and guitar to the line-up.
8 Abafana Be Nala – Wesayoni (Mabob Records)
This track comes from 1976.
9 Akli D – Tabrats (Le Message) (Because UK)
Akli Dehlis is a Berber. A few years ago he produced a lavish album with Manu Chao under the moniker Akli D. This is “Tabrats” from that album.
10 Oum Kalsoum – Wehakkak ental mona waltalab (Mantego) Composed by Abu Al, El Sheik, Mohamed, Ola, Shabrahi, Elham Abdullah El)
We got this from the Mantego collection “The Legend: the Arab World’s Greatest Singer,” which sums up Oum Kalsoum’s reputation quite neatly.
11 Natasha Atlas – Wahashini (N Atlas, N Sparkes, Dubulah – co-ordinator of Dub Colossus (Mantra Recordings)
Although born in Belgium and making her name in England as the singer in Jah Wobble’s Invaders of the Heart, Natasha Atlas is steeped in Oum Kalsoum’s tradition of voice-led orchestral music. Wahashini was co-written by Dubulah, the coordinator of the Dub Colossus project of ethiojazz and vintage Addis music fused with dub that we’ve explored in past programmes…
12 Jump to Addis – Abebayehush (traditional arr Dawit Guebreab) (Buda Musique)
… a neat lead to our next song – “Abebayehush” by Jump to Addis – a collection of European musicians from the Amsterdam Conservatory and Addis’s finest from the “azmaribat” scene. Azmaribat are traditional minstral cabarets in Ethiopia. The song, in all its live ragged glory, celebrates the arrival of spring, which Ethiopia is experiencing round about now.
13 Ashkabad - From the station to the mill (World Music Network)
14 Adulkhamit Rayimbergenov - Sary Arqa (World Music Network)
Two tracks from Central Asia – from the Rough Guide collection to the Music of Central Asia.
15 Wareika Hill Sounds – Africa Freedom March (Honest Jon’s)
Soul, blues and rock have all left their mark outside their places of origin – and so have reggae and dub. But we’ll start our mini crossover reggae segment in the foothills of Kingston with the nyabinghi-infused sounds of veteran trombone player, Calvin “Bubbles” Cameron and his collective “Wareika Hill Sounds”. Another veteran of the Kingston scene accompanies Cameron – sax player Deadley Headley Bennet. This comes from a 2007 album on the label Honest Jon’s.
16 Kalahari Surfer – Leka-leka (trad arr W Sony) (African Dope Records)
In the early 90s South African multi-instrumentalist and producer, Pops Mohamed, headed off to the Kalahari with a sound and camera crew, to record the music of Khoisan people living in the area – the primary impulse being preservation. Some of the resultant recordings were released in 1995 by Melt 2000 as “Bushmen of the Kalahari”. Instead of remaining pristinely preserved behind glass, these recordings have provided the basis for two rounds of quite fundamental remixes in which layers of electronic and reprocessed analog sounds have been added – “Sanscapes” 1 & 2. Warrick Sony of Kalahari Surfer also did a remix of the song, “Leka-leka”, which came out on his 2001 album “Akasic Record” – and that was what we just heard …
Tonight, over the course of this show, we’ve actually heard all the musicians featured in this year’s African Soul Rebels tour which took place in the UK in February and early March – Oumou Sangare, Orchestre Poly-Rhythmo and Kalahari Surfers. More information about the musicians and the tour is contained in a podcast you can find on the Jam Magica blog – check out the link.
17 Amsterdam Klezmer Band – Sadagora Hot Dub (World Music Network)
Klezmer-inspired reggae from Amsterdam …
18 Bentho Gustave Titou & l’International Poly Rythmo – Gbe sou ve gnin (Libert)
Orchestre Poly-Rythmo played just about every style including reggae. The song we’ve just heard was written by their bass player, Bentho Gustave Titou, and the whole LP is credited to Bentho Titou & l’International Poly Rythmo. To distribute composition credits and revenues that flowed from them more evenly, Orchestre Poly-Rythmo got different members to compose whole albums. The album was released in 1980 and you can download it from the Oro blog – check out the link.
19 Jack Rose – Everybody ought to pray sometime (Thrill Jockey)
Jack Rose was a guitar player who died late last year. His old-timey, blues ragas are reminiscent of John Fahey’s – an acknowledged inspiration. This is something in the ragtime vein he also liked to play, from this latest album just released – “Luck in the valley”. It’s called “Everyone ought to pray sometime”.
20 Mawkin Causley – Botany Bay (Navigator Records)
From the 2008 EP “Cold Ruin”.
21 The Imagined Village – Cold Haily Rainy Night (Real World)
The Imagined Village are a collection of English musicians from all kind of traditions who usually take an English ballad as a starting point and interpret it in all kinds of interesting ways. Chris Wood and Eliza Carthy did the vocals, and Johnny Kalsi from Dhol Foundation played the dohl – a huge Indian double-headed drum strapped to the front of the body and played with curved sticks.
22 Cheb I Sabbah – Lagi Lagan (6 Degrees)
Cheb I Sabbah is an Algerian-born, San Francisco based DJ, or more correctly coordinator and producer of electronically reinforced recordings of traditional music mainly from North Africa and India. We’re going to hear the north Indian tune “Lagi Lagan”. Bill Laswell, no stranger to this show, supplies the bottom end, and South African Deepak Ram plays the bansuri – an Indian bamboo flute.
Monday, March 1, 2010
3 March 2010, World Cafe
1 El Rego et Ses Commandos – E nan mian nuku (Analog Africa)
In the late 60s American soul and funk were impacting heavily on the West coast of Africa. A number of bands were getting in on the action, producing what was called “jerk”, often with lyrics in English. El Rego says that he probably recorded the first Beninese jerk tune. That was in 1968. El Rego et Ses Commandos went on to do a number of jerk tracks. “E nan mian nuku” was one – it is collected on the Analog Africa collection “Legends of Benin”.
The CDs from which we’ve culled a number of tracks we’re playing tonight come from Sheer Music, who distribute such great labels as World Music Network, World Circuit, some Real World, Crammed Records and Soundway. Thanks a stack to Sheer.
2 Baaba Maal – Tindo (Palm Pictures)
Baaba Maal’s latest CD, “Television”, was four years in the making. You can hear he has built up the sound through an accretion of layers – much like his landmark album from the 1990s “Firin’ in Fouta”, although “Television” has a more international sound. He co-produced it with Barry Reynolds, a long-time guitar player at the legendary Compass Point Studio in Nassau in the Bahamas.
Didi Gutman and Sabina Sciubba of New York’s latin reggae electro fusion outfit, Brazilian Girls, take a number of the keyboard and song writing and singing credits. Sciubba, who grew up in Nice and Munich, sings with Maal on “Tindo”.
3 Abyssinia Infinite – Gole (Network Medien Gmbh)
Abyssinia Infinite is a collective of Ethiopian and New York based international musicians, including South African, Tony Cedras, with the well known Ethiopian singer, Gigi Shibabaw at the helm. Gigi’s husband, the famous bass-playing producer co-produces with Gigi, and plays acoustic guitar. “Gole” is a very old devotional song, sung half in Amharic and half in an older language, Agewna. Gigi has added some of her own words.
4 Franco & Le TPOK Jazz – Sandoka (Sterns Africa)
Franco is generally recognised as Africa’s top bandleader of recent times. He started his professional career in the 50s as a teenager and by the 80s his band, Le TPOK Jazz, numbered more than 20 players, and he had one foot in Europe and the other in Kinshasa. He came from a poor family, had no formal musical education, but he went on to be one of the key creators of “soukous” - a fusion of Cuban and African rhythms, sometimes called the Congolese rumba, propelled by interlocking guitars. He wrote some of the most enduring songs from the DRC and put together some of the most beautiful vocal arrangements.
Collected on vol 2 of Stern’s “Francophonic” retrospective put out to mark the 20th anniversary of Franco’s death, we’re going to hear “Sandoka”. Ken Braun’s CD notes describe the track very nicely. He says “it involves six voices in chorus and in antiphonal duos and trios, calling to one another, almost in the style of a European Renaissance motet… The vocal parts take roles: a girl named Sandoka, the boy with whom she’s smitten, her parents, and their neighbours.” Basically, the parents object, and the neighbours intercede.
5 Lura – Tabanka (Lusafrica)
Off the coast of Senegal lies Cape Verde, about a third of the way west towards the Caribbean. Its music is often characterised as Afro-Caribbean. Lura, whose parents were from Cape Verde, grew up in Lisbon. Here she does Orlando Pantera’s song, “Tabanka”, in the style of Musica Popular Brasileira (MPB) or popular Brazilian music. Pantera was a songwriter from Cape Verde who died in 2001, having never released any recordings, but whose songs since then have been much recorded. He spent his formative years in Angola, and wound up in Bahia, Brazil, studying percussion – which explains the Brazilian affiliations.
6 Orchestra Poly-Rythmo – Jolie Beaute Africaine (Albarika Store)
Tout Puissant Orchestra Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou, from Benin, were one the great West African bands of the 60s, 70s and early 80s, using Caribbean and voodoo rhythms. Up until recently, they have been largely unsung but since the interest from labels like Soundway and Anolog Africa, they have reformed and begun to play again. In fact, they have recently been touring the UK with Oumou Sangare and Kalahari Surfer.
We found this next vintage track, which is based on the rhythm called “cavacha”, on a magnificent blog “Oro” on which you can find quite of a bit of stuff from TP Orchestra Poly-Rythmo as well as loads of other great stuff. There’s a link to Oro on this blog.
7 Sixto Silgado, Paito y Los Gaiteros de Punta Bravo – Merengue Faroto (World Music Network)
Sixto Silgado, Paito and Los Gaiteros de Punta Bravo played some typical drum and fife street music from the Caribbean part of Colombia.
8 Les Triaboliques – Gulaguajira (I, the dissolute prisoner) (World Village)
Les Triaboliques, who we’ve just heard, are string players Ben Mandelson, Lu Edmonds and Justin Adams, who all also happen to be great global collaborators and producers. Here they sing Russian Gleb Gorbovsky’s song “Gulaguajira (I, the dissolute prisoner)”.
9 Lord Pretender – Human Race (World Music Network)
The Rough Guide to Calypso Gold collects rare recordings from the 30s, 40s and 50s. Lord Pretender or Adric Farrel, was one of Calypso’s greats. He was apparently a master of improvisation, being able to pluck choruses and verses from thin air, upon being given random topics.
10 Seprewa Kasa – Towoboase (World Music Network)
Ghanaian group “Seprewa Kasa” play some pretty laid back highlife music. The sound of the band is constructed around two seprewas. The seprewa is related to the kora, but is smaller and has fewer strings. Seprewa playing nearly died out, but according to Kari Banaman, the guitarist from Osibisa who plays in Seprewa Kasa, the instrument is becoming popular again. Banaman worked with Baffour Kyerematen and Osei Korankye to develop a unique sound – each instrument playing in its own tuning. This was done because of the difficulty of tuning two seprewas to each other, and to the guitar.
11 Anzala, Dolor, Velo – Ti fi la ou te madam (Soundway)
From the Soundways collection of 60s and 70s music from the French Caribbean, “Tumbele”, Anzala, Dolor and Velo from Guadeloupe play in a style called gwo-ka, which is strongly afro-caribbean, having its roots in rural plantation music. The irrepressible sax playing is actually atypical of gwo-ko and, on this track, the player is not known. Monsieur Dolor sings, and Velo, a very important figure in Guadeloupe, plays drums together with Anzala.
12 Solomon and Socalled featuring Michael Alpert – alt.shul Kale Bazetsn (Piranha)
Assaulting the traditional institution of marriage, in the fine radical traditional of Yiddish music, next is Sophie Solomon, Josh Dolgin (aka Socalled) and Michael Alpert. Alpert does the traditional hassidic chant vocals. From the Rough Guide to the Klezmer Revolution.
13 Klezmer Klub – G minor ser (Klub Records)
The London-based Klezmer Club is much more conservative-sounding than Solomon and her crew. That was the traditional tune, “G minor ser”. According to the sleeve notes, “a ser is a kind of Jewish square dance”.
14 Mahmoud Fadl – Ana Wehabibi (Piranha)
From an album of Cairo love classics this is Mahmoud Fadl with a composition by Mohamad Abdel Wahaab that Fadl arranged. Samy El Baby plays the qanun, which is a sort of plucked zither with obvious affinities with the koto.
15 Kim So-hee – Kayaguem Sanjo (Elektra/Wea)
The kayaguem sanjo is a koto-type instrument from Korea. That piece was played by virtuoso player Sung Keum-Yun, and it comes from a CD of equally startling music from the P’ansor tradition of Korean Opera, credited to singer Kim So-hee and released in 1988. It’s out of print now, but you can borrow it from the Cape Town Public Library.
16 Davy Graham – Bruton Town (Fledg’ling)
Acoustic guitar from the English folk revival which started in the 60s never sounded the same after Davy Graham’s debut. He introduced different tunings, Eastern modal scales and rhythms that were all over the map. Here he is with the equally innovative Danny Thompson on bass with a 1968 recording of the traditional song, “Bruton Town”.
17 Brass Monkey – The trees they grow high (Topic)
Brass Monkey are also innovators on the English folk scene – as you heard, they have introduced brass instruments in fabulous arrangements, which include the accordion, into traditional ballad playing.
18 Espers – Meridian (Drag City)
Espers are folk-rock revivalists from the US.
19 Extra Golden – Piny yore yore (Thrill Jockey Records)
Extra Golden released their third album in 2009, “Thank you very quickly”. Extra Golden were originally a combination of Otieno Jagwasi and Onyango Wuod Omari from Kenyan group Orchestra Extra Solar Africa, Alex Minoff from US group Golden, and Ian Eagleson. The collaboration grew out of Eagleson’s research project documenting the Benga music of Kenya, which Jagwasi helped him with. Jagwasi died in 2005.
20 Maddy Prior & Tim Hart – Of all the birds (Sanctuary)
Off their “Heydays” box set, here is Maddy Prior & Tim Hart with “Of all the birds”.
21 Frank Fairfield – Cumberland Gap (Tompkins Square)
Frank Fairfield, a young up and coming traditionalist from the LA area, gives us his version of “Cumberland Gap”.
22 Bert Jansch – Blackwaterside (Vanguard)
A version of “Blackwaterside” recorded in 1966. Jansch was one of the first to pick up on Davy Graham’s radical guitar stylings, and perhaps even his vocal style.
23 Levon Helm – Kingfish (Dirt Farmer Music/Vanguard)
Levon Helm’s version of Randy Newman’s “Kingfish” taken from Helm’s latest CD, “Electric Dirt”. The Kingfish was actually Huey Long, the 40th Governor of Louisiana, who governed between 1928 and 1932 at the height of the Great Depression, and was Senator after that. He created a social programme in 1934 called “Share our wealth”, which had the motto “Every man a king” – a line you’ll hear in the song. He died at the age of 42 of gunshot wounds administered by his own bodyguards, but it’s not clear whether he was assassinated or accidentally shot in an attempt to stave off what looked like a an attempted assassination by a stranger.
In the late 60s American soul and funk were impacting heavily on the West coast of Africa. A number of bands were getting in on the action, producing what was called “jerk”, often with lyrics in English. El Rego says that he probably recorded the first Beninese jerk tune. That was in 1968. El Rego et Ses Commandos went on to do a number of jerk tracks. “E nan mian nuku” was one – it is collected on the Analog Africa collection “Legends of Benin”.
The CDs from which we’ve culled a number of tracks we’re playing tonight come from Sheer Music, who distribute such great labels as World Music Network, World Circuit, some Real World, Crammed Records and Soundway. Thanks a stack to Sheer.
2 Baaba Maal – Tindo (Palm Pictures)
Baaba Maal’s latest CD, “Television”, was four years in the making. You can hear he has built up the sound through an accretion of layers – much like his landmark album from the 1990s “Firin’ in Fouta”, although “Television” has a more international sound. He co-produced it with Barry Reynolds, a long-time guitar player at the legendary Compass Point Studio in Nassau in the Bahamas.
Didi Gutman and Sabina Sciubba of New York’s latin reggae electro fusion outfit, Brazilian Girls, take a number of the keyboard and song writing and singing credits. Sciubba, who grew up in Nice and Munich, sings with Maal on “Tindo”.
3 Abyssinia Infinite – Gole (Network Medien Gmbh)
Abyssinia Infinite is a collective of Ethiopian and New York based international musicians, including South African, Tony Cedras, with the well known Ethiopian singer, Gigi Shibabaw at the helm. Gigi’s husband, the famous bass-playing producer co-produces with Gigi, and plays acoustic guitar. “Gole” is a very old devotional song, sung half in Amharic and half in an older language, Agewna. Gigi has added some of her own words.
4 Franco & Le TPOK Jazz – Sandoka (Sterns Africa)
Franco is generally recognised as Africa’s top bandleader of recent times. He started his professional career in the 50s as a teenager and by the 80s his band, Le TPOK Jazz, numbered more than 20 players, and he had one foot in Europe and the other in Kinshasa. He came from a poor family, had no formal musical education, but he went on to be one of the key creators of “soukous” - a fusion of Cuban and African rhythms, sometimes called the Congolese rumba, propelled by interlocking guitars. He wrote some of the most enduring songs from the DRC and put together some of the most beautiful vocal arrangements.
Collected on vol 2 of Stern’s “Francophonic” retrospective put out to mark the 20th anniversary of Franco’s death, we’re going to hear “Sandoka”. Ken Braun’s CD notes describe the track very nicely. He says “it involves six voices in chorus and in antiphonal duos and trios, calling to one another, almost in the style of a European Renaissance motet… The vocal parts take roles: a girl named Sandoka, the boy with whom she’s smitten, her parents, and their neighbours.” Basically, the parents object, and the neighbours intercede.
5 Lura – Tabanka (Lusafrica)
Off the coast of Senegal lies Cape Verde, about a third of the way west towards the Caribbean. Its music is often characterised as Afro-Caribbean. Lura, whose parents were from Cape Verde, grew up in Lisbon. Here she does Orlando Pantera’s song, “Tabanka”, in the style of Musica Popular Brasileira (MPB) or popular Brazilian music. Pantera was a songwriter from Cape Verde who died in 2001, having never released any recordings, but whose songs since then have been much recorded. He spent his formative years in Angola, and wound up in Bahia, Brazil, studying percussion – which explains the Brazilian affiliations.
6 Orchestra Poly-Rythmo – Jolie Beaute Africaine (Albarika Store)
Tout Puissant Orchestra Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou, from Benin, were one the great West African bands of the 60s, 70s and early 80s, using Caribbean and voodoo rhythms. Up until recently, they have been largely unsung but since the interest from labels like Soundway and Anolog Africa, they have reformed and begun to play again. In fact, they have recently been touring the UK with Oumou Sangare and Kalahari Surfer.
We found this next vintage track, which is based on the rhythm called “cavacha”, on a magnificent blog “Oro” on which you can find quite of a bit of stuff from TP Orchestra Poly-Rythmo as well as loads of other great stuff. There’s a link to Oro on this blog.
7 Sixto Silgado, Paito y Los Gaiteros de Punta Bravo – Merengue Faroto (World Music Network)
Sixto Silgado, Paito and Los Gaiteros de Punta Bravo played some typical drum and fife street music from the Caribbean part of Colombia.
8 Les Triaboliques – Gulaguajira (I, the dissolute prisoner) (World Village)
Les Triaboliques, who we’ve just heard, are string players Ben Mandelson, Lu Edmonds and Justin Adams, who all also happen to be great global collaborators and producers. Here they sing Russian Gleb Gorbovsky’s song “Gulaguajira (I, the dissolute prisoner)”.
9 Lord Pretender – Human Race (World Music Network)
The Rough Guide to Calypso Gold collects rare recordings from the 30s, 40s and 50s. Lord Pretender or Adric Farrel, was one of Calypso’s greats. He was apparently a master of improvisation, being able to pluck choruses and verses from thin air, upon being given random topics.
10 Seprewa Kasa – Towoboase (World Music Network)
Ghanaian group “Seprewa Kasa” play some pretty laid back highlife music. The sound of the band is constructed around two seprewas. The seprewa is related to the kora, but is smaller and has fewer strings. Seprewa playing nearly died out, but according to Kari Banaman, the guitarist from Osibisa who plays in Seprewa Kasa, the instrument is becoming popular again. Banaman worked with Baffour Kyerematen and Osei Korankye to develop a unique sound – each instrument playing in its own tuning. This was done because of the difficulty of tuning two seprewas to each other, and to the guitar.
11 Anzala, Dolor, Velo – Ti fi la ou te madam (Soundway)
From the Soundways collection of 60s and 70s music from the French Caribbean, “Tumbele”, Anzala, Dolor and Velo from Guadeloupe play in a style called gwo-ka, which is strongly afro-caribbean, having its roots in rural plantation music. The irrepressible sax playing is actually atypical of gwo-ko and, on this track, the player is not known. Monsieur Dolor sings, and Velo, a very important figure in Guadeloupe, plays drums together with Anzala.
12 Solomon and Socalled featuring Michael Alpert – alt.shul Kale Bazetsn (Piranha)
Assaulting the traditional institution of marriage, in the fine radical traditional of Yiddish music, next is Sophie Solomon, Josh Dolgin (aka Socalled) and Michael Alpert. Alpert does the traditional hassidic chant vocals. From the Rough Guide to the Klezmer Revolution.
13 Klezmer Klub – G minor ser (Klub Records)
The London-based Klezmer Club is much more conservative-sounding than Solomon and her crew. That was the traditional tune, “G minor ser”. According to the sleeve notes, “a ser is a kind of Jewish square dance”.
14 Mahmoud Fadl – Ana Wehabibi (Piranha)
From an album of Cairo love classics this is Mahmoud Fadl with a composition by Mohamad Abdel Wahaab that Fadl arranged. Samy El Baby plays the qanun, which is a sort of plucked zither with obvious affinities with the koto.
15 Kim So-hee – Kayaguem Sanjo (Elektra/Wea)
The kayaguem sanjo is a koto-type instrument from Korea. That piece was played by virtuoso player Sung Keum-Yun, and it comes from a CD of equally startling music from the P’ansor tradition of Korean Opera, credited to singer Kim So-hee and released in 1988. It’s out of print now, but you can borrow it from the Cape Town Public Library.
16 Davy Graham – Bruton Town (Fledg’ling)
Acoustic guitar from the English folk revival which started in the 60s never sounded the same after Davy Graham’s debut. He introduced different tunings, Eastern modal scales and rhythms that were all over the map. Here he is with the equally innovative Danny Thompson on bass with a 1968 recording of the traditional song, “Bruton Town”.
17 Brass Monkey – The trees they grow high (Topic)
Brass Monkey are also innovators on the English folk scene – as you heard, they have introduced brass instruments in fabulous arrangements, which include the accordion, into traditional ballad playing.
18 Espers – Meridian (Drag City)
Espers are folk-rock revivalists from the US.
19 Extra Golden – Piny yore yore (Thrill Jockey Records)
Extra Golden released their third album in 2009, “Thank you very quickly”. Extra Golden were originally a combination of Otieno Jagwasi and Onyango Wuod Omari from Kenyan group Orchestra Extra Solar Africa, Alex Minoff from US group Golden, and Ian Eagleson. The collaboration grew out of Eagleson’s research project documenting the Benga music of Kenya, which Jagwasi helped him with. Jagwasi died in 2005.
20 Maddy Prior & Tim Hart – Of all the birds (Sanctuary)
Off their “Heydays” box set, here is Maddy Prior & Tim Hart with “Of all the birds”.
21 Frank Fairfield – Cumberland Gap (Tompkins Square)
Frank Fairfield, a young up and coming traditionalist from the LA area, gives us his version of “Cumberland Gap”.
22 Bert Jansch – Blackwaterside (Vanguard)
A version of “Blackwaterside” recorded in 1966. Jansch was one of the first to pick up on Davy Graham’s radical guitar stylings, and perhaps even his vocal style.
23 Levon Helm – Kingfish (Dirt Farmer Music/Vanguard)
Levon Helm’s version of Randy Newman’s “Kingfish” taken from Helm’s latest CD, “Electric Dirt”. The Kingfish was actually Huey Long, the 40th Governor of Louisiana, who governed between 1928 and 1932 at the height of the Great Depression, and was Senator after that. He created a social programme in 1934 called “Share our wealth”, which had the motto “Every man a king” – a line you’ll hear in the song. He died at the age of 42 of gunshot wounds administered by his own bodyguards, but it’s not clear whether he was assassinated or accidentally shot in an attempt to stave off what looked like a an attempted assassination by a stranger.
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