I'm momentarily at a loss for how to encapsulate what this week's Al compás del mundo brings forth, but maybe "loss" is the key, or rather "lost", as in showing up where one normally does not belong. There are several cases in this playlist of folks outside their usual musical boundaries. Which can actually be a positive step, artistically speaking.  Take revered Japanese folk singer, Hajime Chitose. Here she stays true to her school and sings in a most traditional manner, while accompanied by the Minyo Crusaders, a fun-loving goofball funk band, equally at home with R&B or Latin rhythms. Works beautifully, no? Than there's Johnny Clegg, a White songwriter and singer, deeply involved with Black South African music. An ardent anti-apartheid activist, he spoke Zulu, was thoroughly acculturated in that ethos, and recorded albums with a mixed-race band despite government and police persecution. Bela Fleck, known principally as a bluegrass banjoist, is he...

So much to write about! It’s a playlist of strangelings that in some other time or culture would have made no sense at all. And yet… Though first off, I need to point out that So much to write about! It’s a playlist of strangelings that in some other time or culture would have made no sense at all. And yet… Though first off, I need to point out that Programa #156 marks my third anniversary for Al compas del mundo (World Beats) on RadioactivaTX.org out of Tequisquiapan, Querétaro, deep in the heart of Mexico. Huzzah! Once the confetti settles it’s back to the task at hand: surveying this bunch of topical interest and fantastic weirdos.Once the confetti settles it’s back to the task at hand: surveying this bunch of topical interest and fantastic weirdos. continued... Run list for Al compás del mundo - programa #157, 12-5-24, novelties, notables, and just plain strange 01 Hollywood Argyles - Alley Oop (USA) 02 Little Anthony & The Imperials - Shimmy, Shimmy, Ko-Ko-Bop (USA) 03 The ...

Run List- Al compás del mundo - programa #156, 11-28-24, groovy music  01 Cassandra Wilson - You Gotta Move (USA) 02 Don Was and the Pan Detroit Ensemble – Neighborhoods (USA) 03 Archie Shepp - You're What This Day Is All About (USA) 04 Curtis Mayfield - Little Child Running Wild (USA) 05 Astrud Gilberto – Berimbau (Brazil) 06 Baden Powell and Vinicius de Moraes - Canto de Xango (Brazil) 07 Os Mutantes - Ave, Lúcifer (Brazil) 08 Chicago Art Ensemble - Variations Sur un Theme de Monteverdi II (USA) 09 Marc Ribot y Los Cubanos Postizos - No Me Llores Más (USA) 10 Ricardo Richie Ray - Baba Coroco (Nuyorican) 11 Eddie Palmieri - Chocolate Ice Cream (Puerto Rico) 12 Kadja Tangara - Konifale (Mali) 13 Mbongwana Star - Masobélé (Congo) 14 Rasha - Aguis Mahasnik Biman (Sudan) Tried to come up with a name for this “conglomeration of varied soundscapes.” But that didn’t work, so it became simply “groovy music.” And it is all of that. Cassandra Wilson’s “You Gotta Move” attempted to slip into...

This week on Al compás del mundo we’re taking a pretty darn thorough look at the music of Peru (foregoing contemporary pop music that for a large part sounds like that of any other country in the world.) If you thought Peru was limited to Machu Picchu, llamas, and Incan history, you’d be wrong. They’re out of the Andean region and offer an important but incomplete overview of cultural traditions and the music handed down. Andean music comes from the indigenous peoples, mostly rural, who have populated the mountainous areas since before history took note.  Instrumentation is characterized by flutes, simple drum patterns, and the charango, or armadillo “guitar.”  >>> Al compás del mundo - programa #155, Runlisto First broadcast 11-21-24, Peru - Andean, Creole, Afro, Amazonian 01 Condemayta de Acomayo - Cuerpo soltero 02 Puka - Adiós pueblo de Ayacucho 03 Los Uros del Titicaca - Ojos azules 04 El Comunero De Los Andes - Huaylas Comunero 05 Inkhay - Rosaura  06 Flore...

Al compás del mundo - programa #154, 11-14-24, blues Run List 01 Jaydee Short - Barefoot Blues 02 BB King - Fishin' After Me 03 Junior Wells - Little by Little 04 Johnny Shines Blues Band - Dynaflow Blues 05 Harmon Ray - Sleepin' by Myself 06 Muddy Waters - Trouble No More 07 James Cotton - West Helena Blues 08 Arbee Stidham - Mr. Commissioner 09 J.B. Hutto and the Hawks - Dust My Broom 10 Otis Rush - My Love Will Never Die [Shown Top of Page] 11 Dudlow and Peck Curtis - 44 Blues 12 Little Milton – Satisfied 13 Frankie Lee Sims - She Likes to Boogie Real Low 14 Baby Face Leroy - My Head Can't Rest Anymore 15 Lowell Fulsom - Low Society 16 Buddy Guy - Leave My Girl Alone 17 Gus Jenkins - Florida Hurricane 18 Walter Horton - What's The Matter with You 19 Robert Pete Williams - Two Wings Here on Al compas del mundo it’s another blues show and I’m running out of things to say about the blues. Other than BB King wishes he was a catfish [directly above] so that he’d have al...

  This program is a big meander, a mighty voyage, and a highflying fling to hither and yon. A greatest hits selection from three programs that ran eons ago. There’s an initial anchor of major soul music talent - ah, an R&B program! Nope, just a snatch. As we throttle down to “Rumble,” so-called desert blues, the forever talent of the Velvet Underground, and the 1981 anthem “Golden Brown” a lifeline is extended to New Orleans’ Nomo and relative cousins Cuba’s Orishas. Bring ‘em back! And as long as you’re at it, Beny Moré’s got to come along for there’s few classics better-loved in Cuba and the Southlands than “La Culebra”. Pairing old masters brings on Earl Bostic, forever intoning “Harlem Nocturne”…and then the zig zags. Somehow, I see working class Brits following up with a paean to the truck driver heroes of the land. So, Europe it is for the remainder. With an orchestral French fanfare, Bulgarian flutes and other folkloric themes leading the journey, we come to rest with th...