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Ethnic “orchestral” potpourri

I’m calling this week’s selections an “orchestral” potpourri from here and there. And maybe that’s not as precise as should be. You won’t always find the big orchestral sound on these recordings that the label suggests, but when you don’t, what you will hear are studio sessions where music is overdubbed, mixed, or merely enhanced in some electronic way. Roots music this ain’t. Starting with the appropriately named opening “Genesis Theme” by Ravi Shankar, the program ends with his daughter, Anoushka, also a sitar master. In between find many gems ...   [continued below]   Al compás del mundo - programa #150, 10-17-24, ethnic “orchestral” potpourri run list 01 Ravi Shankar - Genesis Theme (India) 02 Agnes Obel - Red Virgin Soil (Denmark) 03 Angelo Badalamenti - Dance of the Dream Man (USA) 04 DakhaBrakha - Karpatskyi Rep (Ukraine) 05 Lambarena - Pepa Nzac Gnon Ma + Prelude from Partita for Violin No. 3, J.S. Bach (Gabon - France) 06 Kronos Quartet - Wawshishijay (Our Beginning) (USA) 07
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Al compás del mundo - programa #149, 10-10-24, jazz somehow

I once wrote a very perfunctory program summary for this blogsite. It was for a jazz show, like this one, presented on Mexico’s Al compás del mundo radio program. The trick was to include a photo of the performers, each posing with his “ax” (piano, sax, trumpet, etc.) The pictures were worth a thousand words (or several hundred at least). While it made it easy for me, I’ve been warned by the editor that never again was I to foist most of the work on to his broad though burdened shoulders. So be it. Rules are rules. Instead, I’ll do a rundown of the performances presented herein below. Al compás del mundo - programa #149, 10-10-24, jazz  Run list 01 Herbie Hancock - It Ain't Necessarily So 02 Roy Campbell - I Remember Lee 03 Jaki Byard - Blues in The Closet 04 Grachan Moncur - Love and Hate 05 Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane – Evidence 06 Archie Shepp & Horace Parlan - Go Down Moses 07 Jackie McLean – Marney 08 Bobby Hutcherson - Blues Mind Matter 09 Terre
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Traditional sub-Saharan African music

  There’s a lot to digest in this week’s program - 48 excerpts from lengthier works of art, ritual and celebration as (once) heard in sub-Saharan Africa. On the other hand, maybe just let it wash over you and don’t sweat the details. I can imagine this is new territory for most listeners, but think of it this way: your fellow human beings with all the same needs and abilities have come up with musical statements that express the same wide range of emotions that we in the West are saddled with. I’m trying to make the point that what may sound so very foreign and “odd” to outsiders is designed for a local audience with distinctly different histories, and an evolution of culture that’s taken its own road far from ours. Yet music plays its role in working, partying, relaxing, mourning, and just having fun. [Continues below] Run list: Traditional sub-Saharan African music, Al compás del mundo - programa #148, 10-3-24   01 Malinke dance in praise of hunters, Guinea 0.00 02 Bena Luluwa re
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Al compás del mundo - programa #147, 9-26-24, greatest hits, programs #23-25

  Playlist for Al compás del mundo - programa #147, 9-26-24, greatest hits, programs #23-25 01 King Curtis - Heavenly Blues (USA) 02 Sun Ra - They'll Come Back (USA) 03 Duke Ellington - Portrait of Mahalia Jackson (USA) 04 Mal Waldron and Jackie McLean - Super Okra Blues (USA) 05 The Duke Pearson Nonet – Heavy Legs (USA) 06 Étoile de Dakar - Esta China (Senegal) 07 The Black Santiagos - Ole (Benin) 08 Antoine Dougbe - Nou Akuenon Hwlin Me Sin Koussio (Benin) 09 Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino - Nu te fermare (Italy) 10 Ando Drom - Keren chave (Hungary) 11 Paco de Lucia - La Tumbona (Spain) 12 Teodulo Naranjo - Son Del Viento (Mexico) 13 DJ Cheb I Sabbeh - Kese Kese (Algeria-India) I’ll share a secret: when time is short these “greatest hits” programs are a relief to prepare. Every weekly Al compás del mundo program, modestly speaking, is a compilation of superior sounds, well curated by me, your brilliant humble servant. But three or four such shows offer an embarrassment of riches
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Al compás del mundo - programa #146, 9-19-24, women’s voices

  Run list Al compás del mundo - programa #146, 9-19-24, women’s voices   01 Bessie Smith - Blue Spirit Blues (USA) 02 Alberta Adams – Remember (USA) 03 Abbey Lincoln - Straight Ahead (USA) 04 Sarah Vaughan – Interlude (USA) 05 Nina Simone - Four Women (USA) 06 Fontella Bass - Since I Fell for You (USA) 07 Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings - How Long Do I Have to Wait for You (USA) 08 Laura Nyro & LaBelle - Gonna Take a Miracle (USA) 09 Rhiannon Giddens - Ten Thousand Voices (USA) 10 Nico - Winter Song (Germany) 11 P.J. Harvey - The Last Living Rose (England) 12 Alabama Shakes - I Ain't the Same (USA) 13 Janis Joplin – Summertime (USA) 14 Mother Earth - It Won't Be Long (USA) 15 La Santa Cecilia - La Morena (USA-Mexico) 16 Cassandra Wilson - VooDoo Reprise (USA)   These babes have lungs. Whether you accept “babes” as an appropriate label for the crooners, belters, songsters, nightingales, chanteuses, warblers, troubadours and serenaders
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Al compás del mundo - programa #145, 9-12-24, Argentinian folklore

  Runlist - Al compás del mundo - programa #145, 9-12-24, Argentinian folklore   01 Los Rojas - Qué Lindo Es Estar De Vuelta 02 Coco Gomez - No Me Abraces Porque Lloro 03 Facundo Cabral - Señora de Juan Fernández 04 Horacio Guarany - Piel Morena 05 Eduardo Falu - Zamba de Vargas 06 José Larralde - Quimey Neuquén 07 Leda Valladares y María Elena Walsh - Chacarera de Tafi 08 Los Chalchaleros - Viene clareando 09 Erick Claros - Que No Te Olvida 10 Los Chaza - Cuando nada te debia 11 Jorge Cafrune - Baguala de Amaicha 12 Gustavo Patiño - Amores de primavera (huayno) 13 Mitote - Sol de los Andes 14 Canto 4 - Entre a Mi Pago Sin Golpear 15 Los Hermanos Abalos - La juguetona 16 Los Fronterizos - El quiaqueño 17 Dalmiro Cuellar y Orlando Rojas - Romanceros del Guadalquivir 18 Mercedes Sosa - Luna Tucumana 19 Los Cantores de Quilla Huasi - El Ventajao 20 Trio Gomez-Juárez-Gutiérrez - Una Chacarera   This is not a show for everybody. Your high school
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Good ole #144 potpourri

A dozen dozens add up to program #144 this week, and being the ardent numerologist that I am, I have to regard this milestone with both admiration and suspicion. I’m pleased at myself for having found this Mexican radio gig in the first place and yet I can’t help but imagine we just might run out of musical attention-getting devices, say, by the year 2050. Maybe it’s time to play a little Stockhausen...? For example, his “Helicopter String Quartet”  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13D1YY_BvWU  would be a sure crowd pleaser and I could take the rest of the week off. See what you think. Play it in a continuous loop for 60 minutes and see if it doesn’t rev your engine. Should it fail, I suppose you can always fall back on this week’s Al compás del mundo playlist wherein you shall discover Caribbean rhythms, a brief dalliance in religious or down-in-the-mouth folk tunes, a leap in faith to Asian overtures, and a final touch down in northern, central and southern Africa.  Which hour of list
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