Al compas del mundo - programa 68 - Music from the African continent

Al compas del mundo - programa 68 - Music from the African continent – modern and traditional

Mi KPLE DOGBEKPO ("My dog Skip")

I always enjoy running a program of music from Africa – so many choices and such incredible diversity from all corners of the continent. Where to start? At the beginning, of course. Everyone knows (or should know) Fela Kuti, political activist and pioneer of Nigerian Afrobeat. His music has influenced dance bands all across the planet and is carried on today by his son and legions of followers. Randomly picking and choosing here…the UniZulu Choir does not lack for enthusiasm! The only thing I can compare it to in our United States would be fans at an Alabama football game. The truly traditional music samples serve as a reminder that the roots run deep. Much of this song and dance is still found, mostly, on the village levels. But even in the big cities the sounds of today often borrow from the precedents of yesterday. Benin strikes yet again with another hit, this time by the Orchestre Les Volcans. There must be something in the water there. Benin combos seemingly never stop producing catchy, melodic, savory musical moments. Hasso Akotey contributes more evidence of a flourishing creative scene…in…the…middle (sort of)…the…Sahara desert! Can’t attribute it to the water this time. Hussein Bashir, is an all-time favorite ever since I discovered his cassette in the streets of 1982 Cairo. I asked the vendor if he had any Sudanese or Nubian music and he reacted “You mean monkey music?” I bit my tongue and shook my head “yes”. Sad, but true, and Hussein Bashir remains above the fray, obviously a sophisticate of sound. And I still haven’t learned how the Hallelujah Chicken Run Band got their name.

TRACKLIST Music from the African continent – modern and traditional first broadcast on RadioActiva March 16, 2023

01 Fela Kuti - Wayo (Nigeria)

02 BKO Quintet - Strange Wassolon (Mali)

03 Hallelujah Chicken Run Band - Mudzimu Ndiringe (Zimbabwe)

04 Wagogo marriage ritual (Tanzania)

05 Tadèlè Bèqèlè - Enafqeshalèhu (Ethiopia)

06 Sagbohan Danialou - Afelele (Guinea)

07 Hussein Bashir - Ashwaq 'ashaq (Nubia, Egypt)

08 Umaru Sanda - Yadda Da Allah (Ghana)

09 The Black Santiagos - Ole (Nigeria)

10 UniZulu Choir - Halala Syanibongela (University of Zululand, South Africa)

11 Tsuaka Ngolo - Muyonhgo (Gabon)

12 anonymous - Enanga (a string instrument) (Uganda)

13 Badenya Les Freres Coulibaly - Boroto (Burkina Faso)

14 Hasso Akotey - Djedahi Idji Saman (Tuareg, Niger)

15 The Heartbeats - Kayi Kayi (Sierra Leone)

16 Twa (Batwa) traditional song and dance from Uganda

17 Orchestre Les Volcans - Mi Kple Dogbekpo (Benin)

18 Nabintou Diakite – title unknown (Mali)

Going to Wa-gogo!

Comments

Al compás del mundo - programa #99 - Los Folkloristas

This week’s Al compás del mundo earns a pair of dedications. Primarily, to Las Folkloristas, a group of Mexican musicians who first came together in 1966 and who continue to the present day, delighting their public and educating them as to the breadth of folk music genres and instrumentation found in every corner of Latin America. The second dedication is to me and my sweetheart wife Claudia – we met at a concert of Los Folkloristas at the Sala Agora in Mexico City, in 1976. And yes, we too are still together. Get out your handkerchiefs and dry your eyes because there’s a story to be told as evidence that there’s a soulmate out there for everyone. You just have to make the effort to look, even if it takes you to a foreign land. And so it goes like this: I spent all of 1976 living in Mexico City, ostensibly to learn Spanish, but en realidad to loaf around, drink beer, practice my saxophone, and maybe, just maybe, look to meet a señorita. I lived in a pension (boardinghouse) owned by Jul...

Al compas del mundo, programa #92 - Japan

The Japanese historically have been a most creative people, excelling in aesthetic conventions like architecture, painting, culinary arts, theatre, music, and more. A craftsman’s care and an artist’s flair have come to define everyday household objects such as articles of clothing and kitchen ware, designed with a sensibility that imbues them with import and elevated status. After WWII in the United States however, an item inscribed “made in Japan” usually indicated a tchotchke of mediocre quality. A perfect example is the large number of Northwest Coast Native American-style bone totem poles made for the tourist shops in the Northwest. There is a distinctive difference in these “artifacts” from the real, home-made variety that illustrates someone from another culture tackling aesthetics they don’t fully comprehend. And that leads us to some of this week’s musical choices. Imitating Western pop, rock and jazz, Japanese artists have recorded many forgettable efforts – not unlike those o...

Al compas del mundo - programa #114 - potpourri of fun, fun, fun

Fun, Fun, Fun. And I do mean fun. Sometimes this summary of a weekly radio show veers off to a serious side, but not today. Not with this batch of winners. Not when we’re leading off with Los Xochimilcas. Like a mix of The Three Stooges and Spike Jones, they clamor for a round of “pulque for two!” with an eloquent danzón accompaniment. Then there’s Pigbag showing off some serious jazz chops…but is it jazz? Then again, who cares? Why fret over labels when we’re here to have fun?! So The Magnetic Fields’ tune isn’t exactly light-hearted glee and all, but fun comes in many packages. I had fun when I first heard I Die You Die. They sounded like the Velvet Underground had they hailed from West Virginia instead of New York. That’s not fun? Relatively speaking, there’s always room for Ennio Morricone. That lonesome whistle thrills me, along with the chorus of grunting injuns. A Spaghetti Western at its stereotypical best. Allen Toussaint, by the way, is one hell of a song writer, in cas...

Search This Blog