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

British Invasion - 1960s

I wanted to declare “Kick out the jams, mo’fos!” as a signpost towards the message in this week’s Al compás del mundo radio show, but that actually came about a little later. As humanity descended ever deeper into the Cro-Magnon state, Iggy Pop and the punks claimed that honor. What we have here instead, is a post-WWII let’s shake up the political order a bit, and no, not everyone has signed up to be an unconscious consumer attitude. There’s something afoot with these lads. Not exactly revolutionary fervor, but most certainly promoting a change in the general way of things. Recalling Che Guevara’s famous quote “Do Wah Diddy Diddy”, the Animals, Yardbirds, Rolling Stones et. al. pouted and preened – some more than others – in a way that hadn’t quite been done before. Youthful vigor ensued. These groups pushed the evolutionary chain of popular music a step further and we’re all better off for it. Set list Al compás del mundo programa #183, 6-5-25 - The British Invasion, 1960s 01 Yar...

India y Nepal y Tibet

W here a human voice is heard in today’s program it’s often starkly different from what most Westerners might find pleasing and melodic. But I must remind my listeners that the West probably did not invent the concept of vocalizing as accompaniment to plucked/blown/percussed musical instruments. Why do we sing in the style that we do? I imagine there are knowledgeable tomes wrestling with that idea. I ’ve read that vocals were meant to imitate the sounds made by instruments...or vice versa? The chicken or the egg? I’m not here to answer that question, in spite of the college course I had taken of “Music Cultures of the World” decades ago. What I offer is the opportunity to pay attention to and digest musical expressions performed by people steeped in the traditional ways of their culture. T here is a geographic component to lumping together India, Nepal and Tibet as the Himalayas served to isolate and circumscribe the peoples of those northern regions. But here’s where I fud...

Funk and Soul

Al compás del mundo - programa #169, 2-27-25, Funk and Soul 01 The Commodores - Brick House 02 Tower of Power - Drop It In The Slot 03 Parliament - Ride On 04 Sly & The Family Stone – Frisky 05 The Webb People – I’m Sending Vibrations 06 Ruby Delicious - Rock Steady 07 Mandrill - Git It All 08 The San Francisco TKOS – Herm 09 Ohio Players - Fire 10 Parliament - Mothership Connection (Star Child) 11 Kool & The Gang - Jungle Boogie 12 Chico and Buddy - A Thing Call the Jones 13 Little Ann – Possession 14 Lafayette Afro-Rock Band - Time Will Tell 15 Parliament - Ain't Nuthin' But a Jam Y'all What did James Brown mean when he said “we’re gonna have a funky good time”? This “funky” of which he spoke, was it strictly musical (and danceable), or maybe sexual, sociable, or even political? Or maybe a little bit of each? Funk, funky, funkify, funkadelic, funkalicious…all pointing at the pleasure principle…a new dialect for the “blue...

Search This Blog