From the Shores of  Bombino  - A Bostonian Brahma advisor told me I should cull my early programs for the “best of Al compás”.  Should I ever make it big in the radio world (ala Howard Stern), I’m going to hire this guy as my manager. Some time back I bemoaned the fact that long ago and during many earlier programs I had already picked and played my absolute favorites of every genre. I continue to find radio-worthy songs with two years of programming under my belt, but admittedly, it gets harder to find the exquisite gems that often populated the oldest playlists. And thus we find this week’s aggregation, replayed from my first four programs, of Colombian and Brazilian folk music; jazz; bluesy jazz (oh babe!); country blues; a most logical and satisfying segue into Ethiopian saxophone negus (king) Getachew Mekurya; South African, and Nigerien jazz-rap-blues – proving there’s nothing new under the sun but modern twists on traditional themes. Follow all that wit...

Chaingang Ecstasy - Turns out this week’s Al compás program falls on November 23 – Thanksgiving, celebrated in the United States by overeating and nods of gratitude. In Mexico, el Dia de Gracias is slowly making inroads though is not a national holiday. I mean, who doesn’t enjoy a little gluttony and a day off hanging with the family…even tio Prospero with his far-right political views (sheesh, what a pendejo)? We gringos have eagerly jumped on the Cinco de Mayo and St. Patrck’s day bandwagons while Halloween has become more and more a “thing” down South. I guess it’s obvious that people just like to party. And here’s the soundtrack. It runs the gamut from blues, to its progeny, rhythm and blues, even a little gospel, and finally tearjerkers and indignant you-done-me-wrongs: all under the umbrella of soul music. It was righteous then and 50-60 years later it still sounds, well, soulful.  Run list  Rhythm & Blues from the 1960s and 70s - First broadcast 11-23-23 01 Clar...

  Jack Vaughan steps in "invitado" tonight. He says: The party would revolve as vinyl, where the English bands or the Motown orchestras could set the quantum strings to spinning. If it were my records at my pad, maybe with a MeisterBrau big jug, I would put forward the case for the dance of ecstasy. There would be LPs and 45s strewn. It might include some slow blues. It might end with Sister Ray, which could wake up the danced-out couch  sleepers, and remind them they should go home. This is the kind of event which I look to memorialize here. In these times, it’s the 45s that seem so especially to hold the magic light – and it’s still easy, on a Friday or Saturday night, to let records play us into a shuffling cloud of socks on the shiny floor. The Watusi, the Swim, the Hully Gully. Among the 45s in this collection are the jazz 45s of Eddie Harris and the Crusaders, of the kind to find at a used juke box warehouse sale. There’s Jr Walker, Sonny Boy Williamson, Candi Staton ...

  An incredible string band.  Al compas del mundo has visited this vast region before. And like in my retrospectives of Latin American, European, and Asian music, I’ve taken a bite that’s almost too much to chew. Still, I believe I’ve done justice with this selection of studio recordings. Of course, I wanted to include every country possible within the parameter of a one-hour program. Sorry Angola…and the 35 others I’ve missed. Maybe next time! Who I  was  able to feature are some of the heavyweights in the music biz, such as Geraldo Pino leading off by telling us about the new girl in town who, like Pino himself is “Heavy Heavy Heavy”. Mostly, the songs are sung in local indigenous languages, but English also appears in Orlando Julius’ homage “James Brown Ride On” when he says “Welcome to Nigeria”, “Soul brother number one”, and “We are proud of you!” I want it to read “ Right  On”, but no one asked me. The influences upon the multitude of styles heard here are...

We gather together in celebration of Al compas del mundo’s 100 th  anniversary. It’s been almost two full years since I’ve undertaken programming a weekly selection of eclectic musical morsels for the edification and (hopefully) enjoyment of a vast listening audience. Rather than attempt to tabulate sheer numbers in the worldwide streaming reach of RadioactivaTX (out of Tequisquiapan, Queretaro, in Mexico) and faithful Al compas devotees, I might better ask “Who does  not  listen to my weekly program?” Ok, Xing Pi for one, but that’s likely due to the scarcity of Chinese tunes that have been included in the playlists – except for Uyghur music. The newly infamous Mike Johnson. And the entire Trump family. Otherwise, it’s been a fruitful exercise and I expect it to continue. I must admit, though, as I try not to play songs that have previously appeared, it gets harder as time moves on. My vast music library of over 40,000 titles is a most valuable resource and always inspir...