Al compás del mundo - programa #101 - Sub-Saharan music of Africa

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 many and varied. Most have turned towards the global music scene and incorporated Western instrumentation, studio mixing and the latest trends, but always keeping their cultural roots as the core. I find most intriguing the songs of East Africa that often sound like a hybrid of Middle Eastern, Arab and Indian music. Pay attention to these tunes from Sudan, Somalia and Tanzania for a delicious education in the cross-cultural experience we find there and in, well actually, most any music on the planet these days. Rarely is found a musical style unadulterated and unchanged from its origins. As the world gets smaller, our reach to extend our grasp grows larger. - J.H.

Runlist for Sub-Saharan music of Africa - First Broadcast 11-9-2023

01 Geraldo Pino - Heavy Heavy Heavy (Sierra Leone)

02 Frimpong and His Cubano Fiestas - Kyenkyen Bi Adi M'Awu (Ghana)

03 Abdel Gadir Salim – Sudani (Sudan)

04 Tewolde Redda - Wuba (Eritrea)

05 Zuhura & Zein Musical Party - Kuratu ayini (Tanzania)

06 anonima - titulo desconocido (Somalia)

07 Issa Bagayogo - Tounga (Mali)

08 Orlando Julius - James Brown Ride On (Nigeria)

09 Richard Flash - Gbedododa (Benin)

10 Wazimbo and Marrabenta Star de Mozambique - Nhimba Ya Dota (Pregnant Men) (Mozambique)

11 Hawa Boussim - Dolada (Burkina Faso)

12 Ihashi Elimhlophe - Uganduqandu (South Africa)

13 Akofa Akoussah - Maboulé (Togo)

14 Tarika Sammy - Revire (Madagascar)

Comments

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 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 compás del mundo – programa #119 –Blues Harmonica

Any program that starts and ends with Little Walter has got something going on right. And in this version of Mexican radio’s Al compas del mundo (radioactivaTX.org – in Tequisquiapan, Queretaro) I can do no wrong. Though I kind of, sort of, do a chronology of the harmonica in American blues, I had to start off this playlist with Little Walter Jacobs for reasons obvious to me and, I’m certain, many others. Followed by an all-time favorite – Rollin’ and Tumblin’, with Walter again, Muddy Waters, Baby Face Leroy Foster and an unnamed participant or two. It is a given that the blues developed in the United States brought by an enslaved population that introduced African characteristics from many different roots and regions. This lyric-less version of Rollin’ and Tumblin’ is played, moaned and wailed to create a mood that – to these ears – evokes the sound of the motherland, how distant that might be. Followed by early recordings of a novelty harmonica solo, jug bands, and country sounds. F...

Search This Blog