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 to choose from. Admittedly, I didn’t write, play or sing any of the tunes, but knowing what sounds good, where to find it, and in what order to play it requires keen interest in what the musicians are saying. Much of what passes for music nowadays (and forever since the advent of radio) says “I want to crack the code that allows me to make lots of money.” Or “What she did worked and I’ll just copy it to reach the Billboard 100 (there’s still such a thing?). I guess I’ll relegate myself to the ranks of the Coastal elites with the taunt that my aesthetic’s better than yours! So there, I said it. The competition has begun. If you can hang with Sun Ra, Etoile de Dakar, Canzoniere Grecanico, and Teodulo Naranjo, there’s an eagle Scout merit badge in artful music appreciation awaiting you. For the rest, there’s a 5:00pm EST Thursday opportunity to stream the program on radioactivatx.org (repeated Saturday at the same hour) and decide for yourself. I guarantee you there will be things you’ve never heard before. A positive and sure sign that human musical expression works in strange and wondrous ways.

Comments

British blues of the 60s y 70s

This has to be one of my favorite programs. The British blues scene gave us a healthy dose of reverential and, admittedly, imitative music that awakened a youthful audience suffering from pop fatigue on both sides of the ocean. Of course, the blues, as interpreted by young white musicians who couldn’t have been much further from the Mississippi Delta or the South side of Chicago, can be considered as cultural appropriation. At the same time, those involved in the scene have reminisced that playing the blues was largely a visceral reaction to a compelling combination of rhythm, lyrics and energy that was distinct from the British music scene up to that point. I don’t believe anyone at the time felt guilty playing the songs of their Southern US heroes. Does it make a difference that a number of these groups went on to earn far more money than the originators ever dreamed of? Probably, though many of the greats – Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Sonny Boy Williamson and others – profi...

Nuyorican boogaloo cha-cha-cha

I’m labelling this week’s playlist as “Nuyorican” music, the lion’s share of the players from Puerto Rico or of Puerto Rican ancestry. Two notable exceptions are Joe Bataan, a Filipino-African American, and Mongo Santamaria born in Cuba. What they all have in common, however, was centered around the music scene of New York City where African American and Latino musicians forged a common ground in creating “boogaloo” dance music, mixing elements of R&B, Soul, and Latin dance rhythms. The boogaloo genre was fairly short-lived, enjoying popularity during the 1960’s before giving way to salsa, in what was largely an East Coast and Caribbean impulse. “Watermelon Man” and ”El Watusi” were early and major boogaloo hits, but truly, most of the titles included in the program were popular recordings in their day, whether cha-cha-chas like Tito Puente’s “Oye Como Va”, or GFyEN’s guajira. I’ve gathered them here for an hour’s worth of revelation for those too young to have heard thi...

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...

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