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Epitome of Potpourriti


 This week’s Al compás del mundo music program couldn’t be more potpourri-ish if it were a sack of dried sweet-smelling flowers and spices. So, let’s take a look at what the program has to offer. Chacalón and his group proclaim he’s just a country boy. John Denver with an Amazonian tropical beat? 

Los Baguales drum out heavy percussion and counter with Andean flutes – yet for some reason they’re calling the work “Potpourri of Eastern Music”...? It’s the northwestern part of Argentina where Andean style music can still be heard. Could it be their world is upside down below the equator? 

Manuel de Jesús Abrego y Abdiel Nuñez’s slice of Panameñan carnival life verify Panama’s membership in the constant party coalition. And what better cultural combo than a classic Colombian cumbia played by the Frente Cumbiero, sung in Japonese by the Minyo Crusaders. Suzumeno Tears follows with a down-tempo and pretty song that borders on Japanese folklore, though preformed with a Western singing slant. Just hearing the next tune, I would never have guessed that Banning Eyre was a Western musicologist. He does great justice to Shona guitar music from Zimbabwe and his singing is impeccable. 

Two modern East African tunes follow. The Ethiopian number by Eskyas Mezemir & Danga H Qanani following traditional modes of call-and-response, handclapping, etc., while Malawi’s contribution features the Mulangeni Soundz in a savory mix of electronica and trad-based complements. Nattali Rize was born and raised in Australia but has migrated to Jamaica where – as evidenced here in a duo with Brushy One String – her heart lies. 

More reggae beats follow closely. Tiken Jah Fakoly uses them (doesn’t everyone?) to underlie his take on contemporary Ivory Coast sounds. I’m going to lump two Moroccan songs together: a complex full arrangement with trumpet accompaniment by Adnan Sefiani, and a stripped down example of gnawa religious/ritual music played and sung by Mehdi Nassouli & Lala Tamar. Of course, since I included earlier a song from Ethiopia, I have to throw in something from Sudan. Regular listeners will have have noticed by now my predilection for the distinct rhythms and melodies from these neighbouring countries. Ruwa Mohammed Na'eem’s voice is sublime and the musical accompaniment a perfect match. 

At last, seeking the epitome of potpourri, we land on Osnovno Betrobye singing in oft-heard Bulgarian women’s choral style to the strains of a sitar and Indian percussion. Potpourri never smelled sweeter.

Run list Episoda #177, 4-24-25 – potpourri

 

01 Chacalón y la Nueva Crema - Soy Provinciano (Peru)

02 Los Baguales - Popurrí de Música Orientál (Argentina)

03 Manuel de Jesús Abrego y Abdiel Nuñez - Julia Pela la Yuca y el Gallo Blanco (Panama)

04 Minyo Crusaders & Frente Cumbiero - Cumbia del Monte Fuji (Japan and Colombia)

05 Suzumeno Tears - Zaraita Bushi (Japan)

06 Banning Eyre - Ndozvireva Kupi  (USA-Zimbabwe)

07 Eskyas Mezemir & Danga H Qanani - Chim Chim Goona (Oromo, Ethiopia)

08 Mulangeni Sounds - Kwathu ku Mulangeni (Malawi)

09 Nattali Rize and Brushy One String - Rasta Children (Australia and Jamaica)

10 Tiken Jah Fakoly - Djeli (Ivory Coast)

11 Adnan Sefiani - Bechri Lina (Morocco)

12 Mehdi Nassouli & Lala Tamar - Ashkideyli (Morocco)

13 Ruwa Mohammed Na'eem - Asyar al-Luwaree (Sudan)

14 Osnovno Betrobye - Снощи съм, мале, сън сънувало (Bulgaria)

 



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