Global potpourri

Al compás del mundo 206, 11-6-25 - global potpourri list

01 Alogte Oho - Mam Yinne Wa (Ghana)

02 Jagwa Music - Mchawi Ndugu (Tanzania)

03 Polibio Mayorga - Altas Horas (Ecuador)

04 Nimco Jamaac - Buuraha U Dheer (Somalia)

05 Cheb Mohamed Sghir - Zoujouha Laaroubia (Algeria)

06 Pasteur LappÉ - Sanaga Calypso (Cameroon)

07 New Tutenkhamen - Joburg Bound (Zimbabwe)

08 Phuzekhemisi No Nothembi - Solo Ngiyathokoza (Ndebele, South Africa)

09 Saodaj - Pokor Lèr (Reunion)

10 Kaxgar Kizi - Chirayliq (Uyghur, China)

11 Nair Band - Mongolian Brown (Mongolia)

12 bAnda con Εύη Σεϊτανίδου - Ομάλ (Greece)

13 Les Négresses Vertes - Enfer et paradis (France)

14 Matmatah - Les moutons (France)

I suppose most of my potpourri programs take off for a global trek much like this one. I mean, if it were a potpourri of blues stylings, it would be a blues program.

Likewise, a jazz potpourri would be a jazz program. But when the reach extends from Ghana to Ecuador, Algeria to Zimbabwe, Mongolia to Greece and finally to France, it becomes a potpourri-apalooza, ready to embrace one and all. I enjoy finding links that somehow manage to enhance the transition from one culture to another.

The first five titles all share a reliance on electronics, as manifested by a variety of inorganic organs. Of particular note is the cut by Jagwa Music, a manic Tanzanian band that makes constant, driving use of a miniature casio keyboard – a toy in the hands of a true innovator.

While there are plenty of highlights, I find the song by Saodaj compelling in that it borrows from different global styles (i.e. a Bulgarian women’s chorus) but ultimately sounds like nothing else. I didn’t know what to expect from that remote island nation…and kudos to anyone who can point to Reunion on a world map.

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