Charts September 7, 2014

September 8, 2014, 5:48 pm

≫ Next: Program September 12, 2014

↧

Program September 12, 2014

September 11, 2014, 12:24 pm

≫ Next: Slavic Soul Party | Five Albums

≪ Previous: Charts September 7, 2014

↧

Slavic Soul Party | Five Albums

September 11, 2014, 4:37 pm

≫ Next: Low Mentality | "Reel It In" b/w "Vultures"

≪ Previous: Program September 12, 2014

ARTIST: Slavic Soul Party
TITLE: Five Albums
LABEL: self-released
Slavic Soul Party is without a doubt the most accomplished Balkan brass band in the USA. They’ve been at it for 12 years now, and they’ve played every Tuesday night at Barbes in Park Slope, Brooklyn for almost all of that time – that’s how you develop the chops for the demanding and highly technical, yet festive and exuberant Balkan brass repertoire. The band has recently packaged its five most recent albums as a single 61-track MP3 CD, available only at their gigs so far, and it shows the full breadth of this outstanding ensemble. This isn’t simplified four-on-the-floor Balkan beats – these guys are playing (and writing) the same kind of knotty, jazzy, worldly stuff as Macedonia’s Kocani Orkestar, Bulgaria’s Ivo Papasov and Romania’s Fanfare Ciocarlia. And their best material is the most recent: half of my favorite tracks here (2, 3, 4, 6 and 11) are from their last album, 2012’s New York Underground Tapes. In fact, start with 6 – you’d never, ever guess that these guys are Americans. 14 is a Roma standard, 61 is their top contribution to the Balkan remix trend, and 32 is something different: Balkan gospel. Great stuff.
TOP TRACKS: 2 3 4 6 11 14 32 37 50 61
ALSO RECOMMENDED: many of the rest of them

↧

Low Mentality | "Reel It In" b/w "Vultures"

September 11, 2014, 4:43 pm

≫ Next: Charts September 14, 2014

≪ Previous: Slavic Soul Party | Five Albums

ARTIST: Low Mentality
TITLE: “Reel It In” / “Vultures”
LABEL: 3rd Generation
Low Mentality is a new (formed in 2011) band led by Nikhil P. Yerawadekar, who’s also in Antibalas, The Sway Machinery and Akoya Afrobeat. They’re getting some buzz for their gigs backing up Ethiopian legend Hailu Mergia; this is the band’s third single and an album is forthcoming. Low Mentality is a rock band that incorporates the wide range of sounds Nikhil heard growing up in multicultural Queens, NY. And indeed, it’s hard to put “Reel It In” in any category: the song starts out with a guitar riff right out of Ghanaian highlife music, the verse is set to an Afrobeat-like rhythm which is interrupted by a soaring keyboard riff that could be off Teddy Afro’s latest Ethiopian hit, and just when that’s all starting to make sense they hit you with Archie Bell’s “Tighten Up” break. Random? No, not at all – it’s what New York really sounds like right now. If this catchy song is the future of rock ‘n’ roll, include me in.
TOP TRACKS: 1
ALSO RECOMMENDED: 2

↧

Charts September 14, 2014

September 15, 2014, 3:51 pm

≫ Next: Program September 19, 2014

≪ Previous: Low Mentality | "Reel It In" b/w "Vultures"

↧

Program September 19, 2014

September 18, 2014, 11:48 am

≫ Next: Tinariwen | The Radio Tisdas Sessions

≪ Previous: Charts September 14, 2014

↧

Tinariwen | The Radio Tisdas Sessions

September 18, 2014, 5:52 pm

≫ Next: Tinariwen | Amassakoul

≪ Previous: Program September 19, 2014

ARTIST: Tinariwen
TITLE: The Radio Tisdas Sessions
LABEL: Modern Classics / Light In The Attic
Tinariwen was already 20 years old when Justin Adams and the French band Lo’Jo recorded them in a radio studio in Kidal, Mali in 2000. They had already invented a new style of music, called simply la guitare by their fellow Tamasheq, and their many popular (but illegal) cassettes served as the bush telegraph of the Tuareg rebellion. But it was this recording that introduced Western listeners to what has become one of the most important African musical developments of the 21st century. Now Light In The Attic has reissued it; it’s more than a reissue since this is the first time it’s ever been pressed to vinyl. The thirteen years that have passed have done nothing to make this music sound any less remarkable than it did on first hearing. If you’re wondering what ever happened to the blues, the real blues, the deep blues, then listen right here – these guys are the spiritual heirs of Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters and Junior Kimbrough. Now we have a term for it – desert blues – but back in 2001 this stuff was a revelation. And it will be for you if you haven’t heard it until now.
TOP TRACKS: 1 3 4 8
ALSO RECOMMENDED: 2 5 6 7 9

↧

Tinariwen | Amassakoul

September 18, 2014, 6:01 pm

≫ Next: Orlando Julius With The Heliocentrics | Jaiyede Afro

≪ Previous: Tinariwen | The Radio Tisdas Sessions

ARTIST: Tinariwen
TITLE: Amassakoul
LABEL: Modern Classics / Light In The Attic
If Tinariwen’s first international album The Radio Tisdas Sessions established the Malian Tamasheq band as the spiritual heir of the great American bluesman, their second (originally released in 2004 and now reissued and pressed to vinyl for the first time) showed they can rock with the best of the west.Radio Tisdas is brooding and dark; Amassakoul is just as dark yet electric and exuberant at the same time. Start with tracks 2 and 5 – as much as I loved their debut, I wasn’t at all prepared when these songs blasted me across the room on first listen. 4 is one of their amazing achievements, some sort of Tuareg rap accompanied by stinging guitar, pulsing hand drums and some of the most otherworldly female ululating ever committed to tape. Even the deeper blues tracks 1 and 8 have a bristling energy that’s different from the around-the-campfire sound of their international debut. This album was a revelation in 2004: who knew that one of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll bands in the world could be found in the Sahara Desert? A classic recording, one of the century’s best so far.
TOP TRACKS: 1 2 4 5 8
ALSO RECOMMENDED: 3 6 7 9 10

↧

Orlando Julius With The Heliocentrics | Jaiyede Afro

September 18, 2014, 6:07 pm

≫ Next: Charts September 21, 2014

≪ Previous: Tinariwen | Amassakoul

ARTIST: Orlando Julius With The Heliocentrics
TITLE: Jaiyede Afro
LABEL: Strut
Orlando Julius Ekemode of Nigeria is one of the unsung heroes of Afrobeat. O.J.’s 1960s bands the Modern Aces and the Afro Sounders were among the first to add American soul and funk to highlife. Fela Kuti built on the work of O.J., Geraldo Pino and others; the rest is history. O.J. has had an amazing career – he lived for nearly 30 years in the USA, collaborated with Marvin Gaye, Hugh Masakela and the Crusaders, and co-wrote Lamont Dozier and Odyssey’s disco hit “Going Back To My Roots.” And now, at age 71, comes his first internationally-released album. He’s collaborating with The Heliocentrics, a beyond-category ensemble that you could call London’s far-out answer to The Roots. Some of the best tracks here are reworkings of O.J.’s old Afro Sounders material: 1 is hypnotic Afro-funk; 3 is faster and trippier, showcasing drummer Malcolm Catto’s grasp of Tony Allen’s polyrhythms. 7 is an old song that O.J. never finished back in the 70s and 80s; it’s more than finished here, a real highlight. And 8 is a cover of the James Brown instrumental “In The Middle” that’s given a kind of Afro feel. Another African veteran is alive and well – check him out.
TOP TRACKS: 1 3 7 8
ALSO RECOMMENDED: 2 4 5 6

↧

Charts September 21, 2014

September 21, 2014, 8:27 pm

≫ Next: Program September 26, 2014

≪ Previous: Orlando Julius With The Heliocentrics | Jaiyede Afro

↧

Program September 26, 2014

September 25, 2014, 12:36 pm

≫ Next: Arun Ramamurthy Trio | Jazz Carnatica

≪ Previous: Charts September 21, 2014

Like thousands of people, I was captivated a couple of years ago by YouTube videos of a Thai marching band that features an incredible electric phin (3-stringed lute) player. Their music is throbbing, visceral, hallucinogenic -- it really has to be heard to be believed.

Josh Marcy saw the same videos, went to Thailand, recorded the band, and now we have the first Western (or perhaps anywhere) release from Khun Narin's Electric Phin Band (pictured above). You'll hear a nice, long selection from them this week on Global A Go-Go. And check below the fold for of one those videos.

Also this week: new Indian-inspired music by Arun Ramamurthy and Kiran Ahluwalia, chicha and salsa, and more Balkan brass and beats in preparation for Boban & Marko Markovic's appearance at the Richmond Folk Festival.

Podcast: http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/77383
All the podcasts: http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/series/Global+A+Go-Go

And here's that video I promised:

↧

Arun Ramamurthy Trio | Jazz Carnatica

September 26, 2014, 8:44 am

≫ Next: Khun Narin | Khun Narin's Electric Phin Band

≪ Previous: Program September 26, 2014

ARTIST: Arun Ramamurthy Trio
TITLE: Jazz Carnatica
LABEL: self-released
Arun Ramamurthy is an American violinist of Indian descent whose playing straddles the worlds of Carnatic (South Indian classical) music and jazz. His first album as a bandleader, with drummer-tabla player Sameer Gupta and bassist Perry Wortman, is an absolute gem. Ramamurthy’s compositions are typically based on ragas rather than chord changes; Wortman keeps them anchored with his funky, soulful playing; Gupta sends them into outer space with his propulsive, thoroughly Indian drumming. And Ramamurthy exploits the full microtonal capability of the violin – his melodic lines are consistently surprising and beautiful. At their best, the trio reminds me of James Blood Ulmer’s criminally underrated Odyssey combo. In fact, track 8 sounds like it could be right off Odyssey’s 1983 debut album, with Ramamurthy playing a line that would have been shared by Ulmer and his violinist Charles Burnham and the melody opening up into free jazz exploration. 1 is the most Carnatic-sounding of all the pieces, and swings like crazy as well; 2 starts with a shruti box drone and features an exhilarating double-time drum break. Great stuff that will appeal to fans of modern jazz and/or world music.
TOP TRACKS: 1 2 8
ALSO RECOMMENDED: 3 4 6 7 9

↧

Khun Narin | Khun Narin's Electric Phin Band

September 26, 2014, 8:49 am

≫ Next: Kiran Ahluwalia | Sanata : Stillness

≪ Previous: Arun Ramamurthy Trio | Jazz Carnatica

ARTIST: Khun Narin
TITLE: Khun Narin’s Electric Phin Band
LABEL: Innovative Leisure
A few years ago, YouTube videos of a wild, psychedelic Thai marching band went viral among connoisseurs of outrageous global sounds. This band, whose name we didn’t know (all titles and captions were in Thai), sounded like the craziest Dick Dale guitar solo of all time played for 15 minutes straight, accompanied by bass guitar and half a dozen pounding drummers, amplified by a homemade portable PA system. But on closer review, it wasn’t a guitar at all – the guy was playing a phin (a 3-stringed Thai lute), a double-necked one at that, customized with Fender pickups and run through a series of effects boxes. One viewer, L.A. music producer Josh Marcy, tracked the musicians down, met them in their Northern Thailand home town, and made a field recording. Now we know the band’s name, what they call their style of music (phin prayuk), and the name of their astounding phin shredder (Beer Sitthichai). And we also have a proper recording of Khun Narin’s Electric Phin Band, two short tracks (4 minutes each) and two long ones (12 and 19 minutes) of some of the most mind-melting music you’ll ever hear. It’s no substitute for actually marching alongside them, but it’ll have to do for now. Unique and brilliant.
TOP TRACKS: 1 2 4
ALSO RECOMMENDED: 3

↧

Kiran Ahluwalia | Sanata : Stillness

September 26, 2014, 8:55 am

≫ Next: Charts September 28, 2014

≪ Previous: Khun Narin | Khun Narin's Electric Phin Band

ARTIST: Kiran Ahluwalia
TITLE: Sanata : Stillness
LABEL: Magenta
Indian-born, Canadian-raised, American-based singer Kiran Ahluwalia first came to the world’s attention as a premier singer of ghazals, Indian lyric poetry set to music. In recent years, she’s turned her attention to Tamasheq desert blues from the Sahara, collaborating on her last album with Tinariwen, Terakaft, Justin Adams and Juldeh Camara. Now she has her own band (led by her husband and producer, the noted Pakistani-American jazz guitarist Rez Abbasi) playing the desert blues riffs: track 1 is her best effort in this style so far, I’d say. Track 3 is even more exciting – it’s the most natural, effortless Indian-Saharan fusion she’s produced, marking this album as another major breakthrough for this very ambitious artist. Track 2 starts out sounding as though it will be a straight Indian workout, but veers in an unexpectedly jazzy direction. And 6 is a classic Pakistani qawwali complete with harmonium and Ahluwalia’s soaring, melismatic singing, but accompanied by Abbasi’s desert blues-inflected soloing. Global fusion music gets a deservedly bad rap in many instances for turning a variety of ethnic ingredients into bland Euro-sausage; this album couldn’t be further from that case.
TOP TRACKS: 1 2 3 6
ALSO RECOMMENDED: 4 8

↧

Charts September 28, 2014

September 28, 2014, 7:17 pm

≫ Next: Program October 3, 2014

≪ Previous: Kiran Ahluwalia | Sanata : Stillness

↧

Program October 3, 2014

October 2, 2014, 9:24 am

≫ Next: Spirit Of Malombo: Malombo Jazz Makers, Jabula And Jazz Afrika 1966-1984

≪ Previous: Charts September 28, 2014

↧

Spirit Of Malombo: Malombo Jazz Makers, Jabula And Jazz Afrika 1966-1984

October 2, 2014, 8:09 pm

≫ Next: Dona Onete | Feitico Cabloco

≪ Previous: Program October 3, 2014

ARTIST: various artists
TITLE: Spirit Of Malombo: Malombo Jazz Makers, Jabula And Jazz Afrika 1966-1984
LABEL: Strut
Malombo music is “spirit music,” so the CD has an apt title. It’s a musical innovation distinct to South Africa which incorporates folklore with just about everything else … yet there’s almost nothing like it. Malombo has been around since the 60s. The leaders of the original movement were guitarist Philip Tabane, drummer Julian Bahula and flautist Abbey Cindi. The original Malombo, led by Philip Tabane, produced extremely sophisticated vocal, drum, flute and guitar music that fit into no genre of popular music except its own. Although the word “jazz” many times doesn’t have the same meaning in Africa as it does here, jazz as we know it in USA may very well be seen as an apt description if it must be placed into a slot. They made rhythmic, raw music that was almost psychedelic. Bahula and Cindi moved on to create a second branch, the Malombo Jazz Makers and later the Jabula and Jazz Afrika groups, after splitting with Philip Tabane. The recordings on the two discs in this collection are mostly, if not all, from the Cindi/Bahula branch. On Disc 1, the groups continue with the Malombo name and in the Malombo spirit, but in some instances they add sax and they begin to add in bits and parts of more popular South African music genres. On Disc 2, the Malombo name is gone and the music has become, much like the music of Son Palenque in Colombia, a true mix of the folkloric style with the popular. The truly folkloric psychedelia of Tabane’s Malombo is almost completely assimilated into a music more akin to township jive. I’ve said this about the original Malombo for many years: On any album, everyone will like something that someone else just doesn’t get! On these discs, that probably won’t happen: everyone will like something, no ifs, ands or buts.
TOP TRACKS: Disc 1 – 1 3 4 7 10 12 Disc 2 – 2 6 7 10 13
REVIEWER: David Noyes

↧

Dona Onete | Feitico Cabloco

October 2, 2014, 8:19 pm

≫ Next: The Budos Band | Burnt Offering

≪ Previous: Spirit Of Malombo: Malombo Jazz Makers, Jabula And Jazz Afrika 1966-1984

ARTIST: Dona Onete
TITLE: Feitico Cabloco
LABEL: Mais Um Discos
In a word…WOW! Dona Onete is an Amazonian singer from Brazil. The songs cover the gamut of Brazilian music genres from samba to Caribbean salsa and cadence to rap and all are driven by the amazing voice and energy of a woman who has spent her life singing and studying the musical styles of the Amazon. She began singing to river dolphins at age 11, but did not pursue her musical career until after she retired to Belem with her husband. She began singing at carimbo parties in her neighborhood where she was heard by the popular band Coletivo Radio Cipo who persuaded her make a record with them. She has since recorded over 300 songs. At age 73, this is her first international recording and what a recording it is! The songs are wonderfully composed and arranged with solid instrumentation throughout. The horn section is incredibly tight and the basslines and rhythm guitars are outstanding. Don’t miss this record. Play it often and play it loud!
TOP TRACKS: 1 2 3 4 9 10
ALSO RECOMMENDED: 5 6 11
REVIEWER: David Noyes

↧

The Budos Band | Burnt Offering

October 2, 2014, 8:26 pm

≫ Next: Tony Allen | Film Of Life

≪ Previous: Dona Onete | Feitico Cabloco

ARTIST: The Budos Band
TITLE: Burnt Offering
LABEL: Daptone
When they released their debut album in 2005, the Budos Band’s sound was unique: Afrobeat rhythms in short-song format, a soul band’s punchy horn section playing Ethiopian pentatonic harmonies, a flair for catchy hooks. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Budos is now one of the most flattered bands anywhere. For their fourth album, the band launches an updated sound: the Ethiopian influence is overshadowed by a heavy, trippy vibe that references psychedelic rock and heavy metal, especially the doom metal of Black Sabbath and Pentagram. I saw them perform most of this material a couple of years ago and came away unmoved. Now they’re developed the ideas more fully, and the album is superb: it’s strong from start to finish, with a moody undercurrent that makes it the perfect Halloween dance party soundtrack. Guitarist Tom Brenneck produced, and his playing is front and center throughout – check out track 8 (my favorite here) and 2 (the first single). It’s dark and powerful, but you’ll be humming along with the still-catchy-as-hell riffs. It’s another in a continuing series of triumphs for the Budos Band.
TOP TRACKS: 1 2 6 8 9
ALSO RECOMMENDED: 3 4 5 7 10

↧

Tony Allen | Film Of Life

October 2, 2014, 8:30 pm

≫ Next: December 2014 Concert Calendar

≪ Previous: The Budos Band | Burnt Offering

ARTIST: Tony Allen
TITLE: Film Of Life
LABEL: Jazz Village
Here’s the latest solo album from Tony Allen, the man who helped invent Afrobeat as drummer in Fela Kuti’s Africa 70 and successors, the man Brian Eno calls “perhaps the greatest drummer who has ever lived." At age 74, Allen continues to make original, vital and essential music. Track 1 is a vintage example of Allen’s predominant post-Fela sound: midtempo small combo Afrobeat with Allen’s sinuous drumming out front of the mix, this time with Allen’s vocal offering a retrospective on his career. 9 starts out in a similar bag, adds a repeated theme that sounds as if it could be a sample (it isn’t), then slides into a tasty vibraphone solo. Allen seems to fully enjoy working with singers of all kinds; three of the best tracks here fall into that category. 8 is a funk-influenced vamp with a star vocal turn by Nigerian female song-and-dance troupe Adunni & Nefretiti; 10 is a slow, trippy number featuring Nigerian-American singer-songwriter Kuku. And 7 is a collaboration with Damon Albarn (Allen is part of Albarn’s The Good, The Bad & The Queen and Rocket Juice & The Moon projects), a beautiful neo-Philly soul song about Africa’ Lampedusa refugees. He’s still got it.
TOP TRACKS: 1 7 8 9 10
ALSO RECOMMENDED: 2 4 5 6

↧