Os Brazoes | Os Brazoes

February 19, 2015, 6:41 pm

≪ Previous: Program February 20, 2015

ARTIST: Os Brazoes
TITLE: Os Brazoes
LABEL: Mr Bongo
Os Brazoes were a short-lived combo from Brazil’s tropicalia era best known for their temporary role as Gal Costa’s backing band. Their one and only album, released in 1969, was largely forgotten until cratediggers rediscovered it. A copy of the original recently changed hands for $250; now Mr Bongo has put together a fully licensed reissue. This album is a superb representation of tropicalia– musica popular brasileira soaked in LSD. Most of the songs here are covers; other than their lack of songwriting, on this record Os Brazoes were every bit the equal of their better known peers Os Mutantes. Tracks 5 and 10 are perfect example of what they’re about: pop-song gems hiding underneath a lysergic surface. 7 and 12 are outstanding covers of two of the most influential songwriters of the era, Tom Ze and Jorge Ben, respectively. And 9 is their best original, with a riff undoubtedly cribbed from “Hey Jude” that devolves into what could be an Ornette Coleman melody. This one is a worthwhile discovery for fans of Brazilian music and for psych-rock heads alike.
TOP TRACKS: 5 7 9 10 12
ALSO RECOMMENDED: 1 4 6 8 11

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BKO Quintet | Bamako Today

February 19, 2015, 6:45 pm

≫ Next: Charts February 22, 2015

≪ Previous: Os Brazoes | Os Brazoes

ARTIST: BKO Quintet
TITLE: Bamako Today
LABEL: Buda Musique
Another month, another outstanding release from Mali – we really are living in a new Malian golden age. BKO Quintet calls their style “Trad Actual Malian Sound” which is good shorthand but significantly undersells what they’re doing here. The band is built on three legs: voices, drumming and ngonis (lutes). Their two superb singers come from two of the country’s great musical traditions, the griot (historian and story-teller) and the donso (hunter and healer). Three of the five members play drums, led by djembe player Ibrahima Sarr, formerly of Oumou Sangare’s band. And the only tuned instruments are two ngonis, one from the griot camp and the other from the donso. Instrumentation-wise, BKO Quintet is similar to Bassekou Kouyate’s Ngoni Ba band, and they share that illustrious combo’s pace, urgency and aggressiveness as well. Track 1 features effects-laden ngoni, 2 and 9 are sprints from start to finish, 3 is based on the funky, syncopated rhythms of the Wassoulou region, and 8 is a slower, soulful blues. Another world-class band and recording from Mali.
TOP TRACKS: 1 2 3 8 9
ALSO RECOMMENDED: 4 5 6 7 10

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Charts February 22, 2015

February 22, 2015, 7:52 pm

≫ Next: Program February 27, 2015

≪ Previous: BKO Quintet | Bamako Today

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Program February 27, 2015

February 25, 2015, 6:54 pm

≫ Next: Global A Go-Go's New Time: Wednesdays 3-5 PM, Beginning March 4

≪ Previous: Charts February 22, 2015

okayafrica.com

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Global A Go-Go's New Time: Wednesdays 3-5 PM, Beginning March 4

February 26, 2015, 2:47 pm

≫ Next: Live At Portrait House, Friday February 27 9:00-10:30 PM

≪ Previous: Program February 27, 2015

You may already have heard that WRIR is implementing the biggest schedule change in our 10 years on the air. Starting on March 2nd, our weeknight music programming will begin two hours earlier, at 3 PM. For the first time ever, we'll have news and public affairs programming on weekends: one hour on Saturday at 5 PM, and three hours Sunday morning starting at 6 AM. And we'll be carrying news programs overnight, from 3 to 6 AM on weekdays.

Global A Go-Go will be a part of these schedule changes. Effective March 4th, my show will be heard on Wednesdays between 3 and 5 PM.

I'm very excited about the changes. You may not know this, but the 3-5 PM time slot ("afternoon drive-time," in radio lingo) is the most-listened-to two hours in America radio. We're aiming to make it equally popular at WRIR by moving some of our best music programs into that time slot, so I'm honored to have my show included in that group.

Joining me in moving two hours earlier will be "Wide Ear Folk" with Eric Walters, Tuesdays from 3 to 5 PM. Moving into the daylight from late at night will be Enzo Adimari's rock program "Pop Goes The World" (Friday 3-5 PM) and Shannon Cleary's "The Commonwealth Of Notions" focused on local music (Thursday 3-5 PM). And George Reuther brings his unique take on the American century from the Wednesday "Breakfast Blend" to his new slot on Monday from 3-5 PM -- George's new show is called "Tea With Me."

For those of you who are inconvenienced by Global A Go-Go's move, I'm sorry. I truly appreciate your listenership and support over the 10 years I've been on the air on Fridays on WRIR, and I hope you'll tune me in on Wednesdays starting in March.

Don't forget, you can time-shift any of WRIR's programs by using our listening portal, wrir.org/tunein -- it allows you listen to any of the last two weeks' worth of programs at any time of your choosing. And Global A Go-Go podcasts continue to be available at http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/series/Global+A+Go-Go -- if you need a fix on Friday at 5 PM, you can have one. But I don't think you'll need one: Phil D of Friday "Breakfast Blend" fame is bringing his new show "Friday Clock Out" to my old time slot, and he's going to rock it just as hard as I ever did.

If you'd like to see the entire new schedule, you can find it here on our website: http://wrir.org/index.php?/station/wrir-schedule

See you on the radio Wednesdays at 3 PM, and here's to the next 10 years of great independent radio on WRIR!

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Live At Portrait House, Friday February 27 9:00-10:30 PM

February 26, 2015, 3:09 pm

≫ Next: E.T. Mensah & The Tempos | King Of Highlife Anthology

≪ Previous: Global A Go-Go's New Time: Wednesdays 3-5 PM, Beginning March 4

I rarely DJ outside of WRIR's studio, but I will be doing so at a WRIR event this Friday, February 27, right after my last Friday edition of Global A Go-Go (more on that subject in the post below this one).

The event takes place at Portrait House, 2907 W. Cary Street in Richmond's Carytown. They'll have the last kegs of Hardywood's WRIR X beer, brewed in commemoration of the station's first 10 years on the air. A portion of every beer sold will be donated to WRIR, and our goal is to kick all the kegs that night.

I'll be there spinning music from 9:00 to 10:30 PM and celebrating 10 years of Global A Go-Go on Friday nights. I'll be doing an all-Ethiopian set in honor of the The Nile restaurant, long Richmond's go-to spot for Ethiopian food and now under the same roof as Portrait House.

Following me will be DJ Graybeard ("The Other Black Music" and "The Motherland Influence") at 10:30 mixing Ethiopian and other Afro sounds, and DJ Carlito ("If Music Could Talk") at midnight with international dancefloor booty shakers. Come down and celebrate with us!

More event info here: https://www.facebook.com/events/604152343049030

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E.T. Mensah & The Tempos | King Of Highlife Anthology

February 27, 2015, 9:52 am

≫ Next: May 2015 Concert Calendar

≪ Previous: Live At Portrait House, Friday February 27 9:00-10:30 PM

ARTIST: E.T. Mensah & The Tempos
TITLE: King Of Highlife Anthology
LABEL: RetroAfric
Highlife is a seminal style of West African popular music that got started way back in the late 19th century. The classic highlife combo is horn-driven, with guitar and drums in the rhythm section; American jazz, especially big band swing, became a major influence in the mid-20th century. Highlife is at the root of many of today’s popular regional styles: juju, Afrobeat, fuji and hiplife all spring directly from highlife. E.T. Mensah & The Tempos from Ghana are simply the quintessential mid-century highlife band; this four CD set includes all their hits from the 50s through the 70s (for example disc B, track 14 and D-18) among its 69 tracks, and the 64 page booklet puts Mensah and his genre in its full context. Highlife is musically omnivorous, so you hear influences from a variety of other styles like Trinidadian calypso (B-17 and D-16), Brazilian samba (B-12), South African marabi (D-14) and Afro-Cuban music (D-13). This excellent compilation will be a welcome addition to many African music libraries.
TOP TRACKS: Disc B - 3 12 14 17 Disc C - 9 Disc D - 13 14 16 18
ALSO RECOMMENDED: Disc A - 9 17 Disc B - 10 Disc C - 13 15 17 Disc D - 5 6 8

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May 2015 Concert Calendar

March 1, 2015, 8:15 pm

≫ Next: Next Stop Soweto, Vol. 4: Zulu Rock, Afro-Disco And Mbaqanga 1975-1985

≪ Previous: E.T. Mensah & The Tempos | King Of Highlife Anthology

Photo by Ricardo Trabulsi

Have an event you'd like me to include, or a suggestion for the concert calendar? Just drop me a line at globalagogoradio [at] gmail [dot] com, or leave me a message right here.

Click "Read more" to see the entire May calendar.

Friday May 1
Lila Downs at Lisner Auditorium (DC)
http://lisner.gwu.edu/events

Saturday May 2
Rattlemouth at Crossroads Coffee & Ice Cream (Richmond)
http://www.crossroadsrva.com/calendar.html

Wednesday May 6
Easy Star All Stars, The Skints and Dub Architect at the Jefferson Theater (Charlottesville)
http://www.jeffersontheater.com/events

Corey Harris Rasta Blues Experience at the Mayflower Renaissance Hotel (DC)
http://www.corey-harris.com/dates

Monday May 11
Laibach at the Black Cat (DC)
http://www.blackcatdc.com/schedule.html

Thursday May 14
Tierra Santa at the Howard Theatre (DC)
http://thehowardtheatre.com/calendar

Friday May 15
Hotel X at Crossroads Coffee & Ice Cream (Richmond)
http://www.crossroadsrva.com/calendar.html

Sunday May 17
Lagbaja at the Howard Theatre (Richmond)
http://thehowardtheatre.com/calendar

Friday May 22
David Lindley at Jammin Java (Vienna)
https://jamminjava.com/calendar

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Next Stop Soweto, Vol. 4: Zulu Rock, Afro-Disco And Mbaqanga 1975-1985

March 2, 2015, 7:51 pm

≫ Next: Charts March 3, 2015

≪ Previous: May 2015 Concert Calendar

ARTIST: various artists
TITLE: Next Stop Soweto, Vol. 4: Zulu Rock, Afro-Disco And Mbaqanga 1975-1985
LABEL: Strut
The fourth volume of Strut’s essential Next Stop Soweto series focuses on the decade before the world music boom (and especially Paul Simon’s Graceland) shone an international spotlight on South African music. These are artists who have barely been heard in Europe and the USA (it’s the first international release for all tracks here) owing to the vagaries of history and not of quality, which is excellent throughout this collection. As the title suggests, there are three different styles of music here. Mbaqanga was on its way out of fashion by 1975 – track 2 is the unadulterated item, 1 is a hybrid with rock ‘n’ roll, and 6 adds both electric organ and synthesizer to the genre. The Afro-disco sound is what Americans would call boogie or bounce; the term frequently used in South Africa is “bump jive.” 8 is by The Movers, the quintessential bump jive band; 13 is a classic of the genre. Zulu rock is represented here by 10 and 11, two extended tracks with jazzy soloing and breaks that call to mind Ghana’s Osibisa and South Africa’s Malombo. Kudos to all involved in this superb release and series.
TOP TRACKS: 1 2 6 8 10 11 13
ALSO RECOMMENDED: 3 5 7 9 12 14

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Charts March 3, 2015

March 3, 2015, 8:48 am

≫ Next: Program March 4, 2015

≪ Previous: Next Stop Soweto, Vol. 4: Zulu Rock, Afro-Disco And Mbaqanga 1975-1985

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Program March 4, 2015

March 3, 2015, 3:16 pm

≫ Next: Charts March 16, 2015

≪ Previous: Charts March 3, 2015

http://www.discogs.com/artist/210653-Harari

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Charts March 16, 2015

March 17, 2015, 7:43 am

≫ Next: Program March 18, 2015

≪ Previous: Program March 4, 2015

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Program March 18, 2015

March 17, 2015, 7:13 pm

≫ Next: The Skints | FM

≪ Previous: Charts March 16, 2015

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The Skints | FM

March 23, 2015, 8:09 pm

≫ Next: Fatoumata Diawara & Roberto Fonseca | At Home: Live In Marciac

≪ Previous: Program March 18, 2015

ARTIST: The Skints
TITLE: FM
LABEL: Easy Star
Some of today’s best reggae music is coming out of London – here’s a good example. The Skints are a young band that started in a kind of ska-punk bag; now on their third album (in addition to three EPs) they’ve broadened their sound to include more elements of reggae, dub, dancehall, hip hop and grime, and crucially they write some hooky, catchy songs. This album is structured around a series of skits about an imaginary London radio station, and there are significant contributions from producers Prince Fatty and Rival and MCs Tippa Irie and Horseman. But this hard-working (150 gigs a year) group doesn’t need a novelty concept or guest stars – their singing, playing and songwriting are more than enough on their own. There’s plenty of variety here: 2 (the first single) is a slice of poppy dancehall, 4 is a lovely old-fashioned lovers rock feature for singer-keyboard player Marcia Richards, 5 is a clever one-drop cover of Black Flag (no joke), my favorite track 7 is a rocksteady groover, and 9 is rootsy, conscious dancehall. A major step forward for an important young British band.
TOP TRACKS: 2 4 5 7 9
ALSO RECOMMENDED: 3 8 10 13

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Fatoumata Diawara & Roberto Fonseca | At Home: Live In Marciac

March 23, 2015, 8:13 pm

≫ Next: Chicas! Vol.2: Spanish Female Singers 1963-1978

≪ Previous: The Skints | FM

ARTIST: Fatoumata Diawara & Roberto Fonseca
TITLE: At Home: Live In Marciac
LABEL: Jazz Village
This is one of those pairings that seems arbitrary but turns out to be so, so right. Roberto Fonseca is a stunningly virtuosic Cuban pianist; he came to fame as Ruben Gonzalez’s replacement in the Buena Vista Social Club, and he’s carving out a career at the edges of jazz, Afro-Cuban music and funk. Fatoumata Diawara is a Malian singer-songwriter-guitarist who started as an actor and whose debut solo album earned her rave reviews. On the surface they have little in common, but look closer: Fonseca’s last album Yo digs deep into West African music, Diawara has been collaborating with powerful jazz-influenced musicians such as Mulatu Astatke and Dee Dee Bridgewater. The pair toured Europe together in 2014 with Fonseca’s trio, augmented by percussion, guitar and kamale ngoni (they’re doing it again this summer), and this live album documents some of the great music they’re making. Tracks 1 and 5 are Diawara originals from her debut album, thoroughly transformed here: 1 could be “Superstition” era Stevie Wonder, 5 is given a Senegalese mbalax-style arrangement as is the Fonseca-authored 3. Exciting, original and totally unexpected.
TOP TRACKS: 1 3 5
ALSO RECOMMENDED: 2 6

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Chicas! Vol.2: Spanish Female Singers 1963-1978

March 23, 2015, 8:17 pm

≫ Next: The Bluebeaters | Everybody Knows

≪ Previous: Fatoumata Diawara & Roberto Fonseca | At Home: Live In Marciac

ARTIST: various artists
TITLE: Chicas! Vol. 2: Spanish Female Singers 1963-1978
LABEL: Vampisoul
Here’s volume 2 of Vampisoul’s look at Spanish female singers of the ye-ye period. On one level, this stuff is disposable pop music that was discarded decades ago (hence its current obscurity); on another, it’s a fascinating document of an era when Spain was striving to join first-world Europe and women were achieving some grudging liberation. As always with these kinds of compilations, covers of familiar songs offer the easiest way into the music: 1 is a killer remake of The Grass Roots’ “I’d Wait A Million Years,” 2 is “My Boy Lollipop,” 15 is the early synth-pop instrumental “Popcorn” with Spanish lyrics added, 17 is the Sam & Dave chestnut, and 25 is Jorge Ben’s samba classic “Mas Que Nada.” Digging deeper, track 8 is pretty amazing: jangle-pop with a Mamas & Papas-style vocal arrangement and a lead vocalist who sounds like Yma Sumac, this is one totally avant-garde pop song. 10 is my favorite song by the recently rediscovered Colombian-Spanish sibling duo Elia Y Elizabeth Fleta. And 7 is a speedy, elaborate take on bossa nova. Do your own digging here and you may find yourself some new favorites.
TOP TRACKS: 1 2 7 8 10 15 17 25
ALSO RECOMMENDED: many of the rest of them

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The Bluebeaters | Everybody Knows

March 23, 2015, 8:21 pm

≫ Next: Charts March 23, 2015

≪ Previous: Chicas! Vol.2: Spanish Female Singers 1963-1978

ARTIST: The Bluebeaters
TITLE: Everybody Knows
LABEL: Record Kicks
Versions (we call them covers) have long been a staple of Jamaican popular music. The Bluebeaters are an Italian band that specializes in ska and rocksteady versions of, shall we say, unlikely material. As an example, start with the title track (5): Neil Young isn’t the first artist I think of when I think “reggae.” Nor is Britney Spears for that matter, but check out 11 – it’s quite brilliant. This band isn’t simply a novelty act: listening to the trombone fills and buru-style tom-tom rolls, you can tell that these guys have committed every Skatalites riff of all time to memory. The playing and singing is great throughout, but it’s the selection of material that puts this album over the top: Kraftwerk (6), The Smiths, with Cat Stevens interpolated (8), The Undertones mashed up with the Clash (10). And they do a great job with the kind of obscure soul and R&B songs that were a primary source for the original ska and rocksteady artists: Brook Benton’s “True Confession” (3) and the 5 Royales’ “Catch That Teardrop” (7). This album goes well beyond two-tone music, or ska-punk, or ska revival – this is ska the way it was and always should have been.
TOP TRACKS: 3 5 6 7 8 10 11
ALSO RECOMMENDED: 1 2 4 9 12 13 14

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