December 11, 2022 is Burkina Faso's 64th Independence Day. This small (roughly the size of Colorado), densely populated (about 22 million people), landlocked West African nation formerly known as Upper Volta has had its struggles: eight coups de'etat including two in 2022 and a current bout of Islamic fundamentalist terrorism among them.
No Burkinabè musician has yet become a pan-African or worldwide star, but the music that has been produced in Burkina Faso since independence is superb in quality and variety. This week on Global A Go-Go, you'll hear an hour of some of my Voltaic favorites, and I assure you that I'll only be scratching the surface of what's out there.
Also this week (Sunday December 11, 1:00-3:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards on the wrir.org archive player, check your local listings for airing on other radio stations, and any old time at my podcast site): Latin soul and a new single from Austin's Superfónicos, and birthday tributes to Cuban bandleader Pérez Prado and Yugoslavian mischief-maker Dr. Nele Karajlić.
A podcast of this week's program will be available soon at radio4all.net/series/Global%20A%20Go-Go.