Rolling Global Outernational Non-West Non-English (Some Exceptions) 2017 Thread Once Known as World Music

wow ... yeah it is. thx for posting, Mordy.

It is, Targ is definitely one of my favorites this year so far. Glitterbeat on a roll again.

Saved that one. Also found this video of the same piece. Is that a kind of ney?

I think the singer is playing a gunbri?

that track is fly as fuck

That Bargou 8 track is good.

Vusi Mahlasela is playing World Cafe Live here soon - have any of you seen him live? Should I try to go?

― Mordy, Friday, February 10, 2017 7:21

He's a little too folky for me, but he's got a powerful voice.

Malian kora player Ballaké Sissoko and French cellist Vincent Segal are touring the US shortly; as is Ivory Coast singer Dobet Gnahore; Noura Mint Seymali; and afropop/afrobeats vocalist Tekno

I'd love to see Seymali. Wonder if she'll swing by Philly.

Johnny Brenda's

Friday, February 5, 2016
8:00pm 10:00pm

nooooooooooooooooooo

this says she'll be in Philly Feb. 26:
http://www.nouramintseymali.com/tour/2017/2/27/calvary-center-crossroads-concerts

She and her band are great live. I think she's in NYC on the 24th, Virginia near DC for free on the 25th, and the 26th in Philly

the afropop.org folks are visiting Nigeria

http://www.afropop.org/34472/dispatch-from-nigeria-4-kanos-nanaye-and-hausa-hip-hop/

Traditional Hausa music is not heard much in Kano and is reportedly in decline throughout the region as few kids are opting to pick up the torch. We drove out of town to the village of Jogana, passing herds of longhorn cattle and floppy-eared sheep to arrive at the compound of Nasiru Garba Super, master of the one-stringed kokuma fiddle (very similar to the njarka played by Ali Farka Toure and others). Nasiru, his two elderly drummers, and a backup singer delivered a rousing set of songs, several composed by his late, revered father. Soon 50 people from the neighborhood appeared to watch the show and dance in the dusty street.

xxp omg idk what I saw last night but that's awesome news!!!

I need to check this stuff out--

http://www.afropop.org/34229/dispatch-from-nigeria-3/

the most exciting aspect of the trip has been delving into the fuji scene, fantastically vibrant and fully of larger-than-life characters. We’ve sat and interviewed Salawa Abeni (The Queen of Fuji), Saheed Osupa (The King of Fuji—crowned by Barrister himself), K1 da Ultimate (The “Undisputed” King of Fuji—widely agreed upon), and Obesere (The Paramount King of Music, and champion of the clever, humorous form of “lewd songs” known as asakasa), all in their homes. These are not artists who typically make themselves available to journalists. It took a very well-connected fixer to arrange these interviews, and they did not disappoint.

ALRIGHT I got my SEYMALI tickets!!

if i could "like" this ^ i would

she has one show scheduled on the west coast which seems weird. hoping for more announcements 3/10 is not that far out. they'd have been announced by now, i think.

Damn, doesn't look like she's coming anywhere near me.:( I did get to see Bombino last summer, which was fantastic.

the entire bargou 08 album is out today!

I still need to listen to that. Plus check out the new Tinariwen video (and album if its available)

Some of that Bargou 8 album is a bit one-dimensional, but exciting in a kind of hardcore punk way...

Just got an email that the suburban Washington DC Noura Mint Seymali gig on Saturday February 25 has been postponed until Tuesday March 7th. No explanation was provided.

huh - i haven't gotten any message about the sunday show being postponed

So far, just that one gig it seems.

Unrelated:

The Voice of America's Music Time in Africa program has a Facebook page with some video posts worth checking out.

Just saw on Instagram that "due to travel " issues the Ny Seymali gig is delayed till March 2

The energetic great Congolese band Mbongwana Star are coming to the US in March-- dates in NY, Cambridge, Chicago and Minneapolis but alas, I don't see any in Washington DC or Philly listed online

they are fucking killer live btw

yeah i'd love to see them. maybe they'll add dates.

So looks like Noura Mint Seymali tour now starts tonight in Philly

Tiny church venue almost no one here. Everyone I was supposed to bring flaked on me so I'm solo tnite

Did you enjoy the show?

oh yes! i meant to update the thread but got busy with work today. first of all - noura and mr. mint seymali are the heart of the band and just fantastic. his guitar playing is funky, playful, they have amazing chemistry on stage, and her voice is just a total force of nature. the audience was about 50-60 ppl but she performed as if to an audience of 500 or an audience (which is really what they deserve). the venue was a church (one of those super lefty churches that has a kol tzedak group meeting in the basement) and it was a good place for them despite limiting (and a limited) audience. they did a bunch of songs from the new album as well as some other stuff - even tho i agree w/ ppl who say that the new album has really developed the sound maybe bc they've gone back and reworked some of the older stuff it all works together. the audience was good - responsive, despite not being an obviously enthusiastic group. noura kept calling for ppl to stand up and by the end of the set ppl were dancing. lots of older ppl at the show. her english is super limited but she's v effusive thanking the crowd (the drummer is from philadelphia and he did most of the crowd work). after the show i bumped into mr and mrs mint seymali downstairs and they are incredibly warm ppl i thanked them for the show and they thanked me and idk i just felt v moved by how genuine they are. a really tremendous show and i highly recommend ppl try to catch them if they're able.

of 500 or 1000*

Great. I have enjoyed all their appearances near me, and I agree with your take on them.

So a booking agent told me that no one in the Washington DC area would pay Mbongwana Star what their manager wants for this tour, so no gig here. They had played Washington DC last summer, and we get lots of traveling African acts most of the time(plus some of those acts record NPR Tiny Desk shows here and appear on Voice of America's Music Time in Africa program that is also based in DC) . So it looks like they are just coming over for a week and doing 4 gigs-- NY, Cambridge, Chicago and Minneapolis

Its a tough time now to tour in US too. Getting visas approved, promoters and halls with money issues, trying to get media attention...

https://www.apollotheater.org/event/africa-now-2017/

That looks like a nice gig.

So I saw Ballake Sissoko, Malian kora player, with Vincent Segal, French cello player, last night. They've been doing duet shows on and off for years and have 2 albums together. Mostly pretty, beautiful sounds led by the harp-like kora. Sometimes Segal used his fingers instead of the bow on the cello and it got noisier or jazzier. Pleasant and contemplative for the most part.

Saw Cote D'Ivoire's Dobet Gnahore and band Saturday night. Fun if uneven gig and not as good as a gig of hers I saw a few years back. She sounded best when stretching out her vocals powerfully over West African grooves (& sometimes adding percussion herself), and on some ballads; but occasionally her band instead played clunky pop-rock instrumentation with arena-like formulaic drum set action and generic guitar solos (from her husband a France born guitarist who has studied West African guitar methods in Africa).

She is a great dancer though, and is charismatic and did her best to communicate with the crowd in between songs in English, French and more. For an encore, a number of women joined her onstage to dance, soon followed by a mix of women and men.

GUYS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Px37UsrDpA8

Israeli metal!

So I saw Noura Mint Seymali and band tonight for free near DC. 4th time I think I have seen them. I can see how her voice is an acquired taste for some (despite its range and power) but am not sure how anyone can resist her husband/guitarist cool sounds from his specially tuned axe. What a great band.

one thing i wondered is the kind of stress that her singing puts on her voice. she was coughing throughout the show (away from the mic during non-vocal parts - like it didn't interrupt her singing) and i was wondering if she had a cold (which would've made her vocal performance all the more impressive tbh) or whether that kind of singing takes a toll on your chords.

Not much coughing last night. Her voice sounded rough on the first song, she drank some water and then no problems the rest of the night. But yes she really works that voice.

A nice size crowd last night but still plenty of empty seats. After years of seeing African shows in the DC area, I know that promoters should contact local D.C. based African embassies and do street team drop-offs of flyers at international markets, in addition to trying to get crossover online coverage etc, but alas, they don't always do all of that or have the time, money and people. Although there are less folks from Mauritania here then from other locales...

I just listened to last year's album by the Sahra Halgan Trio. I really like it: a take on desert guitar blues by a group from Somaliland. Pleasant voice, memorable hooks, nice guitar licks.

I still need to check that out plus this one :

https://awapoulo.bandcamp.com/album/poulo-warali

Sahra Halgan Trio is currently the only artist from Somaliland in the field of world music

http://worldmusiccentral.org/2016/02/01/somaliland-act-sahra-halgan-trio-to-presents-new-album-faransiskiyo-somaliland-at-studio-de-lermitage/

The only one! Oy veh. To everyone else there, world music is Drake or Ed Sheeran I think

http://www.altpress.com/news/entry/italian_band_soviet_soviet_deported_from_us

Locked up and later deported because they said they were going to do gigs just as promo and not get paid, but venues had a ticket price. Oh no.

http://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2017/03/13/519987685/why-was-that-band-deported

More details

Awa Poulo mentioned upthread did not wow me. I liked some of the female vocals, but this traditional sounding outfit's rhythms did not always work for me.

http://local.washingtoncitypaper.com/event/fire-station-1/bolia-matundu-cl

Congo's Bolia BM Matunda on first US tour. He's kinda more afropop club music for the other thread, but he has some old-school Congolese flavoring. A colleague previewed his US/DC debut that is on Saturday (likely starting way past midnight no matter what link says)

Maybe not for this thread but I just saw the articles and haven't listened to these acts yet

http://www.okayafrica.com/congolese-music-artists-new-killing-it/

I don't know any of these Congolese rappers and r'n'b acts-- Maître Gims and others

http://www.okayafrica.com/black-panther-album-south-african-artists/

Sjava and 3 others.

I don't know these folks either

Oops ..2017 thread