Her melodies and the production help make it more than just singer/songwriter formula
― curmudgeon, Friday, 1 April 2022 18:39 (two years ago) link
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/04/02/1090278433/opinion-grammys-global-music-category-ignores-musicians-from-much-of-the-globe?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR2uEUlgMBxq-sSmOwc3Atw2ZOhskMEHST0M7pLNn_dZ9mUxKcCVapxo50w
― curmudgeon, Monday, 4 April 2022 14:08 (two years ago) link
new Oumou Sangare song from upcoming album Timbuktu. She's got such a great voice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2vrl2S3tOE
― curmudgeon, Friday, 8 April 2022 02:43 (two years ago) link
Awesome Tapes From Africa just released Kadi Yombo by Papé Nziengui. Impressive percussion and call & response chants from Gabon
https://papenziengui.bandcamp.com/album/kadi-yombo?from=fanpub_fb_pr
― curmudgeon, Friday, 8 April 2022 11:29 (two years ago) link
loving this
― nxd, Friday, 8 April 2022 13:42 (two years ago) link
I saw Ata Kak perform last night, it was a delight. Instant dance party, just a very wholesome experience all around.
― change display name (Jordan), Saturday, 9 April 2022 18:08 (two years ago) link
ah man, saw him a few years backso joyous
― nxd, Saturday, 9 April 2022 18:16 (two years ago) link
Chontidelia for free from 6 to 7 @ Kennedy Center Millennium Stage Friday April 15 (Afro-Colombian band from eastern part of Colombia)
I think this east coast gig is being streamed live east coast time on the Kennedy Center youtube and Facebook page (and archived too). The band was just in NYC recently. Have heard good things about them. Plus heard them backing Kumera Zekarias on his his ep from last year
― curmudgeon, Friday, 15 April 2022 10:56 (two years ago) link
I recommend "Stories From Another Time 1982-1988" compilation of Angolan samba by Mário Rui Silva that came out last year. It's light, gentle, elegant grooves, often just guitars, vocals, percussion, occasional flute, with a nice dated fade. Super nice.https://timecapsulespace.bandcamp.com/album/stories-from-another-time-1982-1988
― Nabozo, Friday, 15 April 2022 14:14 (two years ago) link
Also enjoyed Ata Kak live, I had trouble believing that he was in front of me in the flesh, and did not only exist in a corner of the museum of music nerdom
― Nabozo, Friday, 15 April 2022 14:19 (two years ago) link
Seeing on Facebook and twitter that Nigerian hornman and bandleader Orlando Julius (OJ Ekemode) has died at 79. He and his band always put on a fun live show when I saw him circa 2015 to 2017.
― curmudgeon, Friday, 15 April 2022 15:12 (two years ago) link
Shame, discovered him with his last album with the Heliocentrics, already 8 years ago. I still have the groove of the opener Buje Buje in my head.There are so many of these afro-funk / highlife legends that are overshadowed by you-anikulaknow-who. I was listening to Tunji Oleyana today (born 1939, who knows if still alive) and a little while ago to Babatunde Olatunji (died a long time ago), and it gives the same impression of infinity of riches as the more famous musical countries.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gDOyC0ktcw
― Nabozo, Friday, 15 April 2022 16:34 (two years ago) link
Ata Kak played a 5 minute walk from me and I'm very bummed I couldn't catch that show. One of my favorite albums of all time probably, and the show looked very fun in the IG stories that I saw.
― billstevejim, Friday, 15 April 2022 20:19 (two years ago) link
I listened to Susuma by Jembaa Groove, a duo based in Berlin playing very consistent and warm afro-funk / highlife. https://www.jembaamusic.com/They sound like thishttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZxm0EyvFjA
― Nabozo, Monday, 18 April 2022 12:14 (two years ago) link
I recommend "Stories From Another Time 1982-1988" compilation of Angolan samba by Mário Rui Silva that came out last year.
Thanks, this is really great, though I don't know how much of it I would categorize as samba. Reminded me of this Fausto album:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlTh95tUNOs
― Daniel_Rf, Monday, 25 April 2022 13:35 (two years ago) link
Angélique Kidjo stars in Yemandja, a new music theater work that is at once family drama and historical thriller, redolent of Greek tragedy and infused with themes of love, betrayal, honor, free will, and the horror and injustice of slavery. Named for a Yoruban deity, this MASS MoCA co-commission is a panoramic work of magical realism, a parable about gods and humans that illuminates through song what can happen when people are robbed of their culture.
This is coming to Kennedy Center in DC for 2 performances
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 26 April 2022 16:54 (two years ago) link
Yemandja is featuring a cast of eight performers and four musicians
Conceived by Angélique Kidjo, Jean Hebrail, andNaïma Hebrail KidjoBook and Lyrics by Naïma Hebrail KidjoMusic by Angélique Kidjo and Jean Hebrail
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 26 April 2022 16:56 (two years ago) link
very old news of course, but:just chanced upon Samba Touré’s Albala album, a 2013 Glitterbeat release. fantastic stuff, just beautiful.
― middot • is • my • middle • name (breastcrawl), Tuesday, 26 April 2022 20:54 (two years ago) link
also the 2015 follow-up, Gandadiko
― middot • is • my • middle • name (breastcrawl), Tuesday, 26 April 2022 22:36 (two years ago) link
Oh yeah, Toure with that Mali north African desert guitar sound and his warm vocals
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 27 April 2022 14:31 (one year ago) link
Nice Haitian folky voice --Nathalie Joachim w/ Spektral Quartet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-Cclla3k2w
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 4 May 2022 19:26 (one year ago) link
I missed the Kidjo theatrical show in DC but someone who I know saw it and said it was as bad as this reviewer in San Francisco thought
https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/theater/review-marquee-name-grand-venue-host-amateur-hour-in-angelique-kidjos-yemandja
― curmudgeon, Sunday, 8 May 2022 22:02 (one year ago) link
https://robertchristgau.substack.com/p/the-big-lookback-dakar-diary
Christgau diary of 2010 visit to Dakar
― curmudgeon, Monday, 9 May 2022 21:26 (one year ago) link
https://papenziengui.bandcamp.com/album/kadi-yombo
― curmudgeon, Friday, April 8, 2022 7:29 AM (one month ago)
I'm finally getting to this: it's really good! manages to remind me of an impressive range of other acts (Sunny Ade, Thomas Mapfumo) while remaining unique
Visitors to this thread might like Haitian American Leyla McCalla's new album: https://leylamccalla.bandcamp.com/album/breaking-the-thermometer
I've only listened to it once, but I thought it was excellent. Among other good things, she does a great cover of Veloso's "You Don't Know Me"
― rob, Wednesday, 11 May 2022 13:41 (one year ago) link
This is a bewitching mixture of traditional music and experimental, sub-testing leftfield bass music from Kinshasa. Truly rad.
https://nyegenyegetapes.bandcamp.com/album/liye-liye
― we need outrage! we need dicks!! (the table is the table), Friday, 13 May 2022 15:48 (one year ago) link
yes! posted before but maybe not on this thread, amazing album
― nxd, Friday, 13 May 2022 17:50 (one year ago) link
silvana estrada album is incredibly beautiful, wow
― in places all over the world, real stuff be happening (voodoo chili), Thursday, 19 May 2022 23:39 (one year ago) link
yes yes to Silvana Estrada
― curmudgeon, Friday, 20 May 2022 11:21 (one year ago) link
Listening to Somi album now (seeing what I think. Some I like and some of her vocalizing is too afro-jazzy melodramatic and overwrought for me). Her Off-broadway production "Zenzile: The Reimagination of Miriam Makeba" is @ The NY Theatre Workshop through June 26. She's been researching Makeba. Seun Kuti has a co-writing credit on one song; Gregory Porter also; Angelique Kidjo & Ladysmith Black Mambazo too
Washington Post article on her (not sure if it's paywalled)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/music/2022/05/19/somi-miriam-makeba/
― curmudgeon, Sunday, 22 May 2022 16:00 (one year ago) link
A journalist friend of mine who likes some of Kidjo's music said he saw her musical/show/play I referenced above a short while back and he thought it was not good and poorly written. He said the story lacked subtlety
― curmudgeon, Monday, 23 May 2022 17:41 (one year ago) link
https://www.songlines.co.uk/best-new-albums/the-10-best-new-albums-from-around-the-world-june-2022
Some of these (out now or upcoming) releases look worth checking out
― curmudgeon, Monday, 23 May 2022 21:03 (one year ago) link
I missed Reyna Tropical (afro-Mexican tropical pop) live in DC last night, but the little I have heard I have liked. In an IG story I saw, there was a bit of guitar playing that sounded like Congolese soukous/rumba
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 24 May 2022 14:59 (one year ago) link
https://pan-african-music.com/categorie/articles/?fs=e&s=cl
French website with some interesting articles
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 24 May 2022 17:01 (one year ago) link
Just heard a late night radio dj play this year-plus old song “Jerusalema” by Master KG ft. Nomcebo Zikode and it still sounds great (as many ilxors have noted on various threads in recent years)
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 7 June 2022 15:55 (one year ago) link
https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3036461062_10.jpg
A soundtrack of Sudan's revolution and the first ever international release of the Beja sound, performed by Noori and his Dorpa Band, an unheard outfit from Port Sudan, a city on the Red Sea coast in eastern Sudan and the heart of Beja culture.Electric soul, blues, jazz, rock, surf, even hints of country, speak fluently to styles and chords that could be Tuareg, Ethiopian, Peruvian or Thai—all grounded by hypnotic Sudanese grooves, Naji's impeccable, haunting tenor sax, and of course, Noori's tambo-guitar, a self-made unique hybrid of an electric guitar and an electric tambour, a four-string instrument found across East Africa.A truly ancient community, Beja trace their ancestry back millennia. Some say they are among the living descendants of Ancient Egypt and the Kingdom of Kush. Beja melodies—nostalgic, hopeful and sweet, ambiguous and honest—are thousands of years old.The Beja community has been on the forefront of political change in Sudan for decades because successive Sudanese governments have turned a blind eye to their calls for recognition and access to the gold wealth of their own soil. Noori believes an unleashing of Beja music would form the most potent act of resistance in their quest for equity and justice.Read the full story and finer details: www.okayafrica.com/sudan-music-noori-dorpa-band/
Electric soul, blues, jazz, rock, surf, even hints of country, speak fluently to styles and chords that could be Tuareg, Ethiopian, Peruvian or Thai—all grounded by hypnotic Sudanese grooves, Naji's impeccable, haunting tenor sax, and of course, Noori's tambo-guitar, a self-made unique hybrid of an electric guitar and an electric tambour, a four-string instrument found across East Africa.
A truly ancient community, Beja trace their ancestry back millennia. Some say they are among the living descendants of Ancient Egypt and the Kingdom of Kush. Beja melodies—nostalgic, hopeful and sweet, ambiguous and honest—are thousands of years old.
The Beja community has been on the forefront of political change in Sudan for decades because successive Sudanese governments have turned a blind eye to their calls for recognition and access to the gold wealth of their own soil. Noori believes an unleashing of Beja music would form the most potent act of resistance in their quest for equity and justice.
Read the full story and finer details: www.okayafrica.com/sudan-music-noori-dorpa-band/
In a way, "Jabana" is my fave because in striking contrast to their usual, faster (though equally reflective) groove approach, and a helluva ballad anyway--but also "Al Amal" and "Wondeeb" and then "Daleb" kind of melds the slower and faster, without seeming nearly its official playing time, which is nearly twice the usual. Really the whole album, of course. (Will also have to check out that other Ostinato Records 2022 release, The Strings of Santo Domingos, and the earlier sets.
― dow, Saturday, 11 June 2022 20:43 (one year ago) link
Haven't listened to "Jabana" yet, but groove songs sound good
― curmudgeon, Monday, 13 June 2022 14:18 (one year ago) link
Very much enjoying this, thanks for the recommendation. Quite an eclectic mix of stuff on there - semba, into clattery marimba stuff, into some random Roots horns, into almost sophistipop territory by the end.
― Shard-borne Beatles with their drowsy hums (Chinaski), Friday, 17 June 2022 20:31 (one year ago) link
Smithsonian Folklife Fest in DC will be live on National mall and on Youtube starting this week Wednesday June 22 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm with cellist Yo Yo Ma playing with a largely Afghan band . Details and Youtube link on the below
https://festival.si.edu/schedule?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D159951024
― curmudgeon, Monday, 20 June 2022 23:57 (one year ago) link
Folklife fest evening concerts will be broadcast, not daytime events.
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 21 June 2022 04:46 (one year ago) link
https://www.uncut.co.uk/reviews/album/vieux-farka-toure-les-racines-138796/
I really need to give latest Vieux Farka Toure a listen. Lyrics about Mali's politicial situation and music that hearkens back a bit to his Dad , say the reviews
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 28 June 2022 12:45 (one year ago) link
Feli Colina turning cumbia into a dark nocturnal affair on "Diabla" with percussive piano and spirited vocals alla Rosalía. It's on her 2022 album which is half influenced by industrial (Chakatrunka), the other remaining rather delicate and sparse. She's from Argentina.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDSjhlqC0fQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iodtNBYsv2Q
― Nabozo, Monday, 4 July 2022 11:27 (one year ago) link
Just saw Femi Kuti and Positive Force tonight. I don't know their catalogue that well but it was a great show, very tight and energetic, really had the crowd moving.
― No purposes. Sounds. (Sund4r), Sunday, 10 July 2022 04:06 (one year ago) link
Have enjoyed Femi Kuti live also when I have seen him in the past
― curmudgeon, Sunday, 10 July 2022 04:13 (one year ago) link
Femi's in DC Thursday
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 12 July 2022 14:54 (one year ago) link
https://pan-african-music.com/en/orchestre-massako-analog-africa/
Nice reissued old-school Gabon 70s afropop
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 12 July 2022 14:55 (one year ago) link
I need to listen to Orchestre Massoko again and read more about 'em. Impressive on initial listen
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 12 July 2022 14:56 (one year ago) link
Enjoyed that thanks, warm music, strong Soukous influence but sung by a singer from Guinea. The closer Temedy is as good as anything from the heyday.
― Nabozo, Tuesday, 12 July 2022 18:54 (one year ago) link
I saw the play “The Band’s Visit” and the Israeli woman cafe owner sang a song called “Oum Kalthoum and Omar Sharif” and she and the Alexandria, Egypt Band leader quoted Sharif movie lines. The cafe owner mentioned growing up and hearing Kalthoum songs on the radio.
The play/ musical is a bit corny and feel good about this Egyptian band arriving in the wrong town in Israel, a dull nothing small location for a night. But the music including oud and clarinet playing is wonderful. References to Chet Baker also. It’s a Tony theatre award winner, for what that’s worth, that has been in NY for awhile, but just opened a short DC run where I saw it at Kennedy Center.
― curmudgeon, Friday, 15 July 2022 11:59 (one year ago) link
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/13/arts/music/afghan-national-institute-of-music-lisbon.html?campaign_id=2&emc=edit_th_20220717&instance_id=66875&nl=todaysheadlines®i_id=37355772&segment_id=98762&user_id=062566bcd9872d3bfa0c4b1ac1e046b4
Afghan National Institute of music members fled to Lisbon Portugal. Article has music links and covers both how the musicians are doing in Portugal as well as what is still happening in Afghanistan where Taliban are taking actions against music
― curmudgeon, Sunday, 17 July 2022 14:48 (one year ago) link
https://www.passionweiss.com/2022/07/12/afro-jams-of-the-week-july-13-2022/
― curmudgeon, Friday, 22 July 2022 02:22 (one year ago) link