Around the World - Preview
8 November 2024
This Week
Music from: Algeria, Belgium, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Catalonia, China, Cuba, Finland, Hungary, India, Italy, Mexico, Montenegro, Poland, Portugal, Senegal, South Africa, UK, USA, and Uzbekistan.
Music by: Abavuki, Abraxas, Afro Celt Sound System, Alessia Tondo, Ánnámáret, Ayom, Bagedai, Francesc Sans, Jaune Toujours, Lemon Bucket Orkestra, Los Teen Tops, Ludovico Einaudi, Manu Chao, Mauro Durante & Justin Adams, Mostar Sevdah Reunion, Orquesta Akokán, Parno Graszt, Raghu Dixit, Renata Przemyk & Dagadana, Rhiannon Giddens, Seckou Keita, Sevara Nazarkhan, Slonovski Bal, Tinariwen, Vilma Talvitie, and Vołosi
Featured Album: “Sweet Release” by Mauro Durante & Justin Adams
Sweet Release - Justin Adams & Mauro Durante
I was talking about WOMEX 24 a lot last week and about some of the musicians I saw play and who I met. Among the performers were Justin Adams and Mauro Durante. Now, I’ve been a fan of Mauro Durante’s work – and his family’s work - for many years. He is one of the people behind Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino from Salento at the heel of Italy. CGS have been playing music of their region for more than 40 years and the group is into its second generation. They and other musicians from the region are founder performers in La Notte della Taranta.
A couple of years ago Mauro met with Justin Adams the English guitarist and they began playing as a duo. Justin Adams’ style incorporates blues and African rhythms. He has played with Robert Plant's Brian Eno, Sinéad O'Connor, and Jah Wobble. He has also played with the Malian Touareg band Tinariwenn whose debut for Wayward label was recorded at the end of 2000 in Bamako, Mali and produced by Justin Adams.
Mauro’s style is the music of Salento. He also worked with Ludovico Einaudi and Alessia Tondo who are also on this week’s show.
The duo released Still Moving in 2021 and recently the follow up to that Sweet Release, this week’s featured album.
Abavuki - Nights in Langa - LIVE at Afrikafestival Hertme 2015
“Oh yes I remember it well” as the song goes. I had just moved to Bled in Slovenia having retired from 25 years in the BBC and eight or nine years as a freelance. The legendary Okarina Festival was in full swing, and I was in Festival Hall to see Abavuki. I few years before I had been working with a radio station in Cape Town but had not seen any bands when I was there. I was particularly excited to see this band.
That night in my blog reviewing the concert I wrote "The most energetic band I have ever seen...they weave traditional African rhythms and melodies into a contemporary format which is highly accessible to a wide audience".
Marimbas, brass, guitars were changing hands with every song – and dance, dance, dance. And now looking back I have found the Bled Castle (part of the organising team for Okarina) Tweet. The video above is from the same period.
And now with their new album The Right Key released while I was on holiday (in Bled!), all of those memories come back. In the 10 years that have passed since watching Abavuki, I have played many of their tracks on the show and I’m glad to be playing more.
Ludovico Einaudi - Pathos
Ludovico has had a distinguished career for more than 40 years. In 2010 and 2011 he was the music director for La Notte della Taranta playing with musicians such as Mauro Durante and Alessia Tondo. His new album The Summer Portraits will be released early next year.
Orquesta Akokán - Con Licencia (Official Video)
Caracoles is Orquesta Akokán’s third album on Daptone Records. Their eponymous 2018 debut was followed by 16 Rayos in 2021. Taking inspiration from mid-twentieth century mambo Cuban musicians such as pianist Perez Prado, singer Beny Moré, and Machito. (I might find some music from these guys for next week’s show!)
The ensemble began as a collaboration between arranger Michael Eckroth, producer Jacob Plasse, and vocalist Jose "Pepito" Gomez. They visited Cuba to record in the style of mid-20th century Cuban band music and put an ensemble together during a trip to Havana with the help of Cesar Lopez of the group Irakere. The group signed to Daptone Records in 2018, which was nominated for a Grammy Award.
Lemon Bucket Orkestra - Cuckoo
"Cuckoo", the new Lemon Bucket Orkestra [album was] released on May 17. The second single, 'Cuckoo,' seamlessly blends Eastern European influences with Western flair, featuring aggressive Balkan brass melodies, fiery Ukrainian and Spanish rap against floating traditional Ukrainian polyphonic vocals, and heavy hip-hop grooves. [YouTube]
Lemon Bucket Orkestra describe themselves as “Toronto's original Slavic-Balkan-Klezmer-Party-Punks”. For more than 13 years they have been winning awards and performing all over the world from WOMAD in England and New Zealand and Pohoda in Slovakia, to Festival D’Été in Québec City, and Luminato in Toronto.
The Guardian proclaimed that their performances are "gorgeously sung and passionately played" and The New York Times declared them "charismatic...handsome and ambitious.”
Equal parts exhilarating precision and reckless abandon, LBO’s live shows are a truly immersive experience ranging from the ecstatic to the cathartic and all points in between. Now they weaved that unique blend of energy and emotion onto their latest album Cuckoo. Released May 17 2024, the new record combines powerful Ukrainian polyphony, driving Balkan rhythms, and modern Western musical elements. This mixture of Eastern Europe and the America's is further elevated with the special feature of Macedonian master trumpeter Nizo Alimov, formerly of Kocani Orkestar. [Band’s Website]
Where and when to listen.
Friday:
Akaroa World Radio 2:00 pm local New Zealand Time (3:00 am GMT 4:00 am CET)
NAR-GROUP Germany – 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m (CET)
Mosel Radio – 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m (CET)
NAR-Alf – 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m (CET)
Saturday:
RCFM (Radio City FM) Duisburg, Germany 3:00 – 5:00 pm CET
World FM 10:00 pm local New Zealand Time (11:00 am GMT, 12:00 noon CET)
Essential Radio Midnight to 2:00 am GMT (1:00 am CET)
Sunday:
West Coast FM Namibia 10:00 pm to 12:00 noon Central Africa Time (2:00 to 4:00 GMT)
NFRS Osaka Japan: 12:00 noon local time (3:00 am UK time 4:00 am CET)
973FM in Singapore and 11:00 pm local time (3:00 pm/15:00 hours UTC – Universal Time).
Slice Audio 10:00 pm local time (11:00 pm CET)
Armagh City Radio 10:00 pm local time (11:00 pm CET)
Monday:
SparkFlame Radio: 00:00 am GMT (01:00 CET)
Waterwaves Radio: 8:00 pm GMT (21:00 CET)
KNC Radio St Lucia 6:00 am local time (10:00 am GMT 11:00 am CET)
BR2 Pure Gold Radio – Costa Blanca, Spain 10:00 pm local time (CET)
Akaroa World Radio 10:00 pm local New Zealand Time (11:00 am GMT, 12:00 noon CET)
World FM 10:00 pm local New Zealand Time (11:00 am GMT, 12:00 noon CET)
Wednesday:
World FM 4:00 am local New Zealand Time (5:00 pm Tuesday GMT, 6:00 pm CET)
Slice Audio 4:00 am local time GMT (5:00 am CET)
Life Right Radio (London) 7:00 pm
Best City Radio (Belfast) 10:00 pm
Radio Skye (Radio Garden) 10:00 pm GMT (11:00 pm CET)
Stirling Community Radio 10:00 pm GMT (11:00 pm CET)