Around the World - Preview
29 August 2024
Hello
Although I’ve travelled a lot this year, my “holiday” (as if life wasn’t a holiday) will begin in about 10 days time. So this is the last but one newsletter before Dawn and I are Slovenia bound. After a month there I’ll be heading to WOMEX in Manchester.
On next week’s show I’ll be playing some of the musicians due to perform at WOMEX 2024.
In the meantime …
This week
Music from: Congo, Bulgaria, France & Louisiana, Côte d'Ivoire, Canada, Ireland, Catalonia, Algeria, Cuba, Tunisia, London, Cyprus, Barcelona, Coventry, Skope, South Africa, Morocco, Barcelona, Canada, Scotland, Iran, Hungary, Italy and Ethiopia, Brazil, New York & Puerto-Rico, and Indonesia.
Music by: Ahmed Moneka, Amaka Jaji, Atse Tewodros Project & Gabriella Ghermandi, Bab L' Bluz, Baklava, Barcelona Gipsy balKan Orchestra, Buzz' Ayaz, Dobet Gnahoré, Erdem Kızılyatak, Fenya Rai, Landless, Lauren Collier, Lemon Bucket Orkestra, Lluís Gómez, Msaki & Tubatsi Mpho Moloi, Nickodemus, Nusantara Beat, Olcay Bayir, Oratnitza, Orquesta Akokán, Söndörgő, Syssi Mananga, Thandiswa, The Deep Dark Woods, The Specials, TRAGO, Tulipa Ruiz & Gustavo Ruiz
Featured album Seven by Muddy Gurdy
Muddy Gurdy "Seven" (Buda Musiques) teaser 6 + The Broussard Sisters
A blues singer-guitarist, a percussionist specializing in Latin rhythms, a hurdy-gurdy player expert in traditional music from central France. At first sight, these three should never have met. And they met, necessarily at the crossroads of different roads, and more precisely on the crossroad of the blues. In the spring of 2017, Tia Gouttebel (vocals and guitar), Marco Glomeau (percussion) and Gilles Chabenat (hurdy-gurdy) set off to record in northern Mississippi, known as « hill country », where kudzu and a form of hypnotic blues once sung by Fred McDowell, Jessie Mae Hemphill, Junior Kimbrough and RL Burnside proliferate. It is an initiatory journey as much as it is ethical.
Ethical, because they don’t go there for tourist clichés. Rather for an exchange of cultures, a real encounter, inviting locals to share their music, recording on the field with a mobile studio. The musicians from Mississippi had never seen or heard a hurdy-gurdy before. But among people of the earth, because the earth is round, we recognize each other, we understand each other.
Initiatory, because this trip signs Muddy Gurdy’s birth certificate. The album is imbued with the magic of the Mississippi. It is a favorite, a critical and commercial success, hailed and broadcast as far as the United States. With this album, Muddy Gurdy tours a lot and attracts a new audience (because they are funny and endearing on stage). In February 2020, just before the world stops spinning and the planes stop flying, they are selected at the Folk Alliance Festival in New Orleans, where they record a song for the archives of the prestigious Library of Congress. [There’s more about Muddy Gurday here on their website]
And here are a couple of videos from other bands I’ll be playing this week.
Oratnitza feat. Iliyana Naydenova - Zhelkya (live) @ club *MIXTAPE 5* - EDITED
Oratnitza have set themselves one mission: to interpret traditional Bulgarian songs so that younger generations can identify with them. The sextet is passionate about Balkan folklore, and in particular famously sublime Bulgarian songs, infusing them with low-key electronic musical architecture and bouncy basslines. [*]
Ever since their birth Oratnitza has been driven by their curiosity to find out what lies beyond the musical status quo. This has made them take Bulgarian folklore on a wild journey. Over the years their repertoire has absorbed colors and scents from the local underground and distant continents alike. Bringing the treasures from their explorations home, they pass on the torch of tradition. [Bandcamp]
Orquesta Akokán - Pan Con Tíbiri (Official Video)
Orquesta Akokán is a Latin jazz ensemble formed by musicians from Cuba and New York, United States. It takes inspiration from mid-twentieth century mambo musicians such as Perez Prado, Beny Moré, and Machito.
History
The ensemble's name comes from the Yoruban word for "from the heart". It began as a collaboration between arranger Michael Eckroth, producer Jacob Plasse, and vocalist Jose "Pepito" Gomez. They took a trip to Cuba together to record in the style of mid-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, releasing a 7" single with the label and then a self-titled full-length that year. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award. [Wikipedia]
Also
Nusantara Beat's commitment to honoring tradition is only part of their mission. They also strive to showcase the immense diversity of Indonesian music and usher it into the future. By adding their own innovative twists to the mix, they pay homage to the traditional sounds while introducing a fresh and contemporary perspective [Bandcamp]
How to hear the show
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)
Ferry FM 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 10:31 AM - 12:41 PM local time (16:30 to 17:40 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)
Radio Skye (Radio Garden) 10:00 pm GMT (11:00 pm CET)
Stirling Community Radio 10:00 pm GMT (11:00 pm CET)