Around the World - Preview
28 March 2025
News
One more radio station is now carrying Around the World. Malawi’s Power 101FM now broadcasts the show on Saturday at 11:00 and Sunday at 12:00.
This Week
You can listen to the show on Mixcloud
Music From: Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Colombia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mali, Norway, Nova Scotia/Canada, Persia, Poland, Scotland, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, and Taiwan.
Music by: Brigan, Brighde Chaimbeul, Broes, El León Pardo, Elsa Mouratidou, Farnaz Ohadi, Frigg, girl in red, Hajda Banda, Innocents Abroad, Jahkasa, Kasiva Mutua, Lajkó Félix, Los Piranas, Mario Lucio, Mila Trani, Morgan Toney, ASSU, Park Jiha, Piers Faccini & Ballaké Sissoko, Samba Touré, Sandália de Prata, Sauljaljui, The Wannadies, and Thiago Amud.
Here’s this week’s full running order.
This week’s Featured Album: is Bagola by Trio Da Kali
Trio Da Kali - Dissa (Live on KEXP)
The featured album this week is Bagola by Trio Da Kali. It is light and simple and just lovely. The lead instrument is the Balafon the other instrument is ngoni – like a bass guitar or banjo. The instrument is known to have existed in 1352.
As I put together this week’s preview, there are no recent videos of Trio Da Kali, but this from KEXP 7 years ago is still a good example of their work.
From WOMEX:
Trio Da Kali is a group of outstanding musicians from the Mande culture of southern Mali who come from a long line of distinguished griots (hereditary musicians).
Formed of voice, ngoni and balafon the Trio aim to bring a contemporary twist to ancient and neglecting repertoires.Hawa Kasse Mady Diabaté, daughter of legendary Kasse Mady Diabaté, is the singer of the Trio, and has one of the finest griot voices in Mali, and has been compared by some to Mahalia Jackson (America’s great gospel singer).
At home, Hawa performs mainly on the wedding circuit, singing at parties held on the streets of Bamako (the main context in which most musicians in Mali make a living).
The most distinctive feature of the Trio is the balafon, and Lassana Diabaté, formerly of Afrocubism and Toumani Diabaté’s Symmetric Orchestra, is one of Mali’s most astonishing players. Its cascading lines, rippling and percussive riffs, and buzzing gourd resonators, are a familiar element in many Malian ensembles, but here for the first time the balafon is the lead instrument.
The youngest member of the trio is bass ngoni player Mamadou Kouyaté - the eldest son of world-renowned Bassekou Kouyaté. Still in his early 20s, he is one of Mali’s most creative musicians of the new generation.
Trio Da Kali only came into being in late 2012, but already they have performed at a BBC Prom, the Theatre de la Ville in Paris, and at the London Jazz Festival. They were formed specifically to develop a project with The Kronos Quartet; David Harrington (of Kronos) describing it as ‘one of the most beautiful collaborations Kronos has had in our first 40 years’.
Brìghde Chaimbeul - Bog an Lochan
A few weeks ago, I went to see the Scottish piper Brìghde Chaimbeul. I first saw her play in 2021 it WOMEX Porto. This time it was a Saturday afternoon, just a 10 minute train ride from where I live. And she was entrancing. See David Boyd’s video of parts of her performance here.
Brìghde has a new single Bog an Lochan – bog on the lough.
It is the first single from “Sunwise” to be released on June 27th 2025 (Glitterbeat/tak:til).
The album has another connection close to me. It is produced by Brìghde and recorded by Julie McLarnon at Analogue Catalogue Studios in Newry, Northern Ireland where the music is recorded on 2” tapes through an analogue desk - one used by “David Bowie, Queen, George Michael, Roxy Music, Duran Duran and Japan” [*].
An old friend, Rocky O'Reilly has mastered the album. The video above is by Jonny Ashworth and John Smith with thanks to Skye Sailing Club.
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐺𝑎𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑐 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑔𝑛𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝐹𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑦𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑚 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ'𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑚𝑒𝑛 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑒. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐹𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑠𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑚. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑊𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑓𝑎𝑣𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠, 𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑦 𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑑𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑤ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑟 𝑢𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑟 𝑢𝑛𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑦. [*]
Hajda Banda - Babaczka
An album to revisit. One of my top albums from last year has been voted Songlines Readers Album of the Year - as announced on Facebook by Mateusz Dobrowolski who plays frame drum in Hajda Banda / Гайда Банда.
Where and when to hear Around the World
Thursday:
LIVE DRN1 Perth Western Australia - 9:00 p.m. local time (2:00 pm CET)
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:
Power 101FM Malawi: 11:00 local time
Flirt FM (Galway's Community of Interest & Student Station) 101.3 10:45 am - 12 45 pm
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)
Power 101FM Malawi: 12:00 local time
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).
Circl8 Chester: 12:00 noon
Best City Radio (Belfast) 3:00 pm
Websound Radio (Larne) 8:00 pm
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)
Circl8 Chester: 12:00 noon
Waterwaves Radio: 9:00 pm GMT (22:00 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)
Tuesday:
Shire Extra: 8:00 pm GMT (21:00 CET)
Waterwaves Radio: 9:00 pm GMT (22:00 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
Stirling Community Radio 8:00 pm GMT (9:00 pm CET)
Best City Radio (Belfast) 10:00 pm
Radio Skye (Radio Garden) 10:00 pm GMT (11:00 pm CET)