Around the World – Week beginning 19 February 2023 - Preview
Music from Belgium, (lots from) Brazil, England, Ghana, Ireland, Italy, Madagascar, Mexico & USA, Niger, Northern Ireland, Norway, Persia, Portugal, Scotland, Slovenia, Spain & Mexico, and Sweden
This week you can hear Berikely & Zama, Brighde Chaimbeul, Carmen Souza, Elephant Sessions, Gaïsha, Gyedu-Blay Ambolley, Ian Lasserre, João Selva, Jonathan Ferr, Lisa O'Neill, Mahsa Vahdat & SKRUK, Nava, Nisia, Njava, Rachele Andrioli & Coro a Coro, Rozi Plain & Alabaster Deplume, Santana, The 2:19, Torgeir Vassvik, Tulipa Ruiz & Negro Léo, Tuulikki Bartosik, Vic Mirallas & Sabino, and a featured album from Bakalina Velika.
Hear the show on the web on Sundays at 10:00 pm to midnight:
Slice Audio,
Ferry FM,
Radio Larne, and
Armagh City Radio .
On Tuesdays at 7:00 pm on the radio and web
Bangor FM 107.9 (Radio Garden)
Lisburn’s 98FM (Radio Garden)
FM105 Down Community Radio (Radio Garden)
Wednesdays Radio Skye at 10:00 pm to midnight (Radio Garden).
Thursdays on U Radio at 6.30pm to 8.30 pm
Saturdays on Essential Radio midnight to 02:00 am
See the running orders for Around the World at DavySims.com
Featured Album - Prvi Krajec by Bakalina Velika
Sometimes the featured album can be a bit obscure but usually it is pretty current or even on pre-release. Prvi Krajec was released in August last year – but I’ve only just found it and that was because I was sent an invitation to see them play in a tiny venue in Ljubljana called Pinelina dnevna soba (Pinela's Living Room). The event tonight (if you are reading this on the day it is sent out 17 February) was sold out within minutes, so I won’t be going … and I’m not in Slovenia.
Anyone who knows me, knows I have a strong affection for the country, it’s people and culture (and lakes and mountains and food and architecture and language and on and on and on), so when I heard Prvi Krajec I was love at first track.
Bakalina Velika take folk music from the hills around Tolmin where they started out. It’s a small town over to the west of the country near Italy. They take that music and they do – what can only be described as - Their Thing with it. The result sounds both strange and familiar at the same time. (Incidentally, Tolmin also holds an annual summer punk festival which my son Adam has been to a couple of times. He says it’s excellent.)
“At first there were only Jani and Renata. Then Bakalina spread, as wide as the view from Čadrgo can be to the Tolmin Mountains all the way to the top of Triglav. An imaginary new folk tradition has taken root in the hearts of all music lovers. The upcoming album Prvi krajec , which will be released in the spring, presents not only fresh songs, but also a new line-up of seasoned musicians. In a musical adventure that takes the listener from the hidden corners of ancient caves to the peaks of Tolmin, the abundance of experimental, eclectic sounds and instrumentation are imaginatively combined with Jani's stories, which are more 'masculine' and more intimate than ever before. Bakalina the Great!” Balakina Velika
This is not one of the tracks I will be playing on the show - but it looks fantastic.
Bakalina Velika - Zima
Here’s a question … how does this fit into the show so perfectly?
Santana - Samba Pa Ti
What else is on Around the World this week? There’s an awful lot of music from Brazil. Well, four tracks. I was wondering why so suddenly there is a lot of great music coming out of Brazil - way more thn I can play - then I realised as I sat in my northern hemisphere damp and grey bleakness … it’s summer there. One of the artists I’ll be playing is João Selva who has a new album Passarinho. Here he is live at WOMEX 22
João Selva | Live at WOMEX 22
I often enjoy “behind the scenes” videos - and this is a great example of the “behind the scenes” being better than the official video.
An album you really should look out for is Rachele Andrioli’s Leuca. “Rachele Andrioli measures herself with singing, spacing in between traditional music and the role of the chansonnier, from music rooted in Salento to world music, to jazz. She started off collaborating over several years with “Officina Zoè”, one of the first and somehow most radical expressions of music from Salento, Puglia. Together with the band she participated in important festivals inside and outside national borders. Her musical journey continues, ranging from Italy to India, Lebanon and the Americas. The artist features in several discographic productions.” [Womex]
Here she is rehearsing with Coro a Coro.
Rachele Andrioli | Coro a Coro
A few years ago, I saw the Skye piper Brighde Chaimbeul play a solo concert to an international audiencce. Her presentation was simple and the music concentrated and complex. She held the attention of the audience for 40 or 45 minutes. Brighde releases a new album Carry Them with Us, soon.
Tha Fonn Gun Bhi Trom | I Am Disposed of Mirth
There’s so much more
Join me every week for two hours of music from Around the World. If you can’t hear the transmissions then join the listening club.
Drop me a link at davy.sims@gmail.com to find out how.
Have a great weekend.