This Week
You can listen to the show on Mixcloud
Back to normal this week on Around the World with the usual format. Remember you can now email me if you have suggestions for music I should liketn to.
Music From: Amsterdam, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, England, France, Hungary, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Portugal, Senegal, South Korea, Togo, and Ukraine
Music By: Aboubakar Traoré & Balima, Ak Dan Gwang Chil (ADG7), Altin Gün, Amir Amiri, Arooj Aftab, BabelNova Orchestra, BNegão, Carmen Souza, Dogo Du Togo & The Alagaa Beat Band, Fely Tchaco, GANNA, In Tua Nua, Jethro Tull, Luizinho do Jeje Marcelo Galter & Sylvio Fraga, Medicine Singers, Mon Laferte, ,Mostar Sevdah Reunion, Parno Graszt, Piers Faccini & Ballaké Sissoko, Prefab Sprout, Rim Banna, Seckou Keita, Seun Kuti & Egypt 80', and Split Enz.
The featured album is Bosa Mara by Mostar Sevdah Reunion
Bosa Mara marks the Bosnian band's 25th anniversary and includes a few departures from their norm.
The first thing you might notice is the guest musicians. Muntu Valdo plays acoustic blues guitar, harmonica, and sings. He is from Douala, Cameroon. The other guest is Pedro Heredia "El Granaíno". With the combination of Sevdah and Flamenco, MSR build a new bridge spanning two rivers; the Guadalquivir where sits the city of Seville the home of Flamenco and Neretva which passes through Mostar. They combine the gypsy musics of the Balkans and Seville.
Sevdah is a traditional Bosnian folk music genre that's also known as Sevdalinka. Sevdah music is a combination of Turkish and gypsy music. Flamenco is closely associated with the Romani people of Spain, also known as Gitanos.
Robin Denslow says in his five star review of Bosa Mara
Antonija Batinić anchors the band with her powerful and emotional vocals, switching from love songs to laments and dance tunes. Guitars, piano, violin and percussion (with the occasional addition of accordion and trumpet) provide the classy, inventive backing, switching from slinky balladry to a traditional folk dance that suddenly veers towards ragtime and jazz, with echoes of rock and R&B.
As yet there is no video to support the new album(yet?), so this is from the 2023 concert Live in Sarajevo.
Mostar Sevdah Reunion - Negdje u daljine (Live in Sarajevo 2023)
Many excellent albums were released in November and December, so I’ve been catching up in recent days. There are a few I don’t want to forget to add to the show’s playlist. and this is one. Aboubakar Traoré & Balima’s Sababu is a little harder edged than this video might convey - you can listen on Bandcamp.
Aboubakar Traoré from Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, is a prodigy of the Kamele ngoni and an exceptional singer. He tells and renews the fabulous repertoire of the Mandingo Griots, denounces the daily difficulties of his people and pays tribute to the elders who have marked the history of his country and of Africa.
Having gathered top class musicians such as Zonatan Dembélé (bass), former member of Rokia Traoré (Mali) , Désiré Somé (el. guitar), member of Bai Kamar Jr. 's band The Voodoo Sniffers and Foofango, Guillaume Codutti (percussion) and Geoffrey Desmet (balafon, djembe), both part of percussive big band Sysmo, Aboubakar Traoré & Balima’s strength lies in the vitalisation of tradtion on the scenery of a varied background. [*]
SIRABA KELE / Aboubakar Traoré & Balima
Aboubakar Traoré & Balima’s Sababu is a little harder edged than this video might convey - you can listen on Bandcamp.
And another not to overlook is Amir Amiri’s ANCESTORS - Echoes of Persia (feat. Amir Amiri Ensemble). Born in Tehran, Iran, Amiri is a master of the santur, a 72-string instrument dating from approximately 500 BCE.
Amir Amiri dwells at the centre of a unique musical universe where ancient inspiration, dazzling virtuosity, and bold creativity meet. Surrounding himself with outstanding collaborators from the worlds of jazz, classical and world music, Amiri fearlessly transcends genres and borders, exquisitely transporting his ancient instrument into the musical conversations of our time. [*]
Now living in Canada, Amiri has created groundbreaking ensembles including the Amir Amiri Ensemble, “inspired by the fluidity of musical influences in Iran and featuring the hypnotic presence of a Whirling Dervish” and Ensemble Kimya, a Montreal-Paris collaboration, combining early classical and contemporary music from Europe, the Middle East and India. Perséides (below), is his duo with double bass player Jean Félix Mailloux.
Best of the year - hear it here
The First 30
Around the World - Review of 2024 Part 1 - First Hour
Around the World - Review of 2024 Part 1 - Second Hour
The Top 30
Around the World - Review of 2024 Part 2 - First Hour
Around the World - Review of 2024 Part 2 - Second Hour
While I was on holiday
The joy of holidays, of course, is to revisit the familiar: old friends, old haunts, and for me this year old music. I fell into a YouTube rabbit hole. A brightly lit rabbit hole filled with the great pleasure of old favourite. And the compulsion to share some of it on this week’s show.
I remember one Saturday evening in 1977. BBC were running a series of Sight and Sound In Concert. All the super futuristic colour pictures on the television and stereo sound on FM radio. Speakers were placed on each side of the screen and the converts were “simiulcast”. On that particular evening the band deserved the visual and the auditory conjunction. They were Split Enz and they looked like this:
Split Enz - Bold As Brass (live 77)
Not great quality video, but a quality moment on UK TV.
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:
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).
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: 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)
Tuesday:
Shire Extra: 8:00 pm GMT (21:00 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
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)
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