Bro. Valentino reissue brings Trinidad heat for Analog Africa

Analog Africa’s latest tropical music smasher is from Bro. Valentino. The Trinidad singer was voted among the top 50 calypsonians of the 20th Century, four of his songs have also been selected in the Top 200 calypsos of that period – Life is a Stage (1972), Barking Dogs (1974), Dis Place Nice (1975) and Stay up Zimbabwe (1979), while his 2004 history treatise Where Calypso Went was selected as Calypso of the Year. Valentino can be assured of a place among the pantheon of calypso luminaries in the hallowed halls.

At the end of the heady decade of the tumultuous 1970’s, with the echoes of the Black Power revolution of Trinidad still strongly reverberating, Valentino penned his two most commercially successful calypsoes, 1979’s Stay up Zimbabwe and 1980’s Ah Wo (Brand New Revolution). Both were reflections of the revolutionary spirit which had engulfed the Caribbean in the 1970’s. 1979 marked the historic date of the Maurice Bishop led Grenadian Revolution.

Anthony Emrold Phillip began his illustrious career in 1961 at The Big Bamboo, a minor calypso tent in Port of Spain, Trinidad, before breaking into the professional scene in 1966 at the Lord Kitchener’s Caravan calypso tent. After the Black Power revolution of 1970 he sang on behalf of the poor and downtrodden and was dubbed “The People’s Calypsonian”.

Next up on Analog Africa will be the final album from Cameroon’s legendary Los Camaroes, available on LP for the first time since 1979. Recorded live to two track at the Mango Bar in Yaoundé, Resurrection Los was the last collaboration between bandleader Jean Gabari and groundbreaking guitarist Messi Martin. The deluxe LP reissue features notes on the history of the band by original keyboardist Mbambo “Johnny Cosmos” Simon, plus all new interviews with producer Nicolas Mongué and engineer Emmanuel Guyssot. It follows the superb Pop Makossa compilation by the label of dance music from Cameroon.

Click here for the Analog Africa Bandcamp.

Latest World Treasures Music show for KMAH Radio

Here’s the tracklist, link and a superb video from Palmbomen II. A track by the electronic wizard opens the show from August 17th. Palmbomen II produces amazing ambient dance music and his videos have a retro, Twin Peaks-esque vibe. His material from 2017 can be difficult to get hold of on vinyl, so buy on sight if you can. Check below for the tracklist and link to the show after this beautiful weirdness.

There’s another track from the forthcoming Antibalas album, previewed last show, one from the Sorry Bamba reissue, plus lots of great stuff from the Invisible Inc. label following our interview with the label (click here if you missed it).

Palmbomen II – Cindy Savalas ; Zerox Dreamflesh – Squids Can Fly ; Stranger Cole and Jah Levy – I’m Living ; Lifetones – Decide ; Lifetones – Good Side ; Sceptre – Ina Dif’rent Styley ; Jon Keliehor – The Beginning Of Time ; Higamos Hogamos – Elkamonious Split ; Peter Power – Sacral Bells ; Jose Leonidas Jancidakis Arce, Mauricio Sprovieri & Renato Tupy – Da Gota Ao Oceano (Peter Power Remix) ; Higamos Hogamos – Fuzzy Majesty ; Antibalas – Hook & Crook ; Sorry Bamba – Yayoroba ; Verckys et l´Orchestre Vévé – Bassala Hot ; Mac & Party – Harambe ; Makadam & Behr – Nyako ; Louis De Meester – Incantations ; Komodo Kolektif – Djakarta 3001 (Short Version) ; Larry T and The Family – Where Does The Answer Lie ; Shoody – Tokyo Melody

World Treasures Music on KMAH Radio

Here’s the tracklist to the latest radio show. New material from Antibalas, Trio Da Kali & Kronos Quartet, Harmonious Thelonious, K Lone, plus Pugilist & Mystik – the latest on Jack Sparrow’s Navy Cut label. Recent reissues include Billy Cole on Japanese label Rock A Shacka and Apples on Odion Livingstone. There’s also exciting edits from Cervo.

Aleke Kanou – Sweet Mother;  Aigbe Lebarty – Unity;  Majid Bekkas – Soudani Manayou (Cervo Edit);  DJ Nigga Fox -15 Barras;  Harmonious Thelonious – Ayranman;  Pedro – Amor;  K Lone – Woniso;  Groove City – Jhazee;  Nummer – Meditation In Baltimore;  Ti Fock – Sokouye;  F.O.E – In the Jungle;  Apples – Lay On The Ground;  Billy Cole – Here and Now;  Pugilist & Mystik – Zulu Blues;             Antibalas – Tombstown Pt 2;  Trio Da Kali & Kronos Quartet – Kanimba;  Chacalon – Mi Dollar;    Tatsuro Yamashita – Love Space;  Yumi Matsutoya – 78;  Yasuaki Shimizu – Kono Yo Ni Yomeri #2;              Chacalon – Chana;  Cervo – Dancing Dream

World Treasures Music is on KMAH Radio every fortnightly Thursday, 2pm until 4pm (GMT).

Invisible Inc. label feature and interview

Glasgow based label Invisible Inc. are going from strength to strength with a visceral blend of music and performance. Their latest EP by Peter Power is an ambient and tropical infused delight. Their DJ sets and parties showcase their heady brew and vision of dance and performance.

Komodo Kolektif – an electronic band fusing tribal sounds and gamelan percussion – are blowing up right now, with shows in Glasgow and a prospective show in London with DJ support from Andrew Weatherall.

Gamelan – a traditional musical style in Java and Bali – is practiced by a small ensemble in Glasgow ever since the city acquired a set of gamelan instruments in 1990 when it became City Of Culture. Members of the group – called Naga Mas (meaning Golden Dragon) – will be joining KK for the live shows.

World Treasures Music spoke to their label head Gordon, alias GK Machine. Click here to read the interview in the labels section.

Check Komodo Kolektif and the rest of Invisible Inc. on Bandcamp here.

Peter Power’s Awake Into Life is the latest release on Invisible Inc.

Interview: Yale Evelev of Luaka Bop

World Treasures Music spoke to Luaka Bop president Yale Evelev, the label’s latest release compiles the work of Alice Coltrane – World Spirituality Classics 1: The Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda. The record features music Coltrane made while she lived at the Sai Anantam Ashram (a spiritual monastery in California), which she established in 1983. The songs were recorded between 1982 and 1995 and had previously been available only on cassettes distributed within her spiritual community.

Luaka Bop has celebrated music from around the globe since 1988 and was responsible for releasing the work of William Onyeabor.

Yale Evelev, president of the music label Luaka Bop and an avid vinyl record collector, photographed in his home in NYC for Dust & Grooves, a photo documentary on vinyl rcord collecors.
© Copyright – Eilon Paz -www.dustandgrooves.com

WTM – What have been the emotions now the Ecstatic Praise project has finished?

Well the way we work is that the project doesn’t really finish, so that idea of emotions after a finish just don’t come into play. Overall it’s been an amazing project though. Usually we are working on things that are somewhat unknown. This on the other hand, was music that was very important to many people from an artist who was even more important to many more. The response has been so great, we hope that we get to continue to work with her legacy, though whether that will be allowed is unknown.
 
WTM – What was the most memorable moment of the project?
Going to the Ashram for the first time and seeing a Sunday service with the handful of remaining members. I cried. For us to see in action something that we’ve worked so hard on is actually very rare.

Alice Coltrane

WTM – Where have you dug for records most recently?
 
I try not to look for records unless I’m traveling. If I’m in another country I feel I’ll never see that record again, if I’m in America I feel ‘do I really need that record?’. That said, my son DJs and so we at times drive around to shops just to see what they’re like. So to answer your question, New Jersey.
 
WTM – What’s been your most prized find of late?
 
I have been buying lots of African albums on Discogs, though I feel I am starting to come out the other end of this wellspring of amazing albums.
 
WTM – Do you and David Byrne feel working in Alice’s music has been constructive?
 
David actually has had nothing to do with Luaka Bop since 2003, though he co-owns it with me.
 
WTM – What next for the label?
A continuation of the World Spirituality Series. Plus an album from Domenico and one from Kassin, both of the Plus 2’s.

Sorry Bamba’s ‘Du Mali’ LP is reissued by Africa Seven

The second LP of one of the most pivotal figures in the history of Malian music – Sorry Bamba – is being reissued this month by Africa Seven. His work spans five decades and Mali’s cultural traditions and new musical styles that arose during Mali’s post-Colonial period.

Bamba was born in 1938 in Mopti, dissected by both the Niger and Bani rivers and known for its rich cultural diversity. Bamba’s father was a distinguished veteran of Emperor Samory Toure’s military and a nobleman in Malian society. But this meant young Sorry was forbidden to make music, as under the nation’s caste system music was an art form reserved for the Griots. At the age of ten, Sorry’s parents died and in these traumatic times the young teen found solace in music. He first taught himself to play an African six-holed flute and as he progressed he began to absorb the rich tapestry of music of his surroundings – traditional Malian music, highlife from Ghana, local accordion master Toumani Toure, as well as European singers and musicians.

In 1957 Sorry formed his first band, Group Goumbe, named after a popular Ivory Coast dance style. In 1960 when Mali gained independence from France, Bamba and his group benefited from a new openness toward local music on the state-run radio network Radio Mali. Sorry then went on to form two award-winning collectives – Bani Jazz and later the Kanaga Orchestra. They fused Latin jazz, Western R&B, psychedelic and funk, as well as traditional Malian styles, making them a favourite in Mali and beyond.

The re-issue benefits from extensive restoration and re-mastering.

Check out Africa Seven for previous re-issues of Sorry Bamba’s third and first LP.

Check out the recent Africa Seven feature on KMAH Radio.