Past Programs
Percussion - 2008
Nathalie Natiembé (repeat of 10/4/07)
17/10/2008
Nathalie Natiembé is the new voice of Maloya, the percussion-rich ‘blues’ of Reunion Island.
Accompanied by her own and other Indian Oceaneer’s percussion and on a few songs by the ubiquitous session man, Madagascan accordionist Regis Gisavo, she presents 11 of her own compositions on her CD Sankér. Maloya originated as the means for Reunion’s plantation workers to express the joys and sorrows of their daily lives and Nathalie takes that tradition into the 21st century.
Clube do Balanço (First Broadcast on 29/04/2008)
19/09/2008
On their CD, Swing and Samba Rock, Clube do Balanço revive the urban Samba styles of São Paulo with guest vocalists from the era and an infectious good humour.
It’s no wonder that Clube do Balanço, the pioneers of the Samba Rock revival, are popular among the crowds in the dancehalls of the poorer districts of São Paulo, places where people have been dancing to the style since the late 1960s. Guest vocalists include Erasmo Carlos, Wison Simoninha, Max de Castro, Bebeto, Pula Lima, the modern Samba-Rocker Seu Jorge, and the quite jazzy singer Marku Ribas. With this array of talent and a knack for capturing their excitement in the studio, the group sounds even better than it did at Womadelaide 2008.
Clube do Balanço
29/04/2008
On their CD, Swing and Samba Rock, Clube do Balanço revive the urban Samba styles of São Paulo with guest vocalists from the era and an infectious good humour.
It’s no wonder that Clube do Balanço, the pioneers of the Samba Rock revival, are popular among the crowds in the dancehalls of the poorer districts of São Paulo, places where people have been dancing to the style since the late 1960s. Guest vocalists include Erasmo Carlos, Wison Simoninha, Max de Castro, Bebeto, Pula Lima, the modern Samba-Rocker Seu Jorge, and the quite jazzy singer Marku Ribas. With this array of talent and a knack for capturing their excitement in the studio, the group sounds even better than it did at Womadelaide 2008.
Alesa Lajana
28/04/2008
Home Calling is young Queensland guitarist Alesa Lajana’s first full-length CD. It’s especially notable for her beautiful lap slide versions of Celtic tunes.
As one of her prime influences, the masterful and innovative Celtic guitarist Tony McManus said, ‘Alesa has managed to absorb and respond to various influences and turn them into something truly original and creative. Her playing of Celtic music on dobro, for example, is unique’. Alesa is joined on six tracks by tabla player Dheeraj Shrestha and she plays steel string, classical and lap steel guitars. In addition to Celtic music, she plays an interesting, modal version of Nat Adderley’s gospel-ish Work Song and a vocal rendition, in German, of her own song First Star.
Saravah Soul
23/04/2008
Founded and fronted by dynamic Brazilian break dancer, guitarist and singer Otto Nascarella, Saravah Soul play Brazilian soul-funk and samba with the inspiration from the showmanship of James Brown.
The London-based group are half-Brazilian and half-British and sing in both English and Portuguese as they deliver a supercharged mix of very danceable Brazilian Funk on their self-titled debut CD. In addition to quoting the greats of the genre, they create a new chapter by drawing a wider range of funk into their music. ‘Saravah’ is a salutation used in Afro-Brazilian religions which carries a deep sense of Brazilian-ness.
Dáimh
22/04/2008
On their CD Crossing Point, Dáimh (Dah-Eve), a combination of musicians from Cape Breton, Ireland, the West Highlands of Scotland and the USA, play and sing a selection of airs, jigs, reels, strathspeys and songs vigorously, seamlessly uniting their traditions.
With various pipes and whistles, banjo, mandolin, guitar, bodhran and fiddle and a high-energy approach, they put out a full sound, whether the music is Irish, Scottish or even Galician.
Bedouin Jerry Can
21/04/2008
Blending Sufi chant and the 5 string lyre called the Simsimiyya with percussion played on jerry cans, ammunition boxes and coffee grinders, Sinai semi-nomads Bedouin Jerry Can make a powerful and clean desert sound on their CD Coffee Time.
The collective of musicians, poets, storytellers and coffee grinders from the Egyptian Sinai desert are from El Arish, an oasis city lying on the Mediterranean coast, and from the Sufis of the nearby settlement of Abo El Hossain. The group’s songs are about the Bedouins’ legendary generosity to guests, their trusty camels, untrusty sheep rustlers, beautiful women and last but not least...coffee.
Wayne Gorbea
09/04/2008
Pianist Wayne Gorbea was the first bandleader to play the retro, synthesiser-less Salsa Dura (Hard Salsa) style and Introducing Wayne Gorbea’s Salsa Picante is a lovingly selected collection of his most grooving recordings from 1978 to 2006.
Wayne was born to Puerto Rican parents in Manhattan in 1950, studied violin, orchestration and trumpet in high school, jammed in street percussion rumba sessions and learned piano while serving in the army. He returned to New York City where he started leading bands, debuting on record in 1973. Pablo E. Yglesias, aka DJ Bongohead, is the man responsible for putting together this long-overdue overview of the little known bandleader, beloved by aficionados and dancers.
Bardic Divas: Women's Voices in Central Asia
02/04/2008
Bardic Divas: Women’s Voices in Central Asia is a beautifully produced collection of recordings of very strong female singers and instrumentalists, funded by the Aga Khan Music Initiative.
With musicians from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kalmykia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, it’s a huge and very well recorded undertaking with an accompanying DVD and excellent liner notes that all serve to make this an enlightening and inspiring collection. As one of the singers, Fargana Qasimova, says, ‘Women can sing not only with delicacy, but with the strength of warriors.’
Hot 8 Brass Band
01/04/2008
In the tough neighbourhoods of New Orleans, there is often an anachronistic mix of marching brass bands and the latest R&B and Hip Hop sounds. The Hot 8 Brass Band meld these two styles together into a shambolic celebration.
This group, that plays in second line parades every Sunday hosted by a ‘Social Aid and Pleasure Club’ and in traditional jazz funeral processions, also do a version of Marvin Gaye’s Sexual Healing and incorporate rapping on their CD Rock With the Hot 8 Brass Band. The band’s profile was lifted by an appearance in Spike Lee’s 2006 Katrina documentary When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts. They have also made the news due to tragic circumstances - the violent shooting deaths of three of their members within a 10-year time span. After the 2006 murder of Hot 8 singer/percussionist Dinerral Shavers, the group www.silenceisviolence.org was founded to address the persistent problem of violent crime in New Orleans.
CD of the Week - Jackson Browne
31/03/2008
On Jackson Browne’s new CD, Solo Acoustic Vol. 2, Jackson’s acoustic guitar and piano accompaniments beautifully frame and illuminate his fine songs.
With four songs from his most recent studio CD and others dating back to the early 1970s, you get a chance to appreciate the depth and breadth of Jackson’s songs in unadorned fashion, with their unique take on politics, matters of the heart and the questions raised by everyday life.
CD of the Week - Shannon-Goodrich Ensemble
24/03/2008
On Worlds Within Worlds, pianist Clare Shannon and vibraphonist Elissa Goodrich and their ensemble apply their jazz composing and improvising backgrounds to music inspired by the ancient Sufi saint, Rumi.
Ali Alizadeh supplied free verse translations of Rumi which Ria Soemardjo sings. Phil Bywater guests on sax, Phil McLeod on accordion, with Anita Hustas and Tamara Murphy sharing the double bass playing, and Alejandro Vega on percussion for this very interesting project.
King Marong and Afro Mandinka
31/01/2008
Gambian-Australian singer/percussionist King Marong and his Australian group Afro Mandinko’s debut CD features a well-played, vibrant selection of songs with grooves from West Africa, the Congo, Nigeria, Jamaica and Cuba.
Afro Mandinka includes keyboardist Michael Havir and drummer David Joseph who are also in the group Skazz which we featured on The Daily Planet in 2007. Bec Mathews plays trumpet and kora, while guest musician Martin Tucker also plays on five tracks.
Malouma (repeat of 25/7/07)
21/01/2008
After years of her music being banned by Mauritania’s military government, Malouma now speaks through her new role as one of the country’s 56 senators and through her new CD, Nour, which brings the desert blues of Mauritania into the 21st century.
Born in the sand dunes in the south of the country into an artistic community, with a father whose musical tastes were wide-ranging, Malouma raised controversy at the age of 16 with a song she wrote and sang which criticised polygamists and the way they married ‘younger and more charming’ wives and turned the old ones out into the street. Opponents of her views threw stones at her and she was unable to go out alone, have her music played on State media, perform anywhere local, or even to take a permanent address. Still, she continued to write songs criticising the government, performing them overseas or at opposition political rallies. One of her party’s political missions is to unite currently divided Moorish and black Mauritanians. One of her personal crusades is to keep alive the Moorish music of her childhood and on her new CD (which means ‘light’), she does this by mixing the traditional sounds of her ardin (A Mauritanian harp played only by women) with more modern, electronic sounds.
Nathalie Natiembé (repeat of 10/4/07)
04/01/2008
Nathalie Natiembé is the new voice of Maloya, the percussion-rich ‘blues’ of Reunion Island.
Accompanied by her own and other Indian Oceaneer’s percussion and on a few songs by the ubiquitous session man, Madagascan accordionist Regis Gisavo, she presents 11 of her own compositions on her CD Sankér. Maloya originated as the means for Reunion’s plantation workers to express the joys and sorrows of their daily lives and Nathalie takes that tradition into the 21st century.
