Afropop Worldwide program listings for November 2009

The Prehistory of New Orleans: Treasures from the Hogan (Uplinked November 5, 2009)

This program tells the story of how jazz emerged in the context of all the other African American musics that proliferated in late 19th and early 20th century New Orleans: blues, ragtime, Mardi Gras Indian music, vaudeville and minstrelsy, spiritual church music, and more. With our guides Bruce Boyd Raeburn and Lynn Abbott, we'll comb through a vast world of interviews, recorded music, photographs, ephemera, and curatorial knowledge at one of the great American music collections, the William Ransom Hogan Jazz Archive at Tulane University.

Baaba Maal Acoustic, Live in New York City (Uplinked November 12, 2009)

Concert highlights from Baaba Maal's rapturous North American debut of his acoustic string and vocal focused ensemble, recorded at Joe's Pub in New York City. Baaba performs solo, in trio and sextet--joined by longtime musical companions Mansour Seck on guitar and vocals, Kowding Cissokho on kora, Mama Gaye on guitar, Barou Sall on hodu (African guitar), and El Hadj Niang on bass. Also feature is the powerful Ethiopian singer Gigi.

AFROPOP WORLDWIDE GOES TO COPENHAGEN FOR WOMEX 2009, PART 1 (Uplinked November 19, 2009)

Every year WOMEX attracts some 3,000 individuals working in the world music field--artists, record label people, festival presenters, media personnel and others. And we always return loaded with cool CDs new to us, interviews with artists we've never met before, live concert recordings, etc. From some of the three dozen showcases featured at WOMEX this year, we'll hear Hasna el Bacharia (Algeria/France), Kenge Kenge (Kenya), Choc Quib Town (Colombia), Addis Acoustic Project (Ethiopia), Staff Benda Bilili (Congo), SpokFrevo Orquestra (Brazil) and others. There is so much good stuff we'll do WOMEX, Part 2 later in the season.

Afropop Soundsystem, Pt. 2 (Uplinked November 26, 2009)

Soundsystem is at the crossroads. What used to be exotic is standard fare: now you hear cumbia in the West Village of New York City. Now you can hear the West Village in West Africa. For part 2 of Afropop Soundsystem, we'll be digging back into the digital Diaspora to uncover songs and artists making waves across the Atlantic (in both directions). From Uproot Andy to the electric root of Akan music in Ghana, Soundsystem 2 charts the movement and flux of Africa as it infiltrates new dance-floors and blogs across the galaxy. Expect exclusive mixes from the Brooklyn tropical scene, some Miami-bass reborn through Chico Mann, tracks from the South African avant garde, as well as a new bubu-dancehall stunner from San Fransisco's Chief Boima. Back by popular demand, we'll also feature a short interview with bubu music founder, Janka Nabay of Sierra Leone. Produced by Wills Glasspiegel, this is the Africa new wave.