What Are You Thinking: Afro Celt Sound System and "I Think Of..."

Today's song is called I Think Of... and is performed by The Afro Celt Sound System, which fuses modern electronic dance rhythms with traditional Irish and West African songs. The Afro Celt Sound System were formed by British producer Simon Emmerson and afro-pop star Baaba Maal in 1991. Since then they've been proclaimed a world music supergroup, and have collaborated with Peter Gabriel, Sinead O'Connor, Robert Plant, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, Ayub Ogada and many other pop and world stars. I Think Of... can be found on their 1999 release Volume 5: Anatomic.

Listen to songs like this and more on the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afro_Celt_Sound_System

The Rain is Coming: Regina Carter and "Kothbiro"

Today's random tune is by Detroit-born jazz violinist Regina Carter, who reinterprets an African song called Kothbiro that was composed and sung by Kenyan musician and nyatiti lyre player Ayub Ogada in 1993. Regina Carter began studying the violin along with piano when she was four years old. In high school she took master classes with Itzhak Perlman and Yehudi Menuhin and eventually studied classical music at the New England Conservatory of Music. However, she switched to jazz during her classical studies and finished out her education at Oakland University in Michigan. After graduation, she did a stint teaching music in the Detroit Public Schools, but needing a break and a new direction, she moved to Germany for two years. When she came back in the late 1980s, she joined the all-female quintet Straight Ahead, which did pop and jazz and earned kudos from Branford Marsalis. She went solo in 1991 and has released ten solo albums since 1995, and has played on another seventeen albums in collaboration with a wide variety of musicians such as Kenny Barron, Anthony Davis, Cassandra Wilson, Joe Jackson and Eddie Palmieri. Kothbiro can be found on her 2010 album Reverse Thread. She records the song as an instrumental - the original has lyrics and is about the coming of rain.

Listen to songs like this and more on the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regina_Carter

Rapture: The Afro Celt Sound System and "My Secret Bliss"

The The Afro Celt Sound System, which fuses modern electronic dance rhythms with traditional Irish and West African songs, brings us our random song for today. The Afro Celt Sound System were formed by British producer Simon Emmerson and Afro-pop star Baaba Maal in 1991. Since then they've been proclaimed a world music supergroup, and have collaborated with Peter Gabriel, Sinead O'Connor, Robert Plant, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, Ayub Ogada and many other pop and world stars. One of their members, Iarla O'lionaird, is also part of the Irish supergroup The Gloaming. This song, My Secret Bliss, can be found on their 1999 release Volume 5: Anatomic. The song has simple lyrics:

Return like children

We stumble into the sun

Into the sun, into the sun

Return like children

We stumble

We found a reason together

We stare into the sun

Please join us at the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.

In a Brazilian State: Angelique Kidjo and "Bahia"

Happy birthday to my partner in this show, the legendary Megan Kamerick! The equally legendary Angélique Kidjo sings the random tune for today, Bahia. A Grammy award winning singer-songwriter from Benin, Kidjo regularly makes world lists of notable and inspiring African women and as one of the world's greatest musicians. She is known for an astonishing variety of musical influences from diverse musical personalities and an array of genres. She sings in four languages (Fon, Yoruba, French and English) as well as her own personal language. After a childhood in Benin listening to traditional Beninese music as well as other world stars such as Fela Kuti, James Brown, Miriam Makeba, Jimi Hendrix, Hugh Masakela and Stevie Wonder, among others, she began her musical career in Benin before moving to Paris in 1983 where she was discovered and signed to a major label. She has put out at least 15 albums. She does various forms of advocacy for UNICEF, African girls' education, hunger and third world health, among other things. Bahia can be found on her 2002 album Black Ivory Soul, and on the compilation CD Putumayo Presents: Women of Africa (2004). This video is from a live performance at the Newport Jazz Festival. Bahiarefers to the state in Brazil, where Kidjo teamed up with Brazilian and Afro-Brazilian musicians to write songs for the album.

Hang Ten: The Afro Celt Sound System and "Riding the Waves"

Today's tune is by the Afro Celt Sound System, and is called Riding the Waves. The Afro Celt Sound System is a world group mixing African and Celtic sounds and which fuses modern electronic dance rhythms with traditional Irish and West African songs. The group was formed by British producer Simon Emmerson and afro-pop star Baaba Maal in 1991. Since then they've been proclaimed a world music supergroup, and have collaborated with Peter Gabriel, Sinead O'Connor, Robert Plant, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, Ayub Ogada and many other pop and world stars. Riding the Waves can be found on their 1999 album Volume 2: Release.

Post-Punk Congolese: Mbongwana Star and "Shégué"

Our random tune for today is performed by Congolese and Kinshasha-based band Mbongwana Star. Formed by two of the members of Staff Benda Bilili after that group disbanded, the group is known for their fusion of Congolese rhythms, European post-punk and a lot of almost grating electronics. They don't even sound like an African band other than in the Congolese lyrics...and indeed the "Mbongwana" in their name means "change." You can find this song, Shégué, on their 2015 release From Kinshasa.

Where is Thy Sting: The Power of One Soundtrack and "Of Death and Dying"

Of Death and Dying, our random song for the day, comes from the soundtrack of a movie about South Africa. The Power of One, adapted from a novel by Bryce Courtenay, is the story of a young English boy in South Africa and his complicated relationships under apartheid with others in the country, both black and white. German composer and music producer Hans Zimmer composed much of the music for the movie in collaboration with Lebo M., a South African vocalist and composer who arranged and performed music for The Lion King movies and stage productions. Of Death and Dying can be found on The Power of One soundtrack, released in 1992.

Daddy's Girl: The Afro Celt Sound System and "Inion/Daughter"

Today's song is from a world group mixing African and Celtic sounds. Inion/Daughter is by The Afro Celt Sound System, which fuses modern electronic dance rhythms with traditional Irish and West African songs. The Afro Celt Sound System were formed by British producer Simon Emmerson and Afro-pop star Baaba Maal in 1991. Since then they've been proclaimed a world music supergroup, and have collaborated with Peter Gabriel, Sinead O'Connor, Robert Plant, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, Ayub Ogada and many other pop and world stars. Inion/Daughter can be found on their 1996 release Volume 1: Sound Magic.

Quitting Cold Turkey: Habib Koité and Bamada with "Cigarette Abana"

Cigarette Abana, by Senegalese singer-songwriter Habib Koité, tops our list today. Based in Mali, Habib Koité leads a supergroup, Bamada, which consists of some of the best West African musicians. Koité tunes his guitar to a pentatonic scale and playing it on open strings, and his music can often sound like blues or flamenco, and he composes and arranges all songs for the band, which may be sung in English, French or Bambara. Cigarette Abana can be found on his 2001 album, Baro.

Afri-laxing: Habib Koité and Bamada with "Batoumambé"

Today's song, Batoumambé, comes to us from Africa. Habib Koité is a Sengalese singer, songwriter and guitarist whose band, Bamada, is a supergroup of West African musicians. Koité is an unusual guitarist, tuning his guitar on a pentatonic scale and playing on open strings like one would play an African n'goni. His styles can often sound like blues and flamenco. His singing is more relaxed and intimate as compared with his contemporaries. Batoumambé can be found on his 2001 album Baro.

At a Crossroads: Saoco and "Intro/Oriki Eshu"

The random tune for this Easter Sunday is Intro/Oriki Eshu by Saoco. Unfortunately, I can't find any information about Saoco. I don't think that they are the Detroit band of the same name. However, the song title refers to Eshu, who is the African/Latin American trickster god that stands at the crossroads and is a guide along the road of life. However, he can guide you into trouble just as easily as not. He is synonymous with Papa Legba of vodoun and voodoo. Intro/Oriki Eshu can be found on Saoco's 2005 album La Farandula.

Yo Mama: Zap Mama and "Hello to Mama"

Yo mama is here. At least, the random tune for today is by Zap Mama, the music act of Belgian artist Marie Daulne. Daulne sings in polyphonic and Afro-pop styles, infusing harmony with African vocal techniques, as well as throwing in some hip hop. Much of her musical inspiration comes from her roots in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where her Belgian father was killed during the Congo Crisis. Her Congolese mother and all the children were airlifted to Belgium, where she grew up in a household infused with Congolese culture but also in a society where there were few black people. Her first musical influences were African songs her mother sang, European music, especially French, and later blues, reggae and hip hop. In 1984, she returned to Congo to learn about her heritage and trained in pygmy onomatopoetic techniques. First conceived of as an a capella quintet, Zap Mama has evolved to just Daulne's voice and instrumentation. This song Hello to Mama, can be found on Zap Mama's 2009 CD ReCreation.

A Plea for Unity: Judith Sephuma and "Le Tshephile Mang"

Our random tune takes us to South Africa with Le Tshephile Mang by South African jazz singer and afro-pop artist Judith Sephuma. The song is a plea for togetherness in the midst of disharmony. While it is certainly born out of the social and political environment of South Africa, it could also count for the United States today. As I read in the news the shameful treatment of certain sectors of American society, the shameful treatment of American Muslims at the Texas capitol only the latest example, I wonder when the people of the United States will realize that we are strongest when unified and together; therefore, we should reject the example set by our politicians. But in our political climate today, this simple and commonsense image seems to be be lost in recriminations and accusations and the lazy and easy willingness to point fingers and target rather than striving toward the harder but more constructive work of reaching out to those we don't usually engage or understand. Naivete? Maybe. Hope? Certainly.

Sephuma was born and raised in Polokwane, South Africa and moved to Cape Town in 1994 to study jazz singing. She won Best Jazz Vocalist in a major South African competition, which led to her signing with the African division of BMG. Le Tshephile Mang can be found on her 2001 album A Cry, A Smile, A Dance and on the Putumayo compilation album Women of Africa (2004).

The Voice: Nawal and "Musica"

Today's random song is by Nawal, a musician from Comoros. She takes the traditional music of Comoros and incorporates influences from African and Arabic traditions. She sings in Comorian, French, Arabic and English, and she is a multi-instrumentalist. Nawal is one of the first women from her country to take the international stage and she is known today as "The Voice of Comoros." This song, Musica, is from her 2007 album Aman.

This is Good Luck: Salif Keita and "Mandela"

Hello! Today's random song is by Salif Keita, an albino afro-pop singer from Mali known as "the golden voice of Africa" and a direct descendent of the founder of the Mali Empire. Cast out by his family because of his albinism (a sign of bad luck in his culture) he moved to Bamako where he joined the renowned Super Rail Band de Bamako and then the famous Les Ambassadeurs. He moved to Paris in 1994 to reach a wider audience. In his music, he combines traditional West African styles with influences from Europe and the Americas, and uses a variety of African traditional instrumentation along with more modern instruments. He has since returned to Mali where he continues to make music and has released critically acclaimed albums. This song, Mandela, can be found on his 1995 album 'Folon'...The Past.

Wassup?: Samite and "Wasuze Otya?"

Folks, for the next 8 days or so this is going to be short and sweet because as you're reading this, I am probably on the road to Texas for the US Thanksgiving holidays. I will return with my searing wit, my cutting analysis, my lyrical posts that seem almost like unto poetry, on December 1st. However, I have scheduled these posts to occur every day while I'm gone, so you will not miss out on one day of your random world music tunes (unless the Internet fails me).

The random tune for today is Wasuze Otya? by Samite. Samite Mulondo is a Ugandan percussionist who grew up in the city of Kampala as a member of a socially prominent family. Though his mother's side of the family was musical, his father took a dim view of a musical career. Samite continued, and after Idi Amin's rule he fled the country (his brother was killed during this time). He ended up in Nairobi, Kenya where he became a musician. He taught himself the saxophone in six days after lying to the African Heritage Band about his ability to play it. He eventually turned to the thumb piano and kalimba of his native Uganda. While in Nairobi, he met his American wife and eventually moved to upstate New York. In 1997 he returned to Uganda as part of a PBS documentary, and was reunited with his family. His father asked him to speak at his brother's memorial service, and he asked if he could play his flute instead. His father reluctantly agreed, and then cried when he heard his son play for the first time and gave him his blessing. Wasuze Otya? can be found on Samite's album Silina Musango (originally released in 1996) and can also be found on the Putumayo compilation Music from the Coffee Lands (1997)

Ancestral Trance: Christine Salem and "Komor Blues"

The random song for today is Komor Blues by Christine Salem. Salem is from the island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean, a French territory about 120 miles southeast of Mauritius. Her music centers around "maloya," the traditional music made up of work songs and chants of the former African slaves of the island. These songs are percussion driven and of the call and response type and are often used to induce a trance where one communes with their ancestors in a musical gathering called "servis kabaré". The music was illegal on the island until 1981, as it was considered by the Catholic Church to be "devil's music" and by the authorities as a political threat. In fact, a woman singing this type of music upset some of the older generation, because it was also generally seen as "men's music." Salem came upon the music while attending a servis kabaré, and she became hooked. She has received international acclaim for this music, and has performed at WOMAD. Komor Blues can be found on her 2013 release Salem Tradition.

Missing You: Vusi Mahlasela and "Everytime"

Today's random song is about missing someone, and longing for that person. Vusi Mahlasela, from South Africa, sings of a lover or an ex-lover who now walks under "cold, northern skies," contrasting that with the image of his lover walking by a river, under a setting red sun, his lover burning the dusk with beauty.

We long, often for those who are not with us, those who have been taken away from us for one reason or another. Perhaps the separation is necessitated by job and career, or by forces beyond each of our control. Perhaps the separation is not physical but emotional or mental, as for example my mom's dementia sometimes makes her a different person and I long for the one I knew for so many years. Sometimes we mandate the separation because of a dispute or because of another person's troubles that threaten to bring turmoil to our lives, yet we still miss the person amidst the conflict. And we long for a past that we whitewash, forgetting the difficult times so that only the good times remain, and that person walks in beauty and light and all we ever did was laugh and love.

It's human nature to long, and as we move through time to wax melancholic on that which is in the past because it gains a patina that the raw experience of the present just doesn't have. I often look back to the past, even to some times that were personally very hard and full of hurt, and even the bad times don't seem like they were as bad as they actually were. And the good times...the edges blur and they seem even better.

Sometimes called "The Voice of South Africa" for his work in African folk music, Vusi Mahlasela served as an inspiration for the anti-apartheid movement with songs that focused on freedom, forgiveness and reconciliation. He has collaborated with musicians such as Dave Matthews, Josh Groban and Taj Mahal (who produced his latest album), performed at many famous live concert events such as Live 8 and Live Earth, and sang for Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday celebration in London. ITV used one of his songs as their theme song for their World Cup coverage in South Africa, and he also performed at the South Africa World Cup kickoff concert. This song, Everytime, is from his 2007 CD Guiding Star - that album garnered him Best Male Artist in the South Africa Music Awards. The video looks like it was shot on cell phone as he performed for a Virginia radio station, but the sound is very good.

Remembering Rwanda: Afro Celt Sound System and "When I Still Needed You"

It's hard to believe that just over 20 years ago, we all were waking up to the fact that something terrible was happening in Rwanda.

Genocides are probably not exclusively a 20th century phenomenon, but it sure seemed that way.  If you look at a list of recorded genocides in world history, a very disproportionate number happened between 1900 and 1999.  Because I was a young adult, and it was so much in the news, Rwanda was the one that caught my notice.  At the time I was living in Milwaukee, about three months from moving away from that city.  I was working for a religious order of Catholic priests and brothers called The Pallottines, and 20 years later, as I was doing some background for today's randomly selected song, I ran across their name connected with this terrible chapter in Rwandan history.  In Gikondo, Rwanda a mission church run by Polish Pallottines was the scene of a massacre of Tutsi civilians by Hutus.  As two UN observers and two Pallottine priests protested, two Hutu officials told them that cockroaches were infesting the church and when the Hutu militia arrived, they began hacking people to death with machetes and clubs.  UN peacekeepers were called and begged to come to the church, but declined.  Afterward, the Pallottine priests and nuns administered to the wounded and buried the dead in a mass grave because of the swiftness of decomposition in the heat.  A few days later, in a private Pallottine chapel neighboring the church, another 11 Tutsis who had been given refuge and supplies by a Polish Pallottine were burned to death inside the building after militia members learned that some had survived the initial massacre.

Today's song, When I Still Needed You by the Afro Celt Sound System and sung by Rwandan singer Dorothee Munyaneza, references that tragedy.  The Afro Celt Sound System was started in 1991 by British music producer Simon Emmerson and Afro-pop artist Baaba Maal after Emmerson noticed the similarities between an Irish air and an African folk song.  Members of Maal's band came together with a group of Irish musicians to collaborate on the initial project.   The group produced their first album after recording the initial tracks in a week's span, and the resulting sales were so good that they continued to record together.  The group fuses Irish and West African traditional music with elements of techno and electronic dance rhythms.  They have since released seven albums, and are considered something of a world music supergroup as they have often performed and recorded with a number of superstar musicians, including Peter Gabriel, Robert Plant, Sinead O'Connor, Ayub Ogada, Shooglenifty, and Altan.  In 2010, the band went on hiatus, but to the delight of their fans they recently erected a new web page and announced plans for an upcoming new album called Born.

When I Still Needed You is from their 2005 CD Anatomic.