Afropop Worldwide

The 21-string harp, the kora, is a signature instrument of West Africa. Complex and beguiling, kora music was long the exclusive domain of griots, musical historians by heritage. But once recordings began to circulate in the 1970s, the instrument went international, finding its way into jazz, pop, rock and even classical and religious settings. In this episode, we sample a wide range of kora music, and hear tales of its remarkable global journey. APWW #860 Produced by Banning Eyre

Dar Es Salaam, a deep water port on Tanzania’s Indian Ocean Coast, is a musical powerhouse. This on-the-ground report delves into the city's top music styles, Bongo Flava, modern taarab, Swahili rumba, local gospel and the latest craze, breakneck-paced singeli music. We hear from artists and producers, sample rehearsals and live shows, and reveal a rich musical world that is far too often overlooked in coverage of African music. Produced by Banning Eyre. APWW #874

The Oromo are the largest ethnic group in the Horn of Africa, but were relatively little known outside of the region until recently. This episode “Oromo Music: Historical Memory and Competing Visions in Ethiopia” looks into the history of the Oromo people and how music became an integral part of the early Oromo nationalism movement in the 20th century. Georges speaks with Kumera Zekarias, a PhD student in ethnomusicology who is working on an oral history project of the 1977 Oromo Cultural Showcase in Finfinne (Addis Ababa), a landmark two-day event which brought together Oromo musicians and listeners from across the diverse regions of the nation. The showcase was a statement of ethnic unity, which has since influenced how Oromo music is created, performed, and received. Professor Marta Kuwee Kumsa covered the event as a journalist and Damsho Ali, who was the event MC, provide first-hand accounts of how this show was organized and executed. They are joined by other Oromo academics, musicians, and music fans who relate the story of this event to larger themes of colonialism, multiculturalism, and how music continues to serve as an important source of oral history and historical memory in Ethiopia. APWW #858

Johnny Clegg holds a unique place in South Africa’s musical pantheon. From his childhood immersion in Zulu culture, his mastery of Zulu language, dance and guitar playing, some 20 albums with three different bands, his tireless world touring and, finally, his brave public battle with cancer, Clegg was an inspired witness to tumultuous history in South Africa and around the world. Afropop was fortunate to conduct many interviews with the maestro and raconteur over 30 years. In this program, we sample the man’s words and music over a long shape-shifting career. Produced by Banning Eyre in 2020. APWW #809

On March 6, 1971, a group of some of the top musicians from the United States – Ike & Tina Turner, Wilson Pickett, The Staples Singers, Santana, and more – boarded a plane bound for Ghana to perform in a musical celebration that was dubbed the “Soul to Soul Festival”. Thousands of audience members filled Accra’s Black Star Square for a continuous 15 hours of music. The festival was planned in part for the annual celebration of Ghana’s independence, but also an invitation for a “homecoming” for these noted African-American artists to return to Africa. This episode revisits the famed music festival at its 50th Anniversary and explores the longstanding legacy of cultural exchange with African diasporans originally set forth in the 1950s by Kwame Nkrumah, the first President of Ghana. Tune in for interviews with noted musicologist John Collins, poet and scholar Tsitsi Ella Jaji, concert goers and more. Produced by Brandi Howell. APWW #829

They call Sam Mangwana "Le Pigeon Voyageur" - a roaming pigeon. He could also be called a rolling stone because wherever he lays his microphone is his home. In this episode, we behold the amazing return of rumba's living legend - Sam Mangwana. Produced by Georges Collinet.

873 Pura Vida Costa Rica - Musical Hybrids in Central America -24 LUFS by Afropop Worldwide

Papa Wemba, one of the greatest singers of the past African century, died on stage at age 66 in 2016. But his body of work, both in advancing Congolese rumba and innovating new African pop sounds, as well as influencing style, fashion and music production throughout Africa, is immense. In this episode we look back on an iconic career, drawing on some 20 years of interviews with the artist, and insights from Congolese music aficionado Lubangi Muniania. And, of course, the music!

In this episode, we trace the history of country music in Kenya, dating back to the 1920s and 30s when local populations first heard Jimmie Rodgers on early country western 78 records, to the current day, where the clubs of Nairobi are filled with rising stars bringing their own unique sounds to country music. Hear their takes on the hits of Don Williams, Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton and more. Tune in for an interview and performance from Kenyan country singer Steve Rogers, radio and tv presenters Catherine Ndonye and David Kimitho, music historian Elijah Wald, and Olvido Records founder Gordon Ashworth. Produced by Brandi Howell.

Sauti Za Busara means “sounds of wisdom.” That gives a clue to the music heard at the annual Sauti Za Busara festival in Stonetown, Zanzibar. It’s cool, savvy, surprising but never dull, and often hard-grooving. Afropop Worldwide attended the first edition in 2004. In 2023, we returned for a three-day feast of fantastic performances from the Swahili coast, the Indian Ocean and beyond. Taarab, kidumbak, Bongo Flava, Wagogo tradition and much more were on the menu. In this program, we hear live recordings from and meet artists who may never make it to our shores, but who you’ll be glad to meet. Produced by Banning Eyre.

The 2022 global music exposition, WOMEX, went down in Lisbon, Portugal. For the second year running, most of the African-related showcases featured bands led by women. In this episode we meet Selma Uamusse from Mozambique and Portugal, Djazia Satour from Algeria and France, Pilani Bubu from South Africa, and hear 78-year-old Lia de Itamaracá, Brazil, positively blow away this tough-to-please crowd. And we’ll hear from some guys as well, Fra! with highlife funk from Ghana and Aywa fusing Moroccan, French and Spanish grooves. Produced by Banning Eyre.

The Malawi Broadcasting Corporation recorded a goldmine of local music in the 1960s and 70s, but the tapes were neglected and close to ruined when broadcaster Waliko Makhala raised the alarm. With help from the Norwegian Embassy and Norwegian broadcaster Sigbjorn Nedland, digitization got underway. In this program, we sample the results guided by Waliko, Sigbjorn and Martin White, curator of AfricanPoems, a website dedicated to preserving poetry from around the continent. Produced by Martin White.

The Afro-Roots Fest is Florida’s state-wide celebration of Africa’s global musical heritage. The 2022 edition featured a diva of Afro-Cuban jazz, Daymé Arocena, Sudanese American indie rock band Sinkane, Miami’s own Latin music champions Cortadito celebrating their tenth anniversary, and more. We’ll hear live highlights and interviews with the principles. Produced by Banning Eyre and Sean Barlow.

In today’s pop music, everybody is a composer. But what about the classics? The songs that last? In this program we survey African musicians reinterpreting each other’s songs, as well as songs from far outside their traditions. And we hear foreign takes on African diaspora music. From Louis Armstrong’s “Skokiaan” to Alpha Blondy’s “Whole Lotta Love,” it’s a journey of discovery and rediscovery. Produced by Banning Eyre. APWW #854

Cheikha Rimitti was certainly a queen. For some, she was the queen of raï (pronounced RYE), which means “opinion" in Arabic. For others, she was the queen of freedom, an Algerian Statue of Liberty wielding the fire of independence, as she sang daringly and frankly about love, sexuality, poverty, drinking and oppression. She defied taboos and her music was often banned. She used to say that "misfortune was her teacher” but she became an international star who died at 86, two days after a sold-out show! However, it might be too simple to portray Rimitti only in this iconic role. She was even more than a musical and cultural queen, and she still lives on in many hearts. Rimitti would have been 100 in 2023 - and yet the Algerian diva is still praised and remixed by a young new generation of artists. In this episode, we’ll journey through Rimitti’s rocky life and we’ll meet her musical progeny. Produced by Elodie Maillot APWW #870

In 2010, to mark the 5th anniversary of the Katrina disaster, we went way way back to honor New Orleans as the unique American treasure it is. 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. Produced by Ned Sublette.

Jazz pianist Maurice Rocco was a star of American nightclubs and Hollywood films in the 1930s-40s, playing in an ecstatic, stand-up style that left a deep impression on rock and roll. But in the 1950s Rocco fell out of fashion. Hoping to reverse his fortune, he went abroad in 1959. Rocco landed in Bangkok, Thailand, where he lived and played in relative privilege, away from American racism and homophobia, in an elite tier of Vietnam War-era nightlife. His murder in 1976 by two young sex workers was a tragic end to a fascinating American life. Produced by Benjamin Tausig.

There’s been a lot of speculation about the chain of musical events that link the blues back to Africa. Most of that chain is unrecorded and shrouded in mystery. But there is one chapter, just before the blues, that we do know something about. And that’s the history of African-American string bands. This program explores that history, with music and memories from a special guest, the late string maestro Howard Armstrong. Along the way, we hear music from Canray Fontenot, Blind James Campbell, Hobard Smith and other legends of this little known chapter of Americana. Originally produced in 2000 by Banning Eyre. APWW #326

Brazilian broadcaster, producer and music aficionado Béco Dranoff returns to Afropop Worldwide with a set of great new music from South America’s music cauldron. We’ll hear current sounds from Bahia, Sao Paulo, Rio and Belo Horizonte, including Caetano Veloso, Afrocidade, Lucas Santtana, Ze Manoel, Da Cruz, Jadsa and more. Produced by Béco Dranoff and Sean Barlow.

Technology is one of the great drivers of musical change, and often one of its least understood. In this episode, we explore the synthesizer, looking closely at the history of this ubiquitous (and often debated) piece of musical technology, and investigating how and why it was first used in a variety of African musics. Enabled by groundbreaking record reissues by synth pioneers like William Onyeabor (Nigeria) and Hailu Mergia (Ethiopia), disco stars like Kris Okotie, and South African superstar Brenda Fassie, we take you back to the ’70s and ’80s, listening to the birth of a distinctly African electronic sound. Produced by Sam Backer. APWW #676