Global A Go-Go presents:
It seems like much of Richmond fell in love with the music of Baba Commandant & The Mandingo Band when they played here last spring at the Get Tight Lounge and last fall at the Richmond Folk Festival. And we all mourned the tragic passing of Mamadou Sanou, aka Baba Commandant, of complications from malaria in November of 2023, just weeks after his last appearance here.
If you, like me, are missing Baba Commandant, let me recommend Aboubakar Traoré & Balima to your attention. He’s from Bobo-Dioulasso in Burkina Faso, the town where the Mandingo Band formed; he plays kamale ngoni (youth harp), a smaller cousin of Baba’s donso ngoni (hunter’s harp); and his music draws from the same Wassoulou groove, based on Mande hunters’ traditional songs, as Baba’s. To me, Aboubakar Traoré & Balima are the next best thing to Baba Commandant & The Mandingo Band. Hear them for yourself this week on Global A Go-Go.
Also this week (Sunday October 20, 1:00-3:00 PM on WRIR, for two weeks afterwards at wrir.org/listen, check your local listings for airing on other radio stations, and any old time at my podcast site): More sounds coming out of Malian tradition including new music from Songhoy Blues and Nfaly Diakité, the latest DC-via-Lomé release of Dogo Du Togo, the reunion of Nigeria’s legendary highlife stars the Oriental Brothers, some old-fashioned Colombian big band porro cumbia, and the Latin hyphenate sounds of Superfónicos and La Mambanegra.
Podcast: radio4all.net/program/118950
All the podcasts: radio4all.net/series/Global%20A%20Go-Go
Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros, “Global a Go-Go”
from Global a Go-Go
BMG Rights Management (US) LLC - 2001
England UK
Baba Commandant & The Mandingo Band, “Serejugu”
from Sonbonbela
Sublime Frequencies - 2022
Burkina Faso
Bella Bellow, “Dasi Ko”
from Togo Soul 70 (Selected Rare Togolese Recordings from 1971 to 1981)
Hot Casa Records - 2016
Togo, 1973
Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou, “Kourougninda Wendé”
from The Vodoun Effect: Funk & Sato from Benin's Obscure Labels, Vol. 1: 1972-1975 (Analog Africa No. 4)
Analog Africa - 2008
Benin, 1970s
Dogo Du Togo & The Alagaa Beat Band, “Enouwo Lagnon”
We Are Busy Bodies - 2024
Togo-USA
Oriental Brothers International Band, “Mụ Na Gị Wụ Nwanne”
from Onye Rie Ibe Ya Erie
Palenque Records - 2024
Nigeria
K. Frimpong & His Cubano Fiestas, “Hwehwe Mu Na Yi Wo Mpena”
from K. Frimpong & His Cubano Fiestas
Ofo Bros - 1977
Ghana
Lucho Yepez, “La Gaita Del Pato”
Soundway - 2011
Colombia, year?
Lucho Bermúdez y Su Orquesta, “Mi Pueblo”
from The Coastal Invasion: Cumbia, Porro, Gaita & Mapalé from Colombia's Caribbean Coast (1946 - 1961)
Radio Martiko - 2022
Colombia, 1959
Jacobo Velez Y La Mambanegra, “Ya Dejó De Llover”
from Ya Dejó De Llover - Single
Tambora - 2024
Colombia
Global A Go-Go Global A Go-Go October 20th, 2024
Posted In: Music Shows