World Tour Show 13

Welcome to World Tour…Show 13 (which aired 4/20/2011) explores the musical connections between the Caribbean and Central Africa. Our musical journey begins in Martinique with Kali – whose life mission is to explore the roots of Zouk music. He also harks back to the 19th century when former slaves in Martinique developed the “beguine” style of music, a combination of traditional bele music with – of all things – polka. The song on the show is “La Biguine des Enfants du bon Dieu.”

Kali (real name Jean-Marc Mournerville) drew inspiration from the godfathers of Zouk – Kassav. They are another Martinique act that had an international hit with the song featured on the show – Zouk se sel medikamen Nou Ni – in 1985. That’s Creole for “Zouk is the only medicine we have.” Kassav mix Haitian, Jamaican reggae and Nuevo Rican salsa – and dip into Cameroonian Mokassa.

And that’s where the Caribbean meets Africa in this show, because Kassav were in turn influenced by a band from Congo that turned up to play a few Christmas gigs in a hotel in Martinique in 1967, and ended up staying four years. They were Ry-Co Jazz, and we have a song on the show called "Ry-Co Band."
Among an evolving line-up on Ry-Co Jazz were sax master Jean Serge Essous and the brilliant guitarist Jerry Bokilo Malekani.

Malekani went on to play with another sax giant – Cameroon’s Manu Dibango, best known for “Soul Mokassa” back in the 1970s. Dibango was heavily influenced by Cuban music, and was very much in demand himself in the Caribbean. That’s how we get to the next song in edition #13 – as Dibango plays with the Cuban ensemble Curateto Patria, led by the cowboy-hatted Eliades Ochoa. The album was called Cubafrica (1998) and the song is "Carnaval."

Eliades Ochoa is one of the giants of Cuban music – but is actually Chilean-born. Not only did he lead Cuarteto Patria from 1978, expanding its repertoire far beyond the traditional bolera and criolla. He was also involved with the break-out Cuban band Buena Vista Social Club (on “Chan Chan”,) and several of his greatest tracks on the superb 2005 compilation Hecho en Cuba. It’s a three-disc journey through the best of Cuban music, featuring Ibrahim Ferrer, Compay Segundo and many more.

The next link in the daisy chain is a Cuban-African project originally intended for Buena Vista, featuring guitarist Djelimady Tounkara from Mali and his compatriot Bassekou Kouyate – on the ngoni lute. They came together almost by accident, bumping into each other in Madrid back in 2008. Under the guidance of Nick Gold, who produced Buena Vista for World Circuit records, they recorded more than a dozen tracks in just a few days. They became the basis for Afrocubism, an album of great trans-Atlantic collaborations.

Tounkara’s story, like that of so many Malian musicians, is pretty remarkable. he was once a shepherd and drummer in a remote part of western Mali, a large but sparsely-populated west African state that is largely desert. As a young musician, he made his way to the capital, Bamako, absorbing Congolese and Cuban influences as he went.

Tounkara was recruited into the prestigious Orchestre National du Mali before moving onto the equally famous Super Rail band, whose first home was the Buffet Hotel de la Gare in Bamako. We squeeze in two tracks from Tounkara: Fanta Borama and Lanaya, as well as the Super Rail Band standard, “Silanide” – off the 1995 album Mansa. Not often do you come across a guitar played like that.

Lanaya was featured on a wonderful compilation by Banning Eyre of Afropop Worldwide, who spent much time in Mali researching his book ‘In Griot Time.’ Eyre’s book – and the accompanying CD – delves into the rich traditions of Manding guitar music, which stretch back seven centuries. Today the country boasts an extraordinary array of talented musicians who have won international acclaim – Ali Farka Toure, Amadou & Mariam, Habib Koite and many more.

Finally, and changing gears altogether – thee new release this week is not that new. In fact it came out last year, but I did want an excuse to feature a song from Harmony, the album by Chinese artist Sa Dingding. She’s actually of mixed Han Chinese and Mongolian stock and sings in several languages, including Sanskrit and Tibetan. But she’s also dedicated to fusion, and the well-known DJ Paul Oakenfold is involved in several tracks on Harmony.