Since the 1960s in Jamaica, iconic figures such as Bob Marley have gathered in backyards to write reggae anthems that conquered world charts. The yard remains a cornerstone in Jamaican culture. Musicians withdraw from the violence of the city to create and play songs in their yards. In Jamaican patois, “mi yard” means “my home,” and many songs, proverbs and colloquialisms hinge on the word “yard.” More even than the music itself, the yard evokes a state of mind and a physical space wherein artists create amid the warmth of acoustic sound, raw emotion of voices and a collective energy. In this program, we move yard to yard in Jamaica, listening to acoustic music being written and recorded, smelling trees and flowers, and meeting legendary artists like Ken Boothe, Winston McAnuff, Cedric Myton of the Congos, Kiddus I, Robbie Lyn, Viceroys, or Nambo Robinson, as well as a number of young and emerging reggae artists like JAH9, Var, and Derajah, who grew up and found their artistic voices in ghetto yards. You've never heard Jamaica sound like this before!

Produced by Elodie Malliot
APWW #753

Jamaica: Big a Yard, Big Abroad

Cabo Verde (aka Cape Verde) has long been known as a music powerhouse. Despite its little size (population: 500,000), the West African archipelago is the third largest country in music sales in the “World” market by some estimations. That’s why the island has become home to the Atlantic Music Expo: a trans-oceanic music fair featuring conferences and concerts that attract musicians and industry professionals from across the globe. In this episode, Afropop takes a visit to the islands and the Expo to check out what’s going on today with Cape Verdean music. We hear from talented new singer-composers Dino D’Santiago and Ceuzany, check out high-energy funana from Ferro Gaita and Ze Espanhol, and sample other tasty musical fruits from the islands that created Cesaria Evoria.

Produced by Marlon Bishop
APWW #687

Kickin' It in Cabo Verde

On a visit to the U.S. Virgin Islands in winter 2018, we took the pulse of the national music of St. Croix – quelbe. Rarely recorded, rarely exported, quelbe is an energetic form, led by sax or flute with percussion and banjo, and it fuels the traditional dance style, quadrille. St Croix is the largest of the U.S. Virgin Islands, and sits alone 42 miles south of St. Thomas and St. John. That’s part of why traditional music and dance forms have remained strong on St. Croix. Meet bandleaders Stanley Jacobs of Stanley and the 10 Sleepless Knights, and Dmitri Copemann of the Renaissance Band, who are cultivating a vibrant next generation. 

Produced by Marika Partridge and Banning Eyre
APWW #782


Quelbe - Hidden Treasure of the Caribbean

Noura Mint Seymali of Mauritania is one of the most riveting singers alive. Period. On her third international album, Yenbett, she and her small ensemble once again transfix listeners with darkly mesmerizing, guitar-driven trad-rock songs of the Mauritanian desert. Banning Eyre has this audio review.

AUDIO REVIEW: Noura Mint Seymali

Salegy may be the most popular dance music of Madagascar. It’s a churning, harmonious groove with spine-stiffening vocal harmonies that emerged from towns and cities of northern Madagascar in the mid-20th century. On a trip to Diego Suarez, we learn that salegy’s older origins are both fascinating and mysterious. We meet young salegy stars Ali Mourad and Jacs, and speak with the genre’s reigning legend, Jaojoby, on the roof of his nightclub in Antananarivo. Along the way we visit a music school in Diego and hear blazing guitar riffs and get a fingerpicking tour of the entire island from guitar maestro Hajazz.

Produced by Banning Eyre
APWW #698

Hip Deep in Madagascar: Songs of the North

The massive Niger River Delta is a fantastically rich cultural region and ecosystem. Unfortunately, it has been laid low by the brutal Biafran War (1967-70) and by decades of destructive and mismanaged oil exploration. This program offers a portrait of the region in two stories. First, we chronicle the Biafran War through the timeless highlife music of Cardinal Rex Jim Lawson, perhaps the most popular musician in Nigeria at the time. Then we spend time with contemporary musical activists in Port Harcourt’s waterfront communities and in oil-ravaged Ogoniland to hear how music is providing hope for these profoundly challenged communities. The program features new and classic music, the words of Nigerian scholars, musicians, activists and veterans of the Biafran War, concluding with an inspiring live highlife concert on the Port Harcourt waterfront in which rappers and highlife graybeards come together to imagine a better road ahead. 

Produced by Banning Eyre
APWW #754

Hip Deep in the Niger Delta

Tarab, the ecstatic feeling associated with listening to and playing great music, is a fundamental characteristic in many varieties of Arab music. In this program, we explore tarab with special guest UCLA ethnomusicology professor A.J. Racy. Racy draws on his lifelong study of music and musicians, and also his insights as a virtuoso performer on the nay flute and the buzuq. Racy guides us through the experiences of listeners and players, providing deep insight into many varieties of tarab. We hear works by A.J. Racy, Sabah Fakhri and Ensemble Al-Kindi of Syria.

Tarab - The Art of Ecstasy in Arab Music

In hard times and boom times, people in Ghana know how to party. In this program, we hear regional pop and neo-traditional music at festivals, funerals and community celebrations across the county. We travel to the lush south-east Volta region to hear Ewe borborbor, agbadza and brass band music. In the northern city of Tamale, we hear Dagbani traditional music, hip-hop and pop, and visit the vibrant Damba chieftaincy festival in nearby Yendi. And back in the bustling metropolis, Accra, there’s new trend moving hips: classic highlife, with a new pop flavor.

Produced by Morgan Greenstreet
APWW #745

Ghana - Celebration Sounds

Once-substantial Jewish enclaves of Morocco, Algeria and other North Africa states have dwindled steadily since World War II, mostly through migration to Israel. In sub-Saharan Africa, lesser known Jewish communities provide strikingly different narratives. Guided by ethnomusicologist and Rabbi Jeffrey A. Summit of Tufts University, this program focuses on the history and music of a small but robust community of Jewish converts in Uganda, the Abayudaya. Summit’s own recordings include the Abayudaya singing choral music, modified folkloric songs accompanied by local drums and harps, such as the enchanting adungu, and also ventures into pop music bring this remarkable story vividly to life. This program will also introduce history and music from a younger community of practicing Jews in Ghana. 

APWW #544
Produced by Banning Eyre. 

Jewish Communities of Sub-Saharan Africa

The first decade of the 21st century saw the beginning of huge changes in African diaspora music. Afrobeats and amapiano were still in the cradle, but a new spirit was in the air. In this program, we return to that crucial decade to hear some of the bold new ideas bubbling up in Africa. We’ll hear Buraka Som Sistema from Angola and Portugal, Nigerian rapper 9ice, an Akon remix of Amadou and Mariam, and a then emerging American rock band with a bright future ahead of them, Vampire Weekend. Produced by Wills Glasspiegel. 

Originally broadcast in 2009.

Afropop Soundsystem

Tiama

Afropop from Guinea Conakry

Maciré Sylla is one of West Africa's leading voices. She is a citizen of the capital of Guinea, a country who has the oldest post colonial musical heritage and influenced much of other West Africans neighbours since it independence in 1960. While being born in Conakry, Maciré spent several years of her childhood with her grandparents in the countryside. Her grandmother taught her the old songs giving her traditional roots and a musical legacy. 

At a tender age, she entered the Soleil d'Afrique ballet and became after a few years, solo singer and dancer. She then joined the live line up of Fatala, the Guinean band who recorded for Peter Gabriel's Real World label. Several tours in Europe and North America made Maciré feel that time had come to realize her own dreams and to pursue her own career which she did with already five albums : Mariama, Maya Irafama, Sarefi, Massa and the brand new one "Talitha"
Maciré Sylla sings mainly in the Soussou language, while the majority of singers from griot class (a West African poet, praise singer, and wandering musician) sing in the Malenke language. By giving a modern treatment to music and lyrics of Soussou origin, this “non-griots” of Basse-Côte enjoys an astonishing success in her country. Being herself from both side of the social spectrum, the city and the countryside, her aim is to make a fusion of those worlds. Her sound is eclectic, and brings in influences from reggae to electric pop music. Traditional instruments such as the Fulani flute and Mande guitar, combine with Macire's soulful voice and mix beautifully.

Tiama

Maciré Sylla

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