The top spot on the Transglobal World Music Chart for May 2024 is held by Turkish-born Kurdish singer, composer and instrumentalist Aynur Dogan. She infuses Kurdish folk music with mainly Western music, and has collaborated Yo-Yo Ma and The Silk Road Ensemble among others.
Dogan's eighth studio album Rabe showcases her unique vocal style and features the Chinese-American pipa (four-stringed Chinese lute) maestro Wu Man and well-known musicians like Michael League on guitar and Chris Jennings on bass. There are some very powerful songs on this album, well worth checking out.
But my favourite album in the chart is African compilation Congo Funk! Sound Madness from the Shores of the Mighty Congo River 1969-82 (Analog Africa), which is based on Rumba Congolais from the genre's boom years, 1969 to 1982. Musical giants like Franco and Tabu Ley Rochereau feature in this 14-track marvel, which was culled from 2,000 songs that compiler Samy Ben Redjeb found digging in Kinshasa and Brazzaville. James Brown's influence can be heard on many tracks but the massed ranks of guitars, hot brass, incessant percussion, and call and response vocals harmonies attest to the power of the Congo's dance rhythms. Try listening to this compilation and not dancing. Impossible.
In complete contrast is the constantly changing and genre-defying music of Avalanche Kaito. Burkina Faso griot (praise singer) Avalanche meets Brussells-based post-punk thrash duo Nico Gitto and Benjamin Chaval, aka Le Jour du Seigneur. Their music is similar to that of Mbongwana Star and street experiments in Kinshasa from outfits like Konono No.1 and their "congotronics" music played on found and home-made instruments.
Another highlight from the chart is from singer/composer Aziza Brahim, who was born in the Sahrawi refugee camps in Algeria and learned her singing craft from her grandmother. She blends her own music with Iberian rhythms from long-time collaborator Guillem Aguilar. The new single Soutak from Mawja is a really beautiful song and even includes a nod to The Clash.
Elsewhere, one album that might interest gospel/R&B fans is the new release by a fabulous American band -- Staples Jr Singers. No relation to the very well-known Staples Singers (of whom, Mavis is still touring and recording at 84), the Staples Jr Singers hail from a small town, Aberdeen in North Mississippi, where they are known as the Browns.
Searching (Luaka Bop) is their first album in 50 years and was recorded in just two nights in a church. The band's When Do We Get Paid was self-released in 1975, when a few hundred copies were issued. It was re-released in 2022 and named No. 7 in the Best Albums of the Year by The Boston Globe.
The band has a gospel sound that is rooted in R&B and features bass, keyboards, guitar and drums fronted by three Brown family singers, Edward and R.C. Brown, and Annie Brown-Caldwell. The title track and Lost in a World of Sin are standouts from this fascinating new album and the inspirational music they create reminds me so much of another R&B gospel band, The Homes Brothers. Highly recommended.
In other news, this year's Womad line-up has just been announced for the July 25-28 festival in England (information at womad.co.uk). The tops acts include Malians Amadou & Mariam, Gogol Bordello, Babba Maal, a Ghana mash-up, Yungchen Lhamo, Qawwali Flamenco and many others.
John Clewley can be contacted at clewley.john@gmail.com.
Transglobal World Music Chart May 2024
(Artist · Album · Label)
- 1. Aynur Dogan· Rabe · Dreyer Gaido I Eastern Voices
- 2. Aziza Brahim · Mawja · Glitterbeat
- 3. Sam Lee · Songdreaming · Cooking Vinyl
- 4. Lina · Fado Camões · Galileo Music Communication
- 5. Maria Mazzotta · Onde · Zero Nove Nove
- 6. Ali Doğan Gönültaş · Keyeyî · Mapamundi Música
- 7. Sahra Halgan · Hiddo Dhawr · Danaya Music
- 8. Jembaa Groove · Ye Ankasa | We Ourselves · Agogo
- 9. Ana Lua Caiano · Vou Ficar Neste Quadrado · Glitterbeat
- 10. Various · Congo Funk! Sound Madness From The Shores Of The Mighty Congo River (Kinshasa / Brazzaville 1969-1982) · Analog Africa
- 11. Les Amazones d'Afrique · Musow Dance · Real World
- 12. Kiran Ahluwalia · Comfort Food · Six Degrees
- 13. Nancy Vieira · Gente · Galileo Music Communication
- 14. Tarek Abdallah & Adel Shams El Din · Ousoul · Buda Musique
- 15. Maliheh Moradi & Ehsan Matoori · Our Sorrow · ARC Music
- 16. Avalanche Kaito · Talitakum · Glitterbeat
- 17. Dele Sosimi & The Estuary 21 · The Confluence · Wah Wah 45s
- 18. Asmaa Hamzaoui & Bnat Timbouktou · L'Bnat · Ajabu!
- 19. Lass · Passeport · Chapter Two
- 20. Yīn Yīn · Mount Matsu · Glitterbeat
More information at transglobalwmc.com.
