“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”
- Mark Twain Take a trip around the globe and check out new releases from artists in Colorado, Brazil, Peru, Nigeria, Madagascar, Iceland, Sweden, Scotland, Thailand and more. If you're looking for information about Goran Kajfes (who didn't make the Spotify playlist), visit his website. You can preview all of the songs from his new album, Reasons Vol. 2. It's contagious listening!
According to the United Nations' website for World Refugee Day:
“Every minute eight people leave everything behind to escape war, persecution or terror.
A refugee is someone who fled his or her home and country owing to “a well-founded fear of persecution because of his/her race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion”, according to the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention. Many refugees are in exile to escape the effects of natural or human-made disasters.
Developing countries host four-fifths of the world’s refugees. The 48 Least Developed Countries provide asylum to 2.3 million refugees.”
Today on Sonic Latitudes I’ll explore the songs of musicians in exile. Resilient artists who escaped war, persecution and terror and persevere to bring their gift of music to audiences worldwide. I’ve lined up a playlist featuring Sierra Leone’s Refugee All-Stars, Aziza Brahim, Samite, Songhoy Blues, Gloria Estefan, Tinariwen and K’Naan.
Later in the show, Rachel from the World Refugee Day task force will stop by to talk about World Refugee Day and the ongoing events and celebration here in Portland, ME.
Stay tuned for the next 120 minutes… here on Sonic Latitudes…. Songs in Exile. The music of refugees.
So a few weeks ago I was enjoying this revelatory change of weather and strolling along Congress St. Just taking it all in. The joyful bustle of recently thawed humans. The salty smell of Casco Bay weaving like invisible tendrils throughout the cobblestone streets.
It was one of those days when I felt like my brain was a little techno-organic receiver tuning in to the universe’s magical frequencies. Everything just seemed to be clicking. Like I was in harmony with every aspect of reality. I was in a state of synchronous, hyper-awareness. Then it happened.
As I jaunted past Strange Maine, something glimmered in a little box (right near the front door). It was an LP sleeve adorned with a striking picture of a man with a red t-shirt stacked on a tight white thermal in equally tight blue jeans. He was standing on a rooftop and covering his mouth with his right hand. His eyes, squinting in a knowing smile. It’s like he just said something coy or made a joke and he was catching himself before he burst into uncontrollable laughter. Small words in a serif typeface flank him.
Al Jarreau. Glow.
I stepped into the store, as if guided by an invisible force, grabbed the record and quickly purchased it.
Later that afternoon, I placed the needle on the record. The first song began. “Rainbow in Your Eyes.”
I covered my mouth and thought, “Damn. Ain’t life sweet."
Today on Sonic Latitudes, we travel not to a physical location, but a chronological destination. 1976. I’m spinning sounds released across the globe in that year.
Brazil, Jamaica, Quebec, the U.K., France, Germany, Nigeria and South Africa.
So, how do we get there? By time travel, of course.
Activate hyper-chronometer. On my mark > Earth year: 1, 976 common era.
Lock on earth location: Rio De Janeiro, Brasil > 22.9068° S x 43.1729° W.
Commencing in 3. 2. 1. Ignition.
I’ll never forget waking up one morning on the island of Huahine to the sounds of children singing a very familiar song. It was 1998 and I was backpacking throughout French Polynesia - my first time away from the U.S. These children outside my hostel window were singing “One Love” by Bob Marley and the Wailers. There I was, so far away from home, and hearing one of my favorite tunes. In that moment I was struck by the global impact of Bob Marley and reggae, the genre he popularized.
I couldn’t speak French or Tahitian, these kids couldn’t speak English, but we all spoke reggae. It amazed me that I would be hearing Jamaican music in such a remote corner of the globe. In my travels since - throughout Latin America, Europe and Australia, reggae music has always been present. Wherever there is a party. Wherever there is a righteous cause to be championed. Reggae appears.
Today on Sonic Latitudes I’m exploring the music that started on one tiny Caribbean island and took the world by storm…. Dread Diaspora.
I’ve put together a playlist of reggae artists from around the globe. You’ll hear from relatively new artists like Flavia Coelho of Brazil and legends like Alpha Blondy of the Ivory Coast. I’ll play Quebecois, Balkan and even Arabic reggae. Of course, I’ve thrown in some of my domestic favorites like Taj Mahal and Thievery Corporation.
I want to begin this show with my pick of the week. This is the Australian Aboriginal reggae-rock band, No Fixed Address. Formed in 1979 and lead by Bart Willoughby (who would later join Yothu Yindi), No Fixed Address played punky reggae that dealt with issues faced by indigenous communities throughout Australia. Like so many Jamaicans before them, No Fixed Address channelled their righteous message through reggae music. Off of the 1982 album, From My Eyes, this is “We Have Survived.”
This week, I've selected songs from new releases around the globe. There’s a little something for everyone in this show:
Quebecois fiddling
Nova Scotian ukelele
Inuit throat inging
English folk
Basque trikitixa
Nigerian electro-funk
Aboriginal rock from Down Under
The ultimate goal of Sonic Latitudes is to expose you, the faithful WMPG listener, to music and cultures that you don’t typically find on FM airwaves. Enjoy!
Mercedes Sosa, Victor Jara, Violeta Parra, Atahualpa Yapanqui and more.
Nueva Canción (which translates simply as “New Song”) was a genre of music that developed throughout Latin America in the 1960s - primarily in Chile, Argentina and Cuba. Artists like Violeta Parra, Atahualpa Yapanqui, Victor Jara, Silvio Rodriguez and Mercedes Sosa raised their voices and lifted their guitars to bring awareness to the plight of their compatriots and advocate for change. Their music, according to author Jan Fairley was linked by a “common attitude, a commitment to improve living conditions for the majority of people in Latin America, a reluctance to accept inequality as inevitable, and a desire to see everyone share in the wealth and potential of their country and continent.”
On a musical level, Nueva Cancion renewed an interest in folkloric traditions, uniting indigenous sounds with modern poetry and songwriting.
This generation of artists risked their lives singing about injustice, oppression and a dream of a better reality. In some cases the music was so powerful, so threatening to their respective governments that some Nueva Canción artists were forced to flee their countries... Some were tormented or murdered.
In 1969, Salvador Allende, the president of the Popular Unity government of Chilé celebrated his election with a festival of music. Nueva cancioneros gathered with the president at a Santiago basketball stadium under a banner reading “There can be no revolution without songs.”
There can be no revolution without songs.
This week on Sonic Latitudes. Nueva Canción. The powerful, poetic, revolutionary music of Latin America.
Our show starts with one of the most defining moments of the Nueva Canción movement. In 1973, after 4 years of Salvador Allende’s reign at the helm of a government focused on the common good, a military coupe backed by the U.S. government and corporations who feared the spread of socialist revolutions throughout Latin America toppled Allende’s regime. On Sept. 11, 1973, Victor Jara, who was just 35 years old, was arrested by the military who opposed Allende’s Popular Unity government. He was taken to a stadium in central Santiago, Chile, with hundreds of others on the Chilean left, and tortured, his hands broken, finally murdered and dumped outside a cemetery. Victory Jara was gone, but his unstoppable spirit and ideas would endure through his music. We begin with the a song by Quilapayún, El Pueblo Unido Jamas Será Vencido (The United Community Will Not Be Defeated).
This week I had the pleasure of sitting down in the studio with master djembe drummer and instructor, Namory Keita. Keita, originally from Sangbaralla, Guinea, migrated to the U.S. in 2010 and soon became active in several West African drumming communities throughout New England. Beginning as a young village drummer and eventually finding the mentorship of his famous uncle, Famoudou Konaté, Keita continues to channel the deep traditions of Malinké music through his performance. During this interview he shared his personal story, recordings of his music and the cultural context for his drumming. Keita performs at the Mini Guinea Fest at the Woodford's Club on Saturday, May 16, 2015 in Portland, ME. More details here: http://embodytherhythm.com/
Enjoy segments of the interview with Keita below: Introduction
