“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-6). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

This week I decided to go long on Highlife music, one of the the wonderful popular musics of West Africa. This isn’t a particularly scholarly show, although I was inspired partly because I started reading a book on the subject. Of course, long time listeners have heard some of this before, but this show is a little more directly focused on Ghanaian and Nigerian highlife. Nevertheless, it wouldn’t be a Conference of the Birds show if I didn’t directly contradict a theme, so there’s a smattering of loosely related music like Calypso and some even more loose relations. Don’t sweat it!

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (141MB, 2 hrs 12 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Stargazers Band: “Masan Makwo” – Telephone Lobi: More Giants of Danceband Highlife (Original Music)
The Melody Aces: “Suru Lo Dara” – The Great Unknowns (Original Music)
E.T. Mensah: “Asembon Tie M’Ansem” – All For You (RetroAfric)
Akompi’s Guitar Band: “Onyame Na Oye” – I’ve Found My Love: 1960’s Guitar Band Highlife of Ghana (Original Music)
Occidental Brothers Dance Band International: “Mafiwo” – Odo Sanbra (Not on Label)
Rex Lawson and his Rivers Men: “Peri Special Mbanga” – Highlife Time – Nigerian & Ghanaian Sound (Vampi Soul)
George Brown: “Calypso Mambo” – London Is The Place For Me 5 (Latin, Jazz, Calypso & Highlife From Young Black London) (Honest Jon’s)
Victor Olaiya: “Yabomisa Sawale” – Marvellous Boy: Calypso from West Africa (Honest Jon’s)
Professional Uhuru: “Konkomba Medley” – Giants of Danceband Highlife, 1950s-1970s (Original Music)
Ramblers Dance Band: “Gyae Su Na Nkomo Dzi” – The Hit Sound of the Ramblers Dance Band (Flame Tree)
Buddy Pipp’s Highlifers: “Ghana Special” – London Is The Place For Me 5 (Latin, Jazz, Calypso & Highlife From Young Black London) (Honest Jon’s)
African Brothers Int. Band Of Ghana: “Yenko Yemma” – Okwaduo! “Wodee Wokoo Na Wonuanom” (Executive)
Prince Kayosun Dosumu & his Dandies: “Eso Pele” – Azagas & Archibogs: The Sixties Sound of Lagos Highlife (Original Music)
Black Beats: “Meda Ho Mawo” – Telephone Lobi: More Giants of Danceband Highlife (Original Music)
Oriental Brothers: “Anyi Aiala Ozo” – Heavy on the Highlife: Nigeria’s Dr. Sir Warrior and the Oriental Brothers International (Original Music)
E.T. Mensah & the Tempos: “You Call Me Roko” – Giants of Danceband Highlife, 1950s-1970s (Original Music)
Royal Brothers: “Ohia Woa Enwu” – I’ve Found My Love: 1960’s Guitar Band Highlife of Ghana (Original Music)
The African Messengers: “Highlife Picadilly” – London Is The Place For Me 4: African Dreams And The Piccadilly High Life (Honest Jon’s)
Tunde Oshofisan & his Rhythm “Fadakas”: “Jeje L’Omo Eko Nlo” – Azagas & Archibogs: The Sixties Sound of Lagos Highlife (Original Music)
Ramblers Dance Band: “Better Ni” – The Hit Sound of the Ramblers Dance Band (Flame Tree)
The Semi Colon: “Nekwaha Semi Colon” – Nigeria Special: Modern Highlife, Afro-Sounds & Nigerian Blues 1970-6 (Soundway)
The Wellis Band: “Bindiga” – Ghana Special: Modern Highlife, Afro Sounds & Ghanaian Blues 1968 – 1981 (Soundway)
Dr. K. Gyasi & his Noble Kings: “Noble Kings (Yako Aba)” – Ghana Special: Modern Highlife, Afro Sounds & Ghanaian Blues 1968 – 1981 (Soundway)
Ensemble Etoile du Soir: “Messe Quatre Heures” – Haiti Direct (Strut)
Orchestre Tembo: “Yebo Edi Pachanga” – Racubah (A Collection of Modern Afro Rhythms) (Comet)
Ry-Co Jazz: “Siouvie Moin” – Bon Voyage! (RetroAfric)
West African Rhythm Brothers: “Adura” – London Is The Place For Me 2: Calypso And Kwela, Highlife And Jazz From Young Black London (Honest Jon’s)
Oscar Sulley’s Nzele Sounds: “Bukom” – Ghana Special: Modern Highlife, Afro Sounds & Ghanaian Blues 1968 – 1981 (Soundway)
Segun Bucknor: “You Killing Me” – Poor Man No Get Brother: Assembly & Revolution 1969-1975 (Afrostrut)
Imo Brothers International: “Mbata Aku (“The Coming of Wealth”)” – Ije Love: Nigerian Highlife Sound of Imo Brothers International (Original Music)
Black Santiagos: “Bani Wo Dzo” – The Great Unknowns (Original Music)
Orchestre Poly Rythmo de Cotonou: “Med Ma Gnin Messe” – Echos Hypnotiques, vol. 2: From the Vaults of Albarika Store 1969-1979 (Analog Africa)
L’Orchestre Super Vitesse: “Boiro” – Demo (self-released)

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-6). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

It’s far from a theme, but while I was putting this show together, news of the rioting in Baltimore was spreading, which explains the scattering of tunes with that city’s name.

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (145MB, 2 hrs 39 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Brownout: “Meter Beater” – Oozy (Nat. Geo Music)
The Meters: “Ease Back” – Funkify Your Life (Rhino)
The Tamlins: “Baltimore” – Darker than Blue: Soul from Jamdown 1973–1977 (Blood & Fire)
Medeski, Martin and Wood with DJ Logic: “Crosstown Traffic” – University of Pennsylvania, Harrison Auditorium, Philadelphia, PA, 12/13/1998 (taper)
Spaceways Incorporated: “Alice in My Fantasies/Cosmic Slop” – Thirteen Cosmic Standards by Sun Ra & Funkadelic (Atavistic)
Don Cherry: “Degi-Degi” – Brown Rice (A&M)
JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound: “Baltimore is the New Brooklyn” – Beat of our Own Drum (Vampi Soul)
The Unknown Drummer: “Port-Au-Prince Drumming” – Angels in the Mirror: Vodou Music of Haiti (Ellipsis Arts)
Ramblers International Dance Band: “Caramelo” – Doin’ Our Own Thing (Decca)
Ed Moxey’s Rake and Scrape Band: “The Timestable” – The Bahamas: Islands of Song (Smithsonian Folkways)
Jaime Simanca y sus Fandangueros: “Cumbia Negra” – The Original Sound of Cumbia: The History of Colombian Cumbia & Porro As Told By The Phonograph 1948-79 (Soundway Records)
Django Reinhardt: “The Younger Generation” – Djangologie/USA (DRG / Disques Swing)
The Coleman Family: “Peace on Earth” – Downriver Revival (Numero Group)
Bill Monroe & his Blue Grass Boys: “Shady Grove” – Friends of Old Time Music (Smithsonian Folkways)
Tennessee Ernie Ford: “Ain’t Nobody’s Business But My Own” – 2103 Music Issue (Tennessee) (Oxford American)
Les Paul & Mary Ford: “Dialog & In the Mood” – The Best of the Capitol Masters: 90th Birthday Edition (Capitol Records)
Sonny Treadway: “At the Cross (vocal)” – Sacred Steel (Arhoolie)
Carolina Chocolate Drops: “Why Don’t You Do Right” – Genuine Negro Jig (Nonesuch)
Gram Parsons: “Streets of Baltimore” – The Complete Reprise Sessions (Rhino)
Ornette Coleman: “Peace” – Beauty is a Rare Thing (Atlantic)
Ethnic Heritage Ensemble: “Moving of Seasons” – Three Gentlemen From Chikago (Moers)
Frequency: “Pitiful James” – Frequency (Thrill Jockey)
Sun Ra: “Outer Spaceways Incorporated” – Space is the Place (soundtrack) (Impulse)
Raymond Scott: “Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.” – Manhattan Research Inc. (Basta Audio-Visuals)
Fast ‘N’ Bulbous: “Blabber ‘N’ Smoke” – Waxed Oop (An Impetuous Stream Bubbled Up) (Cuneiform)
Misha Mengelberg Quartet: “Driekusman Total Loss” – Driekusman Total Loss (Varajazz)
Hanuman Jazz Quartet: “Carelian” – Soundhousing (Leo)
Glenn Horiuchi Quartet: “Precision” – Calling Is It and Now (Soul Note)
Steve Coleman And Five Elements: “Ramses” – Drop Kick (Novus)
Herculaneum: “Bears of Illium” – Orange Blossom (482 Music)

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-6). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

In the moment, this didn’t feel like a very ‘together’ show, but there are plenty of good tracks in the playlist so give it a listen and tell me the verdict.

Enjoy!

PS Sorry but the archive ends during “Celia” so you’ll have to get your Don Cherry elsewhere. (Like maybe the Nov. 19, 2013 show!)

Listen:

download program (145MB, 2 hrs 39 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Almon Memela: “The Things We Do in Soweto” – Funky Africa (Atlantic)
Adrian Quesada & Ocote Soul Sounds: “Dedication TV” – El Niño Y El Sol (Original Soundtrack To The Motion Picture) (Eighteenth Street Lounge Music)
Abdullah Ibrahim: “Calypso Minor” – Cape Town Songs – The Very Best Of Abdullah Ibrahim (Nascente)
Musa Adem: “Days and Nights” – Rain In The Hills: Beja Ballads Of Port Sudan (Original Music)
Baden Powell: “Candomblé” – À Vontade (Universal Sound)
Mississippi Fred McDowell: “When You Get Home, Write Me a Few Little Lines” – Sounds of the South (Atlantic)
Eric Dolphy: “The Madrig Speaks, the Panther Walks” – Last Date (Fontana)
Kahil El’ Zabar Trio: “Nia” – Love Outside of Dreams (Delmark)
Archie Shepp: “Mama Too Tight” – Mama Too Tight (Impulse)
Hirut Bèqèlè: “Almokèrkum Nèbèr” – Éthiopiques 3 : Golden Years Of Modern Ethiopian Music 1969-1975 (Buda Musique)
Lee Dorsey: “A Mellow Good Time” – The New Lee Dorsey (Rev-Ola Records)
Naked Truth: “The Shing-a-Ling-Thing” – Walkin’ the Duck: 23 Northern Soul Instrumental Tracks (Goldmine Soul Supply)
Curley Moore: “Soul Train” – Wardell Quezergue: Sixty Smokin’ Soul Senders (Funky Delicacies)
Cyril Neville: “Gossip” – What It Is! Funky Soul And Rare Grooves (Rhino)
Sly and the Family Stone: “Are You Ready?” – Dance to the Music (Epic)
Astrud Gilberto: “Felicidade” – Look to the Rainbow (Verve)
João Gilberto: “’S Wonderful” – Amoroso (Warner Bros. Records)
Balla et Ses Balladins: “Paulette” – Reminiscin’ in Tempo With Balla Et Ses Balladins (Popular African Music)
Bembeya Jazz National: “Mami Wata” – Hommage a Demba Camara (Syllart)
Herbie Hancock: “Doin’ It” – Secrets (Columbia)
Zaiko Langa Langa: “Bomwana” – Tout Choc Anti Choc (I.A.D.- Industrie Africaine Du Disque)
Dudu Pukwana: “Diamond Express” – Diamond Express (Freedom)
Super Biton de Segou: “Taasi Doni” – Anthology (Kindred Spirits)
Paul Bley Trio: “Ida Lupino” – Closer (ESP)
Arthur Blythe & David Eyges: “Randy Andy” – Today’s Blues (CIMP)
Chicago Trio (Ernest Dawkins/Harrison Bankhead/Hamid Drake): “You Just Crossed My Mind” – Velvet Songs To Baba Fred Anderson (Rogueart)
Chris McGregor: “Umsengi Mabele Lo” – Piano Song, v. 2 (Musica)
Ornette Coleman: “Monsieur Allard” – Hidden Man (Harmolodic)
Bridge 61: “Nothing’s Open” – Journal (Atavistic)
Charles Mingus: “Celia” – Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus (Impulse)
Don Cherry: “Complete Communion” – Complete Communion (Blue Note)

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-6). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

I totally winged this show, but I’m pretty happy with the song selection. Note that the “Shall We Gather at the River” compilation from which a couple of songs were featured is available for free download from the state of Florida, and the whole thing is really good…

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (145MB, 2 hrs 38 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Almon Memela: “Pelican City” – Broken Shoes (Warner)
Tambours Croisés: “Mérilo + Didine makwélé (Tambours 2)” – Chapter 1 (Maloya, Bèlè, Gwo Ka) (Aztec Musique)
Fi Yi Yi & the Mandingo Warriors: “Who Got the Fire” – Fi Yi Yi & the Mandingo Warriors (Pertunia Foundation)
Liquid Liquid: “Rubbermiro” – Liquid Liquid (GR Entertainment)
Francis Bebey: “Sassandra” – Akwaaba (Original Music)
Konk: “Tonton Macoute” – Live At CBGB Nov. 6, 1981 (Unleashed Music)
Sublime Frequencies: “Hyderabad Fidelity” – Radio India: The Eternal Dream of Sound (Sublime Frequencies)
The Zombies: “Asazi Lutho” – Egoli (Atlantic City)
Africa Ritmos: “Agarrem” – Angola Soundtrack 2: Hypnosis, Distortions & Other Sonic Innovations 1969-1978 (Analog Africa)
Admiral Dele Abiodun & His Top Hitters Band ‎– : “Awa O Ni Legba” – Awa O Ni Legba (Olumo Records)
Alvarado Rodriguez Trio: “Yo Yo” – Black Feeling (Freestyle Records)
Magic Ember: “Tom on the Way” – Heart & Soul (Flame)
Letta Mbulu: “Bbanoyi” – Letta Mbulu Sings (Capitol)
Lula Cortes: “Nordeste Oriental” – Psychedelic Pernambuco (Mr Bongo)
Geraldo Azevedo & Alceu Valença: “Planetário” – Psychedelic Pernambuco (Mr Bongo)
The Dixie Hummingbirds: “Jesus is Coming Soon” – Shall We Gather At The River: African-American Sacred Music from the Florida Folklife Collection (State Archives of Florida)
Antioch Junior Choir: “Jesus Be a Fence Around Me” – Shall We Gather At The River: African-American Sacred Music from the Florida Folklife Collection (State Archives of Florida)
African Brothers International Band of Ghana: “Enne ye nna” – Okwaduo! “Wodee Wokoo Na Wonuanom” (Executive)
Ry-Co Jazz: “Blue Sugar” – Bon Voyage!! (RetroAfric)
Salamat: “Ya Tear” – Mambo el Soudani (Piranha)
Mucca Pazza: “All Out of Bubblegum” – L.Y.A. (Mucca Pazza)
Parliament: “Funkentelechy” – Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome (Casablanca Records)
Radio I Ching: “Let My People Go” – Last Kind Words (CD Baby)
Steven Bernstein: “Let My People Go” – Diaspora Soul (Tzadik)
Nicole Mitchell’s Black Earth Ensemble: “The Inevitable” – Intergalactic Beings (For Practically Everyone)
JCA Sax Quartet: “Monk’s Mood” – Why Do You Ride? (Leo)
Vijay Iyer Trio: “Break Stuff” – Break Stuff (ECM)
William Parker: “Move On Up” – I Plan to Stay a Believer (AUM Fidelity)

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-6). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

This week I decided to feature music from Johnny “Mbizo” Dyani, the legendary South African expatriate bass player/pianist/bandleader.

Dyani will be familiar to regular listeners to the show, but I really love his music and thought it was past time to do a deep dive. Since the guys before me do a much more pop/rock show, I decided to spend the first hour or so of the show transitioning from that—so there’s a lot of great non-Dyani music at the top.

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (145MB, 2 hrs 39 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Kabassele: “Africa Mokili Mobimba” – Hommage Au Grand Kalle Vol. 1 (African)
Stanislas Tohon: “Paix Lo” – Dans Le Tchink Système (Hot Casa Records)
Almon Memela: “Broken Shoes” – Broken Shoes (Warner)
The Mighty Show-stoppers: “Hippy Skippy Moon Strut” – Black Feeling (Freestyle)
Ayinde with New Star Orchestra: “Amon Omo” – Yoruba Street Percussion (Original Music)
The Staple Singers: “Are You Sure?” – Be Altitude: Respect Yourself (Stax)
Geof Bradfield: “Persephone” – Rule of Three (Liberated Zone)
Elements of the 7th: “Blue 19” – Rhythm Process = 2x(y)+3 (Quadraphonic Sound Module Corp.)
Johnny Dyani: “Kalahari Lives” – Afrika (Steeplechase)
Johnny Dyani Quartet: “Portrait of Mosa Gwangwa” – Angolian Cry (Steeplechase)
Johnny Mbizo Dyani: “Wish You Sunshine” – Born Under the Heat (Dragon)
Johnny Dyani Quartet: “Wish You Sunshine” – Song for Biko (SteepleChase)
The Blue Notes: “Ithi Gui” – Before the Wind Changes (Ogun)
Johnny Dyani: “Funk Dem Dudu” – Afrika (Steeplechase)
The Blue Notes: “Funk Dem Dudu > To Erico” – Blue Notes For Johnny (Ogun)
The Blue Notes: “Funk Dem Dudu” – Blue Notes For Johnny (Ogun)
Johnny Mbizo Dyani: “Open Ballad to Mandela” – Grandmothers Teaching (JAM Disques)
Johnny Dyani: “Blame it on the Boers” – Afrika (Steeplechase)
Johnny Dyani: “House Arrest” – Mbizo (Steeplechase)
Johnny Mbizo Dyani: “Let My People Get Some Freedom” – Born Under the Heat (Dragon)
Mal Waldron/Johnny Dyani: “Blues for Mandela” – Some Jive Ass Boer “Live At Jazz Unité” (Jazz Unité)
The Blue Notes: “Funk Dem Dudu > To Erico” – Blue Notes For Johnny (Ogun)

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-6). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

Something got me into the songs with “bone” in the title and we milked that angle for more than half the show. And I mean that in the best way, there’s a lot of fun songs here from different angles—of course the gospel stuff, and the funky stuff, and at the end a couple of trombone songs just ’cause. And, as is generally the case when there’s a theme, there’s also just a bunch of songs at the end that aren’t in the theme, because doing it for the whole show would have been overkill…

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (146MB, 2 hrs 40 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Blackfoot: “Groovy Bone” – Youth Power (Goodson)
Eddie Kirk: “Them Bones” – The Complete Stax/Volt Singles, Vol. 1 (Stax)
Heshoo Beshoo Group: “Lazy Bones” – Armitage Road (Columbia)
The Headquarters: “Lazy Bones” – Sweetie (Logo)
Melvin Jackson: “Funky Skull, Parts 1 and 2” – Funky Skull (Dusty Groove America)
Oliver Nelson: “125th St and 7th Ave” – Skull Session (Flying Dutchman)
James Brown: “Stoned to the Bone” – Make It Funky – The Big Payback: 1971-1975 (Polydor)
Afroskull: “Theme from Afroskull” – Monster for the Masses (CD Baby)
Sparkle Moore: “Skull and Crossbones” – Wild, Wild Young Women (Rounder)
Sons of Andros: “Dry Bones” – The Bahamas: Islands of Song (Smithsonian Folkways)
Mitchell’s Christian Singers: “Them Bones” – The Gospel Tradition: The Roots and the Branches, Vol. 1 (Legacy)
Bascom Lamar Lunsford: “Dry Bones” – Ballads, Banjo Tunes and Sacred Songs of Western North Carolina (Smithsonian Folkways)
Dave & Howard: “My Bones Gonna Rise Again” – Black & White Hillbilly Music: Early Harmonica Recordings from the 1920s & 30s (Trikont)
Carter Brothers and Son: “Old Joe Bone” – Oxford American Music Issue #13 (Oxford American)
Silver Light Gospel Singers: “Dry Bones” – Art of Field Recording, v. 2 (Dust to Digital)
Elder Charles Beck: “Dry Bones” – Elder Charles Beck Vol 2 1946 – 1956 (Document)
The Jubalaires: “Dese Bones” – The Singing Waiters:1947-1948 (Heritage)
Brother Bones: “Chinatown” – TR 4572 -7″ (Tempo)
Kid Thomas: “I Like Bananas Because They Have No Bones” – The Larry Borenstein Collection, vol 12 (504)
Poi Dog Pondering: “Collarbone” – Volo Volo (Columbia)
Handsome Family: “Dry Bones” – Singing Bones (Carrot Top Records)
The Coctails: “Skeleton (Prelude)” – Popcorn Box (Carrot Top Records)
Albert Mangelsdorff: “Marc Suetterlyn’s Boogie” – Tromboneliness (Sackville)
BassDrumBone: “Sambali” – Wooferlo (Soul Note)
Air: “B.K.” – Air Mail (Black Saint)
Fred Anderson/Hamid Drake: “Losel Drolma” – Back Together Again (Thrill Jockey)
His Name is Alive: “Capricorn Moon (live)” – Sweet Earth Flower: A Tribute to Marion Brown (HighTwo)
The Heliocentrics: “Sirius B” – Out There (Now-Again)
Amadou et Mariam: “Dogons” – Sou Ni Tilé (Tinder)
George Symonette: “Boat Pull Out – Bahama Mama” – Bahamas Goombay: 1951-59 (Frémeaux & Associés)

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-6). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

After landing on one of the songs with “testify” in the title, I realized how many other interesting songs I had with the word in the title. Only two versions of the same actual tune—”I Wanna Testify”—originally from the Parliaments and then again by Johnnie Taylor. After that set, we lingered a little in the gospel zone, and then a classic CotB mix of soul, afropop, jazz and the like.

The archive of the show ends during “Symphony for Improvisors,” so this week instead of a bonus Nicole Mitchell track, you miss one…

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (145MB, 2 hrs 39 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Cortez Greer: “Testify” – The Birmingham Sound: The Soul of Neal Hemphill, vol. 2 (Rabbit Factory)
The Pilgrim Jubilee Singers of Chicago, Illinois: “Testify” – The Old Ship of Zion (Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab)
The Swan Silvertones: “Stand Up and Testify” – Greatest Hits (Liquid 8 Records)
The Parliaments: “I Wanna Testify” – The Cream of Vintage Soul, vol. 1 (Life On Mars)
Johnnie Taylor: “Testify (I Wanna)” – The Complete Stax/Volt Singles, vol. 1 (Stax)
Steinski: “It’s Time to Testify (MC5 mix)” – What Does It All Mean? 1983-2006 Retrospective (Illegal Art)
Second Canaan Baptist Church Porter Singers: “I’m Gonna Testify” – Tambourines To Glory – Gospel Songs By Langston Hughes And Jobe Huntley (Smithsonian Folkways)
Brother Willie Eason and his Gospel Guitar: “I Want to Live (So God Can Use Me)” – Fire in My Bones: Raw, Rare & Otherworldly African-American Gospel, 1944-2007 (Tompkins Square)
Pilgrim Travelers: “Satisfied with Jesus” – Good News, vol. 4: Glory, Glory, Hallelujah (Proper)
The Soul Stirrers: “Free at Last” – Sam Cooke’s SAR Records Story 1959-65 (ABKCO)
The Original Five Blind Boys of Mississippi: “I’ve Been Weeping For a Mighty Long Time” – None But the Righteous: Chess Gospel Greats (MCA)
Big Joe Turner: “Rocks in My Bed” – Have No Fear, Big Joe Turner is Here (Savoy)
Sly and the Family Stone: “You Can Make it if you Try” – Stand! (Epic)
The Bahama Soul Club: “Sugar Cane (Lack of Afro Remix)” – One Way (Remixes and Rarities) (Freestyle)
Rotary Connection: “Tales of Brave Ulysses” – Psychedelic Jazz and Funky Grooves (Chess)
The Temptations: “Take a Stroll Through Your Mind” – Psychedelic Soul (Motown)
Bobongo Stars: “Joyce” – Makasi (Celluloid)
Orchestre Elegance Jazz: “Ngalula Marthe” – Bantous Zembe Zembe: Compilation De Musique Congolaise (1962-1973) (Sonodisc)
Keletigui et ses Tambourinis: “Bakary-dian” – The Syliphone Years: 1968 – 1976 (Sterns)
Opiyo Bilongo and Bilongo Golden Stars: “Okoth Achoki” – What Do People Want? (Kanyo)
João Nogueira: “Samba Rubro Negro” – Musica de Futebol (Mr. Bongo)
Tabu Ley Rochereau: “Pesa Le Tout” – The Voice of Lightness (Stern’s Music)
Gang Starr: “As I Read My S-A” – Step in the Arena (Cooltempo)
U-Black: “Jammy’s A Do It” – The Travellers: Black Black Minds (Pressure Sounds)
The Unemployed: “They Won’t Let Me” – Wardell Quezergue’s Funky Funky New Orleans (Funky Delicacies)
World Saxophone Quartet: “Take the “A” Train” – World Saxophone Quartet plays Duke Ellington (Elektra/Nonesuch)
Guy Klucevsek/Philip Johnston: “Diggin’ Bones” – Tales from the Cryptic (Winter & Winter)
Jenny Scheinman Quintet: “Stumble Light” – Live at Yoshi’s (Avant)
Tin Hat: “Anyone Lived in a Pretty How Town” – the rain is a handsome animal (17 songs from the poetry of E.E.Cummings) (New Amsterdam Records)
Joe Harriott Quintet: “Coda” – Free Form (Jazzland)
Johnny Dyani: “Portrait of Mosa Gwangwa” – Angolian Cry (SteepleChase )
Don Cherry: “Symphony for Improvisers” – Symphony for Improvisers (Blue Note)
Nicole Mitchell’s Sonic Projections: “Running the Rooftops” – The Secret Escapades Of Velvet Anderson (RogueArt)

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-6). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

No theme to this week’s show, but a good number of obscure gems.

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (141MB, 2 hrs 34 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
The Rhythm Machine: “The Kick” – The Funky 16 Corners (Stones Throw)
Hot Sauce: “I’ll Kill a Brick (About My Man)” – The Complete Stax / Volt Soul Singles, Vol. 2: 1968-1971 (Stax)
Verckys et l´Orchestre Vévé: “Matinda Comono” – Congolese Funk, Afrobeat & Psychedelic Rumba 1969​-​1978 (Analog Africa)
Flow Dynamics: “Bossa for Bebo (Lack of Afro Remix)” – One Way: Remixes and Rarities (Freestyle)
Gnonnas Pedro: “Adigbedoto” – Africa Boogaloo: The Latinization of West Africa (Honest Jon’s)
Nomo: “Three Shades” – Ghost Rock (Ubiquity)
Jane Birkin: “French Grafitti” – Lolita Go Home (Fontana)
Chuck Strong: “I Got Married Too Soon” – The Birmingham Sound: The Soul of Neal Hemphill, Vol. 1 (Rabbit Factory)
Elia y Elizabeth: “Ponte Bajo el Sol” – La Onda De Elia y Elizabeth (Vampi Soul)
? and the Mysterians: “Love Me Baby (Cherry July)” – Cameo Parkway 1966-1967 (ABKCO)
Meridian Brothers: “Doctor Trompeta” – Salvadora Robot (Soundway)
Funkadelic: “Can’t Stand the Strain” – Cosmic Slop (Westbound Records)
Sam Cooke: “Having a Party” – Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963 (RCA)
Bobby Dobyne & the Barefacts: “Strickly Soul” – The Birmingham Sound: The Soul of Neal Hemphill, Vol. 2 (Rabbit Factory )
Bobby Womack & Peace: “Across 110th Street” – Pimps, Players and Private Eyes (Sire)
Bill Withers: “Use Me” – Live at Carnegie Hall (Columbia)
The Toreadors: “Gwinyitshe” – Next Stop Soweto, Volume 2: R&B, Funk & Psych Sounds From the Townships 1969-1976 (Strut)
Konk: “Honey Moon” – Live At CBGB Nov. 6, 1981 (Unleashed)
Mucca Pazza: “Boss Taurus” – Safety Fifth (Electric Cowbell Records)
Konono Nº1: “Landu Mambu” – Live in Tokyo EP (Crammed Discs)
Tambours Croisés: “Black Boat Poeple + Ma vélou za (Tambours 1)” – Chapter 1 (Maloya, Bèlè, Gwo Ka) (Aztec Musique)
The Four Pals: “Maselino Yaya Yoyayu” – Origins of Guitar Music In Southern Congo and Northern Zambia (SWP)
Barel Coppet, et Ses Antillais: “Moin Ni On Loto Nef” – Vintage World No. 169 – EP: Dansez Aux Antilles (Vintage Music)
Golden Arm Trio: “Swift Ship Sailing” – Why the Sea is Salt (Shamrock Record Co.)
Atomic: “Boom Boom” – Boom Boom (Jazzland Recordings)
Jeb Bishop Trio: “Anticipation of an Embrace” – Bishop/Kessler/Mulvenna (Okka Disk)
Ernest Dawkins’ New Horizons Ensemble: “The Time has Come” – Chicago Now – Thirty Years Of Great Black Music Vol.1 (Silkheart)
Malachi Thompson: “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” – Lift Ev’ry Voice (Delmark)
Duke Ellington: “Chocolate Shake” – Never No Lament: The Blanton-Webster Band, 1940-1942 (Columbia)

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-6). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

Last Sunday was “International Women’s Day.” In honor, today’s show features women musicians.

Enjoy!

PS if you make it all the way to the end, there’s a bit of bonus music from Steven’s show: “Today, Today” by Nicole Mitchell’s Ice Crystals.

Listen:

download program (140MB, 2 hrs 33 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Ana Tijoux: “Desclasificado” – La Bala (Nacional )
Gladys Knight and the Pips: “Friendship Train” – Beg, Scream and Shout: the Big Ol’ Box of 60’s Soul (Rhino)
Mavis Staples: “This Little Light of Mine” – We’ll Never Turn Back (Anti-)
Oumou Sangare: “Dugu Kamelemba” – Ko Sira (Nonesuch)
Astrud Gilberto: “Berimbou” – Look to the Rainbow (Verve )
Billie Holiday & Lester Young: “Let’s Do It” – Lady Day & Prez: 1937-41 (Giants of Jazz)
Gal Costa: “Divino Maravilhoso” – Gal Costa (1969) (Phillips)
Judy Henske: “I Know You Rider” – Judy Henske (Collector’s Choice)
Aretha Franklin: “Save Me” – I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You (Atlantic)
Lyn Collins: “You Can’t Love Me if You Don’t Respect Me” – James Brown’s Original Funky Divas (Polydor)
Stereolab: “Anamorphose” – Mars Audiac Quintet (Elektra)
Erykah Badu: “Certainly” – Baduizm (Kedar Entertainment)
Indigo Trio: “Stand Strong” – Live in Montreal (Greenleaf Music)
Björk: “Human Nature” – Debut (Elektra)
Juana Molina ○○ Alejandro Franov: “La Más Grande” – A○○B (A∩B)
Mary Lou Williams: “Play It Momma” – Zoning (Smithsonian Folkways)
Carole King: “I Feel the Earth Move” – Tapestry (Ode)
Elis Regina: “Zazueira” – In London (Philips)
Charming Hostess: “Hangman Devil Man” – The Bowls Project (Tzadik)
Bernice Johnson Reagon: “Had, Took, Misled” – Give Your Hands to Struggle (Smithsonian Folkways)
Lorraine Chandler: “I Can’t Hold On” – Pied Piper Presents a New Concept in Detroit Soul (Ace)
Etta James: “You Got It” – Tell Mama: The Complete Muscle Shoals Sessions (MCA )
Letta Mbulu: “Sexwaxwa” – Letta Mbulu Sings (Capitol)
Vicki Anderson: “Don’t Throw Your Love in the Garbage Can” – James Brown’s Original Funky Divas (Polydor)
Lijadu Sisters: “Gbowo-Mi” – Double Trouble (Shanachie)
Joyce Mogatusi: “Zola” – A Tribute to Joyce Mogatusi (Electric Jive)
Miriam Makeba: “Ibande” – Keep Me in Mind (Reprise)
Sister Rosetta Tharpe: “Strange Things Happening Every Day” – Goodbye, Babylon (Dust to Digital)
Eloise Lewis: “I Need It” – Bahamas Goombay 1951-59 (Frémeaux & Associés)
The Go! Team: “Ladyflash” – Thunder, Lightning, Strike (Columbia)
Irma Thomas: “I’d Do It All Over You” – In Between Tears (Alive)
Alice Coltrane: “Los Caballos” – Eternity (Warner Brothers)
Billy Tipton Memorial Saxophone Quartet: “All Manic” – Box (Horn Hut)
Carla Bley: “Song Sung Long” – Dinner Music (Watt)
Matana Roberts: “How Much Would You Cost?” – Coin Coin Chapter One: Gens De Couleur Libres (Constellation)

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-6). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

Phoneathon week this week. I pulled out a few greatest hits but also found plenty of new (to the show) good stuff. I tried to keep the pitching to a minimum, but thanks to the listeners who did donate.

WNUR’s phoneathon is over, but you can still contribute online, if you’re so inclined. Your support is appreciated!

R.I.P. Minnie Miñoso, first black Major Leaguer in Chicago. Tucked in this week’s show is a tribute to him from the Numero Group collection “Cult Cargo: Salsa Boricua de Chicago.”

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (146MB, 2 hrs 40 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Stanislas Tohon: “Dja, Dja, Dja” – Dans Le Tchink Système (Hot Casa)
Soul Rebels: “Foot Prints” – Let Your Mind Be Free (Mardi Gras Records)
Ray Anderson Trio: “Paucartambo” – Right Down Your Alley (Soul Note)
SDV Swing Band: “Taxi Jive 6 No. 2” – 78 Revolutions per Minute – Majuba Jazz from Mra to Bra, v. 3 (Electric Jive)
The Flaming Souls: “Alex Soul” – She’s Gone (Atlantic City)
Neville Nash: “Funky Feeling” – Wind Me Up (Nash)
La Solucion: “Mini Minoso” – Cult Cargo: Salsa Boricua de Chicago (Numero Group)
Viento de Agua: “Las Tarimas (the Stages)” – Materia Prima (Smithsonian Folkways)
O.V. Wright: “A Nickel and a Nail” – The Soul of O.V. Wright (MCA)
Sam Cooke: “Good News” – Keep Movin’ On (ABKCO Records)
Rev. Gary Davis: “Little Bitty Baby” – Say No to the Devil (Prestige Bluesville)
Fern Jones: “Didn’t It Rain” – The Glory Road (Numero Group)
Bill Monroe: “I Saw the Light” – 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection (MCA)
Aubrey Ghent: “Praise Music” – Sacred Steel (Arhoolie)
Meas Samon: “Joi Dondeung Kone Key (“Going to Get Engaged”)” – Cambodian Rocks (The Orchard House)
Jorge Barral: “Se Va Muriendo Mi Aldea” – 30 Años de música uruguaya, v. 9 (Sondor)
Foday Musa Suso & Mandingo Griot Society: “Kuumba Sora” – Creative Music Studio: Archive Selections, Vol. 1: World Music (Innova)
Baden Powell: “Consolação” – À Vontade (Universal Sound)
Lena Horne: “As Long as I Live” – Stormy Weather: The Legendary Lena, 1941-58 (Bluebird)
Janelle Monáe: “Tightrope” – The ArchAndroid (Wondaland Arts Society)
Selah Jubilee Singers: “I’ll Fly Away” – Selah Jubilee Singers, Vol. 1 (1939-41) (Document)
The Mellows: “I’m Gonna pick Your Teeth With an Icepick” – Golden Oldies (Essential Media)
Charles Iwegbue & His Archibogs: “Salim Ye (Ibo Slow Highlife)” – Azagas & Archibogs: The Sixties Sound of Lagos Highlife (Original Music)
Alport Astazio and the Kwana-Moto Band: “Rugare 2” – Rugare (Inter Africa Records)
Robert Marcel LePage: “Saharinette” – Les clarinettes ont-elles un escalier de secours? (Ambiances Magnétiques)
Joseph Jarman/Don Moye/Johnny Dyani: “Ode to Wilbur Ware” – Black Paladins (Black Saint)
Arthur Blythe: “Down San Diego Way” – Lenox Avenue Breakdown (Columbia)
Steve Lacy/Roswell Rudd Quartet: “Monk’s Dream” – School Days (hat ART)
DKV Trio: “Cerkno 2” – Sound in Motion in Sound (Not Two Records)

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-6). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

A lot of fun music in this show. No theme in particular, although I did play a little set of “Chicago” tunes to commemorate the municipal election.

I stuck around past my normal show end time, so the playlist below goes beyond the end of the archived audio. The archive fades out shortly after Joe McPhee’s “Windy City Head Stompin’ Blues” begins.

WNUR’s phoneathon is 2/27-3/6. You can pledge online. Your support is appreciated!

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (146MB, 2 hrs 39 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Orchestre Mode Succes: “Je peux attraper hypertension” – Innovation Vol. 4 – Nouveauté (Disques Innovation)
Ariya Afrobeat Arkestra: “Turncoat” – Towards Other Worlds (First Word)
Revolucionnarios: “Mi Bella Panama” – Panama! 2: Latin Sounds, Cumbia Tropical & Calypso Funk on the Isthmus 1967-77 (Soundway)
Andre Williams: “It’s Gonna Be Fine in ’69” – Checker 1214 – 7″ (Checker)
Arsenio Rodriguez: “Rumba Guajira” – Primitivo (Fania)
International Orchestra Safari Sound: “Usilipuke Kucheka” – Zanzibara 7: Sikinde Vs Ndekule (Buda Musique)
De Malo: “Towuti Brazza Toye Kisasa” – Roots of Rumba Rock: Congo Classics 1953-1955 (Crammed Discs)
Ali Farka Toure: “Allah Uya” – Niafunké (World Circuit)
Maulidi Juma: “Yaatika” – Zanzibara 2: Golden Years Of Mombasa Taarab (Buda Musique)
Aretha Franklin: “Hello Sunshine” – Aretha Now (Atlantic)
James Reese and the Progressions: “Let’s Go (It’s Summertime)” – The Funky 16 Corners (Stones Throw)
Alamayehu Eshete: “Ambassel (fast)” – Ethiopiques 22: More Vintage (1972-1974) (Buda Musique)
Anon: “Blue Basket” – Cambodian Cassette Archives: Khmer Folk and Pop Music Vol. 1 (Sublime Frequencies)
The Petch Phin Thong Band: “Soul Lam Plearn” – The Sound Of Siam – Leftfield Luk Thung, Jazz & Molam in Thailand 1964-75 (Soundway)
The Anchors & the Creche Kids: “Uyeye (Papa Bull)” – Durban Office Party Part 1 (Electric Jive )
Brothers and Sisters: “Don’t Let ‘Em Tell You” – Eccentric Soul: The Nickel & Penny Labels (Numero Group)
Pearly Queen: “Quit Jive’ In” – Quit Jivin’ – A Funk Anthology (Essential Media)
Django Reinhardt: “Chicago” – Chronological Classics 1937 (Classics)
Mozelle Anderson: “Tight in Chicago” – Barrelhouse Mamas Born in the Alley, Raised Up in the Slum Classic Piano Rags, Blues & Stomps from the 1920s & 1930s (Yazoo)
John Wright: “La Salle St. After Hours” – South Side Soul (Prestige)
Oliver Nelson: “Goin’ to Chicago Blues” – More Blues and the Abstract Truth (Impulse)
Dr. Isaiah Ross: “Chicago Breakdown” – Takoma Blues (Takoma)
The Sundowners: “Sidewalks of Chicago” – Chicago Country Legends (Bloodshot Records)
Nu Sounds: “Chicago USA” – Spaceship Lullaby (Atavistic / Unheard Music Series)
William Parker Creation Ensemble: “Chicago” – Wood Flute Songs: Anthology/Live 2006-2012 (AUMFidelity)
Air: “Chicago Breakdown” – 80° Below ’82 (Antilles)
Sean Bergin’s M.O.B.: “Rieb Letsma” – Copy Cat (BV Haast)
Andrew Hill: “Flight 19” – Point of Departure (Blue Note)
Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers: “Blue Ching” – The Freedom Rider (Blue Note)
Arthur Blythe & David Eyges: “Something Like You” – Today’s Blues (CIMP)
Unnamed musicians from Harian Boho: “Gondang Malim” – Music of Indonesia, Vol. 4: Music of Nias and North Sumatra: Hoho, Gendang Karo, Gondang Toba (Smithsonian Folkways)
DKV Trio: “Nickelsdorf 4” – Sound in Motion in Sound (Not Two)
Joe McPhee Contemporary Improvisation Ensemble: “Windy City Head Stompin’ Blues” – Underground Railroad (Atavistic/Unheard Music Series)
Fred Anderson: “By Many Names” – Timeless (Delmark)
Rudresh Mahanthappa: “Telugu” – Mother Tongue (Pi Recordings)
Anthony Braxton/David Holland: “You Go to My Head” – Trio and Duet (Sackville/Delmark)

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-6). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

Since station technical issues blocked my pre-Valentine’s day show, I took the opportunity to get in a few “love” songs that I didn’t get to air. But mostly this week’s show is Mardi Gras music. As always, I tried to thread the needle between well-known classics and more obscure cuts, and to not play too many songs that were part of the most recent Fat Tuesday special. This also marks the beginning of the Mardi Gras category on the blog, so now it’s easy to listen shows from previous years.

Unfortunately, there seems to be some noise in the archive, but hopefully it isn’t too crazy making…

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (146MB, 2 hrs 39 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
The Blenders: “Don’t Fuck Around with Love” – Lux & Ivy’s Favorites v. 1 (Kogar the Swinging Ape)
Edith Frost: “Easy to Love” – Wonder Wonder (Drag City)
Anna Fermin’s Trigger Gospel: “Besame Mucho” – Things to Come (Sighlow)
Sly & the Family Stone: “Love City” – Life (Epic)
Jimmy Hughes: “Chains of Love” – The Complete Stax/Volt Soul Singles, Vol. 2: 1968-1971 (Stax)
ESG: “My Love For You” – A South Bronx Story (Universal Sound)
Jackie Wilson: “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher & Higher” – The Original Brunswick Hit Recordings (Brunswick Records)
Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs: “Let Your Love Light Shine” – Pharaohization! – The Best Of Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs (Rhino)
The Ravens: “Careless Love” – Dawn of Doowop (Proper)
Joe Liggins and the Honeydrippers: “Going Back to New Orleans” – Creole Kings of New Orleans (Specialty)
Clarence “Frogman” Henry: “Ain’t Got No Home ” – Doctors, Professors, Kings and Queens: The Big Ol’ Box of New Orleans (Shout Factory)
Allen Toussaint with Chocolate Milk: “Shoorah Shoorah” – New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival 1976 (Island)
Danny White: “Natural Soul Brother” – New Orleans Funk (Soul Jazz)
Lee Dorsey: “O Me-O, My-O” – Yes We Can/Night People (Raven)
James Rivers Quartet: “New Orleans Mambo” – The Dallas Sessions (Spindletop Records)
The Hawketts: “Mardi Gras Mambo” – Doctors, Professors, Kings and Queens: The Big Ol’ Box of New Orleans (Shout Factory)
Larry Williams: “Jockamo AKA Iko-Iko” – Creole Kings of New Orleans (Specialty)
Eddie Bo: “The Thang (Part 2)” – Saturday Night Fish Fry (Soul Jazz)
The Vibrettes: “Humpty Dump (Parts 1 and 2)” – Eddie Bo’s Funky Funky New Orleans (Funky Delicacies)
Stooges Brass Band: “Stooges Party” – It’s About Time (Hypersoul)
Bo Dollis & the Wild Magnolias: “Handa Wanda Pts. I & II” – Crescent City 25 7″ (Crescent City)
Big Chief Monk Boudreaux & the Golden Eagles: “Battle of New Orleans” – Mr. Stranger Man (Shanachie)
Fi Yi Yi & the Mandingo Warriors: “Sing My Song” – Fi Yi Yi & the Mandingo Warriors (Pertunia Foundation)
Gulf Aid All Stars: “It Ain’t My Fault” – It Ain’t My Fault (iTunes)
Indians of the Nation: “Martin Luther King” – United We Stand, Divided We Fall (Ch Ching)
Dave Bartholomew: “Carnival Day” – The Very Best Of Dave Bartholomew (Bayou)
Sidney Bechet and his New Orleans Feetwarmers: “Shake It and Break It” – The Legendary Sidney Bechet (Bluebird)
The Dirty Dozen Brass Band: “I’ll Fly Away” – Funeral for a Friend (Ropeadope)
Rebirth Brass Band: “Glory, Glory/Jesus on the Mainline” – We Come to Party (Shanachie)
Treme Brass Band: “Grazing in the Grass” – New Orleans Music (Mardi Gras Records)
Olympia Brass Band: “Bourbon Street Parade” – Kickin’ Some Brass (Shanachie)
Bo Dollis & the Wild Magnolias and friends: “Battlefront” – The Mardi Gras Indians Super Sunday Showdown (Rounder)
Lil Queenie & the Percolators: “My Darlin’ New Orleans” – Doctors, Professors, Kings and Queens: The Big Ol’ Box of New Orleans (Shout Factory)
Canray Fontenot: “Allons Danser” – The Rough Guide to Zydeco (Rough Guides)
Clifton Chenier: “Jambalaya” – Doctors, Professors, Kings and Queens: The Big Ol’ Box of New Orleans (Shout Factory)
Chuck Carbo: “Can I Be Your Squeeze” – New Orleans Funk (Soul Jazz)
The Hot 8 Brass Band: “Shot Gun Joe” – Tombstone (Tru Thoughts)
Soul Rebels Brass Band: “Let It Roll” – Brass Bands & Mardi Gras Indians (unknown)
Smiley Lewis: “Shame, Shame, Shame” – Shame, Shame, Shame (Bear Family Records)
Professor Longhair: “Mardi Gras in New Orleans” – New Orleans Piano (Atlantic)

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-6). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

This, that, and the others.

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (146MB, 2 hrs 39 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Vin Gordon: “Red Blood” – Studio One Scorchers (Trojan Records)
The Scram Band: “Don’t Change Nothin’ (instrumental)” – Eddie Bo’s Funky Funky New Orleans (Funky Delicacies)
Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd St. Rhythm Band: “Spreadin’ Honey” – Express Yourself (Warner Bros.)
Orchestre National du Congo: “Ah! Congo” – Vision 1976 Vol.1 (Editions Nationales)
The Dantels: “Dragon Walk” – Jungle Exotica, Vol. 1 (Strip)
Afro 70: “Week End” – Kenya Special: Selected East African Recordings From The 1970s & ’80s (Soundway)
Super Biton de Segou: “Nie Nema Mine” – Afro Jazz du Mali (Bolibana Productions)
James Brown: “Tighten Up” – Say It Live And Loud: Live In Dallas 08.26.68 (Polydor)
The Boom: “Honey on a Biscuit” – Any Day of the Night (Slowdime)
Elvis Presley: “Only the Strong Survive” – From Nashville to Memphis: The Essential ’60s Masters (RCA)
The Staple Singers: “Heavy Makes You Happy (Sha-Na-Boom-Boom)” – The Complete Stax/Volt Soul Singles, vol 2: 1968-1971 (Stax)
Ella Fitzgerald: “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” – Twelve Nights in Hollywood (Verve Records)
The Five Keys: “Old MacDonald” – Dawn of Doo-Wop (Proper)
Ray Price: “Crazy Arms” – Hillbilly Fever, Vol. 3: Legends of Nashville (Warner)
The Byrds: “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” – Sweetheart of the Rodeo (Columbia)
Blanket Music: “Get Togetha” – Move (Hush Records)
Bola Sete: “Complicado” – Shebaba (Fantasy )
Edward W. Clayborn: “Your Enemy Cannot Harm You (but Watch your Close Friend)” – Goodbye, Babylon (Dust-to-Digital)
Johnny Lee Moore & 12 Mississippi Penitentiary Convicts: “Eighteen Hammers” – Sounds of the South (Atlantic)
The Prisonaires: “Just Walkin’ in the Rain” – 15th Annual Southern Music Issue & CD – Tennessee (Oxford American)
The Temptations: “(I Know) I’m Losing You” – Beg, Scream and Shout: the Big Ol’ Box of 60’s Soul (Rhino)
Universal Congress Of: “Freight Train” – The Sad and Tragic Demise of Big Fine Hot Salty Black Wind (Enemy)
La Perfecta: “Roulé” – Creole Love Calls – Rythmes Latins Des Antilles (Isma’a)
Ari Brown: “Lester Bowie’s Gumbo Stew” – Ultimate Frontier (Delmark)
Bola: “Bunibunbol Suma” – Volume 7 (Awesome Tapes From Africa)
Amanar: “Alghafiat” – Music from Saharan Cellphones (Sahel Sounds)
Group Anmataff: “Tinariwen” – Music from Saharan Cellphones (Sahel Sounds)
Shankar and the Epidemics: “Sankarabaranam Pancha Nadai Pallavi” – Passion Sources (Real World)
Spider Harrison: “Beautiful Day” – The Funky Sixteen Corners (Stones Throw)
Orchestre Veve: “Mama Djele” – Vintage Verckys (RetroAfric)
Pato Banton: “Don’t Sniff Coke” – Never Give In (Greensleeves )
Karl Hector & the Malcouns: “When the Sun Breaks Through” – Sahara Swing (Now-Again)
David Shire: “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three” – The Score: 20 Ultra-Cool Soundtracks from the Producers of Mojo (Mojo)
George Russell Smalltet: “Night Sound” – Jazz Workshop (Koch)
Pachora: “Bushka Lounge” – Astereotypical (Winter & Winter)
Mike Reed’s People, Places and Things: “Beach Balls” – Second Cities: Volume 1 (482 Music)
Eight Bold Souls: “Odyssey” – Last Option (Thrill Jockey)

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-6). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

Something hit me late in my pre-show prep that led me to start this one off with about an hour of hip-hop. The rest of the show is fairly eclectic, in the general Conference of the Birds fashion, wrapping up with an odd one from the great poet and sound artist Christian Bök.

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (148MB, 2 hrs 41 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Boogie Down Productions: “Word from Our Sponsor” – Criminal Minded (B-Boy Records)
Queen Latifah & the Original Flavor Unit: “Flavor Unit Assassination Squad” – Hip Hop Sessions: Classics from Hip Hop’s Holy Grail (Sessions)
Stik Figa: “The Skinny” – As Himself (Mello Music Group)
Brand New Heavies featuring Masta Ace: “Wake Me When I’m Dead” – Heavy Rhyme Experience, Vol. 1 (Delicious Vinyl)
Basehead: “Brand New Day” – Play With Toys (Imago)
The Coup: “Last Blunt” – Kill My Landlord (Wild Pitch Records)
Digable Planets: “Jettin’” – Blowout Comb (Capitol Records)
Gift of Gab: “In a Minute Doe” – 4th Dimensional Rocketships Going Up (Quannum Projects)
Blue Scholars: “Evening Chai” – Blue Scholars (Not On Label)
Erykah Badu: “Love of My Life Worldwide (featuring Queen Latifah, Angie Stone & Bahamadia)” – Worldwide Underground (Motown )
Das Racist: “You Oughta Know” – Shut Up, Dude (Greedhead Music)
Vampires Underground: “Funky Broadway” – Vampires Underground (Pharaway Sounds)
Os Mutantes: “Ave Genghis Khan” – Os Mutantes (Polydor)
Geraldo Azevedo, Alceu Valenca: “Planetario” – Psychedelic Pernambuco (Mr. Bongo)
Elizabeth Cotten: “Mama, Nobody’s Here but the Baby” – Shake Sugaree (Smithsonian Folkways)
Fitzroy Coleman Quintet: “Uncle Joe” – London Is The Place For Me 6: Mento, Calypso, Jazz And Highlife From Young Black London (Honest Jon’s)
Lionel Belasco: “Miranda” – Ghost World soundtrack (Shanachie)
The Pioneers: “Rudies are the Greatest” – Trojan Rude Boy Box Set (Trojan)
Sister Winona Carr: “Fifteen Rounds for Jesus” – Dragnet for Jesus (Specialty)
Don Covay: “Iron Out the Rough Spots” – Mercy!/Seesaw (Koch)
The Soul Seven: “Southside Funk” – The Funky 16 Corners (Stones Throw Records)
Irma Thomas: “Hittin’ on Nothin’” – Sweet Soul Queen of New Orleans (Razor & Tie)
Lou Johnson: “Wrong Number” – With You in Mind (Volt)
Nita Rossi: “Untrue Unfaithful (That Was You)” – One Kiss Can Lead to Another: Girl Group Sounds Lost and Found (Rhino)
Abdel Gadir Salim: “Mal Wa Ihtagab” – The Merdoum Kings Play Songs of Love (Shanachie )
April March: “La Chanson de Prevert” – Chick Habit (Sympathy for the Record Industry)
Verckys & L’Orchestre Veve: “Nakomi Paradise” – Congolese Funk, Afrobeat & Psychedelic Rumba 1969 – 1978 (Analog Africa)
Fastos the Great: “Via Faraday” – Sax Jive Special (Electric Jive)
Johannesburg Street Band: “Special Branch” – Dancin’ Through The Streets (UNI Records)
Leo Cuypers: “Alsdot de Olifantstand” – Heavy Days Are Here Again (Atavistic)
Dave Holland Trio: “African Lullaby” – Triplicate (ECM Records)
Johnny Dyani Quartet: “House Arrest” – Mbizo (SteepleChase)
Mary Lou Williams: “Syl-o-Gism” – Zoning (Smithsonian Folkways)
Bobby Hutcherson: “Goin’ Down South” – San Francisco (Blue Note)
Charlie Haden/Billy Higgins/Enrico Pieranunzi: “Lennie’s Pennies” – First Song (Soul Note)
Gigi Gryce: “Nica’s Tempo” – Nica’s Tempo (Savoy)
Christian Bok: “Seahorses and Flying Fish” – (Penn Sound)

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-6). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

For some reason the stream archive cut a little short, so you get most of the David Boykin track but not the ones after.

That said, there’s plenty of great music until then.

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (123MB, 2 hrs 15 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Milton Cardona: “Ebioso” – Bembé (American Clave)
Son Palenque: “Atina Tina” – Afro-Colombian Sound Modernizers (Vampisoul)
Dr. Adolf Ahanotu: “Ijere” – Nigeria Disco Funk Special: Sound of the Underground Lagos Dancefloor 1974-1979 (Soundway)
The Scientist & Ted Sirota’s Heavyweight Dub with Diverse: “Saro-Wiwa” – The Scientist Meets Ted Sirota’s Heavyweight Dub (Ernie B’s Reggae)
Tidiani Koné & Orchestre Poly-Rythmo: “Djanfa Magni” – African Scream Contest: Raw & Psychedelic Afro Sounds from Benin & Togo 70s (Analog Africa)
Prince: “I Wanna Be Your Lover” – Prince (Warner Brothers)
Kashmere Stage Band: “Thank You (Live)” – Texas Thunder Soul 1968-74 (Now-Again)
Sly and the Family Stone: “Dance to the Medley (Music is Alive/Dance In/Music Lover)” – Dance to the Music (Epic)
Cornell Dupree: “Teasin’” – What It Is! Funky Soul And Rare Grooves (1967-1977) (Rhino)
The Coup: “I Love Boosters” – Pick a Bigger Weapon (Epitaph )
The Lymbyc System: “Dreadlock Rock” – Mammoth Lakes, CA: 5/31/2004 (random taper)
Ramsey & Co.: “Love Call” – Keb Darge’s Legendary Deep Funk Volume 2 (BBE)
Hank Ballard & the Midnighters: “From the Love Side” – James Brown’s Funky People (part 2) (Polydor)
Buddy Miles: “Easy Greasy” – We Got To Live Together (Mercury)
Bob Wills & his Texas Playboys: “Crazy Rhythm” – Tiffany Transcriptions, vol. 3 (Rhino)
Sam Cooke: “Another Saturday Night” – Keep Movin’ On (ABKCO Records)
The Raiders: “Bittersweet Samba” – Guitars a Go-Go: Raiders Go Latin (Raj)
Christopher Columbus Ngcukana: “Oosoga” – Next Stop… Soweto Vol. 3: Giants, Ministers And Makers: Jazz In South Africa 1963-1978 (Strut)
Lucky 7s: “Farragut” – Farragut (Lakefront Digital)
Masada: “Khebar” – Het (DIW)
Jon Jang and the Pan-Asian Jazz Arkestra: “Concerto for Jazz Ensemble and Taiko: Ganbaro!” – Self Defense! (Soul Note)
Clifford Thornton & the Jazz Composers Orchestra: “O Desayo” – The Gardens of Harlem (JCOA Records)
David Boykin Outet: “Connundrum” – Evidence of Life on Other Planets Vol. 2 (BoxMedia)
Mal Waldron: “Transfiguration” – Mal-1 (Prestige )
The Nice Guy Trio: “Off the Grid” – Here Comes The Nice Guy Trio (Porto Franco)
Sun Ra: “We Travel the Spaceways” – Space is the Place Soundtrack (Impulse)

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-6). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

Calypso, afro-pop, gospel, Bahamas, funk, soul, jazz…

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (146MB, 2 hrs 40 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Lord Invader: “Fidel Castro” – Calypso Travels (Smithsonian Folkways)
Mighty Sparrow: “Jook for Jook” – Volume 4 (Ice)
Lagos Mozart Orchestra: “Ore Mi Kini Se” – Juju Roots: 1930s-1950s (Rounder)
Black Santiagos: “See Na Meye” – Ignace de Souza: The Great Unknowns (Original)
Bob-Cats: “Rocsy Pie Conti” – Christmas Jive: 78s and 45s from the Archives (Electric Jive)
Oscar Neves: “Mabele” – Angola Soundtrack 2: Hypnosis, Distortions & Other Sonic Innovations 1969-1978 (Analog Africa)
Paulina Alvarez: “El Verdulero” – Cuba: I Am Time (Cantar en Cuba) (Blue Jackel)
Victoria Spivey: “Blood Hound Blues” – Moaning The Blues (Orbis)
Billie Holiday: “They Can’t Take That Away from Me” – Lady Day: The Best of Billie Holiday (Sony)
Silver Leaf Quartet: “Witness for my Lord” – Southern Journey, Vol. 8: Velvet Voices – Eastern Shores Choirs, Quartets, And Colonial Era Music (Rounder)
Rev. Linston Triplett, Jr.: “Jesus is Living Today” – This May Be My Last Time Singing: Raw African-American Gospel on 45RPM, 1957-1982 (Tompkins Square)
Frank Penn: “Gimme Some Skin (Instrumental)” – Cult Cargo: Grand Bahama Goombay (Numero Group)
Funky Nassau: “Look What You Can Get” – 7″ (Drive)
Juju Orchestra: “Funky Nassau” – Bossa Nova Is Not a Crime (Agogo Records)
Junk: “Hey Frenchy” – Kiss My Acid Jazz (Faffco)
Vic Pitts & The Cheaters: “The Trip” – The Lost Tapes (Secret Stash)
Sonny Knight & the Lakers: “Baby, Baby, Baby” – I’m Still Here (Secret Stash)
Medeski, Martin & Wood: “Ziphim” – Voices in the Wilderness (Tzadik)
John Zorn: “Milano Odea” – The Big Gundown: John Zorn Plays the Music of Ennio Morricone (Nonesuch)
Tony Allen: “Nina Lowo” – Secret Agent (Nonesuch)
Super Tentemba Jazz: “Almamy” – Rare Afro & Caribbean Funk Volume 2 (Mokili)
Lee Dorsey: “Everything I Do Gohn Be Funky (From Now On)” – The New Lee Dorsey (Sundazed)
Professor Longhair: “Longhair’s Blues-Rhumba” – New Orleans Piano (Rounder)
The Hesitations: “I’m Not Built That Way” – Pied Piper Presents a New Concept in Detroit Soul (Kent)
Las Malas Amistades: “Por Todos Lados” – Jardin Interior (Honest Jon’s)
Quarteto Em Cy e Tamba Trio: “Vim Da Bahia” – Som Definitivo (Forma)
Hank Mobley: “Dig Dis” – Soul Station (Blue Note)
Sonny Red: “Blues in the Pocket” – Out of the Blue (Blue Note)
John Zorn/George Lewis/Bill Frisell: “Funk in Deep Freeze” – News for Lulu (hat ART)
Vandermark Five Special Edition: “Second Marker” – The Horse Jumps & the Ship is Gone (Not Two)
Fred Anderson/Hamid Drake/Harrison Bankhead: “Timeless” – Timeless (Delmark)
Chicago Trio: “Down n’ the Delta” – Velvet Songs To Baba Fred Anderson (Rogueart)

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-6). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

Much of this week’s show features music that my friend Mike introduced me to while he and his family were visiting before Christmas.

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (147MB, 2 hrs 40 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
The Carter Family: “Crying Holy Unto the Lord” – Can the Circle Be Unbroken? Country Music’s First Family (Legacy)
Mississippi Sheiks: “Things About Coming My Way” – Honey Babe Let the Deal Go Down: The Best of the Mississippi Sheiks (Legacy)
Dickie McBride and the Village Boys: “Tulsa Twist” – Hillbilly Fever, Vol. 1: Legends of Western Swing (Rhino)
McKinney Sisters with Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys: “Will There Be Any Yodeling in Heaven?” – Tiffany Transcriptions, Vol. 10: McKinney Sisters 1946 (Rhino)
The Swan Silvertones: “If You Believe Your God is Dead, Try Mine” – Swan Silvertones Greatest Hits (Liquid 8)
Candi Staton: “The Best Thing You Ever Had” – Candi Staton [Compilation] (Honest Jon’s)
Willie Tee: “Swivel Your Hips” – Teasin’ You (Night Train)
Melvin Van Peebles: “Sweetback’s Theme” – The Complete Stax/Volt Singles, Vol. 2 (Stax)
Sam Cooke: “Soothe Me” – Sam Cooke’s SAR Records Story 1959-1965 (ABKCO )
Ollie and the Nightingales: “Bracing Myself for the Fall” – The Complete Stax/Volt Singles, Vol. 2 (Stax)
The Chi-Lites: “Stoned Out of my Mind” – The Best of The Chi-Lites: One in A Million (Music Club)
The Jackson 5: “Body Language (Do the Love Dance)” – Soulsation! 25th Anniversary Collection (Motown)
Bobby Darin: “Black Coffee” – Mack the Knife (Atco)
Jane Birkin & Serge Gainsbourg: “69 année érotique” – Jane Birkin Serge Gainsbourg (Fontana)
Louis King: “I Remember (How You Made Me Love You)” – Carolina Soul Survey: The Reflection Sound Story (Grapevine)
Seu Jorge: “Mania de Peitao (Jamais Plus Jamais Mix)” – Cru (Wrasse)
Stooges Brass Band: “Bin Laden” – It’s About Time (The Gruve Label)
Son Palenque: “Cumbia Africana” – Son Palenque (Soundway)
El Sexteto Miramar: “Cumbiamba” – Colombia! The Golden Age of Discos Fuentes – The Powerhouse of Colombian Music 1960-76 (Soundway)
Juan Piña Y sus Muchachos: “La Nena” – Diablos Del Ritmo: The Colombian Melting Pot 1975​-​1985 (Analog Africa)
Jimmy Sabater: “Koo It Here Comes the Fuzz” – El Barrio – Latin Funk: Nuyorican Funk 1968-1976 (Fania)
Ariya Afrobeat Arkestra: “Lost in Kinshasa” – Ariya Afrobeat Arkestra (First Word)
The Budos Band: “The Sticks” – Burnt Offering (Daptone Records)
Gilberto Gil & Gal Costa: “Oriente” – Live in London ’71 (Discobertos)
Baden Powell: “Canto de Ossanha” – Tristeza on Guitar (PAUSA)
Rio 65 Trio: “Preciso aprender a ser so” – Rio 65 Trio (Philips)
Marcos Valle: “Nao Tem Nada Nao” – The Essential Marcos Valle (Mr. Bongo)
Chicago Trio: “Jah Music” – Velvet Songs To Baba Fred Anderson (Rogueart)
Mike Reed’s People, Places & Things: “Train Ride” – Second Cities: Volume 1 (482 Music)
Anouar Brahem: “Qurb” – Thimar (ECM)
Andre Jaume: “Guadalquivir” – Le Collier De La Colombe (Palm)
Anthony Braxton Quartet: “No. 40B” – Willisau (Quartet) 1991 (Hat Art)
The Blue Notes: “Eyomzi” – Blue Notes for Johnny (Ogun)
Ornette Coleman: “Una Muy Bonita” – Change of the Century (Atlantic)
Steam: “Non-confirmation” – Real Time (Eighth Day Music)

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-6). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

This show came after we had guests in town for a few days, so I didn’t prepare much, unless you count the Dusty Groove adventure I took with Mike or the other music acquisition of the weekend, some of the fruits of which appear on the show.

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (143MB, 2 hrs 36 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Billie Holiday: “Mean to Me” – Her Best Recordings: 1935-1942 (Best Of Jazz)
Blossom Dearie: “’Deed I Do” – Blossom Dearie (Verve)
Bessie Smith: “New Orleans Hop Scop Blues” – Empty Bed Blues (Columbia)
Sister Dora Alexander: “Times Done Changed” – Classic Sounds of New Orleans from Smithsonian Folkways (Smithsonian Folkways)
Jelly Roll Morton: “Ungai Hai, the Sign of the Indians” – The Complete Library of Congress Recordings (Rounder)
Uncredited: “Twist and Unemployment” – Zambia ’64: Original Soundtrack Recording (EMI)
Eric Akaeze & his Azagas: “Timber” – Money No Be Sand (1960’s Afro-Lypso / Pidgin Highlife / Afro-Rock / Afro-Soul (Original Music)
Buddy Pipp’s Highlifers: “Ghana Special” – London Is The Place For Me 5 (Latin, Jazz, Calypso & Highlife From Young Black London) (Honest Jon’s)
African Brothers Int’l Band of Ghana: “Medee Beba” – Okwaduo!!! “Wodee Wokoo Na Wonuanom” (Executive)
Caetano Veloso: “Maria Bethânia” – Caetano Veloso (1971) (Polygram)
Gal Costa & Gilberto Gil: “Maria Bethânia / Bota a Mao Nas Cadeiras” – Live In London 1971 (Discobertas)
Audio One: “C” – The Midwest School (Audiographic)
Julius Hemphill: “The Hard Blues” – Coon Bid’ness (Arista)
Edwin Starr: “Easin’ In” – Can You Dig It? The Music And Politics Of Black Action Films 1968-75 (Soul Jazz)
A.A.B.B.: “Pick Up the Pieces One By One” – James Brown’s Funky People 3 (Polydor)
Marlboros: “Why’d You Leave” – Carolina Soul Survey: The Reflection Sound Story (Grapevine)
Candi Staton: “I’ll Drop Everything and Come Running” – Candi Staton (Honest Jon’s)
Al Green: “Hangin’ On” – Explores Your Mind (Hi)
Admiral Dele Obiodun: “Side 1” – Admiral Dele Abiodun & his Top Hitters Band (Olumo)
Chicago Trio (Ernest Dawkins/Hamid Drake/Harrison Bankhead): “Woman of Darfur” – Velvet Songs: To Baba Fred Anderson (Rogue Art)
Don Cherry / Ed Blackwell: “Mutron – Bemsha Swing – Solidarity – Arabian Nightingale” – El Corazón (ECM)
Kahil El’ Zabar Ritual Trio: “Alika Rising” – Alika Rising At Leverkusener Jazztage (Sound Aspects)

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-6). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

Not really a theme, but this show did happen to have three Cole Porter tunes in it, and a pair of songs in honor of FDR. Otherwise, basically more of the same ol’ Conference of the Birds soul/jazz/funk/afro/caribbean thing. I have no clever story to tell!

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (144MB, 2 hrs 37 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Sly and the Family Stone: “Babies Makin’ Babies” – Fresh (Epic)
Syl Johnson: “I’ve Got the Real Thing” – Jump, Children! Mississippi (Southern Music Issue #13) (Oxford American)
Wilson Pickett: “99 and a Half Won’t Do” – A Man and a Half: the Best of Wilson Pickett (Atlantic)
Impact All Stars: “Ordinary Version Chapter 3” – Forward the Bass: Dub from Randy’s 1972-1975 (Blood and Fire)
Linton Kwesi Johnson: “Want Fi Goh Rave” – In Concert with the Dub Band (Shanachie)
Desmond Dekker: “Warlock” – Rockin’ Steady: The Best of Desmond Dekker (Rhino)
Betty Everett: “Is There a Chance For Me?” – There’ll Come A Time (UNI)
Bill Withers: “Better Off Dead” – Live at Carnegie Hall (Sussex)
Blo: “Native Doctor” – Chapters and Phases: The Complete Albums, 1973-1975 (RPM-Retro)
Karl Hector and the Malcouns: “Rush Hour” – Sahara Swing (Now-Again)
Big Chief Monk Boudreaux & the Golden Eagles: “Katie Mae” – Mr. Stranger Man (Shanachie)
Slim Willis Band: “I Sayed That” – Light: On the South Side: Pepper’s Jukebox (Numero Group)
The Coasters: “Three Cool Cats” – The Definitive Coasters (History of RnB Records)
A.C. Jones & the Atomic Aces: “Give Me Your Love (instrumental)” – Boddie Recording Company: Cleveland, Ohio (Numero Group)
The Coctails: “West Couch Place” – The Early Hi-Ball Years (Carrot Top Records)
Gilberto Gil: “Aquele Abraco” – Gilberto Gil (Cérebro Eletrônico) (Philips)
Siba: “Ariana” – Avante (Mais Um Discos)
Calypso King and the Soul Investigators: “Struggling My Way” – Soul Strike! (Soul Fire)
Lena Horne: “It’s All Right with Me” – Stormy Weather: The Legendary Lena (1941-1958) (RCA Bluebird)
Ella Fitzgerald: “Begin the Beguine” – Sings the Cole Porter Songbook (Verve)
The Attila: “Roosevelt in Trinidad” – Roosevelt In Trinidad: Calypsos Of Events, Places, And Personalities 1933-1939 (Rounder)
Willie Eason: “Franklin D. Roosevelt, A Poor Man’s Friend” – Sacred Steel (Arhoolie)
Mance Lipscomb: “Alabama Bound” – Ash Grove: 12/6/1964 (Concert Vault)
Charles Pierce & his Orchestra: “Sister Kate” – Muggsy A-Z: A Portrait of Muggsy Spanier (Upbeat )
Lloyd Miller & the Heliocentrics: “Fantasia, Part 1” – Lloyd Miller & The Heliocentrics (OST) (Strut)
Bossa 70: “Me Quedo con el Shing-a-Ling” – ¡Gózalo! Bugalú Tropical Vol.3 (Vampi Soul)
Orchestra Super Mazembe: “Mukala Musi” – Giants of East Africa (Earthworks)
Actis Band: “Makeba” – Garibaldi (Leo)
Anthony Brown’s Asian American Jazz Orchestra: “Little Rootie Tootie” – Monk’s Mood (Keeper)
John Coltrane: “I Love You” – Lush Life (Prestige)
Joseph Jarman/Famoudou Don Moye’s Magic Triangle: “Triebhaus Tribal Stomp” – Calypso’s Smile (Southport )
Roy Campbell Pyramid Trio: “Oglala Eclipse” – Ancestral Homeland (No More Records)
Trevor Watts Moire Music Drum Orchestra: “Egugu” – A Wider Embrace (ECM)

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-6). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

This week’s show starts with a nod to a great book I just finished, Roll With It, by Matt Sakakeeny, a Tulane professor and former producer for the excellent American Routes program. It’s an ethnography of New Orleans brass bands, and while it can be academic in parts, it’s actually refreshingly balanced for a book that is probably part of a tenure package. It is (for an academic book) lavishly illustrated by Willie Birch, and there’s some extra interesting stuff on a little website Matt put together for the book, including some youtube videos of bands performing.

Actually, to be honest, the show starts with a song from K Theory radio which I liked, specifically “Wa Ho Ha” from a 1978 reissue from Pazy and the Black Hippies. So I started with a new school afrobeat tune I had in the wings before settling into the brass band thing.

That all was about the first hour of the show, and then just a mix, but looking back, a pretty good one!

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (129MB, 2 hrs 21 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Pazy And The Black Hippies: “Wa Ho Ha” – Wa Ho Ha (Secret Stash)
Ariya Afrobeat Arkestra: “Turncoat” – Towards Other Worlds (First World)
Babatunde Olatunji: “Takuta” – Soul Makossa (Paramount)
Dirty Dozen Brass Band: “Eyomzi” – Open Up: Whatcha Gonna Do For The Rest Of Your Life? (Columbia)
Soul Rebels: “Uptown Downtown” – No Place Like Home (self-released)
Li’l Rascals Brass Band: “Knock With Me/Rock With Me” – Brass Bands and Mardi Gras Indians (unknown)
Hot 8 Brass Band: “J’isten to Me” – Vibe This! WWOZ on CD Spring 2007 (WWOZ)
Joe Tex: “You’re Right, Ray Charles” – Testifyin’: The Essential Joe Tex (Castle Select)
Rebirth Brass Band: “Shake Your Body Down to the Ground” – Feel Like Funkin’ It Up (Rounder)
Afrika Bambaata: “Soul Makossa” – Dark Matter Moving at the Speed of Light (Tommy Boy)
Funk Como Le Gusta: “Balacobaco” – The New Brazilian Music, Vol. 4 (BM&A)
Thu Zahina: “Est Ce Que Olingi Ngai?” – Coup de Chapeau (Retroafric)
Orchestre Veve: “Bilobela” – Vintage Verckys (RetroAfric)
Septeto Nacional de Ignacio Piñeiro: “Echale Salsita” – Cuba, I Am Time, Vol. 3: Bailar con Cuba (Blue Jackel)
Beny More: “Que Bueno Baila Usted” – Cuba, I Am Time, Vol. 3: Bailar con Cuba (Blue Jackel)
Grupo Changüi de Guantanamo: “Laos, Cambodia y Vietnam” – ¡Ahora sí! Llegó el changüí (Corason)
Tradisyon Ka: “Elwa” – Soul Jazz Records Presents Gwo Ka: Music Of Guadeloupe, West Indies (Soul Jazz)
Hollis Watkins: “Oh Freedom” – Voices of the Civil Rights Movement (Smithsonian Folkways)
Pete Seeger: “We Shall Not Be Moved” – Singalong Sanders Theater, 1980 (Smithsonian Folkways)
Doc Watson & Clarence Ashley: “Skillet Good & Greasy” – The Complete Folkways Recordings (Smithsonian Folkways)
Harmonica Frank Floyd: “Shoop-a-Boop-a-Doodler” – The Missing Link (Memphis International)
Eric Boeren: “Peace” – Joy of a Toy (BV Haast)
Steve Lacy: “The Breath” – The Door (Novus)
The Vandermark Five: “East Broadway Rundown” – Six for Rollins (Free Jazz Classics, vol. 3) (Atavistic)
School Days: “Elephantasy” – In Our Times (Okka Disk)

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-6). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

As I was preparing for this week’s show, my Twitter stream erupted with responses to the grand jury decision in the Michael Brown killing case. I found myself drawn to the ever-inspiring music of the civil rights movement for solace.

Before that news came in, I’d been planning on doing a Charles Mingus feature. The Mingus Awareness Project is performing at a benefit for the Les Turner ALS foundation on at Promontory on Sunday, December 7. It seemed like a fine excuse to go deep on music by and for Mingus, which ended up being about the last hour of the show.

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (141MB, 2 hrs 34 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
SNCC Freedom Singers: “We’ll Never Turn Back” – Voices of the Civil Rights Movement (Smithsonian Folkways)
Mass meeting participants, Danville, VA: “We Are Soldiers in the Army” – Voices of the Civil Rights Movement (Smithsonian Folkways)
SNCC Freedom Singers: “Which Side are you On?” – Voices of the Civil Rights Movement (Smithsonian Folkways)
Aretha Franklin: “A Change is Gonna Come” – I Never Loved a Man (Atlantic)
Oliver Nelson: “Freedom Dance” – Afro-American Sketches (Prestige)
Charles Mingus: “Original Faubus Fables” – Charles Mingus presents Charles Mingus (Columbia)
Nina Simone: “I Wish I Knew How It Feels to be Free” – How It Feels to Be Free (Hear Music)
Mahalia Jackson: “Keep Your Hands on the Plow” – Live at Newport 1958 (Columbia)
Birmingham Movement Choir: “I’m On My Way” – Sing for Freedom:Civil Rights Movement Songs (Smithsonian Folkways)
KRS-One: “Sound of Da Police” – Hip Hop Sessions: Classics from Hip Hop’s Holy Grail (Sessions)
Public Enemy: “Power to the People” – Fear of a Black Planet (Def Jam)
Gil Scott-Heron: “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” – The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (Flying Dutchman)
The Coup: “ShoYoAss” – Pick a Bigger Weapon (Epitaph )
Toots & the Maytals: “I Shall Be Free” – Sweet and Dandy (Jet Set)
Count Ossie & the Mystic Revelation of Rastafari: “Let Freedom Reign” – Tales of Mozambique (Culture Press)
Johnny Dyani: “Blame it on the Boers” – Afrika (Steeplechase)
SNCC Freedom Singers: “Keep Your Eyes on the Prize” – Sing for Freedom:Civil Rights Movement Songs (Smithsonian Folkways)
Curtis Mayfield: “We’re a Winner” – Curtis/Live (Curtom )
Matana Roberts: “Libation for Mr. Brown: Bid Em In…” – Coin Coin Chapter One: Gens De Couleur Libres (Constellation)
Charles Mingus: “Hobo Ho” – Let My Children Hear Music (Columbia)
Charles Mingus: “Haitian Fight Song” – The Clown (Atlantic)
Eternal Buzz Brass Band: “Better Get It in Your Soul” – Evolution (Ropeadope)
Territory Band-5: “Untitled Fiction (for Charles Mingus)” – New Horse For The White House (Okka Disk)
Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, Max Roach: “Rem Blues” – Money Jungle (Blue Note)
Charles Mingus: “Mood Indigo” – Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus (Impulse)
Orange, then Blue: “Nostalgia in Times Square” – Orange, then Blue (GM Recordings)
Bert Jansch & John Renbourn: “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” – After the Dance (Shanachie )
Charles Mingus Sextet with Eric Dolphy: “Jitterbug Waltz” – Cornell 1964 (Blue Note)

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-6). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

A couple of “Taxi Drivers”, a handful of Brazilian music and lots of jazz. This show’s playlist goes on past the end of the recorded archive, since Stephen wasn’t able to make his show and I stayed a little extra. The archive fades out during the String Trio of New York track.

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (144MB, 2 hrs 37 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Mississippi John Hurt: “Spike Driver Blues” – The Greatest Songsters: Complete Works (1927-1929) (Document)
Charlie Parr: “Hogkill Blues” – 1922 (self-released)
John Kirby: “Keep Smilin’” – John Kirby and his Orchestra 1941-1943 (Classics)
Alick Nkhata: “Taxi Driver” – Shalapo and other Love Songs (Retroafric)
Mlimani Park Orchestra: “Taxi Driver” – Zanzibara 5: Hot In Dar (The Sound of Tanzania 1978-1983) (Buda Musique)
Orchestra les Noirs: “Sikiya Sauce pts 1 & 2” – African Serenades, vol. 35 – Cheeku (Matsuli Music)
Father’s Children: “Phoney People” – Eccentric Soul: A Red Black & Green Production (Numero Group)
Isaar França: “Onda Vem, Onda Vai” – ()
Mavis Staples: “99 and ½” – Eyes on the Prize (Anti-)
Uncredited: “Wade with Me / Wade in the Water” – Movement Soul (ESP Disk)
Marisa Monte: “Para mais ninguém” – Universo ao Meu Redor (EMI Europe)
Márcio Local: “Samba Sem Nenhum Problema” – Says Don Day Don Dree Don Don (Luaka Bop)
Os Lobos: “O Homem de Neanderthal” – Miragem (Top Tape)
Marcia Ball: “That’s Enough of that Stuff” – Doctors, Professors, Kings & Queens (Shout Factory)
Art Neville: “Belle Amie” – His Specialty Recordings 1956 – 58 (Specialty)
The Skatalites: “Herb Man Dub” – 200% Dynamite (Soul Jazz)
The Heptones: “Tripe Girl” – The Meaning of Life: The Best of the Heptones 1966-1976 (Trojan Records)
Poets of Rhythm: “Moira” – Discern / Define (Ninja Tune)
Laba Sosseh & Liwanza Band: “Prepare Candela” – Lassissi présente a formidable Laba Sosseh – Special Liwanza Band (Sacodis)
Sounds of Soweto: “Mama Ndiyalila” – How Long Must we Suffer? (Misereor)
Abdullah Ibrahim: “Calypso Minor” – Cape Town Songs: The Very Best of Abdullah Ibrahim (Nascente)
Dudu Pukwana: “Hidden Spirits” – Black Horse (Black Lion)
Chris McGregor: “Kwa Tebugo” – Sea Breezes: Solo Piano, Live in Durban 1987 (Fledg’ling Records)
Sun Ra: “Soft Talk” – Super-Sonic Jazz (El Saturn Records)
Steve Lacy: “Virgin Jungle” – The Door (Novus)
Sinéad O’Connor: “You Do Something to Me” – Red Hot + Blue ()
Available Jelly: “The Little Pieces – Blee” – Monuments (Ramboy Recordings)
ICP Orchestra: “Criss Cross” – Two Programs: The Icp Orchestra Performs Nichols – Monk (ICP)
Albert Ayler: “Bells” – Love Cry (Impulse)
Ismet Siral and Friends: “Oy” – Creative Music Studio: Archive Selections, Vol. 1 (Innova)
Szilárd Mezei Quintet: “Uncia” – Cerkno (Leo Records)
Kent Carter String Trio: “Our Waltz” – The Willisau Suites (Emanem)
String Trio of New York: “Frozen Ropes” – Faze Phour: A Twenty Year Retrospective (Black Saint)
Nicole Mitchell’s Black Earth Strings: “Crossroads” – Renegades (Delmark)
Paul Giallorenzo’s GitGo: “Roscoe Far I” – Force Majeure (Delmark)
Cat Island Mites and Dicey Doh Singers: “We Bid You Goodnight” – The Bahamas: Islands of Song (Smithsonian Folkways)
Alice Coltrane: “Blue Nile” – Ptah the El Daoud (Impulse)

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-6). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

Don’t be startled, there’s no technical difficulty: this week’s show starts with Kathleen’s voice—she’s the host of K Theory Radio and she ended her show this week with a track that seemed like a natural for Conference of the Birds, so I kept it in the archive.

Otherwise, there may be a bit more of a rock vibe in this week’s show than most weeks, but still pretty balanced, I think.

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (145MB, 2 hrs 38 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Madina: “Ana Mefales” – (Soundcloud)
Arsenio Rodriguez: “Parece Bobo” – La Pachanga (Tico)
Lalo Guerrero y Sus Cinco Lobos: “Chicas Patas Boogie” – Pachuco Boogie (Arhoolie)
Duke Ellington: “Agra” – The Far East Suite (Bluebird)
Makely Ka: “Eu Nao” – The New Brazilian Music Vol. 3 (BM&A)
Ave Sangria: “Geórgia, a carniceira” – Ave Sangria (RCA)
Benny Soebardja and Lizard: “Candle Light” – Those Shocking Shaking Days (Now-Again)
Khalifa Ould Eide & Dimi Mint Abba: “The Tortoise’s Song” – Moorish Music From Mauritania (World Circuit)
Quarteto em Cy e Dorival Caymmi: “Canto Do Obá” – Quarteto Em Cy (EMI)
Jorge Ben: “Chove Chuva” – Samba Esquema Novo (Philips)
Mestre Cupijó e Seu Ritmo: “Cade o Anel” – Siriá (Analog Africa)
Jean Paul “El Troglodita”: “Everything is Gonna Change” – Back to Peru, v. 2 (Vampisoul)
The Zoo: “Where Have all the Good Times Gone?” – Majestic Coal Chute, vol. 3 (dj bylamplight)
Pink Floyd: “Fearless” – Meddle (EMI)
Sly & the Family Stone: “Never Do Your Woman Wrong” – Dance to the Music (Epic)
Dojo Cuts featuring Roxie Ray: “Mama Told Me” – Dojo Cuts (Record Kicks)
Carolina Chocolate Drops: “You Be Illin’” – Leaving Eden (Nonesuch)
Public Enemy: “Pollywanacraka” – Fear of a Black Planet (Def Jam)
Digital Primitives: “Crackle and Pop” – Hum Crackle & Pop (Hopscotch)
Geraldo Pino & the Heartbeats 72: “On the Spot” – Heavy Heavy Heavy (Retroafric)
Donald Byrd: “Weasil” – Blue Break Beats (Blue Note)
Father’s Children: “Linda Movement” – Who’s Gonna Save The World (Numero Group)
The Four Sharps: “My Baby” – Shout, Brother, Shout: 1950’s R&B From The Legendary Trumpet Records Label (Alligator)
The Famous Blue Jay Singers of Birmingham Alabama: “Jesus Met the Woman at the Well” – Jubilation! Black Gospel, vol. 1 (Rhino)
The Trumpeteers: “Gideon and the Sword” – Good News: 100 Gospel Greats (Proper)
McIntosh County Shouters: “Read ’em, John” – Slave Shout Songs from the Coast of Georgia (Smithsonian Folkways)
Slim Ducket & Pig Norwood: “I Want to Go Where Jesus Is” – How Can I Keep from Singing, v. 1 (Yazoo)
The Avons: “Since I Met You Baby” – Night Train to Nashville: Music City Rhythm & Blues 1945-1970 (Lost Highway)
Headlines: “He’s Looking for a Love (Demo)” – Boddie Recording Company: Cleveland, Ohio (Numero Group)
Huey “Piano” Smith: “Little Liza Jane” – Saturday Night Fish Fry: New Orleans Funk and Soul (Soul Jazz)
Fred Anderson/Hamid Drake: “Louisiana Strut” – Back Together Again (Thrill Jockey)
Chico Freeman: “Two over One” – Beyond the Rain (Contemporary)
Barrage Double Trio: “Polarity (dedicated to Andrew Hill)” – Utility Hitter (Quinnah)
Sonny Rollins: “Asiatic Raes” – Newk’s Time (Blue Note)
Håkon Kornstad / Håvard Wiik: “John S” – The Bad and the Beautiful (Moserobie)

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-6). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

I still really love this Haiti Direct comp and would love pointers to more old school Haitian music like that. Note the not-so-clever pairing of “007” with “I’m the Magnificent,” which sampled it. Plenty of other good stuff this week — what catches your ear?

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (135MB, 2 hrs 27 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Ibo Combo: “Ti Garçon” – Haiti Direct – Big Band, Mini Jazz & Twoubadou Sounds, 1960-1978 (Strut)
The Fatback Band feat. Johnny King: “Keep On Brother Keep On” – The Sound of Funk 4 (Goldmine )
The Meters: “Just Kissed My Baby” – New Orleans Funk (Soul Jazz)
Jamo Thomas: “I Spy (For the FBI)” – Thomas 303 – 7″ (Thomas )
Desmond Dekker: “007 (Shanty Town)” – Rockin’ Steady: The Best Of Desmond Dekker (Rhino)
Special Ed: “I’m the Magnificent” – Youngest in Charge (Profile)
SDV Swing Band: “Taxi Jive 6 No. 2” – 78 Revolutions Per Minute — Majuba Jazz from Mra to Bra v. 1 (Electric Jive)
Homero y su Combo, Pacho Galan, La Sonora Curro: “Oye Negra” – Cartagena! Curro Fuentes & The Big Band Cumbia and Descarga Sound Of Colombia 1962 – 72 (Soundway)
Voices of Darkness: “Mota Ginya” – Nigeria Disco Funk Special: The Sound of the Underground Lagos Dancefloor 1974-79 (Soundway)
Public Enemy: “Show ’em Whatcha Got” – It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (Def Jam)
Quantic and his Combo Bárbaro: “I Just Fell In Love Again” – Tradition in Transition (Tru Thoughts)
Staple Singers: “We the People” – Be Altitude: Respect Yourself (Stax)
Mulatu Astatke & the Heliocentrics: “Chik Chikka” – Inspiration Information 3 (Strut)
Bobby Womack: “No Money in my Pocket” – Fly Me to the Moon (Universal)
Wanda Jackson: “Dust on the Bible” – The Party Ain’t Over (Third Man Records)
The Soul Stirrers: “Jesus Gave Me Water” – Jesus Gave Me Water (Specialty)
The Seniorlites: “Lay Down Body” – Wade in the Water, Vol. 2: African-American Congregational Singing (Smithsonian Folkways)
Bernice McClellan & Congregation: “What Do You Think about Jesus? (He’s All Right)” – Sounds of the South: A Musical Journey from the Georgia Sea Islands to the Mississippi Delta (Atlantic)
Def Jef: “Droppin’ Rhymes on Drums” – Just a Poet with a Soul (Delicious Vinyl)
The Budos Band: “Tomahawk” – Burnt Offering (Daptone)
Powerhouse Sound: “Acid Scratch” – Overlap (Laurence Family)
My Baby: “Shameless” – Loves Voodoo! (Embrace)
Roscoe Robinson: “We Got a Good Thing Going” – From Chicago to Shreveport: Deep Soul, Vol. 1 (Fuel)
Loretta Lynn & Conway Twitty: “You’re the Reason (our kids are ugly)” – Honky Tonk Girl: The Loretta Lynn Collection (MCA Nashville)
Willie & Paul: “Khosi” – Umakoti Ka Themba (HMV)
Johnny Dyani: “Portrait of Mosa Gwangwa” – Angolian Cry (Steeplechase)
Chris McGregor: “Mngqusho” – In His Good Time (Ogun)
Mark Helias: “Pacific Rim” – Loopin’ the Cool (Enja)
Digital Primitives: “Intertwined” – Soul Searchin’ (Hopscotch)
Tomeka Reid: “O, Number I (Don Baum)” – Soundtrack to Hairy Who & the Chicago Imagists (Corbett vs Dempsey/Pentimenti)
Tomeka Reid: “Double Take (Sarah Canright)” – Soundtrack to Hairy Who & the Chicago Imagists (Corbett vs Dempsey/Pentimenti)
Philly Joe Jones Big Band Sounds: “Cherokee” – Drums around the World (Riverside)
Oliver Lake Quintet: “245” – Dedicated to Dolphy (Black Saint)
Henry Threadgill Sextett: “The Devil is on the Loose and Dancin’ With a Monkey” – Rag, Bush and All (Novus)
Pachora: “Rebetiki” – Ast (Knitting Factory Works)

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-5). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

I had travel last weekend, so I had no chance to properly prepare for my show this week. In the moment, I realized that I’d gathered a big of “Halloween Music” including Kogar’s Spooky Spectacular and some in the same vein. So I did an impromptu set from what I had there for the first hour of the show.

After an hour of picking short songs that I didn’t know very well, I needed to slow things down, so to be honest, it slips into a lazyrelaxed set of extended jazz numbers for the rest of the show.

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (146MB, 2 hrs 39 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Mad Man Jones: “Snake Charmer” – Jukebox Mambo: Rumba and Afro-Latin Accented Rhythm & Blues 1949-1960 (Jazzman)
Duane Eddy: “The Trembler” – Duane Eddy (Capitol)
The Tumblers: “Scream” – S4KM 6416 – 7″ (Pocono)
The Moontrekkers: “Night of the Vampire” – 45-R 4814 – 7″ (Parlophone )
Dan Hinson & the Rigamorticians: “Robbin’ Graves” – Monster Dance Party (Capitol)
The Vampires: “The Creep” – At the Monster Ball (United Artists)
The Big Guys: “Zombie” – PZ 5114 – 7″ (Palette)
The Duponts: “Screamin’ Ball (At Dracula Hall” – R-4060 – 7″ (Roulette Records)
The Madmen: “Haunted” – 6303 – 7″ (Cloister)
The Tarantulas: “Like Spellbound” – Fernwood Rock ‘N’ Roll (Stompertime)
Baron Daemon & the Vampires: “Ghost Guitars” – Hellbound 666 – 7″ (Wavy Gravy)
Lee Kristofferson: “Night of the Werewolf” – Ruff 1 – 7″ (Thrust)
Rene Hall: “Night Fright” – Ultimate Beatnik Collection, Vol. 4 (Red Devil)
The Invictas: “Missing” – 493 – 7″ (20th Century-Fox)
Googie Rene: “The Chiller” – 60s Groovy Freaks, Monsters, & Geeks (Master Classics)
The Ventures: “He Never Came Back” – The Ventures in Space (Dolton)
Frankie Stein & his Ghouls: “Knives & Lovers” – Halloween Nuggets: Monster Sixties A Go-Go (Rockbeat)
The Ted Taylor Four: “Cat’s Eyes” – It’s All Happening Here! (Hallmark)
Jackie Morningstar: “Rockin’ in the Graveyard” – Halloween Garage Rock (Garage Masters)
The Mighty El Dukes: “Frankenstein’s Den” – Golden Groups: The Best of Norton Records, Vol. 1 (Norton)
The Essex: “Cemetery Stomp” – Lost Legends of Surf Guitar, Volume 1: Big Noise From Waimea! (Sundazed)
B. Brock & the Sultans: “Fright” – LB-101 (La Broc)
Tony & the Monstrosities: “Igor’s Lament” – 60s Groovy Freaks, Monsters, & Geeks (Master Classics)
The Contrails: “Mummy Walk (Walking Death)” – Burlesque – 100 Classics (Master Classics)
Ralph Nielsen & the Chancellors: “Scream” – CR-45-1 – 7″ (Crypt Records)
Stone Axe: “Slave of Fear” – Darkscorch Canticles (Numero Group)
William Parker Raining on the Moon: “3 + 3 = Jackie McLean” – Wood Flute Songs: Anthology/Live 2006-2012 (AUM Fidelity)
Chris McGregor: “Burning Bush – Mbizo’s Baby” – Piano Song, Vol. 1 (Musica)
Ethan Iverson/Lee Konitz/Larry Grenadier/Jorge Rossy: “Body and Soul” – Costumes are Mandatory (High Note)
Hanuman Jazz Quartet: “Pottsum” – Soundhousing (Leo)
Scott Fields String Feartet: “Carolina Reaper” – Mostly Stick (Between the Lines)
Bradford/Gjerstad Quartet: “a story about you” – Silver Cornet (Nessa)
Roy Campbell Pyramid: “Communion” – Communion (Silkheart)

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-5). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

This week’s show was fun. I always forget how great the Ocora “Music of the World” box set is, so I was happy to start with a track from the “Afrique” disc in that collection. After that, a lot of funky stuff, including a couple of long afrobeat jams but then as usual it starts to get a little more random as the show progresses. But lots of great music!

Oh yeah, I was riffing a little on a NYT magazine article about streaming music, so I did a quick assessment of the not-on-spotify tracks in today’s show: The Ugandan musicians from the Ocora comp; Mask Man & the Agents; Roscoe Robinson; Lefties Soul Connection; Pino Canizzo; The Twilights; Orlandivo; John Zorn; Ken Vandermark and Atomic. (Some of those artists are represented, but I couldn’t find their tracks that were on today’s show.) And besides, the other ones that are on there, are you listening to ’em? Don’t give up the quest!

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (138MB, 2 hrs 31 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Unspecified Ugandan musicians: “Orchestre Lukeme & Song” – Afrique (Music of the World) (Ocora)
Urbano de Castro: “Fatimita” – Angola Soundtrack 2 – Hypnosis, Distorsions & Other Sonic Innovations 1969​-​1978 (Analog Africa)
Oscar Sulley & the Uhuru Dance Band: “Bukom Mashie” – Ghana soundz – Afro-Beat, Funk and Fusion in 70’s Ghana (Soundway)
K. Frimpong & Vis a Vis: “Aboagyewaa” – Ghana Soundz Volume 2: Afro-Beat, Funk and Fusion in 70’s Ghana (Soundway)
John Holt: “Sister Big Stuff” – 1000 Volts of Holt (Trojan)
The Meters: “Ease Back” – Funkify Your Life: The Meters Anthology (Rhino)
Funk Factory: “Rien Ne Va Plus” – What It Is! Funky Soul and Rare Grooves (Rhino)
Mask Man and the Agents: “It’s the Thing” – One Eye Open (Dynamo)
Roscoe Robinson: “Let Me Be Myself” – The Birmingham Sound, vol. 1 (Rabbit Factory)
People’s Choice: “I Like to Do It” – Philadelphia Roots (Soul Jazz)
The Fabulous Three: “Whitesands” – Soul Fire: The Majestic Collection (Fastlife)
Chicago Afrobeat Project: “Ich Fumbus Grossen” – Off the Grid (CABP Music)
Soul Rebels: “Living for the City” – Unlock your Mind (Rounder)
Lefties Soul Connection: “Freaky Franky” – Skimming the Skum (Melting Pot Music)
Pino Canizzo: “Black California” – Suono Libero Volume 2 (La Douce)
Nostalgia 77: “You and Me” – The Garden (Tru Thoughts)
Jimmy Collier & Frederick Douglass Kirkpatrick: “Hands Off Nkrumah” – Everybody’s Got a Right to Live (Smithsonian Folkways)
Selah Jubilee Singers: “Leak in the Building” – Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 1 (Document)
Muggsy Spanier & his Ragtime Band: “Mandy Make Up Your Mind” – Muggsy A-Z: A Portrait of Muggsy Spanier (Upbeat)
The Impressions: “Woman’s Got Soul” – The Complete A and B Sides 1961-1968 (Fontana)
The Twilights: “Bohemian” – Wierdsville! (Monsieur)
Johnny Adams: “Tra-La-La” – The Complete Ric & Ron Recordings, Vol. 4: Classic New Orleans R&B And More, 1958-1965 (New Rounder)
Kalafayi: “Kitoko Na Yo Ekosaki Ngai” – Roots of Rumba Rock: Congo Classics 1953-1955 (Crammed)
Sam Prekop: “C + F” – Who’s Your New Professor? (Thrill Jockey)
Orlan Divo: “Gueri Gueri” – Orlandivo (Kindred Spirits)
Peregoyo Y Su Combo Vacaná: “Descarga Vacaná” – The Afrosound of Colombia, Vol. 1 (Vampi Soul)
John Zorn: “Laughing Owl” – O’o (Tzadik)
Audio One: “The Floor (for Julius Hemphill)” – An International Report (Audiographic)
Atomic: “Crux” – Happy New Ears! (Jazzland)
Vijay Iyer: “Fleurette Africaine” – Solo (ACT)

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-5). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

The archive is back. I hope you dig it. I had fun. Not a proper feature, but things led pretty well down a South American route, with late 60’s stuff from Peru, Brazil and Uruguay, among other things.

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (139MB, 2 hrs 32 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Dusty Brooks: “(My Baby Loves) Chili Dogs” – 13th Annual Music Issue (Oxford American)
Guitar Rhythm Session: “Igumbagumba” – Christmas Jive: 78s and 45s from the Archives (Electric Jive)
West African Rhythm Brothers: “Ominira” – London is the Place for Me 2: Calypso & Kwela, Highlife & Jazz from Young Black London (Honest Jon’s)
Panaswing: “Me Lo Dijo Una Gitana” – Panama! 3: Calypso Panameño, Guajira Jazz & Cumbia Típica on the Isthmus 1960–75 (Soundway)
Los Ecos: “Baila Flaquita Baila” – Cumbia Beat Vol. 2 Tropical Sounds From Peru 1966-1983 (Vampi Soul)
Los Destellos: “Pasion oriental” – Cumbia Beat, Vol. 1: Experimental Guitar-Driven Tropical Sounds From Peru 1966-1976 (Vampi Soul)
Traffic Sound: “Yellow Sea Days – March 7th, 8th, 9th” – Virgin (Repsychled)
El Kinto: “Que Me Importa” – El Kinto (Clave)
Dom Salvador E Abolição: “Moeda, Reza e Côr” – Som, Sangue E Raça (CBS)
Kassin + 2: “Samba Machine” – Futurismo (Luaka Bop)
Domenico + 2: “Comigo” – Sincerely Hot (Luaka Bop)
Marcos Valle: “Proton Electron Neutron” – The Essential Marcos Valle (Mr. Bongo)
Seu Jorge: “Veia” – Músicas para Churrasco, Vol. 1 (Cafuné)
Tio Chango (featuring Frente Cumbiero): “Bocachico RMX” – Cumbia Bestial (Chusma)
William Onyeabor: “Something You Will Never Forget” – World Psychedelic Classics 5: Who is William Onyeabor? (Luaka Bop)
Captain Yaba: “Yaba Funk” – Yaba Funk Roots (RetroAfric)
Claude Rolcin Et Le West Indian Combo: “Colas-la” – Tumbélé! – Biguine, afro & latin sounds from the French Caribbean, 1963-74 (Soundway)
Curumin: “Mal Estar Card” – Japan Pop Show (Quannum)
Roberto Juan Rodriguez: “Baila! Gitano Baila!” – Baila! Gitano Baila! (Tzadik)
Denison/Kimball Trio: “Factory Loop” – Soul Machine (Skin Graft Records)
Young MC: “Know How” – Hip Hop Sessions: Classics from Hip Hop’s Holy Grail (Sessions)
The Coup: “My Favorite Mutiny” – Pick a Bigger Weapon (Epitaph)
MC Solaar: “Nouveau Western” – Prose Combat (Polydor)
Helene Smith: “Thrills and Chills” – Eccentric Soul: The Deep City Label (Numero Group)
Stevie Wonder: “Black Man” – Songs in the Key of Life (Motown)
DKV Trio: “Milwaukee, December 27, 2011: Part 2B” – Past Present (Not Two)
Radio I-Ching: “Topsy” – No Wave Au Go Go (Resonant)
Gil Evans Orchestra: “Moon Taj” – Into the Hot (Impulse)
Anthony Braxton Quartet: “No. 40M” – Willisau (Quartet) 1991 – Studio (Hat Art)
Archie Shepp: “Mama Too Tight” – Mama Too Tight (Impulse)

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-5). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

Another imagination-needed show: the archiver is still out-of-order, but most of the details are sorted so hopefully soon!

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Orchestre Kin-Bantou: “Bandoki 1&2” – Kin-Bantou (Sonafric)
African Brothers Band International of Ghana: “Owuo Aye Me Bi” – Owuo Aye Me Bi (Makossa)
Super Biton de Segou: “Nyangaran Foli” – Anthology (Kindred Spirits)
Orchestra Baba National: “Celibataire Pt. 1 & 2” – African Serenades 45: Kenyan Singles II (Matsuli Music)
David Thekwane: “1962 Shalashala” – 78 Revolutions per Minute – Majuba Jazz from Mra to Bra (Electric Jive)
Fabien Libasi: “Bengela Ngai Bosele” – The World is Shaking – Cubanismo from the Congo 1954-55 (Honest Jon’s)
Orchestre Baobab: “Ndongoy Daara” – Specialist in all Styles (Stern’s)
The Robins: “I’m Living OK” – The Dawn of Doo-Wop (Proper)
Mighty Destroyer: “Mother’s Love” – Never a Pal Like Mother (Dust-to-Digital)
Os Mutantes: “Panis et Circenses” – Os Mutantes (Philips)
Los Pirañas: “Lgbtrago” – Toma Tu Jabón Kapax (Bandcamp)
DJ Dolores: “Ciranda Da Madrugada” – Aparelhagem (Crammed Discs)
Doug Wieselman: “The Girl in the Booth” – Dimly Lit: Collected Soundtracks 1996-2002 (Tzadik)
Calixto Ochoa y su Conjunto: “Las Melizas” – Grandes Exitos (Discos Fuentes)
Casa de Soul: “Berimbau” – Casa de Soul (self-released)
Baden Powell: “Blues a Volonte” – Images on Guitar (MPS Records)
Ike & Tina Turner: “A Fool in Love” – Beg, Scream and Shout: The Big Ol’ Box of Sixties Soul (Rhino)
JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound: “Ordinary” – Howl (Bloodshot)
The Gaturs: “Booger Man” – Wasted (Funky Delicacies)
Artie Christopher: “Stoned Soul” – Atlantic 7″ – 2573 (Atlantic)
James Brown: “Instrumental” – Newport Jazz Festival, 7/6/1969 (Concert Vault)
Jenny Magnus: “Crazy” – Whoopsadaisy (Eighth Day)
Marty Ehrlich/Ben Goldberg: “Twos” – Light At The Crossroads (Songlines )
Ted Sirota’s Rebel Souls: “Axé” – Breeding Resistance (Delmark)
The Tiptons: “12 Days” – Drive (CD Baby)
David Murray: “At the Cafe Central” – Shakill’s Warrior (DIW)
Hanuman Jazz Quartet: “Bhurma Dreams” – Soundhousing (Leo)
Vandermark Five: “Speedplay (for Max Roach)” – Beat Reader (Atavistic)
Normand Guilbeault Ensemble: “Moanin’” – Mingus Erectus (Ambiances Magnétiques)

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-5). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

My home computer which archives the stream of the show melted down pretty seriously, so this show was not archived. Use your imagination!

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Francis Bebey: “Sassandra” – Akwaaba: Music For Sanza (Original Music)
Mahagon: “Divka S Jablky” – Between Or Beyond The Iron Curtain” – Rare Grooves from Eastern Europe 1967-1978 (Crippled Dick Hot Wax!)
Funkadelic: “Undisco Kidd” – Tales of Kidd Funkadelic (Westbound Records)
Mr. Lif: “Ol’ Crew” – Superrappin’, v. 2 (Groove Attack Productions)
Carolina Chocolate Drops: “Hit ’em up style” – Genuine Negro Jig (Nonesuch)
Andrew Bird: “Minor Beatrice” – Music of Hair (Wegawam Music)
Ella Fitzgerald: “You’re Driving Me Crazy” – Twelve Nights in Hollywood (Verve)
Kwaa Mansah: “Kalabule” – Vintage Palmwine (Music & Words/Otrabanda)
Elizabeth Cotten: “Vastopol” – Freight Train And Other North Carolina Folk Songs And Tunes (Smithsonian Folkways)
Terry Callier: “Blues for Marcus” – First Light: Chicago 1969-71 (Premonition Records)
Sun Ra: “Lights on a Satellite” – Fate in a Pleasant Mood (Evidence)
Will Holshouser Trio: “Reed Song” – Reed Song (Clean Feed)
Golden Gate Quartet: “Let That Liar Alone” – Travelin’ Shoes (Bluebird)
The Everly Brothers: “Leave My Woman Alone” – The Complete Cadence Recordings: 1957-60 (Varese Fontana)
The Paragons: “My Best Girl” – On The Beach With The Paragons (Charly )
The Pharcyde: “Otha Fish” – Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde (Delicious Vinyl)
Ganja Ward: “Saffron” – Punjabi Lounge (Buddha Lounge)
The Smiths: “Bigmouth Strikes Again” – The Queen is Dead (Sire)
The Blue Notes: “Now” – Township Bop (Proper)
Génesis: “Mañana” – 30 Años de música Uruguaya (Posdata)
Abayudaya congregation, led by J.J. Keki : “Psalm 136” – Abayudaya: Music from the Jewish People of Uganda (Smithsonian Folkways)
The Clarence Ashley Group: “Maggie Walker Blues” – Friends of Old Time Music (Smithsonian Folkways)
Koo Nimo: “Odo Akosomo” – Vintage Palmwine (Music & Words/Otrabanda)
Kahil El’Zabar’s Ritual Trio: “Autumn Leaves” – Ooh Live! (Katalyst Entertainment)
Mavis Staples: “You’re Driving Me (To the Arms of a Stranger)” – Mavis Staples/Only for the Lonely (Stax)
Cha Cha Hogan: “Grit Gitter” – 7″ (Soulville)
The Flirtations: “Settle Down” – The Cream of Vintage Soul, Vol. 1 (Life on Mars)
William Devaughn: “Be Thankful for What You Got” – Be Thankful for What You Got (Roxbury Records)
School Days: “Broad Daylight (for Mal Waldron)” – Crossing Division (Okka Disk)
Digital Primitives: “Spyzee” – Lipsomuch / Soul Searchin’ (Hopscotch Records)
Dave Douglas & Brass Ecstasy: “Bowie” – Spirit Moves (Greenleaf)

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-5). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

No, it’s not Mardi Gras time, even if the show starts you off thinking so. Instead, we commemorate the life of Cosimo Matassa, the legendary New Orleans recording engineer who was involved with so many of those hits. Another mini-motif (although not all in one block) is jubilee gospel, which I had been enjoying with faithful listener number one over the weekend. That of course branches out into some more doo-woppy stuff as well as some other kinds of gospel and ultimately some of everything from James Brown to Joy Division and the Kronos Quartet to Woody Guthrie

Enjoy!

PS Check out a Cosimo retrospective from the great Funky 16 Corners. And did I mention that there’s a new weekly show from Dan Phillips, the purveyor of Home of the Groove?

Listen:

download program (146MB, 2 hrs 40 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Fats Domino: “Shu Rah” – Walking to New Orleans (Capitol)
Al Johnson: “Carnival Time” – Doctors, Professors, Kings & Queens (Shout Factory)
Ernie K-Doe: “Mother-in-Law” – Here Come the Girls (Charly)
Professor Longhair: “Mardi Gras in New Orleans” – New Orleans Piano (Atlantic)
Golden Gate Quartet: “Golden Gate Gospel Train” – Travelin’ Shoes (Bluebird)
The Jubalaires: “Handwriting on the Wall” – The Singing Waiters 47/48 (Heritage)
Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash with the Carter Family and the Statler Brothers: “Daddy Sang Bass” – The Essential Johnny Cash (Columbia)
Los Zafiros: “Y Sabes Bien” – Bossa Cubana (World Circuit)
C.K. Mann & His Carousel : “Funky Hi-Life” – Funky Highlife (Mr. Bongo)
Amadou Ballake & Orchestre Super Volta: “Johnny” – Bambara Mystic Soul: The Raw Sound of Burkina Faso 1974-1979 (Analog Africa)
Chico Buarque: “Pedro Pedreiro” – Paramount: Templo da Bossa (Loudspeaker)
The Sapphires: “Who Do You Love” – Girl Group Sounds Lost and Found: One Kiss Can Lead to Another (Rhino)
Chucho Valdés: “Chiquitico” – Maestros del Pianos… Cuban Style (RMM)
Zaperoko: “No Quedo Ni El Gato” – Subway Salsa: the Montuno Records Story (Vampisoul)
James Brown: “Hold It” – Soul Pride: the Instrumentals (Polydor)
Jimmy Hughes: “Neighbor, Neighbor” – The Fame Studios Story 1961-73 (Kent)
Curley Money & his Rolling Ramblers: “Stop Your Knockin’” – 12th Annual Southern Music Issue: Alabama (Oxford American)
Mlimani Park Orchestra: “Neema” – Zanzibara 7: Sikinde Vs Ndekule (Buda Musique)
Izintombi Zomoya: “Bekumnandi Emshadweni” – Christmas Jive: 78s and 45s from the Archives (Electric Jive)
Kronos Quartet with Asha Bhosle: “Dum Maro Dum (Take another Toke)” – You’ve Stolen My Heart (Nonesuch)
Cornershop: “Brimful of Asha” – When I Was Born for the 7th Time (Luaka Bop)
Chris Mills: “The World Some Sad Hour” – The Wall to Wall Sessions (Ernest Jenning)
Stereolab: “Cosmic Country Noir” – Margerine Eclipse (Elektra)
Joy Division: “Heart and Soul” – Closer (Factory)
The Bus Lines: “Beauty Dragster” – Lux & Ivy’s Favorites v. 16 (Kogar the Swinging Ape)
Cabruera: “Erectuos Cactos” – Brazil Classics 7: What’s Happening in Pernambuco (Luaka Bop)
Empire Jubilee Quartet: “Get Right Church” – Goodbye, Babylon (Dust-to-Digital)
Fannie Bell Chapman: “He’s My Rock, My Sword, My Shield” – Fire In My Bones : Raw + Rare + Otherworldly African-American Gospel, 1944-2007 (Tompkins Square)
Ohio Players: “Proud Mary” – Pain (Westbound)
Leonard Santic All-Stars: “Problems #2” – Down Santic Way: Santic’s Jamaican Productions 1973-1975 (Pressure Sounds)
Houghas Sorowonko: “Enuanom Adofo” – Ghana Special: Modern Highlife, Afro Sounds & Ghanaian Blues 1968 – 1981 (Soundway)
Special Ed: “I Got it Made” – Hip Hop Forever (BBE)
Charizma and Peanut Butter Wolf: “Ice Cream Truck” – Big Shots (Stones Throw)
William Keating: “Down Down Down” – Songs and Ballads of the Anthracite Miners (Rounder Select)
Woody Guthrie: “Two Good Men” – Hard Travelin’ (The Asch Recordings, v. 3) (Smithsonian Folkways)
Hot Tuna: “Winin’ Boy Blues” – Winterland 10/2/1973 (Concert Vault)
Lucille Bogan: “Sloppy Drunk Blues” – Barrelhouse Mamas Born in the Alley, Raised Up in the Slum Classic Piano Rags, Blues & Stomps from the 1920s & 1930s (Yazoo)
Rahim Alhaj: “Taqsim Maqam Saba” – When The Soul Is Settled: Music Of Iraq (Smithsonian Folkways)
Paul Chambers: “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm” – Mosaic Select: Paul Chambers (Mosaic)

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-5). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

No theme in particular, but I left the station feeling pretty good about this week’s show.

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (142MB, 2 hrs 35 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Wiley and the Checkmates: “Guess You Wouldn’t Know Nothin’ ‘Bout That” – Southern Masters (2009-1) (Oxford American)
The Fabulous Shalimars: “Funky Line Part 1” – The Sound of Funk 4 (Goldmine Soul Supply)
Mavis Staples: “The Choking Kind” – Mavis Staples/Only For The Lonely (Stax)
Grupo Monumental: “Si, Para Usted” – Si, Para Usted: The Funky Beats of Revolutionary Cuba Vol. 1 (Light in the Attic)
Lalo Guerrero y sus Cinco Lobos: “Los Chucos Suaves” – Pachuco Boogie (Arhoolie)
Tabu Ley Rochereau: “Tabalissimo” – The Voice of Lightness (Stern’s Music)
Les Wanyika: “Sina Makosa” – Sina Makosa (Tamasha)
Bahta Gèbrè-Heywèt: “Tèssassatègn Eko” – Éthiopiques 8: Swinging Addis (Buda Musique)
Sroeng Santi: “Baa Baa Buam Buam” – Thai? Dai!: The Heavier Sound of the Luk Thung Underground (Finders Keepers Records)
Sinn Sisamouth & Ros Sereysothea: “Sronoss Oh Jrov” – Sinn Sisamouth (khmermusic.thecoleranch.com/)
Cannonball Adderley Quintet: “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” – “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” Live at the Club (Capitol)
The Three Sounds: “Your Love is Too Much” – Blue Break Beats, Vol. 1 (Blue Note)
Yo La Tengo: “Moby Octopad” – I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One (Matador)
The Bamboos with Lyrics Born: “Turn it Up” – Turn it Up EP (Tru Thoughts)
Bobby Cook & the Explosions: “Untitled” – Local Customs: Downriver Revival (Numero Group)
Eldridge Holmes: “Hump Back” – Saturday Night Fish Fry: New Orleans Funk and Soul (Soul Jazz)
Blo: “Number One” – Chapters, Steps and Phases (LT&T)
Del Jones’ Positive Vibes: “Afro Funkismus” – Del Jones’ Positive Vibes (Hikeka Records)
Betty Wright: “Ooola La” – The Very Best of Betty Wright (Rhino)
Carole King: “It’s Too Late” – Tapestry (Ode)
Mighty Sparrow: “Dear Sparrow” – Volume 4 (Ice Records)
Ramblers International: “Nyame Ne Nhyehee” – The Hit Sound of the Ramblers Dance Band (Flame Tree)
New Orleans Rhythm Kings: “Since We Fell Out of Love” – Muggsy A-Z: A Portrait of Muggsy Spanier (Upbeat)
Kevin O’Donnell’s Quality Six: “Girl from New York City” – Heretic Blues (Delmark)
The Pilgrim Jubilee Singers of Chicago, Illinois: “Steal Away” – Walk On/The Old Ship of Zion (Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab)
The Jubilee Hummingbirds: “Stop Laughing at your Fellow Man” – Disturb My Soul: Gospel from Stax Records’ Chalice Label (Ace)
Xavier Cugat Orchestra with Cha Cha Aguilar & Carmen Castillo: “Perfidia” – Bim Bam Bum 1935-1940 (Harlequin)
Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers: “El Toro” – The Freedom Rider (Blue Note)
Eric Dolphy: “The Baron” – Out There (Original Jazz Classics)
Avishai Cohen: “October 25th” – Introducing Triveni (Anzic)
Thelonious Monk Quartet: “Bright Mississippi” – Monk’s Dream (Columbia)
The Lounge Lizards: “A Paper Bag and the Sun” – Voice of Chunk (Strange and Beautiful Music)
Perfume Azul do Sol: “Calça Velha” – Nascimento (Chantecler)
World Kulintang Institute: “Tagonggo” – 3rd Century Gong/Ensemble Music From The Southern Philippines (World Kulingtan Institute)
Luiz Bonfa: “Saudade Vem Correndo” – Le Roi de la Bossa Nova (Universal)

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-5). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

Groovy jazz, afrobeat, afropop, salsa and then some Woody Guthrie to keep you on your toes.

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (138MB, 2 hrs 31 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Dudu Pukwana: “Ducking Darkness” – Black Horse (Black Lion)
John Christensen & Arild Andersen: “Graffiti” – Aérien Voyage : Rare And Unreleased Grooves And Fusion Jazz From Norway (Melodisc)
Lee Fields: “Watch That Man” – Let’s Get a Groove On (Desco Records)
Kashmere Stage Band: “Getting It Out of My System” – Texas Thunder Soul 1968-1974 (Now-Again Records)
Sly and the Family Stone: “Let Me Have It All” – Fresh (Epic)
Orchestre Poly-Rhythmo de Cotonou: “Iya Me Dji Ki Bi Ni” – “The Vodoun Effect” 1972-1975 Funk & Sato from Benin´s Obscure Labels (Analog Africa)
Ebo Taylor Jr. & Wuta Waziri: “Mondo Soul Funky” – Ghana Soundz: Afro-Beat. Funk & Fusion in 70’s Ghana Vol. 2 (Soundway)
The Elcados: “Chokoi & Oreje” – The World Ends: Afro Rock & Psychedelia in 1970s Nigeria (Soundway)
Le Super Borgou de Parakou: “Abere Klouklou (Cavacha Dendi)” – The Bariba Sound 1970-1976 (Analog Africa)
Orchestre Makassy: “Athumani Pt. 2” – Legends of East Africa (ARC Music)
Laba Sosseh & Liwanza Band: “El Guaguanco” – Formidable Laba Sosseh: Special Liwanza Band) (Sacodisc)
Tambo: “Muñeco” – Subway Salsa: The Montuno Records Story (Vampisoul)
Joe Houston: “La Paloma Twist” – Twisting In Orbit (Crown)
The Heliocentrics: “Space Time Girl” – Fallen Angels – the Singles Collection (Now-Again Records)
Caetano Veloso: “Shoot Me Dead” – Caetano Veloso (1971) (Polygram)
El Michels Affair: “Shimmy Shimmy Ya” – Enter the 37th Chamber (Fat Beats)
Johnny Osbourne: “We Need Love” – 100% Dynamite (Soul Jazz)
Zed Nkabinde: “Inkonjane Jive” – Next Stop… Soweto, v. 1: Township Sounds From The Golden Age Of Mbaqanga (Strut)
Chris McGregor and the South African Exiles’ Thunderbolt: “Mra” – Thunderbolt (Popular African Music)
Woody Guthrie: “Mean Talkin’ Blues” – Hard Travelin’: The Asch Recordings, Vol. 3 (Smithsonian Folkways)
Mississippi John Hurt: “Nobody’s Dirty Business” – The Greatest Songsters 1927-29 (Document)
Ebenezer Calender and his Maringar Band: “Fire Fire Fire” – Marvellous Boy: Calypso from West Africa (Honest Jon’s)
Richard “Rabbit” Brown: “James Alley Blues” – The Anthology of American Folk Music (Smithsonian Folkways)
The Soul Stirrers: “Glory Glory, Hallelujah” – Good News (Proper)
Oliver Nelson: “Ostinato” – Meet Oliver Nelson (Original Jazz Classics)
Randy Weston: “Hold ‘Em Joe” – Jazz a la Bohemia (Original Jazz Classics)
Bar Kokhba Sextet: “Idalah Abal” – 50th Birthday Celebration, vol. 11 (Tzadik)
Irene Schweizer/Hamid Drake/Fred Anderson: “Schwandrake” – Willisau & Taktlos (Intakt Records)

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-5). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

This week’s show went long, so the playlist includes stuff you can’t hear on the archive—which cuts just as Leo Smith’s “Who Killed David Walker?” is getting rolling. But there’s still plenty of great stuff, enough that at least one listener was motivated to enthusiastically call in. Hear for yourself.

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (147MB, 2 hrs 40 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Black Santiagos: “Bani Wo Dzo” – Ignace De Souza: the Great Unknowns (Original Music)
The Bar-Kays: “Knucklehead” – The Complete Stax-Volt Singles (Atlantic)
Alemayehu Eshete: “Tènagèri” – Ethiopiques, Vol. 22: More Vintage! 1972-1974 (Buda Musique)
Balla et ses Balladins: “Paulette” – Reminiscin’ In Tempo With Balla Et Ses Balladins (Popular African Music)
Cymande: “The Message” – Cymande (Janus Records)
Nostalgia 77: “After Ararat” – The Garden (Tru Thoughts )
Chip Willis and Double Exposure: “I’m Gonna Gitcha” – Eccentric Soul: The Prix Label (Numero Group)
Orchestre GO Malebo: “Likambo ya Supa” – African Serenades 29 (Cheeku) (Matsuli Music)
Tito Puente: “Ran Kan Kan” – Mambo Birdland (RMM Records)
Gato Barbieri: “Mate” – Latino America (Impulse)
Hedzoleh Sounds: “Hearts Ne Kotoko” – Hedzoleh Sounds (Soundway)
The Rhythm Devils: “Trenches” – The Apocalypse Now Sessions (Ryko Analogue)
Rev. Louis Overstreet: “Believe on Me” – His Guitar, His Sons And The Congregation Of St. Luke’s Powerhouse Church Of God In Christ (Arhoolie)
Assagai: “Barazinbar” – Assagai (Philips)
Blackalicious: “The Fabulous Ones” – Nia (Quannum Projects)
Shawn Lee’s Ping Pong Orchestra: “Friday the 13th” – Music And Rhythm (Ubiquity)
JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound: “Alright” – Beat Of Our Own Drum (Vampi Soul)
The Music Company: “The Word” – Rubber Soul Jazz (Ace)
Ivan “Boogaloo Joe” Jones: “Hoochie Coo Chickie” – Acid Jazz, Vol. 1 (BGP )
Sensational Skylights: “Jesus is Sweet to Me” – Fire in My Bones: Raw, Rare & Otherworldly African-American Gospel, 1944-2007 (Tompkins Square)
James Chance and the Contortions: “Contort Yourself” – Irresistible Impulse (Tiger Style)
fIREHOSE: “It Matters” – Ragin’ Full On (SST)
Michael Columbia: “T.E. Lawrence” – Stay Hard (Alabaster)
John Tchicai Charlie Kohlhase Quintet: “Scholer’s Fountain of Life” – Life Overflowing (Nada)
Geof Bradfield: “Contemplation” – Rule of Three (Liberated Zone)
The Benny Goodman Sextet with Charlie Christian: “As Long as I Live” – Genius of the Electric Guitar (Columbia)
Roy Eldridge: “The Gasser” – After You’ve Gone (Decca/GRP)
Chucho Valdes: “Rhapsody in Blue” – Briyumba Palo Congo (Blue Note)
Oliver Nelson: “Blues O’Mighty” – More Blues and the Abstract Truth (Impulse)
Mark Dresser & Susie Ibarra: “Tone Time” – Tone Time (Wobbly Rail)
Pachora: “Bushka Lounge” – Astereotypical (Winter & Winter)
Per “Texas” Johansson: “Lidkoping” – Alla Mina Kompisar (EMI Svenska)
Graham Reynolds: “Old King Dooji” – Duke! Three Portraits of Ellington (Innova)
Leo Smith: “Who Killed David Walker?” – Procession of the Great Ancestry (Nessa)
Sticks and Stones: “Colonial Mentality” – Shed Grace (Thrill Jockey)
Johnny Dyani: “Wish You Sunshine” – Song for Biko (Steeplechase)
Spaceways Incorporated: “You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks / Hit it and Quit It” – Thirteen Cosmic Standards by Sun Ra & Funkadelic (Atavistic)
Triptych Myth: “Susan” – Triptych Myth (Hopscotch Records)
Mark Helias: “Hung Over Easy” – Loopin’ the Cool (Enja Records)
Thelonious Monk Quartet: “Bye-Ya” – Monk’s Dream (Columbia)
Vijay Iyer: “Human Nature” – Solo (The ACT Company)
Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society: “Brooklyn Babylon: the Neighborhood” – Brooklyn Babylon (New Amsterdam Records)
Eri Yamamoto Trio: “Dark Blue Sky” – The Next Page (AUM Fidelity)

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-5). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

Something went wrong with the WNUR stream again, but I thought there were a few gems in this weeks show, so I put together a playlist (sans me talking) and made a “synthetic” show for those who want to check it out. The only thing missing is the Jason Roebke track at the end, because that was from the station’s copy of that album.

Apropos of nothing in particular, I put together a mini-set of songs about Moses, and not always the biblical one. (I know that I played the Toots song a few weeks ago, but it is too good to skip. Which also means that last week I shouldn’t have skipped Cyril Neville’s “Gossip” in the “gossip” mini-theme, but too late to go back!)

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (115MB, 2 hrs 22 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
The Jubalaires: “Moses Smote the Water” – The Singing Waiters: 1947-1948 (Heritage)
Roberta Flack: “Go Up Moses” – Quiet Fire (Atlantic)
Lou Donaldson: “Reverend Moses” – Alligator Bogaloo (Blue Note)
Ella Fitzgerald: “Ol’ Man Mose” – Twelve Nights in Hollywood (Verve)
Toots & the Maytals: “Six and Seven Books of Moses” – Never Get Old (Heartbeat )
The Carter Family: “Little Moses” – The Anthology of American Folk Music (Smithsonian Folkways)
Homer Quincy Smith: “Go Down Moses” – American Primitive Vol. II Pre-War Revenants (1897-1939) (Revenant)
João Gilberto: “Izaura” – João Gilberto (Polydor)
James & Bobby Purify: “I’m Your Puppet” – The Fame Studios Story: 1961-1973 (Kent)
Al Green: “Let it Shine” – Full of Fire (Hi)
Lord Rhaburn: “Chicano” – Numero Group Digital Digs (Numero Group)
Brute Force: “The Deacon” – What It Is! Funky Soul and Rare Grooves (1967-1977) (Rhino)
Jurassic 5: “How We Get Along” – Quality Control (Interscope)
Eric B. & Rakim: “As the Rhyme Goes On” – Paid in Full (Island)
Run DMC: “Papa Crazy” – Tougher than Leather (Profile)
Linton Kwesi Johnson: “Sonny’s Lettah (anti-sus poem)” – Independant Intavenshan: the Island Anthology (Island)
The Travellers: “Jah Gave Us this World” – Black Black Minds (Pressure Sounds)
Ray Charles: “Funny But I Still Love You” – The Birth of Soul: The Complete Atlantic Rhythm and Blues Recordings (Atlantic)
Mavis Staples: “It Makes Me Wanna Cry” – Only for the Lonely (Stax)
Lou Courtney: “Rubber Neckin’ (Chick Check’n)” – VK-10602 – 7″ (Verve)
Haruna Ishola & his Apala Group: “Kafowo Komo Niwe” – Apala Messenger (IndigeDisc)
Unspecified musicians: “Jew’s Harp and Drum” – India: Traveling Artists of the Desert, The Musical Culture of Rajasthan (Lyrichord)
Les Musiciens du Nil: “Taksim Arghoul (Petit)” – Egypte: Les Musicians du Nil (Ocora)
William Ackerman: “The Second Great Tortion Bar Overland Of West Townshend, Vermont, Jose Pepsi Attending” – In Search of the Turtle’s Navel (Windham Hill)
John Buddy Williams’ Band: “My Salty Sin” – Dirty Jazz From Down South (Smithsonian Folkways)
Django Reinhardt: “Stephen’s Blues” – Djangologie/USA (DRG)
Hank Penny: “Wang Wang Blues” – Crazy Rhythm: The Standard Transcriptions (Bloodshot Revival)
Steve Coleman & Five Elements: “Law of Balance” – The Opening of the Way ( RCA Victor)
Steve Lacy: “Evidence” – Evidence (New Jazz)
Pierre Dørge & New Jungle Orchestra: “Baton/Lonely Woman” – Giraf (Dacapo Records)
Anouar Brahem/John Surman/David Holland: “Mazad” – Thimar (ECM)
Håkon Kornstad: “Sweden” – Single Engine (Jazzland)
Birth: “2 Pho” – Birth (self-released)
East New York Ensemble de Music: “Ti-Ti” – At The Helm (Folkways Records)
Björk: “Frosti” – Vespertine (One Little Indian)
Jason Roebke Octet: “High/Red/Center” – High/Red/Center (Delmark)

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

We ease into this week’s show with a little soul and then, for no particular reason, a handful of songs about gossip. After that, we pay respect to the memory of Idris Muhammad, who died last week at the age of 74. After that, some pretty free freebop, some brass and horn-heavy funk, and a variety of odds and ends.

Enjoy!

PS After I posted the show, Dan Melnick tweeted this link to an interview with Idris Muhammad from the very first issue of Wax Poetics.

Listen:

download program (145MB, 2 hrs 38 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
The Stereos: “Stereo Freeze” – Chicago Soul (Electric Blues Funk & Soul: The New Sound Of Chicago In The 1960’s) (Soul Jazz)
The Flirtations: “Nothing but a Heartache” – Beg, Scream and Shout: The Big Ol’ Box of 60’s Soul (Rhino)
Diamond Joe: “Gossip, Gossip” – Get Low Down: The Soul of New Orleans ’65-’67 (Sundazed)
Dalmain Ebanks: “We Don’t Need No Radio” – Under the Coconut Tree: Music from Grand Cayman and Tortola (Original Music)
The Slits: “I Heard It through the Grapevine” – Cut (Island)
Fats Domino: “Blueberry Hill” – Blueberry Hill (Synergy)
Lou Donaldson: “Peepin’” – Mr. Shing-A-Ling (Blue Note)
Grant Green: “Ain’t It Funky Now” – Blue Break Beats, vol 2 (Blue Note)
Idris Muhammad: “Sudan” – House of the Rising Sun (CTI)
Gene Ammons: “Piece to Keep Away Evil Spirits” – Black Cat (Blue Note)
Idris Muhammad & Joe Lovano: “Miles Mode” – Right Now (Cannonball)
Idris Muhammad Quartet: “Soulful Drums” – Kabsha (Theresa)
Roscoe Mitchell: “Linefine Lyon Seven” – Roscoe Michell & the Sound and Space Ensembles (Black Saint)
Dave Holland Quartet: “See-Saw” – Conference of the Birds (ECM)
George Lewis: “Phenomenology” – The Solo Trombone Record (Sackville)
Live Action Brass Band: “I Want to be Ready” – Horn to Horn (Postout)
Dirty Dozen Brass Band: “Charlie Dozen” – Open Up: Whatcha Gonna Do For The Rest Of Your Life? (Columbia)
The Fontanelles: “Criminality” – Pinprick (First Word Records)
Lafayette Afro Rock Band: “Darkest Light” – Darkest Light: Best of the Lafayette Afro Rock Band (Strut)
Modern Detergents: “Monkey Hips & Yice” – Boddie Recording Company: Cleveland, Ohio (Numero Group)
Kahil El’Zabar’s The Ritual: “Earth Song” – Sacred Love (Sound Aspects)
Joseph Jarman-Famoudou Don Moye: “Nke Ala (The Earth) – Egwu-Tombong Goudiaby” – Egwu-Anwu (Sun Song) (India Navigation)
Cliff Jordan & John Gilmore: “Bo-Till” – Blowing in from Chicago (Blue Note)
New Orleans Rhythm Kings: “Since We Fell Out of Love” – Muggsy A-Z – A Portrait of Muggsy Spanier (Upbeat Jazz Records)
John Kirby: “Tunisian Trail” – John Kirby And His Orchestra 1941 – 1943 (Chronological Classics)
Gamelan Pacifica: “Peaches of Immortality” – Trance Gong (What Next)