Accordion Noir radio playlist 2008-04-11: Pan-African Accordion!

AccNoir 2008-04-11

We’d built up to it — Accordion Noir radio episode number 72, dating to April 11th of the year 2008.  Not just any episode, not just featuring our usual eclectic mix — instead, it was a member drive special, featuring an entire program built around sharing the multiple faces of accordion music around the continent of Africa.  (And between you and me, it’s clear that one hour was just scraping the surface!  Though it’s been put off ten years already, we clearly need to revisit this theme in the not-so-distant future.)

At its original online home it was enjoyed some 3770 times, but we hope that future generations of Afro-cordion scholars will enjoy our groundwork enjoying the sounds of this continent over at the Internet Archive.  Now here, to help enhance your listening discovery, is its playlist:

Artist — Song – Album (date) – Origin – Label/Contact info:

Accordion Noir Africa PRA (That’s Régiz Gisavo, from Madagascar. Donors to the station fund-drive get a free CD of his!)

Boubacar Traoré – Kanou – Kongo Magni 2005 – Mali (w/Régis Gizavo, acc from Madagascar) – http://www.worldvillagemusic.com
Geliya Debese – Mamtshawe (1965) – Squashbox: Zulu, Sotho, Xhosa Concertina, 1930-1965 – South Africa – Dreadfully out of print; David M. sent us this, thanks David!
Bonga – mulemba xangola – Bonga Live (2004) – Angola / France (Francisco (Fusica) André, acc) – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonga_%28musician%29
Bolia We Ndenge – Bosamba Ndeke – Congotronics 2 (2005) – Congo – http://www.congotronics.com/ [See below for donation info: ]
Bonga – praca – Bonga Live 2004 – Angola, Africa / Paris, France
Grupo Ferro Gaita – Fundo Baxo – The Rough Guide To The Music Of Cape Verde – Cape Verde – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funaná
Hossam Ramzy – Habibi Baladi, We Zay El Amar (My beloved is Baladi, and is as beautiful as a full moon) – El Amar “The Moon” (2000) – Egypt – Mohsen Allaam on rockin’ belly-dance micro-tuned acc. – http://www.hossamramzy.com/
George William Aingo – Tarkwa Na Abosu (1927) – Global Accordion: Early Recordings – Ghana, West Africa (I’ve got a lot to learn here, but Aingo wasn’t the acc player.)
Sudanda – Zul Sudani (myspace mix) – Demo (2007) – Darfur, Sudan / Vancouver, BC, Canada – http://www.myspace.com/sudanda
Wafir – Lluvia – Nilo Azul – Sudan – http://wafir.calabashmusic.com/ [Calabash Music is like a non-profit iTunes where your money really goes to artists. They trying to set up micro-credit support for musicians around the world. Pretty cool work, worth supporting!]
Oguta Bobo with his accordion – Nelson Owuo – Rujina Kalando (1998?) – Kenya – Luo Accordion/Concertina (I don’t know much about this record, the lyrics are supposed to be really funny.)
Ikhwani Safaa Musical Club – Zinduna – Zanzibar 01 • 1905-2005 • Cent ans de Taarab à Zanzibar – Zanzibar (The oldest band in Africa, 100 years!)
Régis Gizavo/Louis Mhlanga/David Mirandon – Zvinoshamisa – Stories (2006) – Madagascar, Zimbabwe/South Africa, France – http://regisgizavo.calabashmusic.com/

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ps. This episode’s “cover” is… not Paul Simon! Instead it’s from the Austrian band Attwenger’s tour of Zimbabwe. I like the squeezebox/Africa image. http://www.attwenger.at/

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Whatever donations we get in will be matched with a donation to women’s rights and activist work in Africa: check out:
The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo
http://www.thegreatestsilence.org/
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/04/05/8106/

Matching Donations received for this show will go to:
The Urgent Action Fund (for Women’s Human Rights) – Africa
http://www.urgentactionfund.org/

Thanks for reading us here (and hopefully listening to us, there), but if you find you want more, you can always keep up with us on Twitter (@AccordionNoir and @AccordionBruce), Instagram (@AccordionNoirFest), and Facebook at Accordion Noir fans, the Accordion Noir Festival, and the Vancouver Squeezebox Circle. Cheers & squeeze on!