Travelling the far corners of planet earth is Weltbeat selector and host Jean Trouillet, who just uploaded his latest, far-reaching Globalwize selection to our Greedio Mixcloud channel. Inviting us on yet another eclectic listening journey, Globalwize #387 also features a special tribute to the late Senegalese singer and one of the most important purveyors of the mbalax style, Thione Seck.
The two-hour show gets right to it with a lush track by the UK outfit Transglobal Underground and Bulgarian vocalist Yanka Rupkina, followed by another track off the same album, featuring English folk singer/producer Jim Moray and Hungarian vocalist Nori Kovacs. Next up is the Mediterranean trio of Efren Lopez, Stelios Petrakis and Bijan Chemirani and then two tracks by English songwriter Piers Faccini, also drawing heavy inspiration from the Mediterranean region. Christine Salem from La Réunion lends her mesmerising blues-tinged voice to the mix before we head on a short trip of Cuba and Brazil, hot on the heels of jazz pianist Omar Sosa and France-based ambassador of Brazilian music, João Selva. Moving on, we get to listen to two rock'n'rolling tracks from the fabled Prof. Bop archives, i.e. Volume number 5 of "Down At The Ugly Men's Lounge". Trouillet then ensues with two blazing Edo Funk tracks from Analog Africa's recently released compilation, one by Akaba Man and The African Pride and one by Osayomore Joseph and The Creative Seven.
Transitioning into the second hour of the show, Malian griot singer Mah Damba and French accordionist Antoine Girard make a grand entrance. We then remain on the African content, as Trouillets embarks on a special tribute segment to his friend Thione Seck, who very recently passed due to Covid. The late Senegelase singer and songwriter is an iconic representative of the popular mbalax style of music. At the age of only 19, Seck recorded his signature tune "Muhamadu Bamba" alongside Dakar's Orchestre Baobab, a song Trouillet presents to us in three different versions. He follows that up with another track of Seck's 2005-released album "Orientisseme" called "Woyatina", where Seck is joined by Egyptian singer Rehab and the Madras film orchestra, and finally "Diongoma", recorded with Seck's band Raam Daan, an ode to a beautiful woman as befitting of Seck's crooner status. Up next is Seck's nephew Assane Ndiaye, who sounds just like his uncle. Then joined by the LSO is Malian kora player Toumani Diabaté, who hands over to the late Bunny Wailer and his “Armagideon" in closing.
Tune into the full show via the player below or head over to our Greedio Mixcloud channel. Find the full playlist here.