Opening with two tracks by none other than the great Johnny Cash, Weltbeat selector and host Jean Trouillet sets the magnificent telltale tone for episode #391 of his far-reaching Globalwize format on Frankfurt's Radio X, now streaming live in our Greedio Mixcloud channel.
Moving on to the one and only George Gershwin, we hear two more classics, i.e. the fitting "Summertime" performed by Lonnie Johnson and "I Love You Porgy" as sung by Nina Simone. Travelling across the Atlantic, we visit Burkina Faso and chanteuse Kady Diarra, mixing tradition with modern production and with members of her family joining her on balafon, ngoni, drums and more. You can watch the companion video to single "Mousso" below. Next up, it's 'afrodelic' New York-based group Timbila fusing southern African traditions with a 21st century mindset and collaborating with Zimbabwean mbira maestro Chartwell Dutiro on Banning Eyre's Lion Songs Records. The same label brings us another mind-blowing album by Malian master guitarist Boubacar "Badian" Diabaté, from which Trouillet presents two purely acoustic, guitar-led tracks.
We return to this show's motif with an Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong version of Gershwin's "Summertime", before Cologne's Muito Kaballa Power Ensemble presents the grooving, stumbling title track of its recently released album "Mamari" and Lyon-based funk-jazz combo Pat Kalla & le Super Mojo hits the ground running with "Président", spilling over into hour number two. Transitioning to Cuba, we are awed by the sounds of 19-year-old child prodigy on laùd, a lute that dates back to the Spanish conquerors, and a track off his "Clásicos Latinos" debut album, followed by fellow Cuban flamenco guitarist Alejandro Valdés and his "Rumba pa ti".
Janis Joplin and the Kozmic Blues Band then present their oboe-led interpretation of Gershwin's "Summertime" in the style of Bach, thus heralding the show's final segment. After another flourish by Barcelona's Amparanoia, digging into the Balkan songbook, we zoom in to a stunning collaboration between Hamburg-based multi-instrumentalist and sound artist Andi Otto (whom you may remember from "Rwandance") on electronically enhanced cello and Kigali's Sophie Nzayisenga on Inanga harp and vocals, leading over to the plaintive sounds of "Harare", off the sophomore album by Johannesburg-based post-apocalyptic art-rock outfit BLK JKS, out on Glitterbeat. Bringing this episode to a worthy close are two brilliant desert blues artists, i.e. Malian singer and guitarist Samba Touré and Niger's Tuareg guitarist Mdou Moctar.
You can stream the full show via the player below or head directly to our Greedio Mixcloud channel for more musical goodness. Enjoy!