The Night: World Music

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Tinariwen.
Elwan, the seventh album by the group Tinariwen, also showcases their unique sound. All the familiar elements are there: the spiky, bluesy guitar licks supported by the gritty voices, tanned by the sand and the desert wind, that tell about the tumultuous history of the Tuaregs, the nomadic cattle breeders in the Sahara. Due to the ongoing unrest in the Sahara, this album (from 2017) was also recorded outside Tinariwen’s birthplace. >> CD. Elwan – Tinariwen. LABEL: Wedge (2017), code: CD00117. Video

2- Girma Bèyènè & Akalé Wubé.
Frenchman Francis Falceto has been working tirelessly for years to put Ethiopian music back on the map. With success, the music of ‘Swinging Addis’ appears in films and the stars of yesteryear find a new audience in Europe and North America. Many artists are allowed to make a new start. This also applies to Girma Bèyènè. In the 60s and early 70s he was an active songwriter and arranger, leading his own big band night after night at the chic Ras Hotel. After the military took over power (1974), Bèyènè fled to the US. There he led an inconspicuous life until Francis Falceto tracked him down. He linked the septuagenarian Bèyènè to the young French group Akalé Wubé. The result is an impressive update of the best material Bèyènè wrote. A kind of ‘greatest hits’ but re-recorded with a funky band. >> CD. Mistakes on Purpose: Ethiopiques; vol.30 – Girma Bèyènè & Akalé Wubé. LABEL: Buda Musique (2017), code: 860303. Video

3- Son de la Frontera.
When the mother of flamenco guitarist Raúl Rodríguez was invited to perform in Cuba in 1997, she brought a tres with her. This Cuban guitar with three sets of two strings plays the leading role in son music, made famous worldwide by Buena Vista Social Club. Raúl Rodriguez taught himself to play tres and translated the rhythms and melodies from flamenco to this instrument. The tres turned out to sound fantastic in a flamenco setting. It made the music fuller and more colorful, without affecting its traditional character. On the album Cal, the group dares to reveal its colours: the vocals play a more important role, more of their own compositions can be heard and they draw on the rich, but sometimes forgotten traditions of their birthplace Morón de la Frontera. >> CD. Cal – Son de la Frontera. LABEL: Nuevos Medios (2007), code: NM 15890. Video

4- Ayo.
The Nigerian-German singer/songwriter Ayo is taking a new path with her fourth studio album Ticket To The World. The singer was mainly known in France until now, but after selling one and a half million records in 40 countries, Ayo once again turned to the American producer of her first album, Jay Newland, to create her latest album Ticket To The World. The album is a return to her original style: a soft and strong mix of folk and soul, laced with hip-hop hints. One moment she sings in the accessible style of singers such as Alicia Keys and Beyonce, but her African roots are also amply represented on this album. >> CD. Ticket to the World – Ayo. LABEL: Universal: 00602537476633 – Mercury Records: 3748573 (2017). Video

5- India.Arie.
Voyage to India is the second studio album by American singer India Arie, released in 2002 by the Motown label. The album is named after a song by Arie’s idol Stevie Wonder from his 1979 album Journey Through “The Secret Life of Plants”. The three months it took her to make the album is due to the standard R&B formula she used. times on her songs, but the acoustic guitar has remained. Nevertheless, Voyage To India is a profound album in the R&B genre, which certainly rises above the average. >> CD. Voyage to India – India.Arie. LABEL: Universal: 00602527385624 – Universal: 2738562 (2010). Video

6- Jorma Kaukonen.
The name Kaukonen is probably more associated with Finnish folklore than with American rock. Yet singer/guitarist Jorma Kaukonen is a great in the latter category. He was born in Washington D.C. in 1940 but moved to the hippie capital of San Francisco in the early 1960s. There he played with people like Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix. In 1965 he was one of the founders of Jefferson Airplane. After the breakup of this band in 1973, Kaukonen started the acoustic project Hot Tuna, where he was able to express his preference for traditional American roots music for the first time. His twelfth solo album Blue Country Heart (from 2002) is the album that he says he has wanted to make for years, but which the record labels never saw any merit in. The result is a beautiful, timeless album on which joy of playing, authenticity and musical mastery are audibly present. >> CD. Blue country heart – Jorma Kaukonen. LABEL: Columbia Records (2002), code: 5081552. Video

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