This weekend join Jonathan as he sets sail for adventures to musical ports in Turkey, Greece, Colombia, Mali and more with a tribute to reggae legend Bob Marley. We launch Saturday night at seven right here on Wisconsin Public Radio.
OPENING HOUR PLAYLIST
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1. Kali ‘La Grev Bare Mwen’ Tk 1 4.24
We open this edition of Higher Ground with La Greeve Baree M’wah, performed by the artist Kali who resurrects the 1920’s banjo driven swing sound of bay-geen-ah beguine with an instrumental composition first influenced in Paris and now married to the rich folk music traditions of the island Martinique.
Afro-Caribbean Party, Putumayo World Music, 2015
2. Bob Marley ‘Is This Love’ Alb Tk 1 3.52
Released in 1984, the best-selling reggae album of all time, and the 12th album by the Wailers led by Robert “Bob” Nesta Marley, a Jamaican singer, songwriter, guitarist, and activist. Marley is regarded by many as a prophet of the Rastafarian religion. Arguably he remains even after his death, the most widely known performer of reggae music due to hits like Is This Love. Legend, The Island Def Jam Music Group, 1984
3. Cheikh Lô ‘Degg Giu’ Sglns#109 Tk 1 4.08
Sheck-lou Cheikh is a Senegalese musician born in the late ’50s to Senegalese parents in Burkina Faso. He began playing drums and singing at an early age and later in life joined Orchestre Volta Jazz, a ariety band that played Cuban and Congolese pop songs as well as traditional Burkinabé music. With friends Lou performs Deh’-gee.
Balbalou, Chapter Two, 2015
4. Alacran ‘Reflejo de Luna’ Tk 1 4.14
Based in Rome, the Ala-cran collective performs a song intitled “reh-fleh-hoh Day-LOO-nah” (reflection of the moon) you’ll hear the Italian influence of the famed bandoneon artist Piazzolla with an R&B groove…you are color…you are heat…you are the sound of my heart…words and music by Ah-Lah-Kran. Latin Lounge, Putumayo, 2005
5. Toto la Momposina/Sus Tambores ‘Chi Chi Mani’ Tk 3 2.44
With Sus Tam-bo-res, this is Totó la Mom-po-si-na, Colombian singer of Afro-Colombian and Indigenous descent with the pulsating performance of Chi Chi Mani (chi chi peanuts). Tambolero, Real World Records, 2015
6. Danú ‘Chicago Set’ Sglns#110 Tk 4 3.58
Performing the festive dittie, Chicago set, here is the festival driven ensemble Danú, an Irish traditional music band formed in Waterford, Ireland in 1994. Buan, Danú, 2015
7. Seckou Keita ‘Mandé’ Sglns#109 Tk 4 4.29
Another artist hailing from Senegal then Italy, Egypt and The Gambia, is the multi-national Seckou Keita and his band, the Seckou Keita SKQ, captivating audiences from Montreal to Manchester, Sweden to Senegal. With the composition Mande’ or Control, the quartet instrumentation features kora, vocals, concert bass
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