The Weekend Planet

Senegal’s Baaba Maal has one of this planet’s singular voices. For too long, it has not graced a new album. His 2008 release On the Road is not on a shop shelf near you, and Baaba Maal did not enter a studio to make it! A lot of Maal’s finest moments occur on stage, especially when he is in intimate, ‘acoustic’ mode. Available via the artist’s own site, On The Road presents 8 such performances. The late-great kora player Kaouding Cissoko is on several cuts. Ernest Ranglin plays very tasty guitar on one. Maal’s mesmerising singing is the key, constant element.

To learn more about Baaba Maa (and to purchase this CD-download) go to:
www.baabamaal.tv

Playlist

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Details of each track are presented in the following order:
BROADCAST TIME
TRACK NUMBER AND TITLE
COMPOSER
PUBLISHING AND COPYRIGHT DETAILS
RECORDING COMPANY AND CD NUMBER
( distributor/ source details, in brackets like this, in lower-case)
ARTIST AND CD TITLE
Duration of track
Description of track, in lower-case.
Where relevant, further info links to information, gigs/events/related programs

’THE WEEKEND PLANET’ SAT 16 .8. 08

2205
THEME:
(details below, as per the original CD.. This cut is also on these compilations Ketama - ’ Nuevos Medios Coleccion’ - Nuevos Medios NM 15 820
{ in Australia via MGM www.thegroovemerchants.com
worldwide, via: www.flamenco-world.com/noticias/nuevos.htm }
and ’ Jarabi - the best of Toumani Diabate’ (Hannibal 334352 )

CD CUT 1, ’JARABI’
TRAD, ARR TOUMANI DIABATE
HAMILCAR MUSIC LTD
HANNIBAL HNCD 1323
( in Australia, some releases through Stomp Enquiries to: ben@stomp.com.au
worldwide: www.rykodisc.com )
KETAMA, TOUMANI DIABATE, DANNY THOMPSON - ’SONGHAI’
THIRTY SECONDS (EXCERPT)
(retains a stately-Manding air, whilst also embracing flamenco elements. Toumani Diabate’s kora, Danny Thompson’s beautiful double bass and Ketama’ s flamenco guitars )

2208
CD CUT 1, ’BAAYO’
BAABA MAAL
ISLAND MUSIC LTD
ONLINE-ONLY RELEASE
( available as purchase-download from the artist’s site:
www.baabamaal.tv )
BAABA MAAL - ’ON THE ROAD’ ( ÉDITION ’BOOTLEG’: LIVE ACOUSTIC )
5: 37
( The Senegalese songster, ’live’ and solo - just his phenomenal voice with his own acoustic guitar. The disc is not a bootleg, in fact, but is not sold on shop shelves: see link to his own site, above. This song was prompted by receiving news of his mother’s death in Senegal, whilst he was away, in France. ’Baayo’ means ’orphan. ’ The studio version of this song was title-piece of his second internationally-released album in 1991.

LIKE TO SEE/HEAR AN INTERVIEW WITH MAAL, ILUSTRATED BY CONCERT FOOTAGE?

Go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2t0WJz50Jo )

SEGUE

2214
CD ( DISC 2 ) CUT 5, ’AT LAST’ ( LIVE )
HARRY WARREN AND MACK GORDON
PUB NOT SPEC
MCA RECORDS 088 112 289/290/291 -2
( This may or may not be directly available through Universal in Australia
It is available via on-line suppliers)
ETTA JAMES - ’THE CHESS BOX’’
3: 09
( hitherto-unissued ’live’ performance from 1963 - at the New Era Club in Nashville, Tennessee. Etta in jazz-balladeer mode. Gavrell Cooper plays the big’n’breathy tenor sax. Meanwhile, in a little town in northernmost Senegal the young Baaba Maal and his friends grew up listening to people like Etta and Aretha and BB King - plus Afro-Cuban and African-African musics )

SEGUE

2217
CD CUT 2, ’AFRICAN WOMAN’
BAABA MAAL
SONGS OF POLYGRAM INTERNATIONAL
MANGO CIDM1109/524 024-2
( this probably no longer has Australian distribution, but ought be available via major on-line suppliers )
BAABA MAAL - ’FIRIN’ IN FOUTA’
6: 05
( 1994-vintage, big Afro-pop studio production, with everything but kitchen sink - horns, strings, keys, western and African instruments and languages. Maal’s incredible voice is not swamped, and this has a killer groove. He praises Africa’s woman and urges male Africans to respect them and their wisdom and to recognise how crucial the women are. His tracknote says ’..the environment is only as good as the woman who nurtures it’ )

2226
CD CUT 7, ’CHERIE’
BAABA MAAL
ISLAND MUSIC LTD
ONLINE-ONLY RELEASE
( available as purchase-download from the artist’s site:
www.baabamaal.tv )
BAABA MAAL - ’ON THE ROAD’ ( ÉDITION ’BOOTLEG’: LIVE ACOUSTIC )
6: 53
( ’live’ and irresistible: a multi-lingual love-song. Its Senegalese singer-author recorded the studio version on his 1997 CD ’Nomad Soul’’. Other musicians enter for the jubilant conclusion, but this version is mostly a duo for Maal’s voice and ac guitar with Kaouding Cissoko’s kora. Kaouding Cissoko died of tuberculosis in 2003, aged 38.

LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT KAOUDING CISSOKHO ( 1964 - 2003 ) ?

You can read an obituary, here:
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article852675.ece )

SEGUE

2233
CD CUT 6, ’ANNA’
K CISSOKO, ARR K. CISSOKO AND IRA COLEMAN
PUB NOT SPEC
PALM PICTURES YOFFCD 0003-2
( available worldwide via http://store.palmpictures.com/world.html
KAOUDING CISSOKO - ’KORA REVOLUTION’
3; 11
( Begins with the late kora master, alone and gentle. Becomes insistent-rhythmic, with multiple koras, bass and percussion. Prominent are two tamas, played by Assane Diop and Massama Diop. The tama is the ’talking’ drum of the Wolof people of Senegal.

LIKE TO SEE/KNOW MORE ABOUT THE TAMA AND RELATED DRUMS?

This is a good place to start:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talking_drum )

2238
CD CUT 2, ’DAKAR’
MIKE (MIROSLAV) BUKOVKSY
PUB NOT SPEC, PRESUMABLY APRA/CONTROL
LIB 85-5245
ABC 518 650-2 (THROUGH EMI)
MIKE BUKOVSKY - ’WANDERLUST’
9: 38
(AUSTRAL COMP AND PERF: mysterioso-Islamic-Africanesque jazz-ish floater: the composer’s muted trumpet with band-mates’ trombone, ac bass, drums, percussion, elec guitar washes and electronics)

2249
CD CUT 6, ’SABAR DANCE’
MIROSLAV BUKOVSKY
COPYRIGHT CONTROL
RUFUS RECORDS RF018 (THROUGH UNIVERSAL)
WANDERLUST - ’BORDER CROSSING’
9: 30 ( not quite complete )
(AUSTRAL COMP AND PERF: post-late-Miles-Davis, afro-funk-ish, insistent, groove-based. The leader’s fiery trumpet, Adam Armstrong’s funkish elec bass, Fabian Hevia’s drums-cussion, Alister Spence’s keys, James Greening’s trombone and Carl Orr’s elec guitar.

LIKE TO SEE/ KNOW ABOUT SENEGAL’S ACTUAL SABAR DRUMS?

Start here:

www.rhythmuseum.com/senegalese/Sabar.html

and/or here:
www.algorhythm.co.za/sabar.htm

AND
to see/hear them at full-tilt, have a look/listen here:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsxxZ4BK6Bc )

----
11 PM NEWS
----

2305
CD CUT 8, ’ONLY A GIRL’
RANDY NEWMAN
RANDY NEWMAN MUSIC (ASCAP)
NONESUCH 7559799893
( in Australia, through Warner Music: www.warnermusic.com.au
worldwide: www.nonesuch.com )
RANDY NEWMAN - ’HARPS AND ANGELS’
2: 41
( Randy Newman having a lot of fun in faux- persona of the proverbial ’old fool’ - a wealthy man in love with a much younger, poorer woman. Pete Thomas’s dancing brushes. Nicely-humorously-arranged, by Randy. New Orleans-accented, ’singing’ horns embroider it.

ABC RADIO NATIONAL RANDY NEWMAN ALERT

He still has the proverbial ’ít’.. we explore the new album, Sat 30.8.08
More details here: www.abc.net.au/rn/weekendplanet/comingup )

2310
CD CUT 4, ’IYANGO’
(presumably) BAABA MAAL
PUB NOT SPEC
ONLINE-ONLY RELEASE
( available as purchase-download from the artist’s site:
www.baabamaal.tv )
BAABA MAAL - ’ON THE ROAD’ ( ÉDITION ’BOOTLEG’: LIVE ACOUSTIC )
7: 22
( ’live’ and genially anthemic: its Senegalese singer-author with ensemble that includes several other West African male voices in chorus and call-response, talking drums and other percussion, acoustic guitars and kora. This song is not on any of Maal’s studio albums. The performance pre-dates July 2003, when its kora player - Kaouding Cissoko - died of tuberculosis, aged 38 )

SEGUE

2317
CD CUT 7 , ’AFRICAN DREAM’ ( ODE TO ALI FARKA TOURE )
GUY STRAZZ ( AKA GUY STRAZZULLO )
BMG MUSIC PUBLISHING
BIRDLAND RECORDS BL019
( www.birdland.com.au
Birdland label releases also available through www.cvibes.com )
MATT MCMAHON AND GUY STRAZZ - ’2 @ 1’
4: 29
(AUSTRAL COMP AND PERF: spare duo: mostly Guy, on 6 and 12-string ac guitars, plus a few notes from Matt’s piano. A tribute to Mali’s best-known songster-guitarist, but does not ape him. Its ’African’ aspect is discreet )

SEGUE

2321
CD CUT 1, ’DEBE’
TRAD, ARR ALI FARKA TOURE AND TOUMANI DIABATE
WORLD CIRCUIT MUSIC
WORLD CIRCUIT WCD072
( in Australia, through Destra: www.mraentertainment.com
worldwide: http://www.worldcircuit.co.uk )
ALI FARKA TOURE AND TOUMANI DIABATE - ’IN THE HEART OF THE MOON’
4: 53
( Slow-rolling, grand duet: Ala Farka’s voice and ac guitar, Tumani’s kora. Essentially, an instrumental version of ’Tutu Jara’ - a courtly Manding song that’s three hundred or more years old. Ali’s speaking voice praises Toumani.

YOU’D LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT ALI FARKA TOURE{1939-2006} ?

The ’Guardian’ obit is here: http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/obituary/0,,1725805,00.html )

2329
CD CUT 5, ’KONI’
BAABA MAAL
PUB NOT SPEC
ONLINE-ONLY RELEASE
( available as purchase-download from the artist’s site:
www.baabamaal.tv )
BAABA MAAL - ’ON THE ROAD’ ( ÉDITION ’BOOTLEG’: LIVE ACOUSTIC )
9: 20
( ’Live’: Maal is the Senegalese ensemble’s lead singer, and he’s probably playing an acoustic guitar .A sweet song in persona of the loyal brother who helps his sister run away and so avoid the marriage iwhich their parents are trying to force upon her. Its elec guitarist guest is the veteran Jamaican, Ernest Ranglin. Ernest’s bassist Ira Coleman is also featured. )

SEGUE

2338
CD CUT 4, ’ALA WALEE’
TRAD, ARR ERNEST RANGLIN/ IRA COLEMAN/ BART FERMIE
PAPA R MUSIC (BMI)
PALM PICTURES PALMCD 2001
( worldwide: www.palmpictures.com )
ERNEST RANGLIN - ’IN SEARCH OF THE LOST RIDDIM’
6: 23
(a really remarkable African female voice. As with Aretha Franklin’s early recordings, you’d never suspect Cisse Diamba Kanoute’s age :14! W drums, talking drums, bala { aka ’balafon’- west African xylophone }, African lutes/ harp-lute { hoddu and kora, respectively }, Ernest’s elec guitar etc. A jubilant-yet-serious West African song about women’s role in Senegal. Baaba Maal is a key figure on this CD. Ernest made it in Senegal, in 2000

ERNEST RANGLIN IN AUSTRALIA ALERT (York, WA)

On the weekend of Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 October.
Ranglin is one of the headliners at the York Jazz and Soul Festival

Full Festival schedule/bookings here:
www.yorkjazz.com.au )

2347
CD CUT 4, ’THE CALL’
FIONA BURNETT AND DAVID JONES
(PRESUMABLY) APRA
ABC CLASSICS 476 6814
( in Australia through Universal.
Available at ABC shops and online: www.abcshop.com.au )
FIONA BURNETT AND DAVID JONES - ’SOUND INSPIRATIONS: MUSIC OF PURE INVENTION’
5: 14
(AUSTRAL COMP AND PERF: very alert - combines a ’meditative’ and a ’lively’aspect, simultaneously. Part of what comprises this whole disc: a largely-spontaneous, continuous, concert duet for Fiona’s soprano saxophone and David Jones’ drums/percussion)

2353
CD CUT 8, ’BAMBA’
BAABA MAAL
PUB NOT SPEC
ONLINE-ONLY RELEASE
( available as purchase-download from the artist’s site:
www.baabamaal.tv )
BAABA MAAL - ’ON THE ROAD’ ( ÉDITION ’BOOTLEG’: LIVE ACOUSTIC )
5: 30 ( excerpt )
( warm, genially anthemic, ’live’ and unmistakably West African. Ensemble led by Maal’s striking male voice.. with ac guitars, kora, various percussion and chorus/response voices )

Presenter

Doug Spencer

Producer

Doug Spencer