“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-5). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

Another year, another Mardi Gras edition of Conference of the Birds. As always, I have a great time doing this show. I hope it puts a solid second line strut in your step when you listen to it.

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (139MB, 2 hrs 32 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Dave Bartholomew: “Shrimp and Gumbo” – Doctors, Professors, Kings and Queens: The Big Ol’ Box of New Orleans (Shout Factory)
Baby Dodds Trio: “Tootie Ma is a Big Fine Thing” – Jazz a’ la Creole (GHB Music)
Bo Dollis and Monk Boudreau with the Rebirth Brass Band: “Shoo Fly” – Mardi Gras in New Orleans (Rounder)
Eddie Bo: “Hook and Sling” – Scram Records ‎117 – 7″ (Scram)
Al Johnson: “Carnival Time” – Doctors, Professors, Kings and Queens: The Big Ol’ Box of New Orleans (Shout Factory)
Betty Harris: “Break in the Road” – Saturday Night Fish Fry (Soul Jazz Records)
The Meters: “(The World Is a Bit Under the Weather) Doodle Oop” – Funkify Your Life: The Meters Anthology (Rhino)
Rhythm Masters: “I Can Do Anything You Can Do” – Funky Funky New Orleans (Funky Delicacies)
Da Sha Ra: “Bootin’ Up” – The Greatest Rap Hits from Down South New Orleans, Vol. 1 (Don’t Even Trip)
Bo Dollis & the Wild Magnolias: “Meet De Boys on the Battlefront” – Mardi Gras in New Orleans (Rounder)
Jon Foose with Oliver Morgan & the Royal Knights: “Tuesday Mornin’” – Cypress Sounds 1000 – 7″ (Cypress Sounds)
Li’l Queenie & the Percolators: “My Darlin’ New Orleans” – Doctors, Professors, Kings and Queens: The Big Ol’ Box of New Orleans (Shout Factory)
Mardi Gras Indians: “Indian Red (Wild Man Memorial)” – Treme: Music From The HBO Original Series, Season 1 (Geffen)
Wild Tchopitoulas: “Big Chief Got a Golden Crown” – Wild Tchopitoulas (Island)
Neville Brothers: “Hey Pocky Way” – Fiyo on the Bayou (A & M)
George Woods: “She’s So Fine” – Wardell Quezergue: Sixty Smokin’ Soul Senders (Funky Delicacies)
Lloyd Price: “Where You At” – Creole Kings of New Orleans (Specialty)
Smiley Lewis: “Shame, Shame, Shame” – Shame, Shame, Shame (Bear Family Records)
Professor Longhair: “No Buts, No Maybes” – Creole Kings of New Orleans (Specialty)
Clifton Chenier: “Zodico Stomp” – Bayou Blues (Specialty)
Buckwheat Zydeco: “My Feet Can’t Fail Me Now” – Mardi Gras in New Orleans (Rounder)
Fernest Arceneaux: “Zydeco Boogaloo” – Best of Louisiana Music Sampler (Mardi Gras Records)
Boozoo Chavis: “Zydeco Hee Haw” – Best of Louisiana Music Sampler (Mardi Gras Records)
Louis Cottrell: “Bourbon Street Parade” – New Orleans: The Living Legends (Original Jazz Classics)
New Orleans Jazz Vipers: “Digga-Digga-Do” – Doctors, Professors, Kings and Queens: The Big Ol’ Box of New Orleans (Shout Factory)
Lee Dorsey & Betty Harris: “Love Lots of Lovin” – New Orleans Funk (Soul Jazz Records)
Lee Dorsey: “Who’s Gonna Help a Brother Get Further” – New Orleans Funk (Soul Jazz Records)
The Gators: “Booger Man” – Wasted (Funky Delicacies)
Champion Jack Dupree: “Hometown New Orleans” – A Portrait of Champion Jack Dupree (Rounder)
Olympia Brass Band: “No, It Ain’t My Fault” – Best of Louisiana Music Sampler (Mardi Gras Records)
New Birth Brass Band: “Smoke That Fire” – Doctors, Professors, Kings and Queens: The Big Ol’ Box of New Orleans (Shout Factory)
Soul Rebels Brass Band: “Let It Roll” – Brass Bands & Mardi Gras Indians (unknown)
Dr. John: “Mama Roux” – Gris-Gris (ATCO Records)
Deacon John Moore: “Going Back to New Orleans” – Doctors, Professors, Kings and Queens: The Big Ol’ Box of New Orleans (Shout Factory)
Betty Wright: “Shoorah! Shoorah!” – 7″ (Alston)
Curley Moore: “Soul Train” – Wardell Quezergue: Sixty Smokin’ Soul Senders (Funky Delicacies)
The Dixie Cups: “Iko Iko” – Saturday Night Fish Fry (Soul Jazz Records)
Bo Dollis and Monk Boudreau with the Rebirth Brass Band: “Let’s Go Get Em” – Mardi Gras Indians Super Sunday Showdown (Rounder)
The Wild Magnolias: “All on a Mardi Gras Day” – Life is a Carnival (Blue Note)
Dirty Dozen Brass Band: “Mardi Gras in New Orleans” – Mardi Gras in New Orleans (Rounder)
Professor Longhair: “Big Chief” – New Orleans Funk (Soul Jazz Records)

WNUR Conference of the Birds, 2014-03-04 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-5). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

This show landed during our annual phone-a-thon fundraiser, so it has a higher talk-to-music ratio than most. But I tried to keep the pitching under control. Thanks to the folks who called in pledges during my show, and indeed, all WNUR supporters! If you missed your chance, you can donate year round through the University’s system—just be sure to pick WNUR under the “Give To Other Northwestern Areas

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (131MB, 2 hrs 23 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
James Brown: “Ain’t It Funky Now” – Love Power Peace: Live at The Olympia, Paris, 1971 (Polydor)
Irakere: “Bacalao con Pan” – Si, Para Usted: The Funky Beats of Revolutionary Cuba Vol. 1 (Light in the Attic)
Tenor Saw: “Ring the Alarm” – 200% Dynamite (Soul Jazz)
The Coup: “My Favorite Mutiny” – My Favorite Mutiny (Epitaph)
The Salty Peppers: “Uh Huh Yeah” – The Soul of Capitol Records – Rare & Well-Done, Vol. 1 (Capitol Records)
Orchestra Empire des Bakuba: “Ya Yongo” – The Sound of Kinshasa (Original Music)
Franklin Boukaka: “Nakoki” – Le Bucheron / Nakoki (7″) ASL 3251 (ASL)
Occidental Brothers Dance Band International: “Bomboko Awuti Na New York 2” – Demo (self-released)
Junior Mance: “Thank You Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin” – With a Lotta Help from My Friends (Collectables)
Sly and the Family Stone: “Into My Own Thing” – Life (Epic)
A Certain Ratio: “Be What You Wanna Be” – Backs To The Wall (A&M)
Bezawork Asfaw: “Lebbehen Tazzäbkut ” – Four Famous Singers (Ambassel)
Jimmy Witherspoon: “I’ll Be Right On Down” – I’ll Be Right On Down: The Modern Recordings 1947-1953 (Ace)
Corey Harris & Henry Butler: “Let ‘Em Roll” – Vü-Dü Menz (Alligator)
Kings of Harmony: “Revelation and Improvisation” – Saints’ Paradise: Trombone Shout Bands from the United House of Prayer (Smithsonian Folkways)
Sonny Treadway: “Don’t Let the Devil Ride” – Sacred Steel (Arhoolie)
Lewis Lymon & the Teen Chords: “I’m So Happy” – The Doo Wop Box (Rhino)
Jamesie & the Musical Kafooners: “South of the Border” – Brukin Off Fungi (Gutu)
Willie Colón & Rubén Blades: “Ojos” – Siembra (Fania Records)
Joseph Spence and the Pinder Family: “Out on the Rolling Sea” – The Spring of Sixty-five (Rounder)
Elizabeth Cotten: “Going Down the Road Feeling Bad” – Freight Train And Other North Carolina Folk Songs And Tunes (Smithsonian Folkways)
Jerry Garcia: “Little Sadie” – Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (unofficial)
Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee: “Packin’ Up” – Just a Closer Walk With Thee (Original Blues Classics)
Roy Hines: “I Can’t Live” – Ol’ Virginia Soul (Encore) ’65-’67 (Arcania)
Stevie Wonder: “As” – Songs in the Key of Life (Motown)
Mary Lou Williams: “Credo (Instrumental)” – Mary Lou’s Mass (Smithsonian Folkways)
Karl E.H. Siegfried: “Treat It Gentle (for Sidney Bechet)” – A Portrait of Jack Johnson (Imaginary Chicago)
Reptet: “The Sun is Beautiful (Even When It’s Cold)” – Reptet (Monktail)
The Vandermark Five: “Volunteered Slavery” – Free Kings: The Music of Roland Kirk (Atavistic)
Sam Rivers: “Tranquility” – Crystals (Impulse)
Gunther Schuller Orchestra: “Suspensions” – The Birth of the Third Stream (Legacy)
Chico Freeman: “Two Over One” – Beyond the Rain (Contemporary Records)
Arthur Blythe: “Down San Diego Way” – Lenox Avenue Breakdown (Columbia)

WNUR Conference of the Birds, 2014-02-25 [ 2:22:59 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-5). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

I was travelling for the weekend, so didn’t have any time to pull music for this show. Usually that means I turn to the WNUR CD library because it’s hard to sequence music from a computer in the moment. But I recently got a copy of Djay for Mac, and it totally blows away the last “virtual DJ” app I tried. All you need is an iMic and a music library and you’re cookin.

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (140MB, 2 hrs 35 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Afrika Bambaata & Soulsonic Force: “Planet Rock” – Planet Rock: The Album (Tommy Boy)
Ariya Astrobeat Orchestra: “Crosstown Traffic” – Ariya Astrobeat Orchestra (First Word)
String Trio of New York: “Manic Depression” – Ascendant (Stash)
Clarence Carter: “Put On Your Shoes and Walk” – The Fame Studio Story 1961-73 (Kent )
A.A.B.B.: “Pick Up the Pieces One By One” – IDDJ-8003 – 7″ (Identify)
Amagugu: “King of My Heart” – Ubek’uZulu (Skyline Jazz)
Art Ensemble of Chicago: “Theme de Yoyo” – Americans Swinging in Paris – The Pathé Sessions (EMI)
Neneh Cherry & the Thing: “Sudden Moment” – The Cherry Thing (Smalltown Supersound)
Orchestra Vijana Jazz: “Nyongise (Kihehe)” – Hayati Maneti (Last Recording) (Ahadi)
Orchestre T.P. OK Jazz: “Cha Cha Cha Erique” – Surboum African Jazz 004 – 7″ (Surboum African Jazz)
Orchestre Bantous de la Capitale: “Kokaba Ya Sens Unique” – Special 20e Anniversaire ()
Ernie K Doe: “Lawdy Mama” – Here Come the Girls: A History 1960-1970 (Charly Records)
Aaron Neville: “Hercules” – New Orleans Funk (Soul Jazz)
Al Johnson: “Carnival Time” – Doctors, Professors, Kings and Queens: The Big Ol’ Box of New Orleans (Shout Factory)
Professor Longhair: “Look What You’re Doin’ to Me (Ooh-Wee Baby)” – Trah-La–La-La, Louisiana (Southern Music Issue 2012) (Oxford American)
Eldridge Holmes: “Wait For Me Baby” – Get Low Down: Soul of New Orleans 65-67 (Sundazed)
Fruko y sus Tesos: “Manyoma” – The Afrosound of Colombia (Vampisoul)
Brownout: “Ando y Dando” – Oozy (Nat Geo Music)
Soul Rebels: “Can You Feel the Beat” – No Place Like Home (Soul Rebels)
Dan Satch & his Atomic 8 Dance Band of Aba: “Alabeke” – Nigeria Special: Modern Highlife, Afro Sounds & Nigerian Blues. 1970-6 (Soundway)
Down Tones: “Back Home Soul” – Next Stop… Soweto Vol. 2: Soul, Funk & Organ Grooves From The Townships 1969-1976 (Strut)
Supremes Kombemba: “M’biga” – Ouaga Affair – Hard Won Sound Of The Upper Volta 1974-1978 (Savannahphone)
Brenda Holloway: “Don’t Turn Your Back on Me” – Finders Keepers: Motown Girls 1961-67 (Ace)
Tear Drop: “I’m Gonna Get You” – Eccentric Soul: The Forte Label (Numero Group)
Orchestra Lissanga: “Okuzua” – Afro-Rock, Volume One (Kona)
Ari Brown: “Wayne’s Trane” – Groove Awakening (Delmark)
Dawn of Midi: “Ijiraq” – Dysnomia (Thirsty Ear)
Fareed Haque: “Cowboys and Indians” – Trance Hypothesis (Delmark)
Amir El Saffar: “Nid Qablitum” – Alchemy ()

WNUR Conference of the Birds, 2014-02-18 [ 2:35:11 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-5). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

Just a pile of all kinds of stuff, especially African at the beginning, soul and a little gospel, with a jazz finish.

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (143MB, 2 hrs 36 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Mlimani Park Orchestra: “Fikirini Nisamehe” – Sikinde (Africassette)
Nashil Pichen Kazembe: “Chuma Chivuta (Nyanja)” – Zambush Vol. 2: Zambian Hits from the 60s and 70s (Sharp Wood)
Mahlathini: “Umkhwenyana” – Mahlathini: King of the Groaners (Earthworks)
The Books: “I Didn’t Know That” – The Way Out (Temporary Residence Limited)
DJ Dolores: “Trancelim de Marfim” – Aparelhagem (Crammed Discs)
T.P. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo: “Gbèminangbè” – Gold Collection, vol. 2 ()
Hedzoleh Sounds: “Mo Oso Obu Naa” – Hedzoleh (Soundway)
Youngsters: “Yebewu Asse Kwaa” – I’ve Found My Love: 1960′s Guitar Band Highlife of Ghana (Original Music)
Lulu Sibeko & Sedgewick Brothers: “Tholi Bare” – Soul Safari Presents Township Jive & Kwela Jazz 1940-1960 (Ubuntu )
Senge: “Roapanolo” – Arembelo (Cobalt)
Os Mutantes: “Panis et Circenses” – Os Mutantes (Polydor)
Los Mirlos: “Sonido Amazonico” – The Roots of Chicha: Psychedelic Cumbias from Peru (Barbes)
Band of Bees: “A Minha Menina” – Sunshine Hit Me (Astralwerks)
Phil Moore, Jr.: “Funky Canyon” – What It Is! Funky Soul And Rare Grooves (1967-1977) (Rhino)
Pastor T.L. Barrett and the Youth for Christ Choir: “Jingle Bells Pt. 2” – Like a Ship (Light In The Attic)
Eldridge Holmes: “Wait For Me Baby” – Get Low Down: Soul of New Orleans 65-67 (Sundazed)
The Banana Splits: “Doin’ the Banana Split” – #34579 – 7″ (Hanna-Barbera Productions )
The Committee: “Forbidden Taboo” – Chocolate Soul: The Musical Compilation (Chocolate Soul)
The Chi-Lites: “Have You Seen Her?” – For God’s Sake Give More Power to the People (Brunswick)
Sons of the Kingdom: “Hey There” – Soul Messages From Dimona (Numero Group)
Massinko: “track 2” – Ethiopian Beat + House Beat vol 1 (Awesome Tapes from Africa)
Kashmere Stage Band: “All Praises (pt. 2 live)” – Texas Thunder Soul (1968-1974) (Now Again)
Spaceways Incorporated: “Red Hot Mama/Super Stupid” – Thirteen Cosmic Standards by Sun Ra & Funkadelic (Atavistic)
Nana Vasconcelos: “Aranda” – Africadeus (Saravah)
Sjahin During: “African Donkey” – Afro Anatolian Tales (Doublemoon )
Marty Ehrlich: “Solace” – Line on Love (Palmetto Records)
Chico Hamilton: “Lady Gabor” – Man From Two Worlds (Impulse!)
Gamelan Son of Lion: “Gamelan II” – The Complete Gamelan in the New World (Locust Music)
The Scientist meets Ted Sirota’s Heavyweight Dub: “Baltimore” – The Scientist meets Ted Sirota’s Heavyweight Dub (Liberated Zone)
Hamid Drake and Bindu: “Take Us Home” – Reggaeology (Rogueart)
Hamid Drake and Bindu: “Kali Dub” – Reggaeology (Rogueart)
The Vandermark Five: “East Broadway Rundown” – Six for Rollins (Free Jazz Classics, Vol. 3) (Atavistic)

WNUR Conference of the Birds, 2014-02-04 [ 2:36:19 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-5). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

I’d planned to do a show to ward off the polar vortex, and that’s most of what you have here: “hot” songs, “heat” songs, and the like. But when I woke up to do the show, I got the news that Pete Seeger had died, so I quickly pulled together a modest tribute. As one friend noted on Twitter, the more accurate statement to make is “Pete Seeger lived,” and lived well. May I have aged so gracefully and meant anywhere near as much to a few people when my time comes!

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (131MB, 2 hrs 23 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Pete Seeger: “Hard Travellin’” – American Ballads 2 (Smithsonian Folkways)
Pete Seeger: “Midnight Special” – American Ballads 2 (Smithsonian Folkways)
Pete Seeger: “If I Had a Hammer” – Singalong : Live at the Sanders Theatre Cambridge, MA 1980 (Smithsonian Folkways)
The SNCC Freedom Singers with Dorothy Cotton, and Pete Seeger: “We Shall Overcome” – American Roots Collection (Smithsonian Folkways)
Ella Fitzgerald: “Too Darn Hot” – Twelve Nights in Hollywood (Verve)
Erasure: “Too Darn Hot” – Red Hot + Blue (GRP)
Lonnie Johnson: “Hot and Bothered” – Playing with the Strings (JSP)
Jack Teagarden: “Sweet and Hot” – Future Masters (10th annual Southern Music Issue) (Oxford American)
Charles Brown: “Hot Lips and Seven Kisses” – Cryin’ and Driftin’ (Cherished )
Sherman “Blues” Johnson and Clouds of Joy: “Hot Fish” – Shout, Brother, Shout: 1950′s R&B From The Legendary Trumpet Records Label (Alligator)
Noble Watts: “Hot Tamales” – Blast Off! (Flyright Records)
Prime Mates: “Hot Tamales – Part 2” – Get Low Down: The Soul of New Orleans ’65-’67 (Sundazed)
The Soul Lifters: “Hot Funky and Sweaty” – Quantic Presents The World’s Rarest Funk 45s (Jazzman)
Lee Fields: “Steam Train” – Let’s Get a Groove On (Desco)
Talking Heads: “Born Under Punches (the Heat Goes On)” – Heatwave Festival 8/23/1980 (Concert Vault)
Beatfanatic: “Cookin’ (Version)” – Outernational Sound (Eighteenth Street)
Lennie Hibbert: “Real Hot” – 100% Dynamite (Soul Jazz)
The Upsetters: “Heat Proof” – The Upsetter (Trojan Records)
Tommy McCook: “Heatwave” – 200% Dynamite (Soul Jazz)
Aretha Franklin: “Hello Sunshine” – Aretha Now (Atlantic)
Dyke & the Blazers: “You Are My Sunshine” – We Got More Soul (Ace)
Brass Monkey Brass Band: “Hot on the Coast” – The Highest Good (Brass Monkey Brass Band/CD Baby)
Karl Hector & the Malcouns: “Sahara Swing” – Sahara Swing (Stones Throw)
Buena Vistas: “Hot Shot” – Hot Shot single (Rollercoaster)
Whitney Don: “Red Hot Boogie” – Hillbilly Boogie (Proper)
Léo Chauliac et son orchestre: “Hot-Club Parade” – Swing Caraïbe, Caribbean Jazz Pioneers In Paris (1929-1946) (Frémeaux & Associés)
Art Tatum: “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm” – I Got Rhythm, Vol. 3 (1935-44) (MCA Records)
Johnny Dyani: “Wish You Sunshine” – Song for Biko (SteepleChase)
Ari Brown: “Veda’s Dance” – Groove Awakening (Delmark)
Kahil El’Zabar’s Ritual Trio: “Grandma’s Hands” – Follow the Sun (Delmark)
David Boykin Trio: “Late Night with the David Boykin Trio Theme” – Live at Dorchester Projects (Sonic Healing Ministries)
Geof Bradfield: “Detroit/Kingston” – Melba! (Origin)
Mal Waldron: “Warm Canto” – The Quest (New Jazz)
Arthur Blythe/David Eyges: “Gee’s Minor Mood” – Today’s Blues (CIMP)
Astor Piazzola y su orquesta: “Pulsación No. 1” – Pulsación (Columbia)

WNUR Conference of the Birds, 2014-01-28 [ 2:23:17 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-5). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

The observant may note that this show aired the day after Martin Luther King day, but I had been listening to some great music of the civil rights era, and I really wanted to share it with folks.

As you can see, much of this music comes from the Folkways “Voices of the Civil Rights Movement” disc, and I assure you, what I didn’t play is awesome too—it’s worth seeking out.

In sad news, we also noted the passing of trumpeter Roy Campbell, Jr, whose “Pyramid” project with William Parker produced a bunch of good music, especially on the album where Hamid Drake completed the trio. (A nice commemoration from Taylor Ho Bynum ran in the New Yorker, and Nate Chinen’s NYT obit.)

Enjoy!

PS As an aside, I found this delightful obituary for an entirely different Roy Campbell, of Eau Claire, WI and wanted to share it. “Roy lived life with gusto.”

Listen:

download program (135MB, 2 hrs 30 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
SNCC Freedom Singers led by Bernice Johnson: “Woke Up This Morning With My Mind on Freedom” – Voices of the Civil Rights Movement (Smithsonian Folkways)
SNCC Freedom Singers led by Rutha Harris: “We Shall Not Be Moved” – Voices of the Civil Rights Movement (Smithsonian Folkways)
Jimmy Collier and the Movement Singers led by Diane Smith: “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?” – Voices of the Civil Rights Movement (Smithsonian Folkways)
SNCC Freedom Singers led by Charles Neblett: “Governor Wallace” – Voices of the Civil Rights Movement (Smithsonian Folkways)
Mavis Staples: “Eyes on the Prize” – We’ll Never Turn Back (Anti-)
John Legend & the Roots: “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to be Free” – Wake Up! (Sony Music Entertainment)
Freedom Singers: “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ‘Round” – Lest We Forget, Vol. 3: Sing for Freedom (Folkways)
Willie Peacock: “Get On Board, Children” – Voices of the Civil Rights Movement (Smithsonian Folkways)
Integration Grooves: “The A&P Song” – Voices of the Civil Rights Movement (Smithsonian Folkways)
Betty Mae Fikes: “Thils Little Light of Mine” – Voices of the Civil Rights Movement (Smithsonian Folkways)
SNCC Freedom Singers led by Matthew Jones: “Ballad of Medgar Evers” – Voices of the Civil Rights Movement (Smithsonian Folkways)
SNCC Freedom Singers led by Cordell Reagon: “Dog, Dog” – Voices of the Civil Rights Movement (Smithsonian Folkways)
SNCC Freedom Singers led by Marshall Jones: “In the Mississippi River” – Voices of the Civil Rights Movement (Smithsonian Folkways)
Nancy Dupree: “Docta King” – Ghetto Reality (Smithsonian Folkways)
CORE Freedom Singers: “Certainly, Lord” – Voices of the Civil Rights Movement (Smithsonian Folkways)
Jimmy Collier & Frederick Douglass Kirkpatrick: “We’re Gonna Walk the Streets of Washington” – Everybody’s Got a Right To Live (Smithsonian Folkways)
Jerry Moore: “This Is My Time” – Ballad of Birmingham (ESP Disk)
Willie Peacock: “Calypso Freedom” – Voices of the Civil Rights Movement (Smithsonian Folkways)
Josh White: “Freedom Road” – American Roots Collection (Smithsonian Folkways)
Jimmy Collier & Frederick Douglass Kirkpatrick: “I Can’t Take Care of My Family Thisaway” – Everybody’s Got a Right To Live (Smithsonian Folkways)
SNCC Freedom Singers led by Cordell Reagon: “Which Side Are You On?” – Voices of the Civil Rights Movement (Smithsonian Folkways)
SNCC Freedom Singers led by Matthew Jones: “Oginga Odinga” – Voices of the Civil Rights Movement (Smithsonian Folkways)
Jerry Moore: “Ballad of Birmingham” – Ballad of Birmingham (ESP Disk)
John Coltrane: “Alabama” – Live at Birdland (Impulse!)
Bernice Reagon: “Been In the Storm So Long” – Lest We Forget, Vol. 3: Sing for Freedom (Folkways)
Bill Cosby: “Martin’s Funeral” – Presents Badfoot Brown & the Bunions Bradford Funeral & Marching Band (Dusty Groove America)
Roy Campbell Pyramid: “Malcolm, Martin & Mandela” – Ethnic Stew And Brew (Delmark)
Roy Campbell Pyramid: “Brother Yusef” – Ancestral Homeland (No More Records)
Roy Campbell Pyramid: “Communion” – Communion (Silkheart)
Marva Whitney: “It’s My Thing (You Can’t Tell Me Who to Sock It To)” – James Brown’s Original Funky Divas (Polydor)

WNUR Conference of the Birds, 2014-01-21 [ 2:27:52 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-5). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

This week ended up going long, so the playlist below extends quite a bit after the archive ends (which is just as the Rempis/Abrams/Ra track is warming up.) You’ll have to use your imagination after that.

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (152MB, 2 hrs 38 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Etoile de Dakar: “Thiapa Thioly” – Vol 2: Thiapathioly (Sterns Africa)
Joyce Mogatusi: “Poppies” – A Tribute to Joyce Mogatusi (Electric Jive)
Ramblers International: “Agyanka Dabra” – The Hit Sound Of The Ramblers Dance Band (Afrodisia)
Bholen et l’Orchestre Negro Succes: “Pacha-Pachanga” – Congo Fiesta Compilation (Sea Never Dry)
Orchestre Tempo: “Yebo Edi Pachanga” – Racubah! A Collection of Modern Afro Rythms (Comet)
Daniel Owino Misiani & Shirati Band: “Wuoro Monono” – Benga Blast (Earthworks)
Prince Nico Mbarga: “Sweet Mother” – Aki Special (Rounder Select)
Bronx River Parkway: “Quienes Que Resolverlo” – Soul Fire: The Majestic Collection (Soul Fire)
Billy Butler & the Chanters: “Nevertheless” – Curtis Mayfield’s Chicago Soul (Legacy/Epic )
Bobby Eaton: “We Gonna Do Our Thing” – Get Your Lie Straight: A Galaxy of Funky Soul (BGP)
Lucille Spann: “Women’s Lib” – Pepper’s Jukebox (Numero Group)
David Byrne / Fatboy Slim / Sharon Jones: “Dancing Together” – Here Lies Love (Nonesuch)
The Sugarman Three: “Solid Funk” – Soul Fire: The Majestic Collection (Soul Fire)
Mfalme: “Naku Penda” – Let Your Soul Fly (Asante)
Parliament: “Funkentelechy” – Funkentelechy vs the Placebo Syndrome (Casablanca Records)
Valerie June: “Wanna Be On Your Mind” – Pushin’ Against A Stone (Sunday Best)
Angelo Badalamenti: “Montage from Twin Peaks” – Twin Peaks – Fire Walk With Me (Music From The Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Warner Bros. Records)
The Dreamers: “Galizur” – Ipos (Book of Angels, v. 14) (Tzadik)
Marcel Khalife: “Caress” – Caress (Nagam)
Billy Tipton Memorial Saxophone Quartet: “Fat Bearded Lady Walks the Tightrope” – Saxhouse (Knitting Factory Works)
Steven Bernstein: “Simeon (yis May Chu)” – Diaspora Suite (Tzadik)
Duke Ellington with Charles Mingus and Max Roach: “Fleurette Africain” – Money Jungle (Blue Note)
Grachan Moncur III: “New Africa” – Exploration (Capri)
Mark Helias: “Beau Regard” – Attack The Future (Enja Records)
Curtis Hasselbring: “White Sauce Hot Sauce Boss?” – The New Mellow Edwards (Skirl Records)
Fredy Jumbo et son ensemble: “Oh! Cette Musique” – Swing Caraïbe, Caribbean Jazz Pioneers In Paris (1929-1946) (Fremeaux & Associes)
Quartetski Does Prokofiev: “Assai Moderato” – Visions Fugitives Op. 22 (Ambiances Magnetiques)
Dave Rempis / Joshua Abrams / Avreeayl Ra: “Noria” – Aphelion (Aerophonic)
Tim Daisy / Jeb Bishop: “One After” – Old Shoulders (Relay Records)
Auris + Gino: “A+G.1” – Rub (Public Eyesore)
William Parker: “People Get Ready / The Inside Song” – I Plan to Stay a Believer (bonus tracks) (AUM Fidelity)
DKV Trio + Mats Gustafsson/Paal Nilsson-Love/Massimo Pupillo: “All Out” – Schl8hof (Trost)
Getatchew Mekuria & the Ex & Guests: “Aynotche terabu/Shemonmwanaye” – Moa Anbessa (Terp )
The Blue Notes: “Funk Dem Dudu > To Erico” – Blue Notes for Johnny (Ogun)
Dee Alexander: “Butterfly” – Wild is the Wind (Blujazz)

WNUR Conference of the Birds, 2014-01-14 [ 2:38:28 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-5). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives. You can subscribe to the podcast with this URL (click here to subscribe in iTunes).

For the last show of 2013, I played a number of songs about time, years and their passing, and such. But first, we started by commemorating the passing of the great Yusef Lateef. That set was followed by a few more tracks for other musicians who passed in 2013 who hadn’t gotten their fair shake earlier, and a few more were sprinkled in later in the show.

RIP:

• Fred Katz
• Chico Hamilton
• Leroy Bonner (of the Ohio Players)
• George Duke
• Sathima Bea Benjamin
• George Gruntz

No disrespect to the many other greats who passed in 2013. Thank you for the music, and thank all of you for listening, and may 2014 be a fantastic year for you!

Enjoy!

PS I did more homework and realized that I misspoke when crediting Fred Katz with the Bach cello solo in Jazz on a Summer’s Day. (watch it on YouTube.) By Newport ’58 (when that was filmed), Nathan Gershman had taken over as the cellist for Chico Hamilton’s Quintet. And also, RIP Bert Stern, who made Jazz on a Summer’s Day, who also passed in 2013.

Listen:

download program (143MB, 2 hrs 37 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Yusef Lateef: “Prayer to the East” – Prayer to the East (Savoy)
Yusef Lateef: “The Plum Blossom” – Eastern Sounds (Prestige)
Yusef Lateef: “The Weaver” – Live at Pep’s (Impulse!)
Yusef Lateef: “Curved Spacetime” – In Nigeria (YAL)
Fred Lonberg-Holm: “Pluck It” – A Valentine For Fred Katz (Atavistic)
Chico Hamilton: “A Trip” – The Dealer (Impulse!)
The Ohio Players: “Walt’s First Trip” – Gettin’ It Off: Westbound Funk (Westbound Records)
James Booker: “Next Time You See Me (Live)” – Jazzy Funky New Orleans (Funky Delicacies)
Willie Kendrick: “Time Changes Things” – Pied Piper Presents a New Concept in Detroit Soul (Kent)
Sly and the Family Stone: “In Time” – Fresh (Columbia)
The Orioles: “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?” – The Dawn of Doo-Wop (Proper)
Mulatu Astatke & the Heliocentrics: “Chinese New Year” – Inspiration Information (Strut)
Elizabeth Cotten: “New Year’s Eve” – Elizabeth Cotten, Volume 3: When I’m Gone (Folkways Records)
The Revels: “It’s Party Time” – Intoxica! The Best of The Revels (Sundazed)
Ramsey Lewis: “Party Time” – Chicago Soul – Electric Blues Funk & Soul (Soul Jazz)
Sinn Sissamouth & Ros Serey Sothea: “New Years Eve” – Dengue Fever Presents: Sleepwalking Through the Mekong (M80)
Vagabond Opera: “New Years Eve” – The Zeitgeist Beckons (Vagabond Opera)
Bettye Lavette: “Only Time Will Tell Me” – I’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise (Anti-)
Dee Felice Trio: “There Was a Time” – In Heat (Bethlehem Records)
George Duke: “Reach For It” – Reach For It (Epic)
Donald Byrd with Guru and Ronny Jordan: “Time Is Moving On” – Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool (GRP)
Dollar Brand & Sathima Benjamin: “A Prelude to a Kiss” – Archive Africa: Jazz, Jive & Jibe (Afribeat)
Sun Ra: “Springtime in Chicago” – Supersonic Jazz (Saturn)
Gil Melle: “Dedicatory Piece to the Geophysical Year of 1957” – Melle Plays Primitive Modern / Quadrama (Prestige)
George Gruntz: “Jazz Appreciation (Motif for Ted)” – Mental Cruelty (Atavistic)
The Zombies: “This Will Be Our Year” – Odessey & Oracle (CBS)
Billie Holiday with Lester Young: “This Year’s Kisses” – Lady Day & Prez 1937-1941 (Giants Of Jazz)
The Staple Singers: “This Year” – Soul Folk in Action (Stax)
Mighty Voices of Wonder: “Every Year Carries a Number” – Local Customs: Downriver Revival (Numero Group)
Frederick Knight: “Time” – Full Time Groovers, Hotlanta Soul Vol 2 (Kent)
Irma Thomas & Allen Toussaint: “Time Is On My Side” – Treme: Music From the HBO Original Series, Season 1 (Geffen)
Santana: “As the Years Go By” – The San Mateo Sessions 1969 (Purple Pyramid)
Miles Davis: “It’s About That Time” – Black Beauty, At Fillmore West (Columbia)
The Golden Gate Quartet: “My Time Done Come” – Swing Down, Chariot (Sony)

WNUR Conference of the Birds, 2013-12-31 [ 2:36:37 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download