“Conference of the Birds” is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM. It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-6). 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, that, and the others.

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (146MB, 2 hrs 39 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Vin Gordon: “Red Blood” – Studio One Scorchers (Trojan Records)
The Scram Band: “Don’t Change Nothin’ (instrumental)” – Eddie Bo’s Funky Funky New Orleans (Funky Delicacies)
Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd St. Rhythm Band: “Spreadin’ Honey” – Express Yourself (Warner Bros.)
Orchestre National du Congo: “Ah! Congo” – Vision 1976 Vol.1 (Editions Nationales)
The Dantels: “Dragon Walk” – Jungle Exotica, Vol. 1 (Strip)
Afro 70: “Week End” – Kenya Special: Selected East African Recordings From The 1970s & ’80s (Soundway)
Super Biton de Segou: “Nie Nema Mine” – Afro Jazz du Mali (Bolibana Productions)
James Brown: “Tighten Up” – Say It Live And Loud: Live In Dallas 08.26.68 (Polydor)
The Boom: “Honey on a Biscuit” – Any Day of the Night (Slowdime)
Elvis Presley: “Only the Strong Survive” – From Nashville to Memphis: The Essential ’60s Masters (RCA)
The Staple Singers: “Heavy Makes You Happy (Sha-Na-Boom-Boom)” – The Complete Stax/Volt Soul Singles, vol 2: 1968-1971 (Stax)
Ella Fitzgerald: “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” – Twelve Nights in Hollywood (Verve Records)
The Five Keys: “Old MacDonald” – Dawn of Doo-Wop (Proper)
Ray Price: “Crazy Arms” – Hillbilly Fever, Vol. 3: Legends of Nashville (Warner)
The Byrds: “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” – Sweetheart of the Rodeo (Columbia)
Blanket Music: “Get Togetha” – Move (Hush Records)
Bola Sete: “Complicado” – Shebaba (Fantasy )
Edward W. Clayborn: “Your Enemy Cannot Harm You (but Watch your Close Friend)” – Goodbye, Babylon (Dust-to-Digital)
Johnny Lee Moore & 12 Mississippi Penitentiary Convicts: “Eighteen Hammers” – Sounds of the South (Atlantic)
The Prisonaires: “Just Walkin’ in the Rain” – 15th Annual Southern Music Issue & CD – Tennessee (Oxford American)
The Temptations: “(I Know) I’m Losing You” – Beg, Scream and Shout: the Big Ol’ Box of 60’s Soul (Rhino)
Universal Congress Of: “Freight Train” – The Sad and Tragic Demise of Big Fine Hot Salty Black Wind (Enemy)
La Perfecta: “Roulé” – Creole Love Calls – Rythmes Latins Des Antilles (Isma’a)
Ari Brown: “Lester Bowie’s Gumbo Stew” – Ultimate Frontier (Delmark)
Bola: “Bunibunbol Suma” – Volume 7 (Awesome Tapes From Africa)
Amanar: “Alghafiat” – Music from Saharan Cellphones (Sahel Sounds)
Group Anmataff: “Tinariwen” – Music from Saharan Cellphones (Sahel Sounds)
Shankar and the Epidemics: “Sankarabaranam Pancha Nadai Pallavi” – Passion Sources (Real World)
Spider Harrison: “Beautiful Day” – The Funky Sixteen Corners (Stones Throw)
Orchestre Veve: “Mama Djele” – Vintage Verckys (RetroAfric)
Pato Banton: “Don’t Sniff Coke” – Never Give In (Greensleeves )
Karl Hector & the Malcouns: “When the Sun Breaks Through” – Sahara Swing (Now-Again)
David Shire: “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three” – The Score: 20 Ultra-Cool Soundtracks from the Producers of Mojo (Mojo)
George Russell Smalltet: “Night Sound” – Jazz Workshop (Koch)
Pachora: “Bushka Lounge” – Astereotypical (Winter & Winter)
Mike Reed’s People, Places and Things: “Beach Balls” – Second Cities: Volume 1 (482 Music)
Eight Bold Souls: “Odyssey” – Last Option (Thrill Jockey)

WNUR Conference of the Birds, 2015-02-03 [ 2:38:58 ] 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-6). 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).

Something hit me late in my pre-show prep that led me to start this one off with about an hour of hip-hop. The rest of the show is fairly eclectic, in the general Conference of the Birds fashion, wrapping up with an odd one from the great poet and sound artist Christian Bök.

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (148MB, 2 hrs 41 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Boogie Down Productions: “Word from Our Sponsor” – Criminal Minded (B-Boy Records)
Queen Latifah & the Original Flavor Unit: “Flavor Unit Assassination Squad” – Hip Hop Sessions: Classics from Hip Hop’s Holy Grail (Sessions)
Stik Figa: “The Skinny” – As Himself (Mello Music Group)
Brand New Heavies featuring Masta Ace: “Wake Me When I’m Dead” – Heavy Rhyme Experience, Vol. 1 (Delicious Vinyl)
Basehead: “Brand New Day” – Play With Toys (Imago)
The Coup: “Last Blunt” – Kill My Landlord (Wild Pitch Records)
Digable Planets: “Jettin’” – Blowout Comb (Capitol Records)
Gift of Gab: “In a Minute Doe” – 4th Dimensional Rocketships Going Up (Quannum Projects)
Blue Scholars: “Evening Chai” – Blue Scholars (Not On Label)
Erykah Badu: “Love of My Life Worldwide (featuring Queen Latifah, Angie Stone & Bahamadia)” – Worldwide Underground (Motown )
Das Racist: “You Oughta Know” – Shut Up, Dude (Greedhead Music)
Vampires Underground: “Funky Broadway” – Vampires Underground (Pharaway Sounds)
Os Mutantes: “Ave Genghis Khan” – Os Mutantes (Polydor)
Geraldo Azevedo, Alceu Valenca: “Planetario” – Psychedelic Pernambuco (Mr. Bongo)
Elizabeth Cotten: “Mama, Nobody’s Here but the Baby” – Shake Sugaree (Smithsonian Folkways)
Fitzroy Coleman Quintet: “Uncle Joe” – London Is The Place For Me 6: Mento, Calypso, Jazz And Highlife From Young Black London (Honest Jon’s)
Lionel Belasco: “Miranda” – Ghost World soundtrack (Shanachie)
The Pioneers: “Rudies are the Greatest” – Trojan Rude Boy Box Set (Trojan)
Sister Winona Carr: “Fifteen Rounds for Jesus” – Dragnet for Jesus (Specialty)
Don Covay: “Iron Out the Rough Spots” – Mercy!/Seesaw (Koch)
The Soul Seven: “Southside Funk” – The Funky 16 Corners (Stones Throw Records)
Irma Thomas: “Hittin’ on Nothin’” – Sweet Soul Queen of New Orleans (Razor & Tie)
Lou Johnson: “Wrong Number” – With You in Mind (Volt)
Nita Rossi: “Untrue Unfaithful (That Was You)” – One Kiss Can Lead to Another: Girl Group Sounds Lost and Found (Rhino)
Abdel Gadir Salim: “Mal Wa Ihtagab” – The Merdoum Kings Play Songs of Love (Shanachie )
April March: “La Chanson de Prevert” – Chick Habit (Sympathy for the Record Industry)
Verckys & L’Orchestre Veve: “Nakomi Paradise” – Congolese Funk, Afrobeat & Psychedelic Rumba 1969 – 1978 (Analog Africa)
Fastos the Great: “Via Faraday” – Sax Jive Special (Electric Jive)
Johannesburg Street Band: “Special Branch” – Dancin’ Through The Streets (UNI Records)
Leo Cuypers: “Alsdot de Olifantstand” – Heavy Days Are Here Again (Atavistic)
Dave Holland Trio: “African Lullaby” – Triplicate (ECM Records)
Johnny Dyani Quartet: “House Arrest” – Mbizo (SteepleChase)
Mary Lou Williams: “Syl-o-Gism” – Zoning (Smithsonian Folkways)
Bobby Hutcherson: “Goin’ Down South” – San Francisco (Blue Note)
Charlie Haden/Billy Higgins/Enrico Pieranunzi: “Lennie’s Pennies” – First Song (Soul Note)
Gigi Gryce: “Nica’s Tempo” – Nica’s Tempo (Savoy)
Christian Bok: “Seahorses and Flying Fish” – (Penn Sound)

WNUR Conference of the Birds, 2015-01-27 [ 2:41:19 ] 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-6). 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 some reason the stream archive cut a little short, so you get most of the David Boykin track but not the ones after.

That said, there’s plenty of great music until then.

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (123MB, 2 hrs 15 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Milton Cardona: “Ebioso” – Bembé (American Clave)
Son Palenque: “Atina Tina” – Afro-Colombian Sound Modernizers (Vampisoul)
Dr. Adolf Ahanotu: “Ijere” – Nigeria Disco Funk Special: Sound of the Underground Lagos Dancefloor 1974-1979 (Soundway)
The Scientist & Ted Sirota’s Heavyweight Dub with Diverse: “Saro-Wiwa” – The Scientist Meets Ted Sirota’s Heavyweight Dub (Ernie B’s Reggae)
Tidiani Koné & Orchestre Poly-Rythmo: “Djanfa Magni” – African Scream Contest: Raw & Psychedelic Afro Sounds from Benin & Togo 70s (Analog Africa)
Prince: “I Wanna Be Your Lover” – Prince (Warner Brothers)
Kashmere Stage Band: “Thank You (Live)” – Texas Thunder Soul 1968-74 (Now-Again)
Sly and the Family Stone: “Dance to the Medley (Music is Alive/Dance In/Music Lover)” – Dance to the Music (Epic)
Cornell Dupree: “Teasin’” – What It Is! Funky Soul And Rare Grooves (1967-1977) (Rhino)
The Coup: “I Love Boosters” – Pick a Bigger Weapon (Epitaph )
The Lymbyc System: “Dreadlock Rock” – Mammoth Lakes, CA: 5/31/2004 (random taper)
Ramsey & Co.: “Love Call” – Keb Darge’s Legendary Deep Funk Volume 2 (BBE)
Hank Ballard & the Midnighters: “From the Love Side” – James Brown’s Funky People (part 2) (Polydor)
Buddy Miles: “Easy Greasy” – We Got To Live Together (Mercury)
Bob Wills & his Texas Playboys: “Crazy Rhythm” – Tiffany Transcriptions, vol. 3 (Rhino)
Sam Cooke: “Another Saturday Night” – Keep Movin’ On (ABKCO Records)
The Raiders: “Bittersweet Samba” – Guitars a Go-Go: Raiders Go Latin (Raj)
Christopher Columbus Ngcukana: “Oosoga” – Next Stop… Soweto Vol. 3: Giants, Ministers And Makers: Jazz In South Africa 1963-1978 (Strut)
Lucky 7s: “Farragut” – Farragut (Lakefront Digital)
Masada: “Khebar” – Het (DIW)
Jon Jang and the Pan-Asian Jazz Arkestra: “Concerto for Jazz Ensemble and Taiko: Ganbaro!” – Self Defense! (Soul Note)
Clifford Thornton & the Jazz Composers Orchestra: “O Desayo” – The Gardens of Harlem (JCOA Records)
David Boykin Outet: “Connundrum” – Evidence of Life on Other Planets Vol. 2 (BoxMedia)
Mal Waldron: “Transfiguration” – Mal-1 (Prestige )
The Nice Guy Trio: “Off the Grid” – Here Comes The Nice Guy Trio (Porto Franco)
Sun Ra: “We Travel the Spaceways” – Space is the Place Soundtrack (Impulse)

WNUR Conference of the Birds, 2015-01-20 (complete) [ 2:14:46 ] 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-6). 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).

Calypso, afro-pop, gospel, Bahamas, funk, soul, jazz…

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (146MB, 2 hrs 40 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Lord Invader: “Fidel Castro” – Calypso Travels (Smithsonian Folkways)
Mighty Sparrow: “Jook for Jook” – Volume 4 (Ice)
Lagos Mozart Orchestra: “Ore Mi Kini Se” – Juju Roots: 1930s-1950s (Rounder)
Black Santiagos: “See Na Meye” – Ignace de Souza: The Great Unknowns (Original)
Bob-Cats: “Rocsy Pie Conti” – Christmas Jive: 78s and 45s from the Archives (Electric Jive)
Oscar Neves: “Mabele” – Angola Soundtrack 2: Hypnosis, Distortions & Other Sonic Innovations 1969-1978 (Analog Africa)
Paulina Alvarez: “El Verdulero” – Cuba: I Am Time (Cantar en Cuba) (Blue Jackel)
Victoria Spivey: “Blood Hound Blues” – Moaning The Blues (Orbis)
Billie Holiday: “They Can’t Take That Away from Me” – Lady Day: The Best of Billie Holiday (Sony)
Silver Leaf Quartet: “Witness for my Lord” – Southern Journey, Vol. 8: Velvet Voices – Eastern Shores Choirs, Quartets, And Colonial Era Music (Rounder)
Rev. Linston Triplett, Jr.: “Jesus is Living Today” – This May Be My Last Time Singing: Raw African-American Gospel on 45RPM, 1957-1982 (Tompkins Square)
Frank Penn: “Gimme Some Skin (Instrumental)” – Cult Cargo: Grand Bahama Goombay (Numero Group)
Funky Nassau: “Look What You Can Get” – 7″ (Drive)
Juju Orchestra: “Funky Nassau” – Bossa Nova Is Not a Crime (Agogo Records)
Junk: “Hey Frenchy” – Kiss My Acid Jazz (Faffco)
Vic Pitts & The Cheaters: “The Trip” – The Lost Tapes (Secret Stash)
Sonny Knight & the Lakers: “Baby, Baby, Baby” – I’m Still Here (Secret Stash)
Medeski, Martin & Wood: “Ziphim” – Voices in the Wilderness (Tzadik)
John Zorn: “Milano Odea” – The Big Gundown: John Zorn Plays the Music of Ennio Morricone (Nonesuch)
Tony Allen: “Nina Lowo” – Secret Agent (Nonesuch)
Super Tentemba Jazz: “Almamy” – Rare Afro & Caribbean Funk Volume 2 (Mokili)
Lee Dorsey: “Everything I Do Gohn Be Funky (From Now On)” – The New Lee Dorsey (Sundazed)
Professor Longhair: “Longhair’s Blues-Rhumba” – New Orleans Piano (Rounder)
The Hesitations: “I’m Not Built That Way” – Pied Piper Presents a New Concept in Detroit Soul (Kent)
Las Malas Amistades: “Por Todos Lados” – Jardin Interior (Honest Jon’s)
Quarteto Em Cy e Tamba Trio: “Vim Da Bahia” – Som Definitivo (Forma)
Hank Mobley: “Dig Dis” – Soul Station (Blue Note)
Sonny Red: “Blues in the Pocket” – Out of the Blue (Blue Note)
John Zorn/George Lewis/Bill Frisell: “Funk in Deep Freeze” – News for Lulu (hat ART)
Vandermark Five Special Edition: “Second Marker” – The Horse Jumps & the Ship is Gone (Not Two)
Fred Anderson/Hamid Drake/Harrison Bankhead: “Timeless” – Timeless (Delmark)
Chicago Trio: “Down n’ the Delta” – Velvet Songs To Baba Fred Anderson (Rogueart)

WNUR Conference of the Birds, 2015-01-06 (complete) [ 2:39:42 ] 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-6). 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).

Much of this week’s show features music that my friend Mike introduced me to while he and his family were visiting before Christmas.

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (147MB, 2 hrs 40 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
The Carter Family: “Crying Holy Unto the Lord” – Can the Circle Be Unbroken? Country Music’s First Family (Legacy)
Mississippi Sheiks: “Things About Coming My Way” – Honey Babe Let the Deal Go Down: The Best of the Mississippi Sheiks (Legacy)
Dickie McBride and the Village Boys: “Tulsa Twist” – Hillbilly Fever, Vol. 1: Legends of Western Swing (Rhino)
McKinney Sisters with Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys: “Will There Be Any Yodeling in Heaven?” – Tiffany Transcriptions, Vol. 10: McKinney Sisters 1946 (Rhino)
The Swan Silvertones: “If You Believe Your God is Dead, Try Mine” – Swan Silvertones Greatest Hits (Liquid 8)
Candi Staton: “The Best Thing You Ever Had” – Candi Staton [Compilation] (Honest Jon’s)
Willie Tee: “Swivel Your Hips” – Teasin’ You (Night Train)
Melvin Van Peebles: “Sweetback’s Theme” – The Complete Stax/Volt Singles, Vol. 2 (Stax)
Sam Cooke: “Soothe Me” – Sam Cooke’s SAR Records Story 1959-1965 (ABKCO )
Ollie and the Nightingales: “Bracing Myself for the Fall” – The Complete Stax/Volt Singles, Vol. 2 (Stax)
The Chi-Lites: “Stoned Out of my Mind” – The Best of The Chi-Lites: One in A Million (Music Club)
The Jackson 5: “Body Language (Do the Love Dance)” – Soulsation! 25th Anniversary Collection (Motown)
Bobby Darin: “Black Coffee” – Mack the Knife (Atco)
Jane Birkin & Serge Gainsbourg: “69 année érotique” – Jane Birkin Serge Gainsbourg (Fontana)
Louis King: “I Remember (How You Made Me Love You)” – Carolina Soul Survey: The Reflection Sound Story (Grapevine)
Seu Jorge: “Mania de Peitao (Jamais Plus Jamais Mix)” – Cru (Wrasse)
Stooges Brass Band: “Bin Laden” – It’s About Time (The Gruve Label)
Son Palenque: “Cumbia Africana” – Son Palenque (Soundway)
El Sexteto Miramar: “Cumbiamba” – Colombia! The Golden Age of Discos Fuentes – The Powerhouse of Colombian Music 1960-76 (Soundway)
Juan Piña Y sus Muchachos: “La Nena” – Diablos Del Ritmo: The Colombian Melting Pot 1975​-​1985 (Analog Africa)
Jimmy Sabater: “Koo It Here Comes the Fuzz” – El Barrio – Latin Funk: Nuyorican Funk 1968-1976 (Fania)
Ariya Afrobeat Arkestra: “Lost in Kinshasa” – Ariya Afrobeat Arkestra (First Word)
The Budos Band: “The Sticks” – Burnt Offering (Daptone Records)
Gilberto Gil & Gal Costa: “Oriente” – Live in London ’71 (Discobertos)
Baden Powell: “Canto de Ossanha” – Tristeza on Guitar (PAUSA)
Rio 65 Trio: “Preciso aprender a ser so” – Rio 65 Trio (Philips)
Marcos Valle: “Nao Tem Nada Nao” – The Essential Marcos Valle (Mr. Bongo)
Chicago Trio: “Jah Music” – Velvet Songs To Baba Fred Anderson (Rogueart)
Mike Reed’s People, Places & Things: “Train Ride” – Second Cities: Volume 1 (482 Music)
Anouar Brahem: “Qurb” – Thimar (ECM)
Andre Jaume: “Guadalquivir” – Le Collier De La Colombe (Palm)
Anthony Braxton Quartet: “No. 40B” – Willisau (Quartet) 1991 (Hat Art)
The Blue Notes: “Eyomzi” – Blue Notes for Johnny (Ogun)
Ornette Coleman: “Una Muy Bonita” – Change of the Century (Atlantic)
Steam: “Non-confirmation” – Real Time (Eighth Day Music)

WNUR Conference of the Birds, 2014-12-30 (complete) [ 2:40:07 ] 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-6). 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 came after we had guests in town for a few days, so I didn’t prepare much, unless you count the Dusty Groove adventure I took with Mike or the other music acquisition of the weekend, some of the fruits of which appear on the show.

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (143MB, 2 hrs 36 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Billie Holiday: “Mean to Me” – Her Best Recordings: 1935-1942 (Best Of Jazz)
Blossom Dearie: “’Deed I Do” – Blossom Dearie (Verve)
Bessie Smith: “New Orleans Hop Scop Blues” – Empty Bed Blues (Columbia)
Sister Dora Alexander: “Times Done Changed” – Classic Sounds of New Orleans from Smithsonian Folkways (Smithsonian Folkways)
Jelly Roll Morton: “Ungai Hai, the Sign of the Indians” – The Complete Library of Congress Recordings (Rounder)
Uncredited: “Twist and Unemployment” – Zambia ’64: Original Soundtrack Recording (EMI)
Eric Akaeze & his Azagas: “Timber” – Money No Be Sand (1960’s Afro-Lypso / Pidgin Highlife / Afro-Rock / Afro-Soul (Original Music)
Buddy Pipp’s Highlifers: “Ghana Special” – London Is The Place For Me 5 (Latin, Jazz, Calypso & Highlife From Young Black London) (Honest Jon’s)
African Brothers Int’l Band of Ghana: “Medee Beba” – Okwaduo!!! “Wodee Wokoo Na Wonuanom” (Executive)
Caetano Veloso: “Maria Bethânia” – Caetano Veloso (1971) (Polygram)
Gal Costa & Gilberto Gil: “Maria Bethânia / Bota a Mao Nas Cadeiras” – Live In London 1971 (Discobertas)
Audio One: “C” – The Midwest School (Audiographic)
Julius Hemphill: “The Hard Blues” – Coon Bid’ness (Arista)
Edwin Starr: “Easin’ In” – Can You Dig It? The Music And Politics Of Black Action Films 1968-75 (Soul Jazz)
A.A.B.B.: “Pick Up the Pieces One By One” – James Brown’s Funky People 3 (Polydor)
Marlboros: “Why’d You Leave” – Carolina Soul Survey: The Reflection Sound Story (Grapevine)
Candi Staton: “I’ll Drop Everything and Come Running” – Candi Staton (Honest Jon’s)
Al Green: “Hangin’ On” – Explores Your Mind (Hi)
Admiral Dele Obiodun: “Side 1” – Admiral Dele Abiodun & his Top Hitters Band (Olumo)
Chicago Trio (Ernest Dawkins/Hamid Drake/Harrison Bankhead): “Woman of Darfur” – Velvet Songs: To Baba Fred Anderson (Rogue Art)
Don Cherry / Ed Blackwell: “Mutron – Bemsha Swing – Solidarity – Arabian Nightingale” – El Corazón (ECM)
Kahil El’ Zabar Ritual Trio: “Alika Rising” – Alika Rising At Leverkusener Jazztage (Sound Aspects)

WNUR Conference of the Birds, 2014-12-23 (complete) [ 2:36:20 ] 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-6). 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).

Not really a theme, but this show did happen to have three Cole Porter tunes in it, and a pair of songs in honor of FDR. Otherwise, basically more of the same ol’ Conference of the Birds soul/jazz/funk/afro/caribbean thing. I have no clever story to tell!

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (144MB, 2 hrs 37 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Sly and the Family Stone: “Babies Makin’ Babies” – Fresh (Epic)
Syl Johnson: “I’ve Got the Real Thing” – Jump, Children! Mississippi (Southern Music Issue #13) (Oxford American)
Wilson Pickett: “99 and a Half Won’t Do” – A Man and a Half: the Best of Wilson Pickett (Atlantic)
Impact All Stars: “Ordinary Version Chapter 3” – Forward the Bass: Dub from Randy’s 1972-1975 (Blood and Fire)
Linton Kwesi Johnson: “Want Fi Goh Rave” – In Concert with the Dub Band (Shanachie)
Desmond Dekker: “Warlock” – Rockin’ Steady: The Best of Desmond Dekker (Rhino)
Betty Everett: “Is There a Chance For Me?” – There’ll Come A Time (UNI)
Bill Withers: “Better Off Dead” – Live at Carnegie Hall (Sussex)
Blo: “Native Doctor” – Chapters and Phases: The Complete Albums, 1973-1975 (RPM-Retro)
Karl Hector and the Malcouns: “Rush Hour” – Sahara Swing (Now-Again)
Big Chief Monk Boudreaux & the Golden Eagles: “Katie Mae” – Mr. Stranger Man (Shanachie)
Slim Willis Band: “I Sayed That” – Light: On the South Side: Pepper’s Jukebox (Numero Group)
The Coasters: “Three Cool Cats” – The Definitive Coasters (History of RnB Records)
A.C. Jones & the Atomic Aces: “Give Me Your Love (instrumental)” – Boddie Recording Company: Cleveland, Ohio (Numero Group)
The Coctails: “West Couch Place” – The Early Hi-Ball Years (Carrot Top Records)
Gilberto Gil: “Aquele Abraco” – Gilberto Gil (Cérebro Eletrônico) (Philips)
Siba: “Ariana” – Avante (Mais Um Discos)
Calypso King and the Soul Investigators: “Struggling My Way” – Soul Strike! (Soul Fire)
Lena Horne: “It’s All Right with Me” – Stormy Weather: The Legendary Lena (1941-1958) (RCA Bluebird)
Ella Fitzgerald: “Begin the Beguine” – Sings the Cole Porter Songbook (Verve)
The Attila: “Roosevelt in Trinidad” – Roosevelt In Trinidad: Calypsos Of Events, Places, And Personalities 1933-1939 (Rounder)
Willie Eason: “Franklin D. Roosevelt, A Poor Man’s Friend” – Sacred Steel (Arhoolie)
Mance Lipscomb: “Alabama Bound” – Ash Grove: 12/6/1964 (Concert Vault)
Charles Pierce & his Orchestra: “Sister Kate” – Muggsy A-Z: A Portrait of Muggsy Spanier (Upbeat )
Lloyd Miller & the Heliocentrics: “Fantasia, Part 1” – Lloyd Miller & The Heliocentrics (OST) (Strut)
Bossa 70: “Me Quedo con el Shing-a-Ling” – ¡Gózalo! Bugalú Tropical Vol.3 (Vampi Soul)
Orchestra Super Mazembe: “Mukala Musi” – Giants of East Africa (Earthworks)
Actis Band: “Makeba” – Garibaldi (Leo)
Anthony Brown’s Asian American Jazz Orchestra: “Little Rootie Tootie” – Monk’s Mood (Keeper)
John Coltrane: “I Love You” – Lush Life (Prestige)
Joseph Jarman/Famoudou Don Moye’s Magic Triangle: “Triebhaus Tribal Stomp” – Calypso’s Smile (Southport )
Roy Campbell Pyramid Trio: “Oglala Eclipse” – Ancestral Homeland (No More Records)
Trevor Watts Moire Music Drum Orchestra: “Egugu” – A Wider Embrace (ECM)

WNUR Conference of the Birds, 2014-12-16 (complete) [ 2:37:02 ] 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-6). 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’s show starts with a nod to a great book I just finished, Roll With It, by Matt Sakakeeny, a Tulane professor and former producer for the excellent American Routes program. It’s an ethnography of New Orleans brass bands, and while it can be academic in parts, it’s actually refreshingly balanced for a book that is probably part of a tenure package. It is (for an academic book) lavishly illustrated by Willie Birch, and there’s some extra interesting stuff on a little website Matt put together for the book, including some youtube videos of bands performing.

Actually, to be honest, the show starts with a song from K Theory radio which I liked, specifically “Wa Ho Ha” from a 1978 reissue from Pazy and the Black Hippies. So I started with a new school afrobeat tune I had in the wings before settling into the brass band thing.

That all was about the first hour of the show, and then just a mix, but looking back, a pretty good one!

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (129MB, 2 hrs 21 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
Pazy And The Black Hippies: “Wa Ho Ha” – Wa Ho Ha (Secret Stash)
Ariya Afrobeat Arkestra: “Turncoat” – Towards Other Worlds (First World)
Babatunde Olatunji: “Takuta” – Soul Makossa (Paramount)
Dirty Dozen Brass Band: “Eyomzi” – Open Up: Whatcha Gonna Do For The Rest Of Your Life? (Columbia)
Soul Rebels: “Uptown Downtown” – No Place Like Home (self-released)
Li’l Rascals Brass Band: “Knock With Me/Rock With Me” – Brass Bands and Mardi Gras Indians (unknown)
Hot 8 Brass Band: “J’isten to Me” – Vibe This! WWOZ on CD Spring 2007 (WWOZ)
Joe Tex: “You’re Right, Ray Charles” – Testifyin': The Essential Joe Tex (Castle Select)
Rebirth Brass Band: “Shake Your Body Down to the Ground” – Feel Like Funkin’ It Up (Rounder)
Afrika Bambaata: “Soul Makossa” – Dark Matter Moving at the Speed of Light (Tommy Boy)
Funk Como Le Gusta: “Balacobaco” – The New Brazilian Music, Vol. 4 (BM&A)
Thu Zahina: “Est Ce Que Olingi Ngai?” – Coup de Chapeau (Retroafric)
Orchestre Veve: “Bilobela” – Vintage Verckys (RetroAfric)
Septeto Nacional de Ignacio Piñeiro: “Echale Salsita” – Cuba, I Am Time, Vol. 3: Bailar con Cuba (Blue Jackel)
Beny More: “Que Bueno Baila Usted” – Cuba, I Am Time, Vol. 3: Bailar con Cuba (Blue Jackel)
Grupo Changüi de Guantanamo: “Laos, Cambodia y Vietnam” – ¡Ahora sí! Llegó el changüí (Corason)
Tradisyon Ka: “Elwa” – Soul Jazz Records Presents Gwo Ka: Music Of Guadeloupe, West Indies (Soul Jazz)
Hollis Watkins: “Oh Freedom” – Voices of the Civil Rights Movement (Smithsonian Folkways)
Pete Seeger: “We Shall Not Be Moved” – Singalong Sanders Theater, 1980 (Smithsonian Folkways)
Doc Watson & Clarence Ashley: “Skillet Good & Greasy” – The Complete Folkways Recordings (Smithsonian Folkways)
Harmonica Frank Floyd: “Shoop-a-Boop-a-Doodler” – The Missing Link (Memphis International)
Eric Boeren: “Peace” – Joy of a Toy (BV Haast)
Steve Lacy: “The Breath” – The Door (Novus)
The Vandermark Five: “East Broadway Rundown” – Six for Rollins (Free Jazz Classics, vol. 3) (Atavistic)
School Days: “Elephantasy” – In Our Times (Okka Disk)

WNUR Conference of the Birds, 2014-12-09 (complete) [ 2:21:07 ] 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-6). 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).

As I was preparing for this week’s show, my Twitter stream erupted with responses to the grand jury decision in the Michael Brown killing case. I found myself drawn to the ever-inspiring music of the civil rights movement for solace.

Before that news came in, I’d been planning on doing a Charles Mingus feature. The Mingus Awareness Project is performing at a benefit for the Les Turner ALS foundation on at Promontory on Sunday, December 7. It seemed like a fine excuse to go deep on music by and for Mingus, which ended up being about the last hour of the show.

Enjoy!

Listen:

download program (141MB, 2 hrs 34 min)

Artist: “Track” – Album (Label)
SNCC Freedom Singers: “We’ll Never Turn Back” – Voices of the Civil Rights Movement (Smithsonian Folkways)
Mass meeting participants, Danville, VA: “We Are Soldiers in the Army” – Voices of the Civil Rights Movement (Smithsonian Folkways)
SNCC Freedom Singers: “Which Side are you On?” – Voices of the Civil Rights Movement (Smithsonian Folkways)
Aretha Franklin: “A Change is Gonna Come” – I Never Loved a Man (Atlantic)
Oliver Nelson: “Freedom Dance” – Afro-American Sketches (Prestige)
Charles Mingus: “Original Faubus Fables” – Charles Mingus presents Charles Mingus (Columbia)
Nina Simone: “I Wish I Knew How It Feels to be Free” – How It Feels to Be Free (Hear Music)
Mahalia Jackson: “Keep Your Hands on the Plow” – Live at Newport 1958 (Columbia)
Birmingham Movement Choir: “I’m On My Way” – Sing for Freedom:Civil Rights Movement Songs (Smithsonian Folkways)
KRS-One: “Sound of Da Police” – Hip Hop Sessions: Classics from Hip Hop’s Holy Grail (Sessions)
Public Enemy: “Power to the People” – Fear of a Black Planet (Def Jam)
Gil Scott-Heron: “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” – The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (Flying Dutchman)
The Coup: “ShoYoAss” – Pick a Bigger Weapon (Epitaph )
Toots & the Maytals: “I Shall Be Free” – Sweet and Dandy (Jet Set)
Count Ossie & the Mystic Revelation of Rastafari: “Let Freedom Reign” – Tales of Mozambique (Culture Press)
Johnny Dyani: “Blame it on the Boers” – Afrika (Steeplechase)
SNCC Freedom Singers: “Keep Your Eyes on the Prize” – Sing for Freedom:Civil Rights Movement Songs (Smithsonian Folkways)
Curtis Mayfield: “We’re a Winner” – Curtis/Live (Curtom )
Matana Roberts: “Libation for Mr. Brown: Bid Em In…” – Coin Coin Chapter One: Gens De Couleur Libres (Constellation)
Charles Mingus: “Hobo Ho” – Let My Children Hear Music (Columbia)
Charles Mingus: “Haitian Fight Song” – The Clown (Atlantic)
Eternal Buzz Brass Band: “Better Get It in Your Soul” – Evolution (Ropeadope)
Territory Band-5: “Untitled Fiction (for Charles Mingus)” – New Horse For The White House (Okka Disk)
Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, Max Roach: “Rem Blues” – Money Jungle (Blue Note)
Charles Mingus: “Mood Indigo” – Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus (Impulse)
Orange, then Blue: “Nostalgia in Times Square” – Orange, then Blue (GM Recordings)
Bert Jansch & John Renbourn: “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” – After the Dance (Shanachie )
Charles Mingus Sextet with Eric Dolphy: “Jitterbug Waltz” – Cornell 1964 (Blue Note)

WNUR Conference of the Birds, 2014-11-25 (complete) [ 2:33:54 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download