There's a lot of fantastic music being made by Brazilian artists living in the U.S. They entertain an estimated 1.5 million Brazilian immigrants here as well as a growing number of other fans. And Brazilian music is enjoying a resurgence here - on Mazda commercials, endless bossa nova soundtracks played in upscale restaurants; inter-cultural collaborations and so on. We'll hear many of the best: Jorge Alabe, the godfather of many samba schools; Bebel Gilberto, daughter of bossa pioneer Joao Gilberto; singer Luciana Souza; the quirky percussionist Cyro Baptista; the funky, unorthodox Forro in the Dark and others. They all have fascinating stories to tell. We'll hear them in concert, visit with them in their homes, and hear songs from records produced in the U.S. New York University's widely published Professor of Music Jason Stanyek will be our co-host. APWW #555

To make this unprecedented program, producer Ned Sublette traveled to Mbanza-Kongo, the ancient seat of the Kongo empire located in present-day northern Angola, where he spoke to Dr. Bárbaro Martínez Ruiz, professor of art and art history at Stanford. We’ll learn about the simbi, the spirits that Martínez Ruiz describes as “the multiple power of god”; hear Antonio Madiata play the lungoyi-ngoyi, the two-stringed viola of the Kongo court; attend a session of the lumbu, the traditional tribunal of elders; and talk to Pedro Lopes, a nganga mawuko (traditional healer). With C. Daniel Dawson and Angolan composer and musicologist Victor Gama, we’ll explore Kongo-Ngola culture in the diaspora – in Brasil, Haiti, Cuba, and more. A SPIRITUAL JOURNEY TO MBANZA-KONGO is supported by a 2012 Knight Luce Fellowship for Reporting on Global Religion. The fellowship is a program of the University of Southern California's Knight Chair in Media and Religion. Originally produced by Ned Sublette in 2012 APWW #651

Haiti became the first black-ruled republic in the Americas in 1804, and music has mirrored, and at times shaped, the twists and turns of Haiti's politics and culture ever since. A primary source of Haitian culture is Dahomey, the birthplace of vodou--the most commonly held world view among Haitian people today. We explore how each of Haiti's rulers has championed his own preferred music. The Duvalier dictators favored compas dance music, and suppressed the most African-identified cultural expressions. When Baby Doc was run out of the country in 1986, African-derived racine, or roots, music exploded. Elizabeth McAlister, professor of religion at Wesleyan University, and Holly Nicolas--interweave music and history to tell a dynamic, and at times heart-breaking story. Included in the mix we'll hear the sweet sound of troubadour balladeers, as well as the exuberant tones of rara bands, the call and response of a capela kombit songs of work parties, impassioned choral music of evangelical churches, and the sophisticated, improvisational rhythms used in vodou rituals. Produced by Sean Barlow APWW #540

We explore the role music played in the creation of a uniquely Angolan consciousness as the country struggled toward independence in the 1960s and ‘70s after centuries of colonialism. Our guides will be producer Ned Sublette, on the ground in Angola, and Dr. Marissa Moorman, historian of southern Africa, and author of Intonations: A Social History of Music in Luanda, Angola from 1945 to Recent Times. We’ll hear the pathbreaking group Ngola Ritmos, who dared sing songs in Kimbundu publicly when it was prohibited by the Portuguese. We’ll hear immortal voices from the age when the guitar-driven style called semba ruled, as well as some snazzy ‘60s guitar instrumentals. Produced by Ned Sublette APWW #647

Our Hip Deep edition “A Tale of Two Rebellions,” produced in August, 2007, recounts the stories of two remarkable military campaigns in early Islamic history. Both uprisings take place in the late 9th century, both involve Africans as key players, and both set the scene for the crystallization of the Sunni-Shi’ite divide in Islam, which of course continues to this day. Produced by Banning Eyre APWW #535

Scholar and author Joseph Braude guides us through the often overlooked popular music of the Persian Gulf, the music known as Khaliji. We learn about the Africans of places like Bahrain and Kuwait - slaves of yore - their free descendents, and more recent waves of African immigrants, notably from Sudan. This episode features spectacular historic recordings, such as the songs of the all but disappeared pearl divers, a well as Khaliji hits by the likes of Abdullah al-Ruwaished and Areel Abou Bakr. Produced by Banning Eyre APWW #520

Toumani Diabaté, the most celebrated kora player of his time, passed away in July, 2024, just days before his 59thbirthday. Afropop Worldwide was blessed to call Toumani a friend for over 30 years and to interview him some 15 times, often at his home in Bamako, Mali. In this episode we celebrate a life of massive virtuosity, creativity and innovation. Toumani overcame daunting obstacles and extended the global reach of this venerable West African harp as no one else has ever done. We hear the voice and music of Toumani at many points in his storied career, along with commentary from his longtime producer and friend, Lucy Durán. Produced by Banning Eyre. APWW #879

Jorge Ben Jor first began to experiment with fusions of samba, bossa nova, rhythm ‘n’ blues and soul in the early 1960s. Together with Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, he participated in the watershed cultural movement, Tropicália, in the late 1960s. In the 1970s, he further explored Afro-Brazilian history and culture in a series of popular albums that have since become key points of reference for a contemporary neo-soul movement. Jorge Ben Jor continues to be an active presence in Brazilian popular music, and he grants us a rare interview to tell his story. The program is produced by Sean Barlow and coproduced with Christopher Dunn, author of Brutality Garden: Tropicália and the Emergence of a Brazilian Counterculture (University of North Carolina Press, 2001) as part of Afropop Worldwide’s Hip Deep series. Produced by Sean Barlow & Christopher Dunn APWW #430

Afropop returns to Senegal for a thrill-packed tour of Dakar nightlife and a first time visit to the rich traditional music tapestry of Casamance. We check in with Youssou N’Dour, Baaba Maal and Cheikh Lo, and meet stars like Cheikh Ibra Fam, Dieyla, Sahad and mbalax heartthrob Pape Diouf. In Casamance, we experience the frenzy of a female fertility ritual and the serenity of the Diebate kora family. It’s a classic Afropop field adventure, with nonstop music. Produced by Banning Eyre APWW #878

Musical improvisation comes in many forms. A jazz player creates within the harmonic structure of a composition. A Shona mbira player in Zimbabwe improvises interactively with another player, and the audience, in some cases, an ancestor spirit. An Arabic maqam musician works within the elaborate set of rules governing the movement of melodies within one or more particular maqamat, or modes. How are these musicians’ experience the same? And how are they different? Musicians and scholars weigh in on this Hip Deep episode. Produced by Banning Eyre. APWW #485

This Hip Deep episode is Part 1 of a two-part series comparing and contrasting approaches to musical improvisation. Beginning and ending with bebop and free jazz, Part 1 takes sidetrips into Ghanaian percussion traditions, Mande string and vocal music, and solo taqsim improvisation in Arabic music. With insights from UCLA’s A.J. Racy and Wesleyan University’s Eric Charry, among others, we launch a provocative and revealing meditation on spontaneity in the world’s music traditions. APWW #454 Produced by Banning Eyre