Reflecting on the recent WOMAD Festival just up the road from me outside Malmesbury, and the interest shown on another thread here in the mellifluous choons of Remmy Ongala, I wondered whether any other Afterworders were aware of the splendid 90-minute Chrome cassette release (WOMBIP C1) put out by WOMAD/Bop Cassettes in 1987?
The tracklisting is in the comments – it’s a monster!
Talk about eclectic and well-chosen; has there ever been a better ‘world music’ compo?
Here’s the tracklisting:
A1 Orchestre Super Matimila– Nalilia Mwana
A2 Toumani Diabaté– Djata
A3 Asha Bhosle– Yuhn Na Thi
A4 Culture Musical Club: Taarab Orchestra*– Kama Yalivyonipata
A5 Sasono Mulyo– Gamelan Gong Kebyar Music
A6 Jean Bosco Mwenda– Mother and Child
A7 Bhundu Boys– Vakaringa Dombo
A8 Bagamoyo Group Of Tanzania– Mateso
A9 Şivan Perwer– Daye Ez Xezalim
A10 Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan– Ya Mohammad Bula Lo
B1 Najma– Neend Koyi
B2 Tian Jin Song– Raindrops Pattering On Banana Leave
B3 Pedro Caldeira Cabral– Entrada
B4 Nadka Karadjova*– Ivan And Donka Are In Love
B5 Vermenton Plage– Les Verve De La Coulée
B6 Flaco Jimenez– Cielito Lindo
B7 The Musicians Of The Nile– Drum Solo
B8 Alaap– Chunni Ud Ud’Jae
B9 The Real Sounds– Tsi Tsi Wangu
B10 Kanda Bongo Man– Ekipe
Great! Is there a playlist?
Sorry, I don’t do playlists, as I don’t use any streaming!
Understood. I’m away for a few days but will have a go at putting one together – if no one else has.
That’s going to be an interesting challenge @jazzjet.
I’ve started to nose around in search of the tracks but am having problems finding them on YTube and Spotify.
But I do enjoy a challenge!
Yes, I had a quick look and didn’t find too many tracks.
No, um, “back ups”, then…..?
Thumbs up!!!
In related news, the splendid Live at WOMAD 1982 double LP is currently only 15 quid at the Dodgers (or a tenner for the CD).
Straight outta Shepton Mallet!
I have the original double album here too – it was a complete eye-opener, or should I say ear-opener and horizon-widener at the time!
It will come as no surprise that I have that, and a corker it was, too. I still have the vinyl, too. I would have gone but there was a train strike; plus ca change…
It looks wonderful., Vulpes. Available for for about seven quid.
https://www.discogs.com/release/9700109-Various-The-Pocket-Womad
Here is the first track (I think!)
In 1987, Toumani had scarcely begun his recording career,.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/toumani-diabat%C3%A9-mn0000744075/discography
The Songhai album , with Ketama and Danny Thompson was released in 1988.
At the beginning of his career he hadn’t leant much English but still used French to communicate.
Anyway, I’ve been searching for where that track, Djata, came from. No joy yet.
A little further research on allmusic.com led to the discovery that the Songhai album came about after Mario Pacheco and his Spanish colleagues had heard Toumani in a club in Soho and decided to invite him to Madrid.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/songhai-mw0000200715/user-reviews
A useful review by Gernot Dudda.
“Songhai musicians met at a London party prior to a concert that Ketama did in a Flamenco venue in Soho. Among the revelry of drinks from the back room exuded the celestial sound of the kora that Toumani Diabate –then almost a debutant– shared with Malian guitar blues patriarch Ali Farka Touré. It was all a “satori” which came as a godsend to enthrall the Spanish delegation, which soon started thinking aloud: “What if we invite this short guy with the pumpkin with cords to play with us one night?”. “What if we tell him to come to Madrid, yes,”Vente pa Madrid” to make a record that seemed to be a crazy challenge?”. In April 1988 they all gathered in the now shut down recording studios of Audiofilm in Madrid: Ketama, Toumani Diabate and bassist Danny Thompson, veteran session musician and founding member of Pentangle. The African vocals were recorded later in London, as a courtesy of Mory Kanté’s group, with the charming voices of Diaw and Djanka. The album was produced by Joe Boyd, whose pedigree stretches from Incredible String Band and Nick Drake to R.E.M. and by Mario Pacheco himself. ”
That Joe Boyd certainly got around!
https://www.nytimes.com/1998/10/07/style/IHT-joe-boyds-sort-of-thing-still-prospers-impresario-on-a-roll.html
A little on Toumani’s back pages from the Womex site:
https://www.womex.com/virtual/odaras_productions/toumani_diabate
“Toumani first came to the Europe in 1986 to accompany another Malian singer, Ousmane Sacko, and ended up staying in London for seven months. During this period, at the age of 21, he recorded his first solo album Kaira, the first ever solo kora album and still a best seller. In 1986 Toumani also made his first appearance at a WOMAD festival and made a significant impact.
In the UK, Toumani met and worked informally with musicians from many different fields of music. His first major recorded collaboration was with the Spanish flamenco group Ketama. The resulting album Songhai, with pieces like ‘Jarabi’, was a perfect synthesis of kora and flamenco.”
Kaira was on Chrysalis Records.
Here it is:
or
Womad must have been such a revolution for young artists like Toumani. A chance to play for an audience that was inquisitive and keen to broaden their musical outlook.
I have that Songhai album and quite a few other Toumani albums but that one remains my favourite.
I needed to do a little homework to find out how old Womad was in 1987.
The first festival was at Shepton Mallet on 1982.
https://realworldrecords.com/features/womad/womad-giving-the-world-back-to-the-world/
It was financially disastrous so Gabriel rejoined Genesis for a benefit concert to pay the bills!
I was there, working as a steward. I was in the process of doing a PGCE at Bristol Uni, and WOMAD advertised in the Uni for volunteers to work at the fest. Free coach to the site, crew grib and free improptu performances from a few of the artists. Ace fun!
Making history, Vulpes!
I just discovered this: Echo and the Burundi Men!
The full song:
The Burundis were one of the artists that played for us stewards on the Friday of the Festival weekend, which was for kids, who got bussed in to the showground at Shepton Mallet (venue for the inaugural WOMAD) free-of-charge from lots of local schools (hence the PGCE connection). The cost of the free Friday probably made a significant dent in the budget!
The Burundi guys just wanted to play, anytime, anywhere; they would have rocked up in central Bristol and played for nothing if someone had asked them. It might well have been their first excursion to Europe.
I was at a family wedding in Malmesbury this time last month. At the Abbey, no less.
You may have seen me. I was in a suit.
Hope you had a good day!
It was wonderful. Apart from the suit.
I had that Womad cassette, don’t have any longer.
I Bought womad talking book vol 1 just for this track after hearing this once on Peel
The rest of the album is not bad either
That’s a cracker – it’s actually on ‘Volume 2 – An Introduction To Africa’ – that series of LPs was truly a musical education at the time for anyone who had never travelled extensively themselves.
It’s fitting – in the context of WOMAD – that this track in particular, with German origins, relies on a brilliant Ghanaian musician for its individuality and emotion.
Interesting @moseleymoles. It was a big favourite of Peel’s it seems.
https://peel.fandom.com/wiki/Unknown_Cases
Two German guys with some help from Rebop Kwaku Baah from Ghana, who was such a very integral part of Traffic’s live shows.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8M8R835Ck 4
Rebop died in Stockholm only 38 years old, on tour with Jimmy Cliff.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebop_Kwaku_Baah
This thread has got me interested in reading a little about the history of WOMAD.
This FT article filled in some gaps.
https://www.ft.com/content/34fb4959-e7b7-468d-aa95-2c365bae848e
Today Womad. Tomorrow, the world
A lot of “Womad-friendly” artists play every year at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark. Angelique Kidjo went down a storm this summer in the massive Arena tent.
And in 2022 she was at Glasto.
Likewise, Burna Boy from Nigeria attracted an enormous crowd on Thursday evening at Roskilde 2023 and those young Danish fans knew all the songs. It was a magnificent show.
Here’s more Burna Boy – Anybody
And yes,that is Angelique’s We We that he’s sampling.