#4846, Big Bands
There’s music for big bands from Brazil’s Bixiga70, from Benin’s Orchestre Poly-Rhythmo, as well as New York-based Iraqi-American Amir ElSaffar and his Rivers of Sound, along with the brass band, Kočani orkestar, from North Macedonia, and a Danish jazz group’s collaboration with an orchestra.
Listen to Afrobeat-informed brass-heavy space-funk from Brazil’s Bixiga70, whose name is a nod to Fela Kuti’s Africa '70. Then, there’s Ethio-jazz leaning brass from the quintet Langendorf United—led by Swedish composer & saxophonist Lina Langendorf—made of players from Sweden and Norway, in music from 2023’s Yeahno Yowouw Land. Hear the New York-based 7-piece band Anbessa Orchestra, who combine Ethiopian influences: loping grooves, the distinct scales, and funk, with buoyant brass lines, moody organ, crisp guitars, and solid percussion.
Listen to Iraqi-American trumpeter, santurist, vocalist, and composer, as he combines Middle Eastern and American jazz in music for his 16-piece Rivers of Sound Orchestra. There’s also music by Danish quintet Girls In Airports collaborating with the Aarhus Jazz Orchestra from their latest record, Leap. Then, listen to the sounds of the Macedonian Romani brass band Kočani orkestar (from Kočani, North Macedonia), complete with wicked accordion solo.
Rounding out the show is a meeting of classical Indian music and Western jazz, with underpinnings of both spiritual jazz and trance ritual music. It’s the New York Collective Brooklyn Raga Massive in collaboration with drummer Adam Rudolph’s Go: Organic Orchestra. - Caryn Havlik
Program #4846, Big Bands (First aired 2/12/2024)
ARTIST: Orchestre Poly-Rythmo Feat. Fatoumata Diawara
WORK: Ne Te Fache Pas [1:00]
RECORDING: Cotonou Club
SOURCE: STRUT 077
INFO: strut-records.com | polyrythmo.com OR strut.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Langendorf United
WORK: Selam New [6:08]
RECORDING: Yeahno Yowouw Land
SOURCE: Black Sweat Records
INFO: https://singasongfighter.bandcamp.com/album/yeahno-yowouw-land
ARTIST: Bixiga70
WORK: Malungu (feat. Simone Sou) [5:07]
RECORDING: Vapor
SOURCE: Glitterbeat
INFO: https://bixiga70.bandcamp.com/album/vapor
ARTIST: Girls in Airports x Aarhus Jazz Orchestra
WORK: Myanmar [6:24]
RECORDING: Leap
SOURCE: Kaja Records
INFO: girlsinairports.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Kocani Orchestar
WORK: L’Orient est Rouge [6:07]
RECORDING: L’Orient est Rouge
SOURCE: Crammed Discs
INFO: www.crammed.be
ARTIST: Anbessa Orchestra
WORK: Lions [4:52]
RECORDING: EP
SOURCE/INFO: https://anbessaorchestra.bandcamp.com/album/ep
ARTIST: Amir ElSaffar and Rivers of Sound Orchestra
WORK: March [6:00]
RECORDING: The Other Shore
SOURCE: Outnote Records
INFO: amirelsaffartworivers.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Adam Rudolph’s Go: Organic Orchestra, Brooklyn Raga Massive
WORK: Africa 21 [7:00]
RECORDING: Ragmala - A Garland of Ragas
SOURCE/INFO: brooklynragamassive.org/brm-adamrudolph
ARTIST: Orchestre Poly-Rythmo Feat. Fatoumata Diawara
WORK: Ne Te Fache Pas [1:00]
RECORDING: Cotonou Club
SOURCE: STRUT 077
INFO: strut-records.com | polyrythmo.com OR strut.bandcamp.com
