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Some of the albums featured on this week’s Halloween and Día de los Muertos special

On this week’s special radio program, we’ll celebrate the festivals of Halloween and Día de los Muertos . You’ll hear joyful songs in remembrance of loved ones for the Day of the Dead, music connected with the Celtic roots of Halloween, and some simply silly, spooky songs as well. Starting off the playlist is “Calaverita,” a lively dance song by Mexican-American band La Santa Cecilia from their 2015 album ‘Buenaventura.’ Calaveritas are the little sugar skulls you see used as Day of the Dead decorations. The wonderful video for this song features a colorful array of Día de los Muertos festivities. You can watch it on YouTube since it can’t be embedded on this page. Enjoy!

La Santa Cecilia – “Calaverita” video

(And as I was writing this, I learned that La Santa Cecilia have just released a new 8-song album on October 22, 2021. It’s titled ‘Quiero Verte Feliz’ and you can listen to it now. Here’s a link to the video for the title song, which features Lila Downs. I’m sure I’ll be playing songs from this album on upcoming programs!

La Santa Cecilia with Lila Downs – “Quiero Verte Feliz” video

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On my special program that airs this weekend in celebration of Indigenous People’s Day, I’m playing the wonderful song “Immutaa” by Beatrice Deer and her band. She is an Inuk-Mohawk artist who grew up in the remote village of Quaqtaq in northern Quebec Province. I chose the song for its lively beat and the interesting throat-singing style that Beatrice uses in it, but as I did more research about Beatrice and this song, I thought it would be nice to share the fun video she made for “Immutaa.” It turns out that “Immutaa” is a traditional Inuk children’s song and the lyrics for it are basically random words tossed together that don’t really make sense. It’s one of those classic children’s nonsense songs, the likes of which can be found in cultures all around the world. Take a few minutes to watch the video, which was filmed in her hometown of Quaqtaq and features her own children as well as other young folks from her community. You can also read an interview at the Audiofemme website that Alexa Peters did with Beatrice Deer in which she talks more about the song, as well as her background and the album on which the song appears, My All To You. Enjoy!

(Note: if you go to the video on YouTube, you can see more info and full credits for it as well.)

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Happy New Year!

On this week’s program, you’ll hear Part 2 of the Best World Music Albums of 2020. There are so many excellent albums released around the world each year that there’s no way to honor them all. I try to create an eclectic playlist of albums from different regions that represents this broad spectrum of great music. Here are the artists on Part 2 of the Best Albums of 2020 playlist: Danyèl Waro, Sum Alvarinho (from the compilation album ‘Léve Léve: São Tomé & Principe Sounds (70s-80s)’ released by Les Disques Bongo Joe,) Bab L’ Bluz, Džambo Aguševi Orchestra, Siti Muharam, iyatraQuartet, Maria Mazzotta, Matthieu Saglio with Isabel Julve, Hamish Napier, Lido Pimienta with Sexteto Tabala, Tony Allen & Hugh Masekela, and Tamikrest.

You can find full details of how and where to hear the program on the Listen page from the top menu of the website.

Many thanks to all the artists, record labels, live music presenters, and fellow radio presenters who kept bringing music to us under difficult circumstances in 2020. The wonderful music that you created and shared helped bring much needed comfort and joy into our lives.

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On this week’s program, I celebrate some of the Best World Music Albums of 2020 as we close out this most unusual and difficult year. I’ll continue this theme with a second helping of favorite albums next week – the first program of 2021. I’ve tried to find a representative mix of music from the multitude of excellent albums that I came across by artists from all around the world this year. This week I’ll feature Moonlight Benjamin, Mulatu Astatke & Black Jesus Experience, Ladama, Afel Bocoum, Salif Diarra, Aynur, WuFei & Abigail Washburn, The Rheingans Sisters, Damir Imamović, Trio Tekke, and Antibalas. Tune in next week for the second dozen or so choices!

You can find full details of how and where to hear the program on the Listen page from the top menu of the website.

Many thanks to all the artists, record labels, live music presenters, and fellow radio presenters who kept bringing music to us under difficult circumstances this year. The wonderful music that you created and shared helped bring much needed comfort and joy into our lives.

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On this week’s program, we’ll celebrate the season with familiar Christmas carols and songs in fresh musical settings as well as holiday numbers from around the world that you may not have heard before. The playlist is full of festive music by artists from Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Louisiana, Norway, Italy, Ireland, and the Innu people – one of Canada’s indigenous First Nations. I hope you can join me for a cup or two of musical cheer!

¡Feliz Navidad! Joyeux Noël! Merry Christmas to you!

Go to the Listen page for full info on when and where to tune in on your radio dial or links to listen online from your web browser.

P.S. If you’d like to read about my love of Christmas music of all kinds, check out this series of twenty-five pieces I wrote in 2014 for my short-lived music blog, Jukebox Delirium: 25 Days of Christmas Records (start here at Day 1 and go to each following post by clicking the link for the next day at the bottom of the page just above the Comments section.) I have a large collection of Christmas music!

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Albums featured on the Indigenous Peoples’ Day Special 2020

On the special program airing the weekend of October 10-11, I’ll feature a wide spectrum of music by Native American and First Nations artists from across North America in honor of Indigenous Peoples’ Day (October 12) here in the United States. You’ll hear: the brilliant poem-songs of Muscogee-Creek artist Joy Harjo; Cree musician Cris Derksen’s modern fusion of classical cello with powwow music; the beautiful voices of Diné singer Louie Gonnie and all-woman northern drum group The Mankillers; traditional powwow drums recorded in Oklahoma; a Cherokee language version of a Christian hymn by the Kingfisher Trio; an atmospheric composition by Mohican multi-instrumentalist Bill Miller; a folk-rock original by Inuk/Inuit musician William Tagoona; singer-songwriter Sharon Burch with a Navajo-language song; and more. I hope you can join me for this special show. 

Go to the Listen page from the main menu to find out when and where you can hear the program on your radio dial in Tulsa and Spokane or streaming live from anywhere on the web.

For more information on Indigenous Peoples’ Day, read this article from Smithsonian Magazine and the National Museum of the American Indian: Indigenous Peoples’ Day: Rethinking How We Celebrate American History

The Smithsonian has also published this excellent guide to ways you can engage with the spirit of Indigenous Peoples’ Day from home this year: Five Ideas for Celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day 2020

Another one of U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo’s many projects is the recently published anthology When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through – A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry. The book, which Harjo edited with LeAnne Howe and Jennifer Elise Foerster, collects work from more than 160 poets representing close to 100 native nations from across North America. You can hear Joy Harjo talk about the book with NPR’s Michel Martin in this interview: Anthology of Native Nations Poetry Is A ‘Doorway,’ Says Editor Joy Harjo