Thursday Feb 4/10 Playlist

1. Etta James – Tell Mama
2. Sade – In Another Time
3. Me’shell Ndegeocello – Love You Down
4. The Pharoahs – African Roots
5. Hugh Masekela & Hedzoleh Sounds – Yei Baa Gbe Wolo
6. Afrodizz – Kif Kif
7. Ebo Taylor – Twer Nyane
8. Please – Ego Trippin’
9. Galt McDermott – Ripped Open By Metal Explosives
10. RJD2 – Small Plans
11. Tommy T – Brothers
12. DJ Shadow/Cut Chemist -  Part 1 (The Hard Sell)
13. Ghettosocks – Rock the Discotech

Thursday January 28/10 Playlist

Ann Arbor Michigan’s Nomo plays Vancouver on Sat Jan 30th at the Biltmore Cabaret.  NOMO’s instrumental mix of African beats, avant-garde jazz, and funk is one that is definitely worth the trip to the Mainland this weekend. Nomo’s music will be featured on the Music of Mind today. SInce it was formed by multi-instrumentalist (tenor sax, keyboards, electric mbiri) Elliot Bergman, the band has evolved from being primarily an Afrobeat influenced band to one with a much more diverse sound which includes Bergman’s own electric kalimbas crafted in his workshop. 

1. Leon Bibb – My Man
2. Detroit Sex Machines – Rap It Together
3. Billy Brooks – Fourty Days
4. Jimi Tenor & Kabu Kabu – Ariane
5. Serge Gainsbourg – Melody
6. Nomo – Busy
7. Nomo – Last beat
8. Mono Mono – Eme Kowa Iasa Ile Wa
9. Gil Scott-Heron – NY is Killing Me (From new album I’m New Here)
10. RJD2 – Giant Squid
11. Blockhead – Only THe Sequences Change
12. Kid Koala – Basin Street Blues
13. Jackie Mittoo – Wintergreen
14. Nickodemus – Dibidina (J Boogie remix)

Thursday January 22/10 Playlist

1. Eugene Blacknell – We Know We Have To Live Together
2. Gil Scott-Heron – Blue Collar (Live)
3. Fela Kuti – Who’re You (
4. Souljazz Orchestra – Interested Benevolence
5. Mr. Something Something -  The Antidote
6. Havana Cultura – Think Twice
7. Donnie – Cloud
8. Joss Stone feat Raphaael Saadiq – Big Ol Game
9. Alice Russell – All Alone (Ticklah Remix)
10. The Roots – Din Da Da
11. Blockhead – The Prettiest Sea Slug
12. Earth, Roots and Water – Lou Sent Me

Thursday Jan 14/10 playlist

1. Wayne McGhie and the Sounds of Joy – dirty funk
2. Isaac Hayes – Walk On By (Hot Buttered Soul reissue)
3. Alboa – Fununk
4. Havana Cultura – Ipa Cuba
5. Wichy De Vedado and Tony Rodriguez – La Perla Son
6. Sade – Soldier of Love
7. Anthony Hamilton – Prayin for You/Superman
8. Jimi Tenor & Tony Allen – Calla’s Walk
9. Akoya Afrobeat – Mutiny
10. Hot 8 Brass Band – It’s Real (Lack of Afro remix)
11. Diego Bernal – Diego’s Donut
12. Peter Project – Man At His Leisure
13. Blockhead – It’s Raining Clouds
14. Exile – Loveline

Thursday January 7/10 Playlist

Willie Mitchell - The Sound of Memphis Soul

Happy New Year to all of you loyal CFUV listeners! On today’s edition of the Music of My Mind, we will celebrate the music of legendary Memphis soul producer Willie Mitchell who passed away a few days ago (Jan 5) in Memphis at the age of 81. Mitchell is most well known for his work with Hi Records in the early 70s with artists Ann Peebles, Syl Johnson, OV Wright and of course Al Green. Green and Mitchell were one of the most successful singer/producer teams in popular music history. Check the Funky 16 Corners for their expansive homage to Willie. Rest in Peace Mr. Mitchell…

In the second half hour of the program, I will share some of the Cuban vinyl I found on my Xmas trip to Havana including jazz, son, bolero and mozambique rhythms from Pello Y African, Irakere, Grupo Monumental and more.

1. Ann Peebles – I Can’t Stand the Rain
2. Willie Mitchell – 30-60-90
3. Al Green – Love and Happiness
4. OV Wright – Precious Precious
5. Grupo Monumental – Tremendo Tremendo
6. Irakere – Chekere Son
7. Dizzy Gillespie & Gonzalo Rubalcaba – Manteca (live in Cuba)
8. Pello El African – Mozambique en Venezuela
9. Omara Portuondo – Y La Proxima Vez
10. Gilles Peterson presents Havana Cultura – Roforofo FIght
11. Lhasa (R.I.P) - Con Toda Palabra
12. Lhasa – Rising
13. D-SIsive – One Way Ticket
14. Ghettosocks – Rappin for Fun
15. Eric B and Rakim – Paid in Full (7 Minutes of Madness Coldcut mix)

Best of 2009 Special Thursday Dec 17/09

1. Adrian Younge – Man With the Heat
2. Lee Fields – My World
3. Naomi Shelton and The Gospel Queens – Lift My Burdens
4. 24 Carat Black – Gone Are the Promises of Yesterday
5. Alice Russell – Two Steps
6. PPP – On A Cloud
7. Maxwell – Help Somebody
8. Nomo – Crescent
9. Tony Allen/Jimi Tenor – Got My Egusi
10. Pax Nicholas and the Nettey Family – Na Six Feet
11. Vis a Vis – Obi Agye Me Dofo (Ghana Special)
12. Diego Bernal – Bring It On Home
13. Mos Def – Quiet Dog
14. Dragon Fli Empire – Redefine
15. Grand Analog -  Evyday Always
16. Aceyalone and The Lonely Ones – Pusn and Pull

Thursday December 10/09 Playlist

1. Earl Moseley – Fly In The Soup
2. The Bamboos – In The Bamboo Groove
3. Lee Fields – Lee’s Rapp (MONEY is KING)
4. Charles Bradley/Menahan Street Band – The WOrld (Is Going Up In Flames)
5. Isaac Hayes – Hyperbolicsyllabicesquedalymistic
6. Betty Davis – The Lone Ranger
7. Wilson Pickett – Funky Broadway (Live 1971 in Ghana)
8. Gyedu-Blay Ambolley & His Creations – Akoko Ba
9. Tommy T – Brothers
10. DJ Brace/Birdapres – RAW
11. Lytics – Big City Soundgirl
12. The Slew – 100%
13. Massive Attack – Splitting the Atom

Thursday December 3/09 – Blaxploitation Episode

To celebrate the release of the new Blaxploitaiton film satire, Black Dynamite, The Music of My Mind will air a one hour special (5-6PM) today featuring music from Blaxploitation films from the 1970s as well as music from Black Dynamite’s Original Soundtrack and Original Score by Adrian Younge, both released through Wax Poetics Records.

A great tutorial and history of Blaxploitation byDavid Walker  is available on MSN movies here. An interview with Black Dynamite director Scott Sanders is available at Wax Poetics. Also, check out Black Dynamite using  these following  links: wikipedia, imdb, and MovieSet.

1. Curtis Mayfield – Short Eyes, Freak Free (Short Eyes OST)
2. Sir Charles Hughes – Dynomite (Black Dynamite OST)
3. Adrian Younge – Chicago Wind (Black Dynamite Original Score)
4. Melvin Van Peebles + Earth Wind and Fire – Sweet Sweetback’s Theme
5. Roy Ayers – King George (Coffy OST)
6. Isaac Hayes – Pursuit of the Pimpmobile (Truck Turner OST)
7. The Final Solution – Brotherman (Brotherman OST)
8. Joe Bataan – Shaft
9. Mr. Something Something /Ikwunga – DNDABP
10. Akoya Afrobeat feat. Cedric I’m Brooks – JeJe L’Aiye
11. Notes To Self - Lifelines
12. People Under the Stairs – My Boy D
13. The Lytics – Stay Humble

Thursday November 26/09 Playlist

1. Al Green – Here I Am (Come and Take Me)
2. Jacksoul – Think You Should Know
3. Ebo Taylor – Tiver Nyame
4. Dr. K Gyasi and his Noble Kings – Noble Kings
5. Orchestre PolyRythmo De Cotonou – Minkou E So Non Main
6. Mulatu Astatke feat. Mulakan Melesse – Wubit
7. Antibalas – Che Che Cole
8. Sharon Jones and Lee Fields – Stranded in Your Love
9. Syl Johnson – Anyway The Wind Blows
10. UMC’s – Anyway The Wind Blows
11. D-Sisive – Boom Baba Boom
12. Q-Tip – Barely In Love
13. Factor – Last Night’s Dream
14. Clutchy Hopkins & Shawn Lee – What More Can I Say (Top Chillin)
15. The Cloniuos – Fogged Spacesuit
16. Air – Tropical Disease

Album Review – Tony Allen and Jimi Tenor “Inspiration Information”

Strut Records describes their Information Inspiration series as “the product of spontaneous collaborations between two musical forces.” The fourth installment in the series clearly delivers on this promise. The album features Finland’s producer and musician extraordinaire Jimi Tenor paired with the legendary Nigerian Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen. The two incredibly gifted artists are each considered musical geniuses in their own right but together one could never expect what they might create if you put them together in the studio for a week.

The album is definitely one that is heavy on jamming and improvisation, and includes a diverse array of instrumentation including congas, flutes, various guitars, saxophones, trumpets, African percussion and more. Recorded on vintage analog gear, the record has a rich, authentic feel that draws a lot from Afrobeat and African rhythms as well as jazz, more so than much of Tenor’s funkier output. Perhaps we should not be surprised, considering Tenor’s fine 2007 album with German based West African group Kabu Kabu, which drew heavily on African rhythms.

Standout tracks on the album include “The Darker Side of Night”, the hauntingly stunning groove featuring an intense afrobeat rhythm from Allen, a full powered horn section, a searing trumpet solo and a relentlessly driving bassline and percussion. The thireen minute plus epic “Three Continents” is an expansive journey that takes the listener on an spacey trip with grooves and sounds from all over the world.

Tony Allen is obviously a drummer that thrives on collaboration and spontaneity. Jimi Tenor has given him plenty of freedom to experiment on these recordings as his drumming on this record is impeccable yet stylistically varied. He simply hasn’t sounded this good in years. As a musician and producer, Tenor has made the most of his opportunity to work with a legend like Allen, and has crafted a sprawling improvisational work with several other talented musicians, one that we will be grooving to for some time.