Radio LBB: Roots Vol. 32

Now into its sixth year and the 32nd edition. For the uninitiated, the Roots playlist showcases an eclectic range of music from across the globe of unfamiliar, forgotten, or recently discovered to the most upfront sounds of now, all with the common theme of being rooted in Africa.

Some of the highlights this time round include:

Alice Coltrane & Santana - Bliss: The Eternal Now

Two incredibly important artists in their own right, Alice Coltrane and Carlos Santana came together on the Illuminations album in 1974, under their adopted Sanskrit names, Turiya and Devadip, in a moment of synchronicity that may come as a surprise but nevertheless makes perfect sense on listening. Coltrane is at her spiritual jazz height here, composing, arranging, and conducting heavenly strings that interplay with her harp, piano, and Wurlitzer electric organ, while Santana’s unmistakably expressive guitar tone decorates the sound world with incredible restraint and nuance. It’s a must for anyone attracted to deep, hypnotic, and spiritual sounds. Bliss: The Eternal Now lives up to its name.

Mississippi Fred McDowell - Shake ‘Em On Down (Live)

Mississippi Fred McDowell was a legendary blues guitarist, popularised after being recorded by the influential folklorist and ethnomusicologist, Alan Lomax, and British folk singer, Shirley Collins, on their Southern Journey in 1959. McDowell in fact hailed from Tennessee originally, born in 1904, but settled in Mississippi from 1928 as a cotton-picker and full-time farmer, while performing on weekends at local dances. His playing style was pure Mississippi, focused on slide techniques, for which he originally used a pocket knife, before upgrading to a polished beef rib bone, and eventually a glass slide. Here he performs Shake ‘Em On Down, a Delta blues song written by Bukka White in 1937, two months before White was incarcerated at the infamous Parchman Prison Farm in Mississippi.

Hareton Salvanini + META - Km 100

This incredible bit of music has become a staple of Brazilian dance music, revered by DJs like Gilles Peterson and Floating Points, and reissued by the tireless Mr Bongo reissue label. Released on the Hareton & Meta EP, it was the work of musician, Hareton Salvanini, described by Mr Bongo as a lesser-known Arthur Verocai, along with lyrics from his brother Ayrton, who was theatre director of Movimento Evolução De Teatro E Arte (aka M.E.T.A.), and intended as an accompaniment to one of the theatre’s performances. The result is so much more than the more popular sounds of bossa nova and MPB, it’s both psychedelic and theatrical, twists and turns heightening the drama as the music staggers from intense and dramatic, to quiet and contemplative, and back again.

Erkin Koray - Öksürük

The late and great Erkin Koray died earlier this year after a phenomenal career that put Anatolian rock on the world’s cultural map, across countless albums and singles stretching from 1973 up to the millennium. Fusing the fuzz driven lead guitar of west coast psychedelic rock with local modal scales and temperaments, funky rhythm guitars, driving backbeat rock drums and syncopated bass-lines, Koray’s formula made for a lifetime of incredible music for the dancefloor or the living room, showcasing an internationalist Turkish culture that looked outward while preserving regional tradition. Öksürük appeared in a number of iterations across his oeuvre, this version appearing on his 1991 album, Tek Başına Konser.

BEAM - FU

This one’s a brand new track, interpolating some vital older sounds. BEAM comes from serious pedigree, the son of Jamaican dancehall / gospel vocalist Papa San. Born on the island and raised on mainland USA, in Miami, he constellates some of the disparate strands of Black Atlantic experience and musical culture. This track is a rework of Brooklyn trio, Fu-Schnickens’ 1991 track, True Fuschnick, which was in turn inspired by his dad, Papa San. It recalls a period in the early to mid ‘90s when hip hop artists on both coasts, like Smif-N-Wessun, Ice Cube, and house and dancehall producer Bobby Konders, imbibed the island sounds of fellow Brooklyn residents and incorporated ragga dancehall delivery into low slung hip hop breakbeats. 

These are just some of the highlights in what I hope is an enjoyable musical journey that spans across continents, generations and genres…

A huge thanks go out to labels such as Now Again, Light In The Attic, Numero Uno and Luv N’ Haight, Analog Africa, Music From Memory, Africa Seven, Far Out Recordings, Strut, Mr Bongo and Soundway, who continue to unearth some of the most unique and amazing music that may have otherwise never seen the light of day.