Afropop Worldwide

In our visit to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, we go beyond the handful of artists who have achieved international careers and dive into the local scene. We visit azmaribets, down home music clubs featuring vivacious women artists and their ensembles of traditional players. We catch Mimi and Besat live. Competition between the leading music producers in Addis is fierce. We visit the studio of recording studio of Abegasu Shiote who breaks down the Ethiopian pop sound track by track. And for the finale we go to a performance by the revered elder singer of the classic Addis sound - Mamoud Ahmed. Produced by Sean Barlow APWW #532

For some 50 years, Leo Sarkisian was a worldwide staple on the overseas radio broadcast of Voice of America. A talented musician, raised in the Armenian community around Boston, Leo began traveling the world with his Nagra tape recorder and microphones for Tempo International, a Hollywood record label. His intrepid work in remote corners of Afghanistan and in newly independent Ghana and Guinea won him the attention of Edward R. Murrow, then at VOA. So began Leo’s epic career as a documenter, archivist and popularizer of African music. He once said he had worked in every African country but one. In recognition of his passing in June, 2018, we revisit Leo’s rich, fascinating conversation and music-sharing session with our own Georges Collinet. Expect lively exchanges between two radio icons, and some rare audio, including Leo's 1965 recording of Fela Kuti during his jazz years. Produced by Sean Barlow and Banning Eyre APWW #783

From his Cameroonian roots, to his DJ days in Paris, his global broadcast career on VOA from the 1960s into the ‘80s, and his 38-year career hosting Afropop Worldwide, Georges Collinet is living an extraordinary life. On this program we celebrate the man, his stories, his passions, his wit and humanity. You’ll experience Georges as never before, an African music legend, and a very funny guy. Produced by Banning Eyre APWW #881

The golden age of vinyl records is long past in Africa, but the market for rare and reissued African vinyl outside the continent has been growing steadily since the early 2000s. DJs and collectors have turned an obsession with rare records and forgotten gems from Cape Town to Tangiers into an international reissue and compilation industry, led by record labels such as Soundway, Strut and Analog Africa. This program explores some of the complex and shifting dynamics of neocolonialism, cultural ownership and audience in the African vinyl market. We’ll hear stories from label owners, DJs and artists, touching on controversies around Nigerian disco funk reissues, new career opportunities for sometimes-obscure African artists, the unique vinyl culture in South Africa, and much more. Produced by Morgan Greenstreet and Alejandro Van Zandt-Escobar, with Nenim Iwebuke. APWW #749