Paradigms

N’Faly Kouyaté, Johnny Khalsi, and Saran (Sandra Werner) of Afro Celt Sound System join Baruch to share the new record OVA and to talk about Simon Emmerson, one of the founders of Afro Celt, who died in 2023.

Afro Celt Sound System has made an indelible mark on the world of music with great songs, massive hits like Release with Sinead O’Connor and When You’re Falling with Peter Gabriel.

OVA is as inspired and powerful as earlier music by this band, with powerful songs driven by experiences of love, loss,and change.

N’Faly and Johnny share stories about Simon and talk about particular songs, which we will hear.

Music by: Afro Celt Sound System

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Moira Smiley returns to Paradigms to share her current work The Rhizome Project a collection of mostly old traditional songs with a few new compositions.

Moira is examining issues of grief, care, and connection, while also exploring the musical emotional space of a string quartet. The music is poignant and spare.

Moira Smiley is touring.  Look for her in California at the end of October and then in New England end of November and through December.

• Moira Smiley on YouTube

Music by: Moira Smiley

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Perla Batalla is a singer and songwriter.  She lives in a small town with her husband and daughter, where, when not touring, she engages with her community bringing art to children.

Perla sang with Leonard Cohen for many years, on records and in concerts.  She’s just released her second Cohen tribute A Letter to Leonard Cohen Tribute to a Friend a collection of nine Cohen songs and two others. This record arrives just as we celebrate Leonard Cohen’s 90th birthday.

Perla shares her story of a difficult childhood, graduating high school and working for Norman Lear, singing Jazz, and eventually singing backup for, and becoming friends with, Leonard Cohen. Perla also tells us about some of the challenges and gifts that went into making this record.

The selection of songs is brilliant. These are versions arranged and sung with a lot of heart and love for the author.

This episode contains excerpts from a longer conversation, here in it’s entirety.

• Perla Batalla Interview

Music by: Perla Batalla

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Angelina Llongueras returns to Paradigms to discuss her latest creative work, politics, but mainly to remember her younger brother Josep Maria Llongueras, musician, mentor to younger musicians, and a lover of life.

Most recently Angelina performed the Percy Bysshe Shelley poem The Mask of Anarchy at the San Francisco Public Library, and she’s written a play which is in development called The Speech.

Angelina is active in the antifascist movement in Europe especially in her home Catalonia.

J M Llongueras died on July 8, 2023. He’d been a musician his whole life, playing with different bands, releasing 7 albums all in Catalan.  Angelina remembers him and we will be listening to some of his music.

• Entire interview with Angelina Llongueras

Music by: Josep Maria Llongueras

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Réginald Policard is a Pianist and Composer in the Jazz genre, but that doesn’t begin to describe his music.  He is from Haiti, and is fluent in the rhythms and melodies of the Caribbean, as well as being influenced by and playing with numerous Jazz greats.  The new record Boarding Pass is his 17th album since 1989.

Réginald and Baruch discuss the musical inspirations for the songs on this record, in the context of human-made humanitarian disasters occurring currently. This music, like Réginald himself, embraces the sadness and the joy, witnessing our common humanity.

• Réginald Policard on YouTube

Music by: Réginald Policard

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Dengue Fever is celebrating 20 years as a band with their new album Ting Mong. The band was on hiatus until 2019 when they reconvened, exploring new music, and then the Covid pandemic. The result is this new record.

“In Cambodian culture, a Ting Mong is an effigy of protection, a scarecrow-like figure usually placed at the entrance of a village or a home. It wards off diseases and evil spirits. We’re all in desperate need of a Ting Mong.” – denguefever,music.com

Senon Williams and Zac Holtzman join Baruch to discuss the formation of the band, the inspiration and the process of making this music, and the healing from the war that this music brings.

The band consists of Chhom Nimol vocals, Zac Holtzman guitar/vocals, Ethan Holtzman keyboards, David Ralicke horns, Paul Smith drums and Senon Williams bass.

• Sleepwalking Through the Mekong

Music by: Dengue Fever

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Teni Rane sings original songs about life. They offer us an opportunity to connect our lives with each other in a musically beautiful and unassuming way. The lyrics, the musicianship, the singing, all create a homey feel that is calm, introspective, traveling through the ups and downs of life.

Teni is a member of Folk Alliance International, an organization which promotes and encourages Folk Music in it’s many forms through conferences, concerts, musical camping and community experiences, and more.

Goldenrod is the new album. Teni and Baruch discuss the making of the album and it’s inspirations, and we’ll hear some of the songs.

Music by: Teni Rane

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Neil Adler grew up with musician parents.  Music has always been part of his life. He’s played and studied with masters of his craft, teaches, and has just released Emi’s Song, a record featuring original compositions, with Neil playing piano and harmonica, Jeff Buenz on 6-string bass, and drummer Akira Tana, and Carlitos Medrano on congas.

The music is energetic and melodic, driven and guided by a rhythmic core, this trio creates a great groove for your mind with every track. As Neil says, “Twelve tunes to make life better.”

Neil and Baruch discuss the music, the record, and of course the human condition.

Music by: Neil Adler

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Mariah Parker has coined the phrase Indo Latin Jazz to describe the musical fusion she is inspired to create.  A lifelong pianist, Mariah’s compositions are inspired by relationship with the muse; rhythms, experiences, and occasionally a complete piece shows up in her imagination.

The new record Windows Through Time is inspired by, and offers listeners an opportunity to experience musically, the concept of the multiverse. This idea has been explored for decades in the literature of quantum physics and most recently in film, an example being Everything Everywhere All at Once.

The musicians assembled for this record include masters of their craft Paul McCandless on sax, Matthew Montfort on guitars, bassists Kash Killion, Sascha Jacobsen and Gary Brown, drummer Mark Walker, percussionists Daniel Feldman and Michaelle Goerlitz and Ian Dogole,  and vocalist Claudia Villela.

Music by: Mariah Parker

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Okaidja Afroso is a Ghanaian artist who has just released the second installment in his Ancient Africa Wisdom Trilogy. It’s called ÀBÒR ÉDIŃ which means Melanin Earth Garden in the Gãdangmé language. The first record came out in 2022, JAKU MUMOR  which means Ancestral Spirit. The third record will come in 2025.

Gãdangmé language is in the family of Kwa Languages, spoken by 25 million people in the south-eastern part of Ivory Coast, across southern Ghana, and in central Togo. – Wikipedia

This music grounds us into Nature and Life with melodies and rhythms and words. The musicianship is rich and expert.

Okaidja talks about his life, his inspirations, and this trilogy; what he is offering and invoking.

Music by: Okaidja Afroso

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