L'Union Fait la Force

A few pictures from last Friday. A jam-packed Josephine paying tribute to those who lost their lives and those still suffering from the effects of the January 12 earthquake in Haiti. Early in the evening, a gentleman from the Haitian embassy in DC spoke a few words about the situation in Haiti, how 92% of government buildings in Port-Au-Prince had been destroyed and the country was in dire need of technical personnel. He urged those willing to help to consider flying down to Haiti on the government's expense to work on the rebuilding of the country. More info on the Greater Washington area Haiti relief efforts is on the GWHRC webpage.

Thanks to Sarah, Emmanuel, and Jad from the World Bank, Jorge from the Interamerican Development Bank, and all those who contributed to getting such a large number of people to show up and show their support.

Choosing the right music to play at fundraising event of this type is a touchy subject, but we decided that it would not be irreverent to play some joyful konpa, rap kreyol and kanaval tunes from Haiti among our usual fare. Some timely tracks we played out included Capleton's "Haitians" [uzershare], Twista's "911 (A Freestyle for Haiti)" [uzershare], and Lil' Flip's "Feel It N Da Air (Tribute to Haiti)" [mediafyre], plus some amazing Kanaval 2010 tunes from T-Micky, Mawon, King Posse, Project Boyz, BC, Vwadezil, Surette, Carimi, Tempo, Ti Kabzy, Krezi, Passion Kompa, etc. that may sadly never be performed they way they were intended...

It goes down tonight

Mixtape murderation

So many good things going on over at Akwaaba - case in point is the truly excellent mixtape from Max le Daron of Belgium's MDD Party Crew you can download here. Heavy stuff - kuduro speaker rattlers aplenty, club bangers from the Prodigy's "Voodoo People" to Schlachthofbronx's "Ayoba" assaulted by beats that sound like depth charges detonating outside your submarine's hull and basslines that buzz like a cookie box full of pissed off hornets. Wicked!

Here is a short video where Killamu explains the origins of kuduro and Akwaaba whet our appetites for upcoming releases.

Killamu: 10 years of kuduro in Angola from Akwaaba Music on Vimeo.

If you take to heart Killamu's assertion that no one now producing kuduro makes a living from it, why not do your bit and head over to iTune$ to get his brand new album and the Akwaaba Sem Transporte compilation once you are at it?

Haiti fundraiser @ Josephine this Friday

At Global Tropical we will be doing our bit to help raise awareness and some cold hard ca$h for the cause at a Haiti fundraiser this Friday.

Josephine
1008 Vermont Ave NW
Friday Jan. 22nd
6-11PM

Flyer and more info to follow shortly.

Haiti earthquake response

MLK Day in dub

To universal delight, the immortal Stone Love will be playing in the DMV area for MLK Day! There is no way I will be missing this. Stone Love stand alone!

By a strange but delightful coincidence the guys doing amazing work over at Digital Reggae put up some '91 vintage Stone Love today, so best to head over there.

Massive B documentary

Short video on Bobby Konders and the awesome Massive B (via the brilliantly named Reload Magazine). Catch their show Fire Sundays on NYC's WQHT Hot 97 here.

Brought to you by Global Tropical TV

Nas and Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley - Only the Strong (snippet) - Pass the Mic @ZanzibarDC 121209 from Global Tropical TV on Vimeo.

Missed about 20 seconds of the end of the song - the camera mic cut out some of the track's nu-Metal guitar stylings, which is just as well.


Big Youth chatting easy over the Satta and Real Rock, while Kool Herc and Waterfall look on.


Rakim on top form on "Microphone Fiend", with a bionic Junior Gong in the background.

I love the similarity of their poses.

Distant Relatives double-header this Saturday

Ultra heavy lineup this Saturday, first at the National Geographic Grosvenor Auditorium, then at Zanzibar:

(from the Nat Geo events page)

Nas and Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley present “Distant Relatives”

WATCH ONLINE

Tune in for free and watch live online starting 7 p.m. ET on December 12, 2009 at Natgeomusic.net.

SEE IT IN PERSON

Nas and Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley explore the origins of the deeply-rooted reggae and hip hop genre, tracing both sounds back to African music. They will debate and celebrate the implications of this culture’s impact on the global community with a panel of pioneers—from DJ Kool Herc, DJ Rakim and DJ Red Alertto Jamaican dancehall legend, Daddy U-Roy, King Jammy, and moderator Sway Calloway of MTV. The event at National Geographic is being filmed for an upcoming documentary.

This event is now sold out, but it will be streamed live and broadcast online for free starting 7 p.m. ET on December 12, 2009 at Natgeomusic.net.

Tickets are still available for the after-party and open-mic show at Zanzibar, a Washington, D.C. nightclub, that will feature all event participants. Doors open for the after-party at 9 p.m.

Disco Devil

Lee Perry a.k.a. the Upsetter, Scratch, Lee King Perry, Pipecock Jackson, Lee Scratch Perry, Rainford Hugh Perry a.k.a. the chief architect of the Jamaican space program and a musical genius on a par with George Martin, Brian Wilson and Phil Spector will be at DC's 9:30 club next Monday, December 14. I'm chuffed!

Here is a short video with a greeting from Scratch and dates for the forthcoming US tour.

Reason enough to bask awhile in the ray of pure shining light that is the Congos' "Solid Foundation" from Lee Perry's masterpiece production Heart of the Congos.