Bugged

Just simply buGGed.

Seven Noisettes- Kind & Kinky Zoo
Baby, I’m a Star- Prince And The Revolution Live Syracuse 3/30/1985

Not a Tear- Tim Carman Trio
The Seventh (Michel Menert Remix)- Electric Beethoven


Love & Hate- New Blade Runners Of Dub Ft. Santa Davis & Ama B
Game Over- The Black Seeds
Fire House Rock (Prince Jammy 12-inch Mix)- Wailing Souls
Oxygen- Jhelisa Ft. Greg Osby & Oteil Burbridge
Mi Piedro- The Playing For Change Band


Oakland- Satya
Kill Us All (K.U.A.)- Meechy Darko


On the Avenue- Bright Dog Red
Niffty Teddy- Kuma

Plants Grow

The beGinning part of a shortened down proGram just wanted to remember.

Dirty Martinis- Eric Martinez
Redneck Woman- Stratcat Willie & the Strays
Sinkin’ Low- Kat Riggins
The Getaway- Johnny Sansone


Is It All- Supersonic Blues Machine Ft. Joe Louis Walker
Laughin’ and Clownin’- The Phantom Blues Band


My Old School- Skunk Baxter

Easier Said Than Done- Thee Sacred Souls
Side By Side- The Meltdown
The Truth- Cliff Beach Ft. Mesito Beat
So Into You- Cliff Beach


‘Lude 3- Lettuce
Get It Together- Lettuce
Altin Maske- Alexander Korostinsky

Dropped Let

Xtra sets turned out to be.

Ricecar- The Range
Puedes Decir De Mí- Adrian Quesada Ft. Gaby Moreno
Eso No Lo He Dielo- Adrian Quesada Ft. College Of Knowledge


Maybe Isle- The Frightnrs
Profilin- The Frightnrs Ft. Preet Patel
Chrome Optimism- New Blade Runners Of Dub Ft. David Lynch (BETAFISH RMX)
Thief and Joker- Eccodek Ft. Charleston Okafor


Something’s Going On- Kokoroko
We Give Thanks- Kokoroko
Victory Dance- Ezra Collective


ORIGINS Pt.1- DEEPFAKE
Origins Pt. II- DEEPFAKE

Where It Is At

The final parts of the proGram certainly make up the entire.

African Lady- Abbey Lincoln
Black Man- Butcher Brown Ft. Michael Millions
My Body- Femme Deadly Venoms


Ritual Rubbin’- Harriet Tubman
***pre-recorded conversation with JT Lewis/Melvin Gibbs***
Prototaxite- Harriet Tubman
Blacktal Fractal- Harriet Tubman Ft. Wadada Leo Smith

Rebirth- Shabaka
Call It A European Paradox- Shabaka
We Change Part 1- Brandon Coleman Ft. Kamasi Washington
Love Brings Happiness- Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad Ft. Lonnie Smith & Loren Oden


Aladdin’s Carpet- Beaver Harris 360 Degree Music Experience
Hide And Go Seek- Paul Motian Quintet

Chive On

Middle set of the proGram this week look and taste just the way we wanted.

Want for Nothing- Michael Rault
Look Up!- The Harlem Gospel Travelers


In Common- The Sure Fire Soul Ensemble
***pre-recorded conversation w/Tim Felten of SFSE***
High Times- The Sure Fire Soul Ensemble


Everything’s Gonna Be Alright- Lettuce
The Warm Up- Marco Benevento
Ballad of a Broken Wing- Marco Benevento
Rumba Cyclique- The Shaolin Afronauts
The Simien Fox- The Shaolin Afronauts


Help Me- The DisArrays
The Hardest Day- The Mandatory Eight
In Pursuit of Shai Hulud- The Sorcerers
Pigeon Pit- Lexsoul Dancemachine
Rendezvous- Sai Galaxy Ft. Vanessa Baker


Je Jouais Le Piano- Jacques Higelin
New Orleans Girl- PJ Morton Ft. Cheeky Blakk & Rebirth Brass Band
Take Me With U- Prince And The Revolution (LIVE Syracuse 3/30/1985)

Hooked On

The 1st part of the proGram this week gotcha hitched on in.

The Song That Made Hank Williams Dance- Peter Rowan
Columbus Stockade Blues- Jacob Jolliff
Large Garbage Barge- Jacob Jolliff
All Night Long- Blue Dogs


House Is Rockin’- Brad Wilson
Such a Night- Steve Howell & The Mighty Men
Leaving San Francisco- Dave Thomas
Stuff You Gotta Watch- The Phantom Blues Band


Do It Again- Supersonic Blues Machine Ft. Ana Popovic
Money- Supersonic Blues Machine
Strong as Steel- Janiva Magness
Blowin’ Fire- Johnny Sansone


El Jardín- The Black Angels
Find the Truth- The Sheepdogs
Espejo- Eljuri

A Freedom With Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman is a musical collective formed in 1998 by guitarist/vocalist Brandon Ross, bassist Melvin Gibbs & drummer JT Lewis. Harriet Tubman was an African-American woman born into slavery in 1822 in the southern US state of Maryland. Tubman is renowned as a liberator of other African-American slaves who like she, chose to defy the system of Slavery and seek freedom by escaping to the North. She accomplished this with the help of a secret network of safe houses, or “stations” on what was known as “The Underground Railroad”. Far from being underground, Ross/ Gibbs/Lewis have collectively performed w/some of the most important musical innovators & visionaries of the last half of the 20th century: Herbie Hancock, Henry Threadgill, Tony Williams, Don Pullen, Tina Turner, James Blood Ulmer, Sonny Sharrock, Leroy Jenkins, Cassandra Wilson, Ronald Shannon Jackson, Oliver Lake, Muhal Richard Abrams, Aretha Franklin, Lawrence Butch Morris, and so many others. The music of Harriet Tubman is both familiar & fresh, while allowing the listener to experience the music free from distracting labels of style or genre. At the same time, it is easy to perceive sources that have seeded the musical development of the trio. From the electric explosion of fabled Miles Davis bands of the 70’s; to the transcendent spirituality of the music of the Mississippi Delta & beyond; to the anointing cry of John Coltrane’s musical apex; to the open rhyme scheme of the rhythm invention of the American Urban 80’s; to the imagined sound of the endless expanse of the African savannah – Harriet Tubman uses ALL of their musical experiences to communicate a vision of musical freedom and musical invention for those who choose to take the journey.

I had the honor of catching up with two thirds of one of my guilty pleasures out there in the sonic landscape creation, Harriet Tubman and the collective within/around it. Friend of the proGram, JT Lewis and Melvin Gibbs took a moment to discuss what the scene on June 24th at Cafe Coda in Madison has the potential to be. We get deep into the paths of the music, from an ancestral calling and receiving to a future moment that awaits. We share in the belief of the unity and togetherness of the music, and how in a live setting, that can enrich the exploration and experience for both artist and audience. Whether you can make it to this show or not , and we are just a few of the lucky ones, if you have yet to discover these cats or this project – there is not better time than now. They can help you locate what your freedom feels like.

Photo by James Andrew

Step Down With The Sure Fire Soul Ensemble

After hearing a bunch of the amazing albums from Daptone & the Truth and Soul Records artists such as El Michels Affair, Menahan Street Band, Budos Band, Lee Fields, etc., Tim Felton (organ/electirc piano) was highly inspired and realized he needed to put together an ensemble to make gritty recordings & perform this music fused together by all of his eclectic influences. These influences ranged from Afrobeat, Soul-Jazz, Trip Hop, Soul/Funk, Ethio Jazz, Jazz-Funk, & psychedelic music from around the world. Tim started in a few smaller soul-jazz & instrumental funk quartets, but he was craving a bigger sound. The Sure Fire Soul Ensemble was fianlly born in 2012. Under Tim’s direction, SFSE started with some material he had been working on for a few years, and before too long, they collectively began writing new tunes. The band have also partnered with one of the top independent Funk/Soul labels in the world: Colemine Records.

I had the pleasure of catching of with Tim recently to get the low down on the brand new album from Colemine Records, ‘Step Down’. We got into the seed to flower of the album and it’s tracks, finding out a couple of ways certain songs were brought into this world. Tim also is in his element when he build a setlist out of songs off the new record and other artist’s art. Since I have shared almost all the tunes on air, this was certainly a path listeners will want to walk down. Speaking of walking down…Tim is based out of San Diego and is an avid hiker and tester of new beers, so he provides a trail recommendation to take with a certain new beverage of choice. To know him is to well, have words with him. Tim is also the editor/engineer for one of my favorite radio proGrams, ‘A Way With Words‘. [Martha & Grant are friends of the program] so we find out what a day in the life is for that Tim and I may have wondered out loud if there’s ever going to be a segment where he answers questions around the ‘music’ topic?

Iris Upon

The X-tra set this week was a nice as a front yard dog-tonGued iris…woof.

Thad’s Theme- Thaddeus Tukes
***pre-recorded conversation with Mr. Thaddeus Tukes***
Vibestown Stomp- Thaddeus Tukes
Thad’s Groove- Thaddeus Tukes

My Man from College- Ebi Soda
Peach Tea- Bright Dog Red
Step Out- The Andy Rothstein Band
Just Don’t Stop- Joe Tatton Trio Ft. The Haggis Horns
Big Fish- Joe Tatton Trio


Up a Creek- The Still Point

Root Of It

The final portion of the proGram got to the heart of the matter.

Is This A Dream- Marco Benevento
Natural High- ZOOLOOK
We Love (interlude 1)- Carvalho
African Yute – Carvalho Ft. Zem Audu


Ya No Me Quieres- Adrian Quesada Ft. Jaron Marshall
Hielo Seco- Adrian Quesada Ft. Marc Ribot & Money Mark
Moça- Dendê & Band


Yolele- Cheikh Ibra Fam
Jungle Groove- Youthie Ft. Macca Dread

—-
The Wake Up Re-Call- Starita + Otis McDonald Ft. Illa J, Zay Bcuz, NicX
Sphere- Ron Trent Presents Warm Ft. Jean-Luc Ponty
Engatinhar- Nikitch & Kuna Maze Ft. Joao Selva
H – Bar- Pan Amsterdam & Damu The Fudgemunk

Lake View

The middle portion of the proGram says finally – a place with this view.

Roughrider ’89- The Sheepdogs
So Far Gone- The Sheepdogs


Junco Partner- John Scofield
504 Enjoy Yourself- Soul Rebels Ft. 5th Ward Weebie
Knockin’- Ledisi w/George Porter Jr, Ian Neville & Ivan Neville


‘Lude 1- Lettuce
Lett The World Know- Lettuce
Waffles- Lettuce
Dakar- The Blaxound
Ojo Por Ojo- The Blaxound


Yen Ni Agoro- Kaleta & Super Yamba Band Ft. Osei Korankye
***pre-recorded conversation with Kaltea***
Wo Nkoa Na Mendo- Kaleta & Super Yamba Band Ft. Osei Korankye


Abrabanel St. Funk- Hoodna Orchestra
Angel of Libra- Nathan Johnston & Angels of Libra
Bus Stop Boogie- The Harmony Society
Secret Universe- Earl Dawkins

Star Points

First parts of the proGram had the directions known eventually.

Come Along Jody- Peter Rowan
Frog On The Lily Pad- Peter Rowan
One Night In Glasgow- Jacob Jolliff
Revenuer- Rod Picott
To Meet Myself- Reverend Baron


Another Door Closes- Eva Carboni
Gettin’ Stoned- The Strongman Blues Remedy
Little Mama- The Gabbard Brothers
Chamomile and Cocaine- Katie Knipp (Live)


The Road You Don’t- Blue Dogs Ft. Jerry Douglas
Young Love- Blue Dogs
That’s What Love Will Make You Do- The Phantom Blues Band
Your Own Fault, Baby, To Treat Me the Way You Do- Lightnin’ Hopkins

—-
Weather Alive- Beth Orton
Green Assemblies- Mount Maxwell
Field & Stream- Mount Maxwell

Let’s Vibe With Thaddeus Tukes

Thaddeus Warren Tukes is a vibraphonist/composer/arranger/pianist & bandleader. A Chicago, Illinois native, Thaddeus began playing the piano at the age of 5, & quickly began inclusive percussion instruction w/the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association’s Percussion Scholarship Program, while attending Edgar Alan Poe Classical School. Although classically trained, he was inspired to play Jazz vibraphone after hearing vibraphonists Lionel Hampton & Stefon Harris. He played percussion instruments & piano in the Jazz Combo/Band/Orchestra/the Wind & Percussion ensembles at Chicago’s Whitney M. Young Magnet High School. In addition to performing at Carnegie Hall in New York City with the school’s band, he received superior ratings in solo competitions, & recognition as the best Illinois Jazz vibraphonist among high school competitors by the Illinois Music Education Association. Mr. Tukes graduated with a combined bachelor’s degree in Jazz piano & vibraphone studies at Northwestern University, the first Jazz vibraphone degree program at a non-conservatory university, where member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Victor Goines is Director of Jazz Studies. Tukes earned the honors of being a Ravinia Jazz Scholar, Jazz Institute of Chicago’s Kewitt-Wang Scholar, Luminarts Fellow, Vivian K Harsh Society awardee & Percussive Arts Society/Yamaha Terry Gibbs Vibraphone Scholarship recipient. As a former apprentice of Chicago’s Gallery 37/After School Matters Center for the Arts Jazz Band program during high school, Mr. Tukes is currently its director. In the summer of 2020, he and a group of local musicians formed the Chicago Freedom Ensemble, a music performance & social justice advocacy organization. Through the Chicago Freedom Ensemble, he has supported led protests, provided political and financial literacy for the local music community, conducted jam sessions throughout the city, & created a citywide network of young muticulturalinstrumentalists. Thaddeus has released 3 albums under his self-owned label, Vibetown Studios. He performs as a bandleader & special guest w/the Chicago Jazz Festival, Hyde Park Jazz Festival, South Side Jazz Coalition, Inc., & various Jazz clubs and ensembles throughout the country. He is a member of the Chicago Jazz Orchestra & the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic. When not performing, he can be found teaching percussion ensembles at various elementary & high schools in the Chicagoland area.

I had the complete pleasure of hanging out a bit with Thaddeus to talk about the upcoming show at Cafe Coda on June 16th, as part of the Madison Jazz Festival. We talk show expectations here in Madison, bringing that Chicago sound wherever he goes and the importance of the give-back. Thaddeus gets to go deep into what the Chicago Freedom Ensemble means to him and the opportunities for building a better community that have come from their work, as well as being a bridge to showing the youth that it IS possible to get out, survive and flourish. On May 20th, Thaddeus had a dream come true, and this serves as a reminder that, YES, YOU CAN. This Cat Right Here.

Super Yamba Band & Kaleta Help Open Festival Season

Brooklyn’s Kaleta & Super Yamba Band are fronted by Afrobeat/Juju veteran Leon Ligan-Majek a.k.a. Kaleta. The singer/guitarist from the West African country of Benin Republic lived his adolescent life in Lagos, Nigeria where Afrobeat was born. Kaleta’s guitar chops earned him decades of touring/recording with Fela Kuti, King Sunny Ade, Lauryn Hill & more. Kaleta got his start in the late 70s performing in church & was soon after picked up by iconic Juju master & world music pioneer King Sunny Ade. A few years later Fela Kuti came calling. Kaleta would go on to tour the world playing guitar for the King of Afrobeat in his storied band Egypt 80 through the 1980s & into the 1990s. Now based in New York City, Kaleta has been leading Super Yamba Band since 2017. Their debut album “Mèdaho,” which was released by California indie label Ubiquity Records, draws on the group’s shared reverence for the raw, psychedelic sounds that captivated Kaleta as a music loving kid in 1970s Benin. Mèdaho means “big brother,” “elder” or “teacher” and is dedicated to Kaleta’s late brother Ligan-Ozavino Pascal who introduced him to funk and soul music at a very early age. The album was included on Bandcamp’s “Best Albums of Summer 2019” list and two of the songs were chosen for the ABC/Hulu series High Fidelity staring Zoe Kravitz. Kaleta & his band have also erupted onto the stages and video screens of major music festivals/music publications across the US. They performed at the historic Apollo Theatre in 2019. In 2017 they rocked Paste Magazine’s Emerging Music Festival in NYC & after that performance Afropop Worldwide fell in love with Kaleta, saying “his James Brown grunts have got to be some of the best in the business!” The members of Super Yamba Band have honed their craft performing with a diverse range of artists such as David Byrne, Rubblebucket, Yeasayer & Between The Buried And Me, just to name a few.

My pal Kaleta [we have been sharing music for well over a decade now] fought jet-lag to make sure we chatted briefly about the upcoming event in Madison at the Marquette Waterfront Festival. Kaleta & Super Yamba Band will be closing out the Saturday night festivities. We got into the facts that the show will be more than expected or seen before, new music and how the sounds evolve and grow further/deeper as the group gets more time back in each others space. As far as the show goes on Saturday – Madison will be ready – I hope wherever you are, you get a chance to share time with Kaleta & Super Yamba Band.

Crystalizing

Grabbed SUM extra time and here’s the energy that was brouGht.

Porcelain- Noah Preminger

Prominent Randy- Extended
Assanhado- Plínio Fernandes
Samba Fu Maga- Chris Greene Quartet
Internal Geographies- Samora Pinderhughes Ft. Brad Allen Williams
Rise Up- Samora Pinderhughes Ft. Marcus Gilmore


‘Tis- Pepper Adams w/The Tommy Banks Trio [live]
Stella By Starlight- Pepper Adams w/The Tommy Banks Trio [live]
Hard Science- Jane Ira Bloom & Mark Helias


Mystic Mud- The Andy Rothstein Band
—-
Kamwa- Meszecsinka

Fillin’ Up

The final portion of the proGram made sure you got your complete fills.

Porcelina- Making Movies Ft. Tennis

Security- Farida International
Hallucination Generation- The Gruesome Twosome
How We Dream- Eccodek Ft. John Orpheus
Inner Blues- Dubmatix meets Future Dub Orchestra


Runnin- Brandon Coleman
The Avenues- Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad Ft. Katalyst
Behind The Crusades- Chicago Soul Jazz Collective
Mama Are We There Yet?- Chicago Soul Jazz Collective Ft. Dee Alexander
Elegia- Gerald Clayton
DOXOLOGY (Hope)- Joel Ross


To Oscar- Jorge Luis Pacheco
Fronteras (Borders) Suite: Unknown Destination- Danilo Perez Ft. The Global Messengers
Bulería de la Almadraba- Oscar Peñas Ft. Harlem String Quartet, Pablo Aslan & Richie Barshay

Bells Ring In

The middle portion of the proGram had a hand on the chain ready to tug.

Oscar the Cat- Steve Terry Project

In-Tension- According to the Sound Ft. Adam Parry-Davies/Patrick Case/James Morton & Alex Hutchings
A Million Miles To Run- According to the Sound Ft. Patrick Case/Adam Parry-Davies/James Morton/James Carter/Jake Gold & Alex Fryer
Maison- Seal Party
I Would Die 4 U- Prince & The Revolution [live Syracuse, 1985]
Soul Searchers- Angelo Moore & The Brand New Step


Exactly What I Needed- Michael Rault
Anaesthise Me- The DisArrays
Smokey Places- The Diplomats of Solid Sound Ft. The Diplomettes
Bones of God- Alexander Korostinsky
Barbarea Vulgaris Recapitulat- Tetrao Urogallus
Picea Orientalis- Tetrao Urogallus
Alone- Object Heavy


Gulli (Art Of Tones RMX)- Souleance
Mystifying Mama- Marva Broome
Tchac poum poum- René Urtreger

Saturday Sees

Beginning part of the proGram had a simple and true field to it.

Sugar Skull- Wes Collins
Sonny Liston- Rod Picott
Terre Haut Blues- Juke Joint Jonny and the Kindred Spirits


Red Hot Tabasco- Dave Weld & The Imperial Flames
I Take What I Want- The Phantom Blues Band
Bon Temps Rouler- Kenny Neal Ft. Rockin’ Dopsie Jr. & The Zydeco Twisters
New Orleans- Kenny Neal


Chevrolet- Sass Jordan
Orange Blossom Special- Mike Stevens
Spoon and the Flame- Red Red


Let’s Spend the Night Together- Hooyoosay
Fate Chaser (single mix1)- Schizo Fun Addict
Sky-Pie, Century 21- Spygenius
23- Just Mustard