Hey all!
This is my first posting to the list although I've been lurking around for
the better part of three months. I am constantly impressed with the
intensity and calibre of discussion and look forward to contributing to the
dialogue.
In any event, I've recently embarked on a hopefully long career as a
radio-DJ on community/campus radio ('Waxing Deep' Saturday's 0600h_0800h
EST., Montreal's CKUT 90.3FM www.ckut.ca) and am planning on doing a Black
history month special for this week's show. I've also been cajoled into
writing an article for a campus paper on ideal music picks for Black history
month listening. And so I invite any ideas on what should I include. Here
are the results of my initial brainstorming:
A lot of Fela!
Specifically, I intend to include 'Gentleman,' and '2000 Blacks' and 'Africa
Centre of the World' from the Fela and Roy Ayers from the 'Music of Many
Colours' LP. Of course, these are obvious choices. For the radio show, I'm
going to throw in some Femi, particularly some cuts from the remix album,
although I've not yet decided which ones. Also, to show the evolution (and
regression?) of the afrogroove, I'm going to add some Tony Allen and
Antibalas to the mix.
Dizzy's 'Swing Low Sweet Cadillac'
'Kush,' particularly with Dizzy's intro, is sublime and relevant. It's also
sufficiently uptempo to fit in with the format of my show and accessible
enough that the masses of McGill might give it a listen and get hooked.
Short list huh? Well, I do have a couple of more ideas but class starts in
about five minutes. To finish, given that I'm not black, I feel that my
selections need to demonstrate a particular consciousness and avoid any
semblance of clichés, especially those that might be seen as perpetuated by
a white establishment. For that reason, I'm inclined to avoid a lot of
soul-jazz/blaxploitation tracks, but I'm curious to know what you all think.
I've also been thinking about adding in some Brazilian music, particularly
from the genres that show an obvious connection to African rhythms, capoeira
for example. My knowledge of funk is limited, but I've got access to a
pretty extensive library so I welcome ideas in that regard, and it should be
noted that it's part of my show's mandate not to play any hiphop.
Hope I'm not asking too much of the list, anything and everything is
appreciated,
Dan Zacks
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