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Global Hit
Balkan Beat Box
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Tomer Yosef (pictured) of the New York-Israeli hip hop band Balkan Beat Box drops by our studio and speaks with anchor Marco Werman about Vice President Biden’s visit to Israel and about the band’s new album. Download MP3
The world’s fourth-largest island
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We head south from Somalia about 1600 miles for today’s Geo Quiz. We’re heading to the world’s fourth-largest island. Let’s give you a little help right off the bat. The three largest islands in the world are Greenland, New Guinea, and Borneo. So you can rule those out… Download MP3
The rapping monk
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Today’s Global Hit take us to Japan where a Buddhist monk is using rap and hip hop to spread the word of Buddha to young people. Download MP3
Luciano Mabrouck
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The French speaking island of Reunion, which as musician Luciano Mabrouck tells us there, is in the Indian Ocean, just next to Mauritius…
Fflur Dafydd
The Global Hit takes us to Wales this time. The songs of Fflur Dafydd are rooted in her native country but her music draws on blues, soul and pop influences from far beyond the Welsh border.
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Madame White Snake
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A new opera will premiere in Boston on Friday. It’s a piece that was written, and developed in the city over the past four years. But its story is over a thousand years old. It’s based on the ancient Chinese legend that has never been brought to a Western audience. Sung in English with projected English and Chinese titles. The World’s Adeline Sire has more. Download MP3
Oaxaca’s creative musicians
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The prolonged economic slump in the Mexican countryside has emptied some towns of their young adult populations. Preventing mass migration requires alternative income streams to supplement subsistence farming. Some towns make handcrafts or goods for niche markets, but one indigenous village in Oaxaca produces highly-skilled musicians. Shannon Young reports. Download MP3
Japanese Jazz Opera
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The standard view of Japanese popular culture, at least here in the US, is that it’s wacky, chaotic and impossible to fathom. For instance, there’s a video doing the rounds online that features actors dressed up as peasants singing American jazz standards, with Japanese lyrics. The World’s Alex Gallafent finds out what it all means. Download MP3 Roberto Fonseca’s Akokan
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Acclaimed Cuban pianist Roberto Fonseca has a new album out. It’s called “Akokan.” It’s the latest pick from music critic and KCRW’s Tom Schnabel. Download MP3
Irish uilleann piper Paddy Keenan
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Irish uillean piper Paddy Keenan hails from a county in eastern Ireland. He’s a third generation piper. The World’s David Leveille tells us more about him and gives us the answer to the Geo Quiz. Download MP3
Congolese singer sings Serge Gainsbourg
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Last week we had French actress and singer/songwriter Charlotte Gainsbourg on the show. She told us that she didn’t write songs in French, because of the legacy of her late father, Serge Gainsbourg. Serge Gainsbourg is considered the father of modern French music. His controversial lyrics and inimitable delivery have made him a tough act to follow. Following in papa Gainsbourg’s footsteps is a challenge for any performer. But an unlikely artist is giving it a shot. Little known Congolese singer Jean Paul Wabotai recently acquired the rights to ten Gainsbourg lyrics never before put to music. The World’s Gerry Hadden has his story. Download MP3
Playing “plena” with jazz musician Miguel Zenón
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Closing out our show today is music from Puerto Rico. More specifically a style known as plena. Miguel Zenón’s new CD ‘Esta Plena’ is a jazz infused take on this Afro-Carribbean style. The Puerto Rican born Miguel Zenón explains on today’s show. Download MP3
The Garifuna: African influence in Central America
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The story behind today’s Global Hit starts on the Caribbean Island of St. Vincent. In 1635, two slave ships wrecked there, and the African slaves escaped to freedom. They mixed in with the native Caribs, giving birth to a new Afro-Caribbean culture – the Garifuna (Gareefoonah). In the centuries since, the Garifuna migrated and founded villages along the Caribbean coast of Central America. Later today, Lonny Shavelson will have a report from Guatemala. (Photo: Lonny Shavelson)
Charlotte Gainsbourg
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Charlotte Gainsbourg, daughter of English actress Jane Birkin and the legendary French singer-songwriter and provocateur Serge Gainsbourg. Charlotte Gainsbourg has been defining her own path, though, as an actress and singer. She starred in last year’s controversial film “Antichrist.” And this year… she’s come out with a new album. It’s produced — and largely written — by the American hipster-folkie, Beck. The album is called “IRM”… French for “MRI.” As The World’s Adeline Sire explains, it deals with a frightening time in Gainsbourg’s life. Download MP3
Phoenix
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French pop and rock has been mostly ridiculed in the US. Phoenix is different – the success of the French band may be due to the fact they were influenced by the right musical role models. Lead singer Thomas Mars tells Marco Werman, when his older brother came back from the US, he played Thomas an album by Prince, and informed him that everything else he was listening to was garbage. Download MP3 (Photo: Adelaide Chen)
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