Midweek Mixdown: Gary Sullivan's Bodega Pop salute to Farid El Atrache

Check out the three-hour tribute to the music of Farid El Atrache put together by Gary Sullivan for WFMU's Bodega Pop below. 

Listen to the Farid El Atrache tribute show – including tracks from 1972's Awal Hamsa album – right here. 

Whaddya mean you don't know Kooshin

Portland's Little Axe Records reissued the overlooked recordings by late Toronto-based Somali kaban ace Mohamed M. Kooshin.

Here's the scoop...

Mohamed M. Kooshin was one of a rarified group in Somali music, a master of the kaban who followed in the footsteps of the legendary players of the kaban such as Qarshe, Hudeydi, and Omar Dhuule. Kooshin was the youngest member of Somalia's esteemed national music group Waaberi before leaving Somalia in the early 1990’s and moving to Toronto, Canada. In Canada Kooshin produced a string of releases for Waberi Studio and Arts, collaborating with Sahro Ahmed, writing and recorded out of his home studio. Kooshin passed away on December 27th 2018 leaving behind a legacy of beautiful music and loving fans across the global Somali diaspora. 

Kooshin played the the kaban which has a special place in Somali music. It was a foreign instrument that, upon its arrival to Somalia in the 1940’s, became the centre of the immensely popular style of music known as qaraami. For many Somali music fans the sound of qaraami — poetic lyrics accompanied by the sparse sounds of the kaban and bongo drums — is the quintessential Somali sound. 

A joint release with Wait And See from Toronto, Canada and the first in a series of Somali recordings from Toronto. Get a digital copy of Kooshin's Layla album via Bandcamp right here. Listen to "Yurub" and "Layla" below. 
  

That time Gao Hong jammed with oud ace Issam Rafea

Today we've got an old school pipa and oud throwdown with Gao Hong and Issam Rafea jamming for 38 minutes.