Ready or Not, Dr. Zarkov Is Back

The last time I was on this site it was being shut down. I was sad to see it go but never learned that it had returned from the dead in 2022. In the meantime I have forged on with my radio show. I am no longer broadcasting on Radio Fairfax but am maintaining a presence on Mixcloud (See here: https://www.mixcloud.com/Flashfriend/) I also am appearing on Mexico City's Lounge King Radio via their Facebook page.

Here is the playlist for my latest show:

On this week’s show we once again chose to explore the rhythmagical and beatific music both originating from as well as inspired by conflagrative continent of Africa.

Dr. Zarkov’s Tiki Lounge June 6, 2025

1. “Dark River,” came from the 1967 lingering LP: African Blue, by Les Baxter Orchestra & Chorus.

2. Taken from the late Fifties amplifiable album: Kirby Allan Presents…Chaino: Africana & Beyond! – Spellbinding Primitive Rhythms by Chaino, Percussion Genius of Africa, we heard “Jungle Drums.”

3. “Mangwani Mpulele” was drawn from the combustive compilation: Music of Hawaii, by Arthur Lyman, who appears on Marimba.

4. “Mombasa Love Song,” was recorded by Tak Shindo on his 1958 luxurious LP: Mganga! A trained musicologist, Mr. Shindo was the musical director for the television series Gunsmoke, composed music for episodes of other TV shows, including Studio One, Suspense, The Ed Sullivan Show and Wagon Train, and was named a "Giant of Jazz" by the famed Jazz critic Leonard Feather.

5. “Africa,” was drawn from the 1960 atmospheric album: Lotus Land by Hawaii’s own Gene Rains, featuring Paul Conrad on Piano, Archie Grant on Flute and Bass and Allen Watanabe on Percussion.

6. “Igama La Bantwana” came from the early 1960s recording project called: Mysterious Instinct (Akannaginnagi), which was a collaboration of the Latin music master and Conga Drums player extraordinaire Ray Barretto, and the noted actor Brock Peters, who was born in New York but whose father was from Senegal.

7. The next song, “El Bantú,” was taken from the righteous retrospective: The Essential Ray Barretto: A Man & His Music.

8. “Papa Na Bana” was waxed by the Angolan singer Ricardo Lemvo and his band, Makina Loca on their combustive compact disc: Isabela, featuring Eduardo Sanchez on Trumpet.

9. “M’Bife Balafon” performed by Amadou & Mariam from Mali, found on their serious CD: Dimanche A Bamako.

10. Next up was the outstanding conga drums player Mongo Santamaria performing his own composition Afro Blue in 1959 with Emil Richards on Marimba and Paul Horn on Flute, found on the conflagrative collection: Ritmo Afro-Cubano.

11. “Selewa,” recorded by the Europe-based African musician King Selewa and His Calypsonians, liberally lifted from the celebratory CD: ARC Music 35th Anniversary, 1976-2011.

12. “Balafon,” which is another name for the African marimba, came from the 1965 insularious and azurial album: Calypso Blues, by The Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Sextet, composed by the Belgian Mr. Boland, who appears on Piano, along with Kenny Clarke on Drums, Sahib Shihab on Flute, Jimmy Woode Jr. on Bass, and Joe Harris on Percussion.

13. “Rachel,” named by the Cuban musician Roberto Fonseca for one of his daughters, comes from his scintillacious CD titled: Yo, with Fonseca on Keyboards and Drums, Etienne Mbappe on Bass and Joel Hierrezuelo on Percussion.

14. We finished that set with the Jimi Hendrix opus: “Voodoo Child (Slight Return), sung by Angelique Kidjo on her ample album: Oremi. Ms. Kidjo hails from the African nation of Benin, where the Voodoo religion originated.

15. “Abay” or “Nile River” in the Amharic language, recorded by the Ethiopian singer Ejigayehu "Gigi" Shibabaw on her self-titled CD: GiGi, produced by her husband Bill Laswell, and featuring Thomas Gobena on Bass, Amina Claudine Myers on Organ, and Graham Haynes on Cornet and Synthesizer.

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