Buy Live at KEXP Volume Five Now!

Program Schedule
Reviews
Playlist
DJ Mailing List
Charts
Links
Upcoming In Studio Guests
Getting Airplay
KEXP programs an innovative, eclectic music mix you can’t find anywhere else. Rock, hip hop, electronic, country, blues, world and in-depth specialty programs.





KEXP's looking for some of you to join our team! We're seeking music lovers that are interested in learning about radio and participating in Seattle's vibrant music scene. Current internship openings are in programming, marketing and development. Must be a self-starter and a good communicator. If you love the station and are qualified to help, we want to hear from you! Help us build the future of our station! Learn more and apply now.


KEXP Programs


Jon Kertzer
African
Monday
6-9pm
most recent show

Top 15 New CDs
Artist(Country)-Album Title-Label(Country of Label)
  1. Justin Adams & Juldeh Camara (UK/Gambia) – Tell No Lies - Real World-(UK)
  2. Tony Allen (Nigeria) – Secret Agent – World Circuit (UK)
  3. Mulatu Astatke and The Heliocentrics (Ethiopia/UK) – Strut (UK)
  4. Mamane Barka (Niger) – Introducing Mamane Barka – Introducing (UK)
  5. Mamadou Barry (Guinea) – Niyo – World Village (USA)
  6. Ba Cissoko (Guinea) – Seno - Stern’s Africa (UK)
  7. Culture Musical Club (Tanzania) – Shime! – World Village (USA)
  8. Victor Deme (Burkina Faso) – Victor Deme – Chapa Blues (France)
  9. Kimi Djabate (Guinea-Bissau) – Karam – cumbancha discovery (USA)
  10. Cheick Hamala Diabate (Mali) – Ake Doni Doni – Grigri discs (USA)
  11. Kasse Mady Diabate (Mali) – Manden Djeli Kan – Wrasse (UK)
  12. Mohamed Ilyas (Tanzania) – Taarab – Chiku Taku (UK)
  13. Khaled (Algeria) –Liberte – Wrasse UK)
  14. Baaba Maal (Senegal) Television – Palm Pictures (UK)
  15. Syran Mbenza (Congo) Immortal Franco: Africa’s Unrivalled Guitar Legend-Riverboat(UK)
  16. Occidental Brothers Dane Band International (USA/Ghana) – Odo Sanbra – Occidental Brothers(USA)
  17. Oumou Sangare (Mali) – Seya – World Circuit/Nonesuch (UK/USA)
  18. Staff Benda Bilili (Congo) – Trest Tres Fort - Crammed Discs (Belgium)
  19. Tinariwen (Mali) – Imidiwan: Companions - World Village (USA)
  20. Vieux Farka Toure (Mali)- Fondo – Six Degrees (USA)
"The Best Ambiance" offers a unique look and listen into the music of Africa, for three hours every week on KEXP. I started the program in 1984, while a graduate student in ethnomusicology at the University of Washington, and after returning from 15 months in London, Paris and West Africa, where I was studying, playing and collecting the music of Africa. The program draws upon my collection of thousands of African CD's and LP's, and features both rare vinyl, and the newest in African music releases from Africa and Europe. The music covers that wide range of the musical styles of the vast African continent- and beyond - into Afro-Latin and Afro-Caribbean sounds. The listener to "The Best Ambiance" will hear highlife, mbalax, rai, soukous, mbaqanga, chimurenga, benga, maskanda, Wassoulou, juju, kwaito, and shaabi music, just to name of few of the styles featured on the program.

Another important feature are the live interviews and performances featured exclusively on the program. I do interviews many of the best-known African artists, as well as the best of promising up-and-coming performers from Africa. Often intimate, live performances from the KEXP studios are an integral part of these specials. Recent guest have included stars such as King Sunny Ade, Habib Koite, and Djelimday Tounkara of the Super Rail Band, and also younger artists such as Rajery, Rokia Traore, and N'Faly Kouyate of the Afro-Celts. "The Best Ambiance" also features music and artists recorded at festivals that I travel to around the world, such as a recent three hour special on Malian music, broadcast from Washington DC, from the Smithsonian Folklife Festival; that included music from Oumou Sangare, Neba Solo, Tartit, and three other groups from Mali, in the United States of the first time.

"The Best Ambiance" is a one-of-a-kind program, featuring an astounding range of music and information about the music of Africa, and it's heard every week on KEXP on Monday nights, from 6-9PM.

-Jon Kertzer


Most Recent Show
20k
96k
1.4Mbps