The Rhythm Atlas

05/28/2026

I was saddened to hear the news that the beloved Totó la Momposina had died on May 17th at the age of 85. I’ll pay tribute to her in the second half of this week’s radio program. I’ve played her songs on the program many, many times and she has been an all-time favorite of mine. I hope you can join me for this very special show

Totó La Momposina left an invaluable legacy as an Afro-Colombian singer, dancer, and folklorist who brought the culture and memory of the Colombian people to audiences all around the world during her incredibly remarkable sixty-year career. She will be dearly missed. It is also heartening to know that there is a new generation of Colombian artists carrying on her work. After we hear songs by Totó, we’ll hear from three women artists who have been inspired by her. All three of them performed with Totó La Momposina at her farewell concert in 2022: Adriana Lucía , Nidia Gongora, and Monica Giraldo. I hope you can tune in...

Here are all the artists and labels included in the playlist for the radio show:
Monoswezi - Parallell
Mansfarroll - M.PERCUSON
Angélique Kidjo, Nile Rodgers & IZA - Warner Music France
Berima Amo - ARC Music Productions International
Girma Woldemichael - Girma Woldemichael
Antoine Dougbe et L'Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou - Analog Africa
Totó La Momposina - Real World Records / Astar Artes / Sony Music Entertainment Colombia
Adriana Lucia - Sony Music Entertainment Colombia
Nidia Góngora - Positivo Records
Mónica Giraldo feat. Totó la Momposina - Polen Records
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The program airs on two NPR stations this week, starting Thursday, May 28th, 2026:
> Thursdays - 8 pm (Central Time US) on KAMU Public Broadcasting at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas
> Sundays - 6 pm (Central) on my home station Public Radio Tulsa in Oklahoma
Go to the Listen page on our website for live-stream links to the station websites and the archived audio stream for each show on PRX:
https://rhythmatlas.com/listen/

05/21/2026

On this week’s special program, we’ll celebrate Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month - which honors the many generations of Asians and Pacific Islanders whose contributions are a vital part of American history and our future. The playlist includes music from the Asian continent and islands, and the Pacific Ocean island regions of Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia. I hope you can tune in!

Here are all the artists and labels included in the playlist :
A.R. Rahman with Chinmayi - Sony Music Entertainment India
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - Real World Records
Anoushka Shankar feat. Norah Jones - Deutsche Grammophon
Dulsori - KongG Music
Wu Fei & Abigail Washburn - Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
KODO - Sony Music Ent. Japan
Marau & François - Production Sunset-France
Bobby Alu - Sugarshack
Small Island Big Song feat. Emlyn & Putad - Small Island Big Song
Gabby Pahinui - Panini Records
The Son Of P.M. - EM Records
Shoukichi Kina feat. Ry Cooder - Luaka Bop
Saigon Soul Revival - Saigon Supersound / INFRACom!
Jake Shimabukuro - Hitchhike Records
(tagged in a comment since FB does not let me tag so many accounts in posts any more…)
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The program airs on two NPR stations this week, starting Thursday, May 21st, 2026:
🎙️Thursdays - 8 pm (Central Time US) on KAMU Public Broadcasting at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas
🎙️Sundays - 6 pm (Central) on my home station Public Radio Tulsa in Oklahoma
Go to the Listen page on our website for live-stream links to the station websites and the archived audio stream for each show on PRX:
https://rhythmatlas.com/listen/

05/14/2026

I hope you can tune in for this week’s radio program! The show kicks off with the fantastic Austin-based band Money Chicha - who are performing a *FREE* concert here in Tulsa at Guthrie Green on Saturday night, May 16th at 7:30 pm, with the Chris Combs Quartet with special guest Jesse Aycock opening. It should be an amazing concert! The rest of the playlist is full of wonderful new releases from all around the world that I think you’ll dig. 😎

Here are all the artists and labels included in the playlist for the radio show:
Money Chicha - Distrolux SL / Vampisoul
Nuevos Rios - ZZK Records
Doctor Nativo - Stonetree Records
The Klezmatics feat. Sofia Rei - SHAMUS RECORDS, Inc. / Asphalt Tango Records
Roger Davidson and the Frank London Klezmer Orchestra - Roger Davidson
DIVKA - DIVKA
Charif Megarbane & Ali - Habibi Funk Records
Maz O'Connor - Restless Head Records
Seán Keegan with Macdara Ó Faoláin - Adhyâropa Records
Holly Clarke - Holly Clarke
Lalo Zanelli - Buda Musique
WÖR & Kongero - Nordic Notes
Les Fils Canouche - SARL VLAD PRODUCTIONS
(tagged in a comment since FB does not let me tag so many accounts in posts any more…)
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The program airs on two NPR stations this week, starting Thursday, May 14th, 2026:
> Thursdays - 8 pm (Central Time US) on KAMU Public Broadcasting at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas
> Sundays - 6 pm (Central) on my home station Public Radio Tulsa in Oklahoma
Go to the Listen page on our website for live-stream links to the station websites and the archived audio stream for each show on PRX:
https://rhythmatlas.com/listen/

05/07/2026

The playlist for this week’s radio show is full of mostly new releases. I hope you can tune in to hear all of these amazing artists! Special thanks to my friend Glenn Wilson for bringing the Spanish group Rumbakana to my attention! Our musical travels include (artist - label): Soweto’s BCUC - Outhere Records ; Malian singer-songwriter-guitarist Fatoumata Diawara - Nø Førmat! ; Algerian Touareg group Imarhan - Wedge / City Slang ; French-Colombian band Pixvae - COMPAGNIE 4000 ; Barcelona’s Rumbakana & Manu Chao ; Belgian guitarist and composer Karim Baggili - Take The Bus ; British-Burundian inanga (trough zither) player and singer Muco - who sings in Old and Middle English! ; Scottish guitarist and singer-songwriter Sam Grassie - Broadside Hacks Recordings Limited ; Irish trad via Boston by The Good Folk - Adhyâropa Records ; Lithuanian multi-instrumentalist and composer Remis Rančys ; Persian santur, classical harp, and Indian tabla by Amir Amiri, Sarah Pagé & Shawn Mativetsky - fifth house ; West African kora, Persian setar, and global percussion by Ablaye Cissoko, Kiya Tabassian, and Patrick Graham / Constantinople. (tagged in a comment since FB does not let me tag so many accounts in posts any more…)
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The program airs on two NPR stations this week, starting Thursday, May 7th, 2026:
> Thursdays - 8 pm (Central Time US) on KAMU Public Broadcasting at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas
> Sundays - 6 pm (Central) on my home station Public Radio Tulsa in Oklahoma
Go to the Listen page on our website for live-stream links to the station websites and the archived audio stream for each show on PRX:
https://rhythmatlas.com/listen/

05/07/2026

Tulsa listeners, mark your calendars now to make sure you don't miss this fantastic *free* show with Money Chicha at Guthrie Green on Saturday, May 16th at 7:30 pm. The Chris Combs Quartet with special guest Jesse Aycock will open the show, so it's going to be an extra special night of music.

"Money Chicha is an Austin, Texas based group featuring members of the Grammy-award winning Latin orchestra Grupo Fantasma and its offshoot funk outfit Brownout. They perform a fuzzed-out, reverb-drenched and percussion-heavy style of music inspired by the sounds of Peru and Colombia in the 60s and 70s. This style of music, sometimes called “chicha” music, is known for its infectious Latin beat, its psychedelic, surf guitar pyrotechnics and its melodies influenced by the indigenous culture of the Andes mountains."

Don't miss this one, Tulsa! 💃
Join us for a free evening concert featuring headliner Money Chicha on Saturday, May 16 at Guthrie Green. This Austin-based band, which includes Grammy Award-winning members from Grupo Fantasma, will keep you dancing with its exhilarating blend of cumbia, Latin funk, and psychedelic rock.

The night will begin with a performance by the Chris Combs Quartet with Jesse Aycock. View event details: https://buff.ly/oS2UGOg

04/30/2026

I hope you can tune in for this week’s radio show. You’ll hear new music from Souad Massi, AySay, Kuljit Bhamra with his mother Mohinder Kaur Bhamra on vocals, Jocelyn Mienniel & Les Instruments Migrateurs, Victoria Alexanyan, and the Congolese guitarist Syran Mbenza. I also have some vintage tracks included in the playlist: another great Colgolese artist - Tabu Ley Rochereau, and the group Four Brothers from Zimbabwe with their first single "Makorokoto" which was released in 1977.

Here are all the artists and labels included in the playlist:
Souad Massi - BackingTrack Production / Sony Music Entertainment France ; Kiran Ahluwalia - Six Degrees Records ; AySay - V2 Records ; Transglobal Underground - Mule Satellite ; Kuljit Bhamra & Mohinder Kaur Bhamra - ARC Music Productions International ; The Dhol Foundation - ECC Records ; Jocelyn Mienniel & Les Instruments Migrateurs - Drugstore Malone ; Victoria Alexanyan, Vincent Forestier & Amin Al Aiedy - Musiques En Balade ; Four Brothers - Gramma ; Tabu Ley Rochereau - Real World Records ; Syran Mbenza - Hysa Productions
(tagged in a comment since FB does not let me tag so many accounts in posts any more…)

The program airs on two NPR stations this week, starting Thursday, April 30th, 2026:
> Thursdays - 8 pm (Central Time US) on KAMU Public Broadcasting at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas
> Sundays - 6 pm (Central) on my home station Public Radio Tulsa in Oklahoma
Go to the Listen page on our website for live-stream links to the station websites and the archived audio stream for each show on PRX:
https://rhythmatlas.com/listen/

04/23/2026

Along with featuring some new releases on this week’s radio show, I’ll also celebrate the legacy of the great Irish singer, songwriter, and harpist Moya Brennan - First Lady of Celtic Music - who died on April 13th at the age of 73. Her beautiful voice was at the heart of Clannad Irish Band. You’ll hear her with Clannad on the iconic song “Theme from Harry’s Game” and the traditional Irish piece “Siúil, a Rún,” as well as one of her more recent recordings in a harp and vocal duo with Cormac de Barra. Among the fantastic new releases in the playlist, you’ll hear: Argentine artist Sofía Rei with a song from her new album ‘Antónima’ which features her collaborating with many women artists from across the Américas; another song from the new album ‘Adouna’ by Cheikh Ibra Fam, from Senegal; Haitian-Canadian artist Wesli, whose new album ‘Makaya’ includes a whopping 24 tracks; a song from ‘Wakefire: A Summer Album’ by English folk artists Lady Maisery & Jimmy Aldridge and Sid Goldsmith - it’s their rendition of “Good As Gone,” written by Robin Williamson and originally recorded for the debut album by Incredible String Band in 1966; and the show concludes with the highly entertaining single by the brilliant Québécois band Le Diable à Cinq - “Mes chums irlandais / My Irish Buddies” - you can check out the super fun video they recorded for the song in a post on our website: https://rhythmatlas.com

Here are the artists and labels included in the playlist:
Sofia Rei & La Charo - GroundUP Music ; Iuna Falcão & Núbia - Iuna Falcão ; Saina Manotte - Putumayo Discovery ; Cheikh Ibra Fam - Cumbancha ; Wesli - West Urban Productions WUP ; Dona Onete - AmpliDiversão ; Clannad - Gael Linn ; Moya Brennan & Cormac de Barra - Beo Records ; Catrin Finch - Mwldan, ARC Music Productions International ; Lady Maisery & Jimmy Aldridge & Sid Goldsmith - Many a Thousand Records ; Le Diable à Cinq - Le Diable à Cinq
(tagged in a comment since FB does not let me tag so many accounts in posts any more…)
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The program airs on two NPR stations this week, starting Thursday, April 23rd, 2026:
> Thursdays - 8 pm (Central Time US) on KAMU Public Broadcasting at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas
> Sundays - 6 pm (Central) on my home station Public Radio Tulsa in Oklahoma
Go to the Listen page on our website for live-stream links to the station websites and the archived audio stream for each show on PRX:
https://rhythmatlas.com/listen/

04/15/2026

I was saddened to hear the news yesterday that the great Irish singer, songwriter, and harpist Moya (Máire) Brennan of Clannad has passed away. She had such an incredibly beautiful voice, and Clannad was one of the bands that first drew me deeply into Irish and Scottish trad music back in the early 80s. Like many, I probably first became aware of the band after hearing "Theme from Harry's Game" from their 1983 album 'Magical Ring.' The song was written as the theme for a UK television miniseries about the political troubles in Northern Ireland. Moya's beautiful singing - all in Irish - along with the haunting musical accompaniment captured people's attention and it became a popular hit, helping to bring the band to worldwide fame. I'll play a few songs in tribute to Moya on the radio program that will air during the week of April 20th.

Máire Brennan (Moya) 1952-2026

We are completely heartbroken at the passing of our dearest sister Máire (Moya)

She crossed over last night at home in Donegal surrounded by family
and has now joined Pádraig & Noel across the veil

Her voice was the signature sound of Clannad and will live on forever

Pól agus Ciarán

04/09/2026

This week’s radio show begins with three indigenous artists from Oklahoma: Joy Harjo, Samantha Crain, and Agalisiga Mackey Music. Joy Harjo is an internationally renowned performer and writer of the Muscogee Nation. Her new album - ‘Insomnia and Seven Steps to Grace’ - was produced by composer, bassist, and vocalist Esperanza Spalding, who also performs on the album. It’s being released on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings on April 24th. I was able to catch Samantha Crain’s really wonderful show at The Vanguard here in Tulsa last week, where Agalisiga Mackey and Ramsey Thornton opened for her. C**j Mackey sings almost all of his songs in Cherokee, and Samantha Crain has written and sung a few songs in the language of her Choctaw people. Hearing them both sing in the languages of their people inspired me to include them in the playlist alongside the poem-song title track from Joy’s new album. I hope you can tune into hear these powerful songs as well as many other fantastic works by artists from around the world!

Here are the artists and labels included in the playlist:
Joy Harjo - Smithsonian Folkways Recordings ; Samantha Crain - Ramseur Records ; Agalisiga Mackey - Horton Records ; Gustavo Alonso López & Jay Roulston - Studio Espasón ; Jean-Luc Thomas Quartet - Label Hirustica ; Yiddish Glory - Six Degrees Records ; Daughters of Donbas ; Rahim Alhaj Trio - Smithsonian Folkways Recordings ; Manu Delago & Max ZT - Session Work Records ; LEÏ - Inouïes ; CAMiNOS - Piment Rouge Production
(tagged in a comment since FB does not let me tag so many accounts in posts any more…)
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The program airs on two NPR stations this week, starting Thursday, April 9th, 2026:
> Thursdays - 8 pm (Central Time US) on KAMU Public Broadcasting at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas
> Sundays - 6 pm (Central) on my home station Public Radio Tulsa in Oklahoma
Go to the Listen page on our website for live-stream links to the station websites and the archived audio stream for each show on PRX:
https://rhythmatlas.com/listen/