A Greek classic

Greek composer, vocalist, lyricist and ensemble leader Stella Papalamprou is riding high in the World Music charts with her latest release Protanixin, a six-track self-released album that explores the music of the Pontic region in Greek Macedonia.

Papalamprou was born in Grevena, but since 2023 she has been based in Barcelona. From there, she set up an ensemble of master musicians under the name Zafira, which features Giorgos Vergos on the iconic Pontic lyra (a bottle-shaped three-stringed instrument played with a bow) and the angion (called tulum in Pontic Greek), a droneless set of bagpipes.

Both instruments are key to creating the music of ethnic Pontic Greeks living on the shores of the Black Sea. Nikos Filippides drives the percussion with a davul, a large, double-headed drum.

In her previous work, Papalamprou co-founded a Greek-Algerian ensemble with Nazim Aiouche in 2011, released the album Microcosm in 2013 and toured Europe. She has also toured and collaborated with many different musicians.

At the same time, she has been exploring the ancient vocal techniques and traditional Greek music of the Pontic region.

Her new album Protanixin, which means Early Springtime or First Spring Shoots in Pontic Greek, showcases Papalamprou's striking voice and a repertoire that features her own compositions about memory, migration, ecological degradation and how mountainous regions have become depopulated, as well as reinterpretations of traditional tunes and songs.

The album opens with the traditional love song Protanixin, a swirling, insistent song driven by Vergos' amazing bagpipe sound over which Papalamprou's voice soars.

The standout numbers are the title track, the catchy Seranta Mila and the second music video released, Trygona, a truly beautiful song about a woman called Trygona (apparently a popular name for women in the Black Sea Geek communities).

This song tells of the two sides to Pontic women, hardworking and alone, tending livestock, cutting wood and knitting on the one hand, and beautiful with her sweet gaze and jewellery.

The sound of some of the singing on this album reminded me of Bulgarian choir singing, which has a similar kind of sad, "crying" sound. This is a really beautiful album, highly recommended.

Also riding high on the World Music charts is a high energy, "wall of Latin sound" from mambo revivalists Orquestra Akokàn, a Latin jazz ensemble based in the USA and formed by musicians from Cuba and New York, with their new album, America!.

The band takes inspiration from mambo masters from the mid-20th century -- Perez Prado, Beny More and Machito. The band's name Akokàn means "from the heart" in Yoruba, the African language used in Cuba's Santeria religion.

Akokàn is not, however, a cover band. They have the classic son/salsa sound with lots of hot, swinging brass, but they also add boogaloo (and Latin soul) salsa to their Cuban-inspired mambo sound. It's big, bold and beautiful.

After signing to Daptone Records, the band has released four albums and was nominated for a Latin Grammy Award for their debut self-titled album, which came out in 2018.

America! features a new lineup of vocalists, Mariam Elhaji and Caroline Oliveros, and further explores their mambo big band sound with songs that consider loss and the immigrant experience. Outstanding are No Me Voy, Mami Que Que and Me Tienes Sin Cuidado, and the cheeky final track Cha Cha Cha Ooh La La. Now that's how cha cha cha should sound.

What makes this project remarkable is the fact that it is a US-Cuban collaboration, which given the aggressive rhetoric of the US government and legal difficulties of doing any kind of business between the two countries, is quite amazing.

Long-time readers may remember the success of the Buena Vista Social Club in the 1990s and how that led to a hefty fine for guitarist and producer Ry Cooder.

But the choice of going to Cuba to record has led to some unexpected benefits -- musicians from the legendary Los Van Van and Irakere bands have joined Akokàn on various songs and recordings.

The album is perfect for banishing those end-of-rainy-season blues. If you get a copy of the album, play it loud. Highly recommended.

John Clewley can be contacted at clewley.john@gmail.com.