logo
episode-header-image
Jan 2024
14m 54s

Congo Square (Winter Wonder Classic)

SiriusXM and Atlas Obscura
About this episode
Congo Square in New Orleans is the heart of where African drumming found its way into American music and the birth of Jazz. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/congo-square 
Up next
Today
Garden Week: A Sound Garden
An orchard of metal poles sits on a hill overlooking Lake Washington. And when the wind blows, this musical sculpture "sings the world into existence" with its unique sound. This week, we’re celebrating the arrival of spring with new and classic stories about unusual gardens arou ... Show More
15m 57s
Yesterday
Garden Week: Alnwick Poison Garden
The Alnwick Poison Garden in England is a place where stopping and smelling the flowers could actually kill you. The garden is dedicated entirely to plants that are narcotic or deadly. This week, we’re celebrating the arrival of spring with new and classic stories about unusual g ... Show More
11m 23s
Apr 17
Bone Vinyl (Classic)
In the Soviet Union, x-rays didn’t just give you a look inside the human body. They also gave you a glimpse of the outside world, thanks to music that was imprinted onto this unassuming medical tool. Read more in the Atlas HERE. Plus: We always want to hear from you! If you have ... Show More
14m 17s
Recommended Episodes
Oct 2018
Somi Africa Hall Concert (17.10.18)
Somi has been hailed as the new Nina Simone. She is the multi-award winning African-American jazz sensation who created the new sound dubbed New African Jazz. She was here as part of the star-studded concert series for the opening of the Africa Hall and Africa Institute in Sharja ... Show More
47m 10s
Apr 2015
The Best Nightclub in Africa
World renowned DJ Edu, aka The ‘Afro Boss’, is on a journey across Africa to explore how the young generation are having fun from Friday to Sunday. He starts in his hometown Nairobi and finds out how young, up and coming DJs, are making their mark on the music world by selling mi ... Show More
49m 53s
Sep 2023
Afrika Shrine - Lagos, Nigeria
Fela Kuti was a musician and activist who pioneered the jazzy, uniquely West African genre of Afrobeat. His musical testing ground, political pulpit and spiritual home was a nightclub he created in Lagos, The Afrika Shrine. A venue at the heart of his community that would welcome ... Show More
44m 3s
Feb 2024
Friends of the Congo: The Congolese Struggle for Self-Determination
<p>Passy and Maurice from <em>Friends of the Congo</em> join Breht to discuss the history and the present of the Congo. Together, they discuss their organization, Passy's on-the-ground organizing in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the history of the Congo, Patrice Lumumba a ... Show More
1h 20m
Feb 2024
L'Histoire du Jazz : Sweet Home Chicago - 2/7
tail spinning
5 m
Dec 2015
Nkosi Sikelel iAfrica
Nkosi Sikelel iAfrica (Lord Bless Africa) is a song that runs through the very soul of South African life. It was originally composed in 1897 by Enoch Sontonga, a Xhosa clergyman at a Methodist mission school near Johannesburg who is said to have been inspired by the melody of Jo ... Show More
27m 40s
Jul 2019
Hugh Masekela: The iconic South African musician
The story of Hugh Masekela’s life is intertwined with the history of South Africa itself. Born into a relatively privileged family in a mining town east of Johannesburg, Masekela was aware from an early age of the separatist and exploitative legacy of colonialism. As he grew up a ... Show More
39m 28s
Oct 2021
Is Congolese rumba being put on the map?
People have been dancing the night away to the congolese rumba for more than 70 years.Now the Democratic Republic of Congo and The Republic of Congo have launched a joint campaign to get the genre recognised internationally.They want UNESCO to include it on a list of intangible c ... Show More
12m 10s
Apr 2022
SESSION #287 (Feat. Da Africa Deep )
DA AFRICA DEEP (Johannesburg,SA) Da Africa Deep real name Teleki Wilfred Mphahlele is a versatile house music producer born in Seshego, Limpopo in South Africa. The self-taught 23 year old growing up was influenced by Jazz legends like Hugh Masekela, his mother a former gospel ar ... Show More
30m 20s