WORLDWIDE FM

In his now bi-monthly Head Sounds session, Tostoni explores the rich tropical sounds of Venezuela during the 60’s and 70’s, a country thriving with big orchestras and bands experimenting new forms and arrangements inspired in the latin sounds coming from New York, Puerto Rico and Cuba but spiced up with the “Caraqueño” slang and madness.

On this month’s show, Tostoni presents an exploration of Afro Venezuelan rhythms, with examples taken from early field recordings by Juan Liscano (for Alan Lomax’s World Library Of Folk And Primitive Music series), Luis Laffer and Oswaldo Lares, among other commercially produced gems.

Get ready to hear the popular group Un Solo Pueblo and the great new sensation Betsayda Machado, followed by various field recordings from 1942 to 1980, like the awesome vocal track from Ana Uribe, San Benito’s gaitas by Francisca Garcia and the heavy drums trance of Tambores De La Sabana.

Halfway through the selection, he presents tracks produced during the late 70s to mid 80s, when the genre enjoyed a peak in production and national TV and FM radio exposure before wrapping up the mix with some weird funk fusion from the 70s, specially the work of Grupo Bota, Un Dos Tres Y Fuera and the amazing experimental afro-jazz Yaguazo from Grupo La Piel.