The African musical diaspora flows through BVA like the creek through the valley, continuously, from multiple sources, wearing down whatever stands in its way.

Transmission 01: Water Over Old Stones

October 26, 2023

"Water no get enemy."

Fela Kuti's "Water No Get Enemy", a Yoruba proverb set to the most danceable political music ever invented, anchors the first transmission's global reach. Mulatu Astatke, the father of Ethio-jazz, follows: music that survived the Derg regime's cultural suppression. Erick Cosaque's Gwo Ka drum music from Guadeloupe carries traditions of enslaved African communication and resistance. Amadou & Mariam, the blind couple from Mali who met at the Institute for the Young Blind, sing "Sabali", patience in Bambara.

Transmission 03: The Valley Finds Its Voice

November 23, 2023

Seun Kuti, Fela's son, leads Egypt 80 through "Black Times" with Carlos Santana in support. WITCH brings 1970s Zambian psychedelic rock, Zamrock, a genre that shouldn't exist but does because musicians in postcolonial Lusaka heard Hendrix and decided to make their own version. The Abyssinians' roots reggae from Jamaica closes the circle, African rhythm traditions crossing the Atlantic and returning transformed.

Transmission 08: When the Revolution Comes

February 1, 2024

Hallelujah Chicken Run Band's "Mudzimu Ndiringe", Thomas Mapfumo's first band, years before chimurenga had a name, on Analog Africa. Nahawa Doumbia's Wassoulou from Mali's south. The seed of Zimbabwe's protest music. Afrobeat on BVA isn't a genre, it's a geography. A map of how African music has moved, survived, resisted, and flourished across the planet.