At the beginning of the month, Bongo Boy put out The 250 Years of America, a double album to celebrate that country’s semiquincentennial, a word that many of us had only heard for the first time. (I think I’ll stick with quarter-millennium, if it’s all the same.)The album took the form of a collection of songs that crossed many genres and were courtesy of many diverse artists, entirely in keeping with a nation which came together as a patchwork quilt of cultures, creeds, and travelers from other countries.
The latest episode of the Bongo Boy Rock n ‘Roll TV Show is the audio-visual equivalent of the same, a smaller yet perfectly curated selection of a similarly representative cross-section of the depth and diversity of the music of modern America.
Opening proceedings is Ann M. Wolf‘s “And Our Flag Was Still There,” a poignant and dramatic rendition of perhaps the most famous song in US history, The Star-Spangled Banner. Beginning in almost a cappella grace, save for distant orchestral swells, the song gradually gathers emotional weight before gnashing guitar chords add a striking sense of tension and release. By contrast, STUDEO‘s “See What I See” delivers infectious pop-rock driven by irresistible grooves and radio-friendly hooks, providing one of the collection’s most immediately accessible moments.
The Ex-Bombers‘ “In Music City” shifts the focus from celebrating America as an idea to celebrating one of its greatest musical landmarks. Raw, energetic, and unapologetically garage rock, it recalls the stripped-back attitude and swagger that once made New York’s Lower East Side a breeding ground for proto-punk: raw, restless, rebellious, the same hunger that you could say lay at the heart of the formative American Dream and those chasing it.
Ann M. Wolf returns with ‘We Shall Overcome,’ again a transformative musical creation, this time taking that iconic civil rights anthem, only with slightly updated lyrics, into a reflective, almost meditative interpretation. Once a fierce folk piece beloved of the likes of Pete Seeger and Joan Baez, here it is a suppler and subtler affair.
One of the album’s most adventurous excursions comes courtesy of Kobi Arad featuring Charlie Sabach and Kiki Valera on ‘Initiation N.’ Blending the distinct and exotic Arab-Mediterranean oud sound, with the haunting resonance of the Iranian kamancheh, put to a Cuban cuatro rhythmoozing with the warm, expressive tones of Ladino vocals, the piece creates a rich tapestry that echoes the musical traditions of North Africa, the Middle East and Moorish Spain. It is an ambitious reminder that America’s musical identity has always been enriched by influences from far beyond its borders.
That spirit of exploration and sonic spice continues with Monique Grimme‘s ‘I Will Be Alright,’ where chanting, tribal rhythms and almost ritualistic textures drift effortlessly between gospel-like choruses and intimate, understated passages. It is both spiritual and contemporary, demonstrating the album’s willingness to look beyond conventional genre boundaries.
Ann M. Wolf brings the collection to a close with ‘Time in the Journey of the Soul,’ a jaunty slice of folk-pop that leaves the listener on an optimistic note. It provides a fitting conclusion to an album that is less concerned with defining America through a single, stereotypical musical voice than with celebrating the remarkable diversity of sounds, traditions, and stories that continue to shape its cultural landscape.
In two and a half centuries, the USA has come a long way, but in the grand scheme of things, it is still a young country. This album perhaps only celebrates the music and cultural interaction of its most formative years, and perhaps more than any country, it is an ongoing experiment in what a modern society can look like. But at least it has a great soundtrack.
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