This time out we are in Costa Rica, a country I have very fond memories of having been lucky enough to spend a month there back in the mid 1990s.
Costa Rica is considered to possess the highest density of biodiversity of any country in the world and is home to over half a million species of flora and fauna. Mountains, volcanos, swamps, rainforests, coral reefs, golden beaches - it has them all and much more.
I didn't have a digital camera back when I was there and I have only been able to find a few old snaps. They don't remotely do the place justice, but here we have: a parade of the saints in Tilaran, the beach in Puntarenas and finally the mean streets of Puerto Limón.
Limón was a rough old town when I visited back in the 1990s and by all accounts it still is. It is Costa Rica's main port and has all the fun and faults that go with that. It is the only place I have ever been where a lady introduced herself with the words "Hello Sailor". But it was where you had to go to pick up a dory that would take you north through the rainforest to Tortaguero to see the leatherback turtles lay their eggs - possibly the single biggest highlight of my visit.
If I had kept going north towards the border with Nicaragua I might have bumped into a member of the Moskito people. They are of mixed African and indigenous ancestry and mostly live in Nicaragua but some of them can be found in Honduras and Costa Rica.
One such is Johnny Hall who with his fine band (whose name translates as 'Coconut Milk') released an album of their traditional music in 2020.
On the other hand, if I had headed south from Limón I may have met our next artist. Walter Gavitt Ferguson hailed from the small village of Cahuita down by the Panama border and lived there for most of his 103 years before passing away in 2023.
Mr Ferguson was by some distance Costa Rica's preeminent calypsonian, performing mostly in the local Creole language commonly spoken on the Caribbean coast. You can find today's selection on a compilation called "The Legendary Tape Recordings Vol.1".
Other former residents of Cahuita include Bocaraca who were making some fine funky sounds in the mid 1970s. Isidor Asch and Luis Jákamo from the band went on to have success with a number of subsequent groups including Marfil who you will find in the videos.
Before Bocoraca there was Los Gatos, one of many bands of that name to be found across Spain and Latin America (Rol may wish to bear that in mind for his Namesakes series). According to the original drummer they were the coolest cats in Costa Rica back in the 1960s, releasing a series of singles on the Indica label of which this is one.
We leap forward to modern times for the rest of today's selections, and a varied bunch they are too. Guadalupe Urbina is a folk musician from the Guanacaste Province in the north-west of the country. Guanacaste has a fancy international airport for tourists these days but it was still being developed when I was there so I had to fly to Tamarindo Airport instead. This was it.
Enough of me, back to Guadalupe. She has been active since the 1980s and during her career has hung out with numerous well known artists, as her Wikipedia entry explains, as well as overcoming brain cancer and other challenges. This track comes from her 2016 album "Cantos Simples del Amor de la Tierra".
From Guadalupe we move to on a different kettle full of an unfeasibly large number of fish. It is the self-styled post-punk luminaries Mal Visto. This track is from their second EP "Fuera De Juego" which came out last year.
Next, the bastard sons of Bocaraca, better known to their many fans as Cocofunka. I considered using them in the MAR slot as reggae numbers feature regularly in their repertoire but personally I favour their funkier side. "Mundo" is from their 2012 album "Hacer Ecoo". They are still going strong and playing regularly in Costa Rica and beyond.
For the actual MAR slot we have Earthstrong, whose new single "Lonely" was issued a whole ten days ago. If you like it you might also check out their album "With Love From Costa Rica". I am sure they speak on behalf of all the artists featured today when they say that.
"Sirpiki Mairin" - Johnny Hall y su Banda Kuku Suban Laya
We start off the videos with Marfil, the band built from the ashes of Bocoraca. Judging by the video a law was passed in 1987 requiring all men to have identical haircuts with only the decision on whether to have an accompanying moustache left to the individual.
If you enjoy that and the Costa Rican Jive Bunny that follows then I suggest you check out José@DJ Mix's excellent YouTube channel. Hours of fun for everyone.
Links stay up for a month or so. If you are an artist or copyright holder and want me to remove the link, or if you want to get in touch for any other reason, e-mail me on leggies27@hotmail.co.uk.
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