For this New Sounds, listen to the Congolese band Staff Benda Bilili, a group of paraplegic street musicians, who were homeless when they first started performing together and used to rehearse in the half-abandoned city zoo.  The band is now the subject of a feature film, and is also making some of the most exuberant and affirming music coming out of almost anywhere.  Hear music from their most recent record, “Bouger Le Monde” – or “make the world shake.” 

Also, there’s other music from different parts of Africa, including a new reissue from Nigerian Tunji Oyelana, which blends afrobeat, afrorock, funk, calypso, juju and reggae and transforms them all into a tasty party music mix. Then, listen to Malian singer, Dieneba Seck, and possibly something with an Afro-Cuban feel from Senegalese singer Ablaye Thiossane, who is backed by some of the members of Orchestra Baobab, and Congolese guitarist Papa Noel, among others