Reviews
Homeland (Chapter 1)
With his latest album, it is nice to see that kora player Seckou Keita continues to push boundaries. For Homeland...
Reviewed by Alexandra Petropoulos in issue: January/2025
Acamar
This is a relaxed, drifting set of Arabic-European instrumental compositions and improvisations from a band based in the Netherlands. The...
Reviewed by Robin Denselow in issue: October/2019
Baladi Blues 3: The Art of Baligh Hamdi
Guy Schalom & The Baladi Blues Ensemble
Baladi is a very particular Egyptian fusion. The name literally means ‘my country’ and its roots lie in the rural...
Reviewed by Bill Badley in issue: Aug/Sep/2012
Hanggai Big Band Brass 2019
Hanggai have been performing interpretations of traditional music from both Inner Mongolia in China (where they hail from) and the...
Reviewed by Michael Ormiston in issue: December/2019
Dula
Born and raised in Angola but resident in the US since 2013, Dula released a debut album, Africa, which was...
Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: Jan/Feb/2019
Stopy
In the last decades, the living folk traditions of Eastern Europe have changed from traditional to revival. The Michal Noga...
Reviewed by Simon Broughton in issue: December/2020
Bilinmeyenle Karşılaşmak
It has been 17 years since Oğur and Demircioğlu's last album, Anadolu Beşık. The best-loved duo of Turkish folk have...
Reviewed by Francesco Martinelli in issue: October/2017
Djeli
With Ba Cissoko, great musicianship is always guaranteed. A kora player from Guinea, he is perhaps still best known for...
Reviewed by Robin Denselow in issue: April/2017
Toy Raha Toy
Toko Telo means ‘Group of Three’ in Malagasy and the band is a trio of Madagascar's top-level talent: D'Gary, Monika...
Reviewed by Jim Hickson in issue: December/2017
Gumba Fire: Bubblegum Soul & Synth-Boogie in 1980s South Africa
‘Bubblegum’ was the catch-all term given to Western-influenced popular music in 1980s South Africa, although the term is highly misleading,...
Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: July/2018
