Reviews
Tiya
Singer, pianist and composer Lilas Lafleur cut her musical teeth as a backing singer for her uncle, Congolese soukous guitar...
Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: July/2025
New African Orleans
Alune Wade | Alune Wade & Harold López-Nussa
On his sixth album, this bass-playing son of a 60s Senegalese brass-band star sets out “westward [to] begin a musical...
Reviewed by Mark Sampson in issue: July/2025
No Border
It seems that these days (to me, at least) you can hardly scroll for five minutes through TikTok or Facebook...
Reviewed by Doug Deloach in issue: April/2026
Sanguis Meus, Mama!
Ilkka Heinonen Trio | Pekko Käppi & K:H:H:L
You’ve got to admire the Finns. They revive one of the world's most unpromising instruments – the jouhikko, a rather...
Reviewed by Simon Broughton in issue: Aug/Sep/2015
Pandiyé
The daughter of the lead singer of the highly revered and innovative band Ziskakan, vocalist Maya Kamaty put forward her...
Reviewed by Tim Clarke-Romain in issue: April/2020
Inna de Yard
It's been close to 25 years since Ken Boothe last entered the studio and, in truth, he has lost a...
Reviewed by Russ Slater in issue: Jan/Feb/2018
Al Hadaoui
Attarazat Addahabia & Faradjallah
Al Hadaoui was the group Attarazat Addahabia's debut album, recorded in 1972 but for some reason never released. And now...
Reviewed by Jim Hickson in issue: October/2019
Helsinki-Cotonou Ensemble
It took the Helsinki-Cotonou Ensemble until their fifth album and tenth year to go eponymous. It takes time to know...
Reviewed by Jim Hickson in issue: Aug/Sep/2021
Pobl ’B’ar Machine
Beware of this musical UFO. Its sound is big, rather dark and yet extremely exciting. Using a wide range of...
Reviewed by Pierre Cuny in issue: April/2018
Live in San Javier 2021
Matthieu Saglio Quartet & Guests
French-born agronomist-turned-cellist Matthieu Saglio reprises his 2020 top-selling album El Camino de los Vientos (reviewed in the July 2020 issue,...
Reviewed by Russell Higham in issue: April/2022
