Reviews
Madíbá
It was always going to be a tough ask to follow up on Blick Bassy's seminal 2019 album 1958 (A...
Reviewed by Daniel Brown in issue: July/2023
Esengo
Given that Afrobeat was born out of a creative culture clash – funk meeting highlife for a riotous party –...
Reviewed by Simon Cross in issue: April/2024
Aguidavi do Jêje
Slaves from present-day Nigeria, Benin and Togo brought Candomblé to Bahia (Brazil) where it thrived, developing into Afro-Brazilian ceremonies performed...
Reviewed by Andy Cumming in issue: May/2024
Never Too Late: Duets with My Friends
In 1960s America, you couldn’t enter a coffee house without running into a malcontent folk singer with a ratty guitar...
Reviewed by Doug Deloach in issue: March/2024
Femmina
The vocalist and clarinettist Gera Bertolone hails from Sicily, and here puts together an album of original songs which blend...
Reviewed by Maria Lord in issue: January/2025
Bagola
Trio da Kali | Trio da Kali & Kronos Quartet
Malian group Trio da Kali have been around for some time. They were at the BBC Proms in 2013, and...
Reviewed by Simon Broughton in issue: May/2025
Ajdad – Ancestors (Echoes of Persia)
Another record from a Western-based Iranian musician with the same familiar themes: mystical song titles, cross-cultural collaboration and, of course,...
Reviewed by Kamyar Salavati in issue: February/March/2025
Live in New York 2010
The great Malian singer Khaira Arby died in 2018, so archive recordings have now become even more valuable. This 2010...
Reviewed by Martin Longley in issue: July/2021
