Reviews

Le QuecumBar International Gypsy Swing Guitar Festival

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Situated in a pub on a sidestreet in Battersea, Le QuecumBar is the UK’s leading – perhaps only – venue...

Reviewed by Garth Cartwright in issue: Jan/Feb/2011

The Fourth Light

Niyaz

Built around the captivating voice of the Iranian-born singer Azam Ali, the fusion of Sufi mysticism and electronic trance beats...

Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: June/2015

Nimissa

Ba Cissoko

This brave and original kora rock band from Guinea have made both startlingly extraordinary and some plainly nondescript albums, but...

Reviewed by Rose Skelton in issue: July/2012

Pa Mi Tres

Yarima Blanco

Yarima Blanco won the De la Tradición Sonera y Campesina (From the Son and Country Tradition) award at last year's...

Reviewed by Jane Cornwell in issue: April/2023

Viva Santa Liberata

Matilde Politi

For this album the Palermo-born, and politically concerned folk singer, guitarist and tambourine player Politi dives into the archives. The...

Reviewed by Ciro De Rosa in issue: June/2020

The Call

Greg Russell & Ciaran Algar

In the two years since the release of their duo debut, The Queen's Lover, guitarist Russell and fiddle-player Algar have...

Reviewed by Kevin Bourke in issue: October/2014

Hora Kota

Bonga

Exile is a terrible thing, but its pain has often been a hugely creative spur for many artists. The subsequent...

Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: Apr/May/2012

Constant Companion

Cunning Folk

Cunning folk were – are – people of wisdom, practitioners of folk medicine and magic. Here, though, Cunning Folk is...

Reviewed by Julian May in issue: April/2019

Café Musique

Bau

A kind of one-man Cape Verdean chamber group, Rufino Almeida (also known as Bau), has plucked a steady course through...

Reviewed by Brendon Griffin in issue: July/2010

Kalakan

Kalakan

In the Basque country, cider drinking is never so exciting as when the call to celebrate the new pressing is...

Reviewed by Jan Fairley in issue: October/2011