Reviews
Okantomi
In recent years Cuba’s Santería religion, a vigorous survival of West African religious practices reconstituted as Catholic adoration of the...
Reviewed by Kim Burton in issue: January/February/2024
La Tsadika
I reviewed Mor Karbasi’s debut album The Beauty and the Sea five years ago with heady enthusiasm. Her vibrant vocal...
Reviewed by Dennis Marks in issue: June/2014
Classic Recordings 1929-1949
While several early Hawaiian steel guitar players have had their recordings reissued over the years, until recently one important pioneer...
Reviewed by Seth Jordan in issue: April/2020
Rough Guide to Salsa Divas
Asked to name 15 Latin divas, most people will stop at Celia Cruz. The album opens with a classic, and...
Reviewed by Sue Steward in issue: Aug/Sep/2010
North Star Calling
When listening to Leela Gilday's latest album, North Star Calling, one is instantly transported to a vast land of powerful...
Reviewed by Marc Fournier in issue: May/2020
Front Line: Sounds of Reality
Despite lasting less than two years, Virgin Records’ Front Line label produced some of the finest roots reggae of the...
Reviewed by Clyde Mcfarlane in issue: October/2014
Echoes of Indus
While Pakistan has undoubtedly given the world some outstanding classical vocalists, Pakistani instrumentalists have, by and large, remained in obscurity...
Reviewed by Jameela Siddiqi in issue: October/2013
So Slowly Slowly Got She Up
Drones, samples, feedback, accordion and the wavering tension of her voice on a set of great traditional material make Elle...
Reviewed by Tim Cumming in issue: Aug/Sep/2011
Laini Tan
More than seven years after her debut, the second solo album from Egyptian-born, Montréal-based Nadah El Shazly brings all the...
Reviewed by Olivia Cheves in issue: July/2025
Toumaro
If it wasn’t for Salif Keita, Kassé Mady Diabaté would surely have been recognised as the finest male vocalist in...
Reviewed by Robin Denselow in issue: September/2025
