Reviews
Divergence
Scottish multi-instrumentalist Freya Rae’s new album, Divergence, is a stirring collection of self-composed tunes that riff on traditional sets and...
Reviewed by Billy Rough in issue: July/2025
BEATrio
Béla Fleck, Edmar Castañeda & Antonio Sánchez
In 2024, after a 12-show run at the Blue Note in Greenwich Village, gazillion-time Grammy-winning, globe-trotting, banjo maestro Béla Fleck,...
Reviewed by Doug Deloach in issue: July/2025
Useza
Among the Shona communities of northeastern Zimbabwe, the matepe, a type of mbira, is used to evoke trance states to...
Reviewed by Olivia Cheves in issue: July/2025
Man Shall Be Free
This Ghanaian group’s debut is a fresh collection of highlife jams. Guitar lines unwind through the compositions like a labyrinthine...
Reviewed by Liam Izod in issue: July/2025
New World, Lonely Ride
Michael Grigoni & Pan•American
New World, Lonely Ride is the debut of guitar-centric original music by Michael Grigoni & Pan•American. Drawing on elements of...
Reviewed by Doug Deloach in issue: July/2025
Tsapiky! Modern Music from Southwest Madagascar
You only need listen to a couple of seconds of tsapiky to hear that it’s a party. The style (which...
Reviewed by Jim Hickson in issue: July/2025
No New Summers
Deceptively, No New Summers opens with ‘No Spring Chicken’ – five minutes of solo American primitive John Fahey-style guitar. The...
Reviewed by Tony Gillam in issue: July/2025
Viens Me Chercher
In the 1940s, Cajun music had descended into a jumble of English language, Western swing-influenced fiddle stringband, a far cry...
Reviewed by Devon Léger in issue: July/2025
Tidawt
This new tape from Malian guitarist Ahmed Ag Kaedy and Australian drummer Will Guthrie is full of dynamism. The hot...
Reviewed by Glenn Kimpton in issue: July/2025
