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Reviews

Review of La Vérité

La Vérité

Fode Baro

Lusafrica

Rating: ★★★

Fode Baro is from Guinea, of Fulani-Mande descent, but he is not from a griot family. His music is a...

Reviewed by Martin Sinnock in issue: Jan/Feb/2014

Review of Gipsy Manifesto

Gipsy Manifesto

Boban & Marko Markovic Orkestar

Piranha Musih

Rating: ★★★

Balkan brass bands still wallop their bass drums with the same switches used by Ottoman marching bands, the kind Haydn...

Reviewed by Joe Walker in issue: Jan/Feb/2014

Review of Taboussizé-Niger

Taboussizé-Niger

Mamar Kassey

Top of the World

Innacnr Records

Rating: ★★★★★

Mamar Kassey is the working group name used by the musician Yacouba Moumouni (nicknamed Denké-Denké). The group is from Niger...

Reviewed by Martin Sinnock in issue: Jan/Feb/2014

Review of Hâfez & Goethe: Divân

Hâfez & Goethe: Divân

Abed Azrié

Doumtak

Rating: ★★★

Abed Azrié is the sort of intellectual musician who could probably only flourish in France. Born in Syria’s most cultured...

Reviewed by Bill Badley in issue: Jan/Feb/2014

Review of New Dawn

New Dawn

Itamar Erez & Yshai Afterman

Itamai Eiez

Rating: ★★

The opening track of this young Israeli duo’s debut recording is staggering. It’s clear from the outset that guitarist Itamar...

Reviewed by Bill Badley in issue: Jan/Feb/2014

Review of Disconnected in New York City

Disconnected in New York City

Los Lobos

Proper Records

Rating: ★★★

Last December, Los Lobos played a three-night residency at NYC’s intimate City Winery. These normally plugged-in Los Angeleno rockers were...

Reviewed by Martin Longley in issue: Jan/Feb/2014

Review of Cluck O1’ Hen

Cluck O1’ Hen

Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby

Skaggs Family Records

Rating: ★★★★

The odd yet amazing thing about this album is the presence of the piano in a standard strings-and-things bluegrass band....

Reviewed by Doug Deloach in issue: Jan/Feb/2014

Review of Jump Ups & Jollities

Jump Ups & Jollities

Travis Ward

Travis Ward

Rating: ★★★

‘Junkerdash is a term we applied to our peculiar take on traditional acoustic mountain music, which is filtered through a...

Reviewed by Doug Deloach in issue: Jan/Feb/2014

Review of One More for the Road

One More for the Road

The Wiyos

Wiyos

Rating: ★★★

The Wiyos continue to surf a wave of popular acclaim, thanks to a 2009 appearance on the BBC documentary Folk...

Reviewed by Doug Deloach in issue: Jan/Feb/2014

Review of Old Light: Songs from My Childhood and Other Gone Worlds

Old Light: Songs from My Childhood and Other Gone Worlds

Rayna Gellert

StorySound Records

Rating: ★★★★

Rayna Gellert’s great-grandfather was a Hungarian-born orchestral violinist whose career path led to a gig on a transatlantic cruise ship...

Reviewed by Doug Deloach in issue: Jan/Feb/2014

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