Reviews

Heavy Combination 1966–2007

Joseph Kamaru

When Kenyan singer and activist Joseph Kamaru passed away in 2018, his grandson (also named Joseph Kamaru) felt an urgent...

Reviewed in issue January/2026

Chigiyo Music Kings 1987–1998

Zig-Zag Band

Way back at the dawn of the 1980s, the slow’n’rootsy style of Zimbabwean chimurenga, as played by the mighty Thomas...

Reviewed in issue January/2026

Tribute to Kandia

Kaabi Kouyaté

For more than 40 years, Kaabi Kouyaté’s career has spanned theatre, traditional Guinean music and Mandinka jazz. Now this extraordinary...

Reviewed in issue January/2026

Black Diamonds

Amira Kheir

Seven years after her Top of the World album Mystic Dance, UK-based Sudanese-Italian singer Amira Kheir returns with a fourth...

Reviewed in issue January/2026

Lisané Bahir

Kibrom Birhane

Lisané Bahir, the fourth offering from LA-based Ethiopian keys player Kibrom Birhane is an otherworldly set deftly combining tradition with...

Reviewed in issue January/2026

The Kasambwe Brothers

The Kasambwe Brothers

In 2024, The Kasambwe Brothers made their first trip out of Malawi, taking their street music from the township of...

Reviewed in issue January/2026

Inzovu Y’Imirindi

Bizimungu Dieudonne

Recorded in late-80s Rwanda and self-released on cassette, Inzovu Y’Imirindi is a mesmerising rediscovery. Bizimungu Dieudonne and his wife, Agnes...

Reviewed in issue January/2026

Maame

Cheikh Lô

When this reviewer rather recklessly gave up a well-paid staff job as a political correspondent at The Times some 30...

Reviewed in issue December/2025

Soléyé

Granmoun Lélé

Julien Philéas, better known as Granmoun Lélé (1930–2004), was a griot and one of the most outstanding artists from the...

Reviewed in issue December/2025

Yenbett

Noura Mint Seymali

The Mauritanian diva Noura Mint Seymali is back with an especially powerful album of new music, Yenbett. Her playing on...

Reviewed in issue December/2025