Tales of Bobbi Niger

Formed in Denmark in 2022, the quartet of guitarists Alain Apaloo and Olav Poulsen, harmonica player Peter Nande and percussionist Sal Dibba came together as TogoRhino with a vision to fuse West African desert grooves with contemporary US blues, funk and R&B into a trance-like hybrid. That many of the songs on their debut album started out as improvised jams is evident. Some are covers such as Howlin’ Wolf’s ‘Back Door Man’, Nat King Cole’s ‘China Gate’, rendered here as a languid late-night blues, and a funked-up ‘Who’s Been Foolin’ You’ by the blind New Orleans street musician Snooks Eaglin. They’re all done fairly straight but fortunately some of the band’s original compositions are more adventurous with the addition of jaw harp, kalimba and a touch of overtone singing. Try ‘Teng Dolo’ on which spiralling Congolese guitars meet the blues and ‘Fufu Blues’ with its loping Tinariwen-like groove.