The Gambia Sessions

Gambian singer and percussionist Musa Mboob leads a core quartet of UK players augmented by another four guests, who collectively appear on most of this album's tracks. Mboob's songs were recorded in his birthplace of Serrekunda, and the XamXam outfit features guitar, keyboards and bass, with tenor saxophonist Andy Pickett making a key guest contribution. The first four songs flit through various shapes, spreading out a mixed platter. There's the reggae vibe of ‘Chossan’, with Mboob's vocals to the fore, sung in an appealingly alternative (presumed) Gambian accent. Then there's the similarly short ‘Butum Belle’ with double keyboards and a soukous gleam, the leader laying down a complete bed of overdubbed percussion. ‘Yarabi’ is an eight-minute ballad whose length might be leisurely, but it makes for a very pleasant loiter.

Concise guitar and keyboard parts construct a joyful lattice on ‘Ndoliwo Ndoli’, and the album's solos, when they happen, are fleeting delicacies, like Luke Rattenbury's gently distorted guitar spotlight on ‘Jahalnama’. The best cut for showcasing the XamXam quartet is ‘Jarinarey’, with no guests and a pushing of organ and percussion to the fore.