Reviews
Music in Exile
First heard via various Africa Express projects in the West, including the album Maison des Jeunes, the four-piece Songhoy Blues...
Reviewed in issue June/2026
Ethiocolor
Ethiocolor is a new project exploring cultural traditions from across Ethiopia, and the sounds of its northern azmari culture in...
Reviewed in issue June/2026
River Strings: Maninka Guitar
With the kind of pedigree Guinean guitarist Djessou Mory Kanté has – brother to the late, lamented Kante Manfila, and...
Reviewed in issue June/2026
Spirit of Malombo
To appreciate Julian Bahula's contribution to South African music, you don’t need to know that he was a tireless anti-Apartheid...
Reviewed in issue June/2026
The Gnawa Berber
After dedicating his debut solo album, the bustling but tightly wound Gnawa London, to his adopted home city, Simo Lagnawi...
Reviewed in issue June/2026
Kukurantumi
It is such a pleasure to hear some old-school Ghanaian highlife. In the 60s Amartey Hedzoleh was a member of...
Reviewed in issue June/2026
Mazal
Aziz Sahmaoui & The University of Gnawa
The first University of Gnawa release came in 2011, when Sahmaoui, a founder of Orchestre National de Barbès, brought together...
Reviewed in issue June/2026
Bamako Today
The BKO Quintet consist of four Malians and one French musician; they play traditional Malian music with a modern twist....
Reviewed in issue June/2026
Blue Tsapiky
Claude Teta is a guitarist and vocalist from Madagascar and here he is joined by a singer called Kirasoa, who...
Reviewed in issue June/2026
Tiger Run
Nyolo's eighth album in a solo career that began in 1996 with Tribu may just be her most cohesive and...
Reviewed in issue June/2026
