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Reviews

Review of Sun Gonna Shine

Sun Gonna Shine

Roosevelt Holts

Dust to Digital

Rating: ★★★

Chiefly now remembered – if at all – for his 1930s work with Tommy Johnson, here Roosevelt Holts proves himself...

Reviewed by Paul Slade in issue: April/2026

Review of No Border

No Border

Muddy Gurdy

Buda Musique

Rating: ★★★★

It seems that these days (to me, at least) you can hardly scroll for five minutes through TikTok or Facebook...

Reviewed by Doug Deloach in issue: April/2026

Review of Legado

Legado

Plena Libre

La Buena Fortuna Music

Rating: ★★★★

Over some 32 years and 17 albums, this 12-piece globe-trotting Puerto Rican outfit has built a formidable live reputation, delivering...

Reviewed by Mark Sampson in issue: April/2026

Review of Istanbul Sessions: Mahalle

Istanbul Sessions: Mahalle

Ilhan Ersahin

Nublu Records

Rating: ★★★★

Here’s the sixth studio LP by Istanbul Sessions, the collective assembled by Turkish tenor saxophonist and Nublu empire-founder Ilhan Ersahin....

Reviewed by Martin Longley in issue: April/2026

Review of Ethiopiques 32

Ethiopiques 32

Nalbandian the Ethiopian & Either/Orchestra

Buda Musique

Rating: ★★★★

Boston’s Either/Orchestra featured on Ethiopiques 20 in a live recording made in Addis in 2004 and resurface here with a...

Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: April/2026

Review of We Can Be Anyone

We Can Be Anyone

Open String Department

Just for the Records

Rating: ★★★★

A road-trip through Appalachia in 2012 cemented the musical relationship between three Norwegian students just out of the Trondheim Jazz...

Reviewed by Fiona Talkington in issue: April/2026

Review of Canes of Karabakh

Canes of Karabakh

Canes of Karabakh

Rozdroża

Rating: ★★★★

The best reeds for the duduk, an Armenian woodwind instrument and a symbol of Armenian culture, are made from cane...

Reviewed by Michał Wieczorek in issue: April/2026

Review of Music From Somewhere Else: The Enclosure

Music From Somewhere Else: The Enclosure

Stuart Ironside

Stuart Ironside

Rating: ★★★★

Currently based in Estonia, British guitarist and ethnomusicologist Stuart Ironside is a graduate of SOAS who blends his classical technique...

Reviewed by Charlie Cawood in issue: April/2026

Review of Nineteen Seventy Seven

Nineteen Seventy Seven

Grupo Um

Far Out Recordings

Rating: ★★★★

A second lost album of jazz fusion recorded during the military dictatorship by the ever-influential Grupo Um. Expanding from a...

Reviewed by Andy Cumming in issue: April/2026

Review of Ragna

Ragna

Ragna

GO Danish Folkmusic

Rating: ★★★★

The Danish revival powers on with the new trio Ragna, fronted by Stine Elbæk on vocals/violin, Carina Juul Birch on...

Reviewed by James Rorison in issue: April/2026

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