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Reviews

Review of Dúchas

Dúchas

Damien O'Reilly

Raelach Records

Rating: ★★★★

Button accordionist O'Reilly stays close to home in his first solo outing on disc with material drawn from his native...

Reviewed by Michael Quinn in issue: May/2020

Review of Nani

Nani

Emmi Kujanpää

Nordic Notes

Rating: ★★★

Nani is the debut album from Finnish folk musician and researcher Emmi Kujanpää. An avid enthusiast of Finnish and Bulgarian...

Reviewed by Merlyn Driver in issue: May/2020

Review of Dialogues IV

Dialogues IV

Joakim Berghäll

Boulder Music Helsinki

Rating: ★★★★

The story of this record is so compelling that it comes as a relief that the content is equal to...

Reviewed by Liam Izod in issue: May/2020

Review of MandolinMan Plays Bossa Nova

MandolinMan Plays Bossa Nova

MandolinMan

ARC Music

Rating: ★★★

As their name might suggest, the Belgian quartet MandolinMan are all mandolin players. Their first album, Old Tunes, Dusted Down,...

Reviewed by Matt Milton in issue: May/2020

Review of Buenos Hermanos

Buenos Hermanos

Ibrahim Ferrer

World Circuit

Rating: ★★★★★

There was the Buena Vista Social Club, of course. And then there was Ibrahim Ferrer, its unofficial frontman. Born at...

Reviewed by Jane Cornwell in issue: May/2020

Review of Oud Classics from Armenia, the Balkans & Middle East

Oud Classics from Armenia, the Balkans & Middle East

Alan Shavarsh Bardezbanian

ARC Music

Rating: ★★★★

If you are someone who is slightly unsure about Middle Eastern music but would like to dip your toe into...

Reviewed by Bill Badley in issue: May/2020

Review of What's Not Enough About That?

What's Not Enough About That?

Vula Viel

Vula Viel

Rating: ★★★★

This third album shows how Vula Viel have very quickly become a band whose new releases you breathlessly await and...

Reviewed by Max Reinhardt in issue: May/2020

Review of Zam Groove: Music from Zambia

Zam Groove: Music from Zambia

VARIOUS ARTISTS

SWP Records VINYL & DIGITAL ONLY

Rating: ★★★

A short LP release of seven tracks taken from the excellent SWP box sets Luangwa to Livingstone (see previous) and...

Reviewed by Martin Sinnock in issue: May/2020

Review of The Blue Book of Storyville

The Blue Book of Storyville

Don Vappie & Jazz Creole

Lejazzetal Records

Rating: ★★★★

Don Vappie is one of the world's preeminent banjoists and an out and proud New Orleans Creole (of French and...

Reviewed by Garth Cartwright in issue: May/2020

Review of Wild Wild East

Wild Wild East

Sunny Jain

Top of the World

Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

Rating: ★★★★★

Born in New York in 1975 to Punjabi immigrants, Jain has become a leading figure in North America's burgeoning Asian...

Reviewed by Nigel Williamson in issue: May/2020

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