Reviews

Wise and Waiting

Equal Spirits

Wise and Waiting is Bristol-based trombonist Raph Clarkson’s latest exploration into the vibrant sounds of South African jazz. Following recent...

Reviewed in issue June/2024

Funeral for Justice

Mdou Moctar

Forget desert blues. Mdou Moctar insist they are a rock band, influenced by Jimi Hendrix and Van Halen as much...

Reviewed in issue June/2024

Rail Band

Rail Band

Of all the dance bands to come out of West Africa in the first, fertile flush of post-colonialism in the...

Reviewed in issue June/2024

We Have Waited Too Long

The Jazzanians

At the height of apartheid in 1983, Darius Brubeck, son of the legendary jazz giant Dave Brubeck and an accomplished...

Reviewed in issue June/2024

L’Bnat

Asmâa Hamzaoui & Bnat Timbouktou

The second album by Gnawa maalma Asmâa Hamzaoui and her all-female group Daughters of Timbuktu is a bass-lute thudding, qaraqab-clattering,...

Reviewed in issue June/2024

The Confluence

Dele Sosimi & The Estuary 21

If there’s anything negative to say about Fela Kuti’s music in particular and Afrobeat in general it’s that it don’t...

Reviewed in issue May/2024

Hiddo Dhawr

Sahra Halgan

Sahra Halgan is a hero of Somaliland’s music. At home, in the unrecognised Somali state’s capital, Hargeisa, she runs the...

Reviewed in issue May/2024

BLEU

Ann O’aro

O’aro’s voice is breathtaking, heartbreaking. Gentle, but with great power behind it that occasionally erupts in a shocking flash… Her...

Reviewed in issue May/2024

YIÊH

Pamela Badjogo

Gabon-born singer Pamela Badjogo honed her chops as a backing vocalist for Grammy-winning powerhouse diva Angélique Kidjo, then went on...

Reviewed in issue May/2024

Iboto Ngenge

Ngwaka Son Systéme

A fine balance of danceable music which pushes the boat out sonically and a sound firmly rooted in Congolese rumba...

Reviewed in issue May/2024