Jazz, Folk & World Music
Kenya Special: Selected East African Recordings from the 1970s and 80s - review
(Soundway) The resurrection of Africa's overlooked musical legacy continues apace. This lovingly packaged collection turns to the less celebrated sounds of east Africa during the 1970s and 80s. With Nairobi sucking in acts from DRC and Tanzania, a...
Bombino - review
Omara "Bombino" Moctar was this week in the UK for just one concert to promote his new album, Nomad, before heading off to Europe and then the US. The choice of venue was significant: the Village Underground in Shoreditch was packed with a young,...
Joshua Redman/Christian McBride - review
Joshua Redman's duet with Christian McBride looked like one of the more orthodox encounters on the Redman-curated series at the Wigmore Hall, but the two made sure that if the structures were familiar, the variations definitely weren't.
Mokoomba: Zimbabwe's new sound
Abundance Mutori was just 14 when he began playing with the other members of Mokoomba. It was in 2002, when they were at school together at Mosi-Oa-Tunya High in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, and he remembers that their biggest problem was getting hold of...
Thea Gilmore, Queen Elizabeth Hall, review
Singer-songwriter Thea Gilmore has smoothed out her sound but is still a singular talent, says Leah Hyslop.
Joshua Redman: Walking Shadows - review
(Nonesuch) US saxophonist Josh Redman is partnered on this ballad set by an orchestra and a gold-standard trio featuring pianist Brad Mehldau, bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Brian Blade. Walking Shadows is just as persuasively played as its...
John Murry: The Graceless Age - review
(Rubyworks) John Murry's would be a compelling story had he never made a record - grandson of William Faulkner, an addict who lost his wife and child and home, and almost his life, before cleaning up. And then you get to the record. The Graceless Age...
Debashish Bhattacharya and friends: Beyond the Ragasphere - review
(Riverboat/World Music Network) Here is a boldly original fusion experiment from the virtuoso Indian instrumentalist who designed his own slide guitars so they could match the intricacies of the sitar. Now, Debashish Bhattacharya has expanded his...
Bright Sunny South – Sam Amidon: Review
This latest album from Sam Amidon is filled with beautifully moving tracks that won’t fail to get the listener to sit up and listen.
As well as new tracks, Amidon offers new interpretations of tracks by the likes of Mariah Carey and Tim McGraw...