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  KG Omulo: Ayah Ye!: Moving Train
  
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• 
  Various Artists: Chief Boima Presents: Lone Stars - Hipco and Gbema
  
  
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  Mamadou Diabaté: Courage
  
  Mamadou Diabate, the kora master, takes a fresh look at Mali instrumental music with his new CD Courage.
• 
  Various Artists: The Kankobela of the Batonga, Vol. 2
  
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• 
  Kiran Ahluwalia: Aam Zameen: Common Ground
  
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  M.anifest: Immigrant Chronicles: Coming to America
  
  
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  Sona Jobarteh: FASIYA
  
  West African female kora virtuoso releases an album full of grace, warmth, and passion.
• 
  Sia Tolno: My Life
  
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• 
  Zieti: Zemelewa
  
  Eclectic blend of Afro-infused pop out of Cote d'Ivoire.
• 
  Guelewar: Halleli N Dakarou
  
  Re-released and remastered live CD from this 80's experimental Senegambian outfit.
• 
  Tinariwen: Tassili
  
  Touareg desert legends return with an offering that is meandering, sorrowful and proud.
• 
  Los Rakas: Chancletas y Camisetas Bordada
  
  Oakland/Panamanian rappers -call it "Panabay"-- return with good results.
• 
  Cheikh Lo: Jamm
  
  The unique Senegalese singer and multi-instrumentalist crafts an eclectically excellent record.
• 
  David Rudder: Random Notes
  
  Calypsonian David Rudder returns with an album that covers various styles with excellent results.

All Reviews >>

This New York based Puerto Rican tresero has a CV that includes work with Eddie Palmieri, Cachao, and Conjunto Libre, and also participation on 5 Grammy-winning recordings. But his most impressive credentials are contained in the crisply jangling melodies that ripple through these ten classy tracks. The tres is a 19th century Cuban remake of the guitar. Its widely spaced, paired strings facilitate highly percussive melodies. It can take the cycling ostinato role typically reserved for piano, or it can solo with fiery speed, precision, and eloquence. On the slowly loping title track here, Gonzalez does all of that. This set features an array of sensational New-York based Latin players and singers, but there's an intimate, small ensemble feel that lets the tres come forward. Some tracks, like "Santero de Buena Paz," reach back to the elegant sound of early son, but we get plenty of heat too, as on "Juaniquita," a svelte son montuna that shifts between a slow, deliberate vocal section rich with backing horns, and racing instrumental interludes. There's a freewheeling jam (descarga), organized around vocal chants, a romantic Puerto Rican bomba, and for the closer, an instrumental tres feature, "Tres Lindas Cubanas," that harks back to the late 19th century danzon. Gonzalez threads together diverse elements of Latin music history with grace and musical excellence throughout.
Contributed by Banning Eyre