• 
  KG Omulo: Ayah Ye!: Moving Train
  
  A synergy of funk, rock, reggae and traditional African sounds from this inventive, young singer/songwriter.
• 
  Various Artists: Chief Boima Presents: Lone Stars - Hipco and Gbema
  
  
• 
  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
  
  Mysterious melodies from a disappearing thumb piano tradition of Southern Africa.
• 
  Kiran Ahluwalia: Aam Zameen: Common Ground
  
  Indo-Canadian Songwriter Combines Folk Poetry with African Rock, Jazz and more
• 
  M.anifest: Immigrant Chronicles: Coming to America
  
  
• 
  Sona Jobarteh: FASIYA
  
  West African female kora virtuoso releases an album full of grace, warmth, and passion.
• 
  Sia Tolno: My Life
  
  Kissi singer releases a strong second album full of pop-infused star power over songs of strife and triumph.
• 
  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 >>

One of the greatest living voices in Manding music has so far been virtually unknown to listeners outside West Africa. Kandia Kouyate traveled widely with the Africa Oye tour of 1988, and no one who saw one of those shows will forget her sensational contralto voice. But since then, Kandia's few recordings have been released only as cassettes in West Africa. For years, she resisted pleas to make a state-of-the-art recording of her work. As such, Kita Kan represents Kandia's overdue calling card to the world. Mali's Manding griots have produced some of the most riveting female vocalists in Africa, indeed, the world, but one listen to this CD's opening track, "Doninke," should establish Kandia's position in the very highest echelon. The song is Kandia's version of the griot standard "Diawura," and she shapes it with flawless arrangement of acoustic instruments--principally balafon, ngoni, kora, and guitar--and with the breathtaking robustness of her voice. The mere fact of putting that voice near a good microphone makes this release newsworthy, but not content with that, Kandia has made a pathbreaking record.

Some have compared Manding griot music to Western classical music for its refinement and complexity. But Kandia is the first to record her version of "Sunjata," the song for the 13th century Manding king, with a 46-strong violin section. The result, the song "Mandenkalou," is serene, dignified and uniquely beautiful. Some of the tracks adapt the conventions of today's griot pop, with punchy rhythms, boiling electric guitar ostinatos, and horn section passages reminiscent of the Super Rail Band of Bamako, pioneers of the "Manding swing" sound. But each song here is different, tradition being the common element. When Kandia pares down to the Manding court instruments, she delivers the requisite hypnotic weave and electrifying vocal work, as well as anyone has. Two pentatonic Bambara tracks fill out the collection with a soulful departure from the grandiosity of Manding music. If Kandia never recorded again, she would have made one for the ages here, but luckily for us, she is young, and now that she has overcome her hesitancy about the studio, we can hope for more.
Contributed by Banning Eyre