• 
  KG Omulo: Ayah Ye!: Moving Train
  
  A synergy of funk, rock, reggae and traditional African sounds from this inventive, young singer/songwriter.
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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.
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  Various Artists: The Kankobela of the Batonga, Vol. 2
  
  Mysterious melodies from a disappearing thumb piano tradition of Southern Africa.
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  Kiran Ahluwalia: Aam Zameen: Common Ground
  
  Indo-Canadian Songwriter Combines Folk Poetry with African Rock, Jazz and more
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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
  
  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 >>

New Ancient Strings, by Toumani Diabaté and Ballake Sissoko is the most celebrated and successful album featuring the 21-string Manding harp--the kora--in recent years, or perhaps ever. The inspiration for this sublime session, recorded in Bamako in 1999, was for the two young kora lions to revisit material famously recorded by their late fathers in 1970. With little fanfare, the original recording by Djelimoussa Sissoko, Sidiki Diabaté, and also Batourou Sékou Kouyaté and N'Fa Diabaté, has now been reissued on CD, and a single listen quickly demonstrates why it was the most influential and important kora recording of its day.

There are more and shorter tracks on the original--13, as opposed to the 8 on the sons' expansive revisiting. But whether it's the stately elegance of "Sunjata" or "Kulanjan," or the full-on exuberance of "Ala La Ke" or "Kaira," the fathers deliver genius, subtlety, and spirit, and what's more, they deliver the core of the kora repertoire played as well as anyone ever has. "Asumba," a Serer song, has an austere, meditative quality. Most of these players are from Mali, where the kora playing is more open-ended and relaxed than in the Gambia, but all the great kora families have links back to the Gambia, the instrument's home turf. The elders are technical masters like their sons, and in 1970 the idea of recording kora without grand, griot vocals was far more radical than it is now. These men were truly pioneers, paving the way for their sons, and in fact, a whole new generation of kora players.

The recording is clean and rich. The tracks combine the players in various duos, and there's are some fabulous solo pieces by Batourou Sékou Kouyaté, who may be the most impressive of all. This CD may be a little hard to find, but it is distributed by Allegro, and well worth a hunt. While it may never outsell New Ancient Strings, this remains the greatest kora album ever--a must own for all Manding music fans.
Contributed by Banning Eyre