• 
  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 >>

This is a rare gem for fans of Nigerian juju music. The genre's most enduring and prolific artist is revealed in his giddy youth, through tracks recorded with his band the African Beats between 1969 and 74, some ten years before American audiences got their first live taste of KSA's incomparable sound--and how sweet it is. The opener, "Sunny Ti De," is an 18-minute extravaganza, actually five songs run together in the "non-stop" mode Adé favored at that time. The groove is so relaxed, and so deep, that the interplay of guitars and drums seems to be taking place in an enchanted African dream space. Front and center are two, slow, dueling guitars, one reverb drenched and bluesy, the other crisp and jamming with chippy-chop counter riffs that clearly identify this instrument as Adé's. In the easy way of old-time juju, we go nearly five minutes before there's any singing. But when Adé's silky voice does emerge from the mix, the amazing thing is that he sounds just as he does today, a bona fide puer eternis!

The band, on the other hand, had something unique going back then, a special energy and freshness, a way of wielding an electric guitar that suggested it was the coolest damn thing that ever came along. The pedal steel guitar that would become so identified with Ade's sound appears only on one track, the 18-minute original version of "Synchro System," a track Adé rerecorded for Island Records in the mid-1980s. This too is a masterpiece, shifting from one slow, sly groove to the next with serpentine poise and cool. These two tracks are as thrilling as anything on any of Adé's many releases.

The remaining four tracks here suffer from murkier mixes, and occasionally an out-of-tune guitar, but the grooves, the band energy, and the arranging are consistently inspirational. 1999 saw the Nigerian MasterDisc releases of five CD volumes from Adé's 1980's work, most of it never before available on the international market. These releases are worthwhile, but hit or miss. This new volume of earlier work is far more satisfying, the deepest view we've had yet, or are likely to get, into the origins of one of Africa's greatest modern bands. Passionate and informative sleeve notes by Shanachie's Randall Grass, who saw Adé and the band play in Nigeria in 1974, are a plus.

Contributed by Banning Eyre for www.afropop.org