• 
  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 >>

For sheer production values, the top prize in the current Congo Music revival category has to go to Kekele, whose second release Congo Life is a sonic masterpiece, every soaring voice, every snap and sizzle of percussion, and gleaming acoustic guitar note--most of them from the great Syran Mbenza--vivid and in perfect balance with the whole. Four veteran vocalists--Wuta-Mayi, Nyboma, Bumba Massa, and Loko Massengo--trade off lead roles throughout these eleven tracks, and join forces to add brilliant choral backing elsewhere. Most of the songs are new, and the conventions of the past are not so much recreated as honored, but always with a difference, such as tasty accordion spicing from Regis Gizavo of Madagascar, or all-clarinet horn section breaks played by Caçau de Queiroz.

Nyboma's soaring tenor voice is especially pleasing here, particularly on "Issake Shango," which unfolds from a mid-tempo vocal showcase to a concise, lively jam topped by Syran's brisk acoustic guitar work. With the exception of one 6/8 number--"Oyebi Bien," contributed by guest guitarist Rigo Star--the grooves are pretty relentlessly rumba, of the 1960s Kinshasa variety, but there are some excursions into a more characteristically Cuban sounds. The violins on Loko Massengo's "Bebe Yaourt" evoke charanga. And Wuta Mayi's "Affaire Mokuwa" hits with the strong feeling of son.

Maybe the best track on Congo Life is a medley of Franco hits called "Souvenirs-OK-Jazz." The great Congo rumba of the '50s and '60s transformed pop music in Africa, but most of it was poorly recorded and preserved, so one attraction of these revival efforts is hearing beloved oldies rendered in high-fidelity.
Contributed by Banning Eyre