• 
  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 >>

Palestinian violinist, oud player and composer Simon Shaheen is devastatingly talented. His work in the area of Arabic classical music includes some of the most beautiful recordings ever made in the genre. Living in New York since 1980s, Shaheen has more than once been lured into participating in various fusion or crossover projects, but the results have not generally been to his liking. Blue Flame is Shaheen's first release with his experimental group Qantara, and it delivers an amalgam of Arabic music, jazz, pop, and rock, but Shaheen's way--technically brilliant and glistening with his characteristic veneer of subtlety, care, and perfection.

Shaheen tries to erase genre descriptions. He doesn't want you to hear jazz with Arabic flavoring, or Arabic music with jazzy solos, or a Western style string quartet with an oud added in. He wants you to hear something so balanced and thoughtfully blended that you won't know what box to put it in. For the most part, he succeeds very well in this. There are fiery, oud-driven set pieces with improvised sections morphing seamlessly into composed ones. "Waving Sands" is sweet, like Middle Eastern pop with chiming, African-style guitar and a catchy hook melody. "Fantasie for Oud & String Quartet" is short, riveting classical piece in which East and West coexist in every rhythm, tone and melody. There's even a lush, heavily orchestrated reading of Sting's "Tea in the Sahara."

The players here are sensational, and picking up Shaheen's determined sense of purposefulness, they never noodle or wander. Shaheen's violin tone sears and sighs with the power and suppleness of a human voice, and you won't find a more riveting oud player anywhere. The music here favors design over spontaneity, but it's never contrived or lifeless. Indeed, Qantara's first full-length studio work sets a new standard for Arabic crossover music.

Contributed by Banning Eyre for www.afropop.org