Africando, "Ketukuba" (Stern's Africa) (Senegal)
Various Artists, "African Guitar Summit 2" (CBC Records)
Ali Farka Touré, "Savane" (World Circuit/Nonesuch) (Mali)
Cheikh Lô, "Lamp Fall" (World Circuit/Nonesuch) (Senegal)
Various Artists, "Congotronics 2: Buzz 'N' Rumble From the Urb 'N' Jungle" (Crammed Discs) (Congo)
Etran Finatawa, "Introducing Etran Finatawa" (World Music Network) (Niger)
Marisa Monte, "Universo au Meu Redor" (EMI) (Brazil)
Salif Keita, "M'Bemba" (Decca) (Mali)
Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars, "Living Like A Refugee" (ANTI- Records) (Sierra Leone)
Thomas Mapfumo "Rise Up" (Real World) (Zimbabwe) 

Africando, "Ketukuba" (Stern's Africa) (Senegal)
The African Salsa supergroup’s 7th release is a tribute to the late Gnonnas Pedro, a honey voiced veteran from Benin who graced earlier Africando works.  Like its predecessors, the new release showcases legendary vocalists from Senegal (Medioune Diallo, Basse Sarr), Guinea (Sekouba Bambino), and in a new twist, Congo, with Madilu System’s deft reworking of the Franco classic “Mario.”  The formula of African voices combined with top-flight salsa instrumentation and arranging remains fresh and vibrant.

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Various Artists, "African Guitar Summit  2" (CBC Records)
This Toronto-based combo of sterling axemen from Ghana, Madagascar, Guinea, Rwanda, and Kenya has coalesced into a remarkably unified group.  Their second recording extends the acoustic magic of their debut.  Stylists not showoffs, they dispense riffs tastefully, leaving room for lyrical vocals and grooves both sinewy and shuffling.  Best of all is the way they bend to each other’s regional styles letting the music venture widely.

Artist site



Ali Farka Touré, "Savane" (World Circuit/Nonesuch) (Mali)
Mali’s king of desert guitar died in March, but not before delivering an eloquent last word.  Touré brings passion and urgency to this project, singing with searing conviction, and covering more stylistic ground in these 13 tracks than on any previous album.  The arrangements are dense with strings, plucked and bowed by some of Mali’s greatest instrumentalists, and despite some clever overdubs added in the UK, it stands as Touré’s most expansive exploration of Malian roots music.

CD Review by Banning Eyre      Artist site


Cheikh Lô, "Lamp Fall" (World Circuit/Nonesuch) (Senegal)
Lô’s third international release revisits his maverick blend of driving, Senegalese mbalax pop with sensuous Latin grooves and elegant, soaring vocal hooks.  It also breaks new ground, incorporating spiritually charged percussion and vocals from the north of Brazil.  Lô chants mystic strains of African Islam, reprises golden oldies from Guinea and Congo, and spins out distinctive originals.  The deep mesh and spontaneous chemistry of his band shines through despite laborious production.

Afropop feature by Banning Eyre     Artist site


Various Artists, "Congotronics 2: Buzz 'N' Rumble From the Urb 'N' Jungle" (Crammed Discs) (Congo)
This CD/DVD package showcases six of Kinshasa's urban traditional bands.  Booming, buzzing marimbas generate deep trance grooves.  Metal-pronged likembes interweave vocals that range from ragged to melodious.  These amped-up traditional sounds reveal both the roots and the influence of Congo guitar styles, and a few actual guitars poke through the mix.  Watching the groups perform in sometimes bizarre Congolese settings on the DVD is a huge plus.

CD Review by Banning Eyre     Purchase music    Artist site

Etran Finatawa, "Introducing Etran Finatawa" (World Music Network) (Niger)
The success of Tuareg blues/rock group Tinariwen has inspired an outburst of desert guitar bands, and this is one of the best so far.  Tuareg and Woodabe traditions of Niger underlie these trancey, often lyrical songs, but this is pop music, addressing contemporary themes with hook melodies and electric guitar riffing.

CD Review by Banning Eyre




Marisa Monte, "Universo au Meu Redor" (EMI) (Brazil)
Building her reputation as one of the foremost MPB artists of a generation, Monte focuses here on the acoustic samba tradition.  More understated and introspective than some of her recent work, this set (one of two she released this year) is especially satisfying for its rootsy rhythms and elegant vocal melodies.  As in the past, Monte joins forces easily with star collaborators Carlinhos Brown, Arnaldo Antunes and David Byrne.

Artist site


Salif Keita, "M'Bemba" (Decca) (Mali)
The great chameleon of African pop seems to have found his true colors at last: meticulously produced, acoustic dance music.  The sounds are light, but the grooves heavy, and sometimes the themes as well, as in his ragamuffin-tinged meditation of the haunted warrior returning to his family.  After three decades, Keita is at the top of his game, traversing moods, grooves and genres as only a master can.  And his wounded but stalwart voice has never sounded more majestic.

CD Review by Banning Eyre     Purchase music



Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars, "Living Like A Refugee" (ANTI- Records) (Sierra Leone)
From the refugee camps of Guinea to the stages of the world, palm wine, gumbe, and roots reggae from a spirited group of survivors. The Refugee All Stars owes its international career to a documentary film.  But the CD on its own offers soulful vocal harmonies reminiscent of the early Wailers, and a few songs (like the title track) that seem destined to become classics. 

CD Review by Banning Eyre    Purchase music    Artist site




Thomas Mapfumo "Rise Up" (Real World) (Zimbabwe)
Exiled and embattled, the lion of Zimbabwe still writes some of the most memorable songs in African pop.  There aren’t many African bandleaders of his generation still alive and in the game, certainly none who can match Mapfumo’s creative drive.  Mbiras (thumb pianos), guitars and keyboards blend richly as ever on a set of eleven songs that owe less to Zimbabwean traditions than to Mapfumo’s idiosyncratic songcraft.  The passion of the exile infuses deeply affecting melodies and performances. 

CD Review by Banning Eyre     Purchase music     Artist site


Also Highly Recommended

Anga, “Echu Mingua” (World Circuit/Nonesuch) (Cuba)
CD Review by Banning Eyre

Aterciapelodos, “Oyé” (Nacional) (Colombia)

Ballaké Sissoko, "Tomora" (Label Bleu/Harmonia Munde) (Mali)
Purchase music

Carlos Burity, “Paxi Iami” (Ngola Music) (Angola)

Lenine, “Lenine” (Six Degrees) (Brazil)
Purchase music

Mamadou Diabate, “Heritage” (World Village) (Mali)
Purchase music 

Markus James, “Calabash Blues” (Firenze Records) (U.S.A./Mali)
Purchase music

Pedro Luis Ferrer, “Natural” (Escondida) (Cuba)
CD Review by Banning Eyre

Rachid Taha, “Diwan 2” (Wrasse Records) (Algeria)

Régis Gizavo, Louis Mhlanga, and David Mirandon, "Stories" (Marabi) (S. Africa, Madagascar)
CD Review by Banning Eyre 

Tartit, “Abacabok” (Crammed Discs) (Mali)
CD Review by Banning Eyre

Purchase music 

Tom Zé, “Estudando o Pagode” (Luaka Bop) (Brazil)
CD Review by Banning Eyre

Toumani Diabate Symmetric Orhestra, "Boulevard de l'Independance" (Nonesuch) (Mali)

Vicente Fernandez, “The Living Legend” (Norte) (Mexico)

Various, “Acoustic Africa” (Putumayo)

Various, “New Orleans Christmas” (Putumayo) (U.S.A.)

Various, “The Rough Guide to Bachata” (Rough Guides) (Dominican Republic)

Various, “The Rough Guide to Tanzania” (Rough Guides) (Tanzania)

Various, “The Rough Guide to West African Gold” (Rough Guides)

Compiled by Sean Barlow, Georges Collinet, Banning Eyre and Misha Turner.
Afropop CD Reviews written by Banning Eyre.

You can get much of this music either as CDs or as fair trade digital downloads through our Afropop Music Shop on www.afropop.org 

Note: When you buy music through our Afropop Music Shop, part of the proceeds go towards supporting our work on public radio and the web.

Thank you!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!  From everyone at Afropop Worldwide. 

First published: www.afropop.org