Digging in Burkina Faso by this lovely label. Plenty of aces on parade. Some of the originals sound a bit knackered, but so what, we’d much rather hear them than not.

‘A stunning collection of songs, fusing her distinctive Malian sound and voice with elements of blues, folk and rock – resulting in a timeless body of work, free from borders and genres.
‘Written and recorded in the US during coronavirus lockdowns, the album is the latest chapter in an unparalleled musical epic which has seen an artist born in the poorest districts of Bamako, Mali, become the greatest and most influential African singer alive, as well as a powerful feminist icon.
‘Between the hometown pride exhibited in Wassulu Don, the quiet introspection of Degui N’Kelena, the amorous languor expressed on Kanou, the compassion in Demissimw and the sadness and frustration in Kêlê Magni, many emotions nourish this record, with common threads of courage and optimism woven throughout.’

Elmore Judd in Nairobi with Joseph Nyamungo and Charles Okoko.

Militant jazz, fusion, funk and soul from mid-seventies Manenberg, outside Cape Town, with a set of roots in club dance traditions like ballroom (‘langarm’), Khoisan hop-step and the whirling ‘tickey draai’ (‘spin on a sixpence’) of the mine camps; others in jazz-rock and the New Thing.

The eighteenth-century poetry of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai as celebrated nightly by waee faqirs, whose penetrating lutes and high whirling voices bridge musical and mystical experience.

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

Stunningly modernised Tsogho ritual music from the interior forest of Gabon.
Beaten rattles, synths, Bwiti harp, male-female dialogical singing.
Released in 1989, to the intense consternation of purists; never before available outside Gabon.
Game-changing, and as authentic as it gets; warmly recommended.

‘Deben Bhattacharya (1921–2001) was a highly influential field recordist, poet, filmmaker, musicologist and amateur ethnomusicologist, based in Calcutta and Paris. He produced a vast number of LPs, CDs, videos and radio shows of traditional music from India, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe.
‘Never before published, Paris To Calcutta features over four hours of music and is Deben’s impressionistic account of a 1955 journey overland, in a converted milk delivery van, from France to India, collecting and exploring music along the Desert Road.
‘With four CDs of recordings, photographs, Deben’s original recording notes, musical transcriptions and more. An amazing glimpse into a time long gone and essential listening for anyone interested in folk and world music traditions.’

Marvellous stuff from all over Europe, 1911 to 1954. Finnish violin, English barnstorming, Sardinian triple-bagpipes, klezmer accordion from Belarus, Romanian clarinet, Ukrainian violin, for starters.

Addo-Nettey was a conga player and singer for Fela’s Africa 70 when he cut this heavy afro-funk album in 1973, with the Martin Brothers Band from Portharcort, for the Tabansi label.

Originally self-released in 1993 by Peter Mekwunye as a small-run cassette, soon after his arrival in the US from Nigeria. Moody, personal, moving, freeform afro-pop, or DIY soul, using just a Casio keyboard and a microphone, with a rawly naked message of love, struggle, spirituality and hope, ‘dedicated to all Nigerians all over the world, and to all freedom fighters around the world.’ Strange — a bit like eavesdropping on someone talking to himself — and warmly recommended.
We got these from Mississippi.

The full Analog Africa treatment at last for the star of their Legends of Benin compilation, back in 2009. A thrilling, utterly unique blend of Agbadja, Cuban fon, jerk, highlife, and other African rhythms, sung in Fon, Mina, Yoruba, French, English, and Spanish,
Warmly recommended.