World music

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Following the release of the “Udhero Na” and “Aey Na Balam” live videos filmed at Arooj Aftab’s sold-out headline show at the Barbican Centre in London (June 17, 2022), the tracks will see a limited edition physical release (on 12” opaque red vinyl) for... 

Grammy®-winning Arooj Aftab is set to release Night Reign, the follow up to her critically-acclaimed album Vulture Prince, on 31 May on Verve Records. Aftab makes the night the focus of this nine-song collection. Entirely in her own voice and through her own story, she... 

Grammy®-winning Arooj Aftab is set to release Night Reign, the follow up to her critically-acclaimed album Vulture Prince, on 31 May on Verve Records. Aftab makes the night the focus of this nine-song collection. Entirely in her own voice and through her... 

Musicians Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, Shahzad Ismaily proudly announce a collaborative album, Love In Exile, out March 24th on Verve Records. 

This is the second collaboration between the Berlin based groove-outfit Onom Agemo and the Malian guitarist, singer and songwriter Ahmed Ag Kaedy. After the successful release of their first project, a 7-inch single titled “Onin Okalan” in 2017, they are now presenting... 

‘Rejoice’ is a very special collaboration between Tony Allen, the legendary drummer and co-founder of Afrobeat, and Hugh Masekela, the master trumpet player of South African jazz. Having first met in the 70s thanks to their respective close associations with Fela... 

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“I play yours, you play mine. The music never ends." The wisdom of Tony Allen's words was as deep as his grooves, and these two sentences, which announce the dozen songs that follow, truly capture the spirit of There is No End. Tony’s motivating concept and desire was... 

Gyedu-Blay Ambolley is revered as the Simigwahene in Ghana – The King of Simigwa-Highlife. Because of his deep, soulful, and funky Highlife sound, he is also sometimes referred to as the “James Brown of Ghana.” And not without reason. His blend of Highlife, Funk, Jazz, Soul, and... 

Extremely hard-to-find Ghanaian LP from legendary musician Gyedu- Blay Ambolley, originally released in 1980. Tough Highlife, funk and boogie moods with added synthesizer! Ambolley is still actively touring today, keeping these vibes alive – he will be touring Europe throughout... 

Over the years, different members have traded production and composition duties from album to album. On the new album—“Fu Chronicles”—Amayo leads us through a thrilling sonic journey of kung fu meets Afrobeat, weaving together the strands of Edo and Yoruba cultural memory... 

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Welcome to the world of Swaken, the second album by French-Moroccan power quartet, Bab L' Bluz. Recorded at Real World Studios in Wiltshire, England, written partly in Morocco - the birthplace of frontwoman Yousra Mansour — and mostly across a world tour that took them from Adelaide, Barcelona... 

The year 1973 was both a successful and stressful time for Ray Barretto. His band had developed a loyal following among dancers of the new Afro-Cuban-based music known as... 

Ghost and The Silence's Masaki Batoh weaves a delicate, yet heavy web, winding acoustic patterns around undulating psychedelic choruses while charting an existential trip through life after death. Spiritual and tranquil, suggesting laid-back modes of Swedish neo-classicists Dungen... 

Soundway presents a remastering of the 1976 album ‘Ifetayo’ by Black Truth Rhythm Band, with the addition of the single ‘Imo’ included on the 1LP.

Led... 

180g Heavyweight LP, 4p insert featuring French & English song-notes & lyrics Afel Bocoum is among the last of a breakthrough generation of African musicians who cross-pollinated their own traditional music with the new sounds that arrived from all over the world throughout the 20th... 

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Bombino is back with a brand new studio album - Sahel. The new record is Bombino’s first full album in over five years, and follows 2018’s Deran, which garnered praise like "the Sultan of Shred" from The New York Times, and "the World's Best Guitarist" from Vice. This praise also... 

Bombino is back with a brand new studio album - Sahel. The new record is Bombino’s first full album in over five years, and follows 2018’s Deran, which garnered praise like "the Sultan of Shred" from The New York Times, and "the World's Best Guitarist" from Vice. This... 

Western Saharan musician/activist Aziza Brahim’s new album Abbar el Hamada (Across the Hamada), is a commanding and compassionate musical statement about, and for, the tumultuous age in which we live. Raised in a Saharawi refugee camp in the Algerian desert, and living in... 

This one takes us back! We originally reissued Waltel Branco's 'Meu Balanço' in 1995, it was one of the first releases to come out on Mr Bongo. It is a much-requested title with original copies becoming ever more-scarce and the price tag increasingly rising, so it feels fitting... 

Born into a traditional Bahian family, he was the son of deputy Paulo Silva Nunes and of Aída Brugni Nunes, landowners in Itabuna and Ilhéus, in the southern part of the state of Bahia. The accumulation of victories in student festivals were a formative stage for Bruno, necessary steps on... 

‘Buena Vista Social Club’ is both the name given to this extraordinary group of musicians and the album, recorded in just seven days in 1996 in Havana’s 1950s vintage EGREM studios. It was clear from the atmosphere of the recording sessions... 

‘Buena Vista Social Club’ is both the name given to this extraordinary group of musicians and the album, recorded in just seven days in 1996 in Havana’s 1950s vintage EGREM studios. It was clear from the atmosphere of the recording... 

Keväällä ja kesällä Suomessakin nähtävä, tämän vuoden aikana viimeiset keikkansa tekevä, Buena Vista Social Club julkaisee vielä yhden albumin. Buena Vista Social Club “Lost and Found” ilmestyy kauppojen hyllyille maaliskuun 27. päivä. Lost and Found... 

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Continuing their mystical saga, NYC’s Combo Chimbita roar back onto the global stage with their cathartic new album IRÉ. The album's evocative title is forged upon double-edged meaning: on one hand embracing the divinely inspired blessings and prosperity foretold by our spiritual elders, and... 

A post-Tropicalia masterpiece from one of the movements key figures and true legends of Brazilian music, Gal Costa. Features a stellar line up of musicians including Gilberto Gil, Arthur Verocai, Dominguinhos, Rogério Duprat and Tenorio Jr. amongst others. ‘India’ includes the incredible... 

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Debut LP by the remarkable producer from Pretoria, South Africa who has a singular take on amapiano.

In many ways, DJ Black Low’s debut album, Uwami, shows... 

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New Ancient Strings is an album by world renowned Malian kora players Toumani Diabate and Ballake Sissoko. Originally released by record producer Joe Boyd's (Nick Drake, Richard Thompson, Pink Floyd) Hannibal Records in 1999. This newly remastered edition... 

Kôrôlén is a very special collaboration between two titans in music: Toumani Diabaté, the Grammy-winning Malian kora virtuoso, and the London Symphony Orchestra, renowned worldwide for their performances of orchestral music on record, film... 

Originally released on EMI Sweden in 1970, this was Doris’ lone solo album. A Swedish funk / psych / jazz rarity, it attracted little attention upon its initial release and seemed doomed to obscurity, but thanks to crate-digging DJs and a Mr Bongo 1996 reissue, it... 

Originally released on EMI Sweden in 1970, this was Doris’ lone solo album. A Swedish funk / psych / jazz rarity, it attracted little attention upon its initial release and seemed doomed to obscurity, but thanks to crate-digging DJs and a Mr Bongo 1996 reissue, it... 

Nahawa Doumbia’s new album Kanawa concisely captures this current moment in Malian history. The singer reflects on the immigration crisis from the Malian perspective in the title of her new album Kanawa. Across eight songs recorded in Bamako with a band including traditional and... 

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The second LP compendium of Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru’s early solo piano works, recorded throughout the 1960s – finally available again. Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru is a true original – her compositions and unique playing style live somewhere between... 

From beloved composer Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru, a revelatory new album of piano pieces, unreleased or virtually inaccessible until now! Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru is a true original – an Ethiopian nun whose recordings have funded orphanages back home since the early... 

The first vocal album by beloved Ethiopian nun, composer, and pianist Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru - profound and deeply moving home cassette recordings made amidst political upheaval and turmoil. These are songs of wisdom, loss, mourning, and exile, sung directly into... 

‘The Room’ is a collection of folkloric pieces from various regions around South America, as interpreted by Fabiano do Nascimento and Sam Gendel, on 7-string nylon guitar and soprano saxophone, respectively. Fabiano is a Rio de Janeiro-born, LA-based multi-string... 

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From the relentless creativity of 1992 Real World Recording Week came a project as joyous as it was powerful — and unusual. Farafina, a percussion ensemble from an arts school in the landlocked West African nation of... 

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An absolutely legendary album from Lebanon by Issam Hajali’s group Ferkat Al Ard, “Oghneya” stands out as one of the great musical gems of the Arab world. A groundbreaking release from 1978 that represents the meeting point of Arab, jazz, folk and Brazilian styles with the... 

Ibrahim Ferrer's solo debut, produced in Havana by Ry Cooder, features an extraordinary stylistic range of music, from nostalgic 1950's big band, to stunning ballads, to the rich, country-style sound that made the first Buena Vista Social... 

In 2003 Ibrahim Ferrer released his second solo album ‘Buenos Hermanos’, an audacious and assured album, with varied repertoire including fresh takes on classic songs and thrilling examples of the romantic ballads and boleros for which Ferrer is justly famed. For... 

A decade after the Buena Vista Social Club propelled Ibrahim Ferrer to international stardom, the Cuban singer’s farewell album reminds us of his incredible charisma, his supreme polish, and his disarming warmth. Mi Sueño celebrates Ferrer’s first musical love — the romantic, tenderly... 

The world’s first collection of gorgeous pop songs from Frank and His Sisters, a family band from Moshi, Tanzania. Formed in the early 1950s by Frank Humplick, Thecla Clara and Maria Regina, the trio recorded and toured throughout East Africa and issued a... 

By the mid 1970’s in Nigeria, the Biafran War was a distant memory and the music scene in the eastern city of Aba was booming again. Bands like The Funkees, The Wings and The Apostles grabbed the headlines, but the more interesting stuff was coming from smaller groups...