Cheikh Lo 
Maame
World Circuit 
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BORN in Burkina Faso, Cheikh N’Digel Lo moved to Senegal in 1978 joining bands playing mbalax, the dance music of Senegal and Gambia, fusing salsa, Afro Cuban and Congolese rumba.

Youssou N’Dour produced Cheikh’s debut release in 1995, issued by World Circuit in the UK. Three other World Circuit albums followed and in 2015 he was the first African artist to win a WOMEX Award.

During the pandemic he built a home studio, recording and cutting demos for this set.

Nick Gold brought in World Circuit to produce this album supported by Senegal, Benin, Congo, USA and UK musicians.

Standouts include African Development, a call for Pan African unity, Carte d’Identite on statelessness, and Doylou about human dignity.

Cheikh takes vocals, plays guitar, drums, timbales and congas. Traditional instruments include balafon, kora, flute, sabar, talking drums, plus western brass and keyboards. Don’t miss this.

Mishra & Deepa Shakthi
Turn ‘O Spinning Wheel
Shedbuilt Records
⭑⭑⭑⭑☆

A COLLABORATIVE debut set from UK global-folk band Mishra and Indian/Sufi classical singer Deepa Shakhti who toured the UK in 2023 funded by the UK Arts Council performing a hypnotic mix of UK and Indian qawwali, Punjabi folk music.

Mishra, formed in 2018 by Kate Griffin and Ford Collier have two albums, under their belts. Deepa Shakthi is an award-winning composer, who was raised in south London before moving to India aged six. 

She returned to the UK to study western music recording with pioneering Bhangra musician Kuljit Bhamra and collaborating with George Harrison and Ravi Shankar on their 1996 album Chants Of India.

Featuring 10 performances, Kate and Deepa’s vocals blend in on Sun Leh and Ghoom Charakhra while the key track, Kite, has a rhythmic Irish jig intro, a clarinet solo plus Deepa’s stirring Hindi verse.

N’Faly Kouyate
Finishing
Namun Music
⭑⭑⭑⭑☆

A NEW set from multi-instrumentalist, kora and balafon virtuoso, and a member of the Afro Celt Sound System, N’Faly has appeared with Robert Plant, Sinead O’Connor and Peter Gabriel.

Hailing from Siguiri, Guinea, he is a griot — a storyteller and musician who preserves a community’s history with a deep knowledge of traditional music.

This set was conceived during a nine-month “confinement period” by the Bafing River in Siguiri, Guinea and confronts the issues of war, theft, lies and violence in a number of languages including French and English.

Free Water is a plea for water protection, Woalu is about slander and gossip, while Mandela is a tribute to Nelson Mandela where he aligns himself with other artists who use music to defend social justice, unity, and humanist values.

The album features his first cover song — a galloping version of Mory Kante’s Yeke Yeke.