World

English folk luminary Lisa Knapp’s Till April Is Dead: A Garland Of May builds brilliantly on her slim discography. It’s a boldly innovative concept album featuring a dozen startling takes on traditional English May songs that confirms her status at the cutting edge of British folk music. Knapp’s thorough research of conventional folkloric and sound archives was supplemented by colleagues and friends, and the material even broadens into May song traditions and sayings from Spain, France, Germany and Ireland.

The American record label Dust-To-Digital won critical acclaim with Longing for the Past, its treasury of archive recordings from South-East Asia, and it’s no surprise that this new box should be up for a Grammy. But Dust-To-Digital’s secret is not just beautiful presentation (this time the notes come in a leather-bound book) – it’s the sheer unexpectedness of the musical content.

It’s both excellent and rather unexpected that the folk styles of Central Asia, most notably the bardic singing of Kazakhstan, should have evaded contamination from global pop. So deep are this tradition’s roots that the Soviets decided they had to harness rather than eradicate it, inserting politically-correct lyrics and substituting collective-farm champions for village stars. An hour with Elmira Janabergenova, who grew up by the Aral Sea when it actually was a sea, gives some idea of its quality and scope. One singer with a two-string dombra lute?

Those with an ear for good storytelling and word play will enjoy Kobo’s 21st-century take on Trinidadian calypso. They’re fronted by white Trinidadian singer/songwriter Drew Gonsalves, whose lyrical flow often has a political dimension. He’s accompanied by a punchy little brass section, and clearly listens to plenty of Jamaican music.

Jon Lusk

The Skeletal Essences of Afro Funk 1969-1980, Analog Africa’s latest retrospective compilation, is devoted to the recently resuscitated Beninois band Orchestre Poly-rythmo de Cotonou. Fans of Nigerian Afrobeat, vintage US R&B, Cuban guajira and funk will find plenty of common ground.

Jon Lusk

Astatke’s Sketches of Ethiopia also kicks off in triple time, and with Malian singer Fatoumata Diawara and Ethiopian singer Tesfaye sounds almost as Pan-African. Astatke’s casually wandering style on piano and vibraphone is a relaxing treat, with distinctly Ethiopian sounds in the single-stringed masinko lute, the wooden washint flute and the six-stringed krar. 

Jon Lusk

way out east of all this, the excellent Rough Guide to the Music of China kicks off on a Latin tip – just one example of the wildly varied range of surprising foreign influence apparent, despite the wealth of traditional sounds. And it’s all beautifully sequenced. The bonus disc by Mongolian revivalists Hanggai is a treat.

 Jon Lusk

Africa in America is the focus of Diablos del Ritmo, a generous two-disc set from the dependable Analog Africa label. Founder Samy Ben Redjeb explains in the sleevenotes how he sourced the material, which spans 1960-1985 and covers a bewildering array of tropical styles that have made the cumbia (a Colombian music genre of African origin) such a rich amalgam of influences.

Jon Lusk

Bassekou Kouyate has long been the go-to guy for session ngoni (a West African string instrument), he started his band Ngoni Ba (‘big ngoni’), consisting entirely of ngonis of various sizes in the mid noughties. Jama Ko is their third and most accomplished album, and also Kouyate’s most overtly political work yet.

Portuguese fado singer António Zambujo has such an assured grasp of his genre that he’s taking it into entirely new places. His fifth album, Quinto, embraces a jazzy ambience, touching on tango and the choral music of his roots in the southern region of Alentejo. The lightness and delicacy of his voice are striking, as is the fact that he writes all his own material.

John Lusk

The songs of the Jewish diaspora recalled from a childhood spent listening to ‘old Yiddish 78s, like relics from another world’ were the inspiration for Le temps des bonheurs. Being French, Talila also absorbed plenty of classic chanson, and there are also nods to klezmer, Latin music and even rock. Her exquisite timing and phrasing mark her out as a seasoned singer, and in pianist/clarinettist Teddy Lasry she has the perfect instrumental foil. 

Jon Lusk

A Wonder Working Stone is the seventh album that Glasgow-based singer, guitarist and songwriter Alasdair Roberts has released since his 2001 debut. Last year’s Urstan found him duetting in Gaelic with singer Mairi Morrison in traditional songs from the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides.

Cuban music has long had a huge influence in West Africa, and that’s clear on the lovely debut by Senegalese veteran ABLAYE NDIAYE THIOSSANE. This self-taught 70-something singer, composer, playwright and painter has only recently released his debut solo album, and not before time. Thiossane has a mellow singing style and a mature, husky voice. Having formerly sung with the revered Orchestra Baobab, Thiossane was well-placed to rope in a few prominent members of the recently reformed group as special guests.

There’s a far more energetic, questing feel to Yo, by hot-shot Cuban pianist and former Buena Vista Social Club collaborator ROBERTO FONSECA. He’s a muscular, versatile and restless player, switching between differing moods and styles.

Norway has a rich folk music culture, which has given the world the hardingfele or Hardanger fiddle. This beautiful instrument has a unique and distinctive sound due to its resonating or sympathetic strings, which generate a ringing overtone drone. With a style rich in delicate harmonics, BENEDICTE MAURSETH is one of the country’s most respected Hardanger players.

An early emigration from the Indian subcontinent is thought to be what gave rise to Roma or Gypsy culture in Europe, which adds a touch of magic and magnificence to whatever local roots music scene it finds itself in. For an authoritative take on the recent history of Spain’s wild, soulful Gypsy music, look no further than the generous three-disc compilation, BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO FLAMENCO.

On the other hand, composer Marty Regan shows in Forest Whispers (available from novonarecords.com) what can be achieved with a combination of Japanese and European instruments, when the undogmatic aim is simply beauty of effect. A shakuhachi (flute) can blend gorgeously with a cello, or with a piano trio, if the aesthetic remains – as here – essentially Japanese. Michael Church