Samba Touré 
Baarakelaw
(Glitterbeat)
★★★★★

MALIAN desert blues star Samba Toure’s new set, Baarakelaw, (The Workers) is a mix of northern Malian songhoy guitar lead blues-rock and ballads with tracks highlighting the problems of workers in the informal economy. 

The lead song Assouma Kagne is dedicated to street vendors, water sellers and domestic helpers — many of whom moved from the countryside to Mali’s dusty capital Bamako as a direct consequence of poor employment prospects.  

Recording the album was difficult because of an energy crisis. Electricity was only randomly available, generators failed to work and musicians who were on call gathered as quickly as possible to record at the home of Samba’s manager when they could. 

The album supports the forgotten and the often despised. The final track Yerkomahine is a dedicated to Samba’s late wife who died in 2023 while he was touring Europe. 

Santrofi 
Making Moves
(Outhere Records)
★★★★

EIGHT piece collective Santrofi were formed five years ago by a group of young musicians playing their version of Ghanaian highlife music — a style first recorded in the 1920s by early proponents like the Kumasi Trio.

Some Santrofi members played in the popular bands of Ebo Taylor, Pat Thomas, AK Yeboah and AB Crentsil and now they are collaborating with a new generation of Ghanaian musicians.

“Highlife is a big part of Ghana. Unfortunately, the lineage is not being continued. We need to find a way to get it into the minds of our youth,” says band leader Emmanuel Ofori.

Co-produced by Jerry Boys who worked with Ali Farka Toure, Buena Vista Social Club and Orchestra Baobab the album contains hard hitting lyrics such as the track Amina — on the realities of trying to survive on the streets of Accra.

Piers Faccini & Ballake Sissoko 
Our Calling
(No Format!)
★★★★

BRINGING together a British-Italian guitarist and songwriter, Piers Faccini, and the prodigious Malian kora player Ballake Sissoko could have been challenging to say the least. But fear not — both artists have been friends since the early 2000s and know exactly what they are doing.

Their friendship has grown from uncharted territory between Malian Mande traditions and western folk music.

Twenty years of friendship and playing as a duo keeps the two voices distinct on songs such as Shadows Are, which begins with an intricate kora solo played in traditional mande style. 

Tracks like North And South, Mournful Moon and If Nothing Is Real are fine examples of the duo’s understanding created over the years.

Recorded in the studio — live — over five days with producer Frederic Soulard, it is testament to their skills and musicianship. Worth checking out.