Reggae/World

2018 marks the 40th Anniversary of Bob Marley & The Wailers’ KAYA. Recorded in part during Marley’s and the band’s 1977 exile in London, KAYA is very much the sibling record to EXODUS. Fittingly, as Ziggy Marley revisited the original session recordings for last year’s EXODUS 40 celebration, this year sibling Stephen Marley revisits the original session recordings to commemorate KAYA, bringing a fresh perspective to this suite that’s quietly referred to as the ‘Peace Treaty’ album.

2 CDs with Photobook (Special Package) / 4 Kinds (S,E,L,F version) / Random Photocard / Special poster for pre-order / This release will count toward the Billboard / Hanteo / Gaon Charts

**Shipments of each version are random with no guarantee of obtaining each version with multiple purchases**

2018 release from 7-member South Korean superstars BTS (AKA the Bangtan Boys) by BIGHIT ENTERTAINMENT. 1CD / Photobook (1 for each version) / Photocard (1EA of 28EA / Random) / Special Photocard (Randomly added / First publish only) / Standing Photo / Poster (4 version / First publish only). LOVE YOURSELF: Tear is the follow up to LOVE YOURSELF: Her.

A Real Labour Of Love, a brand new studio album of 16 tracks from UB40 featuring Ali, Astro & Mickey. The band have chosen a mix of well-known & less well-known reggae songs to cover in true UB40 style. Tracks featured Barrington Levy’s Here I Come, Ken Boothe’s, Moving Away, Gregory Isaac’s Hush Darling & more. Cover art includes a bespoke painting by the respected American painter Mark T Smith & he has incorporated elements from the tracks to create art unique to the band.

The all-star Mama Earth lineup of Joss Stone (vocals), Nitin Sawhney (guitar), Jonathan Joseph (drums), Étienne M'Bappé (bass/guitar) and Jonathan Shorten (keyboards) will release their debut EP "Mama Earth" on November 10, 2017 on Mascot/Provogue. The project started when British soul singer Joss Stone and her former musical director Jonathan Joseph hit on the Mama Earth concept of an album driven by the dynamic rhythms of Africa. A band was assembled from all corners of the music world. Jonathan's compadre Étienne M'Bappé, the dazzling Cameroon-born multi-instrumentalist whose résumé spans from John McLaughlin to Robben Ford; Jonathan Shorten, who had produced much of Stone's studio catalogue between penning some of the biggest hits for acts including Gabrielle and (again) Joss Stone. Finally, there was Nitin Sawhney: the genre-slipping wildcard and one-man musical tidal wave whose collaborations take in Sting, Paul McCartney and the London Symphony Orchestra. The 5 musicians convened at Stone's house, where the musical squad didn't take long to feel each other out. Music was spontaneously written on the spot, without any preparation. In the meantime, Stone purposefully kept her own creative process separate from the four musicians. "I left them to do their own thing with the music in the studio," she reflects, "while I was cooking dinner in the kitchen. I deliberately didn't have any input in the music, because I didn't want to affect it – or it'd all come out hip-hop and R&B! Then they'd come across into the house, give me the track and I'd sit in the kitchen writing lyrics and melodies with my mum. So it was, like, 'You guys do you, and I'll do me – then we'll put it together'. And that's the way it worked. I also went down to the river on my own with a pen and paper and write in the grass by the river. Which was a good way to do it, actually, The whole project is about Mother Nature. It's supposed to be from her perspective." Just ten days after they came together – and following a powerful co-production from all five band members – the Mama Earth sessions were over. And yet, you sense that the story of this fascinating band is only just beginning. Impulsive, dynamic and sometimes downright dangerous, this is an album unlike anything else in the five musicians' respective CVs, unprecedented in the clinical modern music scene – and sure to make waves upon its November 10th release. "I guess this album is essentially how I think of music," considers Sawhney. "It was all about being open to the moment. I think that's really what I loved about this project. To me, Mama Earth is what music should be about, really..."

On November 10th, legendary Grateful Dead drummer, solo artist and world music aficionado Mickey Hart will release his 14th solo album - RAMU - on Verve Forecast. RAMU was co-produced by Michal Menert, formerly of Pretty Lights, and features Avey Tare from Animal Collective, Tank from Tank and the Bangas as guest vocalists. In addition to their contributions, RAMU features the incredible Zakir Hussain on tabla, bassist Oteil Burbridge, talking drum master Sikiru Adepoju, guitarist Steve Kimock, multi-instrumentalist Charles Lloyd, and Jason Hann of String Cheese Incident. Recordings of the late Jerry Garcia, the late Babatunde Olatunji, and unreleased field recordings by Alan Lomax also appear on the album.

1 CD (Random) + 100P Photobook + 20p The Note of 'The Most Beautiful Moment In Life' + 1 Photocard (Random 1 out of 28 Photocard + 1 Special photocard in limited quantity) + Special Stickers // This is the official release and will be counted towards Billboard / Hanteo / Gaon Charts

French Touch brings together a delightful trove of sentimental pop favorites; all reimagined in Carla Bruni's intimate and moving acoustic style and chosen for their personal significance in her own words, songs that inspire the French term for love at first sight a coup de foudre. Coup de foudre more or less also describes what happened when Bruni met Grammy award winning producer, composer, and musician David Foster after an L.A. performance in 2014. Foster volunteered to produce Carla's next record on the spot, and the two began a transatlantic sharing of songs, which was then shaped during twin recording sessions in Paris and L.A.

French Touch is warm and familiar, and inimitably Carla. Richly melodic, warm yet minimal, and often slyly playful - all the arrangements in this collection have been given that French Touch, and still have all the universal appeal as their originals, albeit with a sultry flavor all their own.

Vancouver based, multi-platinum selling artist Wanting returns with new album LLL. “It stands for Love, Loss and Latitude,” says Wanting, “It’s about falling in love and facing all the good and the bad that love brings.When one can't save love and it becomes loss, you feel hurt, confused, sad and defeated. When you feel the world left you with nothing, remember you still have you, that feeling of latitude and freedom that you had when you only got to worry about yourself.” Produced by Justin Gray (John Legend, Mariah Carey, Miley Cyrus, Joss Stone) LLL releases on October 27, 2017 via Nettwerk Records

Celtic Thunder s Inspirational album is a great mix of Christian and Inspirational songs that we all know and love and were chosen because they inspire us and make us thankful for our wonderful audience who give us the chance to do what we love.

Songs such as From the Ground Up Dan and Shay, The Preacher & the Stranger Joey & Rory, If I Can Dream Elvis Presley, In the Garden Alan Jackson, Unanswered Prayers Garth Brooks, Down to the River to Pray Alison Krauss, You ll Never walk Alone Gerry & the Pacemakers and others all performed by Celtic Thunder.

Producer, arranger and musician Jake Savona (pka Mista Savona) brought together a stellar assortment of Cuban and Jamaican musicians to create this collection of re-interpreted classics and original songs as a soundtrack to an upcoming documentary of the same title. Havana Meets Kingston is a tour through these two historic island nations highlighting the common ground between the two, through rhythm and culture.

SOJA, the internationally acclaimed GRAMMY-nominated eight-piece from Washington D.C., will release its new album 'Poetry in Motion' on October 27th via ATO Records.

SOJA's core sound an uplifting meld of reggae, go-go, D.C. hardcore, Latin, rock, and hip-hop is as tight and compelling as it's ever been in the group's 20 year history, but now the group digs deeper on its message of finding peace and understanding in the world caught in tribulation. For the band, having fun and social awareness can, and should, co-exist.

Lead singer Jacob Hemphill explains, 'Poetry in Motion is about us, the human race. We're beautiful. We're the caretakers of this earth and everything that lives here, calls it home. But something is wrong. Something in us is lost. That's the focus - how to get back to the beauty and away from... well, this.'

Double vinyl LP pressing. 2017 release. Kiss, Cuddle & Torture Volume 1 is the debut album from London outfit The Hempolics. If variety is the spice of life then this album embodies it, taking a heavy reggae roots influence and mashing it with hip hop, electro, soul, rock and pop to provide an antidote to the attention-deficit generation. Some bands talk an 'all killer no filler' album, The Hempolics walk it. Over years of recording top international talent The Hempolics enigmatic leader, Grippa Laybourne, has been carefully honing his own masterpiece and selecting a gang armed and dangerous enough to execute it. Alongside mainstay vocalists Nubiya, Dandelion and Harry come other top talent including Maxi Jazz and Paolo Nutini. Singles off the album have already picked up massive support on BBC Radio. With a unique modern yet vintage sound and a serious punk DIY ethic this working class band is destined to have the rich kids and performance school drones dominating the industry quaking in their wake. This is the sound of the underdog coming to bite.

Antibalas new studio album, Where The Gods Are In Peace, is an epic Afro-Western Trilogy searching for solace from American political opportunism, greed and vengeance. Through its battle cry of resistance against exploitation and displacement, Antibalas long-form compositions investigate oppression in 1800s America that eerily mirror the current state of the country. Three explosive original arrangements cultivate an urgent call to heal a broken system. Ultimately, the sonic excursion lands on an island where love is our first instinct. A new ideology is born opening our hearts to the possibilities of living as one unified people, where all gods are equal and together we prevail.

True to traditional form, Where The Gods Are In Peace pays respect to the forefathers of Afrobeat with compositions spanning nine to 15 minutes in length. With a blessing from the Fela Kuti legacy early in the band s career, Antibalas has long been revered for re-popularizing the classic Afrobeat sound while adding their distinct New York City grit to the mix. Influences of punk rock, free jazz, and hip-hop seep into their expansive works to define a truly 21st century translation of the Afrobeat genre and beyond. Vinyl includes download code.

Damian 'Jr. Gong' Marley will be releasing Stony Hill from Republic Records. The album features new singles 'Medication,' 'R.O.A.R' & 'Speak Life.' Marley's previous album GRAMMY-Award winning Welcome To Jamrock is certified RIAA Gold, and won Best Reggae Album and Best Urban/Alternative Performance at the 2006 GRAMMYS.

The French singer and composer Camille releases OUÏ, her fifth studio album and first for Nonesuch Records in the US. Recorded over a year in La Chartreuse, a 14th-century monastery-turned-artist's residence in Avignon, OUÏ features folk music, hymns, ballads, pop, lullabies, and a cappella, with Camille on all vocal parts and all but one song in French.

Bob Marley & the Wailers' classic Exodus album, the ninth studio album of the band, was released on June 3, 1977, featuring a new backing band including brothers Carlton and Aston 'Family Man' Barrett on drums and bass, Tyrone Downie on keyboards, Alvin 'Seeco' Patterson on percussion, and the I Threes, Judy Mowatt, Marcia Griffiths and Rita Marley on backing vocals, and newest member Julian 'Junior Marvin' on guitar. The album was released on June 3, 1977, just six months after an assassination attempt was made on Bob Marley's life in Jamaica in December, forcing him to flee to London, where Exodus was recorded. This June marks the 40th anniversary of Exodus named the 'Best Album of the 20th Century' by Time magazine in 1999 with a series of four separate reissues, three of which will feature Exodus 40 - The Movement Continues, son Ziggy Marley's newly curated 'restatement' of the original album. As part of the celebration, Ziggy Marley has intimately revisited the original session recordings, uncovering unused and never-before-heard vocals, lyric phrasing and instrumentation, incorporating and transforming these various elements into brand-new session takes. The 2CD softpack edition contains the original album and the Ziggy Marley 'restatement.'

Grammy Award nominated Mali Music's highly-anticipated new album The Transition of Mali is his sophomore release following his major label debut, Mali Is. The lead single "Gonna Be Alright" is already being met with praise by many critics and the track truly gives fans a glimpse into Mali's mind.

Snarky Puppy's Michael League leads Bokante on their debut album ''Strange Circles,'' out June 9th on GroundUP Music. For the newly-formed international music ensemble Bokante, connection is the foundation upon which all things are built. Rich in the sounds of both delta and desert, the unusual but evocative instrumentation on their debut album, ''Strange Circles,'' blends musical worlds to convey an urgent message of social awareness against the rising tide of exclusion and human indifference. The album goes from Zeppelin-esque blues stomp to folkloric Carribbean kaladja over the course of its ten tracks, blending the extensive and varied knowledge of the individual players with a strong, yet empathetic, lyrical approach. The band features 8 world-class musicians from 4 continents, each one accomplished in their own right and well versed in music far beyond that of their point of origin. Bokante (which means ''exchange'' in Creole comes together to create a diverse ensemble rich in groove, melody, and soul. ''Unity is paramount in the formation of this group,'' observed League. ''Though the ensemble is multi-lingual, mult-cultural, and mult-generation, we all feel connected as musicians and people. And in combining our different accents I feel that there is a strangely common and poignant sound, one that can reach and relate to listeners around the world.''

Syrian musician Omar Souleyman's new album, To Syria, With Love, is set for release June 2 via Mad Decent. The follow up to 2015's Bahdeni Nami marks Souleyman's third full-length studio record. In support of the new release, Souleyman will tour the U.S. in May, playing select dates including New York, Los Angeles, Detroit and Salt Lake City as well as festival performances at Form Arcosanti in Arizona and MoogFest in North Carolina. To Syria, With Love is a departure musically and lyrically from his previous material, with focus on more elaborate keyboard and techno elements. Completely setting politics aside, Souleyman consciously shares this personal ode to his native country with an emphasis on his emotional connection to the land and people but not without heartache in view of the nation's current state. "It's been six years I've been away, and I'm tired of looking for home and asking about my loved ones. My soul is wounded and it's like having dust in my eyes," Souleyman says.

With her debut solo album Ya Nass (2013), Yasmine Hamdan introduced her personal, modern take on Arabic pop. In Al Jamilat ('The Beautiful Ones'), she pursues her musical exploration, while taking a look at the mutations at work within the Arab world.

2017 release. West Africa's most iconic dance-band is back. A decade on from their last album and almost half a century since their formation, Senegal's Orchestra Baobab return with a timeless set of classic, swaying tunes fusing Afro-Cuban rhythms and African tradition in the group's trademark style. Recorded locally in Moussa X's Dakar studio, the new recordings sound fresh and yet reassuringly familiar, retaining the ripeness of the sound that made Orchestra Baobab a legend but interpreted with a vigor and vibrancy, and with a few twists, that are vital and captivating. As enduring as the mighty African Baobab tree from which the group derives it's name, the veteran core of the band remains as strong and sturdy as ever. Vocalists Balla Sidibe and Rudy Gomis, saxophonists Issa Sissoko and Thierno Koite and the long-serving, rock steady rhythm section of Balla Sidibe, timbales, Charlie Ndiaye bass and Mountaga Koite on congas. Tribute To Ndiouga Dieng is dedicated to one of the bands original vocalists who sadly died in November 2016. His songs will continue to be sung with the band by his son Alpha. It represents the latest chapter in a long and storied career that started in 1970 when the newly-formed Orchestra Baobab helped forge Dakar into one of the world's most vital musical cities. Over the next decade the group dominated the local scene and produced countless hits before disbanding in the early '80s.

When the Country blues was first recorded in the mid-1920s, it was not only played and appreciated by African-Americans but also by white performers and audiences alike. During this time, it was common practice for record companies to separate the music of the American South into two categories: the ‘race’ series, aimed at a black audience; and the ‘hillbilly’ series, aimed at white audiences. This division along racial lines was in fact superficial, as black and white musicians shared much with respect to genre and repertoire and the separation of the two on commercial recordings grew out of the prejudices of record companies. Often overlooked is the fact that there was a huge amount of musical exchange and interaction between white and black musicians at this time. For many early country musicians the blues was liberating, as it freed them from the clichés of the sentimental songs and saccharine harmonies of mainstream radio singers of the day. In the same way that black sharecroppers found solace in the blues, the white working class – such as miners and mill workers ¬¬– were drawn to the blues as a way of expressing the hardships of daily life. One such performer was Frank Hutchison who came from a rough and isolated mountain community in West Virginia where both black and white miners worked side by side. Hutchison’s style was heavily influenced by local black performers and here he gives a classic rendition of the American folk song ‘Stackalee’. Dick Justice was also from West Virginia, and his version of ‘Cocaine’ is undoubtedly modelled on Luke Jordan’s 1927 race recording. Likewise, the enormous influence of the great Blind Lemon Jefferson is very much in evidence in mountain musician Larry Hensley’s stellar cover of Lemon’s ‘Match Box Blues’ as well as Clarence Greene’s nimble playing on ‘Johnson City Blues’. Known as the ‘Father Of Country Music’, Jimmie Rodgers was heavily influenced by the blues which became a prominent element of his music. In turn, black musicians listened to his records and were inspired by his famous ‘blue yodels’ which can be heard in the vocal delivery of two Delta legends Howlin' Wolf and Tommy Johnson. Cliff Carlisle was another who fell under the spell of Jimmie Rodgers’, and accompanied his yodelling with a Hawaiian-influenced slide guitar style to great effect. Among others who were inspired by the Hawaiian guitar craze popular in American mainstream culture were the Dixon Brothers as well as another country duo Darby And Tarleton, who had a large number of blues songs in their repertoire. Other featured early country music pioneers such as Charlie Poole and Doc Boggs were less directly influenced by black musicians and merely embellished their overall repertoires with blues derived songs. Often the word ‘blues’ was attached to a song even if it wasn’t a blues song in the strictest sense of the word. An area often overlooked and least understood in the development of the blues is the parlour guitar tradition which derives from Europe during the late 1700s when the middle class would play light classical pieces on the guitar. When the settlers and immigrants carried this tradition to America, it gradually filtered down to the lower classes. Many of these compositions required the guitar strings to be tuned to an open chord, and this along with the picking technique where the thumb was used to create a steady or alternating bass were absorbed into the blues tradition. Two classic examples of this at work are ‘Spanish Fandango’ and the opening ‘Guitar Rag’, both of which give further evidence of the incredible musical exchange between black and white musical cultures in the development of the blues.

Celtic Thunder presents... Emmet Cahill's Ireland a collection of Irish classics that have been passed down from generation to generation from celebrated Irish tenor and member of Celtic Thunder Emmet Cahill. Emmet Cahill's Ireland offers the very best of the traditional Irish repertoire. Song selections include: "I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen," "An Irish Lullaby," "My Cavan Girl," "Macushla," and more.

For the last five years, Tinariwen have been busy criss-crossing the globe bringing their triumpant tours to all five continents and expanding their audience. During this time their beloved homeland in the Adrar des Ifoghas, a Saharan mountain range that straddles the border between north-eastern Mali and southern Algeria has, in effect, been transformed into a conflict zone, a place where nobody can venture without putting themselves in danger. These conflicts have forced the band into exile to record their 8th album, Elwan. Elwan means ‘the elephants ‘ - an animal metaphor to describe those ‘beasts’, whether militias or multinational consortiums, who have trampled everything in their path: in the desert, where both the human and ecological equilibriums are extremely fragile. Tinariwen chose to record this album is several locations around the world, including for 4 days at the desert hideaway of Rancho De La Luna studio in Joshua Tree, CA, the studio known as a favored refuge for many an eclectic artist from Queens of the Stone Age to Daniel Lanios to Arctic Monkeys to Iggy Pop and more. For Tinariwen, the geographical location of the studio proved to be particularly propitious in terms of creativity. And the human climate was just as favorable. A few friends dropped in during the sessions to add some magic to a few tracks including, Kurt Vile (electric guitar), Mark Lanegan ( Vocals on ‘Nànnuflày’), Matt Sweeney (electric guitar) and producer/guitarist, Alain Johannes (Cigarbox guitar). Sessions were also recorded in Morocco, where the band were accompanied by local musicians, in a land where they are considered musical legends. Lovers of those sensual yet abrasive riffs that are Tinariwen’s signature won’t be disappointed. But neither will those who love their funky, danceable side, which comes through loud and clear. All that potential has been wonderfully honed by the album’s mixing engineer Andrew Schepps, known well for his work with the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Johnny Cash, and Jay Z.

Bob Marley and the Wailers were at the peak of their artistic powers when they arrived at the Lyceum London for two shows on July 17 and 18, 1975, having just released Natty Dread the year before and about to unleash Rastaman Vibration on the world. The Rolling Stones mobile studio was on hand to record both shows, with seven songs from the second released as Live!, in December of that same year. Live! will now be released on vinyl and digital including the two full shows for the first time.

Celtic Woman has a remarkable twelve-year legacy of introducing the most talented singers and musicians from Ireland onto the world stage. Voices Of Angels showcases the angelic voices of Susan McFadden, Mairead Carlin, Eabha McMahon and introduces the breathtaking new Celtic violinist Tara McNeill. The Voices Of Angels (Manhattan/Caroline) album contains some of the most popular songs from the Celtic Woman repertoire along with several previously unrecorded tracks, all with stunning new orchestral arrangements recorded with the 72-piece Orchestra of Ireland.

Follow-up release to the Grammy-nominated album "I Have No Everything Here" by the Zomba Prison Project, once again produced by Grammy winner Ian Brennan (TV on the Radio). Album recordings of inmates at a dilapidated prison in Milawi, Africa. Their recordings have brought international attention to prison injustices.

Dub reggae legend Lee Scratch Perry returns to the studio with a wide-ranging narrative, in collaboration with Spacewave. This Grammy-winning artist, songwriter, and producer doesn't hesitate with his unexpurgated commentary on his spirituality, good and evil, the human condition, and aliens. Featured are reggae, dub, dubstep, acid jazz, and electronic music and music influences. Special guests include Subatomic Sound System, The Groovematist, and Phloboi.

Fans call him ''The African Sting,'' critics call him a pro. Originally from Cameroon, Richard Bona remains true to his roots on Heritage , his 8th album as a leader and the first one with his Afro-Cuban band ''Mandekan Cubano.'' An energetic, life affirming and truly fantastic album, it explores the alchemy of African rhythms in Cuba. Richard Bona is a rare African artist to have established an unscalable reputation on an international platform, which has led to a host of awards along with his fruitful collaborations with colleagues Bobby McFerrin, Pat Metheny, Joe Zawinul, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Paul Simon, John Legend and Stevie Wonder.

Fruit of Life is the second installment of Stephen Ragga Marley's two part series, following Revelation Part I: The Root of Life (2011). Whereas The Root of Life is more a traditional roots reggae album, The Fruit of Life will utilize a diversified sonic palette to express the far-reaching impact Jamaican music has had on various genres, especially hip hop. Produced by Marley, Fruit of Life boasts 18 new tracks and features a variety of guest collaborations with Rick Ross, Pit Bull, Damian 'Jr. Gong' Marley, Iggy Azalea, Waka Flocka Flame, Dead Prez, Rakim, DJ Khaled, Busta Rhymes, Wyclef Jean, Shaggy, Black Thought (of The Roots), Bounty Killer, Sizzla, Capleton, Ky-Mani Marley, Jo Mersa and more.

Major street visibility campaigns in NYC, Miami, Toronto and London, ENG to support launch to include: Subway poster campaign Street postering, flier distribution at all major Caribbean events beginning May 15th Digital display, search and banner ad campaigns

New Orleans is widely seen as the birthplace of jazz, where African slaves created groundbreaking music that fused elements from both Africa and Western traditions. By the twentieth century, jazz (and subsequent African-based musical forms including soul, funk, and Cuban rumba) travelled back across the Atlantic, first through recordings and later by artists on tour. There, African musicians immediately recognized the source roots, adapted some, altered others, and in the process, created entirely new musical forms. In Ethiopia, one of the first major musicians to lay the groundwork for Ethio-jazz was Nerses Nalbandian. His family escaped the Armenian genocide in Turkey, and settled in Ethiopia, where Nalbandi would become a band leader for many burgeoning Ethio-jazz musicians in the 1950s. Largely credited as being the greatest innovator of Ethio-jazz and exposing it to the world, Mulatu Astatke was born in 1943 in Jimma, Ethiopia. He travelled to Wales in the late 1950s to study engineering and to the chagrin of his parents, Astatke began to take an interest in music, first studying Western classical music before heading to Boston’s Berklee College of Music to formally study jazz. It was there where Astatke took the fusion of traditional Ethiopian folk music and American jazz to a new level. Astatke explained its roots to the BBC, ‘There are tribes in the south called the Derashe. They are surrounded by people who play five tone music but they have created a diminished 12-tone scale. Diminished scales are very important in jazz music especially for improvising. We learn how Charlie Parker came up with diminished scales as well as Claude Debussy and Bach. But always on my mind is the question of who were first with the scale, these people or the Derashe tribe?’ By the late 1960s, Astatke decided to return to Ethiopia in order to cultivate Ethio-jazz in his homeland. At first, his vibraphone-based folk-jazz was considered quite unorthodox. However, within years, it transformed the capital, which came to be known as ‘Swinging Addis’. The late 1960s and early 1970s were known as the ‘golden age’ in Addis Ababa, as countless jazz orchestras and ensembles thrived in the city, led by the innovations of Mulatu Astatke and saxophonist extraordinaire, Getatchew Mekuria. Addis Ababa was in full swing in 1973 when American jazz legend Duke Ellington came to town and performed together with Mulatu Astatke. Much of the Ethiopian jazz scene came crashing down the following year, in 1974, when a Soviet-backed military junta known as the Derg overthrew the government. The consequences of the coup and subsequent ‘Red Terror’ were profound. It left tens of thousands dead and military curfews virtually destroyed the thriving musical club scene. When the Soviet Union broke apart in 1991, the Derg lost its backing and was subsequently overthrown. That decade saw a rebirth in Ethiopia. The budding democracy quickly became a thriving home of musical creativity. Ethiopian Jazz hit new global audiences through CD releases that included the Ethiopiques series and several Rough Guide albums. Astatke’s captivating soundtrack to Jim Jarmusch’s film Broken Flowers in 2005 brought Ethio Jazz to even wider audiences. Today, Astatke is still active, and his creativity has inspired a new generation of artists in Ethiopia, Europe, North America and beyond.

Encompassing the marabi, kwela and jive styles of mid-twentieth century urban South African music, this compilation covers the sounds, styles, assemblages and musicians that reside under the umbrella of South African jazz – from the golden age of 1960s and 1970s to the new wave of musicians in the twenty years of post-apartheid democracy. Recently re-issued releases from musician-in-exile Ndikho Xaba demonstrate the strong transatlantic dialogue between the civil rights movements in the USA and the anti-apartheid struggle through the language of jazz, with the rare single ‘KwaBulawayo’ as performed by his group The African Echoes. The Sowetan spiritual Afro-jazz of Batsumi on the track ‘Emampndweni’ contributes to the narrative of music at home during the height of apartheid in the 1970s and similarly slots into the category of undeservedly lesser-known artistry. From a period considered by some as the golden era of South African Jazz, these artists and their compositions are pertinent and vital reminders of the intrinsic link between this music and the dismantling of oppression. One of the most prominent figures of the South African jazz movement is the composer and pianist Abdullah Ibrahim, whose career spans over 50 years, including a performance at Nelson Mandela’s 1994 Presidential inauguration. Having played alongside Abdullah Ibrahim, the late Zim Ngqawana was a leading proponent of the exploration of free improvisation. While retaining South African jazz roots, Ngqawana incorporates traditional and avant-garde elements in his performances. This is prominently illustrated with the rasping vocals and volatile harmonica on the track ‘Ebhofolo’. Gospel, hip-hop and electronic music now dominate mainstream music in South Africa. But against this backdrop, the new school of South African jazzers have embraced the diversity of musical output, with many making the crossover themselves. Bokani Dyer regularly performs with fellow band member and bassist Shane Cooper, in his electronic music alias Card On Spokes. Furthermore, it could be argued the trajectory of popular music in South Africa over the last twenty years is personified by Thandiswa Mazwai, who rose to prominence through her work with kwaito group Bongo Maffin in the mid-1990s, before going on to encompass gospel and delve into maskanda and electronic music in her solo career. Featured here is Thandiswa’s take on the South African Jazz standard ‘Ntyilo Ntyilo’. South African jazz may now sit on the fringes of popular culture in South Africa, but you only have to look at the success of the Cape Town International Jazz Festival, Joy Of Jazz Festival in Johannesburg and the National Youth Jazz Festival to recognise the legacy of the pioneering musicians and the continuation of their collaborative spirit in the wealth of burgeoning jazz talent in South Africa.

The 1920s was undoubtedly the era of the female blues singer. With their origins in the worlds of vaudeville and jazz music, they enjoyed great commercial success throughout the decade, selling a considerable number of records and packing out clubs and theatres alike. Never has there been another time when women so dominated the genre and made the blues so much their own. Mamie Smith was the first to emerge from the vaudeville circuit and became the first African-American artist to make a blues recording in 1920 with the featured ‘Crazy Blues’. The immense success of this recording opened the door for many others to follow such as Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Sippie Wallace and Ida Cox. Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith were undoubtedly the most captivating and expressive of what became known as the ‘classic blues’ singers. Both dressed in flamboyant style and their powerful voices and forceful personalities set the standard for recorded blues, selling well among a southern rural audience familiar with their travelling tent shows and musical revues. Drawing upon some of the finest jazz talent of the early and mid-1920s for studio accompaniment, the classic blues of Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey and other popular blues singers was always full of double entendre or hidden and multiple meanings. Although an outcrop of Southern rural blues, an expression of the poor and oppressed, the sequined glamour of the classic blues was seen as a welcome contrast to drab lives. So while the blues until the 1920s was largely local, rural, Southern and male, these women were urban performance artists, travelling and performing in the new speakeasies and nightclubs of a dynamic era. The classic blues had a great impact also on important rural bluesmen, and here both Kate McTell and Bertha Lee are accompanied by their illustrious bluesmen husbands Messrs Blind Willie McTell and Charley Patton. Likewise, Blind Blake provides typically nimble and ingenious accompaniment for Irene Scruggs – commonly known as ‘Chocolate Brown’ – on ‘Itching Heel’ which demonstrates sublime interplay between the two. These vintage tracks highlight the significant role that women have played in the more rural aspects of early blues, which is further demonstrated by the haunting voice of Lottie Kimbrough whose self-penned song ‘Rolling Log Blues’ has subsequently been recorded by many important blues performers. During the 1930s, blues music underwent a radical change as larger-than-life female singers fell out of favour with the public and male guitarists like Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charley Patton and Tampa Red started to capture people’s imagination. Memphis Minnie, though, transcended this change in the public's musical tastes, as her powerful vocals commanded authority and her six-string skills rivalled and, in many cases, surpassed those of her male contemporaries. Mattie Delaney was another accomplished guitarist whose variant of Tommy Johnson’s ‘Big Road Blues’ shows how she possessed one of the most remarkable voices in country blues. Geeshie Wiley is widely considered to be one of the greatest ever recorded country blues singers whose style is totally unconventional. Here she teams up with her female compatriot Evie Thomas for a wonderful rendition of ‘Pick Poor Robin Clean’. When the Depression effectively ended the careers of many of the classic blues artists including Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith, the blues revivalists were ultimately looking for an "authenticity" that they equated with the country blues, particularly that of the Mississippi Delta region, so many of the blues queens of the 1930s were largely forgotten. This welcome collection deservedly revives the memory of both the urban and rural female blues singers who played a pivotal role in the development of the blues.

In the minds of most people, the psychedelic era lasted just a few short (though eventful and multi-coloured) years. As the Beat Generation of Burroughs, Kerouac and Ginsberg morphed into an LSD culture inspired by the writings of Timothy Leary and Aldous Huxley, bands like the Holy Modal Rounders and the Incredible String Band opened their minds not only to hallucinogens but to the sounds of Indian drones and middle-eastern musical modes. Soon everyone from the Yardbirds to the Monkees were using distortion, reverb and taped sounds played backwards or looped to create new rhythms and textures. But as flower power wilted, Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin died young, rock bands became pompous or progressive and pop groups discovered platform heels and glitter. However, while psychedelia appeared to have flatlined in Europe and the USA, its pulse remained perfectly healthy in other parts of the world. African bands layered fuzztone guitars over highlife beats and Indian sitarists responded to the appropriation of their instrument by creating totally new soundscapes. In parts of Latin America counter-culture politics went hand in glove with musical exploration while Cambodian pop artists borrowed the psychedelic trappings of their American counterparts. This Rough Guide reflects many aspects of the global psychedelic sphere, not only from the sixties, but continuing through the decades and on into the 21st century. Latin America heads up nine of the tracks on this collection. The 1960s and 1970s were typified by activist rebellion and bands of the day communicated their passion with heavy reverb and re-imagined trad percussion gone west. Laranja Freak from Brazil make ‘Frantic Psychedelic Music’ on ‘Alergico De Flores’. Colombian dance style cumbia was also adopted by vintage psychedelic troubadours Juaneco Y Su Combo. Modern interpretations come via Chilean 'cumbia-punk-psychodelia' outfit Anarkia Tropikal. Salsa and samba are, in turn, psychedelicized by Iuri Andrade and Bacalao Men. Skipping across the Atlantic we land in Africa. The 1960s and 1970s here were defined by clashing sensibilities and political optimism. Celestine Ukwu’s classic track mixes highlife with pedal steel guitar. Tanzanian group Milmani Park Orchestra are heard on horn-heavy ‘Taxi Driver’. Victor Uwaifo’s seminal 1966 ‘Guitar Boy’ tops off the mix. During the 1970s drug culture wasn’t flooding India’s shores but the country was undergoing its own social transformation and a DIY garage band scene evolved. Ananda Shankar’s ‘Dancing Drums’ is a cult classic from this era. The Virji Shah brothers appear under their duo moniker Kalyanji - Anandji on the wonderfully bizarre ‘Cabaret Dance Music’. Cambodia’s psychedelic archive was almost eradicated during the time of the Khmer Rouge but the sounds live on via legendary balladeer Ros Serysothea and Yos Olarang’s ‘Cyclo’.