Album reviews | World Music Central

The album cover for Al-hambra features a beige background with abstract line art and faint Moorish design. The title “Al-hambra” appears in bold stylized lettering that combines red and green tones, with “oud & flamenco guitar” written beneath it. Along the bottom, colorful brushstrokes in red, green, and gold form a cityscape, with the artists’ names, Ahmed Mukhtar and Ignacio Lusardi Monteverde, displayed in green.

Album reviews

Strings of a Feather

Ahmed Mukhtar and Lusardi Monteverde – Al-hambra (ARC Music, 2025) Flamenco guitar and the Arabic lute known as the oud go together like, well, feel…

The album cover features geometric Arabic calligraphy in black against a light background, creating a block-like design. In the top right corner, a pink emblem with the words “Saha Gnawa” in both Arabic and English.

Album reviews

Saha Gnawa Channels Spellbinding Gnawa Roots Into Future Sound

Angel Romero September 12, 2025 No Comments Gnawa Saha Gnawa world music

Saha Gnawa – Saha Gnawa (Pique-Nique Recordings, 2025) Saha Gnawa is a Brooklyn-based ensemble that combines transfixing Moroccan Gnawa music with jazz, from New York’s…

Album reviews

Yimenga, Solo Debut by Solo Diarra

Angel Romero September 11, 2025 No Comments Burkina Faso Burkinan music Solo Diarra world music

Solo Diarra – Yimenga (Global Sonics GS06125, 2025) Yimenga is the debut solo album of Burkinan multi-instrumentalist Solo Diarra. Yimenga means “Be Yourself” in Bambara.…

Album reviews

Desert Dreaming: Warlpiri Wisdom Meets Minimal Electronica

Tyler Bennet September 10, 2025 No Comments

Crown and Country – Crown and Country (ABC Music and Akuphone, 2025) Crown and Country is an ambitious audiovisual project that fuses ancestral Warlpiri ceremony with…

Zafarán - Zafarán cover artwork. A photo of the four musicians in the countryside.

Album reviews

I’m Just Mad About Zafarán

Tom Orr September 9, 2025 No Comments Gypsy music Italian music Roma music world fusion world music Zafarán

Zafarán – Zafarán (self-release, 2025) It doesn’t take long. Bjorn Wennas’ softly pensive guitar is joined by the heart-drenched vocals of Carmen Marsico. Dan Meyers’…

Joaquin Núñez & Habana Safari - Ruta De La Clave cover artwork. a photo of Joaquin next to a road.

Album reviews

Clave Encounters: Joaquín Núñez Charts Cuba’s Rhythmic Lineage

Iliana Cabrera September 8, 2025 No Comments Joaquín Núñez world fusion world music

Joaquin Núñez & Habana Safari – Ruta De La Clave (Lulaworld Records LWR051A, 2025) Irresistible Cuban rhythms meet contemporary jazz on Ruta De La Clave…

Althea SullyCole - Due West cover artwork. A photo of the artist holdinga kora over her right shoulder.

Album reviews

Kora Across Borders: Althea SullyCole Charts a Transatlantic Path on ‘Due West’

Madison Quinn September 7, 2025 1 Comment Althea SullyCole world music

Althea SullyCole – Due West (self-release, 2025) Althea SullyCole’s album Due West distills fourteen years of kora study into a transcontinental journey through African diasporic…

An art‑nouveau–inspired portrait of a pale-skinned woman with blond hair entwined in foliage. She tilts her head upward, eyes closed, amid autumnal leaves and floral motifs. A warm, earthy maroon background frames her, while the album title and band name appear in ivory‑colored type, “Cafuné” above her head and Tra Le Corde Dei Racconti in the lower corner.

Album reviews

Cafuné Spins Italian Folklore Into Folk-Rock Fantasy

Iliana Cabrera September 6, 2025 No Comments Cafuné folk-rock Italian music world music

Cafuné – Tra Le Corde Dei Racconti (M.P. & Records, 2025) Named after the Portuguese word cafuné, a gesture of affection involving fingers combing through…

Sidsel Walstad and Ibou Cissokho - Tamoo cover artwork. A sepia colored design with illustrations of a western hrap and a kora.

Album reviews

European Harp Meets Kora on Lovely Tamoo

Madison Quinn September 4, 2025 No Comments world fusion world music

Sidsel Walstad and Ibou Cissokho – Tamoo (Global Sonics, 2025) Norwegian harp player Sidsel Walstad and Senegalese kora player and vocalist Ibou Cissokho forge a…

The album cover features four colorful paintings of human figures in motion, each framed separately against a tan background. Bold black lines define the figures, while vivid reds, blues, yellows, and greens create a sense of energy and rhythm. The text reads “Le Collectif Tango Negro Ensemble” on the left and “Tribute to Juan Carlos Cáceres” at the bottom.

Album reviews

Tango in Black and White: A Polyphonic Tribute to Cáceres

Madison Quinn August 31, 2025 No Comments Argentine music Le Collectif Tango Negro Ensemble tango world music

Le Collectif Tango Negro Ensemble – Tribute to Juan Carlos Cáceres (Felmay Records, 2025) Le Collectif Tango Negro Ensemble honors the legacy of Juan Carlos…