Various ‎– Mogadisco (Dancing Mogadishu - Somalia 1972​-​1991)

Compilation featuring Somalian disco, funk and soul from the 70s-90s. 2019 2 X cd on Analog Africa.

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The Embassadors Feat. Michel Ongaru ‎– Healing The Music cd

German-based group headed by saxophonist Hayden Chisholm collaborates with Kenyan baritone singer Michel Ongaru creating a landscape of jazz, dub, gospel, and African musical influences and a pop sensibility. There's a nice laidback warm afternoon feeling to this; imagine them as the dub and a little bit happier little cousin of Bohren & Der Club of Gore. 2007 cd on Nonplace.

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Toumani Diabaté ‎– Djelika

 Playful and relaxing African music by Toumani Diabate on the harp-like kora, accompanied by Keletigui Diabate on the balafon xylophone and Basekou Kouyate on ngoni, another traditional tring instrument. 1995 cd on Hannibal Records.

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Stephan Micus - Desert Poems

I think this is one of the most overlooked Micus albums. It doesn't have the epic quality of say Ocean or the experimental edge of The Music of Stones, neither the devotional loneliness of Athos, but still it's a noteworthy album. For one, it contains one of the most beautiful short tracks he's ever written, "Adela," another track with mourning violins that's great, "Shen Khar Venakhi," a great love song with an a-cappella delivery, "Contessa Entelina," and a lonely shakuhachi hymn, "For Yukand generally it's a diverse album with both classical music elements and a lot of African percussion moments that are cool and relaxing. 2001 cd on ECM.


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SPK - Zamia Lehmanni: Songs of Byzantine Flowers

Since I referred to SPK in the Roberto Musci post, I thought I should post Zamia Lehmanni which was the first album I heard from the industrial/ambient milieu, when I was still in school. I guess there's nothing new to be said about this masterpiece; the mix of dark ambient, industrial field recordings and African/voodoo voices and percussions is sublime. 1986 LP on Side Effects/1992 cd on The Grey Area of Mute.

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Roberto Musci - The Loa of Music (The Complete Sessions)

I consider this one of the most accomplished releases of all time. Released in 1984 after years traveling Africa, India and Southeast Asia assembling field recordings and instruments, Roberto Musci created one of the most ambitious ambient records - and think that this was recorded in the early 80s, without the technological conveniences of today. This is a combination of field recordings of traditional songs and choirs from Africa and Asia documenting Voodoo cultures, Indian raga, percussions, and ritual dark ambient, creating a deeply hypnotic and immersive vibe. Listening to this I am tempted to say that SPK must have been hugely influenced by this album when they recorded Zamia Lehmanni, which is another summit of 1980's ambient (some windy/screeching and percussive samples from "Invocation" and "Palms Crossed In Sorrow" sound suspiciously similar to stuff from here). So, The Loa of Music was released in 1984 but due to space constraints, not all of the recordings had been released. After 33 years, Soave re-released it in 2017 as a double vinyl including in full all of the material created by Musci, so here's one hour and twenty minutes of perfection.

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Yusef Lateef - The African American Epic Suite

An absolutely stunning symphonic piece of art by jazz legend Yusef Lateef (recorded when he was 83!), in which he offers a musical reflection on the 400-plus-year-old history of African Americans through four movements, each being a musical representation of slavery and abduction from the African homeland to be enslaved, enslavement and the beginning of a new self, compassion and resilience in the face of inhumanity, and the hopeful, roaring but also tentative period post-Jim Crow. This is an amazing combination of a jazz quintet (Lateef & Eternal Wind) and orchestra, alternating between African rhythms, free but also spiritual jazz, and classical music. I love this. 1994 cd on ACT.

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