The former Portuguese colony of Cape Verde lies 600 kilometers off the Senegalese coast. Among the many local musical styles that can be heard on the island is the morna. The principle practitioner of this purportedly Portuguese-, Angolan-, and Brazilian-influenced musical form is Cesaria Evora. This CD documents two concerts morna master Evora gave in June of 1993 at the Olympia in Paris. With incredible ease and visceral strength, Evora sings song after song about love, loss, longing, and longevity. Minor-key and blues-sounding accompaniment is provided by a sextet on piano, harmonica, violin, guitar, clarinet, and cavaquinho (a four-string lute). A must-have for any morna fan, Cesaria Evora's A Live a L'Olympia highlights the good-natured "barefoot diva" at her best and in front of her devoted fans.

A superior Brazilian jazz singer, Ana Caram takes a slight detour on this CD, stretching her repertoire while mostly still performing in a style influenced by bossa nova. One does not get to hear such songs as "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You," "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head," "Smile," and "As Time Goes By" in a bossa nova setting that often. Also unusual is that Michel Freidenson plays all of the instruments other than the reeds (which are performed by Lawrence Feldman), and most of his electronic instruments sound real enough not to be an issue. The focus throughout is on Caram's lovely voice and she excels on this material, showing that it really is not what you sing but how you sing it. Recommended.

We’re pleased to announce Throw Down Your Heart: The Complete Africa Sessions, a new comprehensive film and music set documenting Béla Fleck’s transcontinental exploration of the banjo’s roots. The Complete Africa Sessions, out March 27, compiles the 2008 documentary film Throw Down Your Heart; its soundtrack, Tales From the Acoustic Planet, Vol. 3; and the outtakes collection Throw Down Your Heart: Africa Sessions Part 2, Unreleased Tracks. Plus, it includes a brand-new album with kora master Toumani Diabaté entitled The Ripple Effect (also available to purchase individually on 180-gram, 2-LP vinyl).

Dedicated to spreading awareness of Carnatic (South Indian classical) music throughout the West, Jyotsna Srikanth interprets compositions from revered 15th- and 18th-century Carnatic composers. Exhibiting a range of beautiful ragas derived from the traditional Melakarta system, all pieces feature her exceptional fingering technique and the delightful fusion of musical expression and emotion.

In 1969, banjo player George Stavis made his Vanguard debut with Labyrinths: Occult Improvisational Compositions For 5-String Banjo And Percussion , an eclectic release that enters into so-called "Sandy Bull territory", using instrumental improvisation to bring together a variety of genres (jazz, country, ethnic and psychedelia). Here Stavis plays Earl Scruggs, John Coltrane, Ravi Shankar and John Fahey, but his own unique musical voice is what dominates the recording. Also featuring Tim Ackerman on drums.

Sons of Kemet returns in 2021 with their new album Black To The Future, the follow up to 2018’s Mercury Prize nominated breakout release Your Queen Is A Reptile. This release finds the UK-based quartet at their most dynamic – showcasing harmonically elegant arrangements and compositions, coupled with fierce, driving material that will be familiar to initiated fans.

Matador Records presents Afrique Victime, the long-awaited new album by Mdou Moctar. On Afrique Victime the prodigious Tuareg guitarist and songwriter rips a new hole in the sky ­– boldly reforging contemporary Saharan music and “rock music” by melding guitar pyrotechnics, full-blast noise, and field recordings with poetic meditations on love, religion, women's rights inequality, and Western Africa’s exploitation at the hands of colonial powers.

This five-LP box set (which has been reissued on CD) contains nearly all of Stan Getz's classic bossa nova sessions, five wonderful yet diverse LPs (Jazz Samba, Big Band Bossa Nova, Jazz Samba Encore, Stan Getz/Laurindo Almedia, and Getz/Gilberto). The cool-toned tenor is heard on his groundbreaking collaboration with guitarist Charlie Byrd (which resulted in the best-selling "Desafinado"), is showcased with a big band arranged by Gary McFarland (introducing "No More Blues" and "One Note Samba"), stars in recordings with guitarists Laurindo Almeida and Luiz Bonfa, and is heard at the famous meeting with composer/pianist Antonio Carlos Jobim, guitarist João Gilberto, and singer Astrud Gilberto, which resulted in the major hit "The Girl From Ipanema." This essential set finishes off with three previously unissued performances from a 1964 Carnegie Hall Concert, concluding with a remake of "The Girl From Ipanema." These recordings stand as proof that it is possible for good music to sell.

Ayuune Sule brings the Soul into Kologo Power. In Kumasi, the second city of Ghana and capital of the Ashanti region, Ayuune Sule is the main kologo star. The most famous kologo player these days in the whole of Ghana and abroad is King Ayisoba. Together with King Ayisoba, Guy One, Atongo Zimba and Sambo, he represents the generation that broke kologo music outside of the North East Region of Ghana. In Europe we know Ayuune Sule as a member of King Ayisoba's band and as a solo artist who often opens up for his shows. In 2015 he released his 7" single with the songs "What A Man Can Do A Woman Can Do More Better" and "Who Knows Tomorrow" on Makkum Records (MR12), which put his name out into the western scenes.

Bossa Nova translated as the "new beat" or "the new style", grew out of Rio De Janeiro in 1958. The instigators were a handful of artists with a desire to break from tradition, developing the samba rhythms with the influence of cool American jazz to find a music with such a warm soul and natural rhythm that no-one can help but tap and sway to its beat. Bossa Nova is palm trees swaying, it is like melting sugar in hot coffee, it is the setting sun and warm sand underfoot. It is the sound and beat of Brazil, it is one of the world's coolest musical styles and it remains to this day one of the world's great musical treasures.

Perry and Gerrard continued to experiment and improve with The Serpent's Egg, as much a leap forward as Spleen and Ideal was some years previously. As with that album, The Serpent's Egg was heralded by an astounding first track, "The Host of Seraphim." Its use in films some years later was no surprise in the slightest – one can imagine the potential range of epic images the song could call up – but on its own it's so jaw-droppingly good that almost the only reaction is sheer awe. Beginning with a soft organ drone and buried, echoed percussion, Gerrard then takes flight with a seemingly wordless invocation of power and worship – her vocal control and multi-octave range, especially towards the end, has to be heard to be believed. Nothing else achieves such heights, but everything gets pretty darn close, a deserved testament to the band's conceptual reach and abilities.