Sabar Attack!

Bonne Année! Sixty-six minutes of red-hot Mbalax from Senegal's master of the sabar , Mbaye Dieye Faye, help us kick off the New Year. ...

In Praise of "Mami Wata"

For many months now I've put off posting this in an effort to find out more about our featured artist, Bob Sir Merenge. Unfortunately, ...

Adventures in Angularity

I hate to say this, but it's been ages since Ebenezer Obey has waxed anything worth listening to. For the last twenty years he's be...

A Heads Up

Kudos to Siemon Allen at the always-worthwhile Electric Jive blog for Miriam Makeba - Tracks Less Travelled (1958-98), a fascinating overv...

Smooth as Butter

Congo music doesn't get much smoother and more elegant than Bumba Massa's 1982 outing L'Argent et la Femme (Star Musique SMP601...

Cameroon Fever Vol. 1

Ken Abrams does it again with Cameroon Fever Vol. 1 , a tasty collection of tracks from that country, mostly from the golden '80s, when ...

From the Banks of the Oubangui River

The music of the Central African Republic is little-known. There are some excellent recordings of traditional music on the Ocora label ( Emp...