69 f

The only newly-recorded piece is the title track. This version of the album retains the feeling of a local-market cassette, and not only because of the soft hiss that remains behind most of the tracks: the recent trend for cassettes has brought a refreshing slew of international music that hasn’t been ‘world musicked’ and Buju’s sound is no exception.

Much of the album’s associated litera- ture talks up Buju’s links to King Ayisoba, a fellow Ghanaian kologo player, but Buju’s music feels even more rootsy. It’s great to hear the no-nonsense, bluesy riffs with Buju’s high-pitched yet gritty voice singing about personal and local matters, which all give the record a sense of that elusive, ill-defined but most important authenticity.

The manner in which the kologo is played means that all the tracks included here from the original cassette remain in one key – it’s a rather insignificant thing, but for someone who is used to albums using a vari- ety of keys (which, when you think about it, is kind of arbitrary) this can grate slightly, with the ear becoming tired. But this is a very small issue. Don’t expect overl much from the pro- duction values and this could be an album that you really dig.

www.makkumrecords.nl Jim Hickson

INESS MEZEL StrongWrasse Records WRASS335

Strong, the latest album from Parisian singer Iness Mezel, is a record full of good intent but which, for this reviewer, falls a little short. From the outset the songs feel oversentimen- tal and the production overwrought. Which is surprising because behind the desk is John Reynolds, of Björk and Sinead O’Connor fame. Throughout however the production is overly crisp and clinical.

That said, Strong feels very much like a syrupy pop record and if your intention is to create a record like that – perhaps this pro- duction is appropriate.

Some of the songwriting is OK on Strong,

Precious Souls for example is well composed, but it just lacks a certain edge. Sometimes ‘world music’ gets away with having no edge by being cool and loungey, but the vaguely soft-rock instrumentation of Strong ensures this doesn’t fall into that category.

Overall then, for me, this is a record that never really gets started and despite the good intentions, feels a bit weak.

www.iness-mezel.com Liam Thompson

PAT THOMAS & KWASHIBU AREA BAND

Pat Thomas & Kwashibu Area Band Strut STRUT126 CD

Superior work from a grand old man of Ghanaian highlife. Singer Pat Thomas won his spurs in Kumasi with the Broadway Dance Band, the Stargazers and the Sweet Beans (sponsored by the Ghana Cocoa Board.) He quickly set about producing a modern, updated form of highlife working, among others, with Ebo Taylor and Tony Allen. The idea was to take Kwa music of the Asante and add Western elements, cre- ating a style more relevant to the times. This – immensely popular – then developed into a heavier sound, so-called burgher highlife, recorded in Hamburg and Berlin in the ’80s: which adds a certain poignancy to this album, which defiantly harks back to the golden days before digital, samples and machine music. None of that modern stuff here! Old hits are given a retread, beside

new songs. What appeals is the combina- tion of gentle hands, an ability to conjure light textures with a sophisticated rhythmic framework. Plenty of guts, also plenty of mood – and the voice of Pat Thomas, spar- ingly deployed, is a heartbreaker. This is a master at work.

www.strut-records.com Rick Sanders

BERT DEIVERT AND COPPERHEAD RUN

Blood In My Eyes For You Rootsy 7320470200582

The mandolin may not be first instrument that springs to mind when you think of con- temporary blues. However, pre-WWII it was often heard rivalling the guitar or harmonica as a primary lead instrument, notably in the playing of James ‘Yank’ Rachell on Sleepy John Estes’ recordings. On Blood In My Eyes For You, Bert Dievert and Copperhead Run fuse the spirit of pre-war blues with electric instrumentation to dynamic effect.

From the opening track Baby Please

Don’t Go, it is clear that Bert Deivert has undertaken the task of continuing the Yank Rachell legacy. Accompanied by electric gui- tar, bass and drums, the band deliver a red- hot version of the Big Joe Williams classic, allowing Deivert’s husky tenor and lyrical playing to shine.

Tribute is paid to his hero in Rachell’s

slow-burning My Baby’s Gone and in three Sleepy John Estes numbers, including Mail- man Blues which, in an inspired free-form introduction, showcases Deivert’s flawless tremolo technique.

Switching to acoustic guitar for the brooding self-penned Cuckoo Crowed marks a welcome change from the electric-oriented numbers that make up much of the album. A mention must be made here regarding Janne Zander’s touch on the slide guitar and the tones he produces from his National steel and archtop guitars, creating an effective foil to Deivert’s eight-stringed virtuosity.

Blood In My Eyes For You was recorded live in the studio and Deivert describes it as “like sitting on the floor in front of us groovin’ at a juke joint gig”. This is evident when the band mines the Fat Possum label songbook with crackling interpretations of Paul ‘Wine’ Jones and RL Burnside numbers. Deivert further explores this in the original Black Nanny, a tribute to the late T-Model Ford, with whom he recently shared a stage.

Pat Thomas

Eric Bibb, Wanda Jackson and Tom Paley have been among those fortunate enough to have Deivert’s playing grace their music and on Blood In My Eyes For You it is clear why he is regarded as one of the world’s foremost blues mandolinists.

Yank would be proud. www.rootsy.nu

Jack Blackman

BEAUTIFUL NUBIA & THE ROOTS RENAISSANCE BAND

Beautiful Nubia & The Roots Renaissance Band Soundbender EniObanke EBM114

Once again a lovely piece of work from the great Nigerian singer, songwriter, bandlead- er, poet, social commentator and vet. The consistency of his albums over the years is something to marvel at: the total lack of flash and bombast, the modesty of his stance, and at the same time the courage to talk straight about what ails the world. His is a voice that suits its purpose perfectly: emotional and rational and moving.

Let us not undervalue the contribution of his musicians, most of whom have been with the band since the start. Sometimes they sound like village musicians, sometimes like Stax cousins, playing jazz, reggae, testifying with the joy/grief of a New Orleans marching band. If they don’t melt your heart, seek help.

www.beautifulnubia.com Rick Sanders

LONNIGANS SKIFFLE GROUP

A Tribute To Lead Belly Lonnigan Records SQP06MA

You’d be forgiven for assuming that a band called the Lonnigans Skiffle Group might be little more than a good-natured piss-take to soundtrack a Saturday night up the boozer. You’d be quite wrong though, as those jokey pseudonyms – Ronnie, Johnnie, Laurie and Donny Lonnigan, mask the true identities of some of England’s finest roots rock musicians in Derek Mason, John Armer, Steve Simpson and Eddie Armer.

Back in 2001, the Lonnigans travelled to

New York to meet Pete Seeger, who had agreed to record a couple of Lead Belly songs