Tcheka: Nu Monda (2007, Times Square/Four Quarters)

This is music that will stir your soul. This is deeply personal and deeply spiritual music. Tcheka has a unique approach to guitar that is both percussive and melodic at the same time. Behind him an additional guitar, bass and percussion. The copy I picked up had an accompanying DVD with an 80 minute concert video. Watching Tcheka perform live gives you a sense of the joy that emanates from his person. It is with sincerity, love and deep passion that he delivers his lyrics and interacts with his fellow instrumentalists.

Spanish Harlem Orchestra: United We Swing (2007, Six Degrees)

Picture yourself on the streets in Harlem. Black, brown and white skin intermingling. Dancing to the killer Latin rhythms of the Spanish Harlem Orchestra. Okay. So maybe you’re in your kitchen in Iowa, or living room in Colorado, or sun room in Saint Louis. This music WILL make you get up and dance. I recommend having someone around to dance with you when you pop this on the CD player.

Vusi Mahlasela: Guiding Star (2007, Ato Records)

Songs in Zulu, Sotho and English talk about stark realities. Mahlasela is joined by fans such as Dave Matthews, The Hlanganani Brothers, Ladysmith Black Mambazo and others. Lyrics are packed with power. The “Song for Thandi” speaks of a young woman who is terrorized and handed a gun for the purpose of killing herself: “She picked up the gun. Metal was against her head. Telling herself she’d be better off dead. When suddenly…She felt a baby kicking inside. It was good to be alive.” You must hear the whole song for the full impact. But I found myself moved by so many pieces on this recording.

Tinariwen: Aman Iman: Water is Life (2007, Harmonia Mundi/World Village)

”In a Touareg tent in a dusty desert town of Kidal, northeastern Mali, a stick-thin ragged man with a loose afro took a turn on a cheap electric guitar plugged into a battery powered amp.” This recording is amazing. It is raw. It is real. It is rock and roll. And yet…it is not. What happens when Western instruments end up in the hands of those living in the desert who are familiar with more traditional instruments and African and Arabic rhythms. That is Tinariwen. It is organic and original and worldly and magical.

Zap Mama: Supermoon (2007, Heads Up)

With Supermoon, Marie Dauline gains her wings. This is a splendid recording featuring some of worlds finest musicians backing her in the studio. Zap Mama has moved now from female a cappella group to a fully instrumentalized concept group led by the fine vocal stylings of Dauline. African, Caribbean and Funk rhythms back the multi-tracked layers of Marie Dauline’s versatile vocals. If this is your first exposure to Zap Mama you will want to track back to releases like hip-hop/reggae-laced Amazone (1999) to the fully a cappella Adventures in Afropea (1993)