![Album Review: Vaudou Game – OTODI [Hot Casa Records: 26th October 2018]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/vaudou-game-otodi-335x335.jpg)
A sentimental fist-bump to Afro-Funk, Vaudou Game’s album OTODI (released by Hot Casa Records) mixes traditional Togolese scales with a James Brown-style rhythm section intended for ritual dance. Lead songwriter Peter Solo attempts to conjure the spirits of voodoo, the very spirits he converses with daily. The third offering from lead...
Album Review
Articles![Album Review: Alfa Mist – 7th October (Epilogue) + Antiphon [Sekito Records; 7th October 2018]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/alfa-mist-7th-335x335.jpg)
We’ve talked quite often about the rising British nu-jazz scene, with London town being the pulsing heart of this new wave of talented musicians. Among its bright protagonists, like Kamaal Williams, Nubya Garcia, Shabaka Hutchings, we couldn’t fail to mention Alfa Mist – composer, keyboardist, multi-instrumentalist hailing from Newham, London...
![Album Review: S H I R A N – S H I R A N [Batov Records; 2nd November 2018]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/shiran-cover-335x335.jpg)
S H I R A N sings in the language of dreams of freedom. Sharing tales of her family and her community’s journey from Yemen to Israel, she tells stories of desire, determination and hope that never age. Through electronica-inflected Israeli pop, she conjures up dark minimalist landscapes similar to...
![Album Review: Gaye Su Akyol – İstikrarlı Hayal Hakikattir [Glitterbeat Records; 26th October]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/gaye-cover-335x335.jpg)
Making her UK performance debut earlier this year at WOMAD UK, Turkish singer-songwriter and producer Gaye Su Akyol is definitely one to watch (if you haven’t already). Growing up on Anatolian pop and rock, she takes these genres along with her interest in psychedelic, surf, post-punk and electronic sounds to...
![Album Review: Waaju – Waaju [Olindo Records; May 2018]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/waaju-cvoer-335x335.jpg)
Waaju’s self-titled first LP came out in May to a small crowd in Swan’s Wharf, during the Giant Steps summer residency. The evening was atmospheric, enticing and exceptionally hot. The old warehouse was filled with the diverse sounds of Waaju, an Afro-Latin quintet based in London. You will recognise the...
![Album Review: Amira Kheir – Mystic Dance [Sterns Music; 12th October 2018]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/amira-kheir-335x335.jpg)
Amira Kheir is no stranger to making critically acclaimed albums, this latest instalment being her third full-length release for Sterns Music after View From Somewhere (2011), and Alsahraa (2014). Amira Kheir has a beautiful sound that smoothly blends the nostalgic tones of East Africa: North Sudan/Southern Egypt Nubian musical traditions,...
![Album Review: Plaza Francia Orchestra – Plaza Francia Orchestra [Because Music; September 2018]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/plaza-francia-cover-335x335.jpg)
Plaza Francia presents Plaza Francia Orchestra on the Because Music label, September 2018. Born of the critically acclaimed success story that is Gotan Project, Eduardo Makaroff and Christoph H. Muller volunteer themselves for this inventive new venture. Following a succession of previous masterful albums, La Revancha del Tango, Lunatico and...
![Album Review: Bixiga 70 – Quebra Cabeça [Glitterbeat Records; October 2018]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/bixiga-quebra-335x335.jpg)
In times when the Afro-Brazilian bond is vilified and almost censured, an album like Bixiga 70’s Quebra Cabeça is more necessary than ever. The fifth release of the big band (the third for Glitterbeat Records) from São Paulo indeed proudly reaffirms the Atlantic connection; that historical, cultural and social link...
![Album Review: Bokanté and Metropole Orkest – What Heat [Real World Records; 28th September 2018]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/bokante-what-heat-335x335.jpg)
7.5
Album Review: Bokanté and Metropole Orkest – What Heat [Real World Records; 28th September 2018]
Two hot, Grammy award-winning jazz outfits – Bokanté (founded by Michael League of the multicultural New York-based group Snarky Puppy) and Metropole Orkest (the jazz and pop orchestra whose chief conductor Jules Buckley had previously collaborated with Snarky Puppy in 2016) – released What Heat on 28th September 2018 for...
![Album Review: Soothsayers – Tradition [Wah Wah 45s; June 2018]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/soothsayers-tradition-335x335.jpg)
Tradition was released on the Wah Wah 45s label in June 2018 by South London based Soothsayers, traditionally renowned for their modernised 1960s afrobeat and contemporary jazz fusion mashups, coupled with big band brass sections and cutting-edge vocal harmonies. Ironically though, Tradition is far from traditional. Idris Rahman’s lyrical themes...