![Album Review: ¿Que Vola? – ¿Que Vola? [Nø Førmat!; 25th January 2019]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/quevolaalbumcover-335x335.jpg)
A brassy, ritualistic sound from a band making a cross-cultural union. ¿Que Vola? is a new group, experimenting with bop-style horns over a foundation of Cuban Santeria rumba groove. Put together by jazz trombonist Fidel Fourneyron, with the help of double-bassist Thibaud Soulas, the French jazz collaborative enrols three of...
Album Review
Articles![Album Review: Auntie Flo – Radio Highlife [Brownswood Recordings; October 2018]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/auntiefloradiohighlife-335x335.jpg)
Brian d’Souza is a Glaswegian-born DJ, musician and producer of both Goan and Kenyan descent, who spent seven years travelling far and wide to places such as Uganda, Cuba and Norway. As Auntie Flo, d’Souza created Radio Highlife – released on 12th October 2018 via Brownswood Recordings – that can...
![Album Review: Kel Assouf – Black Tenere [Glitterbeat Records; February 2019]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/blacktenere-cover-335x335.jpg)
Kel Assouf are a rocking inter-global trio, whose roots fuse from West African Sahara to European Belgium and beyond. They sit comfortably in the Tuareg musical character, moulded by trailblazers Tinariwen, but with this new release, they burst through and breakdown musical barriers, roaring rock’n’roll, as well as spiritually meditative...
![Album Review: Fofoulah – Daega Rek [Glitterbeat Records; November 2018]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/fofoulahcover-335x335.jpg)
No matter what your final verdict on Daega Rek is, (Fofoulah’s new album released by Glitterbeat Records), what you can’t deny is its originality and unorthodoxy. The second work from the London-based band is more than able to bewilder, confuse and stupefy its listeners thanks to its unrestrained approach, but...
![Album Review: Out of Nations – Quest [Riverboat Records; August 2018]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/outofnationsquestcover-335x335.jpg)
To understand and fully appreciate Out of Nations’ sound, you first need to have a look at their passports and read about their backgrounds. A 7-piece ensemble based in Berlin, with members coming from the US, Egypt, Greece, Belgium and Austria with experiences in Lebanon and Norway, and collaborating with...
![Album Review: Gentleman’s Dub Club – Lost In Space [Easy Star Records; January 2019]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/optimized-lost-in-space-art-335x335.jpg)
Just as the new year has sunk in, Gentleman’s Dub Club drop Lost in Space on Easy Star Records, their latest instalment of contemporary dub rhythms and rhymes. The ten-piece collective that met in Leeds are a staple outfit in the modern dub and diaspora scene, and after five successful albums...
![Album Review: Nicola Cruz – Siku [ZZK Records; January 2019]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/sikucover-335x335.jpg)
One of the most iconic and recognisable instruments from South America is probably the siku, a handmade pan-pipe made of bamboo shoots, originating from the Andes and played to this day by its indigenous peoples. Countless variations of the siku exist in South America – each with its own variation...
![Album Review: Daxuva & Nina Miranda – Le Jardin [August 2018]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/daxuva-lejardin-335x335.jpg)
Le Jardin (The Garden) is a soft electro-pop album created in collaboration by Anglo-Brazilian singer Nina Miranda and Brazilian producer Daxuva (Pedro Ferraz) – the debut record under the Daxuva moniker. The album sets itself within a collision; on one side you see the soft, sensual aspects of a garden,...
![Album Review: Bassekou Kouyaté & Ngoni Ba – Miri [Outhere Records; 25th January 2019]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/bassekoumiri-335x335.jpg)
Musical genre; the most common contention between genre labelling and the music itself. Bassekou Kouyaté & Ngoni Ba really hit the nail on the head with this next album, Miri. Although not in an authentic sense but rather a sonic excursion into what is real, it is centred on issues...
![Album Review: Akua Naru – The Blackest Joy [The Urban Era; April 2018]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/akuanarublackest-335x335.jpeg)
Akua Naru released her third album, The Blackest Joy, on 27th April 2018 on The Urban Era label. Growing up in Connecticut, Naru was originally influenced by gospel sounds from the Pentecostal church. From the age of nine, however, she was introduced to hip hop by her uncle despite secular...
