Afrocubism: Artist You Should Know

A great new CD has just come out, and it’s called Afrocubism, and it’s from the great U.K. label World Circuit, purveyor of great world music for almost three decades and best known for producing The Buena Vista Social Club.

In fact, this is the album the Buena Vista Social Club was supposed to have been, had musicians from Mali not been stuck in Burkina Faso with no visas to get to Cuba.

Stream “Karamo“:

It is glorious music, filled with exuberance and joy, beautifully produced and recorded. It features Cuban musician Eliades Ochoa and his Grupo Patria, along with Malian heavyweights like Djelimady Tounkara and Toumani Diabate—who play guitar and kora, and the fabulous n’goni player Bassekou Kouyate (the ngoni is the African ancestor of the banjo).

If you can’t feel this music you’d better see a therapist, who might very well recommend this album as a musical anti-depressant.

— Tom Schnabel

Afrocubism Track List

1 Mali Cuba (Toumani Diabaté)

2 Al vaivén de mi carreta (Ñico Saquito)

3 Karamo (Bassekou Kouyate)

4 Djelimady Rumba (Djelimady Tounkara)

5 La Culebra (Benny Moré)

6 Jarabi (Toumani Diabaté)

7 Eliades Tumbao 27 (Eliades Ochoa)

8 Dakan (Baba Cissoko)

9 Nima Diyala (Djelimady Tounkara)

10 A la luna yo me voy (Eliades Ochoa)

11 Mariama (Eliades Ochoa / Bassekou Kouyate)