Glenn Kimpton

For her third album, Yasmin Williams hits the collaboration button and pulls in guests on eight of the nine songs–Acadia is a gift of a recording, a rural album of gorgeous tunes with smooth edges that seem only to wish you well.

With strong, solid songwriting coupled with immaculate, eclectic music, all beautifully performed, Eric Bibb’s In the Real World comes with the strongest recommendation.

We catch up with Senegalese kora master Seckou Keita to chat about his wonderful new Homeland (Chapter 1) album, a rich, beaming tapestry, and the various aspects of life that inspired it.

For all of the enjoyable free expression present across Blake Hornsby’s ‘A Village of Many Springs’, there is also a real sense of musicianship and creativity; it’s an exhilarating listen. Pull up a chair and allow it to wash over you.

Nylon string guitar maestro Niwel Tsumbu is a hell of an accomplished player. Throughout Milimo, his tunes sound complex yet are impeccably performed; each song feels like a polished gem, with nothing superfluous or surplus to requirements. What a lovely thing this album is.

The Circular Train is Ava Mendoza’s second solo LP of charged avant garde rock, blues and jazz music. It’s an album she should be proud of–no frills, no pretensions and totally ace.

“Another Tide, Another Fish” is an intelligent, intuitive album that demonstrates Andrew Tuttle’s highly creative and inquisitive nature. The late great Michael Chapman’s previously unfinished album now feels complete, showing his subtle psychedelic music at its best.

Danish guitar improviser Martin Kirkegaard teams up with pianist Mikkel Almolt for ‘Molacg (part 1 & 2)’, a double LP of sharply focused improvised instrumental sound. A fascinating and essential release.

It’s clear from this first chapter of Homeland that Seckou Keita is here to take us on a musical journey; peppered with guest artists, the whole thing is a beautiful, buoyant celebration of life and place. Music this joyous and full of pathos is irresistible.

Featuring two quiet stalwarts of the instrumental scene, American fiddle player Mike Gangloff and British fingerstyle guitar ace C Joynes, the music of ‘Tom Winter, Tom Spring’ is fluid and confident, balancing dense intensity with lighter foot-tappers and spacious abstracts. It’s quite a thing.

Three Cane Whale always fill their recordings with splendid arrangements and Hibernacula is no exception. Recorded in Bristol’s prized St George’s venue by Rob Harbron, it is their most accomplished work to date and the freest representation of their sound thus far. Wonderful.

J.R. Bohannon & Dave Shuford’s ‘Reclined in the Haze’ is a cracker, a daring set that manages to balance Eastern musical influences with country licks and experimental improvisation. I already love this and it’s one I’ll revisit for the foreseeable.