Guardian Music — (Real World)Originated on the Honduran coast and completed in Senegal, Laru Beya ("By the Beach") gives "mid-Atlantic" a different meaning. Aurelio Martinez, a leading light among Central America's Garifuna people, was sponsored to explore the music ... more info

Guardian Music — Scala, LondonCheikh Lô is his own worst enemy. At his best, he's one of Africa's most brilliant musicians, a distinctive, soulful singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who can cover anything from funk to mbalax and ballads. He gave some extr... more info

Guardian Music — How Britain's Kwame Kwei-Armah amassed 6,000 artists for a festival that has only happened three times in 40 yearsHow did a British actor and playwright end up curating a massive festival of black culture in Africa? Speaking on Skype from Dakar, Sene... more info

Guardian Music — (Wrasse)Reggae has been a major force in African music ever since Bob Marley visited the continent, but it has often been difficult for African performers to produce a distinctively African reggae fusion. Youssou N'Dour's Dakar-Kingston, partly recor... more info

Guardian Music — From established stars such as Youssou N'Dour, Miriam Makeba, Fela Kuti and Manu Dibango to forgotten acts of past decades, a historic music collection marking 50 years of African self-rule is unsurpassedIn 1960, British prime minister Harold Macmill... more info

Guardian Music — What is Britain's African disapora listening to? Surprise: it's not what we call world music. Jane Cornwell finds out what gets the expats jumpingThe Troxy in east London, and 2,500 pairs of hands are in the air. It's been four years since the R&B du... more info

ContactMusic — Celebrated Senegalese singer YOUSSOU N'DOUR has launched his own TV station in his native country.The world music superstar runs a major media group in Dakar and he has... more info

Guardian Music — (World Circuit)Five years on from the overproduced, unfocused Lamp Fall, Cheikh Lô is back with an album that reconfirms his position as one of the finest, most soulful singers in west Africa. He may be based in Senegal, but his influences are not ... more info

ContactMusic — Beloved world music superstars MIRIAM MAKEBA, ASHA BHOSLE and YOUSSOU N'DOUR have joined the BEATLES, the ROLLING STONES, MICHAEL JACKSON and MADONNA on a definitive new list... more info

Guardian Music — (Decca/Universal) Youssou N'Dour released two outstanding albums this year, the live soundtrack from the film I Bring What I Love, and the exhilarating compilation of his early work, Once Upon a Time in Senegal. Now comes another that sadly provides ... more info