We don’t play a lot of jazz in this programme, but recently it has been sneaking in. Roy Nathanson is the sax-playing leader of the Jazz Passengers, perhaps best known (if known at all) as the vehicle for Deborah Harry after she abandoned her Blondie persona. No Debbie here, but Roy takes on the lead vocals himself, telling stories of life in the city, among which this one struck a particular chord, as Roy describes getting up very early to travel by subway to Manhattan where he saw an inspirational girl on the train. Note the human beat box rhythm track from Napoleon Maddox. And great alto sax from Roy.

I’ve already played ‘St James Infirmary’ from Allen Toussaint’s album The Bright Mississippi and it still sounds the best track after listening to the record several times. The whole thing is very agreeable, but somehow this is the one where everything worked perfectly, particular the acoustic guitar from Marc Ribot and Allen’s own magical piano.

In many ways, I learned about modern West African music backwards, first encountering Youssou N’Dour and Orchestra Baobab from Senegal and then working through the various bands from Mali – The Rail Band of Bamako, Les Amabassadeurs – before realising that the story had really started in the early 1960s in Guinea Conakry. Sterns Records and Ibrahim Syllart are helping to present the real history with a series of reissued albums drawn from the Syliphone label, of which the latest is from Keletigui et ses Tambourinis whose leader Keletigui Traoré played sax and flute.

For listeners based in West Africa, playing that old music is all very well, but what about the modern sound? On ‘Milyamba’ from her new album Sarabah, Sister Fa effectively frames her rap with a traditional vocal group chorus.

And still in West Africa, here’s Juldeh Camara from Gambia in partnership with British guitarist Justin Adams. Some of the tracks on their new album feature Justin playing with a sound closer to rock than blues, but on ‘Tonia Yima’ Justin keeps the rhythm going on acoustic guitar while adding a couple of rockier overdubs. Again, the backing vocals work very well to make the whole thing feel cohesive.

I am ashamed to admit that I had not realised what an important musician Ali Akbar Khan was until his recent death inspired effusive obituaries which made clear not only what a master Ali was (playing the sarod) but what a painful childhood such a musician must endure as their teacher (in this case, his own father) insists on a punishing regime of endless practice. The outcome is that his pain resulted in music than provided exquisite pleasure for listeners, especially in this duet with Asha Bhosle. We don’t play a lot of jazz in this programme, but recently it has been sneaking in. Roy Nathanson is the sax-playing leader of the Jazz Passengers, perhaps best known (if known at all) as the vehicle for Deborah Harry after she abandoned her Blondie persona. No Debbie here, but Roy takes on the lead vocals himself, telling stories of life in the city, among which this one struck a particular chord, as Roy describes getting up very early to travel by subway to Manhattan where he saw an inspirational girl on the train. Note the human beat box rhythm track from Napoleon Maddox. And great alto sax from Roy.

I’ve already played ‘St James Infirmary’ from Allen Toussaint’s album The Bright Mississippi and it still sounds the best track after listening to the record several times. The whole thing is very agreeable, but somehow this is the one where everything worked perfectly, particular the acoustic guitar from Marc Ribot and Allen’s own magical piano.

In many ways, I learned about modern West African music backwards, first encountering Youssou N’Dour and Orchestra Baobab from Senegal and then working through the various bands from Mali – The Rail Band of Bamako, Les Amabassadeurs – before realising that the story had really started in the early 1960s in Guinea Conakry. Sterns Records and Ibrahim Syllart are helping to present the real history with a series of reissued albums drawn from the Syliphone label, of which the latest is from Keletigui et ses Tambourinis whose leader Keletigui Traoré played sax and flute.

For listeners based in West Africa, playing that old music is all very well, but what about the modern sound? On ‘Milyamba’ from her new album Sarabah, Sister Fa effectively frames her rap with a traditional vocal group chorus.

And still in West Africa, here’s Juldeh Camara from Gambia in partnership with British guitarist Justin Adams. Some of the tracks on their new album feature Justin playing with a sound closer to rock than blues, but on ‘Tonia Yima’ Justin keeps the rhythm going on acoustic guitar while adding a couple of rockier overdubs. Again, the backing vocals work very well to make the whole thing feel cohesive.

I am ashamed to admit that I had not realised what an important musician Ali Akbar Khan was until his recent death inspired effusive obituaries which made clear not only what a master Ali was (playing the sarod) but what a painful childhood such a musician must endure as their teacher (in this case, his own father) insists on a punishing regime of endless practice. The outcome is that his pain resulted in music than provided exquisite pleasure for listeners, especially in this duet with Asha Bhosle.

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