TRANSGLOBAL WORLD MUSIC CHART: MAY 2025

This time, Songhoy Blues took the top spot on the Transglobal World Music Chart with “Héritage”.

From the first listening to Héritage, the much-awaited fourth album by Songhoy Blues, it is clear that the 4-piece rock band from northern Mali are in a new frame of mind. With Héritage, they move into a more acoustic, creative re-imagining of the “desert blues” style that has brought them to world fame. The album presents new compositions and reworkings of old classics. It is infused with the ethereal sounds of various traditional instruments, all in the hands of great Malian masters. All these tone colours are brilliantly woven into a rich tapestry which is both familiar and unexpected. All their songs have some element of social critique. The Songhoy are an ethnicity living along the bend of the Niger river in northern Mali (their language is Songhai, hence the two spellings that are often used interchangeably). Songhoy music is one of the backbones of the “desert blues” sound. Songhoy Blues pay tribute to some of the great musicians of the past, whose work continues to inspire them, giving ‘a big thank you to the ancestors who bequeathed works of art so that future generations could orient themselves’. For over a decade, when not on tour, the four members of Songhoy Blues, three of whom are originally from the north, have been based in Bamako, capital of Mali, unable to return to their homeland, where musicians are in real danger of their lives because of religious fanaticism that sees music as ‘haram’ (a sin).

Top albums May 2025:

  1. Songhoy Blues · Héritage · Transgressive / Remote [3]
  2. Trio Da Kali · Bagola · One World [1]
  3. Kankou Kouyate · N’Darila · One World [10]
  4. Savina Yannatou, Primavera en Salonico and Lamia Bedioui · Watersong · ECM [-]
  5. Aïta Mon Amour · Abda · Shouka [15]
  6. Nidia Góngora · Pacífico Maravilla · Positivo [-]
  7. Mara Aranda · Sefarad en el Corazón de Bulgaria · Mara Aranda [-]
  8. Park Jiha · All Living Things · Tak:til / Glitterbeat [5]
  9. Ensemble Chakâm · Les Vents Brûlants · Ensemble Chakâm [9]
  10. Adrian Raso & Fanfare Ciocărlia · The Devil Rides Again · Asphalt Tango [-]
  1. Rizwan Muazzam Qawwali · At the Feet of the Beloved · Real World [6]
  2. Thanos Stavridis & Drom · Fygame · Thanos Stavridis & Drom [-]
  3. Alsarah & The Nubatones · Seasons of the Road · Alsarah & The Nubatones [17]
  4. Ablaye CIssoko & Cyrille Brotto · Djiyo · Ma Case Prod [8]
  5. Frigg · Dreamscapes · Bafe’s Factory [13]
  6. Arat Kilo · Danama · Accords Croisés [4]
  7. Jupiter & Okwess · Ekoya · Airfono [7]
  8. Boubacar Traoré & Vincent Boucher & Jeremie Diarra · Live! · Boubacar Traoré [-]
  9. Flook · Sanju · Flatfish [12]
  10. Damily & Toliara Tsapiky Band · Fihisa · Damily [18]
  1. Ensemble Marani · Sharatin · Buda Musique [-]
  2. Kin’Gongolo Kiniata · Kiniata · Hélico [-]
  3. Samba Touré · Baarakelaw · Glitterbeat [2]
  4. Piers Faccini & Ballaké Sissoko · Our Calling · Nø Førmat! [37]
  5. Mehmet Polat Quartet · Roots in Motion · AudioMaze [-]
  6. Ra di Spina · Vocazioni · Agualoca [-]
  7. Aboubakar Traoré & Balima · Sababu · Zephyrus [19]
  8. Ukandanz · Evil Plan · Compagnie 4000 [20]
  9. Matthieu Saglio & Camille Saglio · Al Alba · ACT [-]
  10. De Mar y Río · Bailen y Gocen · Palenque [36]
  1. Wimme + Rinne · Ivgu · Rockadillo [-]
  2. Anouar Brahem · After the Last Sky · ECM [-]
  3. Charles Maimarosia · Hote’ Hote’ · Wantok Musik [-]
  4. L’Alba · Grilli · Buda Musique [22]
  5. Awa Khiwe · African Women Arise · Outhere [-]
  6. Shahab Tolouie Trio · Oxymoron · Shahab Tolouie [-]
  7. Novalima · La Danza (Deluxe Version) · Six Degrees [14]
  8. Farnaz Ohadi · Breath / Aliento · Air Music [-]
  9. Al Andaluz Project · The Songs of Iman Kandoussi: Traditional Arabic Andalusian · Galileo Music Communication [16]
  10. Ebo Taylor, Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad · Ebo Taylor JID022 · Jazz Is Dead [23]

NMR (photo: press Songhoy Blues)

Founder members and administrators Transglobal World Music Chart: 

Ángel Romero (US), Araceli Tzigane (ES), Juan Antonio Vázquez (ES)

Current active members:

Alexis Herrería (MX), Rosângela Britto (BR), Ula Nowak (PL), Liana Cisneros (PE), Banning Eyre (US), Magda Tejchma (PL), Seth Jordan (AU), Tony Hillier (AU), Charlie Crooijmans (NL), Nigel Wood (IE), Dore Stein (US), Roger Holdsworth (AU), Madan Rao (IN), Gil Medovoy (US), Chris Heim (US), Ciro De Rosa (IT), Scott Stevens (US), Hendrick T S Foh (MY), Cliff Furnald (US), Rob Weisberg (US), Toni Polo (FR/ES), Nicolás Falcoff (AR), Masakazu Kitanaka (JP), Jordi Demésenllà (ES), Rafael Mieses (DO/US), Luís Rei (PT), Jean Trouillet (DE), Evangeline Kim (US), Willi Klopottek (LU/DE), Alejandro López (ES), Jon Kertzer (US), Ken Stowar (CA), Jiří Moravčík (CZ), Mu Qian (CN), Carlos Ferreira (PT), Gil Rouvio (IL), Bouna Ndiaye (SN/US), Kutay Derin Kuğay (TR), Robert Gregor (SK), Yatrika Shah-Rais (IR/US), Armen Manukyan (AM), Rolf Beydemüller (DE), François Bensignor (FR), Eleni Ziliaskopoulou (GR), Marija Vitas (RS), Jaïr Tchong (BE), Enrique Blanc (MX), Tiago Lucas Garcia (BR), Zekeriya S. Şen (TR), Benjamín Muñiz (PR), Daryana Antipova (RU), Mika Kauhanen (FI), Luisa Piñeros (CO), Toni Pennacchia (US), Chen Hanzi (CN), Takuya “Salam” Unagami (JP), Janaína Ávila (BR), Roger Short (UK), Ankur Malhotra (IN)

More at: https://www.transglobalwmc.com/

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