The September edition of the Transglobal World Music Chart album rankings brings a mosaic of sounds from across the globe, mixing established staples with the month’s biggest climbers in the top ten. Landing at the very top this time is the Japanese powerhouse Minyo Crusaders with their new release, “From Japan with Love,” seamlessly blending traditional Japanese min’yō folklore with infectious cumbia, afrobeat, and latin jazz rhythms with distinctive charm.
Japan’s Minyo Crusaders prove that merging seemingly incompatible musical worlds can feel remarkably natural and captivating. On “From Japan with Love,” released on the iconic Blue Note label, they effortlessly revive forgotten min’yō work songs and folk tunes that once accompanied fishermen, farmers, and miners. Far from a rigid museum piece, they breathe entirely new life into these historic melodies—wrapping them in energetic Afro-Caribbean and Latin American rhythms. Traditional vocals and shamisen operate flawlessly alongside vibrant brass sections, salsa grooves, and cumbia pulses, earning the band well-deserved acclaim from music journalists and securing the top spot on the September chart.
Chart Standings: September 2026
- Minyo Crusaders · From Japan with Love · Blue Note [-]
- Fatoumata Diawara · Massa · Nø Førmat! [2]
- Mexican Institute of Sound & Meridian Brothers · Ruido Tovar · Ansonia [1]
- Orquesta Akokán · América! · Daptone [-]
- Kitka · Kolo · Six Degrees [5]
- Seu Jorge · The Other Side · Amor in Sound [3]
- V.A. · Sounds of Malawi, Vol. 1 · Hen House Studios [12]
- Cocanha · Flame Folclòre · Bongo Joe [6]
- Tamikrest · Assikel · Glitterbeat [7]
- Hilal Kaya · Sümbül · CPL-Music / CPL-Musicgroup [21]
- Ibrahim Maalouf · Trumpets of Michel-Ange, Vol. 2 · Mister Ibé [29]
- Officina Zoè · Mari e Marenne · Linfa [-]
- Souad Massi · Zagate · BackingTrack Production [4]
- Tengerton · Ilch · Buda Musique [-]
- Adrian Younge · Afro-Disco Makossa · Linear Labs [-]
- Arun Sood & Angeline Morrison · Donn/Dubh · Real World X [-]
- BudaPesme · Makedonija · Balkan Heritage Cultural Center [-]
- V.A. · Oman Bagpipe Singers: Songs of Returning and Leaving · Glitterbeat [30]
- Medusa Quartet · Weaving Gold in Broken Places · Medusa Quartet [36]
- Panjshanbe Maftun · Made in Lyublino: Afghan Songs · Antonovka [-]
- Naked & Lakatos Mónika FolkTrió · Neked · Adriatica [10]
- Elkhan Mansurov · Bayati-Isfahan Dastgah · Felmay [-]
- Aàgut · Trama · Aàgut [27]
- Paolo Angeli & Tenore Murales de Orgosolo · Vinti ‘e Maju · ANMA / ReR Megacorp [31]
- Constantinople: Kiya Tabassian, Ablaye Cissoko, Patrick Graham · Estuaire · Ma Case [33]
- Nana Osei Twum Barima · Journey to the Unknown · Zephyrus [11]
- The Klezmatics · We Were Made for These Times · Asphalt Tango [14]
- Stelios Petrakis · Lyric / Lyrikon · Buda Musique [26]
- Nuhara · Rama · Trovarobato [22]
- uni uni · Valveilla · Haapojan Studio [38]
- Tinariwen · Hoggar · Wedge [9]
- Shye Ben Tzur, Jonny Greenwood and The Rajasthan Express · Ranjha · World Circuit / BMG [8]
- Zuco 103 · Mais Além · Zuco Sound [18]
- Natacha Atlas & Samy Bishai · Parallel Universe, Volume 1 · Airfono [15]
- Omar Sosa & Quarteto Americanos · We Are Not the Headliner · Otá [-]
- Mah Damba · Taabolo Koura · One World [20]
- Remon Nakanishi · Yoake Garasu no Wataru Made / Till the Ravens Rise at Dawn · Doyasa! [16]
- Joyce e Tutty Moreno & Adrian Younge · JID027 · Jazz Is Dead [-]
- Aïtawa · Pasaje · Salamah Productions [19]
- Halme Prospekt presents Queen Djenny Djella · Music Is My Truth · Halme Prospekt [-]
NMR (photo: press)
Founder members and administrators Transglobal World Music Chart:
Ángel Romero (US), Araceli Tzigane (ES), Juan Antonio Vázquez (ES)
Current active members:
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), Ankur Malhotra (IN), Alexis Herrería (MX), Ula Nowak (PL), Banning Eyre (US), Magda Tejchma (PL), Tatiana Naryshkina (RU), Andrii Polianskyi (UA), Michael Rossi (UK), Nicky Blumenfeld [NickyB] (ZA), Ben Wheeler (GE/US), Darek Mazzone (PL/US), Junf Ga (MX), Piercarlo Poggio (IT), Nataliya Averina (Myazina) (RU), Labesse Patrick (FR), 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), Alejandro López (ES), Jon Kertzer (US), Ken Stowar (CA), Jiří Moravčík (CZ), Mu Qian (CN), Gil Rouvio (IL), Bouna Ndiaye (SN/US), Kutay Derin Kuğay (TR), Robert Gregor (SK), Yatrika ShahRais (IR/US), Armen Manukyan (AM), Rolf Beydemüller (DE), François Bensignor (FR), Eleni Ziliaskopoulou (GR), Marija Vitas (RS), Jaïr Tchong (BE)
More at: https://www.transglobalwmc.com/
