Zuba - Allez!

(Bassa Beat Productions/ Bassa001)

Young, gifted and true world citizens, the Afro-Celtic, Gallic collective Zuba, straight out of Glasgow via France, Ghana, and Uganda, are led by Liberian singer Jerry Boweh.

Shimmering guitars, soaring vocals and positive messages combine a toe-tapping danceable multicultural masala with elements of sophisticated Euro-Afro-pop (a la Youssou N'Dour, Angelique Kidjo and Salif Keita), jazz and rock.

'Allez!' is their lastest studio album and as good as this album is, one gets the impression that the full Zuba experience is available only at live concerts. So see Zuba if you can, or buy their CD for a taste of their feel-good Bassa Beat sound.

Zuba came to wider (and more commercial) attention as part of Freeness, a non-commercial music initiative led by artist Chris Ofili that aims to celebrate and profile new music of primarily African, Asian, Caribbean and Chinese origin. Visit their site .

Reviewer : Yve Ngoo

Ormoado (clip)