Various

A good way to tell African blues apart from the other genres emerging from the continent is to listen to the guitar. While most African music uses drums to drive the rhythm, African blues relies on the six-string. Following-up their excellent 1999 release, Mali to Memphis, NYC label Putumayo has collected some of Western and Southern Africa's most recognizable slingers for African Blues. As demonstrated by Malian vocalist Kalaban Coura and Cameroon guitarist Muntu Valdo's submissions, African bluesmen prefer to (musically and vocally) weep, where their American counterparts would wail. With the addition of England blues band Ramon Goose (teaming with Senegalese musician Diable Cissokho), Harlem's Taj Mahal (with the Culture Musical Club of Zanzibar) and Tinariwen's fascinating (and moving) collaboration with the non-profit Playing for Change foundation, there's plenty of familiar territory on African Blues to entice even the most mulish purist.