The great man meeting up with the American big-band, the Either/Orchestra — rehearsals, interviews, and finally a joint performance at the 2006 Banlieues Bleues Festival.

The ‘little devil’ was born in Tunis in 1884 to a Libyan mother and Moroccan dad. The first half of the twentieth century was a golden era in Tunisian music; Cheikh El Afrite its most celebrated artist. As a youngster he became fluent in its mix of classical Arab-Andalous and Ottoman traditions with folk idioms like bedouin and other African melodies, fondo and fezzani, and the festive tripolitain music of Libya. Turning professional at eighteen, he was soon singing for the bey every Tuesday night, at his seaside palace in Hammam Lif. Later, his recordings made him star throughout the Maghreb.

Music from the Amha label run by Amha Ashete, driving force of modern Ethiopian music.

With virtuoso self-accompaniment on the beguena — an oversize ten-string lyre, the oldest instrument played in Ethiopia: religious songs as well as traditional fables, folk tales and poems.

The music of the Konso — a tribe from the Sudanese border country — to do with daily chores, sacred or ritual matters, and entertainment. Flutes, bells, harps, horns, xylophones, drums.

Another survey of the golden age of modern Ethiopian dance music — bound up with the production of vinyl records — between 1969 and 1978.

Starting in the early fifties, long before Ayler and Ornette, Mekurya’s stroke of genius was to give improvisatory voice on his saxophone to the ‘shellela’ singing style — epic, harsh, war-like.

Self-taught on krar-lyre, favourite instrument of the azmari; and — alternately poignant and sarcastic — the last great singer, story-teller and free-thinker to carry on their tradition of poetic cut-and-thrust.

For Ethiopians, their greatest singer of all time; with music arranged by Mulatu Astatqe for the Army Band, the Exhibition Band, the Police Orchestra, the Bodyguard Band.

The sequel to Volume 2 in this series, and featuring many of the same singers, accompanied by the messenqo (one-string fiddle), the krar lyre, the kebero drum and the accordion.

Alemye, from 1974.

The azmaris were originally wandering minstrels, roaming the Abyssinian countryside. These varied snapshots of the musical life of Addis Ababa in the 1990s are offered as a kind of homage to them.

Unmissable, wonderful solo piano. Chopin, Tatum, Satie and company, steeped in the Ethiopian sound.

Like volumes one and three, drawing on the legendary Amha Records catalogue, with several newcomers to this fantastic series, and a couple of very early Mulatus. You know what to do.

The great singer in rambunctious, rootsy and jazzy recordings from 1972-4.

Precious relics from Berlin, 1908. UNESCO has stumped up for a lavish presentation, with fine notes and translations; but surely the fly in the ointment is the difficulty of actually listening through the music.

The Imperial Bodyguard Band singer, who tuned his guitar like an oud. Oromo reasoning about love, existence and resistance, with a tasty Arab twang. Mississippi presented him on vinyl recently.