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New album ‘NDUGGU: Dust’ out March 26th 2021 [KoniCD012]
Featuring 8 powerful new internationalist songs of enlightenment and change that cherish the human spirit, its joy and its fragility
Media Quotes
Congratulations it is a great, great album. Thanks for the music! (Enrique Helguera: Radio Nacional de España RTVE | Saraba Sufiyana)
13 years in and still improving on that global remit, Rafiki Jazz deliver a magical and rich fourth LP (Saraba Sufiyana) Devotional music at its most captivating and entrancing (Dom Valvona: Monolith Cocktail #079 | Saraba Sufiyana)
An immediate sense of the world united in music, breaking down barriers and borders with aplomb, versed in a rich mixture of Urdu, Hebrew, Mandinka and Hindi, it’s a triumph of empathy and unity featuring a multitude of voices and vibrant instrumentation (Allan Wilkinson: Northern Sky | Saraba Sufiyana )
Music of the spirit, and full of life, dance, emotion and laughter, delivering another intoxicating musical trip. The music is sublime, but the power in these songs of home, with their imagery of hardship and beauty, is in the twining of stories and voices. This album is consistently a stunning roller coaster ride through lyrical, musical and vocal soundscapes. Vital, affirming music! (Marc Higgins: Fatea Records | Saraba Sufiyana)
From Sheffield to the World, it’s fresh and dynamic and very exciting. The eloquence of the musical interplay (steelpan, kora, darbuka, oud, berimbau and a myriad other instruments) is a joy to listen to (Garth Cartwright: Songlines #154 | Saraba Sufiyana )
Rafiki Jazz play a global folk music of alluring, esoteric, dream-like songs. The musicianship is superb, the vocals haunting, the overall effect exquisite (Henrik Endor: Prole Jazz | Saraba Sufiyana)
Rafiki Jazz, the best of British! How to do ‘East meets West’ with subtlety & flair…an acoustic album full of space and light (Songlines**** Top of the World album | Har Dam Sahara)
Powerful (Financial Times**** | Har Dam Sahara)
We’re loving the Rafiki Jazz album (BBC World on 3 | Har Dam Sahara)
Impressive, elegant & wide-ranging..a mesmerising album of devotional songs from Africa, the Middle East & Asia by a British band who specialise in multicultural fusion (The Guardian**** | Har Dam Sahara)
The most diverse band in the UK…excellent, Sufi-inspired, luxuriant sounds. Reworking traditions, the band’s aesthetic is acoustic & recorded live (London Evening Standard**** | Har Dam Sahara )
A musical masala fizzing with individual sounds, resonates with emotion and power (Northern Sky***** | Har Dam Sahara )
Every track on this CD deserves to be played on repeat until they are all etched, beat for beat, into your memory’ (Songlines **** Rough Guide to Acoustic India feat. Rafiki Jazz)
Yaseen and Raz’s vocals weave a beautiful harmony which soars above violin, tabla, kora & ney with an ethereal quality that lifts the spirits and sends thoughts inwards. This is history preserved in song & you find yourself easily slipping into the reality Rafiki Jazz has created (Qantara.de | Har Dam Sahara)
Rafiki Jazz Onstage
Loved seeing Rafiki Jazz last night. A stunning, virtuosic, internationalist show (BBC Folk Singer of the Year Nancy Kerr)
‘Brilliant in musicality and transcendent in sound’ (Rhythm Passport at WOMAD)
Close your eyes, it’s the music you’d expect to hear in heaven (Dimitris Diamadis: Talking Gigs)
The most diverse band in the UK, a host of musicians spanning four continents with migrant & refugee artists at its heart & immense sincerity and compassion coursing through their songs (Sashwati Mira Sengupta: Counterpoint Arts)
Global griots made from Northern grit! (Sara Domville: More Music)
A truly spellbinding performance, my WOMAD 2018 highlight (Katharina Herrman: e-Festivals)
A truly mesmeric & uplifting experience, thank you Rafiki Jazz for making my day feel so much lighter (Fareda Khan: Transcender Festival London)
The Rafikians were truly brilliant, standing ovation & so much love for your music! (Joy Lamont Shewsbury Folk Festival)
Download our 2020 press pack pdf here. And our EPK pdf is here
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