Rachid Taha & Vieux Farka Toure at the Barbican, London

Vieux Farka Touré has a lot to live up to, especially with an electric guitar round his neck. The death last year of his father Ali, the great master of the desert blues, was a huge loss to music, and for his son to carry on the family business is a tall order indeed. Ali preferred Vieux to be in the Malian army than in a Malian dance band, but the mulish genes of the father have been passed down, and there is a crackle of expectation at seeing what this young man can dish out tonight, in an inspired pairing with the Algerian-born rai rocker, Rachid Taha.

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Carlos Villatoro reviews a Lila Downs' performance.

Although Downs’ performance drew loud applause, as well as shouts of “Otra tequila,” “Oaxaca” and “I love you, Lila,” the crowd largely remained motionless in their seats.

In turn, Downs sang most of her songs in the cradle of her band — a skilled group of musicians that formed a semi-circle around the singer — and not at the edge of the stage.

The few times that she did venture out were memorable, giving the crowd opportunities to hand her wine and bouquets of flowers. One lucky girl, dressed in a traditional Oaxacan outfit, briefly went on stage with Downs to share the limelight.

Downs is a dynamic singer with the range to deliver low lows and crisp highs. During a rendition of the famous Mexican folk song “La Cucaracha,” Downs and harpist Celso Duarte engaged in a classic call-and-response segment — Downs would sing high notes and Duarte would match them on his harp.

Despite her ample vocal ability, she failed to involve the crowd in much of the performance. It wasn’t until the last song, “El Bracero Fracasado,” that a group of her fans rushed the stage and everyone in the theater rose for the grand finale.

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Joe Tangari reviews Vieux Farka Touré's album.

Vieux Farka Touré's debut album is a transitional work, representing the passing of a standard from a father to a son. Some of Malian guitar legend Ali Farka Touré's final recordings are here on his son's debut, which takes the signature desert guitar style of Ali and subtly builds on it. It's difficult for a young musician to step out from the shadow a parent so revered in the same field, but to his credit Vieux is content to move slowly and find his own approach to the style.

Vieux and Ali play together on two tracks, and their interaction-- the son plays rhythm guitar and gives his father's unmistakable leads free reign, with interjections from ngoni player Bassekou Kouyaté-- is not surprisingly marked by deference and respect. "Tabara" is a slow and meditative instrumental spotlighted by a mellifluous lead from Ali, into which Vieux perfectly slips his minimal backing rhythm. The other collaboration, "Diallo", is a conversation between Vieux's wizened, parched vocals and Ali's electric guitar, which carries his distinctive pinched tone. The rhythm is propelled by hand percussion, which is this case means sound actually created by the hands, without drums or blocks.

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Bill White reviews a Soweto Gospel Choir concert.

Drawing from diverse cultures and faiths, the program ranged from the traditional "Thapelo," on which seven male singers opened up the possibilities of harmony within the bass and tenor ranges, to "Weeping," a song from the apartheid era so beautifully sung by Shimmy Jiyane that the painful lyric was transformed into one of love and transcendence.

A surprise on the program was Bob Dylan's "I'll Remember You." Although the song was not one written during Dylan's born-again period, it was given an arrangement that paid tribute to the gospel music of North America.

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Tinariwen at the Barbican London

Howard Male reviews Tinariwen's performance at the Barbican London.

As he begins the evening with a solo performance of "Tenere," charismatic frontman, Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, barely tickles the strings of his Stratocaster and sings like John Lee Hooker at his most laid-back. Then the rest of the eight-piece join him, and we find out why this Touareg band are currently capturing the imagination of Mojo readers and world music fans alike.

Handclaps, and a hand-drum no bigger than a footstool, form all the percussive backdrop that's needed. This leaves plenty of space for the three guitarists, who are the heart of the band's sound, to interlock and interact, while the bass(pictured, below) throbs away in the background. One guitarist deals out angular chugging riffs. The other two issue wiry curlicues of notes, creating the illusion of baroque complexity in songs built from just one or two chords. The tone of the guitars is clean and sharp, but with an edge of distortion: the sound of electricity incarnate; no pomp, just pure African soul.

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