Neil Spencer

Idris Ackamoor was a champion of Afrofuturism long before that term was coined; his 70s band the Pyramids combined funk and avant-garde jazz with Egyptian flavours and a keen awareness of Afro-American history. (Sun Ra is an obvious fellow traveller.) Since his re-emergence a decade back, Ackamoor has deliveredfour impressive albums for the Strut label, which is marking National Record Store Day with this recording of a 2024 San Francisco concert.

With six members, the Gigspanner Big Band is not particularly big, though their collective elan has a forceful presence unmatched in British folk: a little classical, a little jazzy, highly inventive while their material remains almost entirely traditional. Founded by fiddle player Peter Knight, once of Steeleye Span, the ensemble contains two duos and a trio as well as the full six piece.

Malian kora master Ballaké Sissoko and British Italian songwriter Piers Faccini are both inveterate collaborators (and labelmates) who have previously guested on each other’s records. Here they deliver a full-blown album as a duo, taking the migration of nightingales as their inspiration and following one’s calling as their theme. It’s a gentle, captivating work, its poetic songs soaked in nature imagery and beautifully married to Sissoko’s intricate, dazzling playing.