Not the first album from saxophonist Camilla George, but the set where it really feels like she's found her voice in music – weaving together her own strong solo on alto sax with the work of a top-shelf array of players from the London scene, while also nodding towards her roots in the Ibibio culture of southeast Nigeria! Camilla's got a soulful warmth on her horn that reminds us of Gary Bartz at some of his best moments – yet the presentation here is very much her own, and inflected with contributions from a wonderfully rich lineup that includes Daniel Casimir on bass, Sarah Tandy on piano, Rosie Turton on trombone, Sheila Maurice Grey on trumpet, Daru Jones on percussion, Shirley Tetteh on guitar, and Renato Paris on piano and Fender Rhodes – the latter of whom also provides a bit of vocals – as does Sanity, who makes a guest appearance on three tracks with Jones. Titles include "The Long Juju Slave Route Of Arochokwu", "Creation Nnyin Ido Ibibio", "Abasi Enyong", "Ukpong", "Journey Across The Sea", and "Creation Abasi & Atai". (Jazz, Global Grooves) CD

A really different setting for the saxophone of Afro Funk legend Femi Kuti – as instead of working with a large group, he just blows here alongside the keyboard creations of Robert Hood – in a mode that makes for a really wonderful album all the way through! The tracks are each just titled "Variations" – and Femi's performance definitely seems improvised throughout, and set to these keyboard heavy grooves created by Hood – who also delivers lots of great keyboard solos too! There's a lot more jazz here than you'd expect on a Femi Kuti album – yet the set also nods to some Afro-styled grooves at points too – a real delight over the course of the eight tracks on the set. (New Grooves, Global Grooves) CD

An amazing world of music – rare funk, soul, reggae, and other grooves from Belize – all beautifully compiled in the rich Numero Music style! We're really stunned by the set – as we had no idea at all that Belize had anything going on at this level – and the collection is an amazing surprise to our ears, filled with new delights at each turn, and clearly marking Belize as a new funky capitol on our ever-expanding map of musical understanding. Numero really outdid themselves with this package – going far beyond their already-great collections of work from the Bandit and Capsoul labels – to dig up a range of tracks that have never really made it out to the world at large, but which bubble over with influences from American funk and soul at the time. The notes are great, and the booklet's got plenty of excellent images to back up the writings – but the music is the real star of the set, and is presented on 16 tracks that include "More Love Reggae" and "Boogaloo A La Chuck" by Lord Rhaburn, "Theme From The Godfather" and "Backstabbers" by The Professionals, "Can't Go Halfway" and "Shame Shame Shame" by The Harmonettes, "Things Are Going To Work Out Right" and "Rated G" by The Web, "Funky Jive (parts 1& 2)" by Soul Creations, and "Long Time Boy" by Nadia Cattouse. CD