Baaba Maal - On The Road (Palm Pictures) His father was a fisherman; fortunately his mother wasn’t and guided Baaba Maal to a career in music. In the bleak mid winter of a global credit crunch Baaba Maal’s new album is an instant mood shifter. The warm meditative melodies supplied by the kora playing of the late Kaouding Cissoko are enhanced by Maal’s rich vocals, resulting in a hypnotic set of acoustic masterpieces. The songs featured are some of his best loved hits from the last decade, with a couple of hidden treasures for the aficionados. The album is contagious and just gets better with repeated listening. He will be in the UK in 2009 as part of the Africa Soul Rebels tour, so catch him live if you can. If you can’t then ‘On the Road’ is the next best thing - go on treat yourself you won’t be disappointed. www.baabamaal.tv Alan Next