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Performance - 7 July 2012
Gambian musician Juldeh Camara is a virtuoso on the ritti. In his hands, this rustic, one-stringed fiddle provides a supple accompaniment to his vocals: rolling fables, wry observations and passionate declamations, all sung in the Fulani language. He's an immensely likable performer. So far, so world music.

But Camara's partner for this project is Justin Adams, aka the second-hardest-working man in world music. Adams's intent is to take African music off the coffee table, and he's succeeded on the duo's acclaimed new album Tell No Lies.Listen to tracks such as Achu, which evokes Howlin' Wolf, with call-and-response vocals and an irresistible pulse. Listen to Kele Kele (No Passport No Visa), driven by Adams's cracking Bo Diddley-esque guitar rhythm and Martin Barker's choppy drum beat, while Camara's vocals soar over swirling ritti and Mim Suleiman's ecstatic backing vocals.

Despite the quartet's small resources, they produce a wall of sound, their numbers ending with ferociously heads-down, no-nonsense boogie, and jams reminiscent of the 60s blues boom (we Brits have always had a soft spot for this). Adams and Camara, like Amadou and Mariam, make serious play with the many similarities between western blues-rock and West African music - the ritti even sounds like a blues harp on occasion.

Adams's guitar provides the bedrock for the band's adventures, from the loping, Ry Cooderish riff of Gainako to the distorted drama of Sahara. Suleiman, from Zanzibar via Sheffield, is a vital element, adding light, shade and shakers. Regular percussionist Salah Dawson Miller, who has been unwell, joins the band for the encore, Fulani Coochie Man, the title making their refracted blues agenda even more explicit. A triumph.