Malian singer-songwriter Habib Koité and US blues guitarist Eric Bibb will get together in Bamako in 2012 to make a blues record that has been simmering since they met a decade ago.
It will be released on Belgian label Contre Jour.
Egyptian singer Ramy Essam will release his first recording since he helped to bring about the Egyptian revolution with his politically-charged tunes on British label 30IPS.
Other music from North Africa is due from Tunisian singer-songwriter Emel Mathlouthi on label Harmonia Mundi and from Algerian drummer Karim Ziad, who is expected to release a jazz album.
Young Ethiopian pianist Samuel Yirga, part of the Dub Colossus collective, is
waiting to drop his album of jazz and modern takes on traditional Ethiopian tunes.
Malian couple Amadou and Mariam will have a keenly-awaited new album out on Because Records in 2012.
Guinean group Les Espoirs de Coronthie is also planning to release its fourth album in April or May, while Malian ngoni player Bassekou Kouyaté is rumoured to be working on a new release
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