Music

You probably know more about John Legend than you think. Check the notes of many of the biggest soul and R&B albums of the past decade, and there's his name. As pianist and vocalist on Lauren Hill's 1998 track 'Everything is Everything', vocalist and co-writer on Alicia Key's multi-platinum 'You Don't Know my Name', co-writer, pianist and vocalist on Talib Kweli's prolific The Beautiful Struggle and vocalist, pianist and co-writer on the Kanye West's smash hit of last year, College Dropout.

Gilad Atzmon is arguably the most outstanding artist to emerge on the British jazz scene in recent years. He can hardly be described as new, having recorded nine albums in the past decade, as well as performing with musicians as diverse as Ian Dury, Paul McCartney, Sinead O'Connor and perhaps most bizarrely, Robbie Williams. It is in recent years however that his star has shone most brightly - firstly with the release of the 2003 BBC Jazz Album of the Year Exile, followed last year by the widely acclaimed Musik.

Tony Benn and Roy Bailey have been touring together for nearly 30 years. In 2003 they won BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards' 'Best Live Act'. So this, their first CD, could hardly be described as a rush job to cash in on their newfound fame.

Peace Not War volume 1 generated over £50,000 for anti-war and peace groups across the world.

Hopefully Peace Not War volume 2 will raise this and more. Yet it seems to me that this compilation, which targets the youth market specifically, has a greater potential.

Extraordinary Mix

Acoustic jazz undertones, languid sensual vocals, African beats, clapping hands and the Moscow Orchestra - not what you'd usually expect of a hip-hop album. But MC Solaar's latest, Mach 6, is no ordinary album.

One of the most exhilarating things about the global justice movement is the opening up of different worlds and stepping into them through music.

Taha's world is very different to ours and on first listening to his music we had to sit down and rest! The fusion of rai (north African/French modal music), Middle Eastern music, rock, punk, hip-hop and American funk and soul combined a mixture of familiar and unfamiliar sounds. Rachid's friend in the accompanying DVD describes how because his music comes from elsewhere it disrupts the system.

Tom Waits has been obscure and surreal in his critique of society, but not any more; this album is a damning indictment of the US at war. Real Gone is a celebration of resistance to the corruption endemic in capitalism - and to the ultimate corruption and barbarity of war.

When it comes to lineage, Talib Kweli is pretty much hip-hop royalty. As one half of the Black Star movement (with Mos Def) and a predominant part of the Rawkus label, Kweli has been contributing to the definition of hip-hop for years. Respected in more 'conscious' hip-hop circles, Talib Kweli has so far failed/refused to capture the attention of top 40 radio.

This is The Dixie Chicks explaining why they are gigging with James Taylor in the swing states during October. Headlined by Bruce Springsteen, REM, Pearl Jam and Jackson Browne, and coordinated by MoveOn.org, big name line-ups will play several areas simultaneously where the votes really count.

Republicans mounted a news offensive after this tour was announced on 4 August, claiming that Springsteen had grown very rich from the American way. This only recruited more acts.

'I oppose the (Nigerian) government passionately because it is evil, man, full of corruption. It stops me living my life.' The above words are taken from an interview I conducted with Fela Kuti backstage at Brixton Academy in 1988.