Photo by the Duchess

"Robert from Sterns introduced me to your website yesterday – brilliant – all very interesting."
– Ronnie Graham, author of The Da Capo Guide to Contemporary African Music, and The World of African Music

"Alastair – you're Essential!"
– Richard M. Shain, ethnomusicologist, author of Roots in Reverse: Senegalese Afro-Cuban Music and Tropical Cosmopolitanism, editor of The Spatial Factor in African History and contributor to Music and Globalization: Critical Encounters

"African music is rich! Thank you for documenting it for us! You are doing stuff a whole Ministry of Arts and Culture can't do despite enjoying a heavy budgetary allocation from our taxes! Thumbs up!"
– Kelly Ogome, Kenyan DJ

This website contains the musical opinions of Alastair Johnston, writer, book artist, teacher, and bon vivant who has written and broadcast on the topic of world music for over 35 years, under the pseudonym "Dr Rhythm." His writings have been published in mainstream magazines (e.g., WIRED, SONGLINES, WHOLE EARTH REVIEW), newspapers (e.g., San Francisco Weekly, East Bay Express) and little magazines (e.g., Shuffle Boil, Jimmy & Lucy's House of K). He updates this website monthly, or as new items are added.

(The 16th-century maps are by Sebastian Münster)