AllMusic 2017 Year in Review
Favorite Latin and World Albums
Our editors celebrated sounds from around the world in 2017, including protest songs from Puerto Rico, rock from Colombia, eclectic music from Senegal, and hard rock from Zimbabwe.
Alejandra Guzmán / Gloria Trevi
The two grand divas of Latin pop deliver an album that balances its deliberate excesses with inspired performances and great songs.
The singer's excellent sixth album finds unexpected, and refreshing, inspiration in Cuban traditions of melding jazz and bolero.
An elegantly arranged set of Latin rock protest and love songs from the engaging Puerto Rican-American songstress.
Another powerful Afro-beat session from America's finest proponents of the style; features guest vocals from Zap Mama.
The former enfant terrible of French chanson may be in his forties, but in grand musical style, he refuses to give up his rebellious streak.
The Colombian electro cumbia maestros turn in their most uplifting, musically adventurous, and diverse outing yet.
Spain's iconic rocker surrounds himself with vintage keyboards, his road band, and saxophonist Santiago de Campo in delivering dramatic, passionate songs.
After a five-year wait, one of the best bands on the planet delivers a woozy, dizzying exercise in 21st century pop.
An elegant, deeply felt solo piano album featuring some of Dominguez's most beloved American and Latin American standards.
This L.A. band's third album is a smart, joyous exercise in multi-cultural psychedelic funk with both groove and purpose.
On his lushly romantic debut full-length, the mariachi singer and songwriter not only fulfills the promise of his singles, but exceeds them.
Eliza Carthy / The Wayward Band
The U.K. folk maverick deftly wields her ambitions with this appropriately robust big ensemble collaboration.
The Colombian rock star delivers what may be his finest moment: A sense-altering audio-visual album about the nature and necessity of love.
The guitarist's first album on his own Heartcore label is an ambitious, gorgeously rendered set of Brazilian-influenced jazz, rock, and fusion.
The Los Angeles band creates a stunning live-to-tape audio-visual album playing classic boleros, rancheras, and more in the plazas, bars, and theaters of Mexico City.
From mariachi to danzon, cumbia to ranchera, son to blues and rock, and covers to originals, the artist delivers a new kind of feminist manifesto.
The singer continues to bridge old and new, blending Mexican, Chilean, North Andean, and Peruvian traditions with contemporary sounds.
Accompanied by the guitar duo Los Macorinos, Lafourcade pays tribute to over 50 years of Latin American folk with delightful results.
After a ten-year absence, the Senegalese legends return with an expanded lineup and a gorgeous new sound.
This L.A. sextet explores the inseparable connection of Mexican music with Caribbean sounds with help from producers Sly & Robbie and many guests.
On her first recording in six years, the Brazilian songstress employs funk, disco, samba, and nu-bossa to create the perfect summertime album.
Exiled from their Saharan home, the Tuareg guitar seekers deliver an album full of tension and beauty.
Various Artists
Welcome to Zamrock, Vol. 2: How Zambia's Liberation Led to a Rock Revolution 1972-1977
Now Again's second collection exploring the distinctive mid-'70s rock scene in Zambia.
The first anthology from this seminal Zimbabwean heavy rock band who led the country's mid-'70s counterculture.
Defying categorization with its multicultural blend of Afro-Caribbean rhythms, electronic synths, and Yoruba sounds, this Puerto Rican group's debut is an expansive joy.