Reviewed by Trevor Kirk

The many and various facets of the career of Ben Okafor have no place in this review - if you want to know more about this former Biafran boy soldier, political activist, actor, singer, songwriter and author, I can recommend a visit to Ben's website www.benokafor.com. Also, a recent Cross Rhythms article by Tony Cummings Redemption Songs From An Ex-Boy Soldier is also hugely informative. As regards this 2006 release, it's mainly Ben and his guitar (as you'd expect from the title) with some unobtrusive backing instruments and percussion. The whole idea was to recreate the feel of a live performance - Ben says that these songs have been part of his live sets for yonx, but he's never got round to putting them on an album. As anyone who's seen him live will testify, his philosophy is "educate, entertain and inform, and inspire people to ask the question 'How can we change this world?'" Running time is generous at over 67 minutes for 13 tracks, and production, thanks to the skills of Mark Stevens, is excellent.

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