Collaborations between artists are typically orchestrated by record labels hoping to generate the next chart hit, but on this occasion the chart-topping dance act Rudimental had the chance to do their own A&R, picking a rising act with whom to work on a new track. Given the challenge of writing, recording, releasing and performing an original track within a 24-hour time frame, they picked emerging artist Manchester-based Bipolar Sunshine, aka Adio Marchant, the former front man of indie-ska band Kid British.“We discovered Bipolar Sunshine's tune Fire on YouTube and thought it was great – great vocals and lyrics,” Rudimental's Piers Agget tells me.

When Prince comes to the Montreux Jazz Festival, all bets are off. On his third visit to the Swiss Riviera for the 47th edition of the event, he was given carte blanche over three consecutive, sold-out evenings and appeared determined to cover as many bases as possible.

Less approachable than Staff Benda Bilili, not as sonically challenging as Konono No1, this new contender for best Congolese band on the planet is fronted by one-time Damon Albarn collaborator Jupiter Bokondji.

Jamie Cullum's first album for Island may be his best. It certainly goes beyond his retro-jazz comfort zone, with piercing electric organ and electric piano lending a vibrant, visceral edge to several songs.

Since the 1980s, John Zorn has composed 500 songs inspired by traditional Jewish music, a series known as the Masada Book, variously recorded by adventurous musicians such as Marc Ribot and now Pat Metheny.

Middle-class problems

The Child Of Lov is Cole Williams, a reclusive bedroom soundscaper flushed into the open courtesy of this debut album, which marries disjointed beats with hoarse, high soul vocals.

Louis Armstrong singing spiritual-jazz anthem "The Creator Has a Masterplan" (and sounding great) is one of the more bizarre experiences on this neat compendium of black consciousness from the vaults of Bob Thiele's Flying Dutchman label.

For their follow-up to 2011’s acclaimed Buffalo, New Zealand psych-poppers The Phoenix Foundation chose to ignore the “short-form game” of contemporary pop and make “Test Match music” – an indication of the double-album length of Fandango which, alas, also  hints at its yawning longueurs.

George Jackson, who died in his Mississippi home on 14 April at the age of 68 after a year-long struggle against cancer, was the co-author of "Old Time Rock and Roll" and hundreds of other soul, rock and rhythm and blues tunes. Jackson recorded dozens of singles in the 1960s but made his mark as a writer, beginning with FAME Studios. He later was a songwriter for Muscle Shoals Sound Studios. When Malaco bought Muscle Shoals Sound, it hired Jackson to write songs.

If guitarist-auteur Otis's killer 1973 album Inspiration Information has somehow passed you by, you need to get it now.

The daughter of a Malian diplomat, Rokia Traoré is perhaps the most naturally cross-cultural of her country's abundant musical offspring, effortlessly blending styles and sounds as easily as she switches between languages.

If you haven't heard this Swedish singer/producer duo before, then track title "This City's Local Italo Disco DJ Has a Crush on Me" tells you what to expect.

AFP is the supergroup formed by Radiohead's Thom Yorke, Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, producer Nigel Godrich, drummer-for-hire Joey Waronker and Brazilian percussionist Mauro Refosco. If you're still reading, I salute you, but despite that terrifying opening sentence, Amok is not an unpleasant listen.