Over the course of the last six years, France’s Lo’Jo have proved themselves to be one of the most inspired and creative bands in world music. But while they’ve been captured in the studio, their live show illustrates how their material has developed. So what could be more natural and apt than a live album, especially one that finds them augmented by a few other musicians? Only a couple of the pieces here are new, but that hardly matters. Throughout, it’s apparent how tight the band is, with arrangements more intricate than on disc, the rhythm section offering a perfect ground, at once both solid and off-kilter. The El Nid sisters offer wonderful sororal harmonies at the front, where the Maghreb meets cabaret. And in leader Denis Pean, Lo’Jo has a poet whose voice occupies a territory between the loucheness of Serge Gainsbourg and the whiskey wasteland of Tom Waits. These performances might not be as wild as some they’ve done (no real violin pyrotechnics, for a start), but there’s a beautiful maturity to them, and “Senor Calice,” with its African rap, is little short of masterful. For those who’ve heard the highly justified buzz about Lo’Jo and are seeking a starting place, this is it. For fans who have all the albums the performances here easily warrant the price, especially on “Cinq Cauris Ocre,” where the samples buzz with undisguised menace.

-CN