GoodSound! "Music" Archives

GoodSound! "Music" Archives

Published July 1, 2001

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Angélique Kidjo: Keep on Moving, The Best of
Wrasse Records CK 85759

Musical Performance
Recording Quality
Overall Enjoyment

Born in the small African nation of Benin, Angelique Kidjo has chosen to live in Paris, a decision which has allowed her to combine her native roots with the cosmopolitan influences of the French capital and London's underground scene. With five albums under her belt, she's become one of the most powerful and sophisticated ambassadors of ethno-pop music. Keep on Moving offers 16 tracks from her four most important records, along with one track of her 1990 break-out release and a brand-new a cappella rendition of Gershwin's "Summertime." Speaking of covers, you'll also encounter a brilliant version of Hendrix's "Voodoo Child." All the other tunes are (highly) original material -- a breathtaking mix of deep grooves, phat beats, chank-a-chink guitars, traditional ballads in the Fon and Yoruba tongues, clubland reggae/funk/Afrobeat hybrids and, above all, Kidjo's intensely charged contralto pipes. Production values are excellent and, being a Best of compiled by the artist herself, the album's blend of stylistic variety and chart-topping winners is truly awesome -- call it the perfect intro for the novice!

Ani DiFranco: Revelling: Reckoning
Righteous Babe Records RBR024-D

Musical Performance
Recording Quality
Overall Enjoyment

Ani DiFranco surely ranks among the most prolific artists performing today. This fiercely independent musician was formerly neatly classified as a folk artist, but as her recent albums show, she's becoming increasingly hard to categorize. Revelling: Reckoning is a two-disc release, showing two very different sides of the artist. Revelling serves mainly to showcase her metamorphosis into a funk and jazz artist -- a transformation that has become increasingly apparent over her last couple of albums (and concerts). I like Revelling, but my heart is behind the folksy, simpler Reckoning material. Like the best songs on Up Up Up Up Up Up, Reckoning showcases DiFranco with sparse arrangements and outstanding recording quality that gives the disc an intimate, almost live, in-your-room feel (audiophiles take note: this is reference-grade sound). Undoubtedly these two CDs could have been edited into a single five-star disc, but the sprawling and ambitious Revelling: Reckoning still gets a mighty high recommendation.

Renaud Garcia-Fons: Oriental Bass
Enja 9334-2

Musical Performance
Recording Quality
Overall Enjoyment

Do you love acoustic upright bass yet feel you would like to encounter it for once outside a jazz-influenced milieu? How about hearing it played con arco like a cello on steroids? Or in imitation of a flamenco guitar or a pitch-bending Moorish oud? Or as the unhinged leader of an Arab/Andalucian ensemble? Garcia-Fons is a legend in his native France for manhandling the giant five-foot five-string bass with the agility and élan of a triathlete. In his hands, the unwieldy instrument turns into a passionately singing virtuoso who enchants, seduces, bellows, saws, thunders and coaxes. His compatriots on this album are no less accomplished on their respective lute, trombone, flutes, accordion, flamenco guitar, clarinet and assorted drums and percussion. Still, as the title clearly gives away, this recording is dedicated to exploring the vast canvas of tonal colors and playing styles that Garcia-Fons elicits from his hunk of a bass. By virtue of stellar recording quality, all the tunes here are reference demo material. Play them and have your audio buddies exchange envious glances while thinking, "Where can I get one of those?"

Emma Shapplin: Carmine Meo
EMI 1963

Musical Performance
Recording Quality
Overall Enjoyment

Like the previously reviewed Aria, this is a classy example of a new opera-meets-various-grooves genre. It's led by the crystalline soprano of young Emma Shapplin who apparently regularly performs standard operas and who investigated this hybrid format looking for even greater appeal. Singing in Italian, the French Opera Choirs add a worldly requiem effect on certain tracks. "Cuor Senza Sangue" evokes Venetian gondoliers floating down a canal at sunset in a stylish Merchant/Ivory production, the inherent pathos lightened with tasteful drumbeats. In contrast, on "Spente le Stelle," Ms. Shapplin goes for the full-blown power diva effect, venturing high into the upper registers. The juxtaposition of classical Italian opera material and contemporary backdrops is mostly successful, but occasionally, it brushes against the trite. Only the single English-sung number, "Discovering Yourself," misses the mark entirely. However, a 10-out-of-15 batting average ain't bad. Recommended, if you concentrate on the pearls instead of the (fewer) glass beads and disregard the one bit of lead shot.

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