Released: 2004
Tracks: Le Tshephile Mang (Judith Sephuma); Bahia (Angélique Kidjo); Mi Nada Um Ca Tem (Maria de Barros); Mayihlome (Sibongile Khumalo); Retany (Tarika); To Ndje (Kaïssa); Mfan’ Omncane (Dorothy Masuka); Hima (Nawal); Abiani (Dobet Gnahoré); Raoui (Souad Massi); Sina Mali, Sina Deni (Free) (Khadja Nin); Vimba (Women of Mambazo)
Best track: either the Khadja Nin or Angélique Kidjo song
Track to skip: none
This is a compilation album put out by the Putumayo label. The put the label puts out is usually high quality stuff and this album is no exception. Great liner notes here with details about all the performers and the songs. I started getting interested in African music after hearing Afro-Pop in college and specifically it was hearing a bunch of Angélique Kidjo’s music that made me want to pick this up. There’s a great selection of music here and even though Africa is a huge continent, this CD provides good examples of music from various areas of the continent – from Algeria to South Africa, the Ivory Coast to Madagascar and places in between.
The songs that I like best from this are the Angélique Kidjo & Khadja Nin tracks. Kidjo’s got a great voice and she writes really good songs. I like everything I’ve heard from her so far. Khadja Nin covers a Stevie Wonder song, Free, and it’s a great version of his song. I have to admit it was a bit jarring to here the English words “I’m Free” sung in the chorus, as it’s the only English on the whole album. I like listening to music that isn’t in English because you get a truer sense of the *music* without having to deal with what the words are saying. Of course the words are important, I’m not saying they’re not. For me, it’s about the melody and how expressive the singer is in getting the message across. I think with the best singers, you don’t need to understand what they’re saying, as the sound of their voice and their emotion are the most important aspects. That is one thing I love about this collection, is that it’s a very vocal-centric CD. The music is also really good here, but it’s an album about female vocalists from Africa. The voice is very much the featured instrument here.
The Kidjo & Nin songs stand out (as does that awesome refrain that starts in the middle of Kaïssa’s tune), but really there are no missteps here. I like all of the songs and each one presents a different style of music and different influences. My only complaint about the album is that it’s too short – only 40 minutes. I really wanted it to keep going….also with the final track by Women of Mambazo (sort of a female version of Ladysmith Black Mambazo…the leaders of these groups are husband and wife). It’s only 1:40 long and it needed to be longer! Ah well, it gave a nice ending to the album. Good stuff.
Rating: 84
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