A pair of soulful divas - Africa’s Angelique Kidjo and Tony Award winner Jennifer Holliday (Effie in Dreamgirls) - enliven a slow time for new music.
AAngelique Kidjo Eve 429
Angelique Kidjo knows how to command attention, whether through her powerful, vibrant singing or as a woman who, through her role as a UNICEF good-will ambassador, calls attention to women’s issues and refugees in Africa.
Former President Bill Clinton and Bishop Desmond Tutu gave blurbs for the Benin native’s new memoir and an impressive list of musicians signed on for Kidjo’s first album in four years: jazz powerhouses Christian McBride and Lionel Loueke, Rostam Batmaglij of Vampire Weekend, classical’s Kronos Quartet, funkmeister Bernie Worrell and the amazing Dr. John.
Eve (her mother’s nickname) soars as fabulous and modern popmusic that wears its African, Latin and Caribbean influences (and several languages) proudly.
Kidjo’s vocals shine, pushing and pulling the listener through an impressive set of songs. “Hello” is loaded with rhythms that defy one to sit still. The stunning collaboration with Kronos on “Ebile” has a striking, polyrythmic sound. Also thrilling are the women’s choirs that join Kidjo on “M’baamba (Kenyan Song).”
For music this good, language is no barrier.
Hot track: the Afro-Cuban funk of “Orisha”; “Hello”; “M’baamba (Kenyan Song)”; the melancholy “Blewu”; “Kulumbu” with Dr. John on keyboards.
- ELLIS WIDNER
B+ Jennifer Holliday The Song Is You Shanachie
In 1995, the voice of “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” left the recording studio, Tony and Grammy awards in hand. But, at long last, Jennifer Holliday has returned with this superb album that mixes pop and soul standards with new material. Her voice still has the richness, emotional depth and passion that made her a star on Broadway and, for a time, the pop and R&B charts.
Just listen to her glorious voice soar on a sensual and gorgeous “The Look of Love” and the stunning reading of Etta James’ “At Last.” The title tune swings nicely with its bigband arrangement and Holliday’s relaxed, playful vocal.
“Love Me by Name” is a smoldering love song, while “Love Dance” is tender.
Hot track: “The Look of Love”; “The Song Is You”; “Love Me by Name.”- ELLIS WIDNER CWarpaint Warpaint Rough Trade
The second full-length from Los Angeles-based trio Warpaint -Emily Kokal, Theresa Wayman and Jenny Lee Lindberg - is an ideal sleep aid. Steeped in a relentless torpor, the album plods along without much in the way of anything resembling a catchy melody or interesting production (even though famed producer Mark “Flood” Ellis was twiddling the knobs). It’s a languid, gauzy assemblage that could have benefited from its edges not being quite so buffed and polished, and maybe a Red Bull or two.
Hot track: “Love Is to Die.” - SEAN CLANCY
A- Amy Ray Goodnight Tender Daemon
Indigo Girl Amy Ray’s music on Goodnight Tender is dense and sure-footed, boldly occupying space in a way her previous rootsy offerings could never quite muster. Maybe that’s because there’s no fusion here; the only reference to anything remotely modern is Ray’s cheeky desire to “Skip to my Lou to the dubstep sound” in “Oyster and Pearl.”
To borrow a phrase, this is “pure country,” the kind of smooth, mournful racket folks make on their porch with a few guitars, a banjo and a pedal steel, maybe even a snare drum and a fiddle or two.
Hot track:“Oyster and Pearl.” - MATT CASARINO, McClatchy Newspapers
B- Vince Gill & Paul Franklin Bakersfield MCA Nashville
Singer and guitarist Vince Gill teams up with pedal steel wizard Paul Franklin to cover songs by California country legends Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. Gill also is the producer of Ashley Monroe’s Like a Rose, which is the best record put out by Nashville in 2013.
This project is a worthy one if for no other reason than putting out more songs with pedal steel, an instrument in full-blown retreat on modern country records. The problem with Bakersfield is an approach that treats this material as sacrosanct. Gill’s tenor is sweet throughout, but when he takes on Haggard’s “Branded Man” and sings of being in prison, it doesn’t carry enough gravity.
Cracker Barrel has just released a deluxe version of the album with four additional songs, including “Your Tender Loving Care” and “I Threw Away the Rose.”
Hot track: “Fightin’ Side of Me.” - WERNER TRIESCHMANN
Style, Pages 29 on 02/04/2014