Not surprisingly, Cruz and Gonzalez give us two of the record’s best dance numbers, "Quimbara" and "Que Viva Chango" respectively. So we get Celia Cruz, the undisputed queen of salsa, and Celina Gonzalez with a rootsier, more rural Cuban style and Gal Costa, Maria Bethania and the silky Elis Regina with Brazilian samba. It would be hard to limit such musically influential countries as Cuba and Brazil to one representative. Indeed it would be hard to ignore such artists as Aretha Franklin, Marian Makeba and Maria Bethania in an anthology such as this. The massive influence of Africa and the African Diaspora can be seen in the number of representatives present on the record. I have not seen either Fairuz or Oum Kalsoum on any other anthology of world music. She is, of course, revered by Arab Americans but is not exactly a household name in the United States. Literally millions attended her funeral in 1975. Her performances went on for hours with audiences of thousands in the palm of her hand. Her deep voice was utterly controlled yet steeped in the drama and melancholy of Arabic classical music. Egyptian President Abdel Gamel Nasser wisely scheduled his speeches not to conflict with her concert broadcasts.
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The latter occupies a place in Arabic culture just this side of God and the prophets. This project also wins high marks in my book for including the work of the great Lebanese singer Fairuz and the Egyptian Oum Kalsoum (also transliterated Umm Kalthoum). Her music has the same sort of edgy kinetic feeling that Ra’s music often had, as well as, of course, serious African polyrhythms. Abba briefly before on a release of her own, but I had not made the sonic connections between her and Sun Ra.
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One of the most pleasant surprises was the Mauritanian artist Dimi Mint Abba. It’s good to see some record producers place the United States in the context of the global community and not above it. musicians not usually included on such anthologies, like Marian Anderson and Patsy Cline. But it also includes artists I had never heard, such as the wonderful Sudanese vocalist Idjah Hadidjah and U.S. This unique, perhaps even strange compilation features some of the usual world music suspects, the hot young acts like Tiddas, the Australian trio, and the Finnish group, Varttina, as well as such established legends as Edith Piaf, the French torch singer, and Cuba’s Celia Cruz. Some of the selections, like Cedella Booker Marley’s (Bob’s mom) "Listen Up Ladies," reflect the album’s overall goal of supporting women’s liberation. The musical and aesthetic quality are relatively high throughout, no mean feat given the diverse genres represented.
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The entire design of the record is arty, yet easy to read and navigate. Nakamura’s dark blue cover art is gorgeous. "Global Divas" is a three-CD set that features over seventy female artists from more than thirty different countries and cultures.Įven with all of those artists, the CD is packaged with the right amount of information and pictures to help contextualize the artists – though sometimes I wish they’d given a bit more information about the songs. INTO THE FIELD of myriad and ever increasing world music box sets has come a most interesting entry from Rounder Records that benefits the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), which works to empower women and women’s projects in developing countries. Radical Rhythms: "Global Divas" | Solidarity Radical Rhythms: "Global Divas" - Kim Hunter