Angelique Kidjo Black Ivory Soul CD

Dave Matthews Appears On One Track

Personnel includes: Angelique Kidjo, Dave Matthews (vocals); Romero Lumbado (acoustic guitar); Joao Mota (guitar); Dominic Kanza (nylon string guitar); Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson (drums); Brenda White-King, Cindy Mizelle, Dennis Collins, Curtis King (background vocals).
Recorded at Sear Sound, New York, New York.
BLACK IVORY SOUL was nominated for the 2003 Grammy Awards for Best World Music Album.
Personnel: Angélique Kidjo (vocals, background vocals); Dave Matthews (vocals); Vinicius Cantuaria (acoustic guitar); Joao (Tombo) Mota, Dominic Kanza (electric guitar); Romero Lubambo (nylon-string guitar); Mamadou Diabate (kora); Juliann Klopotic (violin); Bernie Worrell (Fender Rhodes piano, organ); Ira Coleman (acoustic bass); Michel Alibo (electric bass); Ahmir Khalib Thompson (drums); Cindy Mizelle, Brenda White-King, Curtis King, Dennis Collins (background vocals).
Recording information: Cantate Da Cidade, Salvador De Bahia, Brazil; Obatala Studio, Brooklyn, NY; Sear Sound Studios, New York, NY; The Magic Shop, New York, NY.
Photographer: John Sann.
Arrangers: Jean Hébrail; Angélique Kidjo.
Angelique Kidjo's records have brought her plenty of acclaim, but they've tended to be very mixed -- some tracks exceptional, others remarkably ordinary. Black Ivory Soul, her exploration of the connection between her native Benin and the Bahian region in the north east of Brazil, might just be her most consistent and satisfying effort to date. She's toned down the R&B influence that peppered 1998's Oremi -- indeed, only the title cut is R&B, and that has a sweet Brazilian inflection -- and focuses instead on the job at hand. Working with talents like Carlinhos Brown and Vinicius Cantaria has obviously helped; "Tumba," for example, fairly crackles with crisp axé rhythms that drive the song along, while"Ominira" and "Afrika" makes the distance between the two continents seem very small indeed. Kidjo gets rootsier here than she has in a long time, as on her version of Gilberto Gil's "Refavela," which offers an unvarnished look -- lyrically and musically -- at the ghetto, or the more introspective "Okanbale," where the rippling kora lines falling like water through the song. Kidjo uses her trademark lush harmonies throughout the album, and she's in great voice, even content to play second fiddle to Dave Matthews on "Iwoya," where the status of the guest star (and the English language vocal) seem like a calculated move to push one of the disc's weakest tracks straight to AAA airplay. But, happily, that's the exception, not the rule; on the whole this record's heart is in art, not commerce, even tossing in a spare, loving cover of Serge Gainsbourg's "Ces Petits Riens" to close things out, although it's quite out of place on the record. This time around, Kidjo seems to have followed her muse, not the money, and the results are, virtually, everything she's always promised to do, but never quite achieved before. ~ Chris Nickson
For the Bill Laswell-produced BLACK IVORY SOUL, Angelique Kidjo's first album since 1998's OREMI, the world music diva explores the link between the Brazilian city of Bahia and her home country of Benin. Befitting her multi-cultural background, Kidjo worked with an impressive range of talent including Brazilians Carlinhos Brown and Vinicius Cantaria, Roots drummer Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson and soul singer Cindy Mizelle. The result is an album's worth of music that's very much percussion-driven and peppered with plenty of irresistible grooves ranging from the life affirming "Tumba," (which is the name for congas in Benin), to the airy, acoustic guitar-dappled "Ominira" (Yoruba for freedom).
Among the few English-language songs are the funky title track with its Fela-lite backbeat and the infectious "Iwoya," seemingly a stab at college radio airplay by way of guest Dave Matthews's vocal contribution. Kidjo also continues her penchant for unusual covers--this timeMojo (Publisher) (5/02, p.106) - "...Her best album in a while...an attempt to fuse Benin with Brazil..."