Michael Stipe, Grant Lee Phillips, Horace Andy, Revetti Saklar (vocals); Michael Franti (spoken vocals); Robbie Williams (guitar).
The global village shrinks down to a single neighborhood in this ambitious project. Rhythm is the road that runs through it all, drawing residents from most of the corners of the world; odd, though, that with legions gathered from India, Africa, New Zealand, Europe, and the U.S., no one from South or Latin America, or from any Native American cultures, joined the party. Even so, producers Duncan Bridgeman and Jamie Catto accomplish a miracle of sorts by traveling to far-flung places and recording dozens of singers and musicians. Each artist contributes parts to one or another song, which are subsequently arranged into often-dazzling pastiches on frameworks of sensuous rhythm. The results are quite extraordinary: On "The Way You Dream" Michael Stipe's vocal floats into a flurry of jungle beats, which are animated by furious hand-drumming and sweetened by New Zealand flute (putorino) and Mandinka harp (kora). These elements melt together in total harmony, as if these disparate musicians had grown up playing together. 1 Giant Leap surprises constantly in this way, yet Bridgeman and Catto are apparently trying to make a point beyond music. The fact that the recipe for the human organism (70 percent water, 18 percent carbon, five percent nitrogen, two percent calcium) appears on the back cover suggests that the moral has something to do with the universality of mankind. Another reading is possible: If musicians are going to communicate over undeniable barriers, pop music -- arguably the simplistic distillation of all that culture has to offer -- is, for better or worse, the lingua franca. ~ Robert L. Doerschuk
W/M.Stipe,R.Williams,Speech,N. Cherry,Mahotella Qns,Baaba Maa
Personnel: Ulali (vocals, spoken vocals); Duncan Bridgeman (vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar, flute, keyboards, drums, programming); Eddi Reader, Grant Lee Phillips, Horace Andy, Mahotella Queens, Maxi Jazz, Michael Stipe , Neneh Cherry, Robbie Williams, Asha Bhosle, Baaba Maal (vocals); Dana Gillespie (chant); Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Ram Dass, Tim Robbins (spoken vocals); Dave Randall (guitar, electric guitar); Nigel Butler (guitar, programming); Sanjay Kumar (guitar); Pops Mohamed (kora, percussion); Ronu Majumdar (flute); Lévon Minassian (duduk); Eddie Quansah (trumpet); Bada Seck (djembe, sabar); DJ Swamp (scratches).
Audio Mixers: Nigel Butler; Duncan Bridgeman.
Unknown Contributor Roles: Joe "Fingers" Webster & His River City Jazzmen; Speech.
1 Giant Leap: Jamie Catto, Duncan Bridgeman.
CMJ (5/20/02, p.6) - "...This album will make listeners believe that world peace may truly be possible..." Mojo (Publisher) (April 2002, p.105) - "...Every other 'ethnic sounds over chilled beats' album appears pretty tawdry in comparison....this is global techno that encourages scrutiny, not getting stoned..."
Racing Away Grant Lee Phillips, Grant Lee Phillips / Horace Andy, Horace Andy
$0.99
12
Ghosts Eddi Reader
$0.99
1 Giant Leap Music Review
Customer 1 Giant Leap Reviews
Average Rating: (4.7 out of 5 stars)
Amazing This is new music with lots of depth. Works even better on the DVD- probably the best use to date of the capabilities of the DVD format. Truly multimedia (at last!). Unity in diversity.
Unlike other world music "collaborations" all the musician actually played throughout the tracks, and they are structured around them. Sampling is not used to make them fit Western songs.
I'm only giving four stars because the overall sound is too loud and squashed- the percussion in particular suffers a bit from a lack of dynamic range. Submitted by a reviewer (Cork, Ireland.) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo 1 of 1 found this helpful.
Great music This CD is one of the best I've heard in along time, it has a nice mix of musicians from all over the globe.
The DVD is also very good I hope its avaiable soon to purchase.
Robert Submitted by tevaite_2000 (Palo Alto ca 94301) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo
still cutting edge, 10 years later! I love this album, it's perfectly mastered and the messages ring through loud and clear. Submitted by Dara (Syracuse, NY, USA) Was This Review Helpful? YesNo
Amazing
Great music
Share this Product