Search - Dee Dee Bridgewater :: Red Earth: A Malian Journey (Jewl)

Dee Dee goes to Mali to find her ancestral roots.

smoothjazz_views | Beverly Hills, CA | 09/09/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Dee Dee goes to Mali to find her ancestral roots and makes this CD with African musicians.

Rhythmically strong throughout, the most appealing tracks are the jazz covers.

The standout is her revisiting "Afro Blue" in a more percussive version than her 70's classic. Wayne Shorter's "Footprints" is given a slightly slower pace but is equally good, and her version of Nina Simone's "Four Women" is compelling. There's also a real barnstorming version of "Compared To What".

The other tracks may be too African for many on this interesting project.



Her inspiration for finding `home' was that she's spent much of her recent career "being other people" with projects celebrating female jazz giants Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald. So she wanted to find herself and "wanted to get percussive".



Suitably enough, the set opens with an immaculate version of the track made famous by another female jazz singer "finding herself" today, Abbey Lincoln. "Afro Blue" will always be classic but this version seems to resonate stronger than ever being one of the ten recorded in Bamako with Cheick Tidiane Seck.

There's a nice section on him arriving at Bamako Station on the DVD and the place to be for a great Saturday night out is Oumou Sangaré's hotel.



The DVD is a beautifully filmed documentary of the recording of the album with the Malian backdrop, even with scenes of urban poverty, it's a great 45 minute advert (bound to turn up on cable channel at some stage and well worth watching).



Seck is the link between Dee Dee's American jazz and Africa. The studio is full of traditional instruments, ("I want the boom boom" she says) and it a mixture of local musicians and her regular trio of Edsel Gomez (Puerto Rico, pianist). Ira Coleman (bassist worked with Angelique Kidjo, Denise Jannah and Klaus Doldinger) and Minino Garay (Arginitian percussionist).



"Bani" (Bad Spirits), "Sakhodougou" (The Griots) and "Massane Cissé" (Red Earth) have been told in the oral tradition of the `griots' since the twelfth century and is what global music is all about, even if the purists might disagree with Dee Dee's contributions in English. Purist or not, the duet on "Djarabi" (Oh My Love) with Oumou Sangaré is special and there's no denying that the vocal contribution of Kabiné Kouyaté on "The Griots" is a find.



One of the better tracks that attempt a modern griot mix English/skat/Bambara is "Dee Dee'=" co-written with Baba Sissoko and "Mama Digna Sara Ye" (Mama Don't Ever Go Away) written with Malian diva Ramata Diakité.



On the DVD she explains at length about how she wanted to make this an album for and by women. Good choice then to cover a Nina Simone song, `Four Women' and the track that's getting all-round acclaim "Bambo" (No More) with its anti-forced marriage. Originally composed by Tata `Bambo' Kouyaté (who sings with Dee Dee), it was so influencial, the government outlawed forced marriage in the 1960s (not that it still doesn't go on of course around the world).



Two obvious sides of Dee Dee come out on the soul-modal-jazz interpretation of Wayne Shorter's "Footprints" with suitable roots lyrics from Dee Dee and the blues with Bassékou Kouyaté and three other n'goni players, two percussionists and Bassékou's wife on "Children Go `Round".



The last three tracks were recorded in Paris, where she lives with her husband/co-producer Jean Marie Durand. "Red Earth" (Massane Cissé) rocks the blues as Dee really lets you have it with Fatoumata "Mama" Kouyaté.



My highlights: "Red Earth", "Afro Blue", "Footprints", "Bambo", "The Griots", "Four Women"."

A Minor Masterpiece

Rick Cornell | Reno, Nv USA | 11/30/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I hadn't gotten even halfway through this c.d. on first listen, before I had the distinct first impression that this is a masterpiece.



After a few complete listens, I'll temper my enthusiasm, but only slightly. I mean, Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue," Charles Mingus' "Let My Children Hear Music," and Duke Ellington's "In a Mellow Tone" are masterpieces, after all. But this is at the least a minor masterpiece. It also is one of the best vocal jazz c.d.'s of 2007 and quite possibly the best, and a c.d. which absolutely, positively deserves a Grammy nomination.



It also, IMO, is Dee Dee Bridgewater's career highlight. I loved her 2005 release, "Jai Deux Amours." In retrospect, however, that c.d. merely hinted at the greatness of this one. It's like she ripped the top off of the creative bottle, and what the genie has wrought is a wonderment to behold.



This c.d. is a testament to the human condition. The call and response of "Mama Don't Ever Go Away (Mama Digna Sara Ye)" or "Children Go 'Round (Demissenw)", for example, should play as well in Mali as in Manhattan--or Manitoba, for that matter.



But even more basically, this c.d. is to jazz as Paul Simon's "Graceland" is to pop. Which is to say, I cannot think of a better meld of American jazz to African music (including Dizzy Gillespie's "Kush"!). The rhythms throughout are stunning. With a percussion section of 5 or 6 African instruments throughout played by native Malians, and with jagged contrapuntal rhythms over 9/8, 7/8 and 8/8 (yes, "Long Time Ago" is in 8/8--not 4/4, not cut time) meters, this c.d. never ceases to fascinate metrically. And the Malian background vocals sound like the cultural precursor to American inner-city rap.



On first listen, though, I wondered whether the decision to include Nina Simone's "Four Women" and Eugene McDaniel's "Compared to What" was such a good idea. I thought both of these great songs were uniquely American. But as I think more about it, I conclude to the contrary. They may both have been borne of American experience; but outrage over the abuses of slavery and outrage over a morally crumbling society from the government down are hardly unique American commodities. (Recall apartheid, Idi Amin, the Tsutsi's, or Darfur, anyone?) No, these songs work--in fact, "Compared to What" makes a terrific exclamation point ending to a terrific album.



Don't buy this c.d.--buy two copies. One for you and one for a friend who cares about jazz. Your friend will forever thank you. RC"

Dee Dee Does It Again!!!

Chicago Indoor Soccer | chicago, il USA | 07/15/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Dee Dee is always ahead of the curve. I have seen and heard her since her days with Thad Jones, Mel Lewis Big Band. She is not afraid to try whatever she wants. Dee Dee loves to do themes as she has on the CD's like Love and Peace, Dear Ella, This is New etc. On this CD, Dee Dee finds her African roots with most of the tracks recorded in Mali, Africa.

There are several jazz standards [done with Malian musicians] which are great. The other tracks are also fantastic. One thing you can always count on with DEE DEE is the quality of the musicians and the sound quality. Both are superb throughout. Whenever Dee Dee lauches a new CD, she follows it with a live tour and generally does the songs from the new CD with most or all of the musicians involved. I can't wait to see this one!"