Chiwoniso - Rebel Woman

Chiwoniso is from Zimbabwe and she lives in Harare, the nation's capital city and the epicenter of the strife that is repressing the Zimbabwean people. With that in mind and the fact that this album is called Rebel Woman you might think that the music here would come off as very angry. To the contrary, although she sings about the struggles, in various African dialects, it clearly translates that the music is infused with hope, not bile. Mostly western instruments were used in these recordings but the mbira, or thumb piano, adds to Chiwoniso's vocals for a distinct African sound. Fans of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the group that came to prominence in America when they collaborated with Paul Simon, will hear many similarities in style in Chiwoniso's music. Even though it's unlikely that many listeners will understand the lyrics these catchy songs beg to be sung along to nevertheless. Some of southern Africa's finest musicians were used on Rebel Woman but it is Chiwoniso's expressive voice that takes the spotlight throughout.

Chambao - Con Otro Aire

Chambao is a very popular band from Spain with a honey-voiced lead singer named La Mari. There's lots of Spanish flavor here, a little flamenco even, but Con Otro Aire is designed to broaden Chambao's current international fan base so on some tunes the accent is muted a bit. Each song is constructed to showcase La Mari and the front woman offers up a little something for everyone. "Detalles," if sung in English, would fit right in with America's current idea of country music, even if it does feature hints of exotic instrumentation. The band uses unusual (to western ears) instruments like kanun, saz, darbuka, dahola, riq and gunguru to flavor their songs, so your feet may be in Spain but your mind can travel to India, the Middle East or any of the South American nations. Con Otro Aire is very relaxing; this nice dose of Mediterranean sunshine is perfect for play on a Saturday morning. The song is not on this album, but La Mari was recently nominated for a Latin Grammy for her duet with Ricky Martin, "Tu Recuerdo."

17 North Parade/VP Round-Up: Dennis Brown - A Little Bit More-Joe Gibbs 12" Selection 1978-83 * Culture & The Deejays - At Joe Gibbs 1977-79 * Cutty Ranks - Limb by Limb

Many would consider the late '70s, the heyday for artists like Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, to be the classic era of reggae music. An absolute ton of Jamaican music from that era went pretty much unheard in this country but thankfully there are labels like VP that diligently work on bringing this music to a wider audience. These three latest collections are perfect examples of what's waiting out there in the archives. Like Tosh and Marley, Dennis Brown has passed away but he left an immense body of work (over seventy albums worth) including the dozen tunes on A Little Bit More that were originally released as vinyl singles on the Joe Gibbs label. Brown was a bright-voiced singer who favored relationship songs like "How Can I Leave You," "Your Love's got a Hold on Me" and the exceptionally bouncy "Girl I've Got a Date." Some of Brown's work presaged the sound that would become known as dancehall, like on "Equal Rights Style" where he turns over part of the song to toaster Big Youth. Fans of Bob Marley would do themselves well to check out Culture's At Joe Gibbs 1977-79. Led by singer Joseph Hill, Culture favored the classic reggae rhythms that Marley popularized and their subject matter is similarly attuned. The band offers thanks to Jah on "I'm Not Ashamed," warns of social deterioration on "Two Seven Clash/Prophesy Reveal" and sends out a smoky Rasta good-time vibe on "Natty Dread Taking Over." Each song features a guest spot from a big DJ of the time; names like I Roy, U Brown, Clint Eastwood and Prince Far I. The ubiquitous team of Sly & Robbie plays throughout the compilation, as they do on Brown's album. Limb by Limb comes from a different era; Cutty Ranks is a first-class toaster working in the dancehall style and the thirty-one tunes on 2 CDs here are culled from his late '80s and early '90s output. Ranks has somewhat of an intimidating vocal style and he often comes off as an angry young man but therein lays his appeal. He sings in a very heavy Jamaican patois, firing off non-stop barrages of indecipherable tongue-twisters that he makes seem effortless. He knows right when he has his listener hypnotized, too, often throwing in a dub effect to break things up right as the trance is kicking in. Fans of Marley-style Jamaican music may want to work their way into Limb by Limb slowly but overall all three of these discs will enhance any collection and certainly they'll all provide lots of music for the dance party.

Appart - Flamencotronics