I get the impression that a lot of people are tired of the music scene in the US, and bored of the glut of uninspired or manufactured artists that seem to have been dominating it in recent years. But I'm here to tell you, there's something else....

Seriously, elsewhere in the world, there's some wonderful music being made. I've found myself listening to a lot of stuff from all over, recently, especially from West African artists (many of whom seem to be based in France), and really connecting with it. It seems that it's soulful and draws on tradition, but it's also experimental and forward-looking, and so much is full of amazing vocals and musicianship. I've been thinking, of late, that at least some people on this forum might enjoy it, and I'm happy to share more if folks are interested.

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One of the singers I've been loving recently is Dobet Gnahoré from Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast). I think she featured on one of India.Arie's albums not so long ago. She's got an amazing voice and is a great performer, from what I've seen. Here's a sample of her work, mainly from her second and third albums, the last of which was released last year.

Palea

This was the song from her second album, which India.Arie borrowed, I think.

There's a great clip of a performance with them dueting on it here, too (sadly, it's rather short): http://www.youtube.com/wa...4ZWXSzlhas

Samahani

This is the album version of the song from her third album.

What blew me away was this live acoustic version from an promo at a radio station (song starts at 0:55): http://www.dailymotion.co...hani_music

Djiguéne (live)

http://vimeo.com/1161174

Nice performance clip of a more upbeat, funky number from her second album.

Kokpa

http://vimeo.com/5770306

This one's my favourite. Just beautiful.

There are a whole bunch of other clips out there, too, which are worth a listen.

(P.S. The title was a tenuous link to the Beyoncé photo shoot thread from a couple of months back, in a last ditch attempt to stop this one sinking without a trace!)

[Edited 5/24/11 17:54pm]

Thanks for sharing.

Pssst....if you really want orgers trampling over themselves to view this thread just add MJ and Gaga to the title.

yanowha said:

Thanks for sharing.

Pssst....if you really want orgers trampling over themselves to view this thread just add MJ and Gaga to the title.

If I could only find a tenuous link.....

deebee said:

yanowha said:

Thanks for sharing.

Pssst....if you really want orgers trampling over themselves to view this thread just add MJ and Gaga to the title.

If I could only find a tenuous link.....

Just change the title to "Hell with Gaga...here's a really talented lady!" and watch 'em come!

Adisa said:

deebee said:

If I could only find a tenuous link.....

Just change the title to "Hell with Gaga...here's a really talented lady!" and watch 'em come!

It might yet happen, depending on how the current 'marketing strategy' turns out!

Great voices...

sosgemini said:

Great voices...

Yeah, I love the vocals in her work, and on a lot of this stuff. I'm a sucker for harmonies, really. This one's very touching, too: http://www.onmvoice.com/play.php?a=7841

(She could be singing about spanners, for all I know. Lovely song about spanners, if she is.)

nice

deebee said:

sosgemini said:

Great voices...

Yeah, I love the vocals in her work, and on a lot of this stuff. I'm a sucker for harmonies, really. This one's very touching, too: http://www.onmvoice.com/play.php?a=7841

(She could be singing about spanners, for all I know. Lovely song about spanners, if she is.)

Correct me if I'm wrong but there's a guy singing with her, right?

[img:$uid]http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p3/Lazycrockett/africanqueen3.jpg[/img:$uid]

sosgemini said:

deebee said:

Yeah, I love the vocals in her work, and on a lot of this stuff. I'm a sucker for harmonies, really. This one's very touching, too: http://www.onmvoice.com/play.php?a=7841

(She could be singing about spanners, for all I know. Lovely song about spanners, if she is.)

Correct me if I'm wrong but there's a guy singing with her, right?

Quite possibly. The guitarist in the live clips is kind of her musical partner (and also her husband, apparently), and his background vocals are on a lot of her tracks. And on the first song, Palea, there's a part in Arabic that's sung by a guy. Not sure who he is, though.

One more clip to show the gal can throw down (even if I'm always drawn to these weepy acoustic numbers)!

lazycrockett said:

[img:$uid]http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p3/Lazycrockett/africanqueen3.jpg[/img:$uid]

And, you know, on the Beyoncé thread referenced in my title, I was the one tutting and eye-rolling about the passé exoticism of the whole "African Queen" theme...

(Guess I'll shut up about that from now on!)