[mp3] The Belgian Afrobeat Association: "
Forgot to mention in my posting about the Rebirth Brass Band something ignorant and mildly amusing. The person who introduced the band (who shall remain nameless here, but hails from a certain Pacific Northwest NPR/jazz station), gave a plug for other upcoming shows at the venue. Susana Baca was next up (in fact, she's there tonight). This person could have called her an Afro-Peruvian chantreuse, or one of a new generation of Peruvian singers, or a vocalist "rivalled only by Omara Portuondo and Cesaria Evora" (as the BBC put it), or "one of the greatest divas in South America (Calabash), or any number of other descriptions.
What did she actually say, you ask? She called Baca -- and I quote -- a "world music vocalist." Now, I'm one that finds the term "world music" useful in some instances. But in this case, the term is next to meaningless. It could apply to anyone from Kongar-ol Ondar to Susheela Raman. Those in the audience unfamiliar with Baca's work gain no insight whatsoever from this description. What lazy language. What a missed opportunity.
Finally the wonderful duo Correo Aereo, played last night and tonight at Traditions Fair Trade Cafe in Olympia. Madeline "Mean Maracas" Sosin and Abel "Got a New Guitar" Rocha have the chemistry and the musical chops to emotionally reel in an audience, and they did. Music from their newest album Para Cantarle al Rio (To Sing a River), and some things from previous albums, including their seasonally appropriate, fast-paced version of "La Llorona." Catch them if you have the chance.
