Track Listing

1. Introduction
2. Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
3. Never Know
4. Babalao
5. Loloye
6. Itche Koutche
7. Open Your Eyes
8. Yaki Yaki
9. Give It Up
10. Oremi
11. Orubaba
12. No Worry

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #226628 in Music
• Released on: 2000-09-14
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Extra tracks, Import
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

CD Description
Singer and songwriter Angelique Kidjo has her feet planted in many worlds on OREMI, and it sounds fantastic. A cosmopolitan hailing from Benin, West Africa, Angelique manoeuvers gracefully and transcendently across the African Diaspora andback. Her studio assemblage here is a fine one, in that they help her thread tight seams between "urban" sounds, funk, jazz and the pop of her home region, leading to an outstanding production that sounds as organic as it is diverse.
"Itche Koutche" is robust street-funk that features special guest Branford Marsalis on soprano sax, blowing a lovely batchof sonic bubbles. "Babalao" does more of the same but with a decidedly Deep Forest feel. Jazz chanteuse Cassandra Wilson adds honey to the sage and mellow "Never Know". While no rendition of Hendrix's "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" may ever rip as ferociously as the original, Kidjo's layered vocal overdubs, jumbo-sized bass lines and down-tempo treatment give it loads of attitude and shine all the same. As she coasts back and forth between her native tongue and English, Kidjo dispenses West African proverbial wisdom in a form both resonant and intensely hip, giving OREMI wide appeal.