Track Listing

1. Afro Blue - Dee Dee Bridgewater, Jean Marie Durand, Edsel Gomez, Ira Coleman, Minino Garay, Baba Sissoko, Lansine Kouyate, 'Petit' Adama Diarra, Lamine Tounkara, Cheick Tidiane Seck
2. Bad Spirits (Bani) - Dee Dee Bridgewater, Jean Marie Durand, Cheick Tidiane Seck, Kasse-Mady Diabate, Edsel Gomez, Ira Coleman, Minino Garay, Djelimady Tounkara, Fantamady Kouyaté, Toumani Diabate, Habib 'Dia' Sangare, Baba Sissoko, 'Petit' Adama Diarra, Lamine Tounkara, Alou Kouloubali
3. Dee Dee - Dee Dee Bridgewater, Jean Marie Durand, Baba Sissoko, Mamani Keita, Zoumana Téréta, Habib 'Dia' Sangare, 'Petit' Adama Diarra, Lamine Tounkara, Cherif Soumano, Cheick Tidiane Seck, Minino Garay, Kabine Kouyate, Fatou, Fatoumata "Mama" Kouyate
4. Mama Don't Ever Go Away (Mama Digna Sara Ye) - Dee Dee Bridgewater, Jean Marie Durand, Cheick Tidiane Seck, Ramata Diakite, Edsel Gomez, Ira Coleman, Minino Garay, Baba Sissoko, Benogo Diakite, Kassim Sidibe, Habib 'Dia' Sangare, 'Petit' Adama Diarra
5. Long Time Ago - Dee Dee Bridgewater, Jean Marie Durand, Ira Coleman, Minino Garay, Edsel Gomez, Aly Wague, Baba Sissoko, 'Petit' Adama Diarra
6. Children Go `Round (Demissenw) - Dee Dee Bridgewater, Jean Marie Durand, Bassekou Kouyate, Ami Sacko, Omar Kouyate, Moussa Bah, Gabriel Durand, Moussa Sissoko, Alou Kouloubali
7. The Griots (Sakhodougou) - Dee Dee Bridgewater, Jean Marie Durand, Cheick Tidiane Seck, Kabine Kouyate, Edsel Gomez, Ira Coleman, Minino Garay, Aly Wague, Cherif Soumano, Lansine Kouyate, Moriba Koita, Baba Sissoko, 'Petit' Adama Diarra, Lamine Tounkara, Fatou, Fatoumata "Mama" Kouyate, Mamani Keita
8. Oh My Love (Djarabi) - Dee Dee Bridgewater, Jean Marie Durand, Cheick Tidiane Seck, Oumou Sangare, Ira Coleman, Minino Garay, Habib 'Dia' Sangare, Benogo Diakite, Zoumana Téréta, Cheick Oumar "Sekou", Mamani Keita, Fatou
9. Four Women - Dee Dee Bridgewater, Jean Marie Durand, Edsel Gomez, Ira Coleman, Minino Garay, Aly Wague, Lansine Kouyate, Moriba Koita, Yahkouba Sissohko, 'Petit' Adama Diarra, Mare Sanogo
10. No More (Bambo) - Dee Dee Bridgewater, Jean Marie Durand, Cheick Tidiane Seck, Tata 'Bambo' Kouyate, Edsel Gomez, Ira Coleman, Minino Garay, Modibo Kouyate, Zoumana Téréta, Bassekou Kouyate, Adama Tounkara, Mamadou Diabate, Habib 'Dia' Sangare, 'Djifli' Mamadou Sanogo, 'Pepito' Sekouba Kouyate, Oumou Sacko, Fati Kouyate, Ami Sacko
11. Red Earth (Massane Cisse) - Dee Dee Bridgewater, Jean Marie Durand, Cheick Tidiane Seck, Fatoumata "Mama" Kouyate, Edsel Gomez, Ira Coleman, Minino Garay, Cherif Soumano, Jacob Soubeiga, Bassekou Kouyate, Andra Kouyate, Baba Sissoko, 'Petit' Adama Diarra, Lamine Tounkara
12. Meanwhile - Dee Dee Bridgewater, Jean Marie Durand, Edsel Gomez, Ira Coleman, Minino Garay, Lansine Kouyate, Moussa Sissoko
13. Compared to What - Dee Dee Bridgewater, Jean Marie Durand, Edsel Gomez, Lassy 'King' Massassy, Cheick Tidiane Seck, Ira Coleman, Minino Garay, Lansine Kouyate, Yahkouba Sissohko, Moriba Koita, Baba Sissoko, Moussa Sissoko, Mare Sanogo

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #78334 in Music
• Released on: 2007-06-11
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 70 minutes

CD Description
On this impressive 2007 outing, revered singer Dee Dee Bridgewater celebrates her Malian heritage with a set that deftly mixes African music with jazz. In addition to performing abright, jaunty rendition of one of her signature numbers, "Afro Blue", Bridgewater stands out on the percussive "Bad Spirits (Bani)" and the gentle "Oh My Love (Djarabi)". One of the finest worldbeat/jazz albums of '07, RED EARTH is essential for Bridgewater fans, and will appeal to aficionados of both jazz vocals and West Africa's griot tradition.

Customer Reviews

Sublime roots exploration
A journey into Africa, an exploration of her blackness is how Jazz vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater describes her latest project Red Earth - A Malian Journey.
The record begins on familiar territory with a punchy, slick version of the Mongo Santamaría composition, Afro Blue. Full of typical Bridgewater energy and effortless flow the opener gives the listener little idea what follows but does showcase the sublime percussion skills of Zoumnana Tereta, Aly Wagué and Ira Colman, omnipresent throughout the album.
We then go into Bad spirits, one of the traditional Malian twelfth century compositions along with the title track and the excellent The Griots. The tone is different and you start to appreciate the extraordinary group of musicians that have been assembled to record this such as Kassé Mady Diabaté, Toumani Diabete and Baba Sissoko. Bridgewater, singing in English, works brilliantly with Ramata Diakité on the soft, moving Mama don 't ever go away. The lyrics are adapted in many cases to give modern nuances to the stories.
My favourite tracks have to be the deep Jazz number Long Time Ago, the Wayne Shorter composition and the blues of Children Go Round, Bridgewater showcases her jaw-dropping versatility as a vocalist on this track.
The range and stunning seductiveness of this album is instantly apparent. Bridgewater tries not to stray too far from her Jazz roots and in a way it is a hindrance; it took a couple of listens for all the tracks to marry together and for me to fully appreciate the brilliance of what I was listening to.
This is a bold, brave and ambitious record that goes far beyond Bridgewater's previous musical territory. I found this sublime listening; sure to go down as one of the records of the year.