Oumou

This six-foot-tall goddess is indisputably one of modern Africa's greatest singers. Her magnificent, throaty alto and exotic yet accessible style have already won her an impressive international following. Oumou's lyrics are nearly as compelling as her voice and person; her open affirmation of female sensuality and diatribes against polygamy have irritated conservative elders but delighted her contemporaries. She is an exponent of the blues-like Wassoulou tradition, which takes its name from a province in Southern Mali. The region's music is based upon Asian-sounding five-tone scales and is usually accompanied by the resonant kamelengoni (a six-stringed hunters' harp) and searing, earthy fiddles, while jaunty polyrhythms are marked by wood drums, metal scrapers, and/or shakers. This double album constitutes an ideal introduction. It contains a twelve-track "greatest hits" package (picked from her first three albums, Moussoulou, Ko Sira, and Worotan) plus eight new tunes that have never before been available on CD. --Christina Roden